FELLOWSHIP PHASE - Dragontide

[Eclecticon]

Early November 2956

Mechanical rewards first
Every PC receives six EP and as many AP as are marked off on your sheets. 

Everyone except Esgalwen recovers a point of Hope from the Fellowship pool (unless you're at maximum Hope already, in which case don't bogart the Hope!). 

Other matters
The next chapter of the story takes place in Lake-Town in the days immediately following the Dragontide festival (1st to the 3rd of Novmeber), as emissaries from all the Free Peoples of the North gather for a great council.  With your indulgence, I will arbitrarily declare that Esgalwen and her men escort the PCs there to recover. 

The next chapter follows quickly on the heels of the last one.  Arbogast was the only person to have been Wounded, so he won't be completely healed by the time the story kicks off.   

[GandalfOfBorg]

Grimbeorn
Starting:
11 AP
17 XP
+1 Hope

End:
Dagger +2 ranks (10 XP)  The purpose of Dagger is the assumption that this skill is used for unarmed combat
Save 7 XP
Save 11 AP
Add 1 Hope

[Eclecticon]

Since nobody else seems to be in a hurry to jump in, I'll do Arbogast's advancements. He has 12 AP stored up, which he'll use to advance his Inspire skill from 3 to 4.  He has 14 XP stored up, but I'm keeping those banked. 

[tomcat]

Esgalwen had 2 EP to start and 1 AP ending up with 8 and 5 respectively.

She will spend 4 EP to increase her Dagger/Brawl to 2d and bank all the other points.

Ending scores:

EP: 4 (94 career)
AP: 5 (139 career)

Beal had 1 success at Athletics and so has 1 AP and 6 EP.

[Eclecticon]

All good so far, and thanks for keeping your sheets updated.  When it comes time for undertakings, bear in mind that Lake-Town is automatically a Sanctuary for rules purposes, which means that if you try to Heal Corruption, you get to make two rolls. 

[AlyC]

-ooc- I have no idea - Happy to take suggestions from the group on what we need/are lacking in terms of skills

[Eclecticon]

Yes, of course!  This is a part of the game I never got around to explaining properly.  Feel free to drop me an email if you like.  And of course the guys will have some helpful suggestions. 

[Eclecticon]

I've had a look at Laeral's sheet, and I don't see a lot of good opportunities for her to spend the six AP and six EP that she's earned this adventure.  I would recommend saving up to buy a second point of Travel (so she won't get all tired out on overland treks - you'll need 8 AP) and another point of either valour or wisdom (10 EP for either). 

The next step is for you to choose something for her to do while she occupies her time in Lake-Town and write a little vignette about it.  I'm happy to talk about this offline. 

[GandalfOfBorg]

Grimbeorn's return to Lake-town was ignominious at best, at least that's how he felt.  Yes, he and his companions had tracked down the Shadow's threat in the area and dealt it a grievous blow but he got himself and the others captured for their troubles and his best friend almost killed.  He wanted to hide from the world but in this town that wasn't going to happen.  For just as many raised cups for their deeds, he believed that there were just as many or more sideways glances and whisperings.  Mind you, they mostly came from the fact they don't see Beornings often, let alone the heir of Beorn himself (he kind of stands out) and they truly were in awe that the companions did make it back alive with a new Elven cohort as well.

For the most part, Grimbeorn stayed out of sight as he could and threw himself into tending to the others where his talents lay: cooking.  They were out of fresh supplies and his honeycakes, a staple on their journeys, were gone so he acquired or sent for things they needed and spent most of his time in the kitchen and seeing to the others.  A sweet, delicate smell among other delicious ones had called itself home in their lodgings and soon the neighborhood.  It had gathered quite the audience given it wasn't often one could walk the gangways and boat back alleys and not be assaulted by the stink of fish outside of Baker's Row or near the Master's lodge.

 
Heal Corruption

Craft -  1d12 : 9, total 9
Rolled 2d6 : 6, 6, total 12

[tomcat]

Esgalwen spent little time in Lake-town, as she had need to return to Dale. The meeting with her companions had warmed her heart, but it had been brief. Grimbeorn had been quiet most of the time, draped in a foul mood, while Arbogast had spent his time in much needed sleep. The wound he had taken was superficial, but still such wounds could turn deadly if not treated with haste. Of the others, she knew little – Hathcyn and Esgalwen had not spent much time forming a strong friendship prior to her leaving the Carrock those years past. The Elf-woman and the Lake-town boy she knew not at all, and so they had little to share.

