Rollohi-ch406-script

 In our last episode on Rollohi, we broke off at a dramatic point in an ongoing rumble between the reckless half of the party, Eryn, Kylie, Umbert, and Jack, and a rather unpleasantly large number of buccaneers. The latest wave sent by Kopjie, the level 7 fighter, to reinforce his crumbling flank, numbered 8, and they were ready for combat with shields up and scimitars out. In a dramatic turn of events, Umbert scored a kill with his dagger, and Kylie rescued Umbert from certain death by using hit dice from her reserve to kill two buccaneers who rashly peeled away from her without taking a deliberate withdrawal move. That leaves Eryn slightly scratched, 17 of 23 hit points, and Kylie, who can much worse afford damage, 8 of 10 hit points, in a great position to clean up the last few. But before we go on to that, I do need to have a quick check on the six or so combat rounds between the villa and the buccaneers surrounding it. Once again I keep it very arbitrary and generic, asking Has the Villa taken any casualties? 2. No. Has the other side, the buccaneers, loosing arrows or crossbow bolts at the villa, taken any casualties? 5. Yes. It's very unlikely that the villa defenders have much better than level 1 types loosing crossbows, and so we'll just take a d6 casualties off the Buccaneers. Oh, six. So that's uh fairly serious losses, which I can imagine are drawn fairly evenly, but predominantly from the central part, where if you remember, defenders relieved from their defense by the activities of the adventurers were able to shift their aim and loose further along at the center mass. We'll say four and two. I shall make those adjustments now. They may be very relevant if it comes to a morale check later by the Buccaneers. Subjective round four of the current fight. In terms of declarations, the Buccaneers will make a fighting withdrawal while attempting to avoid Jack and/or Umbert. On the adventurers side, Cied and Pod don't feel confident enough to make shots at the distance they've reached and will move to gain a much better vantage point, still keeping to cover. Further behind them still, Ingle and Xantu will keep walking slowly forward at the dwarf's pace. Eryn and Kylie will press any advantage they see against fighting buccaneers, but Umbert, now visible, is going to take himself around out of the fight, staying well away from dangerous items. The final declaration belongs to Jack, and I have checked whether he has noticed and greedily headed towards the valuable crossbow the boss fighter dropped, and the answer was no, so he is going to maneuver to backstab the one buccaneer fighting Kylie. That individual is very close, so close that a stray arrow would hit Kylie. He will rise, keeping his shortbow at his side in his hand, and redraw the short sword that he just slid away while keeping to cover. Then he'll step forward a few feet and stab that gent. And so having settled all that, here are the initiative roles. Characters 2, Buccaneers 5. We move immediately to a morale check. 10. The nerve of the Buccaneer facing Kylie breaks completely. He turns his back on her and flees directly. Kylie's longsword flicks out, and it glances off the chap's reinforced leather. She's certainly not going to bother spending her last hit die. There were two buccaneers facing Eryn. On a 1, 2 or 3, they flee. On a 4, 5 or 6, they surrender. They both flee. Just like Kylie, Eryn isn't about to spend her last hit dies, but she does get what's known as a free hack at once. It's a relatively light wound, but Eryn is strong and it's enough to kill him. The two buccaneers, not particularly close to one another, flee directly back towards their lines, that is, towards central command. And since I don't know exactly what kind of ground they're running over, once again I make a 2d6 roll. Oh, it's a really bad stiff slope there. All sorts of perhaps rock clefts to navigate over. They make one quarter of their usual 90 foot move, so just past Umbert, I would say. Luckily, Umbert can see the panic in their eyes: otherwise, there might be new stains to wash out of those magic user robes. I'm going to rule that Jack's intention has been negated by the panicked flight of one man to one side, another to the other side. He therefore, once again, sinks back into cover. There's nothing in Umbert's declarations to prevent him doing what he intended. And so he breaks into a stumbling run and then turns. His Charm Person spell might become useful. We can imagine Umbert not far from where Cied and Pod are concealed, and so next round, if they do move, the Halflings will bound over Umbert's position. As for Eryn and Kylie, of course, their declarations included surging forward, but there's no way in their heavy armor they can move over that broken ground and still keep pace with men fleeing in light armor. They more or less protect Jack's position and then pause, keeping their shields up and swords ready just in case there's another intervention. Still quite far behind them, Xantu and therefore Ingle get to within about seventy feet. 

I think now I'm confident in calling that particular combat over. Over the next very short while, Ingle and Xantu finally catch up with the four reckless characters. Cied and Pod show themselves at intervals as they move from cover to cover, still guarding against any returning buccaneers. They are now the lookouts. Jack tries to act nonchalant as he searches over where he saw the man fall and regroups, holding a very nice looking crossbow. However, Ingle has some stern words to say to the front line. 

"I can't bring you back from the dead, Jack. I get that you are keen, and yes, there's treasure, but I get the impression there's a lot more buccaneers to the south. Look." 

