mikeawmids
Explorer
(Savaged) Rise of the Runelords > The Hook Mountain Massacre
Rotation 2 / Session 4 (13/09/2012) - Part Two
The party abandon the beaten path and retrace the wounded ranger's tracks, back to the occupied farmstead, where the rest of the Black Arrow survivors are (not) enjoying the hospitality of the ogres. Ben and Antony creep into an overgrown field of long untended corn, hoping to get closer at the distant farm buildings. The rest of the party hang back, recalling their last excursion through a cornfield (where they were swarmed by ghoulish scarecrows).
Ben and Antony notice that the ground is rumbling beneath their feet - moments later, several Black Arrows hobble/crawl out of the tall crops (several have had their legs broken - or simply hacked off at the knees).The crippled rangers are pursued by a terrible engine of death - a group of merry ogres are pedalling a crude combine after their human prey! Even as the two heroes dive to safety, one unlucky ranger stumbles and vanishes beneath the scything blades with a (short) scream and a splash of blood. Mortified, Asha hurls a fireball at the ogre steering the awful machine, causing the brute to slump senselessly across the controls. Picking himself out of the mud, Ben centres a Blast spell on the reaping engine and plays an Adventure Card to double his damage output - reducing the threshing machine to a smoking crater and filling the air with fragments of deadly debris! Rast narrowly avoids decapitation as a length of jagged metal flies passed his head.
While the rest of the party search for survivors, Karrack stumbles upon a dazed ogre still reeling from the explosion and (miraculously) manages to prevent Grogg from immediately executing it. The SPILL THE BEANS Adventure Card is played (again) and the captive brute speaks at length on the deployment and disposition of the ogres of Hook Mountain. The party learn that the ogres are now under the command of the giant wizard Barl Breakbones (he's a giant AND a wizard, not just a really tall magic user) and since the change in management, the ogres have all been painting themselves with the seven-pointed Sideheron star. The party deduce that Breakbones has deceived the ogres (not difficult) into believing that the ancient rune is a powerful symbol of strength - and that every enemy they kill who has been branded in this fashion will only hasten the return of the malevolent despot whom Lucrecia spoke of during her last villainous monologue. This revelation is lost on Grogg, who beheads the chatty ogre the moment that Karrack's back is turned. The party watch as a spectral form (the ogre's soul) is sucked into the Sideheron star like a helpless spider being flushed down the toilet.
Having splinted bones and cauterised ragged stumps, Asha and Antony manage to work together to get the wounded rangers back on their feet (or foot, in some instances). Rast addresses the Black Arrows, attempting to persuade them to "man up!" and avenge their fallen friends - but their spirits have been broken and the party are denied their expendable ogre fodder as the maimed host wobble off.
Meanwhile, Grogg has devised a brilliant plan! Since he has also been marked with the Sideheron rune, he theorises, perhaps the ogres can be convinced that he is a favoured underling of Barl Breakbones and NOT attack him on sight. The rest of the party encourage the half-orc to test his hypothesis, then discretely wager how long before his cover is blown and the ogres eat his head. Rast decides (unwisely, as it turns out) to follow, shielded from sight by his cloak of shadows.
Hearing a great uproar from the large, ramshackle barn, Grogg is reminded of the fighting pits back in Magnimar and heads over to investigate. He is challenged at the entrance by a suspicious guard, but gets passed after flashing his cursed tattoo. The sentinel proves surprisingly perceptive for an ogre and spots Rast lurking about. The alarm is raised and while a group of angry ogres chase Rast around the muddy farmyard (cue the Benny Hill theme tune), Grogg slips inside the noisy barn.
Inside, the ogres have knocked up a primitive fighting pit, they are crowded around a groaning wooden balcony overlooking an enclosed arena. They are cheering on an immense spider, as it faces off against a bearded man wearing an eye-patch and wielding a small knife. Wasting no time, Grogg takes advantage of their inattention to shove several unsuspecting ogres into the pit! Meanwhile, the veteran ranger vaults onto the giant spider's bristly back and from there leaps up onto the balcony!
Outside, Ben Kotek casts Blast at the ogres bothering the dwarven alchemist and showers the rest of the party in ragged strips of char-grilled ogre steak, which also destroys the facing wall of the barn! Rushing across the rain-swept yard, the rest of the party enter the fray just in time to watch helplessly as Grogg and the ogre he is grappling with both tumble into the pit. The giant spider abandons the ogre it had been eating in order to menace Grogg - who ducks beneath its swollen abdomen and sweeps 'Monica' around in a ruinous arc that simultaneously severs all eight of the monster's spindly legs! As the helpless spider rolls around and gnashes its mandibles, Grogg bellows his famous catchphrase "THIS IS STRENGTH!!!" and buries his axe into the cluster of bulbous eyes above the spider's venomous maw!
