Tales of the Nalbrin (Table 1)

Game Master sarpadian

Go ahead and dot in.

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Dotted.

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Deep within the Iron Mountains lies Bodekgrim, the Ancient and Eternal Citadel. At the very center of Bodekgrim lies the Hall of the Clan Moot, where High King Dolim and his mother, High Priestess Bofia, preside over the Council of Elders. Each of you hold formal writs of summons, written in the council's traditional dialect of High Dwarven, to appear before the Council:
"To the Gatewardens of the Hall and whomever it may concern:

This writ, prepared on the 14th day of Riztag in the fortieth year since High King Marlak didst join the honored ancestors, doth both permit and command that insert your name here, being a Nalbrin of the clan insert your surname here, shouldst appear before the assembled Council, at the time of the ninth bell on the morrow, for dispatch on a mission of the utmost importance to the mooted clans.
Signed,
Insert your clan cheiftan's name here at the direction of the High King"

So, here you are, standing before the vaulted doorway, waiting for the Gatewardens to issue the formal challenge and allow you access to the hall within. You look at the other Nalbrin assembled around you and wonder what the future holds for you. Then, the doors swing open, and the Gatewardens step out, make a smart turn towards each other, and cross their ceremonial greataxes, as if to bar the door. The one on the left, his voice ringing with formality and dignity says: "Who seeketh audience with the mooted Council?"

Each of you intones the words of the formal response: "I insert first name here, being a Nalbrin of clan insert surname here, do seek audience with the Council, at their behest." The guards then allow you to enter the Hall itself. At the other end of the hall, a good 100+ feet away is a raised dias on which are fourteen stone thrones. Twelve of them are identical, obviously well-appointed and comfortable, but not gaudy. The other two, placed squarely in the middle, are much fancier. Upon one of them sits the only female dwarf in the room; it doesn't take much thought to conclude that this must be High Priestess Bofia, and the figure sitting on the other throne is obvviously High King Dolim. You walk to the prescribed place for petitioners and take a knee, as is customary. The high king speaks in a voice that echoes off the hallowed ancient stones: "Nalbrin of the clans, that thou hast been chosen for this task doth speak highly of thine talents, for verily doth I have many Nalbrin on whom I could call for transporting our society's life's blood down to our human friends south of the Teeth, including many who art more experienced than thee, but on thee has the task fallen. The lot o'ye leave for Meston and Cerdan's Falls on the morrow. Questions?"

It's about bloody time. Ihro accepts the summons and gathers his things, making his way up quickly. Finally his day had come, he can actually do something beyond just guard duty.

"It is an honor ta finally get ta serve my kingdom like this. What kind o' opposition do ye think we'll be facin'?"

Gunnar kneels proudly before the High King. Praise be to Torag for the honor he bestows up me. He admires the craftsmanship of the room and it's contents and almost whistles in appreciation.

He snatches a look at the others, mostly their gear. Not bad. That even looks like some of grandfather's work.

When the High King speaks Gunnar waits for Ihro to be answered and then asks, "Great King! Do we have the honor of getting the details of this task from you, or will one of your wise and honored advisers give us the details?"

Odirin handles the writ gingerly, rolling it up and putting it in his scroll case for safekeeping. Such a thing would be worth holding on to, worth looking back on should he live long into his days. Furthermore, it was parchment. How Odirin quite enjoyed parchment.

Upon reaching the door to the Hall, Odirin makes note of those others gathered, and those that arrive after him. He notices that many of them are quite solid and strong, looking to be capable frontline warriors. He nods to himself approvingly, thinking to himself if we are to set out together, we should fit together well, I should think...

He speaks his part when the time comes, saying the words he was taught to say. Entering the hall, there is a sweep within him of honor to be walking the length of such a majestic place, and he takes the knee along with the others when before the High King and Priestess. Listening to the High King's words, Odirin resolves to make quite sure that the Mithrilrasp clan made no mistake in their decision to send him to become Nalbrin.