They saw the captives back to Lake-town and after a few days, her men were anxious to return to their city and thus they were off. Esgalwen went to Arbogast's bedside and spoke quiet words to him.

"Hello Fire-watcher, it is good to see you awake and looking much better than how you were found among the reeds." She smiled, "The healers say that you have been up and about and that you make good progress. That is good. I hope that you have been fed well, too? I have spoken with the Master of the Lake and he assures me that your care will be seen to, and I have assured that I will see to any and all cost. So, fill your belly as you please and enjoy the rest."

"There is no need for such things, Esgalwen," Arbogast protested.

"Say no more," she rebuked with her fair smile, "There is, and it is done."

Noting his discomfort with all the fawning, Esgalwen changed the subject and the two spent the next half-hour speaking of his wife and children and the well-being of the Black Tarn. It was a nurse that sent her off, the elderly woman demanding that Arbogast get more rest. The Dúnadan took her friend's hand, "I return to Dale with my company, but know that I shall be back to Lake-town for the Dragontide. Mayhaps we can see each other once more?"

"I would like that," answered Arbogast and they parted ways.

Before finding Euric, she made her way to where Grimbeorn was spending his days in introspective baking. The incongruity of the scene made her smile.

"Hello Great Bear," she said – interrupting the man as he sifted flour.

"Esgalwen!" he answered and gave her the expected strong hug.

"I am on my way. I return to Dale today with my company of riders. I wanted to say goodbye, once more, though I believe it will be short. I shall be returning for the festival."

Like with Arbogast, the two friends made small conversation and then she was away. Only one more stop did she make, and that was to find Hathcyn. The Long Spear, as he was known, had sought her out and led her back to their aid through his arcane arts. She wanted to thank the man for his efforts and to let him know that she was glad she was able to reach them all in time.

"Middle-earth is a better place with you all running about, instead of starving in a marsh." They laughed together, though both felt the underlying reality of that fate which had been thwarted. Soon she was saying goodbye to this companion and on her way.

The Company of Dale-men spent the rest of the day riding the seven leagues between the city and the lake and she came to her home with the setting of the sun. The apartment was warm but seemed empty. She took off her traveling cloak, leather worked armor, and hung her weapon on its peg. She went to the bath house to clean her body and then dressed herself in her house clothes.

All her things were prepared.

The letter had been sent to Bard asking for his permission to relinquish her place in his court, and though disappointed to hear her request, he had granted it. The Dragontide festival would start within days and she would return to see the simple extravagance of Lake-town and enjoy these northerners for a short while longer.
She looked at Nimronyn hanging on the wall and thought of all the things she had experienced since leaving her far off home. So many things learned and all of it could be lent to her new purpose.

Ithilien called and she was answering.
Esgalwen will Gain a New Specialty as her undertaking. I will swap Beast-lore with Enemy-lore (Orc). I think her time spent in Mirkwood has focused more on the Enemy than her tracking of animals. I hope I don't regret it. 

As for my narrative above, she is going home. When that will be is to still be determined, but she is resigning her position within King Dale's court.

[Eclecticon]

I'm giving Aly a smidge of behind-the-scenes help with her undertaking etc. and I'll have Arbogast's stuff up soon.  In the meantime, we seem to have mislaid Tom.  Is anyone in contact with him? 

[GandalfOfBorg]

1. Can you tell me if what the result of my fairly successful corruption check is?
2. Can someone help me with the Grimbeorn PDF? when I reloaded it back to Dropbox, it broke the link here on the website and I don't know how to fix it.

Thank you

[tomcat]

I will take care of it, Matt.

Because how we do things now, I can't promise this won't happen in the future. I know that I have the Dropbax app on my devices which does a permanent share of the character folder to each device, so when I make changes it is to the file in the folder. I am assuming if downloaded and then re-uploaded to a new file it will re-adress the PDF and thus break the link.

Anyway, I will fix the current connection.

[tomcat]

It is fixed for the moment, but Dropbox is changing their way of previewing and the URL is now different for each PC. The old links on the other PC's still work, but I need to figure out how to generate a common URL string.

[Eclecticon]

Thanks for handling that, Doug.  As far as I know, all this stuff happens due to the hard work of magic internet gnomes, so it's good to have someone a little more tech-savvy looking after it. 

If I can bring the discussion back to the game for a sec, where did Esgalwen land on what to do with the goblins' treasure horde?  It's a fair-sized pile of loot (30* points of treasure) and it might prove tempting to certain individuals. 

1. Can you tell me if what the result of my fairly successful corruption check is?

Fantastic roll, Matt!  That knocks Grimbeorn's temporary Shadow down a whopping six points.