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The Heroes of Yellow Meadow Village

The Intrepid Ten

 The Intrepid Ten were three seperate groups brought into one session.
  The first group followed the adventures of Lom the male half-orc barbarian, Adoroar the female halfling rogue, Zandilninthus the female elf cleric, and Shafire the male human fighter as their home town of OneGap became bewitched by the cult fanatic Akular Magnit.  Akular Magnit had once been a priest from the Temple of Gladenstone in the land of Goldenshield, but conceit and avarice caused his downfall, and he fled in shame after he stole the Rod of Rulership from the tower of the wizard Cabal.  Arriving in OneGap, Akular quickly seduced the Mayor and his staff with the Rod of Rulership and assumed control of much of the towns assests.  Rebellion and factions split the once peaceful town into 4 different areas all at war with each other, and these four adventurers escaped and made their way deep into the Endless Forest ending as 3rd level PCs.
 The second group followed the adventures of Davastar the male human wizard, Alhuna the female elf sorcerer, Sianera the female gnome monk, and Loreweaver, the male elf bard as they escorted the Princess of Kencher away from her dangerous, treacherous, and murderous father, the King of Kencher.  After braving Flame Spurt Ridge, making their way through Quick Sand Alley, and solving the puzzle of the Three Trails, they finally found refuge at Kor's Tower, and they, also, ended as 3rd level PCs.
  The last group was a female human ranger named Lilian Jackson and a male dwarf druid named Francis Dunham, who started their adventures in the normally peaceful and pleasant Yellow Meadow Village.  They witnessed the infestation of Moradin's temple, when the village was attacked by the killer plants Kued Abba and the treacherous, mischievious Brucs.  Just as that menace is dealt with, the two witness the first Bandit/Thug attack, which striped the village of all its resources.  These two players were sent east for help and they ended as 2nd level PCs.
  After all the players agreed, we all met at the table and played the following game: Using the wizard Cabal as my game hook, I brought Lilian Jackson and Francis Durnham to Kor's Tower where they met and gained the help of the first group.  On the otherwise uneventful journey back to Yellow Meadow Village they found and gained the aid of the second group.  All ten were then instructed by the wizard Cabal to ready themselves for a great adventure.  They first are sent south, deep into Kyper's Canyon, to the home of the divine being I'lwairl Corecor where they received a stick imbued with the power to thwart the evil Talukslul.  They journeyed back to the Temple, and entering, they found a terrible infestation of forest creatures.  The stick turned into The Fairy Slingshot and a pouch, and, when they killed their enemy, they found seeds were left behind that made for deadly ammunition.  With the use of the magic weapon, they managed to clear the forest creatures out and conquer the Talukslul Biche that infested Moradin's Temple.  But after those three sessions, the players were they were still anxious for more, so I had no problem bringing down the Bandit/Thug army from OneGap thinking I could just wake them up the next morning in the dungeons of OneGap.  My mistake was giving the players 8 months.
 They immediately began training the villagers.  I realized it was only 18 weeks for marine boot camp, and that by six months an E1 is eligible for a promotion.  So, I created a Village Militia and ways to turn a commoner into a soldier.  I calculated out the percent of those over 50 and under 15 and found they had 62 able bodied soldiers, plus another 19 who were able bodied if a bit old, (over 50? closer to 62) but useful if only to wield a crossbow and guard a home base.  That still left one set of adults, one set of grandparents, and seven 15 and 16 year olds armed and hidden in the forest to both guard the children under 14 and hold the place as an evacuation point.  That left 81 soldiers and the Intrepid Ten against, since I had originally written the module as 1 thug and 5 bandits per PC, 91 thugs and 455 bandits, an army 546 strong.  I made sure OneGap could affrord that size of an army: a population of 8000 ppl, split into 4 factions, with the Mayor (bewitched by Akular Magnat) controlling nearly 5000 of those people and the majority of the barracks, he could have a standing army of 1250 soldiers, so a long range attack with almost half his force sounded reasonable.

