Year 2949: The Marsh-Bell

[Vladim]

Ewald

_Please mark down your 1st Advancement Point (AP) in the Perception category.
_You gain 2 bonus dice (d6s) to be used at any time during this encounter. There are a few rules governing their usage.
_You can only use one extra die at a time; you cannot use both at the same time.
_You must choose to use them before making the roll; you cannot first make the roll and add them post hoc. For example, if your Awe is 2, you cannot roll 1d12 2d6 and then, if the result is too low, roll another d6. You must instead roll 1d12 3d6 from the get go.
_You can 'donate' as many of the extra dice to any other player, as long as you can explain how you are helping them. Same rules as above apply for the usage of these extra dice by any other player.

In addition to the bonus dice, the succesful Insight check reveals some bonus information: You can tell that Gloin is interested to meet the entire fellowship, so during the following phase of this Encounter (the Introduction phase), it's better for everyone to introduce themselves individually (TN 14) rather than using a spokesman (TN 16). Also, Awe and Courtesy will work equally well on Gloin.

 

Lara & Fareth

_Both of you, please mark down your 1st Advancement point (AP) in Vocation, because of your success in Lore.

In addition, your success in Lore reveal some information: You know the tale of Thorin's quest (and Lara may have even been in Thranduil's court, or one of the elven feasts, when Thorin and company were captured), and so you know that Gloin mistrusts elves. As such:
_If the party appoints a spokesman, Lara cannot be that spokesman - Gloin will simply refuse to speak with her (all her skill rolls will become auto-fails).
_If the company introduces themselves individually, Lara can speak, but doing so before anyone else does will raise her TN by one level (+2).
_If Lara introduces herself, it's better to use Courtesy over Awe (TNs of 14 and 16, respectively).
_So the wisest course of action for Lara is to first wait until someone else speaks, and then use Courtesy to speak.

 

Introduction phase

Now that the first step has been completed (namely the preliminary Insight / Lore checks), it's time to move on to the Introduction phase.
_The fellowship can elect to appoint a spokesman (a single PC) to introduce the fellowship, or all PCs can introduce themselves individually.
_For the Introduction(s), the most appropriate skills are either Awe (e.g. boasting, or presenting one's deeds, reputation, authority or force of personality) or Courtesy (being polite and well-mannered). Riddle can also be used sometimes, to speak without revealing much information about oneself, but it is less appropriate in this case.
_Any PC failing the introduction check by RAW is not allowed to speak in the following stage of the encounter (or if they speak, they are just ignored by the NPC). However, I find that this discourages RP; for this reason I am more inclined to still let them speak if they want, but increase their TNs by one level (+2).
_Failures in this Introduction phase do count against Tolerance, so I strongly reccommend the use of traits for auto-succeeding if your social skills are low. Or just stay silent if you want. If you stay silent, your later TNs for the remainder of this scene will be increased by one level (+2).
_Successes in this Introduction phase do count for determining the outcome of the Encounter, so the more the better. Typically, normal successes count for 1, Great successes for 2 and Extraordinary successes for 3. In the end, I'll add up these numbers and determine how good an impression the fellowship has made on Gloin. Trait invocations for auto-success are always just normal successes, so they just count for 1.
_Obviously, each roll should be paired with some in-character text, but maybe make the roll first and then, depending on its success or failure, you may want to write what your PC says accordingly.

Good luck!

[Vladim]

After allowing her companions to introduce themselves, and their Company and its very reason for traveling, Lára bows low. Knowing that the Dwarf has no love for her people, and recalls his imprisonment in Thranduil's halls with a grudge, she wisely waits for others to lighten the Dwarf's mood first. "Lára, at your service," she says as she bows, recalling Dwarvish custom. As she rises and her hair spills forth across her shoulders, red like sun-stained morning sky, her eyes shining blue as a clear Spring dawn, she embodies the fairness of the fairest people—few could remain unmoved by Elvish grace and beauty. Certainly the light that seems to shine from within her skin lends her an air that reaches beyond grievances real and feigned. She offers her brightest smile and allows it to linger on her lips in hope.
 

OOC
• Invoking Fair trait for an auto-success, as per Vladim's suggestion
• This will take place well after everyone else has had a chance to speak, so as not to disrupt the Encounter

[Vladim]

As the fellowship stepped into the mansion of Glóin Ewald nodded a lordly greeting at the Dalish guardsmen and the people waiting for a meeting with the dwarven merchant. Then as they were invited into the reception hall the Barding took a seat at the table close to the host as he intended to make an introduction of the group after Bofri had finished his introductions.

