Voting closed. Option 1a (ask throd) 8 votes with option 3 (7 votes) wins tally including the vote from facebook too. There was only 1 vote for option 1 (excavate and do it without Throd's permission) If you have something to suggest, facebook gets updated too. They liked this idea, voted on it (only 1 said no) so we ran with it.
Results from Last Episode - Ask Throd if the White Tower can be used to cast the protective ritual and give the lifestone to Maldor if you are unable to convince him.
You told Maldor of your decision, he grumbled but accepted it. Out of all of your elves you regularly dealt with, Maldor was by far the most hostile towards the Dwarves. Maldor was normally good natured and inquisitive and throughout your time together he had shown nothing but enthusiasm for the human cultures you have encountered, yet when it came to the Dwarves he was as close minded as a Chracian peasant. You wondered at what experiences he had in his past, that fouled his opinion on the stunted folk to a level of hatred beyond what most normal Asur felt.
By now the battle had ceased, the greenskins had been expelled from the settlement and each building had been cleared in case some of the more wily greenskins were laying in wait for a second opportunity to strike out. You watched as the wounded made their way to the infirmary, either carried in by their comrades or walking themselves if possible.
As usual you were accompanied by your bodyguard which included five Silver Helms and their leader, the High Helm Sir Herron of Istor. The Silver Helm's unit had been completely devastated during the raid on liche priest Runihara's tomb and could no longer function as a complete military unit. It was agreed between Sir Herron and Telar that the Silver Helms would operate as a general's bodyguard and would accompany either yourself or Telar during battles as the situation required. There were only around twenty Silver Helms left fit for active duty although some were still to recover. Judging by how this battle went there would probably be even less of them now.
Sir Herron was young for a High Helm, being less than two hundred years of age. He depicted the classic image of a Silver Helm, a bold, handsome and brave young knight keen to win glory for his house and name. To become a High Helm, a Silver Helm must distinguish themselves in single combat and continually seek out more dangerous opponents to duel with to maintain their position. According to Telar, Sir Heron was the best duelist in the expedition after himself.
You went to the town square, you could imagine this would have been a vibrant trading hub in the days of the original Elven occupation, now it was an abandoned ruin and as of today, the staging ground of your dead. Dozens of Elves lay still in rows, soldiers across all of your units, Spear Militia, Ellyrian Reavers, Silver Helms, Archers Militia, Shadow Warriors and Lothern Sea Guard all lay at rest with the various wounds that killed them on full display.
You looked at one of the bodies, it was Edrehad, the Spear Militia Sentinel. The Sentinel had his head caved in, likely by one of the orc's absurdly oversized axes. Edrehad's features were unrecognisable but you knew it was him due to the decorative ornaments he wore.
The spear elves now would have to promote a new leader from amongst their ranks.
More of the dead were being carried in, you spied Elden hauling one of them and was filled with relief. Elden was the spear elf you rescued from the Liche Priest Runihara in the Tomb of the Northern Oasis. Since starting the expedition many months ago you had succumbed to a feeling of immense loneliness. Considering you spent your entire life around others, suddenly you found yourself at the top of the expedition with no friends and allies. Your advisors, while professionally helpful in their own way, were in no way pleasant company. You were a social person by nature and required others to be with to make you happy, but due to leading this expedition you had gone months without any form of meaningful companionship. As a result you had fallen into a deep depression which you were simply unable to shake.
The only time where these feelings were alleviated was when Elden, the Shadow Warrior Aron and yourself were as equals, separated from the rest of your forces and trying to survive in the Tomb of the Northern Oasis. You had experienced a sense of comradery that you had not felt before but unfortunately it was to be short lived. Aron was killed, sacrificing himself so you could escape the tomb and warn the rest of the High Elves. Once Elden and yourself had made your escape he no longer spoke to you as he reverted back to the master/servant relationship that had alienated you from others in the first place.
You paused for some time observing the dead, they were laid out here to recover any arms and armour they may possess but more importantly, so their funeral rites could be conducted and their comrades could say goodbye to them one last time before they were buried.
Later in the day you returned to the infirmary. You received the butcher's bill from your physician Galend. Ninety dead, fifty four injured, with twelve of the injured unable to fight again. This was devastating, in the first night of the siege you had lost one fifth of your effective fighting force, with several thousand greenskins expected to arrive over the next few weeks you no longer believed survival was possible. Feelings of despair began to well up inside you but you fought it down as you couldn't risk having an episode in front of the soldiers. Your panic attacks had worsened over the past week as the frequency of your nightmares robbed you of worthwhile sleep, you hoped they were only temporary affliction.
You enquired about Telar, you were told he was non responsive and falling prey to seizures, his chances of recovery were unknown. This further added to your troubles, you needed a general, you were unable to handle military matters by yourself. Since you had the report it was now time to see Throd and inform him of the developments Maldor had discovered, and ask him about the White Tower. In truth you expected Throd to behave poorly to this but you hoped common sense would prevail.
Unfortunately you were correct. (persuasion check failed)
You met Throd alone in his quarters near the gatehouse, away from prying ears. While interested in the developments of the Shadow Orc, Throd immediately became furious about the prospect of the White Tower being used as part of a massive magical ritual. The Dwarven Thane was almost on the verge of shouting at you when he declined this, fortunately even still possessed a sense of restraint as his shouts would have drawn the attention of the Dwarves outside and promoted further dissonance within your shaky alliance.
The concept of going against any agreed upon deal was so abhorrent to him, you felt that Throd was not listening to reason. Throd stated that it was typical of elgi to weasel out of agreements and show dishonour like you are suggesting. This concept, plus his exceptional magical and elven bias, led you to believe that Throd could not be convinced about the White Tower at all and that he was as thick headed as the rest of his kin.
Further to this Throd disapproved of the idea of taking resources away from wall repairs and leaving almost the entire endeavour up to the Dwarves. Throd would not condone any further activity of that nature, viewing the wall defence and repairs as the utmost priority "if the walls break we break" he said with flair and conviction.
