Iron Kingdoms Roleplay - Session Eleven (Part One)

For those of you who haven't been keeping up you can find earlier sessions and background material in here. The stats of the player characters can be found here should you be interested and the rest of the 'Brotherhood of the Rail' mercenary companies NPC's backgrounds can be found here.

This weeks attendees would be Captain Sebastian LaCroix (Toms character), His Lieutenant Rafaldo Scorgiani (Steve's character), Martin's Priestess and 'Spiritual Advisor' character Danika Jansen, the Mechanik Bragg Halvard (Harry's character) and we'll be joined by Andrews new Pygmy Troll character Toborg Lugosh after the unfortunate brutal execution of his last character Bradick Davalos. My Ogrun 'Bosh' Skullsplitter will be again temporarily moved to NPC status as I'm GMing for the next couple of sessions.

Note - As I was GMing and obviously had notes and intro bits written down I've just pasted them into this article directly so they'll be in a 'reading to the group' style. This'll save me a lot of time writing out everything again and hopefully wont effect your reading enjoyment too much bouncing between the two styles of writing.

Mission Eleven - 'A Stroll in the Hills...(Part One)'
Once again the area of Ternon Crag is at peace...and once again it's destined not to last...

Editors Note - A lot of the aftermath of the last mission was sorted out between sessions so there's a lot of narrative at the start of this one. I wouldn't want you to think that I decided what peoples characters thought or did in their own downtime, lol.

Introduction
With the battle with the apparently rogue element of the Steelhead mercenary company ending with their massacre of most of the retreating survivors at the hands of those loyal to Stannis a meeting was arranged between your respective leaders to discuss what each would do next. Sebastian suggested the inn in the Brotherhoods fortress as he believed it had the atmosphere most conducive to a positive outcome...

The few remaining soldiers new enough to the Steelheads to claim that they were 'just following orders' had made many outlandish claims about the reasons for their catastrophic losses to their superiors including tales of mad priestesses commanding hordes of gigantic suicidal warbeasts, Battle-groups of spear wielding 'jacks, ranks of berserker Ogrun protected by magical runes of protection and magical blasts of fire and ice killing with uncanny accuracy from the battlements. Though Stannis was of course experienced enough to know the kind of exaggerations that men would use to cover up for their own failures what could not be denied was the simple fact that the losses of his own men were more than tenfold that of their enemies...

Stannis, his own remaining officers and a newly promoted Lieutenant represent the Steelheads with Sebastian, the diplomatic officer Amelie and the recently returned Rafaldo putting forward the Brotherhoods own point of view with a handful of bodyguards and interested parties from each side guarding against any treachery. Between Sebastian's skilled oratory, Amelie's somewhat flirtatious negotiation technique and Rafaldo's ability to find loopholes in every argument the debate gradually moves in the Brotherhoods favour.

After some additional back and forth the following initial agreement is reached...

Firstly the Brotherhood and the Steelheads would sign a pact of none aggression within a predetermined distance of Ternon Crag, Secondly the Brotherhood would allow the retrieval of the Steelheads dead and their equipment though any items already taken as spoils of war by Brotherhood members would not and nor would the body of the Lieutenant who led the charge mainly as his impaled corpse now flanked the opposite side of the entrance gate to the traitor Bradick. Thirdly the Brotherhood leadership vowed to keep silent about the Steelheads unprovoked and oath breaking assault as long as the Steelheads would make a similar vow to quell the unsubstantiated rumours of deals with Skorne as such rumourmongering couldn't help but hurt the reputations of both mercenary groups. Finally on the somewhat contentious issue of spurious gold used for payment the point of view was put forward that even if the money was indeed tainted the Steelheads already defaulted in their part of the bargain by never providing the forces that were promised and that wasn't it far more plausible that their rogue element had simply made this up as an excuse to justify their otherwise unprovoked assault...

There is a brief pause in the debate "Are we finished then?" says Stannis...


