Behind the clouds, the sun begins to wend its way towards the mountains on the far side of the Anduin valley. At Grimbeorn's command, he and his followers spur their horses eastward, their shadows lengthening before them as they race onward.
The orcs have clearly made no attempt to conceal their trail during their night-time incursion. Indeed, it appears to both Grimbeorn and Hathcyn that they are simply making a desperate dash across the open country, heading directly for the concealment of the wood beyond. The vales are wide, however, and despite their inhuman speed they cannot possibly have made it so far in a single night. As the afternoon begins to deepen into twilight, the riders at last find their quarry.
A sturdy longhouse, large barn and a handful of outbuildings mark a lonesome steading atop a slight hill. Despite the remaining daylight, however, there is no sign of the inhabitants.
:ooc: I'm not going to roll for fatigue for a single day's journey so close to home. I am going to make some Awareness rolls for the two PCs:
Grimbeorn
:00: 1d12 : 6, total 6
Rolled 3d6 : 5, 5, 2, total 12
Hathcyn:00: 1d12 : 5, total 5
Rolled 3d6 : 4, 2, 1, total 7
The keen eyes of the young Men make out the scars of recent violence on the longhouse. A door sits askew, likely broken in and now hanging off its hinges. Elsewhere, a large pool of dried blood upon trodden-down soil marks the place where some Man or beast has met their end.
"Wolfslayer, these ill folk have no doubt slain the living. Shall we fire the hall or take it by storm?"
Hathcyn Longspear sat high in the saddle. The presence of forty orcs was not so easily hid. He examined the lay of the land and the out buildings.
"Perhaps we should send a group to circle around. If they break and head for the wood we can ride them down."
Awareness Roll to look for orcs or ambush points.
Rolled 1d12 : 8, total 8
Rolled 3d6 : 3, 4, 6, total 13
"The homestead needs to be scouted to see if they are holding hostages. If not, you'll hear our advance and that will be your signal charge in," said Grimbeorn. "We must hold out hope for the Men here." As Hathcyn and his squad wheeled about, Grimbeorn directed the surest of foot and discreet riders to dismount and scout the area on foot.
No signs are there of orcs outside the buildings, though the scouts quickly report plenty of marks where the foul things have hewed into the wooden beams. Nor does their trail continue beyond the steading. It would seem that, though it be softened by the heavy clouds, the light of the sun is more than they will willingly abide.
Inside, they say, there is the sound of a fire, and of singing in a harsh tongue.
Hathcyn brought his riders around the side and hide beneath the fold of the motte.
"I too would desire to fight on foot friends, but let us be ready leat they break and attempt to run. A moment of patience is required of us as true warriors, not to among those willing to give into battle lust."
"There were no other signs of the men of this land?"
"None, my lord," comes the reply. "It seems even most of the beasts have been scattered and lost."
In truth Hathcyn too was seeing his patience tried and wished to engage the orcs.
Grimbeorn nodded at the assessment. He motioned for the group to advance, quietly though, so as to preserve the element of surprise. Once upon the building, he led the charge through. "To their deaths!" he called. The others echoed the call in their own way, creating a clamour of death and blood in their wake, so great the noise carrying off to Hathcyn as promised by the heir.
With wild cries, the followers of Grimbeorn crash through the door of the longhouse, to be answered by a cacophony of shrieks from the orcs and goblins within as they seize weapons. As the flames in the fire-pit dance, the shadows cast by the beams merge and twist with those of the participants in a cramped and chaotic battle.
:ooc: To confirm - Hathcyn has the lead of a small band of mounted Men, while Grimbeorn and the remainder are attacking the longhouse. There were fifteen Men all told, once Tate and Esgalwen broke off to track the fugitive. Having Hathcyn at the head of another four (for five total) while Grimbeorn heads up ten keeps things nice and easy on my tired brain, unless anyone wants to say otherwise.
Battle rolls:
Grimbeorn
:00: 1d12 : 1, total 1
Rolled 2d6 : 2, 6, total 8
Hathcyn:00: 1d12 : 12, total 12
Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1
:ooc: Not a brilliant beginning for the Beorning princeling, but neither is it insurmountable. Hathcyn, on the other hand, has a trick up his sleeve somewhere.
I'm going to experiment with a new way of running this kind of skirmish - I'm not going to roll every round to see how well your followers are doing. Instead, the PCs will be matched against a number of opponents roughly proportional to the numbers on both sides - in this case, you'll be outnumbered 2-4:1. Once you've dealt with your immediate opponents (or the fight has been going on for a while - perhaps five rounds or so), you'll need to make a Battle roll to see how well your side is doing. The TN will depend on the initial numbers on both sides, and any dramatic events during the fight.