The meeting concluded with your relationship teetering on disaster, you thought it best to avoid Throd for a few days and let him cool off. With the casualty report in you may need to make changes to your defences, and with Telar incapacitated you would need to promote a new general until he became capable of leading again.
The general appointed needed to be from your household forces from Etaine so that left out the Shadow Warriors and Ellyrian Reavers. The Sea Guards were marines and not part of your original expedition anyway, they were only added by the admiralty last minute. With the death of spear sentinel Edrehad that only left two candidates, Sir Herron of the Silver Helms and Tallion, Hawkeye of the archer militia.
Sir Herron was young, brash and ambitious. He fit the mould of the typical up and coming Elven commander and he was a noble too, this meant his promotion would be looked on favourably back home. If you ever saw it again that is.
Hawkeye Tallion was a peasant, but was a veteran of many campaigns and was well respected by your citizen militia. Telar had told you he was a reliable hand but a cautious soldier. Tallion was the officer who assembled the initial reserve force the previous night and relieved Maldor under your orders, it was his actions that allowed your forces to respond as promptly as they did.
You considered the issue of your depleted forces, did you bolster the wall defences with your reserves or retain a larger reserve which could respond to walls being less defended?
And what of the elven armoury beneath the White Tower? While the magic ritual is off the table unless you want open conflict with Throd, do you ignore his preference to repair the walls and do you excavate the armoury to see what waits within?
Results from choices -2 relationship with Throd.
Relationship with Throd is now -4 (genuine dislike) if it gets to -10 the Dwarves will turn hostile.
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Choices - Select 1 option of each choice.
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Choice 1 - Who will be the next general?
[] Choice 1 Option 1: Promote Hawkeye Tallion to General - Gives bonuses to cautious and defensive actions
[] Choice 1 Option 2: Promote Sir Herron to General - Gives bonuses to bold and aggressive actions.
Choice 2: Do you re-deploy units?
[] Choice 2 Option 1: Take away units from the reserve to reinforce the walls (longer time defending the walls before a section lost, however if the wall is taken the responding reserve force will be smaller and will have a harder time regaining the wall)
[] Choice 2 Option 2: Leave everything as is (larger reserve force to respond to incidents although you will lose certain sections of the walls quicker)
Choice 3: The Elven Armoury - Underneath the rubble of the White Tower sits an Elven Armoury, you don't know what is in there but it could be of use during the siege. Do you divert your limited resources from repairing the walls to excavating the armoury?
[] Choice 3 Option 1: Excavate the Armoury - Divert your resources, wall repair will be very slow while the excavation takes place. It may take one to two weeks depending on how active the orcs are. You will receive a relationship penalty with Throd if you do this.
[] Choice 3 Option 2: Leave it - The walls are more important, don't excavate the armoury.
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A discussion on game mechanics.
We won't be actively "playing" every battle of the siege. Most will be determined by dice rolls. What determines the success of these automated dice rolls are conditions like - wall strength, troop strength, whether actions require to be aggressive or defensive, morale etc.
Telar is the general of your forces. He oversees all matters involving the military and it's day to day operations. Telar's past is a mystery, the only factual things you know about him is that he is from Nagarythe and is common born. You know he served sometime as a Shadow Warrior and gained a a high level of infamy, so much so that the Shadow Warriors currently serving in your forces had heard of him. He was a veteran of many wars including the invasion of Ulthuan by Grom the Paunch and as a result he has a particular hatred towards Greenskins. At some point he joined the armed forces of your household as a captain and has served your family for around fifty years. Many of the citizen militia are afraid of him.
Telar is about six hundred years old, he has blue eyes and ashen hair. Telar shows little emotion and it is difficult to read his motivations and thoughts, he is not friendly or welcoming and you generally have difficulties when dealing with him. Despite this he is loyal to the expedition, is an effective commander and has never openly usurped your authority although is quick to judge your actions when you meet in private.
Telar is the best duellist in the expedition and has killed the following Characters so far.
Runtz Breaktoof (A goblin boss)
High Priest Runihara (A Tomb King Liche Priest)
The Shadow Orc An Orc Shaman) with assistance from Elaine Swiftwind and Sindor of the Silver Helms
The Bray Shaman in the Steaming Jungles.
PIC: Telar holding the head of the Lich Priest Runihara
[x] Choice 1 Option 1: Promote Hawkeye Tallion to General - Gives bonuses to cautious and defensive actions
[x] Choice 2 Option 1: Take away units from the reserve to reinforce the walls (longer time defending the walls before a section lost, however if the wall is taken the responding reserve force will be smaller and will have a harder time regaining the wall)
[x] Choice 3 Option 1: Excavate the Armoury - Divert your resources, wall repair will be very slow while the excavation takes place. It may take one to two weeks depending on how active the orcs are. You will receive a relationship penalty with Throd if you do this.
[X] Choice 1 Option 1: Promote Hawkeye Tallion to General - Gives bonuses to cautious and defensive actions
[X] Choice 2 Option 2: Leave everything as is (larger reserve force to respond to incidents although you will lose certain sections of the walls quicker)
[X] Choice 3 Option 2: Leave it - The walls are more important, don't excavate the armoury.
Hrmm. I was hoping either C1:O1 (defensive bonuses) and C2:O1 (likely more defensive rolls) would succeed, or C1:O2 (offensive bonuses) and C2:O2 (likely more offensive rolls, from counter-attacking in response to losing the walls).
Results From Last Episode:
Promote Sir Herron to General.
Preference the reserves (leave everything as it is)
Leave the White Tower excavation alone.
This is what must be done. You found Maldor in his quarters and handed him the lifestone. The green gem set within the Nehekharan amulet glowed dimly. Maldor considered it a moment before wearing it around his neck, he assured you once our he had rested he would start the first of the magical enchantments.
