Grognards in Grongaard: Session Report 2

Calling a Vampire's Bluff

Foreword: This session was an utter cakewalk for the boys. With elite players comes the need for elite NPCs and monster encounters. The demand for intelligent enemies greatly outpaced the supply, but I found a solution: Three players have been recruited to play squabbling Barons at odds with one another. I am eager to share the resolution of their first week’s orders, which will come with the next play report. Now THIS is wargaming!

Session Report

The Cast:

Sir Bromegas, the Rougoth Blessed Son of Ruin, Level 1
Sir Arnis, the Hainsch Poor Knight, Level 1
Sir Hansel, the Hainsch Kingsman, Level 1
Sir Rudolf, the Hainsch Mercenary, Level 1

March 31st

During downtime, the above Knights decided they would aid Castle Faagskaal in the search for a missing patrol. The levied soldiers in this patrol came from the neighboring Barony of Castle Krageborg, sworn rivals of Faagskaal.

Wearing the colors of Faagskaal, the Knights searched the southern forest known as The Heron Wood.

On the first day of travel, the Knights encountered a lone hunter. The hunter hailed these Knights, lest they think him a robber. Though he wore no heraldry, he appeared knightly. The Knights asked him about the missing levies. The hunter said he saw a commotion to the south, with pillars of smoke and fleeing merchants. The Knights had a bad feeling about this huntsman and continued on their path.

The Knights set up a cold camp. Bromegas kept watch, observing a herd of bison which did not take him to be a threat. While on watch, Bromegas encountered that same huntsman. The huntsman informed Bromegas he was a Knight of the Scarlet Hand, an inquisitor of sort. The huntsman wanted to know of Bromegas’ relation to Castle Faagskaal. The huntsman finally let the Knights know that many troops of Faagskaal had died in the commotion to the south. The hunter departed, and the party broke camp at dawn.

April 1st

The Knights came to the southern tree line, overlooking the fields where there had been an attack on merchants. The Knights found a staging area where soldiers amassed before charging at the road at the bottom of the hill to the south. The Knights estimated a force of 50-120 soldiers, which they assumed to be the missing levies of Castle Krageborg. The knights continued to search the forest to no avail. They made camp for the night and planned to investigate the tracks at the treeline the next morning. No encounters overnight.

April 2nd

The Knights doubled back to the tracks at the treeline and found some interesting signs of an army staging for a raid: Men had tripped into the mud during their maddened charge. Boots were left behind but the men continued in their advance. Small tufts of smoke still billowed up from the road to the south.

The Knights found the charred remains of a merchant caravan. Troops in Faagskaal’s colors lay dead in the high grass, turned into pincushions by the merchants’ mercenary crossbowmen. Two knights under the merchants’ service also lay dead, still in the saddle. These knights died protecting the merchants within their wagons. This road, where the merchants were ambushed, sat upon a ridge with another gentle slope to its south. Trails of blood and large drag marks led down this second hill, which the Knights investigated. Down in a little hollow they found sod houses with careful camouflage. These hideouts were invisible from the road! The trails of blood and drag marks led to two double doors on one large sod-built hall.

Sir Bromegas banged on the door. A pale and gaunt, fiendish looking man greeted Sir Bromegas and ushered the Knights inside. Inside the hall was a raucous crowd of drunk, reveling soldiers. Survivors of the raid on the merchants lay in broken heaps inside the hall, bloody and beaten, kept around as a sort of sadistic entertainment.

The pale man paced back and forth, delighted to have more captive guests. Sir Bromegas immediately tried to broker for an alliance, rather than wait to become this vampire’s dinner. Unfortunately for Sir Bromegas, the vampire wanted to drink his blood AND be his ally. The vampire’s terms were simple: A cup of blood now, or a pound of flesh in one month’s time. The vampire was very clear that no matter Sir Bromegas’ choice, the vampire would always know where Sir Bromegas’ beating heart may roam to. There was no escape. Sir Bromegas bled himself into a goblet, and the vampire drank. The vampire let the Knights go on their way, once more with a reminder that he was now bound to the vampire.

The Knights headed back to the road. They were greatly disturbed by the realization that Castle Krageborg’s troops had fallen under vampiric thrall. These deserters from Krageborg had staged a false flag in the livery of Castle Faagskaal, further destabilizing relations between these two Baronies.

“Sir Bromegas, what will we do now?”
”Kill every last one of them.”

