The Siege of Buhr Naurtaja - Darkening of Mirkwood - TOR 2e - Solo Game

The Siege of Buhr Naurtaja (Original adventure, randomly generated)

The Player Characters

Hallas: Elf of Mirkwood, Captain

Sigibert: Woodman, Champion

2946: 23rd of July

• Adventure Phase
• The horses are tied up somewhere inconspicuously.
• Hallas will try to climb over the palisade and seek help for Sigibert. (Athletics, spent hope and got a success with a Tengwar)
• Hallas will creep through the town to find someone to speak to. (Stealth, success with a Tengwar)
• Hallas silently moves through the town, avoiding any guards. He wants to reveal himself on his own terms.
• Hallas finds what looks like a little guard house with some guards sitting around an open fire. 
• From listening in to the conversation he ascertains that one of them has a higher rank. (Scan)
• He steps out into the shadow, startling the guards who jump up and ready their spears shouting at him to identify himself. (Persuade, spent hope, two Tengwar's).
• The guards and the leader are startled but quickly won over by Hallas.
• An elf is a rare sight in these parts and they immediately believe that he is there to help them against the Easterling siege.
• One of them is Volvradr a captain of the guards and he is convinved to bring Sigibert inside as well.
• Hallas shows them where he entered and with the help of a rope Sigibert is brought inside.
• Volvradr insists that they are not allowed to wander free at night as he fears the response of Lord Gaisemund.
• He will put them in the gaol for tonight (making sure to bring some clean blankets to lie on) and inform the Lord in the morning.
• Hallas and Sigibert have a Prolonged Rest restoring their Endurance. Hallas in no longer Weary.

2946: 24th of July

• In the morning Volvradr requests an audience with Lord Gaisemund.
• Hallas and Sigibert are brought before Lord Gaisemund.
• Volvradr explains that the two broke into the camp and were detained but did not resist.
• Hallas explains that they've been sent by the King of Dale to invite representatives to the Gathering of the 5 Armies.
• But because of the 'siege' they were not able to enter in the normal way.
• Lord Gaisemund: Perchance Character Disposition: Threatening
• He's angry that anyone was able to break in to the town and questions Volvradr about his suitability for being in charge of the town's defence.
• Volvradr wants to defend himself but Lord Gaisemund shouts him down.
• In any case, he's not worried because the Easterling force is smaller than his own and he believes they can be defeated with ease.
• Lord Gaisemund wants the Easterlings to move on and threaten other villages and town so that he can come in to save them and so gain more power over those other villages. Hallas and Sigibert do not know this.
• Hallas wants to Persuade Lord Gaisemund to let them help and let them continue on their mission to invite all the free people of the area to the event for the Gathering of the 5 Armies.
• Lord Gaisemund doesn't need much persuading. He's interested in attending the gathering himself to get closer to the King of Dale and learn morea about the other peoples of the land.
• He doesn't want to interfer with the King's mission and he also doesn't want to go against an Elf with whom he has had very little interaction.
• He explains that the Easterlings won't be able to stay long otherwise they will run out of food and supplies in a couple of days.  Number of days = 1d6 = 1
• Hallas and Sigibert wonder if there's anything we can do to stop them or drive them off to prevent them raiding other villages.
• Hallas says that if Lord Gaisemund does something to prevent the Easterlings raiding further he will mention it to the other villages and to the King in Dale.
• Lord Gaisemund seems to think this is a good idea as it will further his long term goals.
• He says his lookouts will watch for when the Easterlings start to break camp and use that opportunity to attack but he says that it will only be a probing and harrying attack to drive them away.
• He doesn't want a full confrontation and risk a bloody battle with many losses. He warns that the Easterlings will be back and if the King of Dale wants to protect these lands he should send help, otherwise people will look after their own interests. 
• Hallas and Sigibert believe that Lord Gaisemund is implying that he could ally with the Easterlings.
• Note: This conversation was the result of extrapolating from the information about him in A Guide to Dale and trying to imagine what his motivations could be in this situation.

2946: 23rd of July

• Note: Every day I do a weather check with the Perchance website and as luck would have it there was a summer storm on this day.
• Lightning strikes down close to the camp setting a tree on fire.
• The Easterlings see this as a bad omen.
• They are breaking up the camp when Lord Gaisemund gives the sign to send out horse warriors to harrass the Easterlings, but they've been instructed to not engage directly. They must fire arrows from a distance and retreat to avoid casualties.
• The Easterlings jump on their horses, wagons and chariots and ride off, leaving half of their belongings behind.
• Hallas and Sigibert are able to find the horses unharmed and continue on their way to Erland's Ferry to the North.
• There is a failure on the Travel roll resulting in a mishap and increased Fatigue for Hallas and Sigibert.

