The One Ring Solo Pt.5: Flight in the Dark

Idril and Sefa find no rest at the farmhouse and are forced to escape into the darkness.

To Lady Gilraen of the Dúnedain,

The dawn finds us on the road to Bree. Diarmoc’s family is safe, yet our work is not yet done. The night has been long but I will endeavor to set down what happened.

Sefa and I found refuge in a ruined farmhouse upon the eastern edge of Morglynd Vale. While tending our wounds, fate revealed to us an unexpected ally—a young girl named Scylda. A wary child who had witnessed untold horror. She and her family had lived at this farmhouse when the trolls arrived. When Nelly and her son fell upon the family, only she survived their onslaught. Since then she had survived where none should, evading the trolls that slaughtered her kin, watching the horror that befell Diarmoc and his family, and waiting for aid that never came. Until now. We vowed to help her escape the vale along with Diarmoc’s family…or die trying.

In an effort to help us, Scylda told us what she knew of Nelly Longarms, her vile dominion over the lake, and a hidden boat on the shore nearby. We discussed moving to the lake in the morning but it seems that did not have the luxury of time. From the shadows, a monstrous shadow moved towards the farmhouse in the dark. Nelly must have found her son and tracked our steps.

Had Sefa been at full strength, we might have considered standing our ground. But to fight a troll in our state, in the dark, with an innocent to protect? We only had one choice. We fled into the night. 

Guided by Scylda, we moved with speed and silence, and at the lake’s edge found the hidden boat, and rowed forth into black waters. The raft at the lake’s center held four souls, huddled together against the night. We spoke their names and swore upon our own that they were to be freed. At first, they did not move, fearing some cruel trick. But then Elda, with a strength I shall not soon forget, called her children to her and stepped aboard.

With all souls aboard we rowed hard for the far shore and then raced across the marsh back toward the safety cave. We were blessed to avoid detention long enough to escort Scylda and Diarmoc’s family back to the cave where we discovered another surprise.

Jari was dead.

We found Diarmoc standing over the dwarf’s lifeless body, bloodied blade in hand. Gone was the broken man; in his place stood one who had seen the face of evil and put an end to it. Jari had somehow freed himself from his bindings, and had sought to strike once more—but he did not live to see the end of his treachery. Diarmoc made certain of that. None will mourn the dwarf.

Diarmoc embraced his family finally and they wept at being reunited. But their joy was cut short as a monstrous wail of fury rippled through the vale. Nelly had discovered he dead son and the escaped prisoners and she would not soon forget.

For now, we march for Bree. We must see this family safe, yet our work here is not finished. We will see the family to safety before we return to face her, for she is a shadow too dark to be left behind.

May the stars aid our flight to Bree,

Idril

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Notes and Summaries

Idril and Sefa have made their way to the ruined farmhouse on the eastern end of Morglynd Vale where they can recover for a few moments before setting out again.

During a short rest, characters gain Endurance equal to their Strength Rating. So Sefa is back up to 14 of 29 Endurance. This puts her exactly at her load so she is no longer weary but if she takes any damage she will be. This is worrying.

TT: Does Scylda Heather reveal herself? Yes

While resting the group heard a noise and watched in amazement as a young girl crawled out from within a cellar door in the floor of the farmhouse. She was filthy and looked malnourished. Idril was quick to offer the girl food and water which she graciously accepted. They spent several minutes helping her feel calm and safe before they asked who she was, and what she was doing here.

She told them her name was Scylda and that she lived her with her family in this farmhouse before the trolls came. She was lucky enough to be out gathering firewood when they appeared or else she would certainly have been killed or captured with the rest of her family. She had heard stories of trolls, and knew of their weaknesses to sunlight so she hid in the woods and watched as they destroyed her home and captured her family. The next morning she returned to the farmhouse, hoping to find any other survivors, instead, she found only destruction. That night smell of roasting meat filled the air and Scylda knew her family to be lost. Since then she has survived by hiding from the trolls, and living off what she could scavenge from the ruins and woods. She would have set off for Bree but she did not know the way and felt the only thing she could do was wait for help to arrive.

When she first saw Diarmoc’s family she was sure they could help her, but to her horror, they were also captured by the trolls and she dared not try to rescue them. Since then she has continued to watch and wait, hoping for help to arrive, and now at long last, it seemed it finally had.