The walls were in poor shape, a lot of the restorative works conducted on them were wooden supports and palisades and many had been torn down by the orcs during last night's raids. With the huge losses you sustained the state if the walls was now more important than ever, far more so than whatever laid in the armoury. With more secure walls you could afford to maintain a large reserve force to respond to incidents.
You spoke to Sir Herron about your decision. He was suave in his acceptance, bowing and kissing your hand in a courtly fashion. He would have had all the ladies of the court swooning over him back home with this action, you personally didn't know how to take this. You blushed and awkwardly muttered something in return thanking him. What were you thanking him for? Inwardly you kicked yourself for being an idiot and momentarily forgetting yourself.
Sir Herron was to take Telar's position on the night watch immediately. You granted him leave from your personal body guard and allowed him time to organise, you sent missives to the other commanders informing them of the promotion.
Five days passed. The greenskins attacked twice during this time with raids on the perimeter walls, both attacks were repelled with minor losses to your side and there was no re-appearance from the Shadow Orc. The orc host had reached somewhere around three thousand now, they were almost entirely cavalry based and due to the lack of nearby wood they appeared unable to construct any significant siege engines, relying almost entirely on ladders to assault the walls. At least that part of the plan appeared to be working.
Throd received correspondence via carrier pigeon from the rest of his clan situated in the mountain ranges to the west. They were mustering their forces and would send aid, their estimated arrival was one month away. This brought you hope and it was no longer a siege of attrition until the orcs collapsed, now it had an end date. You just had to last that long.
To his credit Sir Herron was performing well in his new position, he was a charismatic leader and spent a lot of time motivating the troops. He took his position seriously, you were careful to hide your inexperience with him and kept your strategy and planning meetings short.
On the fifth day you received word that Telar had regained consciousness and his survival was now almost guaranteed. You visited him in the infirmary, now that he was conscious, he was moved to private quarters.
Telar was sitting on his bed, his torso was wrapped in bandages. He look tired and weak. You sat next to him and he regarded you coldly. Even as feeble and sick as he was he still made you feel uncomfortable and after not seeing him for a few days you had forgotten how intimidating he was. You shifted about nervously. You needed to break the silence.
"How are you?" you asked.
"I have significant muscle weakness, I can barely walk but I suspect I will recover soon." he replied. His tone was flat, it's delivery was cold and emotionless.
"We were all worried about you." you said.
Telar didn't reply. There was a long moment of silence.
"I am told you promoted Sir Herron of Istor in my absence. Why?" he said shortly.
"He is strong and capable. I needed a new general" you replied somewhat defensively.
"All of our soldiers are strong and capable. Why did you promote him specifically?" asked Telar.
Was this a test? Telar often did this to you, made you question your decisions. He alway trying to make you feel stupid, "he is very brave. A quick thinker and a good fighter, a figure head that could lead from the front. He is inexperienced but still he leads his unit well. I think we need someone like that now, someone who is a hero. I wanted to give him a chance." you said.
"What about Tallion?" asked Telar.
"He was my second choice but with Eldrehad's death he was the only surviving officer of the citizen militia. I didn't want to disrupt them any further. Talion is reliable and steadfast, we people on the frontline like that. Someone who could stand fast and be an example, the citizen militia are our core, we need a strong person to lead them until their new sentinel can establish themselves." you replied.
"You value strong and brave over steadfast and reliable?" said Telar condescendingly.
Anger clouded your mind, Telar had triggered the pent up frustration within you. You spoke without thinking.Your fists clenched and you stood up suddenly "How dare you talk to me this way. I am a Highborn of Etaine." you said.
Telar stood up too, he towered over you. "No Elaine. You are a little girl who has been gifted the lives of hundreds of elves who are duty bound to give their lives on your whim. Once again you fail to realise the point of this exercise. A leader must justify their decisions, I have pressed you on them and you have thrown a tantrum and utilised your status as a shield." he said.
"Who are you to say that to me, you are a common born vagabond. I am not a child, you are not my schoolmaster to lecture me so. You are not in charge. I am in charge. I am a Princess! Your superior!" you fired back almost shouting.
Upon hearing yourself utter those words you felt like a complete fool. You had proved Telar's point down to the letter, and worst of all he was right. You had relied on your titles to get your way your entire life and in the end what good was it? You were surrounded by thousands of greenskins, do you think they cared that you were a Princess of Etaine? What good was a title when everyone who recognised it was dead. Who would lay fealty to your corpse when it was raised atop a greenskin banner thousands of miles away from your homeland.
You tried to meet Telar's gaze but you looked away, tears welled in your eyes. You were both silent for a time. The only movement in the room was your shaking fists as you tried to fight down your shame.
"How are your nightmares?" asked Telar in a softer tone. Telar was the only one who knew of your troubles, of your flashbacks of the Tomb of the Northern Oasis that plagued your sleep.
"They are getting worse. I can't describe it but since I gave the lifestone to Maldor they have become unbearable. I'm…..afraid of going to sleep. I'm so tired, I don't know what to do." you said.
"When one is a soldier, it is expected that they will face hardships in their years of service. This is something that you can prepare for to a certain degree. You are a courtier who was not ready for the realities of what we face and your introduction to this way of life was so brutal it would shake even the steeliest warrior. You will be troubled by this for some time, I hope as the weeks pass the severity will lessen. Your mind has proven to be your greatest asset, we cannot afford for you to lose it." said Telar.
"It feels like I am in a well. I can't escape and everything I do makes it worse. The alliance with the dwarves is failing, they are ignorant and backward. You were the only one who seemed to like them. How do you do it?" you asked.
"You misunderstand. I don't like them at all, but I give the impression of being helpful because I must. The Dwarves are tools, nothing more. We use them to guard the fortress and sell their lives to reduce the cost of our own. The farmer sharpens his scythe so he can harvest his wheat. We sharpen the Dwarves so they can kill orcs. There is nothing more important in this siege than maintaining our alliance with the Dwarves, they are professional orc killers, the perfect tools for the harvest.
