The One Ring Solo Pt.6: Back to Bree

With Diarmoc's family rescued, Idril and Sefa now try to lead them back to the safety of Bree.

To Lady Gilraen of the Dúnedain,

This letter finds us all safe beneath the roof of the Prancing Pony. Diarmoc’s family, Osric, and Scylda are all finally well fed and able to sleep in peace, though the days ahead will surely be trying as they struggle with the horrors they have endured. They have each suffered things no man should, but at least they are no longer in danger.

The road from Morglynd Vale was slow and weary. The land was kind enough—warm days and no rain—but those we guarded were not made for such travel. Scylda, Diarmoc, Elda, their sons Tecca and Sulain, and poor Osric—the last of the household staff—all pressed on with what little strength they had. Scylda could barely walk by the second day. She has a spirit braver than many men, but she is still only a child, and her body is weak. I carried her when she faltered, and Sefa acted as our guide

We thought to reach the safety of Bree by the fourth night, but by the fourth afternoon, we realized our course had strayed. The ground became soft, and the air damp. Sefa grimly realized that we had wandered into the Midgewater Marshes east of Bree. We would not reach the town before nightfall.

I found a suitable camp above the foul water, in the ruins of some long-forgotten structure. While the group prepared camp for the evening, Elda’s scream pierced the night as three shapes dragged themselves from the mire. Not wights, yet not wholly living. They were bloated, sickly creatures, twisted by rot and hate, with eyes filled with a fell hunger. They were upon the camp before we could mount a full defense.

Sefa and I scrambled to place ourselves between our charges and the monsters in a desperate attempt to keep them from harm. We held the line and quickly cut down two of them, but the last of the creatures overwhelmed Sefa, dragging into into the mire. For a moment, I thought her lost, but reached her side just in time. It took many blows to slay the creature, but finally it fell. She lives, bruised but unbroken.

Sleep did not come easily that night.

Before we broke camp the next day, I found something else. A set of stairs, half-buried and ancient, leading beneath the earth. There were footprints—fresh ones. Something is there, Lady Gilraen. Watching. Waiting. And it lies far too close to Bree. Yet we must complete our current quest.

We arrived at Bree by midday. Sefa has purchased a week's lodging for Diarmoc, his family, and Scylda with the promise that we will pay any other expenses upon our return. Sefa and I will not rest here for long. We must return to Morglynd Vale soon to finish our task. Nelly cannot be allowed to live lest she ruin the lives of more innocents.

May the stars lead us to our prey,

Idril

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Notes and Summaries

The group set out for their journey from the hidden valley of Morglynd back towards Bree. They have 8 people with them, 6 of whom are non-combatants (Scylda, Diarmoc and Elda, their two sons Tecca and Sulain, and Osric, the last remaining servant). Most of them are probably half-starved and exhausted. Fortunately, it’s less than a week's travel back to Bree, so we don’t need to worry about anyone starving to death. 

The game says that a group doesn't need to make journey rolls to return home. However, since Sefa and Idril have all these extra people traveling with them, I'm going to go ahead and make the journey rolls, and I’m going to subtract 1d from every travel-related roll on the trip back.

Travel Check 1

Travel Roll: Success, 3 days travel, 1 day left
Event (in Dark Lands): Short Cut / Game Trail. Hunting Check to reduce the length of the journey by 1 day.
Hunting Roll: Failure
Result: +1 Fatigue
Weather: Mostly sunny

The group made their way across the land back towards Bree. With so many individuals not used to traveling across wild lands, travel was slow and tiring. Idril took to carrying Scylda more than a few times. Fortunately, the weather was mostly warm, and the journey back towards Bree was far better than the journey taken a few days earlier with Jari.

Travel Check 2

Travel Roll: Failure, 1 day travel, will arrive at Bree, but after the event, depending on the results
Event: Mishap / Lost Direction. Explore Check or +1 day to journey and +1 Fatigue.
Explore Roll: The Eye of Sauron (+1 Eye Awareness)
Result: +1 day, +3 Fatigue, +1 Eye Awareness
Weather: Partially overcast

When I rolled the Eye of Sauron, I knew I wanted it to be a bit more serious, so I rolled on the Ill-Fortune table and got, Your actions are observed by someone of ill intent. To help determine what that might be, I rolled on some lore tables and got Action: Explore, Aspect: Forgotten, Focus: Creature. Looking at the map, I noticed we were pretty close to the Midgewater Marshes. With the group also being lost, an idea formed about what might play out.

As evening began to set in, Sefa and Idril knew that they should have arrived at Bree, but they still couldn’t see the light of the town. Even worse, the ground had recently become marshy, and progress slowed even further. Sefa realized they must have somehow wandered into the Midgewater Marsh, a place they most certainly did not want to be. Fortunately, she knew how to get to Bree from here. Unfortunately, she knew they would not make it to the town before the sun set. She explained this to the group, and they began to look for a place to make camp.

Idril found a small area dotted with ruins that would keep them dry while they rested. As she began to prepare the ground, the group heard Elda scream and turned to see three figures clawing their way out of the marsh. The shambling creatures had pale, clammy flesh and a fell light in their eyes. They lunged at Eldra and the children, as Idril and Sefa barely managed to interpose themselves between the creatures and the rest of the group.

