The Folk-Moot

[disench4nted]

  Is the party currently armed? I thought that everyone was disarmed while in the camp, just trying to get some clarification before I make a post.

[Telcontar]

Mogdred seemed unaffected by the words of those who had spoken at the council. He judged their renown to be low and not likely to carry much weight at the council.
"My men do not travel so far north as that master elfling, but I am sure the Dwarves, Beornings, and Men of Woodland Hall would have more to say on your brand of hospitality. Long have the folk who called me lord dwelled under a darker and harsher shadow, many like myself bore chains and toiled as slaves. Now, we have a longhouse, stout walls, and valiant men, who here as done better or come so far as those of us bereft of succor and the support of family as we of Amon Bauglir have. I tell you all that the shadow is not wholly gone. Is not the moot established so those that are strangers may support each other? Who here is not leery of strangers? T'was naught but a month past that me and my folk came upon a large group of orcs waylaying travelers out of the south. We were too late to save them, but I will have you know they were avenged! We are men of valor and strength. I have offered my terms, they are no more than any other lord would offer if the roles were reversed."

Mogdred sheathed his sword and his fiery helm gleamed tucked into the crook of his arm.

[Eclecticon]

As the moot erupts in a cacophony of exclamations and insults, Arbogast pushes his way toward the centre of the circle.  His moment has come - if he has not already waited too long. 

"Kinsmen," he calls, "cease these harsh words, for they will avail us naught!  This man has shown himself, by his father, to be one of us, and to desire that which we all do - a hearth, home and refuge from the shadow of the wood.  But more than that, his arrival at this moot shows that he desires the bonds of kinship that unite us!  What right have we to deny this to him?  The actions of the murderer Dagmar, after all, are not his, and his words," he pauses to meet Mogdred's eyes, "while unduly harsh, are no more than any of us might utter who had lived a life as harsh as he claims." 

"But whatever may be thought of him, the question we face goes beyond his demeanour, or his actions.  Master Orophin has seen with his own eyes the hall that he claims, and has told us that many dwell within.  How many more of our kin may be under his protection, for who among us did not lose close kin - vanished into the wood before the death of the dragon and the flight of the Necromancer?  Shall we deny the bond of our kinship to them?  Orc-heads and harsh words he has shown us, but I say to you that the return of such lost ones as he has found is his true gift to the folk! 

Think what you will of Mogdred of Tyrant's Hill, or certain of those who follow him!  Yet we have no cause to turn away our kin, once enslaved and now free.  Let them take, not tribute, but assistance, for which hall, which household, could stand against the darkness of the wood unassisted?  Let them take, not gold that might adorn them as the orcs slew them for it, but wool from our flocks, mead from our halls and fish from the Black Tarn.  And, should they take wives from our clans, then might we rejoice, for they will thereby have proven their devotion to our fledgling nation, and then will their strength truly be called ours." 

Exhilarated by his speech (the longest he can remember making in his young life), he casts his gaze around at the circle of the moot.  Please, he thinks desperately to himself, please let them see!  Mogdred is but a man, and will pass in time, but to have all the Woodmen united!  Please let them see what that might mean...



The moment of truth! Persuade 3

1d12 : 8, total 8
Rolled 3d6 : 6, 5, 3, total 14

[tomcat]

I am giving this one more night to see if Tom has anymore to add for the NPC's. In the morning, I will finalize the moot. You guys will help determine this campaign's course by placing your earned inspiration points in the column, or columns if you wish to split the points up, based on the proposals. Mogdred is the obvious UNKNOWN that was listed before he was introduced.

[tomcat]

Is the party currently armed? I thought that everyone was disarmed while in the camp, just trying to get some clarification before I make a post.

 Yea, you guys are unarmed. Orophin has his bow, though, because he just returned from the tracking of the Tyrant's Hill man.

I am starting the final post now for this Adventure Phase. I am moving forward the vote. You guys will influence the direction of our game by your choices, so choose carefully.  

I will allow anyone to take the new roll they just made, if it earns them better inspiration points (i.e. Arbogast - I updated the chart in the next post).

[tomcat]

There was something in the air. Arbogast could feel it, and it had extended from his powerful words. The men and women around him wanted to say something; wanted to cheer; wanted to yell and stomp their boots; wanted to cry for their dead. The emotions that were being withheld were palpable in the circle of the moot. Even Esgalwen was stirred when she heard of the orc raiding party that had been slain. Was that the raiders who had killed her own kin? She would need to have private words with Mogdred once the moot had ended. In any  case, she suddenly felt unsure of her decision...should this man and his people be punished for the misdeeds of one of his own?

It was Ingomer who broke the tense silence. He slowly stood, all the while looking at his son and smoothing down the gray flecked beard on his face. His spoken words came in a whisper, "My son is alive...alive!" Ingomer's face broke into a smile of love and pride, "MY SON HAS RETURNED TO ME!" He shouted. A murmur from Ingomer's clan could be heard, while others quietly whispered both curses and thanks. The moot leader turned to the throng of people, "We have heard from all folk who had a proposal or spite to bring before the clans. It is now time for you all to make your decision and have your voice heard. To each of you will be given a chit - a small piece of wood that says naught but your clans sigil. Three proposals have been made to us and so three barrels will be brought to the center of the moot. You will cast your chit into the barrel of your choice and so be heard. Once finished, the chits will be counted and so our decision made. A majority must be received in each barrel for the Folk of Mirkwood to accept this proposal."

At his words, three men rolled out three barrels into the center. The names of Amaleoda, Ceawin, and Mogdred were whitewashed on the outside of each respectively. The people of the moot all began to stand and collect the markers for their clan. Even the strangers were given a marker of Rhosgobel, for they, too, would influence the choice of the moot. Once in hand, each person walked to the trio of barrels and made their choice.


