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Story Hour
Consequences of the Quill (Restored 5/13/06)
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<blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 1447750" data-attributes="member: 9626"><p><strong>Further Intrigue</strong></p><p></p><p>The party woke early the next day, eager to catch up to the scene of the battle they witnessed yesterday. It doesn’t take very long. Near the beginning of True light (so about 11 am, as the sun “rose” from the field of the first moon,) the party saw smoke rising off in the horizon, though this looked less like a violent fire, and more like a camp fire. Flix offered to scout ahead of the group, and stealthily faded into the forest. He soon came upon a small camp, where an ogre, two orcs, and a wolf were resting by a fire. The orcs and ogre were loudly complaining to each other, in a fierce, warrior’s language Flix didn’t comprehend. Flix also noticed a small pile of corpses near the fire. There seemed to be mostly orc bodies, but there also was another elf, and even what appeared to be a red dragon the size of a pony! Once he became aware of his enemies, he quickly retreated, and not a moment too soon, for the wolf’s ears perked up, as it caught Flix’s scent.</p><p> Once back at the party, they quickly decided on a plan. Quercus would ride in on his horse, while Flix and Tsine snuck back into the camp, and attacked from surprise. Tal would bring up the rear, using his magic to help the party. Again Flix approached the party, and again the wolf suddenly was aware of him. Before he could warn the others, however, the party struck. Flix expertly tumbled into the camp, and delivered a mortal blow to the ogre. It roared out, enraged, and gained strength from his anger, but it wasn’t enough to survive the arrow that flew out at him from the woods, the orbs of energy Tal hurled at him, or Quercus’ deadly blow with his greatsword. The other three enemies scrambled to defend themselves, but the fight was a short one. Quercus cut one of the orcs, who was well armored compared to many of his kin, down, while Tal and Flix surrounded the wolf, and Flix drove his short sword through the wolf’s heart while it was focused on the larger, and presumably more dangerous foe. The last orc was actually a shaman, trained in the art of primitive magic instead of combat, but his most useful spell sent enemies into a forced slumber, and was useless against most of the elven enemies that surrounded him. He tried it anyway, and while Flix and Tal looked drowsy for a moment, both quickly recovered, and helped Quercus cut him down.</p><p> The party surveyed the enemies. The ogre and wolf were clearly dead, but while the two orcs were unconscious and bleeding heavily, they still lived for now. Realizing they needed information about the fight that occurred here and what happened to Lerissa, they agreed to stabilize their wounds, disarm and bind them, and interrogate them. At first, Tsine, the only one in the group who could speak orc, pretended to hide this fact, as he let his hatred of the foul race overcome his judgment, but reason soon won out, and he admitted he could translate for them. It became a moot point, for when the soldier orc war recovered, he spoke to the party in perfect Common!</p><p> “Oh, wonderful. Like anything else could’ve gone wrong on this trip. I suppose you’re looking for the dark elf?”</p><p> Surprised, Tal took the lead in questioning. “That’s right. What have you done with her?”</p><p> The orc shrugged as well as his bindings would allow, and glared at the party. “Why should I help you? I know your kind well. You have no honor. Once you get what you want from me, you’ll just kill me.”</p><p> Everyone in the group, save Flix, was surprised to hear an orc talk of honor. Tsine was about ready to put both of them to the sword and be done with it, but Tal held up a hand. He was trained to change the minds of others, and he intended to make some use of this talent. “Look, our only concern is the woman and her surviving escorts. I give my word as a noble of Methosilang to release you and your companion alive if you help us. Look at my companion,” he gestured at Quercus. “He is not just a fervent believer in the faith of Bha-Ael the creator goddess, but he is kin to the higher powers of goodness themselves. If he also swears to let you live, you have no reason to fear. However, if you don’t help up,” and he now gestured to Tsine, “I’d be happy to turn you over to someone who will ensure that your death with be both certain and painful.”</p><p> The orc sighed, and began his story. “Very well, I see I have no choice. Yes, we took the elf, and her entourage.”</p><p> “Why? She was doing nothing to warrant this fate.”