Do not allow this to falter but on the other side do not view them as equals as they are not. They are nothing, they exist to die for us, not the other way around. Keep the Dwarves sharp with words and actions and they will serve our needs as long as we require them to. But always sacrifice them before us. Understand this." said Telar.
Telar was cold, his lack of empathy disturbed you. Regardless of your feelings the Dwarves were still sentient creatures who loved life and despite their faults, were fundamentally good. Did you have it in you to think of them as Telar did?
"Do you think I can lead this expedition?" you asked. Finally meeting Telar's eyes. You stared at him defiantly.
He didn't respond, he simply looked back at you. His face was expressionless.
There was a knock on the door. It was one of your Silver Helms bodyguards. "My Lady. The Dwarf Thane requests you immediately at the gatehouse. There is an incident." he said.
"Of course." you replied, you were still locking eyes with Telar. You broke the stare and left the room, you were no longer upset. You felt stronger.
You met Throd atop the gatehouse. His Dwarves were ready for combat. You looked across the ridgeline, about fifty metres away stood a massive orc carrying two massive axes and wearing chainmail. He was shouting and bellowing, he was truly fearsome.
"That be one of their warbosses. He'd be commanding one of their mobs" said Throd. "He be challenging us to a fight, single combat. He wants elf blood he says"
You were wondering why the dwarves hadn't blown this creature to smithereens. It was well within range. Throd noticed your hesitation.
"The Urks they have their own form of honour. They seek single combat, makes em look tough and inspires the boys. If ye don't answer we look weak, makes him look tough makes the urks fight harder." said Throd.
"Well why don't you just shoot him then?" you replied.
Throd looked like he had been hit with a hammer, your words completely dumbfounded him for a moment. "Shoot im? When he is offering single combat?" Throd stammered, "Of course ye elgi would do that sort of dishonourable cowardice but we have honour that needs to be upholded. Ye shoot that orc it makes his boys stronger, makes us look weak and by Grungni I'll not stand by and the Dawi look weak. We'll be the laughing stock of our ancestors. The Urk is challenging ye Elgi, answer him!"
You watched the Orc for a moment, he looked lethal. Bigger than another other Orc you had seen this close yet and heavily armoured. The only person capable of handling this beast would be Telar but with him out of commission your best duelist was your new general, Sir Herron of Istor.
Would he be capable of defeating this beast in single combat? Was answering the challenge even worth it? Why risk your new general, the best fighter you had, to satisfy the ego of the greenskins?
You thought about Telar's comments. The relationship with the Dwarves was the most important part of this siege, declining the challenge would make Throd think you are weak and worsen the relationship between you. On the other hand Telar also said sacrifice the Dwarves before the Elves. If honour is so important to the Dwarves would they offer their own champion to fight the greenskin?
What do you do?
[] Choice 1: Sir Herron of Istor is to answer the challenge of the Orc Warboss.
Consequences: Sir Herron may be injured or killed. (A dice roll will determine his fate. If he is killed your forces will receive a morale penalty and you will have to promote a new general)
[] Choice 2: Refuse the challenge
consequences -1 relationship with Throd
[X] Choice 1: Sir Herron of Istor is to answer the challenge of the Orc Warboss.
Consequences: Sir Herron may be injured or killed. (A dice roll will determine his fate. If he is killed your forces will receive a morale penalty and you will have to promote a new general)
Well, on the one hand, this chapter specifically stated that the alliance with the dwarfs was the most important factor. On the other hand, risking our general is so monumentally stupid that I don't know if I can do it.
On the final hand, I did want the other guy to become general, so...
[X] Choice 1: Sir Herron of Istor is to answer the challenge of the Orc Warboss.
Results from Last Episode - Sir Herron of Istor is to answer the challenge of the Orc Warboss.
You summoned Sir Herron, he arrived in full spectacle, mounted atop his horse in full armour polished to perfection. Ribbons streamed on the end of his lance. Many off duty elves arrived, you granted them permission to observe the duel atop of the walls.
You walked down to the gate to greet Sir Herron. He rode gallantly up to you, he inclined his head and asked for your favour. Sir Herron was treating this like it was a simple tourney back home and you hoped he was taking this seriously, even so the elves appeared to enjoy the spectacle and even the dwarves looked interested. Maybe you could play this to your advantage? You curtseyed, normally you would have a wreath of flowers that you could have presented to Sir Herron on such occasions, instead you removed your necklace and slipped it over the tip of his lance. He leant over, took your hand and once again kissed it. You were very impressed, he was absolutely dashing in this role, you were surprised you never saw him before back home the various Tourney's your father held.
Summoning all of your performance skills you stood atop the walls and made a speech, you claimed Sir Herron was your champion and that he seeks glory in your name. You made mention to the heroes of the elves past and that the gods would be watching. The elves cheered and the dwarves smiled, even Throd looked impressed. Despite your performance you took no joy in everyone else's celebrations as you were busy suppressing the creeping dread as you realised you may well have Sir Herron off to his own public execution. You stood next to Throd as the gatehouse opened, almost shaking with anxiety. You prayed you had made the right choice.
Sir Herron entered the field and immediately sped his horse to a gallop. The orc had already mounted his great boar and shouted with glee. It's axes were sheathed and he now carried a crude lance. The orc shouted and charged and both fighters tilted their lances. On the first pass sir Herron dismounted the orc with a strike to it's shoulder. The wall erupted with cheers and Sir Herron slowed and wheeled around.
The orc was not down for the count, the blow damaged it's right shoulder pauldron and only caused minor injuries. The orc regained it's footing and drew one of its axes as it's mount retreated back down the ridgeline squealing loudly.
The orc's dismounting caused a large cloud of dust to hang in the air, partially obscuring it. Sir Herron started another pass with lances tilted. Suddenly the orc threw it's lace straight at Sir Herron's horse. Sir Herron barely avoided the strike but his horse panicked and baulked its charge. With surprising agility the orc lept out the dust cloud and took a swing with it's axe at Sir Herron's torso, and at the same time the orc collided it's body with the stunned horse and completely bowled it over in a vicious tackle. Sir Herron took the blow on his shield and the High Helm fell from his saddle as his horse was thrown to the ground, with his shield smashed apart from the blow
You gasped, this was it, he was done and you were the one who sent him to his death.
