The Battle of Stánford

[tomcat]

The keenest-eyed among the company can already see armed Men forcing smaller figures into a barn toward the edge of the village, about which are piled stacks of cut wood.

That is pretty cold-blooded.

[Telcontar]

They needed no introduction. Those in Stanford knew who was coming. Even so Hathcyn stopped and undid the bindings on the standard. He dipped the great ash pole and opened the great bear banner. As it caught upon the breeze Hathcyn's face was set and the great sigil of the House of Beorn was borne for the first time on a field of battle.

[Eclecticon]

One by one, the thegns gather beneath Grimbeorn's war-banner.  "The men are eager to fight," proclaims Claudas Bare-legs, "and if the Longspear is to be believed, we are twice as many as those who cower within their fence.  Let us fall on them quickly!" 

"Eh," grunts Æthelwold Red-Eyes, "Let the men rest a while, I say.  The Blood-moons will have seen the banner, and well may they suppose who bears it and for what purpose he has come.  It may be that the manifestation of that which they have anticipated may spark in them a sudden desire to parley!" 

Rorin, meanwhile, taps Anar on the shoulder as the taller men argue.  "That palisade is Mannish work, and hastily done at that.  Cast your craftsman's eye over it, for it may be that there are weak points that even its builders do not know of." 

[GandalfOfBorg]

"It also appears that they are keeping captives in a barn ready to set fire.  Scouts should be sent to espy the situation.  We do not want to endanger the people more than they already are.  We will speak to them too to give our men time.  Hathcyn, Tate, a man of words, and I will seek the parley.  The rest of you make what preparations you need and organize the men.  Your swords may be in need sooner than we expect."

[Telcontar]

Unnoticed the small halfling joined in.
"What do you big folk know about scouting? Leave the barn to me. I'll see what is to be seen and how we may deal with it!"

Ooc: Bandy will use his art of disappearing ability to pop smoke and recon the barn area. It's not my habbit to be playing two of my own characters at once, but this seems like an all hands on deck moment for the campaign.

[Telcontar]

Hathcyn set the ash pole and reached into his gunney sack. From it he removed a bone comb. The design was simple, and served only a utilitarian purpose, free of engraving or design.

He then pulled it through his hair and beard in a practiced motion. The mustache waved gracefuly into his beard. His lipped revealed only in the peak it made below his nose. His hair straight back from the forehead and down too tookon the sheen of whatever oil the brush had previously been coated with.

Hathcyn smiled and laughed when he was done.
"Come Master Tate, prepare yourself. Today we enter into the legends of our people. If not your rhymes then anothers will mark what is to occur and I am to be remembered well, in victory or death. I aim that not a spears length seperate me from Grimbeorn or his banner for as long as I last his day." 

[Eclecticon]

The wind blows cold at their backs, and the open ground before them is silent and still as Grimbeorn and Hathcyn, resplendent beneath the bear standard, walk towards the stockade.  The glint of naked steel is plainly visible between the stakes, but neither arrow nor spear is cast their way as they make their approach.  Finally, as they come within ready earshot of the fortifications, a hoarse voice calls out "state your business, son of Beorn!  The day is punishing on old bones, and I fain would be in my hall, warming my toes!"  

Through a slight gap in the stakes, the two Men make out the face of one much older than they, though with eyes still hard and piercing.  


Matt and Tom, we can play this as a full Encounter if there's a particular objective you're pursuing here.  Otherwise, we'll just do it narratively.  

Anyone who wants to be doing other things while diplomacy is attempted is free to do so.  Arbogast, for instance, will be reading the terrain and formulating a potential battle plan (using Explore and Battle).  Other options might be
-  examining the stockade for weak points (Craft)
-  giving a rousing oration (Inspire or Song)
-  identifying the men most likely to break, and making sure they're out of the way of the hardest fighting (Insight)
-  (subtly) helping the thegns reach a consensus (Persuade or Riddle).  

Feel free to suggest other alternatives as well, and narrate away!  

Also, 'the bear standard' sounds like something finance journalists would discuss on current affairs shows.  

[Telcontar]

  now that we are closer I'll give awareness a shot.

Rolled 1d12 : 6, total 6

Rolled 3d6 : 5, 6, 1, total 12

[Paladin003]

OOC: I would like Anar to inspect the craftsmanship as it was suggested. How do I roll my craft skill on here?

[Telcontar]

Above the text box above the emojis is a red die. Click that and it gives you the code to roll dice. Then enter in the brackets the number and die to be rolled.

'xd12' is not a valid dice string!

'xd6' is not a valid dice string!

Type all your stuff and his post. If you go back and edit it willtell you the dice roll was tampered with.

[tomcat]

We have four ways to roll dice on our board. I have an illustration below attached.

#1 - is the DICE roller at the top in the primary menu. This opens a pop-out window that has a dice roller for multiple dice. You choose the dice type, include the number of said dice to roll plus or minus any modifiers and click the ROLL button. It will generate a result which you can then highlight and copy/paste into your post. We don't use this method too much as it is the easiest to alter the results.

#2 through #4 are all within the Post Reply screen:

#2 is the simplest code to roll dice. You click the red dice, like Tom said above, and then when you click post, it will include a dice roll within your post. You fill in between the brackets the dice combination you want to roll (i.e. 1d12,3d6+3)

#3 is for our Star Wars games and the Decipher CODA Lord of the Rings that we used to play here. I will not bother too much on this explanation, but you will see it in the attachment.

#4 is for our TOR game - hence the Eye of Sauron icon. It will provide the code shown in the attachment below and all you need do is fill in the appropriate information (as shown in the attachment) and then it will include the roll when you click post.

