The capture of Barad Eldanar!

[tomcat]

Outside a cock crowed as the morning began to change the dark of night to a dusky grey of morning, and inside the donjon Arkish watched as two more of his few remaining soldiers fell to the onslaught of the Men of the West. Then Rhukar stumbled backward from a flurry of blows from the short dwarf and the elf and lay sprawled on the floor grabbing his wounds and trying to staunch the blood that pooled beneath him.

With the arrival of Durgil and his men, it was apparent to the Easterling Ashaktur that his keep had been taken and now he had two choices - to die trying to forestall these attackers and maybe take one with him, or to die at the hands of his master in Carn Dum. He was not afraid of the death that these men would deal him but to die by the hand of the Witch-king held an unknown horror!

He smiled to himself.. he would never see his native land again. He had come to this terrible, cold land so many years ago and here he would die. He wished for a moment that he could once more feel the warm ocean breezes that blew in off the coast of his home far away and to once more feel the warmth of his few concubines that he had kept.

Arkish lifted his sword and stared hard at the Dunadan that was challenging him. He would die here... and so would this man before him.

****

Above, on the battlements and unbeknownst to the Dunedain Company below, a sole surviving Easterner ran the length of the parapets towards a far tower. He moved as stealthily as possible and prayed to his 'faith' to deliver him from these attackers and to let him escape without harm. When he arrived at his destination, he reached down to open the trap door so he could hide within. He pulled it up and as he did, his eyes were averted to the east... towards movement in the morning gloom. Yes! There was movement! It appeared to be a great number of riders! The messengers that they had sent had made it - they had summoned aid!

The Easterling archer let slam the trap door and ran over to a shelf where lay an old ox horn. He grabbed it up and put it to his lips and let air a tremendous call that echoed through the morning sky.

[tomcat]

Do not misunderstand the title of this thread, there may still be some combat needed to be performed:

The following is the current situation:

PM: In the Donjon and on the towers, there are no penalties.

SM: Edrahil is Winded -1 and Dazed -1, Daelhun is Winded -1, Lunduf is Injured -3, Nain is Injured -3 +2= -1

Initiatives:
Edrahil- 12
Lunduf- 10
Easterling Guards- 10
Durgil- 9
Nain- 9
Arkish- 8
Dunedain Warriors- 7
Daelhun- 7
Rhukar- 6
Dirnhael- 5
Fengel-

[GandalfOfBorg]

Init (5+2)+2=9

Durgil climbs out of the pit on the side nearest his captain to lend aid to his comrades.

[tomcat]

Hearing the sounding of the horn, Edrahil began to fret that a new danger would soon be upon them all! His foresight that he had begun to rely on had shown him nothing of this and he worried whether or not he and these Men and Dwarves had cornered themselves in a walled trap.

Time was running short and this battle had gone far enough. Edrahil stepped over the fallen Rhukar and drew himself up and as he did, a great gust of wind blew in from the outside billowing his cape. The Eldar was a grim sight for all that looked upon him as he spoke his doom!

"Behold! You run short of allies and time... and we run short on patience! Your rule here is over and you will give up those that you hold in chains. For though our hearts and hands are tempered by compassion, justice will be served and the Shadow undermined! Lay down your arms NOW! Or we will see to it that justice be done!"

****

Edrahil casts Display of Power: TN 10
Willpower +7, The Art +2, Dazed -1, Winded -1, Prior casting -3
ACTION 1
Roll(2d6)+4: 6,2,+4 Total:12 SUCCESS

Intimidate (Power) +6, Specialty +2, Outnumbered +2, Dazed -1, Winded -1, MB +10
ACTION 2
Roll(2d6)+16: 6,1,+16 Total:23

Easterlings Opposed Reaction Rolls (No Action cost)
Willpower +3, Defending own castle +3, Injured -3
Arkish -Roll(2d6)+3: 1,5,+3 Total:9 DISASTROUS FAILURE
Easterling warrior -Roll(2d6)+3: 4,1,+3 Total:8 DISASTROUS FAILURE

****

The awesome display of power made by the elf brings the simple Easterling soldier to his knees as he throws down his polearm. He sprawls himself forward and begs to the elf and his comrades, in the foreign tongue of his people, not to take his life.