Okay, you all have points by your name to spend as you will on each of the proposals - essentially the inspiration you created with the people of the moot and how you influenced their decisions. Me and Tom will decide how the NPC's cast their votes.

[GandalfOfBorg]

  Being as Grimbeorn has a negative score and none likes Mogdred too much, his negative score will goes towards him.

[Stefan]

While the speech of his companion had pulled him back from being openly aggressive toward Mogdred and his natural joviality made him cheerful at the options they had, Orophin would not support the man and decided to split his chits evenly between the other two barrels.

[tomcat]

Awesome, Stefan!

Just to reiterate, so you guys understand what your points mean - it is not necessarily Orophin's chits that he is doling into each barrel, but the individuals that he influenced. So, Orophin impressed upon 6 votes (including his own) to vote the way they did. Make sense?

Also understand, there are a lot more people than the number of earned points - I just created a chart to make an abstract vote for the folk-moot.

[tomcat]

the Folk-moot decision.

Each point is an abstract number that represents the amount of inspiration that each leader generated among the people of the moot. There are certainly more folk present than 58 (or the needed 60 points to pass all proposals), but again it is an abstract. Once the PC's and NPC's disburse their points we will know what happens within Mirkwood.

TN	Normal	Great	Extraordinary	(11)	(12)
ANY FAIL	-4	--	--	--	--
14	1	2	3	-4	6
15	2	3	5	-5	7
16	3	4	6	-6	8
17	4	5	7	-7	9
18	5	6	8	-8	10

Character	Earned	Amaleoda (18)	Ceawin (20)	Mogdred (22)
Bandy	5	4	1	--
Rorin	2	1	1	--
Arbogast	6	1	--	5
Grimbeorn	-4	--	--	-4
Esgalwen	4	1	1	2
Orophin	6	3	3	--
Ingomer	8	1	1	6
Radagast	5	2	3	--
Hartfast	-8	-1	-1	-6
Amaleoda	5	5	--	--
Ceawin (+3)	11	--	11	--
Fridwald	-8	-2	-3	-3
Targus	8	1	1	6
Bofri	4	1	1	2
Cutwine	8	1	2	5
Mogdred	6	--	--	6
TOTAL	58	18	21	19

I have pre-placed the inspiration points for Mogdred, Ceawin and Amaleoda, as they are speaking for their own causes.

The people I have posted and their reasons:
Esgalwen - not sure Ayrn is here anymore...but I think the character would feel indebted to Mogdred for at least trying to aid her Rangers.
Ingomer - his son is back and love overrules maybe better judgement.
Bofri - I disbursed his points in this way, as the Dwarves desire a peaceful wood (allows for greater trade), but to have these men guarding the very lands of the old Necromancer - that would be helpful
Radagast - he does not trust Mogdred and votes to those issues that are closest to his home and these people
Hartfast - for whatever reason the dice fell with a high negative score for Hartfast, so I am going to assume he is just absolutely against any decision, but mostly Mogdred
Targus - he scored a high score with his appeals to the moot, but I am going to assume his people gain benefits from Mogdred's forays into the Anduin vale
Fridwald - like Hartfast, the dice fell badly...I am saying he and his people are opposed to any changes
Cutwine - his people, too, would be appreciating the Tyrant Hill forays against the orcs in the Anduin vale

[tomcat]

I just need Arbogast, Rorin, and Bandy's points disbursed how you influenced.

[disench4nted]

   Rorin will cast one vote each for Amaleoda and Caewin. He is not against Mogdred yet, but remains unconvinced of his true motives.

[Bandobras]

Bandy, although moved by his companion's speech, cannot believe that Mogdred's will not use his influence in Woodman councils for anything but selfish and self-interested purposes. While the people at Tyrant's Hill might be woodmen, they also seem devoted to Mogdred and will obey his commands even to the point of committing murder. He casts one vote for Ceawin, allowing him to reach his needed 20, and four for Amaleoda.

[tomcat]

Well it is certain that Mogdred and his proposal has failed. Arbogast can make the final decision on Amaleoda, and then I'll post the epilogue post to this first Adventuring Phase.

Once done, I will get the new Chapter started.

Here are the Advancement Point and Experience Rewards for this chapter:

ADVANCEMENT POINTS
Paul seems to have been the most disciplined at checking off his skill usage Advancement points, so I will use him as the template for all the other PC's Advancement points and award 6 points, plus what you may have already marked on your sheet.

EXPERIENCE POINTS
I am going to award 8 experience to each PC

As always, please log here how you spend your AP and EP's.

Thanks!

[Eclecticon]

As the counting of the chits concludes, Arbogast leaves the hall rather than let his kin see his youthful disappointment in person.  Amaleoda's hall would be built, and Caewin's folk would join the Woodmen, but the Men of Tyrant's Hill were now enemies by the wilful decision of the moot.  It is as he had feared - the Woodmen will be divided, as the shadow of Mirkwood reaches into the gaps between halls and clans. 

As he waits for his companions, the sun sets behind the Misty Mountains.  Arbogast watches, unseeing, as the embers of a nearby fire-pit flicker, and tries to decide what must now be done. 



  Thanks, Tom - I must say, I enjoyed the folk-moot more than I thought I was going to! 

I'll spend a point of Arbogast's total on Ameleoda's proposal (as a player, I think it's a no-brainer that we definitely want) - despite having not spoken out about it, Arbogast is among those who put their hands up to build the new longhouse at the Black Tarn. 

Caewin is fine on his own, as I suspected a man with money to throw around at voting time would be, so I'll leave him be and cast the rest of Arbogast's points behind Mogdred.  A close vote is more dramatic, after all...