The orc charged at Sir Herron but he was quick to his feet and had his longsword ready, his shield discarded. Sir Herron appeared groggy and unsteady and the orc pressed it's advantage. Sir Herron took a blow to the head and torso but fortunately his armour held, the rest of the blows he somehow managed to parry.
Suddenly Sir Herron was on the offence, the Orc mistimed one his attacks which allowed Sir Herron to lunge forward and thrust his blade right into the Orcs right armpit. The Orc howled and yelled, Sir Herron withdrew his sword and loped the orcs right arm off at the elbow. The orc stumbled and swung out with his left axe, a clumsy blow which Herron caught on his sword. Herron binded the axe with his blade and he traversed around the beast, he then followed by cutting a deep wound in it's left calf.
The Orc fell to one knee and with a final cut Sir Herron buried his blade into the Orcs skull. The orc snorted and collapsed. Sir Herron stumbled forward, retrieved his blade and held his sword aloft.
Elf and Dwarf a like erupted in a thunderous cheer and you breathed a sigh of relief. Sir Herron retrieved his horse, who was uninjured the tackle, and rode triumphantly into the keep.
"By Grungi what a fight! I'd be proud of that one elgi, he's a keeper!" said Throd with mirth in his voice.
You looked beyond the wall. At the base of the ridge watched the orc host, thousands of them, and at their head stood a single figure dressed in white standing in stark contrast to the rest of the orc host in black. Lawrunz of Araby was watching and he was likely displeased with the result, you felt instant worry at this.
Sir Herron appeared in a bad way, his breastplate was punctured, his helmet was caved in he was bleeding from his head but still that did not stop him from relishing in the glory. Sir Herron dedicated his victory to you and the crowd cheered. You waved regally but you were unable to share in their enjoyment as you knew the retaliation for your win would be swift and devastating.
And so it was.
For two weeks your fortress was attacked every night. It was like a terrible game of tug of war, the orcs would push you from the walls and you would regain it, and it was a game you were losing.
The military duel was fierce, the orcs had lost somewhere around two thousand of their number but still more arrived. The initial estimate of Lawrunz's forces obtained during the interrogation of Runtz Breaktoof estimated the approximate number of the orcs forces was around ten thousand. At this stage about four thousand were camped below, you had lost one hundred and ninety dead across both elves and dwarves with many more wounded. Your combined forces were almost down to half your original strength yet despite it's poor condition the White Tower was a very effective fortress and it's walls had mitigated your losses considerably,you wondered how many of the Nehekharan's it took to besiege it in it's glory days. Due to your losses your defences on the walls were getting stretched thin, so much so that many sections of the wall were falling back upon initial contact with the greenskins and holding them in the settlement where they could find allies until the reserves arrived.
Lawrunz of Araby was a cunning commander for an orc, he was likely taking catalogue of the weakest parts of your walls and he would be using that to his advantage. You were still two weeks away from the Dwarven relief force arriving, you honestly didn't know if you could make it. You knew the orcs were preparing for a massive final assault, you just didn't know where or when it was occurring.
The magical duel for the White Tower was just as fierce but where the military attacks were blunt force, the Shadow Orc waged a war of feints and manoeuvres. The Shadow Orc made multiple appearances, casting powerful spells and illusions however it disengaged everytime Maldor entered into combat with it.
Maldor stated our defences were being tested, the Shadow Orc was seeing where our magical barriers were protecting and what could be done to breach them. Maldor did his best to randomise the locations as much as possible but you were certain the Shadow Orc was aware that the gatehouse was consistently unprotected. Maldor was concerned that the Shadow Orc was not showing outward aggression and he assumed it's chief role was intelligence gathering.
This was concerning news, that these greenskins possessed such cunning and patience, traits atypical of their kin. In regards to the lifestone Maldor had learnt to use the power of the lifestone to refresh him somewhat and he was certain with sufficient time he could learn it's true abilities. Maldor doubted he could have been so effective without it.
Since you were no longer in possession of the lifestone things had gotten much worse for you. Despite your lack of magical affinity, the lifestone must have been providing you with some type of subtle energy regeneration or magical resistance as it was warding off your nightmares. Two weeks without wearing the stone had caused you huge fatigue issues and your mental afflictions had gotten significantly worse. Without the lifestone there was no filter to the horrors that invaded your mind when you slept.
Due to this, meaningful sleep was almost impossible for you and your anxiety was unbearable, so much so that you often found yourself curling up into a ball and crying at night. Occasionally you would cry yourself to sleep before being woken in a cold sweat from the night horrors that plauged your sleep and you were at the point of a mental breakdown, on top of this the regular raids and attacks did not help your sleeping cause one bit.
Telar was the only one who knew of your troubles and he wanted you to keep them a secret, lest rumours spread of you becoming unhinged, but should you discuss your issues with Maldor? Could he provide a magical cure?
The situation on the walls was now critical, should you once again consider redeploying the reserves to walls or should you reach out to Throd and request his assistance? You knew he would not like that but there were fewer of your elves each day to defend such a large area, you didn't know how much longer you could do it by yourselves.
Your thoughts often wandered to the Shadow Orc, surely he would be aware that the gatehouse was undefended against his magic. Was he going to make his move when the orc's big push came? Should you re-approach Throd and see if he will consider Maldor casting his enchantments on the gatehouse as part of his regular routine?
Results from the episode +2 relationship with Throd (now -2, dislikes you)
Morale boost to very high (now exhausted down to normal but it's temporary boost assisted in dice roll modifiers to determine losses)
……………………………………
Choices
Choice 1 - Should you see Maldor about your nightmares? Telar didn't want you to tell others but then again Maldor is a trusted advisor surely he would be an exception?