Sefa Awareness Roll (with hope) to avoid being surprised: Failure

In the first few moments of combat, Idril and Sefa easily kept the creatures at bay and formed a defensive line between the monstrous creatures and the non-combatants behind them. Idril cut down one after another, but Sefa was quickly overwhelmed by two of them and drug to the ground. Her armor kept her alive, but the last of the creatures proved difficult to put down.

It shoved Sefa to the ground, attempting to bury her beneath the muck and mire, but Irdil raced to Sefa’s side. She hacked into the creature, though it still took several blows to kill it. Fortunately, Sefa had escaped any serious injury.

I’ve put the combat rolls by round below, but if you want to skip them, just click here

Combat Rolls

Because of the surprise, there won’t be any rounds of volley, and our heroes can’t act on Round 1. Given the narrative, I’m going to have them both in the Defensive stance.

Round 1

Idril/Sefa Stance: Defensive
Marsh Dweller Attacks: All failures thanks to the defensive stance

Round 2

The heroes take the fight to the marsh dwellers in an attempt to put them down quickly so that none of their escorts are injured.

Idril/Sefa Stance: Forward
Idril Attack: Success+ (Heavy Blow), 13 damage, killing one of the enemies
Sefa Attack: The Eye of Sauron (Sefa’s enemies gain +1d against her)
Enemy Attack 1 vs Sefa: Success+ (Heavy Blow), 6 damage and Siezed
Enemy Attack 2 vs Sefa: Success++ (Heavy Blow x2), 9 damage and Siezed

Siezed is a sort of status effect like grappled. The person seized is forced to fight in a Forward stance and can only make Brawling attacks. They can break free by spending a + Success. Since two people have seized Sefa, I’m also going to give her -1d.

Round 3

Sefa got wrecked that last round, hopefully this round isn’t as bad

Idril/Sefa Stance: Forward
Idril Attack: Success+ (Heavy Blow), 13 damage, killing one of the enemies
Sefa Attack (with Hope): Success, 1 damage
Enemy Attack 2 vs Sefa: Success, 3 damage, Sefa is now weary. This means any rolls of 1-3 on the success die count as 0

Round 4

While Sefa isn’t doing well in this fight, Idril seems to be cleaning up.

Idril/Sefa Stance: Forward
Idril Attack: Success, 5 damage
Sefa Artack: Failure
Enemy Attack 2 vs Sefa: Success, 3 damage

Round 5

The last enemy is barely holding on, but Sefa is starting to look bad.

Idril/Sefa Stance: Forward
Idril Attack: Success+ (Heavy Blow), 13 damage killing the last of the enemies

Post-Combat

Sefa was looking battered and bruised, but would survive and needed to get some rest. Idril had found a small ruin that was elevated from the marsh water and had most of its walls remaining. The group settled in for the night with Idril and Sefa rotating watches. The sun rose on the group several hours late, and they prepared for one more day’s travel to Bree.

Idril Explore Roll to find a good camp: Success
TT: Does the group rest through the night without further incident? Yes
TT: Is there a larger landmark here? Yes

Before leaving, Idril decided to take one last look around the area where they had encountered the mash men. Amidst the ruins, she found a set of stairs leading into the earth marked with recent footprints. She made a note of the place to possibly return in the future. It was far too close to Bree for comfort. First, though, they needed to get Diarmoc’s family to safety, then deal with Nelly, and then maybe they could see what evil dwelt in this place.

I’m not rolling another Travel Check. They are only 1 day away from Bree, and it just doesn’t make sense.

It had been a long 2 weeks on the road, but finally the group reached Bree by midday and could find some measure of safety and comfort. Though Idril and Sefa were eager to set back out for Morglynd, they had no desire to allow Nelly to escape. Sefa paid for Diermoc’s family and Scylda to stay at the Inn of the Prancing Pony for a week.

I rolled 1d6 to see how much this would reduce Sefa’s treasury points by and got a 1 (lucky). This does still technically move her Standard of Living from Prosperous to Common, which means when she and Idril stay at an Inn, I’ll probably roll to see if it reduces her treasury points. For comparison, Idril has 0 treasury points.

The group’s path from the Morglynd Valley back to Bree

GM Thoughts

I fully understand why the standard rules tell you not to bother making Journey rolls on the trip back to safety. Technically, once you’re back at safety, you can just take the time you need to recover, so there isn’t really a negative. I decided to go ahead and make the rolls this time since there were so many additional members of the group. And ultimately, I’m glad I did it led to a fairly difficult encounter.

I was trying to figure out how to advance/level up Idril and Sefa when I realized that you can only do that during the “Fellowship Phase” that occurs after an adventure phase. It also says that there are generally only 4 of these a year, and the last one is the Yule phase and takes about three months. I took this to mean that it’s not something you do every time you’re in town; it’s more of an extended rest where you spend weeks recovering from the challenges of the road. Our heroes most certainly aren’t about to take a 3-week-long break with Nelly still out there, maybe after she is dealt with.

We’ll pick up with our heroes back on the road, headed to Morglynd Valley