2946: 27th of July

• There are more summer storms which make travel exhausting.
• When they reach Erland's Ferry they meet Master Oyvind. They inform him that Easterlings were sighted further South but that they have been driven off by Lord Gaisemund's men for now.
• Oyvind seems to show mixed emotions. Relief and concern.
• Hallas and Sigibert don't know that he doesn't want to be indebted to Lord Gaisemund who is likely to use this against him.
• Roll on the Telling Table to find out if there is any issue preventing us continuing. Doubtful: 8 or higher.
• Gandalf Rune: Always yes with an extreme result or twist.
• The track further north is impassible. The rain is so much it isnt absorbing into the groud. We have to stay for 1d6: 3 days.
• They must stay for a couple of days. What happens in the mean time?
• Strider Mode Lore Table
• 1, 3: Betray
• 4, 6: Ghastly
• 10, 3: Wealth
• 10, 1: Transform
• 6, 5: Mighty
• 1, 4: Council
• Hallas and Sigibert are called by Oyvind to the village council where they ask us many questions about Buhr Naurtaja.
• They seem very suspicious of them and their motives.
• One of the councillors offers them money to go back to Buhr Naurtaja and spy on Lord Gaiseman but they refuse since they are on a mission for the King of Dale.
• The villager calls them ungrateful and says they must leave as soon as the weather clears.
• The Fellowship are on the road again.
• Sigibert hunts a large boar which nourishes them greatly. (Hunting)

2946: 29th of July to the 1st of August

• They arrive at Ironhold and meet with Eynar lord of Ironhold and invite him to the anniversary of the Gathering of the 5 Armies.
• Meet with Lord Hunderic of Buhr Austar and invite him to the anniversary of the Gathering of the 5 Armies.
• Arrive at Northwatch and meet with Lord Jerwis of North Watch and invite him to the anniversary of the Gathering of the 5 Armies.

2946: 4th of August

• The Fellowship spend 3 days amongst the villages of the Iron Hills informing people of the gathering, although most are already aware since the news travelled from West.
• The same goes for the Dwarves but the official invite is appreciate nonetheless.
• They also bring news of the trouble villages further South are experiencing and the cause of any refugees arriving.
• Unfortunately nothing concrete seems to be happening yet, there is debate amongst the people and the Dwarves, but leadership is required.

2946: 11th of August

• Arrive at Buhr Wenjan where everyone already knows about the event.
• When hunting Sigibert chances upon a friendly hunter who is tracking a learge dear, he offers to work together in order to hunt it, which they do successfully. Sharing the spoils.

2946: 11th of August

• The Fellowship arrives at Dale and from there make their way back to Lake Town safely.
• Gloin is happy to see the two return after more than 2 months. He give them each a reward (5 Treasure Points each) and invites them to a dinner to hear all about their stories.
• Gloin takes notes and then writes a letter to be dispatched to the King of Dale.

Fellowship Phase

• Each character receive 3 Skill Points and 3 Adventure Points.
• Running total is 18 SP and AP for each player.
• Restore all Hope and Endurance.
• Fatigue at zero and Fellowship points restored.
• Remove 1 Shadow point each because of a small win against the Shadow (killing the Wild Wolf).
• Hallas spends 12 Adventure Points raising Swords Combat Proficiency from 2 to 3. 6 AP Points left.
• Sigibert spends 12 Adventure Points raising Axes Combat Proficiency from 2 to 3. 6 AP Points left.
• Hallas spends 4 Skill Points raising Travel from 0 to 1. 14 SP Points left.
• Hallas spends 8 Skill Points raising Battle from 1 to 2. 6 SP Points left.
• Sigibert spends 12 Skill Points raising Travel from 2 to 3. 6 SP Points left.
• Sigibert spends 4 Skill Points raising Courtesy from 0 to 1. 2 SP Points left.
• Fellowship Undertakings
• Hallas: Strengthen Fellowship
• Sigibert: Write a song: Walking Song (Journeys): March of the Marches
• Fellowship: Ponder storied and Figured Maps: +1 to all Feat Die Rolls on the Journey Events Table until next Fellowship Phase.

Notes and comments:

This was challenging session to play with a lot of repetitive travelling (there were many more travel events along the way that were successful but otherwise not noteworthy). I did my best to use various oracles to come up with some ideas for the stop in Erland's Ferry but could not think of anything to turn into a proper adventure so I left it as seed that may develop in the future.

The goal of this session was to travel around the region and introduce some NPCs and factions that may come into play later. (All the towns and NPCs are from the fan supplement A Guide to Dale).

On top of that I gained some more experience points to ready myself for the main Darkening of Mirkwood campaign which will starts in the Autumn of 2946.

BTW, the reason I haven't shared the full character sheets so far is because I didn't keep track of the initial starting stats, only the various upgrades that I made. Once I'm fully up to speed with this campaign diary I will share the character sheets as they stand.

The next two adventures that I will post are Blood in the Waters (fan made) and Don't Leave the Path from Tales from the Wilderland.