Song of Blades and Heroes

I'll I can say is that work is conspiring against me.  It feels like eons since I've played in the campaign, but luckily Steve is keeping it going.  I missed the session a few weeks ago and now I'm in San Antonio for this weeks.  Here is Steve's recap from the previous encounters...

jp

Something must have been in the air as five warbands became quite active last week.  The nefarious gnome and his rat-men warband were out and about and got attacked by a new warband.  Apparently some samurai from the Far East made their way to these lands and sought to make their mark with them.  Meanwhile Grut decided to take the orcs on a shortcut back to their lair - through the lands held by the Normans.  The Romans were also spotted but soon disappeared.  What was Tribunus Maximus up to?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gnome & Rat Men vs Daimyo Ogata & Samurai - Ambush

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As the gnome and his crew were wandering the countryside dropping off barrels of ale in random locations, they fell into an ambush by samurai and ashigaru led by one calling himself Daimyo Ogata.  The gnome and his rat men had faced many such challenges and moved forward boldly.  Deciding to flank about the large hill where he thought the bulk of the enemy lay, he sent rats to probe about a stand of trees.  There the ambush revealed itself and a samurai and ninja met the scouts head on.  While this battle was joined, a new addition to the warband, a large rat ogre, moved to get around the fray in hopes of flanking the two Asian warriors and put them down.  This is when the rest of the ambush revealed itself.  Daimyo Ogata showed himself and started yelling orders to hidden ashigaru bowmen - something about oni and apparently orders to engage it.  The bowmen quickly formed a battle line facing the rat ogre and let a devastating volley fly bringing the "oni" down.  While this victory seemed to embolden the invaders, it only redoubled the resolve of the gome and his gang.  Ratmen soon poured into the battle and threatened to overrun the lone samurai and ninja.  The Ogata ended up throwing himself into the fray only to find himself overwhelmed as well.  As the daimyo went down, so did the fighting spirit of the ashigaru.  The ambushers fled the field, taking their wounded with them and leaving the gnome and his gang to bask in another victory.

On the way to their camp, they had to cross a dangerous ravine where Shin, one of the yari spearmen fell to his death.  Back at camp the ninja recovered from her wounds but seemed a bit too fond of sake after that fight.  Daimyo Ogata was a bit worse for wear and had to rely on an elixir to ease his wounds.  While not a win, the loss could have been much worse.

The gnome and his gang sadly had to put down the rat ogre - his wounds too grievous to recover from.  While this was a set back, they stumbled across a wishing well and were rewarded with a charm stone. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grut & Orcs vs Normans - Break Through

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After successfully driving the gladiators away from their lands, Grut decided to take a shortcut back to the orc camp - straight through the middle of the Norman holdings.  As much as Grut loves a good scrap, he thought that they should just push through any resistance that the Normans put up as they went home.  The Normans had a bit of an objection to orcs wandering freely and engaged them vigorously.  Seeing armed troops on the field was all Psycho needed to go off into a frenzy and charge into the Norman ranks.  Grut however, was content to try and get his warband to break through intact and pressed on while the berserker practically held the enemy back single handedly.  Psycho eventually fell to the weight of numbers against him and the Normans were able to run down a couple orc archers as well, but Grut managed to drag them away with the warband.

On the way to their camp, the orcs came across a tribe of lizardmen.  The shaman was being too belligerent so Grut just cut him down and looted their village for 25 gold.  After they made it home, the two archers made a full recovery while they recovered Psycho's body and got a priest to restore life to his corpse. 

The Normans fared reasonably well as only their mounted knight required any serious care and an elixir tended to that nicely.  As they mopped up and this incursion into their territory, one of the men found a keg of ale that apparently was randomly dropped off in the countryside.  Who could have left it there?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grut & Orcs vs Daimyo Ogata & Samurai - Accidental Encounter

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The orcs were out and about the countryside foraging as they awaited Grut to make plans for their next raid.  Meanwhile Ogata and his samurai were in that same area gathering wood and supplies and generally putting Shin's twin brother through his paces to make camp in this new land.  Not knowing what to do about the other in this accidental encounter, fighting soon broke out.  While the orcs were badly outnumbered, the samurai and ashigaru were scattered about which posed a problem for them as they were not accustomed to fighting autonomously.  The orcs however were used to this style of combat and soon gained the other hand.  The ashigaru bowmen Gisaku turned and traded arrows with Pin who while a more skilled bowmen, did not enjoy the benefit of the superior range the daikyū gave.  It was not long before Gisaku found his mark.  Meanwhile Shin's twin brother Shin was staring down the gullet of an angry lizard and his orc rider.  Needless to say, a yari wielding ashigaru was little match for for the orc and his mount who then turned for other prey.  Yohei was not in any better shape as an orc rushed him before he could get a shot in with his daikyū.  While he fought surprisingly well for an ashigaru, he did succumb to the relentless assault of the orc swordsman.  Slick rushed Ogata and while he fought well, the daimyo got the upper hand and cut him down.  Daimyo Ogata and Grut soon found each other on the field and were trading blow after blow but neither could get the upper hand.  Heihatchi seeing his Daimyo in trouble, moved to assist him but was shot down and the sashimono fell to the ground.  Distressed, Ogata tried to protect it but before long an orc archer charged down from a nearby hill and grabbed it.  Waving it in triumph, the fighting spirit soon left the samurai and they withdrew from the field.

As they made their way back to camp, Ogata came across a corpse by the road - a victim of the rampaging orcs no doubt.  Oddly enough they had left his coin purse of 20 gold.  Heihatchi and Yohei made full recoveries while Shin ended up a bit shaken from the experience but otherwise ok.

Grut and his warband celebrated their victory and teased Slick for having a case of nerves after his run in on the battlefield and drank to Pin's memory.  Hearing all the commotion, a centaur champion came upon the orc camp but seeing as they were an evil lot, decided to move on.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tribunus Maximus & Romans vs Normans - Dungeon Raid

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somehow the Normans caught wind of what the Romans were up to.  They got word that the Romans were busy secreting their treasure into the dungeons beneath an old ruin in their territory.  With great stealth, they managed to slip into the Roman lands undetected and sought to uncover the secrets and treasure Maximus had hidden below.  Unfortunately between the secrecy of the Romans in hiding their wealth and the stealth by which the Normans sought to extract it, little is known about what went on down below.  

Two legionaries were later spotted getting some medical attention but otherwise in good health.  There are also reports that a patrol was sent out to try and retaliate against the Normans for defiling Roman ground but all that turned up was an empty cave.

The Normans were also spotted sometime after the incident honoring one of their dead.  Another Norman warrior in attendance was seen with some bandaged wounds but appeared un-phased by his injuries.  However they could have used a better day to honor their fallen as the cold, damp weather caused another soldier to catch a cold.

________________________________________

My apologies for any inaccuracies (but that's what a comment section is for right?) and for those whose names I left out (gnome, Norman leader, etc.) please drop in the comments so future reports are more complete.

Steve aka Daimyo Ogata