Barony of Seppet

Notes from a fantasy adventure using the rules from Steve Jackson’s GURPS Basic Set 3rd Edition.

In the world of Kormyr, we originate in the Barony of Geshton, five characters.

Xenophon, attractive female, prophet of goddess Athena, and fish lord
Etienne, human male, landed knight
Marvin, human male, sneaky junior mage, completed one mission
Stoneheart, fighter dwarf, master of bridges, some magic
Isha, female fighter, a knight of Geshton, some magic

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Into Siege

This adventure follows one in which we destroyed the gateway, a magical door that an evil lich had been using to transport orc minions to attack human villages. We came through to our present location because this is where it had been used last. The lich still controls the present orcs and other minions, though.

When we emerged from the gateway we found ourselves in the keep of the Barony of Seppet, which had been under siege by orcs for about three months. In the fighting last night we managed to kill three orcs.

The royal in charge is a 14 year old boy named Falson. The part that is still controlled by humans is a square keep that has two towers at opposite corners. The keep is surrounded by a wall and gate. The bailey between the keep and the walls is a battle zone. Orcs control the gate and the wall. Walls extend between five towers around the bailey. Wall lengths vary from 15 to 30 feet long, and one corner is on a stony hill, making it taller than the others.

Lay of the Land

Five of us heroes and nine knights of Kormyr, plus Falson, now hold Seppet keep. A few unskilled townsfolk are trapped with us. Outside the gate is a river, and a wooden bridge goes over it. On the other side of the river the fertile valley is home to a population of farmers, however the countryside is no longer prosperous. On the opposite side from the gate, behind the walls of the keep, is a stony outcrop. One of the towers on the wall is built on that stone. Outside there, the land is barren with no cover for sneaking around.

The closest allied keep is a day and a half march away. Just go out the gate, cross the river, walk through town and keep going. It would be helpful to travel there in order to ask for help and find out what’s going on. There has been no response to the messages sent earlier by carrier pigeons and by human patrols.

There Be Griffins

Xenophon turns into a giant eagle, flies out by a keep tower, and is spotted by a large griffin that attacks as she tries to dodge. The griffin pulls off some feathers. It has an eagle head and a lion body, and flies with the aid of magic, so its mass does not affect its flying ability. That is innate magic, not generated by any artifact that we might target.

Isha opens a trap door, bearing a weapon. An archer follows her out onto the tower top. Xenophon is aware of Isha and heads in her direction. The griffin attacks again. Xenophon and the griffin tumble up onto a parapet near Isha. Claws and feathers fly, and they miss Isha. She aims her sword and hits for 6 points cutting, taking a hunk out of the griffin.

Xenophon begins to change back to human form while defending. The bowman drops his weapon and rushes to engage in melee. Isha does another 10 cutting damage and the griffin jumps off the tower! The griffin starts flapping away while Xenophon, in human form, picks up the bowman’s weapon and aims. Xenophon fires an arrow but the griffin dodges it.

Some other knights walk onto the top of the tower and they mention that they have been seeing griffins around the keep more often. The lich appears to order them around from time to time. Xenophon looks out and sees no griffins. She changes back to an eagle and flies off. She sees another patrolling griffin and returns. Xenophon says it is not worth flying to the next keep – it’s too dangerous. The enemy controls the airspace. It looks like we have to fight the orcs.

Griffin Feather

There is a griffin feather on the tower top! Xenophon picks it up and gives it to Isha. They know that griffin feathers are valuable for their magic properties. Isha’s brother would be able to find a good use for it.

Collapsed Tunnel

There is a tunnel that ordinarily can be used to get away from the keep. It is about 300 yards long. A portion of it has collapsed. That may have been deliberate. Stoneheart thinks about how useful it would be to dig it out. Etienne says that the orcs probably know where the tunnel comes out. Stoneheart observes that the existing tunnel goes under one of the towers and the collapsed portion is near it. Perhaps they can dig a bit and take a tower. The two put their heads together and decide it would be best to observe orc behavior for a while.

Rest and Observe

We decide to rest during daylight and watch the orcs around the clock for 24 hours. Daytime watches are set to be four hours each. The first watch is by Xenophon, then Etienne and Marvin take the second watch, and then Stoneheart and Isha take the third. Each watch has three knights available as well. On the third watch Isha notices a griffin landing far away in the countryside. It takes off again after about 20 minutes. It is hard to tell what the griffin was doing there. They are known to feed on livestock.

The next morning we observe that most of the orcs are in the two towers near the gate in one of the walls. We have never seen more than two or three at a time. There are probably more than a dozen orcs. They have been seen moving along the inner wall, using six foot wide elevated wooden walkways. These form galleries on the inside of the crenelated wall that join each tower. There is no guard rail on the inside of the walkways. We cannot see beyond the walls, so there is no telling just what is out there.

That griffin comes back again to the same location as before, but it is not observed to leave this time.

Tower Offense

Stoneheart uses digging skills to clear a way along the existing tunnel, where it had collapsed earlier. The tunnel is deep enough that it goes under any foundation for the wall or tower. It probably comes within a couple yards of a wall tower. There is a door at the base of that tower. According to Falson, the 14 year old royal, the base of that tower consists of eight feet of worked and mortised stone. That’s eight feet deep, and very sturdy.

The knights of Kormyr wonder what we are planning. Etienne explains that we will take that tower and kill off orcs three at a time. “Huzzah!” they cheer.