Editors Note - I left a pause here in case there were any in character things people wanted to add...there apparently weren't...other than some mutterings from Danika about giving the Steelheads their stuff back. There was also some notes passed between 'Rafaldo' and 'Sebastian' but these were related to a sub-plot from another GM's session so nothing to do with me...I'm sure all will become apparent when Tom takes over the GMing duties...

With the agreement reached the Steelheads return to their own fortress, the rest of the officers returned to their duties and Sebastian stayed pretty much exactly where he was.

The rebuilding work on the fortress continues at a rapid pace with the newly prioritised project now receiving regular shipments of materials, equipment and trade (though items of a purely functional nature rather than anything exotic) via the increasingly busy rail link and the lack of Skorne actions in the immediate area are a great relief for everyone. The only news to sour the generally positive atmosphere are sporadic reports of bandits attacking homes and farms on the outskirts of town and in the fertile lands where those who dwell in the hills graze their herds of cattle. Though up until recently these were simply opportunist thefts of cattle and valuables the last few attacks have been far more vicious and the first murders attributed to these people have now been reported and subsequently the first petitions by the locals for something to be done about this issue have started to make there way to the fortress...before any decisions can be made about this you receive word from the station that the latest scheduled train includes a visitor in the form of your contact from Tarna, Marcus Darling who is requesting a meeting when he arrives.

Marcus has arrived with a considerable entourage of personnel and carriages of equipment in anticipation of the majority of the Brotherhood and their own gear returning to their officially contracted train guarding duties. Though it's likely that some of the Brotherhoods rank and file will need to remain in place till the Transcontinental Rail Company can staff the fortress adequately on their behalf and will need to rejoin the main force later on.

Amongst the more mundane items bought are some things on a manifest that may be of interest to Bragg including a container of what is vaguely described as 'reclaimed jack parts - misc.' The somewhat disorganised pile of scrap and a vague list of items it contains has been given to Bragg to do with as he pleases courtesy of the Transcontinental Rail Company.

Editors Note - Harry has made clear that he'd like his character to do more with his characters mechanikal skills and his 'jack. I've therefore provided some bits that he can sort through (in character of course) to modify his 'jack and the other two laborjacks if he so desires. What he uses from the list is of course entirely up to him...

The inevitable meeting is called.

Marcus is accompanied by his ever present bodyguard who seems to have acquired several new scars since your last meeting. Marcus seats himself at the end of the table and helps himself to a drink. Due to supply shortages even the cooking sherry has been exhausted and the current booze supply tastes like something brewed by inmates in a prison...possibly fruit scraps fermented under a slightly warm rock...and Sebastian's mood has become equally sour...Marcus begins...

"I'd first like to congratulate you all on a job well done. The fortress has been combat tested and repelling attacks by both the Skorne and the Steelheads is certainly proof of it's construction" "Though of course your own efforts were no doubt a significant factor as well" He pauses briefly and takes a drink before spitting it back into the glass and pushing it aside. "The none aggression pact you somehow managed to negotiate with the second wave of Skorne is also unprecedented and will greatly help with trade through the fort..." he pauses again "It certainly made a few people at the company...curious..."

 "I was going to suggest a celebratory drink of some description but if this" he says waving at the pushed aside glass "Is all you have then I suppose I'll have to provide something myself"

His bodyguard briefly leaves the inn and returns with a slightly dusty bottle of wine which Marcus then pours for every-one with the exception of Bosh and Bragg who are still drinking some Troll brewed beverage that has been discovered to be near fatal to any-one with human vulnerabilities and to be fair even some of the Trolls have been avoiding it. A brief toast is made and Marcus then continues...

Sebastian is particularly impressed with the wine as it is amongst the finest he has have ever tasted but unfortunately the label is in too poor condition to read so identifying the vintage is impossible presumably due to poor storage conditions though this apparently hasn't effected the wine inside at all. Considering he hasn't had a decent drink in months his priorities suddenly shift to the acquisition of the rest of the crate...

