Solo 'Through Sunken Lands' RPG, Part 4, The Hermit

 

At the old hut in the swamp

Time 1:40pm 
Date 12th March

Weather - Clear, very light wind and a little warmer than normal for the time of year.

In part three we left out group of adventures having entered a swamp, there they found their way blocked by a fallen tree, whist moving it a swarm of insects attacked them, in trying to evade the swarm, Sana the barbarian girl ended up in the swamp and swallowed a lot of bad water and needed to be rescued.  Although her life is not threatened she is far to ill to continue the journey.  The group came across an old hut where they hoped they could stay, eat and wait until Sana was able to continue.  Tilly the Rouge discovered  the hut was occupied, the party must now decided what to do next.

I ask the oracle if Tilly was spotted by the 'strange man' as tilly described him.  Roll d20 = 8, d6 = 6, so a straight 'No' and +1 intervention point.  

Tilly has passed through the swamp before, or seemed to have done as she knew how to find the road through the swamp, I ask the oracle if Tilly new the man inside the hut.  Roll on d20 = 20, d6 = 6, so a straight 'Yes' and another +1 intervention point (now 2 intervention points).

I ask the oracle if this is the old hermit Tilly knows and whose house Tilly was hoping to reach before nightfall.  Roll d20 = 13, d6 = 1, a straight 'Yes'.

GM - Tilly looks puzzled, she says she knows the strange man in the hut, his name is Karloak, an old hermit she knows but he should not be here, his house is a further 8 miles from the swamp, she was hoping they could all lodge there for the evening.

MARIANNE - Sana is too weak to travel on, if this is a friend of yours Tilly, ask him if we can rest here until Sana is well again.

DORANUS - we could all use some rest, that swarm of foul insects bit me in places I never want to bitten in again.

ALRIK - and I am hungry and thirsty, there is good food in the cart, I suggest we knock on the door, we can offer to share some food with your friend I would hope that would be appreciated by him and he would more willing to help us.

SANA - groans and is ill again.

GM - Tilly, seeing she has little choice, agrees to ask, she tells the PC's to wait by the cart, she will go alone and talk to the hermit.

I used UNE (the Universal NPC Emulator) to generate some details about the hermit, he is old and generally well disposed towards Tilly.

GM - before Tilly gets to the door of the hut, it opens and an elderly man, unkempt with a long scruffy beard and tattered clothing steps into view.  The two greet each other warmly and you see Tilly pointing towards you, and whilst you cannot make out what they are saying, you notice that she starts beckoning you to come towards the hut.

DORANUS - I will go first, I will ready Elements Command, if the situation turns bad I will call on an element near me to attack the hermit.

ALRIK - I will follow, I will keep my hand close to my blade but will not look threatening, hopefully there will be no reason to draw my blade.

MARIANNE - I will bring up the horse with Sana.

GM - as you approach the house, you hear Tilly say to the old hermit 'Karloak my old friend, these are my fellow travellers, the girl Sana is not well, she needs to rest".  Karloak welcomes you and says he has been expecting you.  He tells you to bring Sana in to the hut.  Once inside you notice there is a makeshift bed and a rickety table with stools around it, a small fire in the corner has a pot of something boiling on it.

ALRICK - Doranus and I will help Sana into the hut, we will put her down on the bed, hopefully she will sleep.

GM - Karloak offers you all a seat at the table, there are 5 stools, one for each of you except Sana, as well as one for Karloak himself.  Karloak asks what has happened to Sana.

MARIANNE - I shall tell Karloak about the fallen tree, the insect swarm and Sana falling into the swamp.

GM - Karloak takes a cup of whatever is brewing on the small fire and makes Sana drink it, he tells her that it will make her sleep and she will be fine in the morning.  He then comes and sits at the table with the rest of you.

DORANUS - I will ask Karloak what he meant when he said he he was expecting us.

I roll on oracle to see if he answers the question, roll on d 20 =7, roll on d 6 =6, so a straight 'No' and +1 intervention point, (3 intervention points, so roll on intervention table).
Roll d6 on itervention table = 6, so its wild, something totally unexpected happens., I roll for a random noun and a random verb (I use randomlists.com) and get 'SPOT' & 'COUNT'.

GM - before Karloak is able to answer you hear Tilly's  horse whinny loudly, Tilly makes a wisdom check, she rolls 10, a success.  She spots out of the window strangers moving quickly towards the hut, she counts 6 men.  She slowly gets to her feet and loads her two hand crossbows.  Karlock, from out of nowhere is suddenly in possession of a very ornate sword.

ALRIK - I will draw my eldrich blade.

DORANUS - are there any more entrances or exits other than the window and the door we came in.
roll on oracle d20=7, d6 = 2, so 'No(if)'.