When the High King asks for questions, Odirin holds his tongue, preferring to hear the others speak first, weighing their words for his own satisfaction.

Thondain took in the sight of the High King himself, liege of all the dwarves of the Iron Mountains, and could only wonder at the honor that had been bestowed upon him. Was it due to his experience with the orcs? His face did not betray his thoughts; like the stone of the mountain, it gave nothing away.

He glanced at the Nalbrin among them who had spoken. Wise to ask about their task, but their opposition? What else could it be, but orcs?

His hands tightened into fists without conscious thought.

Pray that it was. He would not rest until the filth was wiped from the face of the mountains.

Like Odirin, he kept his peace, waiting to hear what the others would say.

Ihro's question raises a scowl from the High Priestess. "Speakest the High Tongue in these hallowed halls, whelp! Hast thy elders taught thee nothing?"
The High King pats his mother on the hand, as if to forestall a further diatribe, and says, "Mother, thy piety becomes thee and thine office, but we have not the time for remedying the social training of yon young Nalbrin. Discussion of the details of thine task shalt occur in the company of General Ankas, in a space where it is meet for thee to speak in the Low Tongue with which each of thee art familiar. Thou may'st take thine leave." With this, he turns away from you, and begins discussing quietly with the twelve clan elders.

Leaving the room by the door through which you entered, you find an old dwarf standing in perfectly polished stoneplate that has a large golden hammer emblazoned on it. You immediately deduce that this must be General Ankas, commander of the Order of the Golden Hammer, and uniformed commander of the Iron Mountain militia. He motions for you to follow him, and he leads you through the winding tunnels that make up the most ancient part of the Ancient and Eternal Citadel until you come upon the cavern that houses the Militia's central command post. After exchanging salutes with the guards posted on the door, Ankas leads you inside and sits down at a large, rectangular granite table that seems to merge seamlessly with the stone floor. "Have a seat, and let's go over your mission. As the King said, you've been chosen for the next expedition to our trade delegation at the human outpost of Meston. You'll be taking down a shipment of mithril and cold iron ore ingots, and you'll return with supplies we need here. As for opposition, obviously it will primarily be the Taloths and their minions, but you will be traveling through wilderness, so no doubt there will be animals and the like to contend with. Once you cross the Teeth into human territory, you may have to deal with bandits 'n the like. There are some fey down in those woods as well."
He stands and motions for all of you to follow him to the back wall of the room. On the wall is carved a map of the surrounding area, from the Frozen Wastes in the far north as far south as the town of Barkel's Rest, the southern border of the human kingdom's Northern March. To the east, it extends as far as the coast, and to the west it extends to the far side of elven territory. Ankas grabs a large stick to use as a pointer and says, "So we're here." He points at the star marked "Bodekgrim" on the map. "And Meston is here. Now, the quickest route would be out through the East Gate on the north shore of Lake Depra and down the Alenka, but the Taloths watch that area like hawks, so we only use that route for large shipments that we can afford to detail a large group to. Same goes for usin' one of the tributaries. No, what you've got to do is go overland. It's slower, but better supplies that get here late than supplies that don't get here at all. You'll leave out the South Gate. Make your way south-east. Don't bear too far east, though. You want to cross the Teeth substantially west of the Alenka Gorge; the Taloths keep a garrison stationed around the Gorge. Once you're across the Teeth, head east until you spot the Alenka, and then turn south. Following the river makes it nearly impossible to get lost. Now, I suspect it's going to take you about 3 weeks, one-way, so make sure you're ready."

That's probably enough one post :). Map linked in the campaign description.

