Turn 9: The Thrappled Lemmings Go Camping (Five Leagues from the Borderlands)

Local Events

The Inn of the Merry Moggy is a great place for the Thrappled Lemmings to hang out. They have made it their home in Haitabu. Thanks to their success against the giant, the innkeeper decides that it will be worth it to feed the party for free. Her plan works and the inn is full of people coming to gawk at the brave adventurers and hear their tale of how they fought the giant and helped make the land safer for the settlers. She sits back counting her gold after closing with a little smirk but also a frown when she realises just how much the Thrappled Lemmings have eaten and drunk in such a short time.

Hard Times

Thanks to the innkeeper's sponsorship, the party does not have to spend anything on upkeep this turn.

Campaign Activities

Lysanthir spends time rehearsing his spells and gains 1 XP.

Wido spends time practising his spear skills and earns 1 XP.

Trade

The party decides to save its money for beer.

Research

With plenty to do, Lysanthir decides that another mug of ale is in order instead of a trip to the local bookseller or library.

Adventure

"Hey, that place we found the mayor's hat had stairs heading into the crypts below it," announced Lysanthir as he waved a breakfast sausage over his morning mug of ale. "And there were signs of a forerunner settlement nearby. I bet both of those would be good sources of treasure. We know the forerunners buried their dead with treasure. What say we investigate them?"

"Well, we are running short of beer tokens," declared Sir Thiebault, "so I endorse this idea."

The party pack up their gear and head off to the southwest of Haitabu once more. Their goal is the unexplored area first. Thanks to the efforts of the local militia, their journey is uneventful and they soon arrive at their destination.

As they approach the old forerunner settlement, they realise that it is still occupied. Orcs bustle in and out of the camp, clearly up to no good.

"Orcs! Why did it have to be Orcs," muttered Wido.

"Give it a rest!" replied Onesipe.

"Shut the fork up, you two," ordered Sir Thiebault, "Right, we're going to raid this Orc camp and rescue whatever abandoned treasure we find afterwards. Drogo, you'll scout ahead for us. Now, here's the plan ..."

Drogo worms his way forward through the brush and trees. He sees a small group of 5 Orcs around a camp fire, and a line of 4 sentries on the other side of it. The party is approaching from behind the Orcs' guard, which can only be a good thing. Drogo identifies the Orcs as an Aspiring War Party led by a Sergeant and a Lieutenant. This would be a tough fight, he muses, but his axe is ready and so was he. He swigged down the Bear Draught that he had 'borrowed' from the party's stash and moved out. The rest of the party followed up quickly and quietly. Onesipe, Fulrad and Lysanthir took up station on the edge of some woods with a good view to the camp. They would provide support while the others advanced to engage the enemy.

Drogo was practically in the camp when the Orcs spotted him. Sir Thiebault and Wido were close behind him.

With a yell, Sir Thiebault led the charge. There was a tinny sound as he engaged an Orc warrior and he collapsed to the ground, felled by the Orc. His magical harness had failed him. Drogo advanced to engage another Orc warrior and felled him easily as he roared like a bear, spittle spraying everywhere.  The Orcish archers let fly their arrows but missed. The Orcish lieutenant moved in to attack Drogo and was sliced in two with no obvious effort on Drogo's part. Drogo drove off the other warrior while the rest of the Orcs moved up to attack the group. Lysanthir spotted a sneaky Orc moving in on his flank and raced in to attack, his confidence buoyed by Drogo's performance. The Orc hit him on the head and he fell senseless. It then charged Onesipe who brained it in turn. Onesipe then shot another Orc warrior while Fulrad tried to work out how to load his bow.

The deaths of their comrades had no effect on the remaining Orcs who were all intent on attacking. Drogo preempted them by racing in to assault an Orc archer. It fell to the ground cleft in twain. Wido moved up to join Drogo and support him. The remaining Orc archer missed a shot at Wido and then its morale failed as it looked at what remained of its war party. The Orc sergeant and another warrior moved up to attack Drogo but were not quick enough to engage him yet. meanwhile, Onesipe and Fulrad moved into position to get a clearer shot at the orcs. Drogo's mad charge was making it difficult for them and they did not want to shoot him.

With Wido in position, Drogo renewed his assault. The Orc sergeant put up a fight but Drogo's maddened charge was too much for it. The remaining Orc tried to exact revenge, but Drogo's axe decided that this was not to be. Apart from the Orc that had fled, the entire war party was sprawled lifeless on the ground. Drogo howled his delight at this carnage.

The party searched the camp and found a bag of Crafting Materials beside the fire, a set of Knight's Armour and a pile of Tapestries worth 6 Marks. They also found some Vital Information and 6 Marks in gold.

Checking their fallen comrades, the party find that Lysanthir is wounded once more, and that Sir Thiebault has just bashed his head and was knocked out.

Lysanthir goes up a level and gains another Casting increase. He is now at maximum casting bonus.

News Travels

As they camp, the party is joined by a travelling skald who informs them that Jarl Boggvir near Elsfjord Kloster has a quest for anyone willing to take it on. The skald knows no more than this, other than that the Lemmings will need to hurry there if they wish to take it on (go to hex 1510 before end of Turn 11).