The Thrappled Lemmings and the Bridge Guards (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

  "Bergsveinn Brigidsson, get back here right now and do your chores!"

"Mum, I'm a Thrappled Lemming now! I'm going on an adventure!"

"No, Bergsveinn, do as you are told and come back here! No adventures for you until your chores are down!"

The angry woman yelling in the street bore a strong resemblance to Bergsveinn the Grubby, and she was clearly unhappy with her son. Aethelwyrd pondered this fact.

"Maybe you should return to your mother. Family is important," she suggested tentatively.

"NO!"

Bergsveinn practically stamped his foot but held himself at least a little in check.

"Look," he continued, "I know the commander of the Rangers has ordered you to investigate Tor Varden. I know the way there. Do you? I hunt the forests round here and know all the routes."

Aethelwyrd pondered this fact too. She knew roughly where Tor Varden was but her knowledge was all drawn from maps. It would definitely be an advantage to have someone who knew the area with her warband.

"Hmm, OK."

She turned to Bergsveinn's mother.

"Brigid, mother of Bergsveinn, we need to borrow your son and will pay well for this."

This last was only a small fib. After all, if all went well there would be minions of the Shadow Deep to loot and Bergsveinn as a Thrappled Lemming would get a full share. The question really was whether he would live to collect his share of the loot. Still, it seemed to sway Brigid.

"Hmmph, how do I know you are telling the truth? And if you don't pay him well, I'll make you do all of his chores, see if  I don't! I'm not afraid of you. I know you for the scum you are."

Aethelwyrd was a little hurt to be called scum so openly. Most called the Thrappled Lemmings that behind their backs and in hushed tones, just in case they were in the area. As the old saying went: Speak of the Lemmings and they'll appear. She pretended not to hear it and hurried the Lemmings out of town.

As they crept stealthily through the thick brush and rocky ground, Aethelwyrd commented, "I had my doubts about you Bergsveinn, but at least you do seem to know your way around here."

Bergsveinn had led the group unerringly on the path less travelled towards Tor Varden. Ahead was a bridge and an Orc encampment. All the Thrappled Lemmings had to do was defeat the bridge guards and the route to the tower would be open. In open skirmish formation, the warband crept forward.

Overview of the terrain. Blue arrows show the Thrappled Lemmings initial movements. Red arrows are the Orcs

The Orcs seemed more intent on the far side of the river as they patrolled near their camp, rather than into the woods itself. Only two archers seemed to be actively looking for enemies. The rest seemed to be guarding their treasure from their fellows.

The Orcs guard their treasure. The pig is a treasure token

Bergsveinn cursed as he nearly stepped in a trap left by some previous hunter or perhaps a more cunning Orc than the usual.

Aethelwyrd moved into the cover of a large standing stone carved with runes: Gunnvor built this bridge for the soul of her husband Karfi. Hroerekr carved them.

Whoever Gunnvor was, she had arranged for the bridge over the river to be built, replacing the ford that was marked by ancient pillars that indicated it was once roofed and perhaps had been a bridge in its own right.

The Orcs continued to patrol near their treasure, but the Lemmings' luck had run out. The two Orc archers moved directly towards her hiding place, spotted her and loosed arrows. She easily ducked the shots, but the Orcs were shouting the alarm in their fluid language that seemed to contain no consonants.

"To me, my Lemmings!" yelled Aethelwyrd, there being no reason for stealth any more. The other orcs might not react immediately, but the two archers needed dealing with.

And that is how the fight started. Purple dice are Orc hit points remaining

Bergsveinn fired an arrow that nicked an archer. Aelfwyn shot another archer and wounded it badly. The others leapt on the two archers that had spotted Aethelwyrd but the archers defended themselves well and no advantage was gained. Aethelwyrd leapt into the fray and badly wounded the Orc, which then slashed Aelfwyn with its dagger. The Elven archer fell to the floor blood gushing everywhere. The archer that Bergsveinn had wounded shot and pierced the spotty youth through the torso. Bergsveinn collapsed to the ground with a moan of pain.

Two Orc attacks. Two 20s on the attack roll! Ouch!!

The other archer managed to carve a scratch on Kalfr's arm but it was not serious. By now the other Orcs were becoming aware of the Lemmings' presence and half of them started moving towards the heroic warband.

