Ambushing the ambushers

I still have a quite a lot of my old role-playing materials, and they are already coming in quite handy. We decided very recently that we were going to play this campaign, and I don't have much that is of the kind of quality available now in the way of game aids. However, I do still have some old character figures, along with some bits and pieces, and these will do until I can get my act together and acquire (and paint) some more. The photo above is of a couple of reversible GURPS hex sheets that came out a very long time ago, I think as a set of three, because that's how many I have. On the other side are building interiors; the photo shows a wilderness map. A trail winds its way through open areas and bits and pieces of foliage, trees and some rocks. Despite having been folded and stored away for what must now be several decades, they now see some use...

Bomilcar's narrative
We follow the raiders on their way to the southwest. According to the Nikorn estate workers, the family's dacha nestles in a pleasant valley in rolling countryside. Between their directions and the tracks of our quarry, we are able to keep moving at a reasonable pace. It is early April, and some recent rains have keep their tracks quite fresh. In the early parts of our ride, I notice some spots of blood sprinkled here and there; some of our opponents must be carrying wounds, although not enough to incapacitate them. Sir Blanque reckons we must be about half a day's ride behind them by the time we approach the vicinity.

In the evening light, we start to crest a wooded hillside, when both Sir Blanque and I draw to a halt. It seems as though we are thinking the same thing: that spot up ahead looks like a really good place to set an ambush.

After descending from our hill, the trail goes through quite an open area, before passing through a group of trees and foliage. My hunter's instincts are screaming caution, and Sir Blanque's military experience also shows itself. We keep behind our hill and call the others over for a quick discussion. Decisions are made based on our relative skills. Sir Blanque and I will wait a while and then ride slowly across the landscape. I will have my bow ready with an arrow nocked, but I will let it hang down my left side to be as hidden as possible. Sir Blanque will be to my right. Marion will head off beforehand to our left and come at the possible ambush area from behind on the oblique, and Destiny will do the same on the other side.

A couple of vicious throwing knives appear in Marion's capable hands, and Destiny draws a bow from its case. I've certainly never seen the likes of this before; it seems to be even more powerful than mine. Most strange, however, is the fact that it seems to be made of ivory or something similar. These Melniboneans are certainly full of surprises.

In the event, I turn out to be rather unnecessary. As Sir Blanque and I ride slowly towards the copse, the first thing we hear is a surprised squeal from behind the very large tree to our front right. Sir Blanque goes haring off around to the right and behind the tree. This is followed by quite a lot of shouting, and then the scream of a wounded man. A few seconds later, a tall man with blond hair appears from behind the central tree and surrenders, throwing his cudgel to the ground. His eyes widen as I level my bow, just daring him to move. I'm in no mood to be pleasant. Finally, Marion escorts another  man from behind the tree to the left.

Prodding our captives, we all move off to see what has happened to Destiny and Sir Blanque. A third ambusher lies on the ground, clutching a nasty looking gash that runs down his left leg. Destiny's axe is dripping blood, and she has a somewhat satisfied look on her face. She retrieves her bow from where she had dropped it, along with an arrow she must have managed to loose at her target. "That explains why his right boot has been almost torn off," I think, glancing at the wounded man. "He's lucky that arrow didn't go through properly..." Sir Blanque is looking flushed from the excitement, but happy.

The three are all men from Pikarayd, which puts them several thousand miles north of where they should be. They are dressed in a combination of furs, leathers and wool, and were carrying rather strange looking cudgels, now lying on the ground. Proper dressed pieces of wood somewhat like javelin shafts, they have a wooden knob at the top, perfect for stunning an opponent into submission. So this is what a capture party looks like.

Sir Blanque ties their hands behind their backs while we discuss what to do with them. It turns out that the man in the centre, the first to surrender, is easily the smartest, and probably the leader of their little group. The other two are a bit thick, especially the one with the wound. It seems that after being surprised by a rushed arrow from Destiny, he actually ran towards her. So she hit him with her axe. Sir Blanque appeared from behind him on horseback and bashed his shield into the same leg that had just started spurting blood, and down he went. Marion's target finally gave up as well.

Destiny looks as though she would quite happily just kill them all, but Marion wants to question them. Their leader tells us everything he can; he obviously had enough sense not to fight on against superior odds, weaponry and armour once he realised the ambush had failed. There are nine others, he says, some of them still slightly wounded from the attack on the estate. Their leader is a capture specialist, and carries a large two-handed maul; they were tasked with capturing Jorthan and Ehlessa while the rest of their shipmates return to "Tower Cove", as he calls it. "We were ordered to hang back in case anyone followed us, but we didn't expect such a well organised and armed group as yourselves."

After some discussion, we decide that they are just hired grunts, and let them go. Marion takes their cash, the bounty paid to them for their service, as compensation for losing one of her beloved throwing knives in the scuffle. We also keep their weapons. Destiny is persuaded to patch up the guy she hit with her axe, and does an incredibly good job with the needle and stiff waxed thread on his wound. He simply looks at her with dread, and faints half way through the process. I'm convinced Destiny whispered something to him, but I couldn't quite swear to it.

We are all still quite excited from the combat, but we decide to snatch a few hours' rest before mounting a dawn assault on the dacha. We are very pleased at having reduced their numbers somewhat.


Umpire's Notes
Sir Blanque and Bomilcar made Ambush roles, sussing that the area up ahead looked too good to be true. The main action took place when Destiny loosed her arrow and scored minimum damage on her target's right leg; luckily for him, his leather armour equivalent soaked up the remainder. They then charged each other, he with his capture club and she grabbing her axe from its customary place at her side. They came together simultaneously. She missed with her swing, but he succeeded with his. Destiny turned away his blow with a swift backhand parry and then swept down the length of his left leg, slicing it open rather neatly. At this point Sir Blanque arrived behind the guy and, leaning down from his horse, bashed the same leg from behind with his large round shield. The raider crumpled and the others surrendered. At the same time, Marion had rather less luck. She did manage to sneak up behind her mark, but missed with her initial thrown knife. She was readying the second when he saw his mate go down and the leader surrender, so he gave up too. He then screamed in fright when Marion appeared in front of him from the shadows - it turns out he still hadn't seen her. Bomilcar did nothing!

I must admit that I was most impressed with the way the players behaved. Cate as Destiny was appropriately uncaring about their prisoners, but the other two were quite happy to interrogate them and then leave them to fend for themselves. It was Beth's idea to question them.