Frontier Forts of Kelnore: Finale

This week we’ll finish up the fort, but it won’t be the finish of the adventure.

A few weeks ago we went room by room and determined what was in there, aside from Ka'Taka’s minions. This week we’re adding the minions.

We’ve already placed Ka'Taka (Tower/11) and Tupo (Mess hall/14). That leaves:

• Mal'k'k, the female first level cleric who’s sucking up to Ka'Taka.
• Mu'koto (Ka'Taka’s brother) and a heavy bowman.
• 4 unnamed half-orc heavy bowmen.
• 13 unnamed medium half-orc swordsmen.

During the daytime, 2 swordsmen and 1 bowman will be sleeping in the Barracks/18. At night time everyone else will be asleep and those three will be awake. Everyone carries a small whistle around their neck and will blow on it to raise the alarm.

I’m just going to divvy them up where it makes sense.

#	Name	Daytime	Nighttime
1	Basement	(Scorpion) 2 swordsmen
2	Crypt	None
3	Crypt	None
4	Crypt	2 swordsmen
5	Crypt	(Shriekers)
6	Courtyard	2 swordsmen (effectively the courtyard area is also the gate, the well, and the stables)
7	Gate	2 swordsmen	2 swordsmen
8	Well	(None–this is part of the courtyard)
9	Stables	(Wolves)
10	Parapet	2 bowmen	1 bowman
11	Tower (ground)	(Ka'Taka)
12	Storeroom	N/A: This is now part of the courtyard
13	Storeroom	N/A: This is now part of the courtyard
14	Mess hall	Tupo	Empty
15	Commander’s quarters	None	None
16	Executive’s Quarters	None	None
17	Tower (1st floor)	2 swordsmen
18	Barracks	2 swordsmen & 1 bowman (sleeping)	11 swordsmen, 4 bowmen, 1 cleric (sleeping)
19	Tower (2nd floor)	None (Bloodweed)
20	Tower (3rd floor)	None
–	Keep’s Roof	Mu'koto & 1 bowman
–	Outer Stables	1 swordsman	None

Final thoughts

From keep’s roof and the parapet, the bowmen can see enemies approaching the fort. They can use the battlements for cover (+2 to AC) and shoot the enemies. If attackers breach the keep and are in the courtyard, the bowmen on the parapet will run to the barracks where they can use the arrow slits (+4 AC) to shoot into the courtyard.

This is a tough adventure, mainly because the half-orcs are not idiots. Any of them that encounters a surprise hostile party will most likely first run away, blowing his whistle to raise the alarm. The player’s best chance is probably trying to sneak in at night either through the secret tunnel (but remember the shriekers!) or using a grappling hook to climb onto the keep’s roof. But players may have other ingenious ideas, which should be rewarded with a good chance of success.

That’s it for the fort itself. Starting next week, we’ll look at the oasis town of Konpoke¹, where the fort is located.

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1. Transpose the “k” and the “p.” Substitute “a” for “o.” If Gygax can misspell “omelet,” I can have fun with other breakfast foods. ↩