[]C1 Option 1: Go and See Maldor (-1 relationship with Telar. Current relationship with Telar +1 (somewhat likes you))
[]C1 Option 2: Keep it a secret as Telar suggested, they will pass over time.
Choice 2 - The walls are in a desperate state, you barely have enough Elves to man them, what do you do?
[] C2 Option 1: Redeploy the reserves to the wall (as last time, the walls will hold longer but there is less people to respond to incidents and it will be harder to take them back)
[] C2 Option 2: Requests the dwarves for aid (-1 Relationship with Throd)
[] C2 Option 3: Leave it as it is
Choice 3 - The Shadow Orc knows the gatehouse is susceptible to his magic. Do you try and persuade Throd to allow you to cast warding spells on the area he is guarding again?
[] C3 Option 1: Ask Throd (-1 relationship with Throd for asking, hard persuasion check required, failure to persuade him will mean a large relationship drop with Throd as you are pressing him on a matter he has already refused)
[] C3 Option 2: Do not ask.
[x]C1 Option 1: Go and See Maldor (-1 relationship with Telar. Current relationship with Telar +1 (somewhat likes you))
This isn't going to go away on it's own. We need to deal with it.
[x] C2 Option 1: Redeploy the reserves to the wall (as last time, the walls will hold longer but there is less people to respond to incidents and it will be harder to take them back)
[x] C3 Option 2: Do not ask.
Not yet. Need to get Throd to like us more first, else we're just burning our relationship for nothing.
[x]C1 Option 2: Keep it a secret as Telar suggested, they will pass over time.
[x] C2 Option 2: Requests the dwarves for aid (-1 Relationship with Throd)
[x] C3 Option 2: Do not ask.
Maldor is the expedition's battle mage and magical advisor. He is known to show great interest in other races and cultures and seeks to learn as much as possible about almost anything. Despite his interest in other races, Maldor is still a High Elf and is study of other cultures is not based on the premise of viewing them as equals, more so it as if the other races are lesser animals and he takes joy in learning and observing them. Maldor's chief interest is humans from the Tilea and Estalia regions, he has little regard for the humans of the Empire as he sees them as overly influenced by the Dwarves with whom who Maldor openly despises.
Maldor is very old, so much so that he has forgotten his own age however you estimate it is somewhere between fifteen hundred and two thousand years of age. You know this as the last expedition to the White Tower at least fifteen hundred years ago and Maldor had told you that was his first posting as a new apprentice.
Maldor is proficient in all the winds of magic but is particularly potent in the lores of heavens and light. Despite being a wealth of knowledge Maldor is rather forgetful about simple matters and often wanders off into his own mind, as if in a dream. Maldor's is an incredibly powerful mage however with his age and his forgetful nature he is well past his prime, likely forgetting what most learn in an entire lifetime.
Maldor is friendly and welcoming but is always studying or trying new techniques and he has little time for social endeavours, he is curious to the point of danger and is willing to take great risks to the detriment of others to advance his studies.
Maldor was appointed by the Tower of Saphery to your expedition and therefore is not a part of your household guard or the military greater, he falls outside of the command structure of your expedition and is not expected to follow orders from either yourself or Telar and can refuse requests if he deems it necessary. So far Maldor has been entirely cooperative and he genuinely wants to see the expedition succeed.
Notable Accomplishments so far -
Saving the expedition from the Liche Priest Runihara by preventing the Tomb King from raising the bulk of his undead forces and challenging him in a magical duel.
Successful in defending the expedition against the assaults of the Shadow Orc during the siege of the White Tower.
His magics assisted Throd and Gutri Oakenshield and Sir Herron of Istor in killing Lawrunz of Araby.
1.Keep nightmares to yourself - consequence -5% chance to any roll Elaine makes due to accumulated fatigue
2. Redeploy the reserves to the wall and don't ask the dwarves for help
3. Don't ask the dwarves about casting defensive magic on the gatehouse
Redeploy the reserves to the walls. Holding them completely was now an impossible task against any concerted attack, when thy time came you would have to call a complete withdrawal to the town square and gatehouse region, your troops were fast and could make it, the Dwarves could not, they were better used concentrated in number in one place to provide a safety net for your retreating forces. You ordered some defensive fortifications built in the town square, wagons were pulled into line, bags were filled with sand amd palisades were built, all ready to repel assaults should the need arised.
You were also concerned about the vulnerability of the gatehouse to the Shadow Orc but you decided not to press this issue with Throd as it would certainly make matters worse between you.
Four days passed without any raids from the Orcs. Goblins were spotted during the night periods trying to retrieve ladders from the piles of Greenskin corpses and you felt like a big attack was incoming.
Despite your heavy losses the main part of the plan was still on track. Lawrunz of Araby traditionally had his forces split into groups of one thousand orcs and goblins as food was scarce in the desert.
For almost three weeks Lawrunz had been running this siege with upwards of six thousand orcs concentrated in one area and he was likely running out of food, you could already tell from a distance the orcs were ill contented and you could see fights breaking out in camp, in the absence of food the orcs will cannibalise themselves and you were relying on this fact.
The lack of food would pressure Lawrunz into trying to seize the fort quickly and he would bleed his orcs on the walls to do so, reducing their number. The White Tower was a powerful fort and had it not been mostly destroyed, it was mostly impervious to direct assault. Your plan was to whittle down the Orcs until they lost heart, then they would run out of food and turn on each other. At this point one of two things will have happened, the first option was Lawrunz would have to abandon the siege and deal with the power struggles would arise as he had suffered two defeats at the hands of your forces, virtually freeing you from the orcs for a short time.
The second option was Lawrunz would have to personally lead his army in an assault on the walls to motivate them.At this point he would either be defeated, or preferably killed, and his forces would be in disarray as they fought amongst themselves to determine a new leader. This is something that would likely cost time and lives and would effectively remove the greenskins as an organised threat for some time.
What was not taken into consideration was the appearance of the Shadow Orc. The orc's it's ability to cast illusions that confused or clouded the mind weakened your wall defences considerably and without Maldor you would have been completely overrun in the first week.