"Glóin, son of Gróin, it is an honour to meet you again. We met briefly at King Bard's court in Dale about two years ago. I was impressed by your presence and style back then and seeing your home from within strikes me with even grander fascination. I am Lord Ewald of Dale, son of Lord Odvarr. I am a loyal emissary of King Bard, working to keep relations between the free folk friendly and generous and that is one of the reasons I have joined Bofri's expedition to try to clear a way from here to the East Bight and possibly find the remains of an old dwarven settlement there."

He took a short pause before continuing. "More about the details of the journey later. I'll let everyone introduce themselves. They are all trusted friends of myself and Bofri."

[Vladim]

As he steps up to his seat, Barin almost stumbles as his feet briefly tangle in the hem of his cloak. Luckily, he manages to keep himself upright and regains his composure before his lords and peers notice.

Bowing low he greets Glóin in his native tongue.

"Shamukh, ra galikh ai-mâ, Glóin Gróinul. Mukhuh targzu satarrigi sigin". Then, reverting to the common tongue he continues, "Barin Greycloak, Stonemason of the Grey Mountain clans, and traveler of these lands these past few years, humbly at your service."

Straightening back up, and being more mindful of his cloak, he quickly seats himself next to Eawald, murmuring for Eawald's ears alone, "allow me to advise my lord should the need arise. We Dwarves can be a stubborn lot should we desire to be so this could be a difficult negotiation."

 

OOC: For those who can understand the Khuzdul tongue, the opening greeting translates as:

"Hail and well met, Glóin son of Gróin. May your beard grow ever longer." - a traditional greeting among Dwarves.

[Vladim]

Fareth takes a corner seat and looks Glóin directly in the eyes, 'Well met, Glóin, son of Gróin, I am called Fareth Swiftfoot. Your deeds speak well of your past heroism, which I trust has not faded in these richly appointed surroundings. We look forward to discussing how you might aid again in the battle to push back against darker forces.'

Glóin felt an almost physical force and sharpness in her gaze, and the directness of her speech, that set him back.

 

OOC: Fareth is using Royalty Revealed to upgrade her success.

[Vladim]

Beran was not comfortable in this kind of situation, a fact that was writ eloquently upon his face. When he was younger, maybe . . . But there was no real memory of those days - just the knowledge that he wasn't always an outcast of his own choosing. He knew factually that he had once been a drinker and a boaster; had once been a gamer and a charmer; had once had friends and been quick to befriend, but he couldn't bring it to mind and he certainly had no words to speak to this dwarf that would sway him. He was tempted to stay still and quiet, leaving the talk to younger, more eager men. But no. He had something to say. He cared little about dwarves and their treasures. His people loved their beasts and farms. But he knew loss. His people knew the long fight to keep something of what belonged to them in a world that seemed set to destroy and if he had learned anything about dwarves this last winter among the Lake folk, he had learned of the smoldering fire that burned in them to reclaim what was theirs. That, he understood.

From his back, he pulled a lute - small and crudely-made by the standards of these parts, but it played true enough. He had learned a song over the cold season - a dark and somber tune of loss and resolve. The men of Laketown sang it often enough when telling tales of the death of Smaug. Beran sang it now - or at least a scrap. He sang it in Dalish, as he had no knowledge of the tongue of dwarves.
 

"Far over the Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day
To find our long forgotten gold.

The king has come unto his hall
Under the Mountain dark and tall.
The Wyrm of Dread is slain and dead,
And ever so our foes shall fall!

We must away! We must away!
We ride before the break of day!"

His voice was deep and melancholy. His fingers drew from the crude strings of his lute a fall of notes both sweet and heartbreaking. After a few lines, he let the music fade away.
 

"Beran, I am. A simple woodman, with little understanding of dwarves or gold or such things. I understand loss and the desire to regain what is yours. In that, my folk and yours are of one mind. Maybe together we can grasp a piece of what's been lost - or not. I'll let others better suited tell you our tale and you decide."

[Vladim]

Glóin carefully examined each of Bofri’s companions as they spoke in turn, greatly interested in those that his younger clansman had chosen to accompany him in his great endeavour. As each introduced himself, the old, accomplished veteran had a few words of reply, always courteous and kind.