Etienne helps us dig in the right direction with his orienteering skill, involving the use of a reliable compass. Stoneheart directs the team as we dig to the tower. While digging straight up through the middle of the tunnel some dirt falls into the tunnel and Stoneheart orders us to fall back. The tower shifts a little and a crack appears between the tower and the wall.

Etienne returns to the keep and hears orcs shouting from near the tower. One orc is observed hopping over the wall, evidently having climbed up a rope from the outside. That makes sense, since they control the land near the outer wall. It is risky to walk across the bailey, which is the dirt courtyard between the wall and the square keep in the middle. That area is exposed to attack from archers.

Gopher It

The door at the base of the shifted tower opens partway and a gopher pokes its head out of a hole. There is a little pile of dirt kicked up, too, and that stops the door from swinging all the way open. It goes back into the little hole.

Stoneheart, standing in the tunnel, notices a gopher emerge from a hole. What is this, a spy? The gopher squeaks and Stoneheart all out attacks. Man, he is fast! He grabs two hexes of dirt, six feet wide, and dashes the gopher to death. Stoneheart still controls the dirt and slaps it back into place.

Tower Collapses

Unfortunately, the tower shifts a little more, toward the inside courtyard. Orcs scream and run away from it as it collapses into the bailey. Only one orc jumped away for sure, and there is at least one orc’s body revealed as the remaining orcs work on the fallen stones. They are piling up available material to block the gap there as best they can. That will enable them to sneak around the outside of the wall without being observed from the keep.

Get Out

We need a new plan. Thinking back to how the team did it in Geshton, we decide to try digging deep under the river toward town. Stoneheart uses his dirt moving spell to shift dirt and makes it well past the river, thirty yards into town. Sadly, he fails critically to shape dirt and must study for a week before having any chance of recovering that spell. What ever shall he do?

Move Stone

Stoneheart casts a spell that changes dirt to stone! Then he shifts stone. Luckily he is able to do that to make it ninety yards into town. Along the way the four others of us lend him strength without critically failing any time. Perhaps the shifted stone will slow water seeping into the new tunnel. Stoneheart digs up and we emerge in the basement of a domicile. It is late afternoon. Etienne sneaks up the stairs and observes two orcs sleeping in the room above. They are not clad in armor. Etienne comes back downstairs and informs the four of us, in whispers, about the two orcs above.

Fewer Orcs

Xenophon and Etienne sneak up with sharp weapons drawn, planning to dispatch those two orcs as they sleep. The two make their attacks, each a double attack to the head. Xenophon kills one orc, but the other cries out! Stoneheart listens for movement elsewhere in the building and whispers, “Let’s go!” Xenophon moves into the next room as Etienne terminates the last orc. We move into the rest of the house checking for other occupants as Xenophon carefully looks out a window at the street. All is quiet, and we observe that the dead orcs had leather armor and short swords near at hand. Evidently we can hole up here for a while to rest and then spy around the town.

That action occurred in a front room just off the kitchen. Looking upstairs, we find nothing else. We clean up the front room and move to the kitchen, near a back door. We plan to spend the night in watches and if other orcs enter the building then we will ambush them.

Xenophon and Marvin take first watch in the kitchen as the others rest near them. A window in the kitchen looks out over a little garden. Toward sunset, near the end of the first watch, we hear the screech of a griffin. It probably is not flying at the moment; it seems to be nearby.

Watch Out

As Xenophon and Marvin prepare to change watches, we hear shouts, the jingle of armor, sounds of boots on wood. We speculate they are crossing the bridge over the river, going toward the keep.

Xenophon carefully looks out an upstairs window toward the keep. Unobserved, he sees a group of four orcs walking up the street toward the bridge. Could it be the time of a shift change? We wonder whether they might notice two orcs not showing up for duty.

About an hour later we hear shouts and the clash of weapons. Xenophon and Etienne quickly consider their options. Should we stick with our plan to take out orcs stealthily, two or three at a time, here in town, or should we flank and attack the orcs moving on the keep? The decision is to continue with the stealth plan.

Xenophon goes out the front door quietly. There are a few orcs ahead, but the gate and walls of the keep are visible. Orcs are attacking. There are three ladders up against the keep, and a griffin dives around, harrying the knights. That makes it difficult to push the ladders away. Xenophon goes back inside and explains the situation.

Move In

Stoneheart is moved by this and expresses his passion to go back to help the remaining knights in the keep. After quite a bit of haggling we decide to go back, and not to split the party. Xenophon had been in favor of taking off to get help. Stoneheart borrows Xenophon’s ring of underwater breathing and Xenophon takes a continual light from Etienne. Etienne uses haste to move through the tunnel and then move ahead of the others. There is water pooling at the low spot of the tunnel under the river, but it is passable for now. About fifteen minutes after entering the tunnel we get back into the keep.

Orcs are scurrying across the roof of the keep as the trap door slams shut. The griffin is assisting the orcs to make it up their ladders, defending against archers in the keep towers. The enemy orcs are going as fast as they can. It is just about sunset now, twilight viewing conditions. Two to three dozen orcs are on the roof, and that seems like enough for the orcs to take the keep.

Give Up

The game changer this time was that the griffin helps at that critical moment when the orcs top their ladders. That creature seems to have some magical ability to avoid damage from human archers.

At this point our best option is to save as many as we can by escaping through the tunnel that we just created. It appears that the keep is lost.