The Wolves of Rosfen - Darkening of Mirkwood - TOR 2e - Solo Game

The Wolves of Rosfen (Original adventure, randomly generated)

The Player Characters

Hallas: Elf of Mirkwood, Captain

Sigibert: Woodman, Champion

Photo Source

2946: 23rd of June

• Adventure Phase
• The Abrélind tell the Fellowship how to get to the Old Dwarf Road which will bring us to Rosfen and Lach Celduin so that they can continue on their mission.
• Note: When undertaking a journey I set the travel roles as follows:
• Sigibert: Guide and Hunter
• Hallas: Scout and Look-out
• Hallas and Sigibert follow the Old Dwarf Road and travel swiftly through a landscape of grasslands and sparse forests and and low rolling hills.
• On the 28th of June Sigibert awkwardly slips when dismounting his horse and twists his ankle. He will need a couple of days rest to fully recuperate.
• On the 30th of June Hallas finds is having difficulty hunting for food.
• The land seems strangely bereft of animals and it weighs heavy on Hallas' mind.
• They arrive at the village of Rosfen where about 500 people live.
• There are several fields and enclosures in the area. The central village has a low earthen wall and palisade. Inside are some long houses an a single stone tower with a narrow windows and a slanted wooden roof.
• Stride Mode Lore Table
• 5 and 5 = Hunt
• 10 and 2 = Vigorous
• 1 and 4 = Curse
• The villagers of Rosfen are glad to host us. They tell us that there is a pack wolves prowling the surrounding areas. It's very unusual for wolves to be so active around here at this time of year. This explains the lack of wildlife in the area. The wolves must be overhunting or scaring wildlife away.
• The villagers will let Hallas and Sigibert rest and recuperate if they promise to help them hunt down, or at least scare away the wolves.
• Sigibert attemps to bandage up his ankle with rags provided by the villagers (Heal) which allows him to walk more easily.
• On the 2nd of July the Fellowship feel ready to hunt the wolves.
• One of the villagers, Eddval, is a 40 something old man with medium length brown hair with streaks of grey and a short beard.
• He is the best hunter in the village and he has gathered 4 volunteers to help find the wolves that have been causing terror in the area.
• Eddval knows that wolves are scared of fire so he reccomends the party brings torches to help scare the wolves.
• He knows where the wolves were last see, where they attacked a flock of sheep, it's about an hour's walk from the village.
• The decision is made to leave in the afternoon. They hope they can find signs or tracks before dusk and plan accordingly.
• The party reaches the meadow where the flock was attacked according the shepherd.
• They find a couple of sheep carcasses.
• Hallas starts looking around for evidence left by the wolves. (Scan)
• While there is evidence that the sheep were killed and eaten by wolves, there are no tracks to be found leading in any particular direction.
• While there are no obvious tracks Sigibert has a good feel for wolf behaviour (Hunting, Favoured). He sees a clump of trees near a ridge in the landscape and guesses that would be a likely place for wolves to rest during the day as they are usually more active during dawn and dusk.
• Motif Story Engine: Are the wolves there?
• Answer: 5: Yes, Positive Answer, Big, A Lot
• Degree: 2: Flawed, minor, modest
• Flavour: 3 Danger
• Danger Flavour: 75: One or two minor threats or annoyances
• Is the party ambushed by one or two wolves?
• Telling Table: Middling: Yes if 6 or greater. Result 6 = Yes
• 1 or 2? 1d6 1-3 = 1, 4-6 = 2
• Result 4 = 2 Wolves
• While the party is discussing their next step Sigibert calls attention to two wolves approaching them (Awareness). The other's were caught off guard.
• Sigibert throws his spear at one of the wolves but misses.
• One of the wolves leaps at Hallas and bites at his arm. He briefly feels the jaws around his limb but the animal luckily cannot apply pressure before Hallas deftly twists free. (Hallas passed Protection Test).
• Sigibert hacks at a wolf with his axe and misses but causing the wolf to jump straight into two spears wielded by villagers, killing it instantly.
• The other wolf not attacks Sigibert put can't get past his flailing axe.
• Edvall fires an arrow into the remaining wolf and Hallas helps finish it off.
• The party decide to rest for a while to recuperate.
• Hallas has identified wolf tracks (Scan).
• Hallas and Sigibert follow the track expertly (Sigibert Hunt, 2 Tengwars, Go Quietly and Make Haste) and get sense that the wolves must be nearby.
• It is late afternoon, around 4pm when they spot the wolves resting under some trees by an rocky outcrop.
• Hallas decides to sneak closer to get a look (Stealth)
• He sees 1d6 = 6 wolves, with one that looks much bigger than the others.
• Hallas prepares a Battle plan (1 Tengwar, Go Quietly)
• The spearman and Sigibert will light their torches and hang back until the right moment.
• Eddval and Hallas who will fire arrows at the biggest wolf.
• The wolves will be ambushed and won't be able to respond quickly.
• Eddval fire his arrow at the largest wolf. (Wild Wolf).
• The arrow strikes the large wolf in the hind quarters. Any other animal would have been felled by such a wound but this is no normal wolf. It awakens with a cry of pain and anger.
• Hallas also fires an arrow but misses.
• All the wolves have awakened because of the commotion. They've spotted the party and are now bounding towards them with terrifying howls and yelps.
• Eddval fires another arrow, and again hits the target. But the largest wolf is only temporarily held back and is filled with bloodlust and rage. 
• Hallas once again fails to hit any wolf with his arrow.
• The villagers are ready with their torches and spears. The wolves are cautious because of the fire.
• Sigibert brings down his axe with a loud exclamation and almost cuts a wolf completely in half.
• One of the wolves evades a spear, launches itself through the opening and takes down a villager who screams as the wolf bites its prey.
• One of the other villagers stabs his spear into the animal killing it. But it was too late to save his friend.
• The largest wolf bites at Sigibert and seizes his arm, causing him to flinch and drop his axe. 
• Another villager manages to kill another wolf with his spear.
• The large wolf has two arrows sticking out of it, it is covered in blood and its eyes are filled with pain and rage. It is already weakened so its slavering jaws can not bite down on Sigibert as hard as they otherwise could.
• With a cry of pain and anger Sigibert bring down his fist onto the wolf's skull killing it instantly.
• The remaining wolves react as if awakening from a spell. Their resolve has been broken due to death of the pack leader and the burning torches brandished by the party. They flee towards the nearby woods.
• Hallas rushes to the fallen villager but unfortunately he has succumbed to his wounds.
• The party returns to the village. The villagers mourn their friend but are grateful for our help.
• Hallas and Sigibert invite them to send representatives to the Gathering of the 5 Armies.
• The Fellowship rests for a day and then continues on to Lach Celduin.
• Note: The Fellowship don't have access to these maps, rather they have a list of villages and hamlets to visit in order. As long as they ask for directions at each stage of the journey they should arrive back in Esgaroth. Cartography is not highly developed in this part of the world, which is why there is some inconsistency between the maps that do exist.

