Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice

The Wardens of Gahyrst. Ep13.

On to finish the last threat point in Eerfeld.

Campaign Turn

Village Events: Wandering healer. I don’t have any wounded Wardens.
Agents and Adventurers: Bruno – Away on Quest, Alida – Found Loot: Tonic, Frans – Empty Handed
Pay Upkeep: I send away on Questing as Agents: Bruno, Alida and Frans.
Healing Up: Nothing.
Actions:
Ardus: Labor: +2 GM.
Gustav: Tracking: Failure
Roving Wanderer: Foraging: 1 Protective Herbs.
Where are we going: Go adventuring
Sell Unwanted Gear: Nothing.
Trade: Bought Holy Water (Rare Item for -5GM)

Adventuring: Roadside Encounter: Soldier, Special: Generosity, Friend: +1 Ration
I spend the Ration to continue adventuring: Roadside AND Combat Encounter: Roadside: Humble Priest, Special, Clue: Loot: Full Armor.
Combat Encounter: Raiders: Located Camp: Last Stand: 6 Raiders (1 Archer), Boss (Captain), Lackey (Sergeant): 15″ combat distance: Seize Initiative: Failure.

Theme: Along The Road
Oddities: Ladden Down By Spoils

Aftermath

Injuries:
Gustav: KO
Rudiger: KO
Ardus: Moderate: 6 RT
Wigmar: KO
Roving Wanderer: Moderate: 3 RT
Unusual Finds: Bounty on their heads: 6 GM
Experience:
Wigmar: +2 Speed
Loot: Medicinal Herbs, Vital Information, Partial Armor, Soul Render (!)
Threat: Border Tension Reduced to 0: Village Cleared: 11 GM, +1 Story Point

Journal

Who were these skirmishers? their uniform colors were foreign. We need to find out if they were scouts of a larger force.
As we gathered together, I waited for news from the agents. Alida and Frans returned. Alida brought a nice bottle of tonic to share with the wardens in a time of need. Bruno was a no show. I hope he’s alright. He’s a tough man.
The week passed quietly in Eerfeld. A wandering healer came to offer their services, helping the locals for free. The Wardens did some chores in and around Eerfeld. The Roving Wanderer found some helpful herbs, Ardus helped in the fields, while Gustav tried to find any tracks of the skirmishers, to no avail.
Before setting off, we bought a flask of holy water to help in these dark times, and left for adventuring.

On the road we came upon a friendly figure. It was soldier, Rupert, once a member of the Eerfeld militia. We shared stories and news, and he gave us food for the road.
With renewed strength and full bellies, we kept on the same path. Soon we met a member of the clergy. It was a priest of Adeus, returning from Heagrove. He told us how much he valued what we had done for Eerfeld and that he knew of a nearby abandoned altar that was dedicated to Adeus, and there was a set of gear there for the protectors of Eerfeld, bought by the donations. He said we had proven more than enough our worth. We parted ways and went to this altar to find a suit of full armor, hidden and tucked carefully under the marble steps. It was the middle of the day when far in the distance we saw the smoke of a campfire. We split and scouted ahead.

It was the same raiders. They wore the same colors as the skirmishers the other day. They had pouches full of loot from their raids. Who knows what farmstead they burned and what terror and pillaging they had caused. It was time we ended this once and for all. We made out that they had a leader, just as we were noticed.

Me and the Roving wanderer covered the sides with our bows while the rest of the wardens headed for the main camp. The cover of the trees, saved the raiders for only a short while, before they fell under our arrows, and one of them fled. The battle was bloody. Rudiger and Wigmar got locked into combat with the enemy captain and what seemed to be his bodyguard – a sergeant of sorts. The captain brought Rudiger down as we closed. Gustav took out his bodyguard in melee. Furious that his friend was killed, the captain attacked Gustav with all his might, bringing him down as well. Meanwhile Ardus flanked the rest of the raiders. The battle drew on, for every one of them, one of us went down. With a carefully placed shot I took out the captain, but his troops wouldn’t leave. It seems there was too much loot to be lost. As the battle went on, in the end, only I was standing. With the field clear, I went to check on my companions.
Luckily, the wounds of Rudiger, Gustav and Wigmar were superficial. Ardus was wounded again at his old wound. It would take a while before he was back on his feet. The roving wanderer also was hurt, not as badly though.

We searched through the bodies and the crates. We found several gold pieces, even among the fallen enemies, a set of armor, some healing herbs, a sealed letter with important information, and a sword with markings, carefully tucked in a piece of cloth. This looked a lot like the legendary Fornaught.

Victorious, we returned to Eerfeld, only to be met with a rider. He claimed to be a messenger of Lord Ornfric. He had a bounty out for this band of raiders we just eliminated, and paid us the reward. It was a hard earned reward. For once we could rest, assured that nothing would bother the people of Eerfeld at least for the coming weeks.

I looked at my map, showing the location of the keep. Then looked at the Wardens. Joyful they were singing and drinking. Two of them were bedridden, taking their time to heal the wounds. Such is the fate of the defenders of the people. No matter what, we must press on.

Evie’s Journal, week 13

Session Summary

This game was thrilling. Bringing the boss down was really difficult – as it should be, even with my experienced warband. In the end it came down to a thread. It was 1 vs 1, with only Evie standing.

I hadn’t a count of where the threat point started (the rulebook states that only camp/lair fights of threats that started in 3 or more that are down to the last point trigger a Last Stand fight) but decided to go with the Last Stand nevertheless. It was only fitting.

Despite trying to make the game harder, I rolled a loot result of the Soul Render. Easily the strongest weapon in the game. Decided it’s going to be a sword.

I’ll attack the Keep in the next session, before leaving Eerfeld and adding some expansion content.