The Book of Yrr (3)
This is the third in a series of play reports for a solo campaign of TThe One Ring using the Moria supplement and the solo rules for playing a band of dwarves. I've been sidetracked for a while by playing through some of the old TSR solo adventure books (see other posts regarding those), but I'll be back to more consistently playing this again for now. Here the company makes the return journey from rescuing a band of capture dwarves and then captures their first foothold inside Moria.
Much has happened since I last wrote, and there has been little time to stop and reflect. Yet, we have made great strides in pushing back the darkness that has overtaken this place. I write now from the Second Hall of the Dwarrowdelf, our new Safe Haven within Khazad-dûm itself. Let me tell you of how this came to pass.
After resting from our battle in the safety of the room secured by the runes of the king's door, we set out back to the Dimrill Watch. Cautious that the enemy might be waiting for us, we attempted to go back side passages rather than along the King's Road, but it was no good. We evidently were spotted by the orcs, and a horde descended upon us within the first two miles of our journey. Knowing we could not face them head on, Yrr took the lead in fending off the horde while we worked to usher the blinded dwarves down another passage to safety. We were fortunate that the are lent itself to this, and she took only minor injuries before we were able to flee beyond their reach.
After a short time we took a rest in another chamber, this one seemingly cracked in two by an earthquake or other force in the past. To our benefit, water dripped through the crack in the ceiling and gave us a chance to refill our skins. The chamber first appeared as a dead end, but we were able to clear rubble from a hidden passage and.
Things only worsened from there. Farli's injury, mostly healed during our night's rest, split open again, the bleeding slowing us considerably. Just when we though we could rest, we came upon a hideous orcish statue, it's blood-red eyes filling our hearts with fear. Yrr quickly and quietly tore it down, hatred marring her face the entire time.
After this, we found our path complicated by tunnels full of rubble, perhaps related to whatever damaged the room before. As we clambered over it slowly, each of us helping a blind dwarf along, the tunnel began to fill with smoke. At first we thought this was merely of the earth, emanating from a chasm crossing our path ahead, but it quickly transformed itself into a hideous wraith that launched itself upon us. Yrr once again took the brunt of the fighting as we worked simply to get our blind companions through this area to safety. I saw little of what occurred, but heard her screams and saw the burns over her body in the aftermath. At one point I thought all was lost, as the wraith screamed through our band, setting everything nearby ablaze. But shortly after that Yrr ended it's assault, and we quickly put out the fires and continued on our way.
One small bit of fortune, near the end of journey, was that we happened upon a group of ravens, seemingly having come in through an air shaft. Not only did they help us find a quicker path back to the Safe Haven, but Iri befriended them, and one chose to stay with her, replacing her old avian companion.
We spent only a few days in camp tending to our wounds and discussing how to do better on future missions. Yrr was long in the company of Balin, evidently arguing for an aggressive push into the halls. I sense she is outraged at what we faced from the orcs in there and wishes to work more quickly to drive them back. Whatever she said to Balin was successful, and he soon sent us out to capture the Second Hall on the far side of Durin's Bridge. Along with us came one new companion, Yara, who was impressed by the tales of our first mission.
Our journey back into Khazad-dûm also began with ill fortune. First we stumbled upon the corpses of our ancestors slain recently by orcs. When we attempted to put them to rest, it only revealed even more remains of those killed gruesomely long ago. While we gave them their honor, it left us all ill at ease for the day. This only worsened when, lost in our thoughts, we stumbled over a tripwire in the first hall and alerted the orcs of our attack. From there we had no choice but to charge ahead into chaos.
I was terrified as we approached the bridge. A massive cave troll stood in the middle, daring us to attempt to cross. On the far side, a warband of goblins was arrayed, bows at the ready. Yrr charged forward first, while others of us readied our bows, knowing we would be of little use on the bridge. Poor Bari through rushed ahead with her shield, convinced she could protect Yrr from the troll. As Yrr hacked at it with her mattock, Bari took the brunt of the attack, pummeled again and again with its massive club until her shield was shattered and she fell down near death. With a few more strokes, Yrr knocked the troll from the bridge, and we were able to pull Bari back to safety, but not without Galar and Farli also taking serious injuries. When all was done, Galar too was unresponsive and close to death. As Yrr crossed the bridge and began to chop through the goblin band, we pushed forward again, and soon all of them were dead.
Sealing the Door of the Sun and Moon with a king's rune, we then did our best to fortify the other smaller passages off the hall and tend to the wounds of those injured in battle. Praise to Aulë, we were able to bring Bari and Galar back from the brink of death, and both are now recovering. Yrr and Farli, less seriously injured, are also doing well after rest. After reporting back to Balin, more dwarves have come in, and we are setting up camp here to hold the hall as a new safe haven.
It will not be easy, but I have high hopes for our future here.