As General Ankas speaks, Odirin closes one eye and holds out an index finger towards the map, tracing the path the general speaks of as he goes on. "Aye...a precarious route...must needs stay far enough from the left eye to not be seen, but still far enough from the right for the same." Odirin opens his eye again and closes the other in a somewhat correlating display. Both of his eyes shine fiercely in the light, blue and red. "You've used this route before? Recently? Meaning no offense...I do not doubt your knowledge of the area, but if it has been some time since this particular route was used, the Taloths could have moved their gaze." He glances back up at the map and to the General again. "Of course, I'm sure you know better than I. Apologies if I have spoken out of turn, General."

Odirin looks around at his fellow Nalbrin as well, and clears his throat. "Name's Odirin, of the Mithrilrasp. Judging by what I see, looks like I'll be the resident mage in this force. May the earth brace us and the stone crush our enemies."

Oh crap, I forgot. Ihro shakes his head and holds his tongue for the time, not trusting himself to say anything else.

Thondain nodded respectfully to Odirin, as he had bowed to the General. He was polite enough, by dwarven standards, if a bit abrupt and gruff for human tastes. "Long has your clan been spoken of in these mountains. Skill such as yours is hard to come by, and I am honored to serve by your side. I am Thondain Bokreran. My skill lies in tracking, and stealth, and silent death. May the mountain lie over our enemies as an eternal tomb." He seemed less pleased than his words indicated; at least, no smile touched his face.

He studied the map as the others introduced themselves, though he always turned to offer them a nod of respect as well. I will need more supplies. This may be a milk run for us as young Nalbrin, but it may not be so simple as it appears. It is well that I brought the coin my brothers in the clan's Nalbrin sent with me. Well he knew the dangers of assuming that things were as they appeared to be.

"Aye...a precarious route...must needs stay far enough from the left eye to not be seen, but still far enough from the right for the same."

General Ankas guffaws a bit. "I didn't know the Mithrilrasps had bards amongst them! That's the idea, though. No offense taken, lad. It's your duty to ask questions like that. But, in this case, I'm pretty sure you're worrying over nothing. The terrain dictates that the orcs and humans have to play by the same set of strategic rules. There are only two ways to move large armies across the Teeth: therough the Nunshal Pass and up the Alenka Gorge. On the other hand, there's entirely too many small passes to slip a small unit through for either side to plug them all. Given the terrain situation, even the Taloths have enough sense to realize that there's no use doling out their forces in copper piece sized lots for the humans to pounce on. No, the only disposition of forces that makes any sense is to concentrate your large groups here and here," he points at the Nunshal Pass and the Alenka Gorge, "and send patrols (preferably in enough strength to do some good if they actually find something to cover the middle. If you run across a patrol that's too large to fight, go to goound and hide. If they come for you, it means that the gig was up already. If the patrol is small enough for you to take on, feel free to punch it out, but always remember that the primary mission is to get the metals down to Meston and the supplies back here. Questions?"

Ihro shrugs. "I think that takes up most of me questions. I'm ready ta go whenever ye all are."

Gunnar nods to the general, "Supplies first. Make orcs taste steel second. Got it. Will there be rations on the wagons or will we need to supply ourselves before we head out?"

"No questions from me, General Ankas. Leastwise, none that haven't been asked." Though the questions would probably occur to him once they were marching. His mind had a way of tricking him like that.

Odirin nods along with the general's explanations. "sounds reasonable enough. The path is clear. Will Meston be expecting us?"

Griff tucks The writ in his Pack.

I see Destiny calls me out, once again

As griff approches the 14 seats humbly. Kneeling whith great respect and revrence

K-Nobility: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

In response to "he lot o'ye leave for Meston and Cerdan's Falls on the morrow. Questions?"

"No questions, Just A request for Thine Blessings and prayers."

Griff responds to the High Priestess's chastisements.

"Please forgive My fellow Nalbrin. We shall take our leave immediately so that we may have ample time to Prepare."

Immediately as Griff makes eye contact with The general he Salutes him in the proper form. Finally in the company he is used to, Griff seems at ease. Following The general into the command post Griff is in awe of its dominating presence.