The Knights boldly decided to split, with Sir Bromegas traveling to Castle Krageborg and the other knights traveling through The Heron Wood to Castle Faagskaal. Sir Hansel intended to game both sides of the conflict for double the reward, while Sir Bromegas wanted to curry favor with the Baron of Krageborg to get this sentient leech off his back.

The Knights under Sir Hansel were pleased to encounter only the same bison they had run into earlier. All Knights reached their destinations safely. Sir Hansel managed to recruit a reservist Black Knight of Oeselia, an elite cavalier, from Faagskaal. Sir Bromegas’ news enraged the Baron of Castle Krageborg, prompting him to muster his remaining troops to crush his deserters. At first light they would ride to smash the deserters. Over in Castle Faagskaal, Sir Hansel also hired shortbowmen and slingers to march with them back to the bandits’ lair.

April 3rd

Baron Von Geyerwald of Castle Krageborg set off at first light with Sir Bromegas, 30 spearmen, 30 slingers, and 20 mounted knights. The forces of the Baron encountered wolves upon the ridge road, but the wolves wanted nothing to do with the Baron’s heat, so they trotted off to the south, near the bandits’ lair.

Sir Hansel’s detachment of Knights and mercenaries rendezvoused with Sir Bromegas upon the ridge road at noon. All missile units stayed perched upon the road while the footmen descended the hill, led by the Knights. The day was misty, and the Knights found no posted sentries. Strange…

Down in the hollow, the Knights found many little doors dug into the northern bank of the slope. Sir Hansel kicked in a door and found 5 hungover light infantrymen. The Knights had taken the entire lair of deserters by surprise. Sir Hansel and his footmen stormed the hovel and slew every soldier, not before one screamed for aid. The hollow stirred with life, albeit groggily. It was at this moment that the Knights realized the vampire was bluffing with all of his talk of being able to see Sir Bromegas no matter how far he ran away. The Knights didn’t call this bluff, but they believed it with such terror that they effectively negated it nonetheless.

The deserters’ remaining 15 light infantry emerge from their hovels, javelins ready, only to find themselves completely outmatched. The deserters’ light cavalry hopped into the saddle only to see heavy lancers, headed by Sir Bromegas, charging downhill. 10 light cavalry were crushed in the charge.

A hail of arrows and stones wiped out the other detachment of light cavalry who had assembled to counter-charge the Baron’s lancers.

Amidst the confusion, the vampire lord of the deserters emerged from his longhall to challenge Sir Bromegas to a duel, hoping to take at least one Knight before he was crushed. Sir Bromegas accepted.

Sir Bromegas refused to dismount, as reflectionless ghouls have no rights according to the code of chivalry. Sir Bromegas charged, lance leveled, and did massive damage to the vampire. The vampire played a nasty trick, drawing a concealed pistol and blasting Sir Bromegas in the leg! Sir Bromegas was dropped to just 1 Endurance Point and he wheeled his horse out of the fight, thinking he would soon bleed to death.

Meanwhile, the Baron’s slingers and the mercenary archers killed the rest of the vampire’s light infantry with another withering volley.

The vampire lost initiative in the next round. Sir Hansel barreled down on the vampire and hacked off his arm with a ferocious strike of his falchion.

Whilst this battle rages on, Sir Arnis and Sir Rudolf bring down a drum of oil from the Baron’s baggage train. The two Knights planned to cook the vampire’s soldiers who remained holed up in the longhall. Arnis and Rudolf dumped the drum through one window of the longhall, but they were met with lethal, concentrated fire. Sir Arnis was instantly slain by a hail of bolts. Sir Rudolf threw the torch which doomed the remainder of the deserters. The longhall burned for a long while, and the roar and crackle of flames drowned out the collective screams of those who were trapped inside.

Looting began when the fires died. Among the smoldering tomb, the Knights discovered 1,600 Lebensgoth: 16,000 GP of coin! The Baron and his men seized 800 Lebensgoth to make up for their loss in man-power. The Knights retrieved the remaining 800.

Sir Rudolf’s Campaign Ability as a Death’s Head Mercenary grants him 1 Prestige Point for every 1,000 GP he loots from settlements or lairs of men. With the death of Sir Arnis, the Knights saw they were in need of additional help. Sir Rudolf spent 1 Prestige to turn their black knight ally into a member of their Manor, making him a permanent ally.

Downtime Orders:

All survivors will be training for Level 2.