Sefa and Idril were unsure what to do now. They wanted to get Scylda out of the valley but still needed to save Diarmoc’s family and weren’t sure they could do both. Should they fall fighting Nelly, then the girl was certain to remain stuck in the valley. Neither of them trusted that Jari wouldn't interfere if they asked Diarmoc to escort the girl to Bree.

For now, they explained to Scylda they were here trying to rescue Diarmoc’s family and slay the trolls but their recent confrontation with one of them had been hard won. Hearing this gave Scylda hope, there were only two trolls in the valley and if Sefa and Idril had defeated one of them, then perhaps they could defeat the other and free the valley of their horror.

She told them that it was surely the leader herself that was still at large. She rarely left the lake and seemed to be able to breathe underwater. Scylda knew of a boat still hidden along the shore but Sefa and Idril were in no mind to try and fight a troll in the water. She also knew of a secret way into the troll’s current lair, but with her son dead it was unlikely they would find Nelly in the lair. She seemed to spend all her time in the water.

Sefa and Idril discussed it and finally settled on a plan. They would rest in the farmhouse overnight and then attempt to row out and rescue Diarmoc’s family in the morning. Hopefully, the weather would clear. If the day was bright then it would be much easier to save the prisoners. If the sun remained hidden then at least Sefa would have recovered her strength. All they could do was pray for now.

TT: Does Jari find a way to escape his bonds? Yes (I made several more rolls after this because it had the potential to cause some major changes but I’m going to wait to reveal them until it’s relevant)

TT: Does Nelly leave her lake to search for her missing son? Yes
TT: Does she track the group to the farmhouse? Yes
TT: Who is on watch when she arrives? Idril

Idril Awareness Roll to spot Nelly as she heads their way (Ill-Favoured due to darkness): Success

Idril and Sefa took turns keeping watch throughout the night and as the night dragged on Idril saw movement in the darkness. A large shape was headed in the direction of the farmhouse and based on the way it moved it could only mean one thing. Nelly had found them. They could either fight the troll here and now, or attempt to slip out unnoticed with Scylda. Either would require a significant amount of skill and luck.

I’m honestly not sure what the best choice here would be. They are both pretty decent at stealth so they might be able to get to sneak down to the boat and rescue Diarmoc’s family in the dark. On the other hand, if it goes wrong it could become a disaster. I’m going to leave it up to a luck roll to decide what they do.

TT: Do Sefa and Idril resort to stealth or set up an ambush? Stealth

Sefa Stealth Roll (ill-favored as it is night and they have Scylda with them): Success
Idril Stealth Roll (normal roll as normally she is favored on stealth): Success+ (Make Haste)

Sefa and Idril decide that with Sefa still injured a fight with the troll is exceptionally unwise and with the monster out of the lake this is perhaps the time to rescue Diarmoc’s family still held captive on the lake.

They set out at once for the hidden boat and move like shadows through the night. Initially worried that Scylda would make things difficult, the young girl proves to be exceptional at moving unseen. Her time hiding from the trolls taught her how to move silently and Scylda leads them to the boat in great haste. Knowing that Nelly would eventually make her way back to the lake the trio quickly boarded the boat and began to row for the raft at the center of the small lake. As they approached Idril saw 4 prisoners huddled at the center of the small raft. She spoke to them quietly, alerting the prisoners to their approach. She spoke Elda, Tecca, and Sulain’s names and told them she had traveled to the valley with their father. They knew of Jari’s evil, had already slain one of the trolls, and were here to rescue them.

Our heroes don’t know this but unfortunately, Nelly is a master of mimicry and loves to torment her captives with this trait by pretending to be a would-be rescuer or worse. Sometimes she even mimics Diarmoc's voice, claiming that he has abandoned his family, or saying that he is going to become a worse monster than any troll by willingly luring more victims to the valley. Some of the captives even tried to swim to shore but were always caught, and consumed, by the trolls. Needless to say, they would be pretty alarmed by a voice in the dark claiming it was coming to rescue them. I’m going to say this is an Enhearten role, which unfortunately Idril is terrible at.

