Sunday 17 March 2024

Turn 52: The Thrappled Lemmings and the Bad Wolves (Five Leagues from the Borderlands)

 Once more the Thrappled Lemmings were feted by a tavern keeper. This time it was the owner of The Brimming Stein who paid their bills and benefited from their presence. Even with the cost of the various breakages, the owner came out ahead on this deal. Wido spent a Mark on getting the dent removed from his helmet, while the others spent time meeting and drinking with the locals. Based on the tales told in the tavern that day, it was a wonder the Lemmings were not each 10 feet tall, so great was their prowess in battle. Then it was time for a trip to the market, where more Tonic was purchased and they sold as much loot as they could. Lysanthir also spent some time researching the tales of monsters in the fog. He identified this monster lair as being near Haitabu.

With the business of the day seen to, the Thrappled Lemmings chose to go on patrol in a bid to make the area safe for beer deliveries everywhere. As they patrolled the area around Fikaby, they chanced upon some unsavoury types making life hard for a humble pie maker.

"Wolves," announced Fulrad, "and they have an Orc champion with them. Can't allow that, can we?"

The Thrappled Lemmings split into two groups to cover more ground. They needed to scout the area to make sure they had cleared out all the wolves before they were done. Lysanthir, Onesipe and Wido took the left flank and the others the right.

Fulrad, Drogo and Sir Thiebault advanced quickly through a wooded grove and made sure it was clear. They could hear the wolves ahead of them, but could not see them yet. The area was covered in small copses and low hills, so it was not possible to see far at all.

Onesipe and Wido were the first to see wolves, as they crested a low rise. They paused and took aim. Onesipe's crossbow shot wounded a wolf, and Wido finished it off with a bow shot. The remaining wolves charged forwards and were soon snapping at our heroes. As a wolf came rushing forward, Fulrad wounded it with an arrow, then Sir Thiebault stepped in and cut it down. Onesipe wounded the champion with a crossbow shot, and Wido finished him off with an arrow.

Suddenly four more wolves burst out from the top of a wooded hill nearby. They charged the Thrappled Lemmings and soon Wido and Drogo were in a desperate fight for their lives. Wido drove back his attackers and wounded one of them. Drogo was wounded himself. Lysanthir cast a quick healing spell on him. Fulrad shot one of the wolves and this loss was too much for another of them which fled with its tail between its legs. With the wolves' numbers much reduced, the Thrappled Lemmings were quickly able to defeat the rest of them. Barring minor cuts, none of them were hurt, so they looted the corpses and headed back to the Elf's Rest for a hearty dinner and a post-prandial drink or three.

From scouting the corpses and from a crude map in the pouch of the Orc champion, the party leared of two areas that could bear exploration and might be sources of loot. They also found a bottle that Lysanthir identified as Fiery Wine, a magical potion that allowed a person to breathe fire for a short while.

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