GM - there are no other ways in or out, if anyone wants to get in it has to be through the door you came in or climb through the window.

DORANUS - good, I think, I will draw my shortsword.

MARIANNE - I draw my dagger, I move over to Sana, if anyone comes near her I will attack them.

ALRIK - are the shutters open at the window.

roll on oracle d20=20, d6=2, so 'Yes (on the contrary).

GM - there are no shutters on the window and now someone is trying to climb through it and a second armed man is behind him, at the same time someone or thing is trying to break the door down.  Tilly and Marianne are nearest to the door, Alrik is nearest to the window.

Attackers 
Great Warrior (no 1) Hit Dice 4d10, hits 22 AC17, Attack +6 to hit, 1D8+3 Damage - at door
Soldier (no2,3,4) Hit Dice 1d6, hits 4, AC14, Attack +0 to hit, 1d6  Damage - all at door
Soldier (no5,6) Hit Dice 1d6, hits 4, AC14, Attack +0 to hit, 1d6  Damage - all at door

 MARIANNE - the door is bolted then?

roll on oracle to see if door is bolted d20 =16, d6 =1 a straight 'Yes'.

ALRIK - can I strike at the first intruder coming through the window.

GM - yes, you have a greater initiative and can strike the first intruder.

ALRIK - I roll 20 on d20 to hit, so an automatic hit, roll on d8 for damage = 2.

GM - Soldier no5 is through the window, he is hit but not down, Soldier no 6 starts to climb through the window now.

MARIANNE - I ask about the door, is it broken through yet?
roll on oracle d20=4, d6=4, so 'No(so long as), 

GM - the lock on the door is sturdy, so is the door, so long as the lock olds the door will remain shut.  Nothing else happens this melee round, so round 2.   Karloak is near to soldier 6 and strikes first but rolling a 1 fumbles his strike, Alrik next

ALRIK - I roll 13 with my BAB +2 thats 15 against AC14 so I hit, just, rolling d8 for damage = 3.

GM - soldier 5 grunts his last and is out of the fight, soldier 6 strikes back at Karloak, rolling 4, so no way near hitting the hermit.  I roll to see if the door and lock are holding up (roll on oracke d20 = 10, d6 =6, so a straight 'No' and +1 intervention point) The door smashes open and a great warrior comes rushing in.  Tilly manages to loose two of her crossbow bolts at the brute, she hits with one, not the other and the attacker takes 4 hits.  The other 3 soldiers make their way in.

Round 3, Tilly rushes forward dagger drawn and attacks the great warrior, she fails to he but strikes Tilly causing 8 points of damage.
Karloak is next, attacking soldier number 6, this time he makes no mistakes, rolling 19 to hit and does 3+2 points of damage, soldier no 6 is out of the fight.

MARIANNE - I wait with my dagger, ready to protect Sana.

ALRIK - I will jump on the table and wait to see what happen (must make a roll against dex, roll on d 20 = 11, just 1 less than his dex of 12, so he makes his jump.

DORANUS - I cast my command element spell, I get a water spirit with +2 attack and 1d6 hits, I command it to attack a soldier

GM - it does your bidding and attacks soldier 2, it hits and causes 6 points of damage, soldier 2 is down and out.

Round 4 of combat. 

GM - Till has highest initiative, she strikes at the great warrior but her dagger bounces off his armour, he in turn fails to hit Tilly this time.

MARIANNE - the tide seems to turn in our favour, I rush the nearest soldier, but just get a 3 on d20 to hit, failure (she attacked soldier 4).

GM - Karloak is next, he cast a magic missile spell directed at soldier 3,  two bolts of magical energy strike the unfortunate soldier and the man goes down.

ALRIK - I will launch myself of the table and strike at the attacker fighting Tilly, if I can hit him I will.

GM - make a roll against dex, (Alrik rolls 5, he succeeds his dex roll), okay, you land next to them, now roll to hit but with a -2 chance.

ALRIK - I roll d20 = 20, no problem, roll d8 for damage, only a 1.

DORANUS - I command the water element to attack the soldier fighting Marianne, I roll d20 and get 15 with +2 to hit its god, roll 1d6 damage = 3

the game now seems up for the attackers, soldier 4 panics and runs out of the door, the great warrior seeing he has no hope then does likewise but not before telling Tilly he will be back for her soon.

Everyone is exhausted, they eat what food they have and the old hermit gives them all a draught from his cooking pot, they all talk for a while, then sleep takes over.  The next morning they awake early, Sana is fit to travel, Tilly has taken a few to many hits but she is keen to press on.  There is no sign of the old hermit though, they search outside for him, it seems he has gone but not before hooking up the horse and cart, laying on the straw is his sword.

We will leave the next part of the adventure until next time.