Idril Enhearten Roll (w/ Hope): Success (barely)

For a moment no one on the raft moved, and then Elda, Diarmoc’s wife motioned for her children to climb into the boat, “That monster would never call that vile dwarf evil. If this is another of her tricks then at least our misery will soon be over.” They all quickly piled into the now crowded rowboat as Sefa and Idril began rowing for the far shore. The boat sat dangerously low in the water and they had no desire to travel in the direction of a troll that seemed at home in the water. So far they had heard no noise from the direction of the farmhouse and could only hope their luck held. 

TT: Has Nelly finished searching the farmhouse and made her way towards the lake? No (for now).

Several minutes went by before the group reached the far shore of the lake and disembarked, stepping into ankle-deep muck and mire. Sefa and Idril led the group west as quickly as possible, past a ruined watchtower and back to the trail leading out of the vale. As they made their way back to their cave campsite, they heard a monstrous roar rip through the air in the valley. Nelly had discovered her captives were missing. Fortunately, the group was far enough away that this would be a challenge for another time.

At this point I just decided that Nelly would have found their tracks and discovered her captives were missing. The characters had some critical rolls go their way or things would have been bad. 

Almost an hour had passed since Idril and Sefa had rescued Diarmoc’s family. As they reached the top of the path that led to their resting place they all looked forward to a few moments of peace before deciding what to do next. Unfortunately, peace was not what awaited them. In the center of the small cave lay Jari’s lifeless body in a pool of blood, and not far away stood Diarmoc holding a bloody dagger. His posture seemed different, he no longer seemed defeated. Something had clearly changed in the man.

Seeing his family safe Diarmoc dropped the dagger and rushed to embrace them. Knowing the importance of the reunion Idril and Sefa covered the dead dwarf with a cloak and moved to keep watch at the entrance. They could wait to learn what had happened in the cave, though it wasn’t hard to guess.

Sometime later, after a tearful reunion, Diarmoc explained that Jari had somehow escaped his bonds and attacked the man. Dairmoc was overcome with rage. This vile dwarf had been responsible for the death of Diarmoc’s friends, the capture of his family, and the enslavement of his spirit. Yet even as they worked to undo his evil, Jari fought against them all. At that moment Dairmoc knew there would be no world in which Jari repented and tried to make amends. Diarmoc had never seen the dark lord, but he knew this dwarf was his servant and could live no longer. Dairmoc drew his dagger and plunged it into the dwarf over and over until he fell. As if to herald the end of evil a monstrous cry of rage echoed over the valley. In that moment Diarmoc somehow knew his family had been saved and a calmness settled over him.

TT: Does Jari find a way to break free? Yes
TT: Does Diarmoc stop him? Yes
TT: Does Diarmoc restrain him (low) or kill him (high)? Diarmoc kills Jari in the ensuing struggle.
TT: Does Diarmoc do this out of rage? Gandalf Rune - Yes, but it is a righteous fury over what was done to his family and helps him recover from his malaise and depression.

Sefa and Idril both embraced the man for a moment. His family was safe, his spirit was returned, and he had stood against evil and triumphed. Yet they all knew they were not truly safe until they had fled the vale.

Sefa and Idril knew that they must escort the family back to safety before returning for Nelly. They could only hope she would not flee into hiding once again. She represented an evil far too great to leave alive.

The night had been long but the journey could not be delayed. Sefa and Idril handed out what food they could and informed Diarmoc’s family that they had to leave immediately. They could not risk staying another moment in the valley.

As the sun began to rise the 8 of them set off on their journey back to Bree.

GM Thoughts

Diarmoc killing Jari was WILD! I initially rolled the results at the start of the “session” but decided it might be more interesting/impactful to show the results towards the end when our heroes discovered what happened. I didn’t expect Jari to break free since I rolled with a pretty low chance (doubtful = 8-11 would mean yes he broke free) but once it happened I had to stop for a bit and try to think through what would happen logically. It reminded me of my group games when a player does something brilliant out of left field and I have to ask them to wait while I think of what the heck would happen now.

The rescue of the captives and escape back to the cave was pretty nerve-wracking on my end. It was only a few rolls but I was using an “optional” rule for Risk Levels. Essentially you assign a level of risk that determines how bad a failed roll is. For all of the rolls involving escaping Nelly and rescuing the hostages I was rolling at a Hazardous Risk levels, so had we failed things would have gotten very bad, very quickly. Fortunately, we succeeded!

I think it’s an easy call that the heroes would focus on getting the civilians back to safety over killing the troll, so we’ll pick up next time with the journey back to Bree.