</p><p> “Why? The same reason as always. With luck, we could have forced her to reveal where one of your cities is. Besides, she took something of great value to us, and we wanted it back.”</p><p> This last part bothered Tal, who was told that she just was gathering supplies, but he continued, “And what did you do to her since?”</p><p> “We….well, lost her. We were ambushed by these zealots in yellow robes. There were humans and elves, but they weren’t the worst of it. They had three specialists in their force. One was an emaciated humanoid, with a strange scorpion tail. The other was also humanoid, but was covered with thorns and brambles, and had shifty eyes. The last was this man with dark hair, but the hair had these strange yellow spots in it. He looked normal at first, but turned into a strange, furry monster.”</p><p> “And the dragon, was it part of the attacking force too?”</p><p> The orc looked at Tal like was an idiot, and responded. “No, don’t be stupid. The dragon was our escort. But the man killed him, single-handedly. Fortunately, once it had the elf, her surviving bodyguards, and the treasure she stole from us, they left, leaving the survivors like myself alone.”</p><p> “Where did they take Lerissa and the others?”</p><p> The orc gestured with head towards a crude path in the woods to the west. It looked fresh. Realizing time was of the essence, the party quickly untied the orcs, and sent them on their way. Before he left, though, the orc turned and looked at the party. “This isn’t over. You made an enemy of the Dry’Log orc clan, the rulers of Fierypyre. We don’t forget our humiliations.” Before the party can reconsider and chase after him, he fled down the path.</p><p></p><p>OOC Notes: The fight with the orcs was supposed to be much harder than the one against the ghouls, but I didn’t know the racial makeup of the group before I planned this fight. The party’s attack from surprise also helped a lot. The ogre had a level of barbarian, and the orc was a fighter, albeit a first level one. But I make up for the relative ease of this fight in the next encounter.</p><p> By the way, I’m interested in any responses people have so far. This is my first Story Hour, so I appreciate questions, comments, criticism, or whatever you want to contribute. I apologize that the fights aren’t as detailed as they are in, say, JollyDoc’s Shackled City, but keep in mind the events of this adventure occurred almost two years ago, real-time. I remembered things as best I can.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LordVyreth, post: 1447750, member: 9626"] [b]Further Intrigue[/b] The party woke early the next day, eager to catch up to the scene of the battle they witnessed yesterday. It doesn’t take very long. Near the beginning of True light (so about 11 am, as the sun “rose” from the field of the first moon,) the party saw smoke rising off in the horizon, though this looked less like a violent fire, and more like a camp fire. Flix offered to scout ahead of the group, and stealthily faded into the forest. He soon came upon a small camp, where an ogre, two orcs, and a wolf were resting by a fire. The orcs and ogre were loudly complaining to each other, in a fierce, warrior’s language Flix didn’t comprehend. Flix also noticed a small pile of corpses near the fire. There seemed to be mostly orc bodies, but there also was another elf, and even what appeared to be a red dragon the size of a pony! Once he became aware of his enemies, he quickly retreated, and not a moment too soon, for the wolf’s ears perked up, as it caught Flix’s scent. Once back at the party, they quickly decided on a plan. Quercus would ride in on his horse, while Flix and Tsine snuck back into the camp, and attacked from surprise. Tal would bring up the rear, using his magic to help the party. Again Flix approached the party, and again the wolf suddenly was aware of him. Before he could warn the others, however, the party struck. Flix expertly tumbled into the camp, and delivered a mortal blow to the ogre. It roared out, enraged, and gained strength from his anger, but it wasn’t enough to survive the arrow that flew out at him from the woods, the orbs of energy Tal hurled at him, or Quercus’ deadly blow with his greatsword. The other three enemies scrambled to defend themselves, but the fight was a short one. Quercus cut one of the orcs, who was well armored compared to many of his kin, down, while Tal and Flix surrounded the wolf, and Flix drove his short sword through the wolf’s heart while it was focused on the larger, and presumably more dangerous foe. The last orc was actually a shaman, trained in the art of primitive magic instead of combat, but his most useful spell sent enemies into a forced slumber, and was