Everything's funny until someone gets hurt!

Galvanised by seeing their fellows fall, the remaining members of the warband went to work on the archers with a will, and both archers quickly fell. Meanwhile, a battered looking man-at-arms emerged from the woods near the Orcs' camp. He was immediately attacked by an Orc spearbearer and soon bore several wounds. Aethelwyrd was heavily wounded in the fight with the Orcs and Kalfr too. The Lemmings were very much getting the worst of things. Worse yet, more Orcs were crossing the bridge towards them.

Some days you just can't roll high to save your life. sigh

Reinforcement

Aethelwyrd redoubled her efforts and managed to slide a blow past the Orc's guard. It died on the end of her blade and she moved to aid Onund. As the fight got more desperate and more Orcs joined the melee, the Lemmings fought even harder and more Orcs fell. The guard from Tor Varden slew his foe in a swift cut and thrust of spearfighting.

And then some days you score well.

A hard-fought fight with more Orcs on the way

As the melee continued, the guard from Tor Varden raced to aid the Lemmings, ducking shots from the last Orc archer. Kalfr fell to a blow from an Orc spearbearer but was immediately avenged by Aethelwyrd. Ash took two heavy blows from the Orc leader, but Onund returned that favour. The only people left unwounded were Onund and the Orc archer. And then it started raining heavily. Bad enough having to fight, but doing it in a heavy downpour was just miserable. At least the Orc archer would have a harder time of it now.

The dice giveth, the dice taketh away.

The life of a Ranger of Alladore is hard and bloody

Aethelwyrd's sword sliced across the belly of her one remaining foe and the Orc died even before its entrails hit the ground. She raced over to aid Ash and Onund. Ash, though badly wounded managed to manoeuvre into position, and his dagger found a vital spot on the Orc leader and blood began to gush from its side. A second strike at the same spot left left Ash covered in blood and the Orc dead. The man-at-arms, seeing that the bridge was now clear turned to engage the last remaining Orc, while Onund rushed into the enemy camp.

Aethelwyrd rushed to aid the man-at-arms, who had badly wounded his opponent, but was felled by a heavy blow in return. Ash raced into the enemy camp to investigate it. He was too badly wounded to do much else. Onund grabbed the Orcs' treasure sack and headed off to aid Aethelwyrd.

"Ware!" yelled Ash, "More Orcs!"

An Orc spearbearer had appeared wandering through the forest back to camp.

None shall pass!

Aethelwyrd and Onund charged the Orc archer and slew it with ease. Ash searched the camp and found a set of keys that he recognised as being to Tor Varden. As the new Orc approached, Aethelwyrd and Onund took up position on the bridge to face it. Ash muttered something about scouting ahead and headed off in the direction of Tor Varden.

Portents!

A harsh cawing noise was heard as an extremely large raven appeared from the direction the Lemmings had come.

After the hard fighting previously, this new Orc was easy meat and Aethelwyrd cleaved it in two with a single blow.

"Quickly," she said to Onund, "Let us gather our comrades and move out. Those ravens are birds of ill omen. I fear we must outrun whatever they portend."

The Thrappled Lemmings tallied their injuries and bandaged them as best they could. Aelfwyn had lost some toes and would limp for the rest of his life. He was more worried about his damaged boots leaking, but managed to get a new pair that fit well enough from an Orc. Bergsveinn's jaw was smashed and his face disfigured but they were able to fix him up well enough to carry one. Kalfr was badly wounded and needed bed rest, but they were in the field so he would just have to be careful instead.

"You, what's your name?" barked Aethelwyrd.

"Umm, Hagbard, ma'am!"

"Congratulations, Hagbard, you are now a Thrappled Lemming. Come with us. You can show us the best route to Tor Varden."

First time playing Rangers of Shadow Deep for a while and I had a couple of false starts with this scenario. In the end I got the rules right and the scenario was good fun. I love the sneaking up phase and wish I had done it better so the warband could have taken out the Orcs (standing in for the Gnolls listed in the scenario) one by one in sneaky weasel fashion. Maybe next time I play this scenario, I can manage that. Now to finish making the interior terrain for Tor Varden so I can play that scenario.