Here the priest waves expressively towards where pavises are visible, having been brought up from the hamlet or ferry town. They are, in effect, refashioned doors with a loophole or two and a strut to support them against the ground. The use of pavises may change the mathematics of the battle. But what Ingle can't know is the effect that the disappearance of most of the reinforcements that he sent has had on Kopje. During the time that Ingle has been reassembling the party and giving a small lecture in Battlefield Common Sense, a few terrified survivors have returned to Kopje. Two of them had no gear, apart from leather armor. Two of them still had weapons. The report is not good. It seems that these are either local adventurers, which is possible for he's heard rumors that adventurers are living in Lake Town, although he understood that they've been withdrawn, and his bosses would not have ordered the attack if they hadn't heard that fact. Or, Sir Fuire happens to have a couple of very useful men at arms and other retainers of doughty quality. 

However, all that in due course. We shall continue listening to Ingle's wise words of wise wisdom as he speaks wisely and not at all crossly. 

"What's more, we need to pull back closer to the walls so that we're always under arrow cover. We're too far out." 

...(some distance rolls later) And so they're now well outside of arrow-shot. Except at extreme range. 

(the party now walks to the gate.)

Here, for the first time, they consciously meet and speak to Sir Fuire and at least one of his retinue. Those who had any particular interest in who they were travelling with, the very first time they used the ferry to Lake Town, had formed the impression that Sir Fuire, the seigneur, with his two mistresses, was surprisingly young: in the prime of his life. And that is the case. He's in his early thirties, carries himself well, and seems to have his wits about him, which is all to the good. The knight standing beside Sir Fuire is the most beautiful man the others have ever seen, except perhaps in idealized paintings of heroes of days gone by. Though they have not met him and are not to learn his style as yet. This is Sir Bors Beautiful, often simply called by his sobriquet beautiful, in order to distinguish him from the other two main retainers Idiot and Just-awake. If one of the other armed people on the wall is a son or daughter of Sir Fuire, it's impossible to know.

"My thanks, bold adventurers You have indeed blackened their eyes. I believe they may be fleeing as we speak. I call a bounty of two gold ahead."

In answer to this proposition there is a shrill cackle from some low bushes. 

"There you're talking!" - and truth to be told, Jack also mutters to the others. "Well there's a gentleman who understands commerce for adventurers. Let's get about it then." 

But things are about to take an unexpected turn. As the party very cautiously creeps toward the central area, which indeed is now the northernmost part of the Buccaneers positions, they find the Pavises are abandoned. And to learn the reason why, let us leap back a few minutes to find out what Kopje has made of the situation. Kopje is not an idiot and he's aware of severe and significant losses. He has lost more than half his complement of 140 buccaneers. [Morale Check: 9.] Things are going downhill too fast. A sally from within the walls, combined with whatever those menaces are to the north, will see him boxed in and unable to retreat. He tells Caxton, "Alright Caxton, time to earn your crust! Slow those fuckers down with something tasty and let's be pulling sticks wiv' what we take. We have to report failure to the bosses, but I'd rather report failure than lose me head here."

"Sounds alright, Chief," Caxton says. "I can hit that sector of the wall  wi' Sleep, then we'll be able to get the lads out' the way."

The horn blower is told what to sound, and as the characters think about their next stage of their strategy, the fight is in effect over. Figures sleeping on the wall are shaken awake, but by then it's too late to ply their bows as the buccaneers pull back to the jetty. 

The jetty and the area immediately around it are where the remaining eleven keelboats are tied off. But unexpectedly, the ferry itself, or as I've been calling it, the raft, is very visible as Kopje descends that quarter mile or less from the heights around the villa. Back in the third episode of this particular chapter, I established that the best wisdom check aboard the ferry by the party was a twelve. It's only just below the wisdom of Xantu, though four below Ingle's excellent wisdom. At the time, the party made no particular provision for what the ferry crew ought to do. They are, after all, the experts, and they're short-handed. It was at that point that the party left the ferry and using a captured keelboat, headed north to make their landing, and they left the raft out on the lake, well to the south. But whether it's because the wind has changed, or because they feel that they need to make a landfall, the raft has not returned to Laketown. It has slowly and steadily made its way toward the ferry landing. It's only ninety yards out. Does Kopje see the raft? Yes, and the raft has foolishly remained right there in plain sight.

"Maybe it's not such a wash," he chuckles. "We'll grab that raft. As I understand it, it's pretty much the only ferry the Lake Town's got. We can hold 'em to ransom after all."

"Why didn't we do that in the beginning then?" Caxton wonders. 

"My orders were to terrorize the folk. That's what I've done. Got a bit of meagre loot, a few beets and the like to harvest up, a few nice loaves of bread. Back we come. Lick our wounds. Report to the bosses. In the meantime, lads, see about grabbing that there raft. If any of 'em resist, knurdle 'em. Come on then, give 'em a bit of porridge!"