A Mountain of Gold Session 2 Report
What may very well be the last Dwarven clan continues its forays into the world after a generation of isolation. The world has changed since we last emerged. It seems the previous age is ending, or a new one is beginning. See the previous session report, and the preview and post-game GM Notes for this session.
I am once again joined by Wolffian and our GM the esteemed Ms. Quixotic for this experiment. Since last session, we have spent about 5000gp, which is .03% of our starting hoard of 15,000,000gp.
July
The bandits we have heard so much about are approaching our gates. We have enough time for some simple preparations, and our dwarves are uncommonly adept at earthworks. We settle on the construction of ramps to our wall interiors to allow the quick exchange of troops. Thirty-six are armed with heavy crossbows (ten of whom are in reserve), and the remainder with morningstars should the walls be breached. Blitzen Bloodfist and Spade Grimtooth are given the best of our magical armory.
They arrive, and we don't bother to count their number beyond acknowledging the number of leaders amongst their ranks: 8 Lieutenants and a Captain of varying strengths. They approach the walls carrying ladders, footmen first and cavalry behind, struggling up the winding mountain pass. They suffer our crossbow fire before they know what has truly happened.
We slaughter the ladder-bearers and the light-foots in front over the course of two volleys. There is time to attack their archers before they can loose a single arrow. Beginning to realize their straightforward approach will result in a massacre, they begin scrambling across the rough terrain with the cavalry pushing the road as fast as they can manage. Our Pegasi begin dropping rocks on their rearguard to hamper their retreat.
Before we can kill all the footmen, their archers finally get a volley off. Atop the wall, a single dwarf falls. Franc Warguard is the first to die in a generation. The bandits cheer as we already begin to mourn. A subsequent exchange of volleys results in a dozen of theirs dead and four more of ours. We begin shooting the cavalry. Each approaching leader has been systematically killed and their already faltering will is breaking. We unleash our Earth Elemental.
The Elemental, dropped by a Pegasus, tears through cavalry at Blitzen's command. The enemy breaks and we get a last volley off as they retreat. As their captain bedecked in stolen coin passes, Blitzen downs our Potion of Human Control and attempts to ensorcel them, which unfortunately does not come to fruition.
Once they have left, the dead are mounted on pikes and left to rot. The rest of the month is quiet.
Franc and his fellow fallen marksdwarves are given a new tomb as the first honored dead of a generation. Five fine statues are commissioned and placed to commemorate what is hopefully our only sacrifice. It stings.
A dwarven clan takes a new name in each new age. We confer, and for now take the name Warguard.
August
Our scouts report our mountain being watched by distant, glowing eyes. Blitzen investigates, and all that's left is struck camp stale with body odor and covered in scratch marks. We don't see the eyes again.
The trader Hakim Sand returns. He brings human-made weaponry, medicine, and congratulations. In purple shirt and foppish hat he extolls the virtues of these non-magical tinctures that can heal any ailment, cure baldness, and help in the bedroom. We purchase them out of curiosity. Passing on the weapons, we do let him know we are interested in purchasing the unknown-to-us firearms and gunpowder that seem to have been developed over the years. He does not have a contact for that, but promises to see what he can do.
Hakim lets us know the bandits we just routed have effectively dissolved with over half of their leadership dead. We sell him the random equipment detritus they had for a pittance, just to take it off our hands. He does share that we may not simply rest as goblins have been sighted in the region, though not near. Discussing the greater region, we learn the Golden Riders and Iron Will are constantly at each other's throats. The Iron Will, the only one we have talked to, is cash-strapped. The Golden Riders are known to be amenable to "neutral" polities, and he suggests they are someone we could go to for aid if we needed it.
Soon
We know of a single wizard tower in the region. 3 Pegasi is enough to send a group of 6 dwarves on a raid. We will kidnap ourselves a new wizard.
Post-game thoughts
This one was pretty different from the last session, since it was mostly resolving the battle with Chainmail. I haven't used or read Chainmail before, and I didn't read it before the game. I appreciate Ms. Quixotic and Charlie knowing what was up with that and looking through the books since I just went off of fictional position, but it was pretty simple from my perspective.
Excited to play OD&D for the next session, I'm enjoying the scale/system/framing shifts and it feels properly experimental to be doing a bunch of different stuff.
I was cooking during the last session and getting stuff into/out of the oven during this one. I would like to not be doing that next time if I can avoid it.