useless against most of the elven enemies that surrounded him. He tried it anyway, and while Flix and Tal looked drowsy for a moment, both quickly recovered, and helped Quercus cut him down. The party surveyed the enemies. The ogre and wolf were clearly dead, but while the two orcs were unconscious and bleeding heavily, they still lived for now. Realizing they needed information about the fight that occurred here and what happened to Lerissa, they agreed to stabilize their wounds, disarm and bind them, and interrogate them. At first, Tsine, the only one in the group who could speak orc, pretended to hide this fact, as he let his hatred of the foul race overcome his judgment, but reason soon won out, and he admitted he could translate for them. It became a moot point, for when the soldier orc war recovered, he spoke to the party in perfect Common! “Oh, wonderful. Like anything else could’ve gone wrong on this trip. I suppose you’re looking for the dark elf?” Surprised, Tal took the lead in questioning. “That’s right. What have you done with her?” The orc shrugged as well as his bindings would allow, and glared at the party. “Why should I help you? I know your kind well. You have no honor. Once you get what you want from me, you’ll just kill me.” Everyone in the group, save Flix, was surprised to hear an orc talk of honor. Tsine was about ready to put both of them to the sword and be done with it, but Tal held up a hand. He was trained to change the minds of others, and he intended to make some use of this talent. “Look, our only concern is the woman and her surviving escorts. I give my word as a noble of Methosilang to release you and your companion alive if you help us. Look at my companion,” he gestured at Quercus. “He is not just a fervent believer in the faith of Bha-Ael the creator goddess, but he is kin to the higher powers of goodness themselves. If he also swears to let you live, you have no reason to fear. However, if you don’t help up,” and he now gestured to Tsine, “I’d be happy to turn you over to someone who will ensure that your death with be both certain and painful.” The orc sighed, and began his story. “Very well, I see I have no choice. Yes, we took the elf, and her entourage.” “Why? She was doing nothing to warrant this fate.” “Why? The same reason as always. With luck, we could have forced her to reveal where one of your cities is. Besides, she took something of great value to us, and we wanted it back.” This last part bothered Tal, who was told that she just was gathering supplies, but he continued, “And what did you do to her since?” “We….well, lost her. We were ambushed by these zealots in yellow robes. There were humans and elves, but they weren’t the worst of it. They had three specialists in their force. One was an emaciated humanoid, with a strange scorpion tail. The other was also humanoid, but was covered with thorns and brambles, and had shifty eyes. The last was this man with dark hair, but the hair had these strange yellow spots in it. He looked normal at first, but turned into a strange, furry monster.” “And the dragon, was it part of the attacking force too?” The orc looked at Tal like was an idiot, and responded. “No, don’t be stupid. The dragon was our escort. But the man killed him, single-handedly. Fortunately, once it had the elf, her surviving bodyguards, and the treasure she stole from us, they left, leaving the survivors like myself alone.” “Where did they take Lerissa and the others?” The orc gestured with head towards a crude path in the woods to the west. It looked fresh. Realizing time was of the essence, the party quickly untied the orcs, and sent them on their way. Before he left, though, the orc turned and looked at the party. “This isn’t over. You made an enemy of the Dry’Log orc clan, the rulers of Fierypyre. We don’t forget our humiliations.” Before the party can reconsider and chase after him, he fled down the path. OOC Notes: The fight with the orcs was supposed to be much harder than the one against the ghouls, but I didn’t know the racial makeup of the group before I planned this fight. The party’s attack from surprise also helped a lot. The ogre had a level of barbarian, and the orc was a fighter, albeit a first level one. But I make up for the relative ease of this fight in the next encounter. By the way, I’m interested in any responses people have so far. This is my first Story Hour, so I appreciate questions, comments, criticism, or whatever you want to contribute. I apologize that the fights aren’t as detailed as they are in, say, JollyDoc’s Shackled City, but keep in mind the events of this adventure occurred almost two years ago, real-time. I remembered things as best I can. [/QUOTE]
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