One day this will be mine to command, and it all starts today.

Griff sits silently as the General speaks, His focus is like that of Hardened Steel. As he listens to His fellow Nalbrin's comments He studies them, The way they sit, the way they talk, the force of there personality.

dot, sorry new to forumns didn't know there was a gameplay tab.

Arvanon stares at the map for a while and finally chimes in "Do we get a map to take with us or do you expect us to remember the path?"

General Ankas looks at Gunnar. "No wagons, lad. You may need 'em--or pack animals or something--for the return trip, but you six can carry the metal down, 'n doing it that way will make it far easier to evade the Taloth forces. Grab some rations before y'leave, but you'll probably want to do at least some foragin'; I doubt you'll be able to carry enough food for the whole trip."

He turns to Odirin and smiles. "Glad y'approve, lad. Aye, they'll be expectin' someone, though not you specifically."

When Arvanon finally speaks up, the General says: "Vonard's boy would be the one t'mention that. Aye, we'll give you a map." He waves to an orderly, and the orderly brings over a piece of parchment on which there is a simple map of the area. "As y'can see, the exit locations are not marked, just in case something...untoward happens. If there is nothing further, dismissed!"

I don't know, trail rations are pretty light and I have a wicked carrying capacity.

"Right. So we need ta be decidin' on a marching order. I'll take point if there's no objections."

After being dismissed Gunnar says to the others, "I am Gunnar of clan Hammersmith, Forgemaster of Torag. Best weapon and armor makers of the clans, not that the others aren't excellent as well. I will work fine where ever in the party I am needed.
Tomorrow I will be able to create water for all of us, so no need to worry about that, but I'm about at my limit for carrying things and still remaining nimble. I have five days of rations for me and I won't be carrying any more. Whatever metal I carry is going to cause me to lose my nimbleness. I am ready to go when you are."

Well, at least we won't be traveling any slower, since dwarves never lose speed due to encumbrance.

Thondain grunted. Every dwarf knew his clan was the finest when it came to smithing, but Gunnar might actually be right - the Hammersmith mark on a weapon or a suit of armor was certainly a sign of quality, even by dwarven standards.

He didn't much like the idea of carrying loads so large they wouldn't have room for food themselves - hard to slip into the shadows while carrying a burden as high and wide as yourself - but if the General said it would be so, then so it would be. Besides, pack animals or wagons would be harder to hide from the Taloth, as he said. Animals had a sense of those monsters, and became uneasy around them. And a pack could be set down if there was killing to be done.

"Let the both of us be at the fore, then. What one set of eyes might miss, another may catch," he offered. "We can take shifts, so as to stay sharp. I came to the council ready to depart if needed, though I did not know we would travel so far; if any of you need further provisions, let us meet near the exit in a candlemark, and be on our way then."

Arvanon looks confused to be referred to as Vonard's boy and replies "Who is Vonard? I am the youngest son of Arech."

"No shame to admitting I'm the softest target," Odirin says, glancing at everyone's armor. "Best I stay towards the middle of this procession. My powers get along with armor about as well as we do the Taloths, but I suppose I can armor myself in the rest of you, so to speak. I've not much travel-worthy food, a couple of days, but the general is right - best not to bog ourselves down too much if we're to take on loads of metal."

My calculations indicate that the spare light load capacity of the party is 41.25 lbs. The shipment of metal is 36 lbs (doesn't sound like much, but it's still 7000 gp worth of value), so that leaves 5.25 lbs. of space for extra equipment.

The general stares at Arvanon. "Arech's boy, eh? All ye Vanachs look the same to me, anyway."

It looks like Thondain has the best survival, so he should be leading the party through the wild

After taking in everyone's input, Griff stands up fist in hand. Alright, Lets get going then.

Ihro & Thondain shall take point, Odirin & Gunnar will take mid, Arvanon & I will head the rear. Speak now if you cant carry the load or need help buying rations, we are Nalbrin, we are brothers by bond.