’I have not forgotten you,’ he said to lord Ewald, ’though our meeting was brief. But I was glad to hear that King Bard had appointed you as his ambassador, and gladder still when I heard news of your fellowship with my kinsman Bofri. King Bard needs good counsel now that Dale has been restored, but I am well at ease knowing that you have his ear.

Then Lára spoke, and Glóin fell silent for a while, impressed by her great beauty, despite his mistrust for Thranduil’s folk. At length he spoke, when at last he could muster an answer both courteous and appropriate. ’Blessed is Bofri to have friends as you, representing all the free peoples of Wilderland.’

He turned to Barin, who spoke after Lára, and added: ’Elves and dwarves, willingly working together – this is something that I have never seen in all my one hundred and sixty-six years upon this Middle-earth! But it fills me with hope to see it. A stonemason you say you are, and I say that it is good – for finding the Old Road’s ruins will only be the first step, and to repair it we will need all our skill and craftsmanship of old.’

When Fareth spoke, Glóin laughed at her quip; despite his rich clothes, he did not believe that he had grown soft – not yet – and still he hoped for one last adventure. ’I would gradly trade you, Fareth of the Woodmen,’ he said with a merry voice, ’to join Bofri myself, and to leave you here in my mansion, with all its wealth and luxuries, to be buried under requests and pleas and a mountain of paper, should you think that my tasks here are less onerous! But alas, Kind Dain would not approve of it, I fear!’

Finally Beran sang, and all fell silent, listening to the old dwarven song. For a while, a spell of silence took Glóin, and he reminisced of Thorin Oakenshield and his kinsmen, Fili and Kili, who had fallen. In his eyes there was sorrow, and when the song was over, and Beran had said his part, the old dwarf turned to Bofri and remarked: ’You have chosen your companions carefully, and I am much glad that you have done so. The journey South is difficult, and I would feel responsible should you travel in less good a company, who would care only for gold, and not protect you against the horrors of the forest.’ He turned to Beran again, and added: ’Your tales and your mission are well-known to me, but I wanted to see you all with my own eyes before I give you all my blessing and my aid. Bofri says that it is boats that you need, and you shall have them! What else do you need for the journey ahead? I have long been a friend of these folk, and I will do my best to ensure that you receive it.’

 

OOC

_@The Firkraag: Mark down your first AP in the Custom category for your success in the Song check.
_@Everyone: The Encounter continues with the Interaction phase, if you want it to. The fellowship has done well so far, and will be able to get boats without a problem, but if there is anything else you want, you can say so and roll for it. There may be other, hidden rewards too, to be determined after the success of your mission, if you do exceptionally well here.

[Vladim]

Asfrid was one of the last to speak. Let the dwarves and those who knew the wizened veteran have their say and songs; she'd always felt more comfortable allowing others to take the spotlight, unless there happened to be a battle going on.

Finally, though, the tall human woman bows low, bent at one knee and head bent to it in courtesy and supplication.

"I do not use this word in this sense often, Glóin-son-of-Gróin, but it is true honor to meet you here this day. In world where knowledge is often forgotten as soon as is gained, the tales of your heroism and bravery have stood tests of time. My name is being Asfrid, called by some Asfrid the Wanderer, and I offer you my thanks for taking the time to meet with us this day and consider aiding us in cause."

[Vladim]

Asfrid

Because of your success in Courtesy, please add your first Advancement point in the Custom group (on your character sheet, that 0/3 should be changed to 1/3).

 

Glóin nodded at Asfrid’s kind words, just as Bofri stepped forth to speak. With a small bow, he said:

’Thank you, Glóin, for your support and your friendship. Our goal is to depart tomorrow. First, we shall paddle towards the southern end of the Long Lake, where we will beach the boats before the waterfalls. There we will find the Stair of Girion, I am told, a paved portage trackway, and transfer our boats further south where the River Running can once again be entered. From there, it is only a matter of following the river South, past the point where it enters Mirkwood and where it meets the place where the Old Forest Road exits the forest. A bridge once stood there – the Eastfort must be nearby!

We will also need supplies, and aid with the portaging, if it can be provided. Any information you might have would also be useful! My companions here are experienced travellers, but none of us has journeyed into the Long Marshes before.’

 

Mechanics

If you want, this is as good a time as any to determine journey roles. You can even do so in character, if you want.
There are 4 roles to be filled during a journey:
_Guide: A guide relies on Travel; for travel by boats, a good Athletics score is also useful. There can only be one guide.
_Scout: A scout relies on Explore. There can be multiple scouts.
_Huntsman: Relies on Hunting. There can be multiple huntsmen.
_Look-out: Relies on Awareness. There can be multiple look-outs.