"But onto current issues..." he continues "The current activities of the bandits you've no doubt heard of by now are in danger of causing issues for us on a wider scale due to their disruption of food supplies from the outlying farms and I've also been informed that they have just yesterday massacred a trade convoy moving across the mountains on it's way specifically to trade to us"

Sebastian and Rafaldo both notice that Marcus appears to be hiding something. A brief look that may have been guilt or concealment flashed across his face when the murders and convoy massacre was mentioned. Sebastian subtly moves the meeting into one of the private rooms and he and Rafaldo steer the conversation towards some possible holes in the story they've been given. After some back and forth the true reason behind the companies interest is extracted.

"The truth is...it might be possible...perhaps...that the increase in bandit activity and the specific targeting of our convoy may have something to do with one of my 'sister' departments attempting to remove the bandit leader as a threat...pre-emptively..." "It appears that their operative both failed in their task and apparently revealed their employer into the bargain"

It turns out that Marcus Darling wasn't the only representative of the Transcontinental Rail Company who has somewhat unethical responsibilities and whereas he is more responsible for information gathering and the occasional bit of industrial espionage the other department is responsible for more direct methods of problem removal. The department in question has now had their leader 'removed' and Marcus has taken over their responsibilities as well as his own.

"Regardless of the cause, the threat needs to be eliminated"

Marcus suggests that a small team be sent to eliminate the leader or leaders of this group and given that the terrain is largely unsuitable for the movement of a large armed force with any degree of stealth that a small group of no more than five or six would be the best way of accomplishing this. He also points out that you have proven capable of eliminating similar threats before so this should be well within your capabilities. The townspeople have joined together and are offering a substantial bounty of two hundred gold crowns for the removal of this bandit leader and given the circumstances Marcus has offered to double it to four hundred.

"Of course Captain I understand completely if you'd rather not accompany your people on such a mission though your expertise in 'unconventional' warfare would no doubt prove invaluable should you be willing." "I of course leave the final decision to you..." He stops for a moment and has another drink of the quite excellent wine...

Though not happy about the prospect of having to do some actual work where he might get dirty Marcus has assured Sebastian that by the time he returns he'll have located where on the last shipment the rest of the crate of the wine they are currently drinking is located...it's not a bribe exactly...but it does the job. It is at this point that Bosh points out that one of the Troll 'scouts' seemed particularly useful and observant when scouting out the Skorne force though he doesn't remember his name. He describes him as the 'tiny one with all the bullets and the funny hat'. Bragg realises that Bosh is likely referring to a Pygmy Troll 'Ranger' named Toborg Lugosh whom he vaguely remembers noticing at some point...

Editors Note - Andrew's new character officially crowbarred into the campaign...

Toborg is summoned to the meeting and is formally introduced to Captain LaCroix and the rest of the officers where he assures them that he has detailed knowledge of the mountain area and will be more than capable of following any trail they might encounter. He also claims to have considerable survival skills that will come in useful in the wilderness.

With the team complete Marcus offers to personally fund the mission in terms of equipment (within certain limits of course) in order to maximise their chances of success. Toborg already had a map of the local terrain, a map case and several signal flares with launching tubes issued to him by Transcontinental Rail when he first became a scout but the others were poorly equipped for a wilderness trip.

Editors Note - We used to play an RPG by Fantasy Flight Games called 'Deathwatch' where you played genetically engineered super soldiers (I'm guessing some of you reading this are familiar with Space Marines, lol). In that system being soldiers you're issued equipment based on a resource total and this adds an interesting tactical element of having to select what equipment you want before really knowing what you need. I decided to give this a go with a budget of one hundred and fifty crowns and a list of equipment taken from the new Iron Kingdoms expansion book 'Unleashed'. they knew they'd be travelling in the mountainous wilderness for a few days...the rest was up to them...