To be continued....
Rotation 2 / Session 4 (13/09/2012) - Part Two
The party abandon the beaten path and retrace the wounded ranger's tracks, back to the occupied farmstead, where the rest of the Black Arrow survivors are (not) enjoying the hospitality of the ogres. Ben and Antony creep into an overgrown field of long untended corn, hoping to get closer at the distant farm buildings. The rest of the party hang back, recalling their last excursion through a cornfield (where they were swarmed by ghoulish scarecrows).
Ben and Antony notice that the ground is rumbling beneath their feet - moments later, several Black Arrows hobble/crawl out of the tall crops (several have had their legs broken - or simply hacked off at the knees).The crippled rangers are pursued by a terrible engine of death - a group of merry ogres are pedalling a crude combine after their human prey! Even as the two heroes dive to safety, one unlucky ranger stumbles and vanishes beneath the scything blades with a (short) scream and a splash of blood. Mortified, Asha hurls a fireball at the ogre steering the awful machine, causing the brute to slump senselessly across the controls. Picking himself out of the mud, Ben centres a Blast spell on the reaping engine and plays an Adventure Card to double his damage output - reducing the threshing machine to a smoking crater and filling the air with fragments of deadly debris! Rast narrowly avoids decapitation as a length of jagged metal flies passed his head.
While the rest of the party search for survivors, Karrack stumbles upon a dazed ogre still reeling from the explosion and (miraculously) manages to prevent Grogg from immediately executing it. The SPILL THE BEANS Adventure Card is played (again) and the captive brute speaks at length on the deployment and disposition of the ogres of Hook Mountain. The party learn that the ogres are now under the command of the giant wizard Barl Breakbones (he's a giant AND a wizard, not just a really tall magic user) and since the change in management, the ogres have all been painting themselves with the seven-pointed Sideheron star. The party deduce that Breakbones has deceived the ogres (not difficult) into believing that the ancient rune is a powerful symbol of strength - and that every enemy they kill who has been branded in this fashion will only hasten the return of the malevolent despot whom Lucrecia spoke of during her last villainous monologue. This revelation is lost on Grogg, who beheads the chatty ogre the moment that Karrack's back is turned. The party watch as a spectral form (the ogre's soul) is sucked into the Sideheron star like a helpless spider being flushed down the toilet.
Having splinted bones and cauterised ragged stumps, Asha and Antony manage to work together to get the wounded rangers back on their feet (or foot, in some instances). Rast addresses the Black Arrows, attempting to persuade them to "man up!" and avenge their fallen friends - but their spirits have been broken and the party are denied their expendable ogre fodder as the maimed host wobble off.
Meanwhile, Grogg has devised a brilliant plan! Since he has also been marked with the Sideheron rune, he theorises, perhaps the ogres can be convinced that he is a favoured underling of Barl Breakbones and NOT attack him on sight. The rest of the party encourage the half-orc to test his hypothesis, then discretely wager how long before his cover is blown and the ogres eat his head. Rast decides (unwisely, as it turns out) to follow, shielded from sight by his cloak of shadows.
Hearing a great uproar from the large, ramshackle barn, Grogg is reminded of the fighting pits back in Magnimar and heads over to investigate. He is challenged at the entrance by a suspicious guard, but gets passed after flashing his cursed tattoo. The sentinel proves surprisingly perceptive for an ogre and spots Rast lurking about. The alarm is raised and while a group of angry ogres chase Rast around the muddy farmyard (cue the Benny Hill theme tune), Grogg slips inside the noisy barn.
Inside, the ogres have knocked up a primitive fighting pit, they are crowded around a groaning wooden balcony overlooking an enclosed arena. They are cheering on an immense spider, as it faces off against a bearded man wearing an eye-patch and wielding a small knife. Wasting no time, Grogg takes advantage of their inattention to shove several unsuspecting ogres into the pit! Meanwhile, the veteran ranger vaults onto the giant spider's bristly back and from there leaps up onto the balcony!
Outside, Ben Kotek casts Blast at the ogres bothering the dwarven alchemist and showers the rest of the party in ragged strips of char-grilled ogre steak, which also destroys the facing wall of the barn! Rushing across the rain-swept yard, the rest of the party enter the fray just in time to watch helplessly as Grogg and the ogre he is grappling with both tumble into the pit. The giant spider abandons the ogre it had been eating in order to menace Grogg - who ducks beneath its swollen abdomen and sweeps 'Monica' around in a ruinous arc that simultaneously severs all eight of the monster's spindly legs! As the helpless spider rolls around and gnashes its mandibles, Grogg bellows his famous catchphrase "THIS IS STRENGTH!!!" and buries his axe into the cluster of bulbous eyes above the spider's venomous maw!
To be continued....