You were below half of your starting defensive force in effective fighting soldiers, and less than two hundred and fifty elves still stood. Lawrunz had taken losses too, over two thousand of his forces lay dead but his re-enforcement's seemed limitless as more of his mobs joined his cause. There were still around three thousand orcs left and you could not escape the feeling that this was the end of you and your expedition.
Your nightmares worsened again, you estimated you were only sleeping two hours per night and it was beginning to take its toll. You felt sluggish and simple decisions took longer for you to make, you were becoming irritable and your general appearance was dishevelled as large dark bags had formed under your eyes and you no longer took the time to care for your hair, instead opting to wear your armour and your helmet everywhere throughout the day.
You took heed of Telar's advice and kept your troubles a secret, only confiding with him about the horrors that plagued your mine. Telar was unusually understanding about this, in his own way at least, and unloading your burdens on him made you feel better.
Telar was now mobile but still weakened, he was still unable to fight effectively and had to walk with a cane. He spent his time teaching Sir Herron of the duties of generalship and army administration. Telar told you Sir Herron would show promise as a commander if he ever managed to get over himself. Sir Herron was motivated by glory and reputation, this made him dangerous, perhaps in time this may lesson but conquering and personal gain was forefront in his mind and that could cloud his judgement and lead you into dangerous situations.
Interestingly Telar also told him that Sir Herron fancied you and often tried to derail training sessions so he could find out more about you. Telar warned you of the dangers of letting such matters interfere with the expedition and should you detect any such advances from Sir Herron you must immediately shut them down and finalise the matter. Telar also stated that you were the only she-elf the soldiers had seen for months and therefore you should not be flattered by the attention. If you weren't so tired you probably could have thought of some witty retort, instead you just stood there in a daze and nodded your head slightly.
Early on the fifth night the attack started. You climbed the tower near the gatehouse, your usual mode of deployment. Sir Herron normally adopted his command post on the walls, usually where the fighting was thickest. It was agreed upon that Sir Herron would control the flow of battle however due to your vantage point you could call a general withdrawal if Sir Herron was unable to, and you were the one to deploy the reserve forces where they were needed.
Telar joined you, he was dressed without his armour but still carried a sword. Maldor's warning spells detonated in the south, you likely knew that that area was illusions at least and you would monitor it carefully. All of the beacons were lit, at least this battle wasn't a surprise and the orcs were spotted well before they assailed the perimeter walls. On the ridge line the orcs charged again and were met with cannon and catapult.
The Dwarves grinned menacingly under their helmets, they were professional orc killers and you knew they enjoyed their job. Throd stood atop the gatehouse shouting words of encouragement and the dwarves chanted their battle songs. This is something which you had gotten used to by now and it even managed to lift your spirits, despite you not knowing the words.
You knew Maldor was waiting in the town square with a small squad of cavalry, ready to deploy wherever the Shadow Orc made an appearance, his swift action was vital in ensuring your survival and with the power of the lifestone Maldor could not only oppose the
Shadow Orc, but use his magic to revitalise your defence forces wherever he went. Throd forbid Maldor from the gatehouse area, especially his defensive boons "lest he corrupt his folk with his malevolent tricks."
So far Maldor was not needed at the gatehouse, the Dwarves had never lost the walls so far. Orcs had made purchase but were always thrown off and whatever damage was made to the gatehouse had always been repaired the next day.
The battle persisted for over an hour or so, in places your wall held, in others the troops fell back until the reserve forces arrived and tried to push the orcs back. Normally the attacks would not last this long, you felt that this was their first concerted effort to take the fortress in over a week. Less of the orcs seemed like illusions, was Lawrunz finally playing his hand?
The greenskins made solid progress on the gatehouse and they were concentrating more of their forces there than ever before. The greenksins erected makeshift walls from their comrades corpses and goblin archers fired from these makeshift barricades, duelling their dwarven counterparts atop the gatehouse. The greentide tried to storm the gatehouse with ladders but the dwarves were holding firm.. Occasionally cannon fire would shred the corpse wall to clear the lanes of fire but it was always rebuilt in quick order. It was a truly devastating sight.
The situation on the perimeter walls soon became grim, many of the sections of the walls had been overrun and you knew you didn't have the numbers to hold the entire perimeter. Sir Herron was in the west and was your strongest position, with all others sections doing poorly. Due to the fire of the beacons you could see the orcs pouring into the settlement in these areas, of course you never knew what was real and what was not with the Shadow Orc about which was the most difficult part of this siege.
Grey lightning struck down at the walls near Sir Herron, it was the Shadow Orc. You watched Maldor gallop and off and respond to the threat. Horns sounded from the east and south, the signal that the walls were lost. The town square had been properly fortified now, with bags of dirt and wooden palisades, it was the last line of defence against the orcs attacking the gatehouse. The town square was a smaller area and would be easier to defend as your vastly depleted forces could concentrate, however conceding the walls would give the orcs freedom of mobility and constant replenishment from the walls.
Was it finally time to give up the walls? You knew you couldn't hold all of them.
What do you do?
Option 1: Maintain the walls as long as possible - consequences unknown.
Option 2: Concede the east and south walls, their forces are to withdraw to the town square, the rest will remain longer - consequences unknown.
Option 3:Concede the walls entirely. Call for a fighting withdrawal to the town square to concentrate your forces - consequences unknown.
I'm half shocked that given your seeming enthusiasm for and talent for drawing and depicting Warhammers delightfully terrible and terribly delightful greenskins that this isn't something like: ''Da Objectz Ov Morks Rein: A Hobgoblin Quest'' ;-)
In all seriousness, this is great, what drew you to the high elves though? I think they have the most impressively diverse airforce in the setting but I'm new to this quest and not you
I'm half shocked that given your seeming enthusiasm for and talent for drawing and depicting Warhammers delightfully terrible and terribly delightful greenskins that this isn't something like: ''Da Objectz Ov Morks Rein: A Hobgoblin Quest'' ;-)
In all seriousness, this is great, what drew you to the high elves though? I think they have the most impressively diverse airforce in the setting but I'm new to this quest and not you
Thank you. I chose the High Elves for a few reasons.