Arvanon shrugs at the general and says "Some people seem to think so."
Looking at Griff Arvanon says "I shall do my part as I expect you to do yours."

"If none of us could do our parts, I suspect that none of us would be here." Odirin nods at Griff. "Very well, that plan works for me, at least. Shall we gather our supplies and meet at the South Gate, then?"

Arvanon nods in agreement and says "Fine by me, let us go then."

Thondain willingly took the lead as they crept carefully out of the hidden exit of the Iron Mountain. Stepping as quietly as an armored Nalbrin could be expected to, and perhaps a bit more quietly, he scouted ahead as they made their way toward the human lands.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

You make your way towards the South Gate with Thondain and Ihro leading the party. You pass through the center of town and the outlying clan enclaves, and before long you find yourselves following an old, abandoned mining shaft that leads towards the South Gate.

"Look at that. Seems like some kind of giant crab."

"I don't know about you, but I'm not hungry for crab. Let's see if we can avoid it. If not, we'd best be prepared for trouble." In Thondain's opinion, it was best to always be prepared for trouble, but he knew opinions differed on the subject.

Picking up a rock, he weighed it in his hand and looked around for a place where they might draw off the crab with a well-placed distraction.

If the shaft is too narrow for the dwarves to pass without bothering the crab, and there's no side shaft or something to lure it into with a clatter of falling rock, Thondain will draw his weapons and motion for the others to draw theirs as well. Then he'll toss the rock under the crab to see what it does.

There are no side shafts, and you're pretty sure that you won't be able to get by without it noticing. Since Ihro pointed the creature out, I've rolled a monster knowledge check for Arvanon (Nature was the appropriate skill).

Arvanon looks at the crab and says "Alright boys, it looks like we have a cave fisher on our hands. Don't worry they aren't too tough so we should be able to kill it without much hassle. Be careful though it can shoot filament up to 60 ft and try to drag whatever it catches back up to it."

Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

You all get a surprise round action. Go ahead and roll initiative as well.

GM, may I suggest rolling initiative yourself? I find it saves a lot of time.

Thondain set the rock down and drew his bow. "I hope those things don't hunt in packs," he grunted, taking aim.

initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
shortbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 2

I usually do roll initiative myself, but in this case, since a)I'm waiting for surprise round actions anyway and b)Arvanon had already rolled, I decided not to.

Init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Ihro draws his blade, eying the crab.

"Cave fisher, eh?" Odirin readies his light crossbow. "No need to be wasting good magical energy on that, by my eye."

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Griff Lets out a sigh drawing his Hammer, He was hoping things would be quiet while still under the mountain.

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

"Arvanon, are these things any good to eat?"

"Edible and good to eat are two different things."

I'm going to move things along. Initiative order will be posted in a spoiler in the campaign description. For the record, since I realize I put the information in a spoiler before, the cave fisher is 60 ft. ahead of Thondain and Ihro and 30 ft. up on a rock ledge.

Arvanon readies his bow. Gunnar draws his his battleaxe. Thondain's opening bowshot strikes the ledge below the cave fisher, drawing its attention.

Technically, Ihro's up at this point, but I can't think of anything he can do that will affect what the cave fisher does, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to post tomorrow, so I'm going to go ahead and post its action.

A length of filament erupts from the cave fisher, missing Thondain by an even larger margin than that by which Thondain missed it.

Party up. Everybody but Thondain gets a round 1 action, and Thondain and Ihro may post round 2 actions. Feel free to post in any order, but the actions will resolve in initative order, so you may want to include some contingencies if you're posting out of order.

Arvanon pulls out his longbow eager to show his worth to the party, and fires a flurry of 2 arrows at the cave fisher.

1st Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
2nd Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Crit Damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 7) + 4 = 17

Ihro pulls out his own longbow, adding a third arrow to the mix.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7