After some deliberation a variety of backpacks, food supplies, camping equipment, ropes and the like were selected for the trip as well as a few more exotic items such as camouflage netting. As was expected much of the carrying duties were allocated to Bosh. Toborg pointed out that the terrain will be unsuitable for 'jacks though horses or a horse and carriage would be usable up to the lower farms. Should (as is more than likely) the bandits be based higher in the mountains then foot travel is going to be the only option past a certain point. Sebastian requisitioned a large transport carriage for the initial part of the journey based on Toborg's assessment of the terrain.

Act One - 'Getting Some Mountain Air'

Between Lugosh's knowledge of the local terrain and Sebastian's experience with 'unconventional' warfare a likely location for the Bandits next attack is guessed upon. This is by no means a certainty but a starting point is needed and this is as good a place as any to begin. It also runs near the location of the convoy massacre so perhaps some clues can be gleaned from a belated look at the scene and it's decided by Sebastian to make the detour as it's along a parallel route and will only add a few hours to their journey. It's more than likely that had they been walking that he wouldn't have bothered...

The initial terrain is rocky and interspersed with sparse shrubbery though there are sections of greenery here and there along the route. There are a number of side paths and alternate routes but the most direct one is also the easiest to traverse and this close to areas of habitation and two fortresses is considered safe. Of course the convoy also considered the area safe and it's possible that they simply let down their guard at the wrong time.

The Convoy
After several hours of uneventful travel you come across the site of the convoy massacre. Several company employees are sorting through the wreckage and carts are taking anything salvageable back to the fort and rather unfortunately this constant traffic has gone some way to obscuring any useful evidence you might have acquired of the culprits...

Analysis of the scene reveals that several carriages (more than likely the front and rear carriages) were disabled and then the majority of the stranded remnants were picked off at range before an assault removed the rest. The amount of blood still at the scene indicates a particularly brutal set of attackers. Toborg numbers the attackers at about twenty-five to thirty, all humanoid in size, several were either heavily armoured or carrying a heavy load between them judging from the depth of the tracks. These tracks lead very roughly in the direction of the mountain farm they are heading towards...though the route itself does lead to other places...

Sebastian having some experiences of ambushes from his days as a resistance fighter in Llael notices some particularly worrying aspects to the attack. Quickly taking out both front and rear carriages would have required high accuracy, a considerable volume of fire or access to artillery of some kind. The assault itself was also virtually 'text-book' in it's implementation. In his opinion this attack was undertaken by some-one with military training or a lot of experience at 'terrorism'...

The Farm
As you continue on your journey the land becomes both harsher and ironically far more fertile though that extra foliage has created far more potential ambush sites along the route which has increased the tension considerably. Paths have narrowed and are far less defined though still show signs of foot traffic as obviously the farmers must use them to transport goods for sale and trade in Ternon Crag. Toborg informs them that the farm is about two hundred yards ahead just over an upcoming ridge and is subsequently sent ahead to scout out the area. The farm itself is a typical affair consisting of an area cordoned off for the growing of crops and a small herb garden, a corral area for cattle, a small farmhouse and several roughly constructed storage structures. The corral area is open and several dead animals can be seen from your vantage point, the crop area has been trampled upon and two figures are lying face down just outside the farmhouse. Toborg then returns to the officers to make his report to his Captain. Given the skill with which the convoy was attacked Sebastian concludes that their prey might not be above using civilians as bait for an ambush and decided to go in full tilt with the carriage with every-one loaded and ready for attack. Bragg skilfully gets the wagon up to speed and skids to a halt perfectly in position for any potential attack...

...however it seems that the bandits are long gone.

Editors Note - I was getting a bit predictable with ambush sites...

The scene reminded Rafaldo uncomfortably of the loss of his own family but he was able to push the feelings down deep enough to still be able to act normally despite his anger.

Editors Note - I was really hoping he'd fail that Willpower test...never mind, lol.