In front of Dirnhael, the spirit and defiance of Arkish the Ashaktur is broken and the commander lets his weapon arm loosen and his blade swings down towards the floor. Arkish falls to his knees as well, though his eyes never leave those of Dirnhael. The Dunadan commander can see defeat within his enemy's eyes and eases his own stance but still keeping Anduring at the ready.

Behind them all, both Nain and Lunduf could at last relax and they eased over to the walls of the hall - leaning and panting. The adrenaline slowly left their bodies and the pain from their wounds become apparent. Fengel turned to Lunduf to offer some aid as Durgil and Daelhun came to Nain's side. The Company was wounded and though they were victorious, their numbers were greatly reduced.

Dirnhael stood over Arkish and he moved forward to disarm the man, but as he did, Arkish quickly brought his sword about and the Easterling commander fell forward on it. The awful, sorcerous blade pierced the man's tattered chainmail and deep into into his heart. The Ashaktur of Barad Eldanar rolled forward dead.

Dirnhael looked at the fallen man and listened to the horn blowing outside in the growing dawn. He looked at his wounded and weary company - though it was morning, the hour looked grim!

****

OOC:

This is the end of Chapter 5 of the Triumph of the Witch-king. I wanted to leave it with a cliffhanger ending and I hope that I have achieved my goal!  :wink:

You all may add any last dialogue and actions that you would like, but none of it can be your investigating the sound of the horn. That will have to wait for the next chapter and our game recommencement. I am forecasting that we will re-start in late June... I want to spend a little time in the Star Trek genre for a bit. Of course, I am notorious for missing my LOTR game and starting it sooner, so we shall see.  :wink: I hope to see you all return to your characters when we do start again - I will send an email to you all but keep an eye on this Forum, as the start date info will be listed here.

Also, I want to list the condition of the Company as it stands here:

Daelhun -8 damage, Winded, 4 Courage
Dirnhael -17 damage, 0 Courage
Durgil -0 damage, 0 Courage
Edrahil -12 damage, Winded, 0 Courage
Fengel -11 damage, 3 Courage
Lunduf -37 damage, 0 Courage
Nain -49 damage, 0 Courage

NPC members of the Host left:
Warrior 2 (Wounded with 3 HITS -5)
Warrior 3
Warrior 4
Scout (Wounded with 1 HIT -1)
Loremaster/Healer

*You guys have 4 prisoners (2 with the Loremaster at your camp, 1 with the scout on the western battlement, and 1 inside the donjon sprawled on the floor).

Lastly, experience points will be awarded to all on the XP page and any that have earned 1,000 points may take an Advancement. Regardless of the XP, all characters have gained 1 Renown.

[cbl62]

Fengel entered the donjon and joined his company as the last of the battle subsided. He saw the wounds his friends had taken and was concerned for them, but they seemed stoic and not in critical need of care.

Fengel initiative:

Roll (2D6+3):
5, 5, +3 = 13

[Stefan]

As the last of the defenders falls Nain slumps against the wall.  It had been years since he'd been in a battle such as this and he still bore the scars.  Those of this day would last as well.  He slowly slid to the floor to rest as his companions came over to tend to his wounds.  He didn't even have the strength left to shoo them away so he just let them do as they please while he focused on staying awake.

[GandalfOfBorg]

OOC: We "killed" a lot of NPC's from our group   yikes

[Stefan]

OOC: btw, where is the XP page?

[tomcat]

OOC: btw, where is the XP page?

The XP Page is on the control panel to the left... it is called Experience.

Let me know if you need any more help.

Doug