Episode 1: A Poisonous Snake Captured in Dale

General Summary

Snakes Down a Drain

The fellowship, battered and bruised still from their trials in the martial competitions earlier in the day, limp to the Market Square, where Lockmand has paid for a vast feast. By the time the companions arrive, the sun has disappeared behind the stony arms of the Mountain and the barrels of wine and casks of ale have already been opened. After all, tourney fighting is thirsty work! King Bard is not present, nor is Dáin Ironfoot; Gandalf the Grey has already left the city. Bombur, of course, would never miss free food, so he is in a place of honour at the high table, next to the winners of the various contests.
In front of the high table is a plinth that bears the chest of gold promised to the winner of the melee and the three small bags of treasure for the best archer, wrestler and rider in Dale. Oddly, there is no sign of Lockmand, the merchant who organised the whole dinner.
The whole party is mightily suspicious at Lockmand's absence and decide to try and track him down. As they depart the central pavilion, the eagle-eyed Hathus spots the merchant in the shadows across the square, slipping into a rowing boat with a few ill-favoured brigands and a large chest. Sigmarr thinks fast about the probable route of the rowboat and, with a "follow me!", starts running towards the Red Way, hoping to cut off their escape at a bridge across the canal.
As his comrades give chase, they hear a loud cheer rise from the pavilion and someone shout, "Lockmand's lost his voice!" The urgent decision to try and cut off the rowing boat pays dividends. Panting from their run across the town, they arrive at a bridge before the rowing boat and plan an attack. Sigmarr, Hathus and Arahad decide to leap into the small craft, while Monin, weighed down by his armour, sensibly opts to find a heavy object to drop onto the vessel and smash its hull.
Sigmarr and Arahad miss their leap and end up in the fetid water of the canal, but Hathus lands fore-square on the planks of the boat and manages to keep his balance. Sigmarr clambers out, Arahad hot on his heels, while Hathus cracks one of the rowers around the shoulders with his staff, suffering a wound from a shortsword in return. Sigmarr runs across the bridge to the other side and this time the damp rogue manages to land next to Hathus on the crowded planking. Thinking fast, Hathus, then Sigmarr, lurch onto one of the gunwales and suddenly, with a huge splash, the boat turns turtle, throwing everyone into the canal.
Monin runs up after failing to find anything heavy, and Arahad draws his bow, while in the water, poor Hathus is struggling away from one of the brigands having dislocated his shoulder in the fray. Monin's bowshot kills one of the brigands, and Arahad dispatches another. The fight goes out of Lockmand and the last brigand, and Sigmarr swims with powerful strokes after the disgraced merchant, grappling him near the far bank.
And as suddenly as the capsize, the skirmish is over. Lockmand is apprehended, and Arahad's psyche survives a rash rush of blood to the head as he shoots an arrow into the back of the last surviving brigand. Hathus uses his first aid skills to reset his shoulder and heal the arrow wound of the surviving brigand. A crowd begins to gather and some concerned citizens are sent to track down some of the town guard.
Under questioning, Lockmand reveals that he was sent to gather the best warriors in Dale in one place and poison them. An army is marching on Dale from the south. Doom is at hand - if King Bard surrenders and yields up his crown, then maybe his folk will be spared the suffering. Lockmand claims that his master commands "...all the host of Dol Guldur - Orcs without number, men from the East, and a great host of Wights and Wargs".

What foul work is afoot?
The fellowship march triumphantly back to the palace with Lockmand bound and gagged. As the near the Market Square, they hear screams and witness what looks like half of Dale running away from something at the party. Pushing through the press to investigate, they come across a scene of pandemonium. Revelers lay around the square in various stages of sickness and, near the pavilion, more than a dozen VIPs are convulsing on the cobbles.
Hathus uses his medical skills to tend to Elstan and Odvarr of Dale before ministering to the rest of the worst affected. S nest of snakes can be seen wriggling their way to the canal and slithering into the murky waters. In the aftermath, Elstan informs the grim-faced fellowship that Harod the Fool was tricked by Lockmand into playing a prank on the crowd, which ended in the release of a chest-full of vipers.
By the small hours of the morning the walking wounded are being nursed in houses across the city, Lockmand is in jail, and Monin and his brother maintain a vigil on the chest now at the bottom of the canal.

A Royal Council

In the morning the party is summoned to a Royal Council. A large portentous raven alights on the Bell Tower atop the palace as the fellowship near the meeting hall and speaks!

"Harken, men of Dale! Harken, folk of the Mountain! A terrible army approaches. Orcs and Goblins, with Wild Wolves to ride upon, coming with great speed up from the south. They ride for Dale!"

The fellowship impresses King Bard with their appraisal of the situation.

King Bard

"Lockmand's treachery has blunted the spear of the forces of Dale. The greater portion of our strength is lost until the poisoned warriors recover. And when they do, it will be too late."
"The power of the Orcs of the North was broken at the Battle of Five Armies, but Wilderland is still stiff with Wolves, Orcs, and creatures of the worst description. It must be assumed that we face a powerful army."
"The enemy's outriders will be here soon. Dale has the strength to resist a siege, but if we retreat behind its stone walls, then the farmlands and outlying villages - not to mention Lake-town - will be vulnerable to attack."
"We must resolve what to do with the remaining time. There are two concerns at hand - stopping the enemy, and preparing Dale for war, even in the lack of its best defenders."

Plans are made to bring people from the surrounding farms into Dale and messengers are dispatched to Esgaroth, Dáin Ironfoot in Erebor and the Elves with a warning about the forces from the South with a request for warriors to help defend the town.
As a result of Lockmand's treachery, and in the absence of any other able-bodied warriors in Dale, the fellowship agree to depart immediately for Celduin, which appears to be the only realistic location a large force from the South could cross the River Running. After a short rest and resupplying arrows, the resolute fellowship head out of Dale bound for Celduin.
Will they arrive before the army of the Shadow? Will they be able to buy King Bard enough time to reinforce the town?

Character(s) interacted with

King Bard

Report Date

18 Oct 2020