Toborg began to analyse the scene using his tracking skills and came to several unpleasant conclusions. It appears that the man was ambushed and had been savagely beaten to death just outside the house and the boy was shot in the back while running bravely (or foolishly) to his father aid. There are drag marks nearby that lead back into the farmhouse. Other tracks (presumably those of the raiders) lead away from the scene towards the looted areas though at least three sets follow the drag marks into the home. Sebastian orders the rest to investigate the area and ensure there are no nasty surprises waiting for them before drawing his pistols and investigating the house himself.

The house consists of a combined living and dining area with a fireplace at one end and a table in the middle which has been overturned and the area has been thoroughly ransacked. Two doorways to other rooms are in the wall to the left...both doors are ajar. The larger of the two rooms presumably belonged to the man and woman of the house and has also been destroyed. There is a woman lying dead on the centre of a double bed, her clothing is in some disarray. Showing due respect to the dead woman Sebastian tidied up her clothing and shut the door before moving to investigate the other room.

The room had been divided roughly in the centre by a curtain and there is a small bed on each side of it. The one on the right contains the remnants of various toys representing soldiers, monsters and the like and there is a sword made from two rough pieces of wood leaning in one corner though it has been snapped in two. The left side is more brightly decorated and contains several dolls though only one of these has survived the ransacking of the room intact. It is apparent that there is another member of the household missing. Pragmatically realising that several of his officers (particularly Rafaldo and Danika) would wish to abandon their current mission and search for the missing child instead of the bandits (presuming that the bandits weren't the ones who had taken her) he closed the door behind him and began to ponder whether to tell the others or keep the information to himself. Regardless it was getting late and the farmhouse would no doubt be the last chance for any decent shelter before they continued into the mountains on the bandits trail. Unfortunately the decision was about to be taken somewhat out of his hands...

Given the extra time to search the area Toborg discovered some more useful information. There were tracks everywhere and whoever was responsible for this atrocity had made no attempt to cover their trail and their tracks lead away into the mountains. The bandits themselves seem to have left in two groups some time apart. the larger one first and a second much smaller group some time later. Beneath these tracks the occasional footprint of a child could be discerned and it seemed that their owner departed the area before the bandits did...though by no more than a few hours.

Resigning himself to the inevitable consequences of the child's tracks discovery Captain LaCroix gave the order to follow the child's tracks into the mountains and hoped that the bandit trail didn't go cold in the meantime. To add another complication the trail was far too rocky to traverse in the cart...it looks like they'd be on foot from now on...

Act Two - 'On the Chase'
The meandering trail you are following splits into two.

The bandit tracks follow the trail to the left. Tinier and less distinct tracks presumably belonging to the missing girl however follow the fork on the right. Toborg also notices several almost completely obscured tracks made some weeks ago that remind him uncomfortably of those left by the Skorne when he was scouting their progress before their assault on the fortress. The map indicates a long abandoned quarry to the right though the left route has no features of note until an old mine at least a day or twos travel away.

The Quarry

After about ten minutes of travel you reach the scene of a landslide at the entrance to a rough but well defined rocky canyon. Protruding from beneath a pile of boulders is an arm in distinct red and gold armour holding a vicious looking barbed whip.

The boulders would take some time to remove but it's pretty obvious that the body is that of one of the Skorne and it's decided that removing the boulders is an unnecessary waste of time considering that they're already diverting from their actual task. Rafaldo specifically remembers that the whip looks like that used by one of the Skorne that was guiding their beasts during their unsuccessful attack on the Brotherhoods fort. Moving on the canyon begins to widen out and though the few signs of quarrying work are long finished they begin to come across the badly gored and (recently) partially devoured corpses of several local creatures. From somewhere in the distance a roar can be heard followed by the sound of something heavy impacting against a solid surface. Toborg is sent ahead by Sebastian to investigate.