The results of how each roll will come out when POST is clicked is shown next:

#2 BASIC ROLL

Rolled 1d12 : 9, total 9
Rolled 3d6+3 : 2, 4, 3 + 3, total 12

#3 for D20 games or other
DC 18 sword +8

1d20+8 : 9 + 8, total 17

2d8+6 : 2, 1 + 6, total 9

#4 for TOR
TN 14 longsword 3d+3

1d12 : 11, total 11
Rolled 3d6+3 : 5, 1, 6 + 3, total 15

8   edge: 10   injury: 16

Other icons that you might find useful is:

The out of character icon  to add prior to any text that is not in character.

There is also the Character Sheet Updated icon that you can post to let the LM know you have updated your character sheet for any use of a resource (i.e. Hope, Endurance, Fatigue, ammunition, etc.)

I hope this helps!

[tomcat]

Here are the other icons and their purposes (primarily so you don't have to write the words out each time):

you can click this to add an EYE icon in your post.
for a Tengwar Six
for a Gandalf rune
to illustrate your Shield rating or Protection rating
to illustrate your Parry rating or Attack rating
to illustrate the use of HOPE
to illustrate either Endurance damage taken or given
to illustrate the use of HATE

There are other emoji icons, but the rest are there for basic emoji use.

[tomcat]

Esgalwen sat atop her horse.

Her other companions were busy with preparations. Tate had been called to Grimbeorn's side to assist in parleying with the old man behind the palisade; Arbogast was in deep concentration looking at the walls and formulating a plan; and Bandy had disappeared.

She felt an outsider among these people.

Not knowing when action would commence, the ranger drew her bow and quickly strung it, nocking an arrow to string. She knew that there would be no way to approach unseen on horseback, but she had other skills.

Esgalwen swung her leg over her saddlehorn and slid from her mount. If the attack happened while the folk of Stánford were sealed within the barn, then Grimbeorn's forces would always be handicapped. They would need rush to secure the town before the innocent were put to the torch, and haste always led to the loss of more lives.

What if I can get within the compound without anyone noticing? she thought. What if I can attain the barn's roof-top and wait there to defend against any of the Toft-men?

On top of the barn, she could make good use of her bow and give Grimbeorn the assurance that his people would not be killed while his army tried to take the town. But can I safely get there?

Esgalwen studied the palisade to see if there was any place she could secret herself through. She looked to the barn to see how far it sat within the town, from the wall. Maybe undercover of night?

She was certain that she could get to the wall without being observed, but whether she could do anything else at that point was to be seen.
A couple rolls from Esgalwen:

Awareness roll to see if she sees or hears anything that would hinder her
TN tbd Awareness 2d

1d12 : 8, total 8
Rolled 2d6 : 2, 2, total 4

Explore roll to see if the terrain would allow for her to stealth up to the wall
TN tbd Explore 2d

1d12 : 6, total 6
Rolled 2d6 : 4, 4, total 8

Craft roll to see if she can determine how well the palisade is built
TN tbd Craft 1d

1d12 : 9, total 9
Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6

Battle roll to see if her plan has merit if it can be achieved
TN tbd Battle 2d

1d12 : 8, total 8
Rolled 2d6 : 5, 6, total 11

[tomcat]

Okay - from the results (assuming standard TN's):

• Esgalwen cannot see or hear anything that is of immediate threat to her plan.

• She can read the terrain to see it allows for a stealthy approach

• She can see faults within the palisade that would allow her to squeeze through ( success  )

• She believes her plan wise and achievable if not a bit risky, but her Adventurous side is all about going for it.  ( success)

Esgalwen will not attempt anything without Grimbeorn's approval, so I leave the decision to him below.

Paul, can we get a layout map of Stánford?
Satisfied with what she saw, Esgalwen remounted and raced her horse to where Grimbeorn, Hathcyn and Tate were gathered. The Bear banner fluttered above them, and the Dúnadan was reminiscent of battles of lore - many which she had studied.

"Grimbeorn!" she called, at her approach. "A moment."

The Beorning turned at her voice, "What is it, Esgalwen? Time is short."

"I know, but I wish to convey to you a quick idea - one that I believe will serve us, and one that is very achievable."

With a nod, Grimbeorn gave the few minutes needed for the ranger to illustrate her plans. She neither pointed, nor looked to the town, while she spoke and ever was her back to the wall. Quickly she recounted what she saw:

"I believe that while you distract the Toft-men with your parley, I can get to the wall unobserved. Once there, I saw a number of wide spaces that would allow me to enter into Stánford. Once inside, I will make for the barn and climb on to its roof - all the while keeping low, and staying hidden. From there, I can ascertain that no one puts torch to that wood. I will defend your people from within, whil'st you besiege the walls."

"And if no conflict comes...if this can be resolved with words?"

"Then they are in no danger, and I will simply be among them when your banner rides into the town."

[GandalfOfBorg]

Grimbeorn gave his friend's plan some thought.  "It has merit but you leave yourself vulnerable being alone.  Would anyone go with you? Bandy maybe?  I have not forgotten that shot that brought down that boar."

---

"It is simple.  I have come for the people you hold.  You may have heard news out of the north about the liberation from the Viglundings.  I do not tolerate thralldom or those whom prey upon others.  Take your men, two days rations, and leave, never to return within two days walk of our lands.  You will leave all weapons greater than knives and slings as you exit through the front gate.  There is no need for bloodshed between us."

 
Grimbeorn will attempt to awe him, appealing to reason, but also seek to read the man in bearing and word.

 

Insight -  1d12 : 1, total 1
Rolled 3d6 : 5, 4, 6, total 15

 

Awe -  1d12 : 6, total 6
Rolled 3d6 : 3, 6, 3, total 12

Hope if helpful.