1. I like their aesthetic
2. I wanted to emphasise the fish out of water aspect of the main character and I also wanted to present other cultures as alien to the the MC.
3. I know some people in my facebook page wouldn't have wanted to play an "evil" campaign at ths time of starting it. Originally planned for a dark elf campaign and my test group hated the idea lol.
We don't have the forces to retake the sections of wall that've fallen. As the orcs flood into the fortress ,if we try to just hold the walls, the orcs will very quickly be attacking our wall sections from both inside and outside sandwiching them with no hope of retreat. All our forces die.
Option 2:
If we pull back some of the forces to the town square, the orcs that flood in from the places they were fighting at can just ignore the town square and sandwich the wall sections that we're still holding. This is a slightly better than option 1 (because some of our forces survive in the town square), but still pretty awful. To avoid this, we'd need our guys in the town square to sally out and act as interceptor forces to the orcs inside the walls trying to collapse onto the gatehouse and allied wall segments. This is just fighting the orcs, but without any fortifications for half our forces. Also pretty bad. It does however buy time for our forces at the gatehouse and allied sections of the wall to do things or continue fighting from an advantageous position.
Option 3:
The only real option given our situation. Everything else leads to massive losses. However: We don't control the dwarfs and currently have no coordination with them on this decision. If we abandon the walls and the dwarfs don't, they're going to get wrecked and the survivors will probably be incredibly angry at us.
So I think that primarily we need to know what the dwarfs will do if we pull back, and if we need to buy them time to pull their canons back to the town square.
[X] Option 3:Concede the walls entirely. Call for a fighting withdrawal to the town square to concentrate your forces - consequences unknown.
Highest priority is coordinating with Thorgrim above actually quickly pulling back.
The only real option given our situation. Everything else leads to massive losses. However: We don't control the dwarfs and currently have no coordination with them on this decision. If we abandon the walls and the dwarfs don't, they're going to get wrecked and the survivors will probably be incredibly angry at us.
So I think that primarily we need to know what the dwarfs will do if we pull back, and if we need to buy them time to pull their canons back to the town square.
[X] Option 3:Concede the walls entirely. Call for a fighting withdrawal to the town square to concentrate your forces - consequences unknown.
Highest priority is coordinating with Thorgrim above actually quickly pulling back.
The Dwarves won't be leaving the gatehouse unless it's lost completely, if the gatehouse is lost, pretty much the entire adventure is lost you as that's what's stopping the orcs entering in their full numbers. By pulling back to the main square you will be creating a large rectangular defensive position that includes the gatehouse. As long as the Town Square is held the gatehouse can't be attacked from the rear. So the final fallback point if the town square is lost is the gatehouse where what's left of the Elves and Dwarves will make their last stand.
Unfortunately due to previous choices made the voters, the secret exit to the settlement was never found so escape is impossible. If you don't win then the High Elves adventure is over.
Either option of excavating the armoury or the Tower to cast the ritual. I'm not sure I was posting here when all of those options were available, if we die blame it on facebook!
Lawrunz of Araby is an orc warboss who rose to prominence about ten years before the Objects of Power. The orcs at the time were confined to the desert and spent most of their time infighting due to a lack of food, every time they ventured they were soundly defeated by the dwarves, nomads or the forces of Sultanate of El-Hadiq. One day Lawrunz received a vision from Gork and Mork and he became aware that this infighting was not the true path his gods wanted him to take and that Gork and Morkl would send an orc of great power that would help him in his quest. From This day Lawrunz vowed to become master of the Bay of Knives and to lead the greenskins to greatness.
Eventually Lawrunz rose to chief of his local tribe of orcs through pure savagery and ritualistic combat. Lawrunz then set about conquering the other tribes in the area. After absorbing several tribes Lawrunz soon realised that the orcs could not sustain themselves in large numbers in one place and began splitting his forces, he would call on them when they were needed to conquer but otherwise left them to their own devices and maintained their loyalty through fear and respect. Eventually Lawrunz reached such numbers he managed to defeat the human nomad people that shared the desert with them and forced them out.
Lawrunz's forces then began a series of raids along the settled humans of the Sultany of El-Haqiq and the free peoples of the west. With the raids came prestige and power and he became an absolute terror for any who lived close to the desert. Soon after Lawrunz was approach by the weirdest ork he had ever met, this ork was a powerful shaman but he didn't use the magic of the Waaagh but sneaky magic like Lawrunz had never seen before. The Orc had no name or no memory and the only thing he knew was he needed to serve Lawrunz. Lawrunz was certain this was the orc of great power Gork and Mork told him about and he instantly became Lawrunz's key advisor. This orc was later was to be known to the High Elves of the Bay of Knives expedition as the Shadow Orc.
With the Shadow Orc's powerful magic Lawrunz could do things like no other orc could before. His forces could move quickly, could sneak past the human armies and raid their lands or strike at their caravans without warnings. Several towns along the coastlines were sacked and raided that the orcs had never reached before and now all the humies in the Bay of Knives lived in fear of the dreaded Lawrunz of Araby.
After successfully raiding caravans and various outposts of the Dwarves of the Gold Mountain expedition the desert became completely inhospitable for civilised trade and travel and the races of the region conceded it to the mastery of the orcs. Lawrunz and his forces remained undefeated for almost a decade until one of their goblin mobs under Runtz Breaktoof was annihilated by a much smaller High Elf Army. Lawrunz mustered his forces and pursued the High Elves to the White Tower where he laid siege against a the combined forces of the High Elves and a group of Dwarves from the Gold Mountain Expedition.
During the siege of the White Tower Lawrunz of Araby was killed by the combine efforts of Throd and Gottri Oakenshield, Maldor of Saphery and Sir Herron of Istor.