In addition, before a journey, you can attempt Lore checks to see what you know of the lands you will be travelling through. Success gives you bonus dice to use while travelling. The mechanic is conceptually similar to the use of Insight before social encounters for bonus dice. You may roll lore now, if you wish so.

[Vladim]

"No...but I know this way. A bit anyway. I have traveled outskirts; just not into marshes proper," Asfrid announces. "If the fellowship wishes, I will act as guide best I can."

(OOC: I figure that 12 on the Lore roll plus her 2's in Travel and Athletics make this seem reasonable, but if not, Vlad, I'm happy to edit here.)

[Vladim]

Once the company has finished speaking and silence against settles heavily on the chamber, a soft sound rises. It is the voice of the Elf-maiden, as she sings slowly, and quietly, as though uncertain, or perhaps the song itself speaks of doubt and fears in the Third Age of Middle-earth. The notes are somber, her voice clear but carrying a sadness, as the tune itself seems to traverse dark times beneath the night sky, under and over the mountains, reaching back into a time when shadows fell upon the eaves of a great forest.

Then Lára's voice begins to lift, and hope like a flower blooms after a long and beautiful but melancholy winter. The stars appear one by one as jewels in the blue night-canvas. The forest again rings with laughter and the glow of warm fires. Marred, perhaps, for ever; clouds ever roll through the sky, and the darkest depths of the forest remain dangerous, but the Shadow that touched them cannot claim them, for they are older than it, and as long as those who remain find joy in these things, a Spring of hope shall always return.

Forgotten eaves and fallen leaves
Winter cold! No leaf of gold nor sparrow bold
For Winter sleeps, for Summer grieves
Where to find and hold of old?
The fruit and flower and fairest breeze?
Stars shine low, in the dark clouds roll
Whither have gone all the buzzing bees?
Shadow grows and the heartbeat slows
Whither has gone my beloved green?

For Spring! A flower blooms
Green in stem and leafy stalk
Parts the veil of ancient doom
Where the bare feet again now walk
Laughter rings in mirthful boom
And the passing Shadow it dares mock
Dark things lay in vale and gloom
But hearts weave joy ever upon the loom

When she finishes, Lára bows once more and turns to the famous Dwarf, Glóin, and offers her kind words. "Perhaps some day you will unburden some of your heart of the grudge it carries, Master Glóin. Not all of the Woodland Folk took part in your captivity. Many of us felt it unnecessary, but a king will have his way in his own hall, as you know as well as any. I remember Thorin as a mighty Dwarf in all ways; so, too, in his stubbornness to relinquish that which was his was he great. Yet when the Shadow fell upon us, we all fought together, Elf and Dwarf and Man alike, for it is the Shadow that has truly estranged us since the dawn of our peoples."

With that, Lára unclasps her brooch and presents it to the Dwarf with a polite smile and bow. "Please, accept this as a token of renewed friendship between our peoples. We all have something for which to atone, but let bonds bloom ever in a new Spring beyond the reach of the dark powers."

[Vladim]

Once Láras song dies back into the silence that pervades the room, Barin clears his throat.

"My Lords, if we could return to business. I thank you for the assistance you've already offered us Glóin-son-of-Groin, but I still have a concern that we know little of what lies before us, both in the southern reaches of the Long Marshes, nor in the vicinity of the ruins of Eastfort.

I well know you have your ear to the ground with all that goes on here in Lake-town, so assume you must have heard tell of news and rumours coming upriver from the few traders and trappers that venture into that part of the land, so would appreciate your sharing of that which you know.

Furthermore, and I hate to impose too much on your goodwill, but as well as the boats, if you could also provide manpower and ponies at least as far as the lower portages on the river, this would certainly ease our efforts in the early part of the journey."

Easing back into his seat he glances at his companions for assent before fixing his eyes firmly once again on Glóin, hoping fervently that he hasn't just overstepped the mark. As a simple stonemason, Barin is somewhat unused to speaking in such lofty circles and he hoped beyond all hope that he had not broken with protocol.

[Vladim]

(OOC: I think that Folk-Lore invocation you mentioned in the dice thread sounds like a plan, Vlad.)

Asfrid wanted to say that Barin spoke truly and soundly.

She wanted to add her own thoughts on the items needed and the logistics of the journey.

