Ingdeth Copperback (Kristy) F. Vanguard, Engineer, Enchanter. Name weapon: hammer. Favors a squarish tower shield that can be set as a wall.

Gogrim Steelmane (Chloe) M. Mauler, Athlete, Chef. Name weapon: weaponized oven peel. Longs to be scary, naturally good at athletics but, as a poorly kept secret, loves cooking (but feels time in the kitchen detracts from an intimidating warrior image.)

Gilda Mountainbelt (Jake) F. Berserker, Gunsmith, Healer. Name weapon: “Scatterslicer,” a blunt scattergun with massive blades welded on the sides. (Terrible at ranged attacks, skilled at making guns but not really shooting with them.)

Delbaria Starchaser (Michael G.) F. Support, Adept, Alchemist. Name weapon: magic belt that shoots energy bolts out of its impressive girdle-buckle. Totally hairless, loves decorative details like fingernail painting. Named for a past Monarch of Stoneshadow. Wields a slide-whistle in combat, using it to concentrate and direct energy.

Cranky Elves

This Fellowship lives in Wyrmcast, and they were gathered by its mayor, Canwise, to take on a local challenge. As a local musician finished singing a ballad based on the Murder of Averline, Canwise bustled up to ask them to go check on the elves of Fenhollow Isle; the elves started taking shots at travelers, something has irritated them. (When punctured by elven arrows, the euphemism for the odd appearance of arrows jutting out of a dwarf torso is “wearing an elfjacket.”)

Feeling it would be best to prepare for diplomacy, Gogrim led the Fellowship back to his kitchen before they left, and he made a special no-bake berry loaf called a “jiggle” known to be non-toxic and popular for the elven palate. Also, he stocked up on some fish nibble, a treat known to appeal to the local magical fish population.

Poachers

On the road, Delbaria spotted smoke from a cookfire. The Fellowship decided to investigate, and spotted about twenty humans from the surface, setting up a wormlure and small barrels of gunpowder. Poaching wasn’t legal, and both the dwarves and the humans knew it. A grouchy bald wizard with a beard and staff hung back, letting a spokesman talk to the dwarves and pretend nothing was wrong.

Ingdeth took a firm tone with the humans and told them to leave; not liking the odds of an armed confrontation, the poachers withdrew. Delbaria trashed their lure, and the dwarves were content to let them off with a warning this time; they had business elsewhere.

Fen Ford

The dwarves reached the ford where dwarves occasionally built bridges, and the elves let them stand for a while (years or decades) before knocking them down again. Currently there was no bridge, and as the dwarves approached the fast-flowing but shallow river, Delbaria’s magical senses helped her spot a magical fish in the river. The dwarves lured it in close and fed it fish nibble, and they had a chat.

Gilbert the Elbowed Mudfish told them Frieda, the Wormcast war leader, led a band to Fen Hollow and killed one of the ghost stags the elves revere, dragging it off in a hail of arrows and eating it (deeply offensive acts from the elven perspective.)

As Gilbert swam away, Delbaria sprouted an elf arrow and staggered; rather than reacting violently to the ambush, Gogrim thought fast and whipped out his peel, brandishing the jiggle-loaf in hopes the elven noses would pick up the scent across the river. This offering gave the elves pause, and several pinched faces poked up out of the greenery across the river and grumbled about their stolen stag. They wanted the skull and antlers back, and an apology; then they would consider a ceasefire on travelers along the road.

Wingus Attack

As the dwarves followed the shoreline in the direction Frieda was supposed to have gone, they were almost taken by surprise by a diving pack of winguses. The leather-winged poison monkey-things nailed Gogrim hard, and scored a glancing hit on Delbaria, but the dwarves battered them down in an adrenaline-fueled reaction before the winguses could reposition.

Delbaria and Gogrim set to harvesting bits from the predator’s corpses, for alchemy and delicacy dishes; both were overenthusiastic on the pressurized wingus remains, and they were squirted by gland juices that threatened monkeyfever. Gilda used her healing skill to give them both an “eyewash” in the stream to prevent infection, then she went to to last of the bodies to get some untapped venom sacs for antidotes, successfully harvesting a few useful bits. They continued onward rather than lingering and risking another ambush now that the smell of blood was flowing away from the site.

Frieda

The Fellowship located Frieda and her warband of about a dozen dwarves, and they approached boldly. Frieda was heavily bandaged, and seated on a makeshift throne with the cleaned ghost stag skull mounted on the back as some of her warriors were scraping the hide. All of the dwarves had a bit of a glow to them, an after-effect of eating the ghost stag meat.

Ingdeth confronted Frieda over the act of war with the elves, and Frieda tried to shrug it off by suggesting the southern ford was better and they could make new, better friends there. The elves weren’t much of a threat, and their friendship was not important. The Fellowship persisted in their demand that Frieda return the ghost stag skull and antlers to the elves, and apologize.

Frieda reluctantly agreed to do so IF Gilda, her pupil in the berserk combat style, bested her in arm wrestling. The Fellowship agreed, and Gogrim gave Gilda some energy protein and a quick muscle rub to help out. Gilda and Frieda clasped hands and then had a vein-pounding bicep-bulging contest of strength and will. Gilda won, and Frieda was surprised Gilda didn’t throw the match.

Grumbling all the way, Frieda took the skull back to the elves and apologized, and the Fellowship returned to Wyrmcast successful.