Ambush at the East Entrance to the Clearing

 The Barbarian, the Rogue, the Cleric and the Fighter led two squads, thirty two village militia, and fortified the east entrance to the clearing with six covered wagons.  They booby trapped the wagons with oil and candles so they would ignite easily, and on the south side they dug an 8 ft deep, 4 ft wide, 30 ft long trench and lined the outer edge with sharpened and pointed sticks.  Behind the trench they built mounds where they could fire on the enemy from excellent cover and it worked.  The bandit army, thinking the villagers would be no match for them, had rushed right in and attacked, only to be met by a hail of darts and crossbow arrows.  Those that reached the barriers were pierced through with spear and sword.  Fires were ignited and the screams of the wounded filled the forest with fear.  The defenders held fast and gave no ground, they killed 17 bandits and 25 thugs and wounded another 115 bandits.  The cleric was busy healing their own wounded, and before long the bandits and thugs forced their way through the barriers.  But the defenders had prepared a retreat through a hidden path through the dense forest, and even with the Cleric healing as many as he could, the village militia still carried two soldiers out on stretchers into the crowded forest paths to the hidden forest rendevous.
 The wagons burned fiercly and the trench still barred the way, so the Bandit army trickled through the tight opening they had forced.  They attempted to regroup and gather their forces, but the Barbarian, Rogue, Cleric, and Fighter had stayed behind and now taunted and harrassed the gathering forces.  Angered and driven to impulsiveness, over a hundred of the enemy, 20 thugs and 88 bandits, gave chase across the grassy plains to kill the 4 heroes.  That still left 46 thugs and 218 bandits that stayed and gathered themselves together after the ambush at the clearings entrance.  When they were fully organized they marched with ill intent north next to the trees along the dirt road that lead to the village.  The village militia that had waylaid them had disappeared north into the forest, and the 4 heroes had run south into the fields pursued by 108 enemies.  So this group of the attacking army headed straight to the center of the village to rape, pillage, and destroy.

Skirmish at the Pits

 The 4 heroes ran for the fields, where the villagers had previously dug great pits and set sharp spikes in their interiors and also disguised their openings with stalks, grasses, and leaves.  The four heroes weaved their way through the dangerous pits and then turned suddenly upon the approaching enemy.  9 of the enemy plunged into the hidden pits, another 7 attempted to flank the heroes to the left and fell into more pits, and another 6 of the enemy, attempting to flank the heroes to the right fell into more pits.  In all, 24 fell there, 5 thugs and 3 bandits dead outright, and another 16 bandits wounded and stuck in the pits.  The attack faltered and the 4 heroes took off west and south up the great hill to the stone temple.  It took the enemy 12 minutes to expose the pits and mark the safe paths through the pits in the fields, but they had all marked the 4 heroes running up the great hill to the stone temple.
 It was 84 men: 15 thugs and 69 bandits, that ran up the steps of the temple chasing the 4 heroes.  But as the heros reached the top of the stairs, there, on the porch of the stone temple, were assembled 30 dwarves in full battle gear.
 The 4 heroes fell down in exaustion at the feet of the dwarves.

The Dwarf charge down the stairs

 A surprise platoon of 30 heavily armed dwarves rushed down the stairs attacking the thugs and bandits.  The dwarves Hunvir Strongwisk and Dunded Keenshard, long residents of Yellow Meadow Village, owners of Keenshard Wagon Co., had been successful at their long journey to reach their kindred in Kyper's Canyon.  The dwarves of Kyper's Canyon armed Hunvir and Dunded and themselves for war and this small force raced north with all speed to help the village in its distress.  The dwarf platoon reached the temple expecting it to be infected by a Talukslul, but the temple infestation had already been cleared by the Intrepid Ten.  However, as the 4 heroes ran for their lives and reached the top of the stairs and fell down on the porch, the platoon of dwarves charged down the stairs to attack the bandits and thugs and met them nearly 2/3 of the way up the stairs.
 The dwarves charged in a great V formation forcing thier enemy to give way or go tumbling down the long fall.  It was a bitter struggle because of the number of thugs and bandits, but surprise alone caused a turn of events in the battle.  The hunters became the hunted, the slaughterers were slaughtered, and before the 4 heroes could gather themselves to join the dwarf attack, 11 of the enemy were dead and another 51 lay wounded, strewn about on the stairs or having fallen the long drop to their death, until finally this portion of the enemy army broke and 4 thugs and 21 bandits ran east for their own home.

The Last Stand at the Forest's Edge

 A sizable army still marched west to the village, 46 thugs and 218 bandits, and the rest of the villagers were ready and waiting for them.  Just east of the 2 barns, they had set up 2 rows of wagons and they would defend the forest path to the very end.  They met their enemy with a hail of darts and crossbow arrows, and when the enemy charged the sorcerer cast a web spell and trapped several bandits and halted the others.  After running the trapped enemy through with spears, the defenders turned and retreated farther between the wagons to where a second line of shield and spears provided cover.  More darts and arrows caused more destruction to the enemy but worse was the wizard casting his scorhing ray spell, followed by a magic missle.
 Many of the enemy now lay dead or wounded in front of the defenders and it caused quite the delay in their rush tactics.  Instead the thugs began to push the wagons aside, and even though the wagons had been rigged to catch fire, the first 2 wagons failed to ignite and the defenders were forced to retreat another 20 ft.  The crossbows let loose thier bolts and many of the enemy dropped to the ground again. 