Source of 1st map unknown. 2nd map: A Guide to Dale.

• The journey progresses well and they arrive on the 5th of July.
• They continue on past several hamlets and villages, extending invitations and asking for the word to be spread. They reach the village of Elgaud on the 12th of July.
• Hallas and Sigibert are becoming fatigued from the constant travel so decide to rest in Elgaud for a while.
• They are free to stay at the village and feel fully rested after staying for several days.
• On the 17th of July they head towards their next destination Buhr Naurtaja.
• On their way they encounter some travelling merchants who share food and drink restoring some their Hope.
• The weather is warm, but not uncomfortable for travelling.
• On the 22nd of July Hallas and Sigibert approach Buhr Naurtaja.
• Journey Event: 7 Mishap
• Roll on Mishap Table from the Homebrew Collection.
• 6 and 1 = Blighted
• 5 and 5 = Land
• 5 and 2= Assaults
• As the Fellowship nears Buhr Naurtaja they notice that the land has become blighted. Burnt grass and trees, occasionally groups of sheep and goats are seen.
• Journey Event 2 = Ill Choices
• Roll on the Ill Choices Table from the Homebrew Collection
• 4 and 6 = Impenetrable
• 5 and 5 = Leader
• 4 and 3 = Holds
• The bad signs continue and Hallas advises caution, he has as suspicion that is proven correct (Scout).
• It seems that Buhr Naurtaja is currently under siege by an Easterling raiding party.
• Note: Andrag the Wolf has laid siege to Lord Gaisemund's town.
• Sigibert notices two Easterling raiders standing guard but they haven't noticed us (Awareness, 2 Tengwar's, Go Quietly and Gain Insight).
• Beyond the two can hear revelry, shouting and commotion.
• They will try to circumvent the guards and the commotion and see if they can locate Buhr Naurtaja.
• Hallas sneaks quietly but Sigibert accidently falls over some branches and causes a noise, the guards are alerted and start coming our way (Stealth).
• Since Hallas was quiet he has a chance for a prepared shot (Scan).
• But because of the bushes and clumps of trees he is unable to gain an advantage.
• Hallas and Sigibert engage in close combat and inflict damage on their adversaries.
• The Easterling Warriors are dangerous foes with their long spears which almost cause deadly injuries to Hallas and Sigibert.
• The fight is ferocious as each sides strikes and parries. Finally Sigibert manages to defeat one of the Easterlings and together with Hallas he gets the better of the other one.
• Hallas and Sigibert are bloody and bruised from the fight.
• They hide the bodies in some bushes.
• It is getting dark so Hallas decides to see if he can find a safe way to the village. (Stealth). He comes back to Sigibert informing him that he has found a way to reach the village without being noticed by more Easterlings.
• End session. Each character gets 3 Adventure Points and 3 Skill Points.

Notes and comments:

This was a combat heavy session and the characters came close to being wounded several times. Luckily they passed all the Protection Tests and avoided getting any Piercing Blows. The Fellowship also needed to rest along the way in order to restore their Endurance.

The battle with the wolves was quite involved since I gave the villagers and Edvall basic attributes in order to play out the combat properly. I haven't yet settled on a consistent way to involve NPCs in combat.

It may seem that Hallas is not as involved in combat but he seems to be unlucky with his combat rolls. On the other hand he has a Buckler and a high Parry rating so doesn't get hurt as often. Sigibert does a lot of damage with his Long Hafted Axe so seems more important during combat. On the other hand Hallas is good at skills such as Stealth, Awareness and Scan that are used a lot in other parts of each adventure.

The weakness of the party is currently mostly around social skills and having a low Valour and Wisdom. The latter makes us vulnerable to the Shadow and its servants. 

By running through a succession of short adventures within a relatively short space of time I will gain experience for the characters before tackling the main campaign. As I mentioned in a previous post. I recommend you build starting characters with a least 3 points in your main weapon because it is cheaper to do so when first building a character compared to when levelling up during the actual game.