The narrow canyon has become a wide open space interspersed by both the remnants of rock mining and the products of subsidence and several landslides. Some hundred yards away a gigantic tusked monstrosity in the remnants of red and gold armour is apparently attempting to tear it's way into a narrow crevice in the canyon wall with it's tusks. As you watch a large chunk of rock crumbles away, the hole widens considerably and the creature begins to hurl the chunks of the fallen debris that has temporarily blocked it's path...it will be mere seconds before it can renew it's attempt...

Toborg quickly reported back to the awaiting officers. Sebastian remembered that Rafaldo had claimed that the beast handlers were using the whips to control their creatures and hoping that this would be true of any-one wielding such a weapon ran back down the canyon to retrieve it. Before that he ordered every-one with a gun to move into firing positions and those without to ready themselves for a counter-attack should the gigantic creature get close enough to charge at them. Returning quickly to the scene Sebastian attempted to implement his admittedly 'long-shot' plan but unfortunately was unable to impose his will upon the creature or even to get it's attention and with the monster now having opened the crevice sufficiently to gain entry he gave the order to open fire...

Editors Note - The hand protruding from the rocks holding the whip was just meant to be a hint that there might be a warbeast ahead and an indication of the dangers of the terrain. It genuinely never occurred to me that some-one would try to use it...

Sebastian opened fire at close range into the creatures back trying to aim for less well armoured sections before quickly retreating as far away as he could get while the others made their own shots. Toborg did some damage with longer range rifle shots and Rafaldo's magic also hurt it though Braggs shots made little impact. Fortunately the arcane enchantments on one of the Captains guns had inflicted paralysing cold on the creature giving the shooters a second chance to attack before it could respond to it's attackers.

The second volley of shots chipped away at the creature's armour and inflicted some other minor flesh wounds though it was Rafaldo's magic that was to do the most significant wound. Seemingly rising to the challenge of the beasts imminent charge Rafaldo summoned forth a magical attack of unprecedented power that tore through the creatures armour and ripped through it's flesh with a force that would have destroyed a lesser creature...unfortunately despite it's terrible wounds it was still able to defend itself. Realising the danger they were in Danika cast her spells of protection on all in range as well as bestowing her blessings upon Bosh in anticipation of his counter assault. Hopefully he would be able to take out the monstrosity before it reached every-one else. Had the creature been at it's full strength it is unlikely that the Ogrun could have taken it on but in it's wounded and weakened state he managed to cut it down with the final of his blows.

With the creature dead Bosh proceeded to look for some trophy of the battle while Toborg scouted the area for any additional threats leaving the humans and Bragg to deal with whatever the Warbeast had been attempting to get at.

Tucked as far back into the gap in the rock face as she can possibly manage is a small child perhaps eight or nine years old in the remnants of what once must have been a quite pretty peasant dress livened up with lovingly embroidered flowers though it is now torn in a number of places. The girl also has a number of cuts and grazes on her legs and arms and has at some point lost a shoe. She is clearly not inclined to leave her hiding place at all.

It was decided to leave the job of dealing with the child to Danika as with her priestly raiment's she was most likely to give the impression of some-one who could be talked to and even despite the armour was probably the least intimidating of the group in appearance. It was also presumed that being female that the child would respond to her better.

The child is understandably in a state of some shock and is little use as a source of information as every few words are interrupted by sobbing and the information given is hardly surprising. Mainly consisting of references to the 'bad people who killed every-one', 'getting lost', 'being hungry' and hiding from the 'big monster'...she's also understandably quite keen to know what happened to her mommy. Danika was surprisingly reassuring and managed to console the child and despite giving the news of her mothers passing assured her that she was now in the tender care of Morrow.

With nightfall now imminent Sebastian gives the order to make camp. Though most make do with military rations the new scout Toborg utilises the now dead Warbeast as a food source. The majority of the officers decline the freshly cooked meat considering the source though several (notably Bosh) sample the meal with considerable gusto. The child is also fed and her minor wounds treated before being wrapped in a blanket and put to bed.

The trail would need to be found again tomorrow...

More in Part Two...Which Can Be Found Here.