But all she could do was hear the echoes of the elf's song in her ears. Gods be good, how could any creature sound that lovely? It was as if she'd poured pure honey into the air and gave it wings! Even forgetting a moment her overwhelming beauty - hard to do, 'tis true - none could deny the awesomeness of that woman's voice.

Asfrid can only nod dumbly in assent for most of Barin's words, wishing she somehow could turn back time or find a way to capture and hold on to a song from Lára's lips. Imagine what wondrous magic that would be!

Finally, though, she shakes herself from her elf-inflicted reverie and says, "That...ahhh...that song was bee-you-tee-full," to the elf with a smile she hoped wasn't entirely creepy. From her, though, it probably would be, damned it all.

She turns to Barin then and adds, "Is true that we not know much of Marshes ourselves...and is too true I cannot sing like our Lára here...but I do know story. Is of marshes, I mean. Heard in snatches, fits and starts, yes? Over time as guard. I do this before we meet. I hear some, I remember some. Little rhymes, nonsense most like, but all to do with destination we seek. I hear these in years before I meet good Bofri. Before I learn taste for dwarven ale, eh? Hehe!"

Chuckling lightly and lowly, the big, strong warrior-woman's giggle is almost incongruously feminine. It ends soon after when she clears her throat and begins to speak in a voice much deeper than her laugh:

"She goes to the marshes, she goes to the marshes,
to seek her destiny and fate.

She goes to the marshes, she goes to the marshes,
to pay and be repaid.

The debt comes due.
They always do.

He goes to the marshes, he goes to the marshes,
seeking Her and answers.

He marches to the marshes, he marches to the marshes,
foolish with no sword first.

The dead come through.
They always do.

He reaches in the marshes, he reaches in the marshes,
he reaches for his fate.

He reaches in the marshes, he reaches in the marshes,
but once he reaches it's too late.

Too late in the marshes, too late in the marshes,
Too late because the marshes...the marshes already ate."

Asfrid grins as she finishes, happy that she'd remembered it after all this time.

[Vladim]

When the elven-song filled the room, all fell silent for a while, and Glóin’s heart was softened, if only a little.

’It is as you say,’ he said finally, accepting Lára’s gift, ’we stand stronger united, as the Battle of the Five Armies proved. And when we do, we can accomplish great things.’

He paused before adding: ’I hope that your king remembers it, for that lesson was bought at the cost of many lives. I do not know his mind, yet I would like to believe that he does still. Your presence here, in this affair of Dwarves and Men, signifies his support – or so I hope.’

[OOC: An Insight Check (TN 16) may reveal more of Glóin’s thoughts on the matter. Anyone can attempt it.]

Then Barin and Asfrid spoke, and Glóin smiled at the Lake-woman’s recitation. ’I see that you remember the rhymes of lore of your folk. But if every old wives’ tales were to be believed, then one would be led to think that dragons dwell in the Long Marshes.’

He shook his head dismissively. ’Evil may dwell there, it is true. And where Mirkwood meets the marshes, there are bound to be spiders, as that evil race haunts all of that accursed forest. But you must not underestimate the dark forest itself: it has a will of its own, and is as grave an enemy as any creature of darkness. Perhaps greater even!’

He turned to Barin and added: ’Traders do come from the south, it is true, from as far a place as Dorwinion at times. Yet they avoid the forest, and they often unload their wares where the River Running meets Mirkwood, preferring to skirt around the eaves of the forest than to brave its horrors. But perhaps these things belong in the past; with the orcs weakened, perhaps the forest is not as dangerous as it once was. It is impossible to say without making the journey.’

He opened a shelf and dug deep into it, retrieving a pouch full of coins, that jingled as Glóin passed it to Barin. ’I shall give you all that I can. Use it wisely; as long as it can make your journey easier, I shall be glad that it was put to good use.’

[OOC: Although the game does not necessarily have a well-defined money system, I think in this instance we don’t need it. The coin is just a narrative device to give you the ability to make your journey easier; for example by making it easier to carry things at the portage, or hiring an NPC guide, or buying extra supplies, or whatever. You can use it only once.

I think at this point Glóin has given all that he can and told you all that he knows; if you have some good idea, you can post / roll for it, but I am happy to move towards the next part, if everyone is ready.]

[Vladim]

Asfrid bowed and tapped her chest in the rapid, pounding manner that only a dwarf could teach.

"Many thanks to you, good Glóin-son-Gróin. Tales appear true this day. I hope to tell you of what we find once we find it. Is good dwarf whose eyes and hand help guide this journey."

She then stood and made ready to depart.