Order From Chaos: Triumph On The Borderlands
Ending the first arc of the B/X campaign...and what's next?
The last post in this series saw my party re-upped with a couple new adventurers, and the overseeing of the banged up fortress called Buzzard’s Roost undergoing some repairs.
You can read about that HERE.
With everything prepared, I used a little skullduggery to divide and conquer the orc forces occupying the southern and southeastern areas of the mountain. Remember that orc we took prisoner back when we raided the hobgoblin’s cave?
He’s been rotting in the dungeons of the Keep until such a time as we thought we could use him again. He acts as a guide, under some duress, and we establish the intel that there are two main forces of orcs (to avoid future moral discomfort, I’ve decided these are raiding camps with all hostile and evil orcs hell-bent on the destruction of the valley), both of which are tentatively allied with each other.
The PCs use his knowledge of their movements to take out a raiding party from orc tribe A, and making a spectacle of their severed heads near their HQ - marking them up with orcish language (Algyrnon speaks it) and having it look like orc tribe B was the aggressor.
A skirmish begins between the two tribes, but some die rolls decide they eventually realize what’s happening as they scout out the PCs location. The stronger of the tribes (A), demands that tribe B lead an assault on the PCs fort with their ogre ally (who took up working with them after the PCs upset the neighborhood and killed all his former employers.
The upshot is - there is a night assault on Buzzard’s Roost.
Flaming arrows and orc berserkers crash in waves, but the massively overpowered Sleep spell is an MVP as usual, and whittles down the force considerably.
The yeomen and Ingolf drop the ogre with high rolls and critical hits as he charges the main gate, and then the rest of the party sally forth and shatter the remainder - the orc chieftain and his elite guard flee the party the started, and the PCs give chase.
Ultimately, they are run down and left to die in the dirt.
The PCs make the rapid decision to take the assault to the other tribe at their HQ, relying on a hopefully good roll on the opening Sleep spell salvo and the luck of the dice gods to purge this mountain once and for all.
The raid goes exactly to plan…except for poor Drune, our newest PC, who dies in the conflict. He goes out with a smile, having exacted a terrible vengeance on the orcs who killed his tribe. Cromlech promises to find a worthy bearer for his ancestor’s sword, and they build him a stone cairn out on the hillside.
With both orc tribes killed to the last warrior, and their treasures plundered, the PCs return to the Keep.
Algyrnon disappears with a wagon to his current workshop in the Keep - his brother a bit concerned about what he plans to do with the dead ogre and several orc warriors he insisted on being loaded onto the wagon for “study.”
While drinking with his friend Griff, the smith, Cromlech is introduced to Griff’s cousin, Callach of Dun-Bealach.
(The best stats I’ve possibly ever rolled with 4d6 drop lowest, and I start Callach at L2 for survivability’s sake).
News from the mountains is grim, and Cromlech knows he must hurry if there is to be hope for his clan there. Undead have taken over the lowlands, and the passes swarm with orc and goblinkind. Troll, ogre, and even giant have joined the raids. Why - no one is certain yet.
Callach hopes to end the problems here and enlist Cromlech to return with him on his journey home. They forge a pact and swear an oath of comradeship, and Callach joins the party.
The PCs know they must determine the source of all the attacks and workings of this valley in order to smash it once and for all.
A good bit of pages of notation and dice rolls ensue here - the long story short is the PCs begin shattering kobold raids and taking them hostage, using Callach to interrogate them until the info is obtained that “The Master” operates from a “very bad place” on the northeastern mountain called Fellhorn.
Meantime, outside influences have turned most of the personalities of the Keep against the PCs - the Guild (these bastards always turn against me or my players, so by now its just expected) is in bed with some very scummy people, and have leveraged their influence on the young Castellan to cease assistance to these adventurers and get them out of the Keep.
More dice rolls determine that Laereth the Beautiful (the disgraced priest whose forces I soundly spanked at the Moathouse, and distinct and subordinate to the priest from B2 who runs the Temple of Evil Chaos), has a cousin who is a high ranking member of the Guild thanks to the Nameless Cult.
Here we go with the conspiracy theories!
No assistance is offered to the PCs publicly, but the Curate aids them with a few potions and the Castellan meets privately to explain her position. The PCs agree to quietly leave and attempt to destroy this cult’s hold on the region - the Guild may be a tougher prospect!
THE TEMPLE OF EVIL CHAOS
At this point I’m 6 or 7 good sessions into B2, and I’m ready to wrap things up and explore some other play options.
The lizardmen worship a black dragon in the swamps.
What’s happening with the dwarves homeland?
What will happen with the Guild out to get the PCs?
I start the session in medias res at the entrance to the TOEC.
Things open up with a bang as I immediately encounter 8 patrolling zombies and Algyrnon says “hell with it” and drops his 6 die fireball scroll obtained from the hob cave.
Zombies are incinerated, but attention is grabbed - 4 acolytes are dealt with in short order by the stout dwarves, Ingolf, Hildred, and the yeomen (all of whom have survived from the first session we hired them!!)
Things proceed this way largely due to me seemingly being incapable of rolling anything other than a 6 on my initiative roll, which I’m not complaining about.
I manage to keep anyone from ringing the alarm gong in the Temple area, and kick in the doors of the cleric’s little (weirdly placed…these guys live down here?) parlor room.
The rest is history. The cleric wins initiative and attempt a Hold Person on the front d4 party members. Only a 1 is rolled, and Cromlech (may his ancestors bless that high Dwarf saving throw!) succeeds at his save.
One of the zombies critical hits Crom, but only does 6hp, and on the party’s round, magic missile and a critical hit from new member Callach crush the priest before he can run away out his secret passage. Zombies are annihilated, and the joint is plundered.
And quite a haul it is, too! Several thousand gp in spoils are taken. By the time they return to the Keep, Ingolf is just into the 3rd level mark, Hildred hits 2nd level, and Cromlech is a few away from 3rd himself. Angyrnon still has a ways to go, that Necromancer 2800/lvl is rough, but still not as bad as an elf!
What happens to the party next?
Where will they go?
I’m 7 sessions into this campaign, which is the longest I’ve managed to hold my interest in a solo campaign in a while. I’m inclined to keep it going, but also just got my spiral bound copy of Shadowdark from Lulu (I have the special edition from the Kickstarter, just wanted a lay-flat for the solo game).
If you’ve read this far, I’d love to hear from you.
What would you like to read next? More actual play? Articles on DMing, worldbuilding, running a Kickstarter, art, or retro games?
Let me know if you don’t mind, and I’ll keep on cracking.
Keep your blades sharp.
PS if you’re enjoying my Substack, I’d love it if you’d share with others who might be into this sort of weird stuff too!
I enjoy the actual play reports and your artwork the most, so that's what i want to see.
The solo sessions are great guides for beginners in the area.
My preferences:
1. Solo play/art
2. World building
3. GM advice