Actual Play - 4th Game: To War! (17 Jul 12)

Cinnia, Tiernan, Lairgnen, Lykaios, Gildas and Zaccheus were called to meet with King Ossian to give him their decision on their next move.  After much discussion, they agreed to do battle with the Uruki.  Although they asked, King Ossian would not spare them one of the new-found spacecraft for the war effort.  Instead, he gave them each authority to requisition 1000 credits worth of whatever they needed and then sent them to the Borderlands.

Using one of the newly refitted motorized carts, they drove the length of the Valley and through the Grey Hills in two and a half days.  The Commander of the Watch was briefing them on the situation, when a runner returned with news that the Uruki had finally sent patrols out of the Great Central Plain.

The group decided to head out right away to intercept one of the patrols.  After hiking almost three hours into the Borderlands, they surprised a patrol carrying the banner of Uruki clan Probyn.  Lairgnen sprinted forward, sword in hand, while the others opened fire with rifle, shotgun, revolver and longbow!  Tiernan learned, to his chagrin, that having no skill with a rifle means you're not likely to hit with it, while Gildas found out that a revolver isn't as useful as a shotgun in a group combat situation.

The battle was over in less than a minute, when the last standing Uruki threw down his bow and surrendered.  Lairgnen, still sprinting forward to melee, dropped his sword and tackled the survivor, who hit his head on the ground and passed out.

They quickly stripped the arms and armor from the Uruki, and found that 8 were still alive, but unconscious.  They bound them all, and when the first awoke, Lairgnen attempted to interrogate him.  Although successful, he learned nothing of value.  As the rest of the prisoners regained conciousness, they blindfolded them, roped them together, and began the hike back to the Grey Hills.  They returned to camp by that evening, with 8 prisoners, an Uruki battle flag, and extra longbows, clubs and daggers.

They rested a few days to heal at the camp in the Grey Hills.

The Valley of Arden

Northeast of the Great Central Plain, the Borderlands narrown to just 10 kilometers wide.  The ground continues to rise and becomes rolling hills leading into low mountains.  This area is known as the Grey Hills among the gnomes, and they have several settlements where they mine iron from particularly rich veins of ore.


Farther northeast, in the mountains, can be found the Valley of Arden.  It is actually a long series of valleys almost 150 kilometers long, and anywhere from 5 to 25 kilometers wide.  The Valley has rich soil, and abundant moisture, making the bottomlands very fertile and the highlands excellent grazing land.  It is home to both men and gnomes.


Since the peace treaty was signed here, the original clan has grown rapidly, having a much lower child mortality rate than in Uruk.  In addition, many gnome families have joined the clan, such that it has grown to become three Kingdoms.  In Arden, the blended culture has allowed the men from Uruk to continue their pre-Reformation lifestyle devoted to Arms; while the gnomes have provided the skilled labor so needed by the clans.