Bindbole Wood closes in tight, branches knitting overhead. Ahead, the undergrowth thins toward a pale break in the trees, where orc voices rasp and mutter.
The Stranger halts beside a mossy root and points low, past a slash of disturbed bracken. Three sets of hobnailed prints churn there, fresh and urgent, angling toward the Shire border.
The Stranger
There. They split the ground cleanly. One keeps the middle, one ranges left, one lingers behind. We take them before they reach open land.
He eases back into shadow, sword ready but still. The raiders are close enough now that Boffo can hear the scrape of gear and the snort of rough breath.
Boffo Hardbottle
I have them. One rush from the side, then cut the rear if they bolt.
The Stranger gives the smallest nod and melts left through the ferns. Ahead, the nearest orc silhouette appears between the trunks, and the path to the Shire lies directly beyond him.
✓ Quest Accepted
Disrupt the orc raiding party
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent the raid on the farms
“While the stranger outflanks the orcs, Boffo fires an arrow at them, to make them think he is still alone.”
FAILURE (Good Ranged Weapons, rolled -1)
Boffo looses the arrow. It skims through fern-shadow and misses the lead orc by a handspan, snapping a twig loud as a crack of bone.
The nearest raider jerks sideways, snarling, and the line breaks. One orc wheels toward the sound, while another ducks low and stares into the trees instead of running on.
Boffo's miss still buys him something, the orcs now face the wrong patch of dark, and their rear guard is briefly exposed near the bracken-clogged path.
From the left, the Stranger shifts in deeper, hidden by roots and fern, setting his blade for a strike the raiders have not yet seen.
The lead orc barks a short order and points back toward Boffo's tree, trying to pin the hidden archer before the ambush closes.
For a moment, the raid's line stutters in place, split between the unseen bowshot and the dark ahead. Then the rear orc starts to turn, looking for the source.
“He fires again.”
SUCCESS (Good Ranged Weapons, rolled +1)
Boffo hardens behind the trunk and looses again, his second arrow hissing through the dark gap the orcs have made for him.
It strikes the rear guard cleanly, and the raider jerks with a shout, stumbling into the bracken and throwing the others off balance.
The line fractures wider. One orc snaps around toward the sting, another hesitates mid-step, and their path toward the border breaks under the sudden panic.
The Stranger lunges from cover at the same instant, blade flashing low through fern-shadow as he drives at the exposed flank.
The Stranger
Now, Boffo! Keep them turning!
The wounded raider claws for his belt and tries to crawl free of the roots, while the others bunch together, snarling at the trees instead of the farm road.
Quest Complete
Disrupt the orc raiding party
Skill Upgrade: Ranged Weapons Good→Great
