Morgan Ironwolf
The player is female and decides that her character will also be female. Inspired by the name of Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legends, the player decides that the name of Morgan Ironwolf would be a good name for a fighter.
Morgan appears on pages B14, B20, B59 & B28, on an adventure with four fellow companions. Reading between the lines, it is here that one can find out more about Morgan Ironwolf. For example: after a battle that would see one of her companions fall, the attacking hobgoblins choose to surrender when the outcome of the melee becomes obvious. This is when we finally see a glimpse Morgan’s personality. At first, though an agreement was made with the surrendering hobgoblins, Morgan wants to kill them anyhow. As a neutral* fighter, she sees no issue at all with dispatching her remaining enemies. Perhaps she desires revenge for her fallen comrade or maybe she is being practical and does not wish to leave enemies behind to warn others. Whatever the reason, she clearly wants them dead. She wisely changes her mind when confronted by another party member who happens to be a lawful cleric. Perhaps it was the wound Morgan received in battle (which she suggests) that causes her to wish to kill the hobgoblins and that mood has now passed. Or maybe Morgan is savvy enough to elicit a healing spell from the cleric by bending to a more lawful view of the situation. No matter her reasoning, it is plain that she understands that situations are fluid and she exhibits the ability to gain an advantage from such scenarios.
From reading the description of the encounter I think it is easy to determine some of her other personality traits that cannot be gleaned from a character sheet. Even at low levels she is a hardened and practical fighter. She understands battle tactics and the rules of war. Yet she is not rash. Morgan knows that to survive the harsh underground environment she must cooperate with the others and be a team player. Morgan Ironwolf may not be as well-liked as Aleena but one cannot deny that she is an accomplished warrior and clever dungeoneer.
With Morgan in the dungeon are several lesser known characters from the Moldvay set:
- Silverleaf (neutral Elf Warrior-Seer) knows the spell sleep.
- Fredrik (Dwarven Veteran) armed with a throwing axe, AC 2, 6 hp.
- Sister Rebecca (lawful Adept) armed with a mace and shield.
- Black Dougal (neutral Footpad) speaks elvish, goblin & orc.
We know only a little of Silverleaf the elf. Just like Morgan, Silverleaf appears to be a practical fighter and knows that leaving an enemy behind is a dangerous gamble. He is willing to go along with the fighter’s plans to murder the hobgoblins to protect the party’s rear. Apparently he too is reasonable since he relents as well when the cleric insists on honoring their agreement with the hobgoblins.
We know less about Sister Rebecca, other than the fact that she is obviously the moral compass of the party, not much can be determined about her. Despite her dislike for the hobgoblins, she will not allow the party to forget their promise to spare their lives. She forces her will upon the party and the hobgoblins are allowed to live. Later she frets over a fallen companion when her fellow adventurers seem more concerned with treasure. I think the cleric has a good heart. Other than those few details, Sister Rebecca remains shrouded in mystery.
Fredrik the Dwarven Veteran is a bit more fleshed out. He seems to be both cautious yet battle-brave. Perhaps it’s his innate dwarven dungeoneering skills that allows him to sense danger, or maybe he is just simply afraid, but several times during the adventure he gets a bad feeling and warns the party. Whether the party takes his warnings seriously or just puts him off as a grumbling dwarf is unknown. His caution apparently does not apply to fighting goblins and finding treasure however. He shrugs off his apprehension and charges into the goblin ranks in the party’s first encounter on page B59 (the encounter order is reversed with the first taking place on B59 and the followup encounter on B28), helping the party win the melee without suffering any casualties. His lust for treasure consumes him shortly thereafter when he concerns himself with loading coins rather than the death of a companion. In fact, Fredrik is more than willing to strip the dead of his possessions to aid in the transport of his newly discovered loot. Dwarven stubbornness and greed aside, Fredrik does carry the corpse of his fellow adventurer from the room as they depart, thus allowing the dwarf to regain some sense of honor. Despite his battle skills and earned karma, Fredrik is felled in the next melee by a hobgoblin that dispatches the dwarf with one mighty blow. Alas for poor Fredrik. Who will carry his stout body?
Morgan’s last companion is Black Dougal. We never get the chance to learn much about him since he is poisoned by a spring trap early in the adventure. Perhaps his nerves were shaken after the battle with the goblins or maybe the lighting was too poor to properly detect the trap on the chest. Whatever the reason, Black Dougal met an untimely end beside thousands of shiny silver coins. Ironic is it not?
Character Sheet
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