Adventure 8 - Bearly Surviving the Onslaught

The noise Lord Commander Whitney heard was a Poquoi warcry.

Standing at the gates to the fort were five warpainted Poquoi, frothing in a battle rage. Four of the fort's soldiers were engaged in melee with the enemy, holding them at bay but taking significant damage. The group battled right in the midst of the fort's open gates.

Whitney began crying out commands to the various units and platoons in the main yard. "Form ranks! Archers, ho!" To his credit, he betrayed no fear or hesitation. He looked at the Protectors and cried, "To the Gates, man! Hurry!"

The group of heroes charged the gates, intent on making swift work of the threat.

That task proved more difficult that first anticipated, however. These Poquoi seemed to be skilled warriors, and their strength and speed was fueled by a strange battlelust. Hamish and Keigan joined the battle, Pennyworth fired arrows at opponents not engaged in melee, Neelan chose an opponent and danced around him in his unique fighting style, and John Henry ran back and forth across the battlefield, drawing attacks from the enemy and letting his armour absorb the blows.

Thirty seconds into the battle, the companions were holding the warriors at bay, but taking significant wounds. But the sound of more warcries and the thundering of many hooves dismayed the group. On the rise of hills to the west of Fort Farholde, two score or more Poquoi riders crested the hill and charged towards the open gate.

Hamish fell before the enemies blades, closely followed by John Henry. While Neelan sparred with his opponent, he realized that the entire fort was in jeopardy if the gates remained open. He dove past his opponent, ran to one of the gates, and began to push it closed. One enemy attempted to stop the door, another charged at Neelan and attacked viciously, trying to distract the Muzamil warrior and prevent him for closing the gates.

Luckily, under the strict commands of Whitney, the ranks of inexperienced soldiers approached and launched their own attacks. Some surrounded the warriors, some ran for the gates and began to push them closed. Keigan, badly wounded himself, retrieved Neelan's and Hamish's unconscious figures and dragged them inside the wall while the gate was closed and barred with only moments to spare.

The host of Poquoi circled the fort, screaming battlecries and exchanging bow-fire with the few defenders on the walls. The wooden palisade didn't offer a walkway, but there were a number of ladders and moving platforms that the defenders were using to peer over top the wall and even fire bowshot at the horde of natives. Whitney congratulated the group, claiming that he was confident that, with the gates closed, the Poquoi would eventually turn tail and run. "They've visited us before, you see," he said cheerfully, "but the savages don't know the rules of seige warfare. We're completely protected in here."

Short minutes dragged on as the crew revived their fallen comrades and tended to their wounds. Keigan, still fueled by his own unique brand of battle-lust, desecrated a Poquoi corpse and threw it over the wall at the attackers, much to the chagrin of Whitney.

Then, the natives turns their horses and headed back into the hills to the west from whence they had come. But they didn't retreat altogether, instead milling about at a distance. A few more short minutes passed, and they returned with a new weapons amidst their ranks.

A few of the group grabbed ladders and watched the approach of a giant savage trained bear, banded in iron and frothing at the mouth. Handlers guided the beast directly towards the front gate of the fort, where it proceeded to hurl its weight in an attempt to splinter the crossbeam.

Neelan and Pennyworth climbed ladders flanking either side of the gates and proceeded to pelter the handlers and the bear with arrows. Keigan, Hamish, and John Henry stood inside the gate and watched the bracing beam start to buckle. Everyone was wounded from the combat with the barbarians, and the bear was enormous, enraged, and very, very dangerous.

"I have an idea," Keigan said to John Henry, a strange gleam in his eye. "Let's open the gates and let it in."

"Have you gone absolutely mad, man?" Whitney cried, interrupting. The Lord Commander directed butresses for the gate and for spare beams to be brought forth. Neelan also looked down from his ladder at the adventurer with a flash of incredulity.

Sensing a lack of enthusiasm for his plan, Keigan sprayed his skin full of potent liquor under the gate, and he and John Henry scrambled to light torches. Thrusting a lit brand under the gate and into the alcohol, the booze ignited and scorched the bear, enraging it further.

The beam split, but Keigan, Hamish and John Henry held the door as best they could as a new beam was hastily thrown into place. Careful timing prevented disaster.

Keigan, realizing that a damaged gate would spell certain doom for the fort, decided that one of two things needed to happen: either the bear had to be let in (saving the doors from further damage), or it would have to be killed outside. He took action immediately, running for a ladder and throwing himself over the wall to attack the beast in hand-to-paw combat.

Neelan came to a similar understanding, and used his Windrunner skills to skim down the outside of the wall and flee past the bear, trying to get its attention and draw it away from the fort.

It ignored him and continued to smash at the gates, splintering the fresh beam.

Keigan landed with an almighty thud, while Neelan, desparate, attacked the bear. He landed a blow, and the creature turned to kill the pest. It raked Neelan with its claws, then drew the hero into a killing embrace, suffocating the Muzamil warrior in its fetid breath.

Neelan lost consciousness from his wounds. Death placed a bony finger near Neelan's heart.

Keigan jumped into the fray, as did John Henry and Hamish. The gate, now slightly ajar and buckled inwards, permitted the pair to squeeze out and attack the bear themselves. Hamish, furious and powerful in his battle rage, brought his greatsword down through the spine of the creature, dropping it at the entrance to Fort Farholde's front gates.

Keigan rushed to Neelan's aid, and ministered to the grevious wounds as best he could.

Cheated, Death withdrew.

Then, with some urgency, the group retreated inside the fort before the Poquoi riders could mount an assault. Keigan refused to enter, intent on severing the head of the bear as a trophy to his victory, but the presence of three- or four-score hostile savages bearing down (and the insistence of his companions) dictated that discretion be the better part of valour. He left his prize and helped bar the door.

With no way to breach the defenses of the fort, the Poquoi attack force eventually withdrew to the west, into the hills and mountains, leaving behind the dead and the carcass of their warbear.

Experience Awards

Combat XP:
5 Poquoi beserkir: for L3 PCs, +1500XP; for L4 PCs, +1200XP
Warbear: for L3 PCs, +270XP; for L4 PCs, +240XP
TOTAL COMBAT: for L3 PCs, +1770XP; for L4 PCs, +1440XP

RPing and Personal Goals Awards:
Hamish (2; +400XP), John Henry (2; +400XP), Keigan (3; +600XP), Neelan (3; +600XP), Pennyworth (2; +300XP)
Extra one for Neelan for trying to close the door amidst the battle
Extra one for Keigan for the decision to go "over the wall" at the bear

Player Chits:
John Henry (2; +400XP), Neelan (2; +400XP); Hamish (1; +200XP)

TOTALS:
Hamish (L4): 7884 + 1440 + 400 + 200 = 9924
John Henry (L4): 7569 + 1440 + 600 + 400 = 10009
Keigan (L4): 7944 + 1440 + 400 = 9784
Neelan (L4): 8669 + 1440 + 600 + 400 = 11109 (level up!)
Robert (L3): 5762 + 1770 + 300 = 7832 (level up!)