The Heroes of Yellow Meadow Village

 The bard played his magical lute, and a supernaturalness protected the line of shield and spear soldiers.  Bolt and blade would not pierce the defenders as easy, strikes and blows glanced aside instead of striking true, and a strength of mind and body filled the defenders helping them to hold against the relentless attack.  The wizard blasted rows of the enemy and the sorcerer trapped, killed, and confounded many more.  The enemy attack faltered and paused and the bard and the druid used their magic to heal the wounded.  The wizard and the sorcerer led the evacuation of the hurt and incapacitated.  I had done my best to stay true to initiative and rounds, to keep track of dead and wounded, my notes were piled on top of each other and were little more than scratched out numbers.  The players were into it, and it was easy to describe and play out the sacrifices of the NPCs.  Wilbur and Niel Burk, knowing that if the wagons did not ignite the defenders would be outflanked, charged the overturned wagons, filled with enemy, with torches, sacrificing themselves for the sake of the others in a spectacular and fiery death.  Lillian Jackson and the Fitzooth brothers, William and Charles, putting themselves at great risk when the defenders were forced to retreat 20 feet, all were wounded to the death, but the wizard and sorcerer carried them to safety where the bard and druid staved off their death and healed them to unconsciousness and they all retreated behind the front line.  Madeline Dulo and her 16 year old son Terrance, leading a counter attack of Dulo grandparents along with the Dasaker seniors, greatly overmatched as they were, their sacrificed stopped the second retreat from becoming a rout.  9 thugs and 12 bandits died in the first attack with another 82 wounded.  11 thugs and 23 bandits died in the second charge with 34 more bandits lying wounded on the field.  56 dead and 116 wounded but still the attack pressed on.  The hidden dice rolls resembled the old Risk board game: the villagers, vastly outnumbered from the start, had suffered 12 dead with 16 wounded in the first charge, another 8 dead and 13 wounded after the second charge.  The wizard, bard, and sorcerer were out of spell slots and were assisting the wounded anyway, there was not a single villager that was not hurt from the first two attacks, and still the enemy did not stop.  A third charge was met by the little gnome monk.  She amazed all by deflecting the first barrage of arrows the enemy sent her way, and then again as she "stepped on the wind" by disengaging and dashing away from her enemy, only to reengage with a flurry of blows again, and again, and again.  Round after round she stepped away unwounded, but the numbers of the enemy was still beyond even her.  Though the dice were with her, it was only a matter of time before one of her enemy got through her defenses.
 She took her first hit from a thug who didn't survive, and then some bandits attacked and one got a knife on her and there she might have perished.  In a flash the druid was there to aid her, with thick bark skin protecting him he grabbed her and climbed up and on top of the burning wagons like a spider and carried her behind the lines to safety.  The druid had spent his magic healing the villagers behind the lines but he had one left for the monk, she gained a few hit points and was able to stand with the rest.  Her stunt was dangerous and unbelievable but it was enough, she had bought enough time for the villagers to retreat to the forest edge where they would stand to the end.  The wizard, the sorcerer, the druid, the bard, and the monk (the ranger was wounded and recovering at the rendevous point), stood hidden behind the trees ready for the final charge.  From behind them came more village militia, thier friends and family who had ambushed the enemy at the clearing had fled into the forest and slowly made their way to the rendevous where they delivered their wounded.  As quick as they could march, they made their way up the forest path and arrived at the clearing just as the enemy prepared their final charge.  With no consultation, the thirty village militia charged their enemy upon the clearing, marching in tight formation with shields up and spears toward the enemy.  The enemy charge faltered again, they had started with over 600 soldiers and had been prepared to rape and pillage and carry away goods and products and slaves, but now they numbered less than a 1/6 of the amount, and from behind them came their final doom.  The barbarian, the rogue, the cleric, and the fighter were with the 30 marching dwarves and came upon the enemy from the rear.  8 thugs and 64 bandits had had enough.  They broke off the attack and fled east.
 The defense of the village had been successful, but had come at a heavy price.  4 of the grandparents had died heroicly, a mother and her son and two youths had sacrificed themselves so that all the other villagers would have a fighting chance to survive.  12 parents would never return to their homes.  31 of the villagers had been severely wounded, and none of them had come out of this unmarked in some way.  Yellow Meadow Village had been saved, but would never be the same again.


Hit Counter: 242



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