Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
SESSION TWENTY-- pulled fangs
KELLAN’s TWENTIETH SESSION JOURNAL
After quickly healing ourselves, we began to pursue the orcs - a task made simpler by the fact we were following about two dozen armed and armored orcs. We continued through the day, and thanks to Nik's location and flying spells, he was able to determine that the retreating party was in fact less than a half-mile in front of us. While we were determined not to let them get away, our still-weakened state, and Rod's absence (he returned to the village to check up on them) forced us to re-evaluate our course of action. Nik flew ahead of the orcs and hid himself in a tree to count the party as it went by: 5 units of four orcs each, their shaman leader, and an unexpected sight - the half-orcs Maddog and Ginblossom, whom we had encountered before with Honkin Puddinsack, and later when they helped us in our assault on the vampire yuan-ti's fortress. This time, however, they were working for our enemy; while this did not surprise me, given their mercenary nature, I knew they were not truly evil, and I hoped we would not need to battle them face to face.
This intelligence forced our hand. We could not continue pushing our mounts past their limits, and we would need rest ourselves. Hoping for a night's rest now that the orcs were moving ahead of us, we bedded down. About 3am, though, our hopes were dashed; one of the half-orcs had seen Nik hiding in the tree as they had passed by his position, and had led the band around to finish us off. It was not as tough a fight as it could have been; Jaag and I moved as one to fell the shaman before he could wreak more magical havoc on us. The half-orcs did, in fact, attack us eventually (Ginblossom insisted later that he didn't really want to hurt us, but "we weren't playin' along"), but we were able to knock him unconscious, the other surrendered, and the orc band was easily destroyed in detail.
After I healed Ginblossom enough so that he could talk, we stripped the two of their possessions (including, interestingly, the missing pieces of the broken yuan-ti shrine we had previously encountered), and interrogated them. They claimed to have just been recently hired on as bodyguards for the shaman, and really didn't have much more light to shed on the situation. (I develop ever-greater respect for those of our brethren who are able to call on Heironeous' favor to discern when others tell lies.) As far as I could tell, they were simply trying to make a living, and happened to fall in with the wrong group this time. Some inner sense told me to give them the benefit of the doubt, and as I quickly thought of ways to get them out of the area so they could not cause more trouble, I hit upon hiring them to deliver the first part of this letter to you (the part I have re-copied above). If they did, in fact, earn the gold I gave them to deliver the letter to you, I would be slightly surprised; but I felt it best to give them a chance to redeem themselves. We sent them on their way with the understanding that should we cross swords again, they could not expect mercy from us.
We returned to Lord Thomist's keep the next day to report our success, and to receive the reward he had promised for ending the orc threat (the gold will come in handy to properly equip us, as you will see below). We made our way back to Verbobonc, intent on finding out more about the shrine. A local sage was able to tell us that the shrine was indeed crafted by yuan-ti, that it was a gate that would require "more" to activate it that just replacing the missing fangs, and that something "more" had to do with the bowl the twisted females at the base of it were holding. While the sage was making his investigation, Nikolai was able to cast several divinations; he was able to determine that the other end of the gate did reside on the same plane of existence as ourselves; the nearest city of more than 20,000 souls to the destination lay far to the south of us, near the Hepmonaland jungles; and that the best place to look for Stirling Dale did indeed lie through that gate.
Our course was clear: I, and those of my companions who were willing to come, needed to go through the gate to try to recover Stirling Dale, dead, alive, or otherwise. After a brief moment of uncertainty, when I mused that we could use some more experience before we tried to go through to what would undoubtedly be a dangerous compound of evil, the wise priest of this temple reminded me that Dale's sufferings would continue even if we delayed our departure. Thus properly chastised, we began our plans, and as I close this missive, we have prepared ourselves as best we can with supplies for a jungle expedition (with many thanks to the generosity of this local temple), and will soon set out to return once again to the yuan-ti fortress to do our best to recover our missing comrade. When we return, you will again hear from me on the success - or failure - of our mission. We will do our part, and hope that our several strengths will be sufficient to complete the task before us.
I remain your faithful servant,
Kellan Evershar
JAAG’s TWENTIETH SESSION JOURNAL
Jaag's journal:
We killed their leader! And the wretched dragonspawn it rode in on too! Our success over diminishing the majority of their war party was shortlived, however. Nikolai and Kellan worked their divine gifts and healed our party quickly of its wounds so we could give chase to the orcs that deserted their camp. It was dark, and the last thing we needed was to be ambushed in the trees.
Although we killed their warrior leader, their sorcerer was still at large. I made up my mind that I would have to put an end to their magical fog by striking their sorcerer first--the last thing I want is for them to escape us again!
Nik flew into the air to scout the enemy's path and report back to us. They were much closer than we thought--northwest of us and moving at full speed from their camp. We pursued them on horseback but kept a fair distance so as not to alert them. Nikolai counted about 20 orcs, their sorcerer leader, and two other familiar faces known to us as Gin Blossom and Mad Dog--those traitors! Just goes to show you that Uncle Hastur was right, never trust an orc!
We followed them cautiously, not wanting to get too close. Our group deduced that the orcs seemed to be heading toward Lord Thomist's Keep. I had to wonder if maybe Lord Thomist was in on something. A conspiracy? I suggested that we head toward the keep and warn Lord Thomist, as well as help fortify the keep, but the others worried we might lose the orcs if we deviated now. The keep was more than a day away so our group decided to rest for the night.
Next, I heard Kellan calling my name, rousing me from my slumber...it sounded too serious for just a wolf, it must be the orcs! I grabbed my axe and looked quickly around. Kellan hadn't enough light, but my dwarvish sight spotted the sorcerer and his two henchmen right away. I saw many others around our camp, but knew it was the sorcerer that was leading them, so I pointed with my axe for Kellan to follow and charged!
I passed by Gin Blossom and Mad Dog, with a sudden expression on their faces, and struck a hefty blow to the sorcerer. Kellan came after me and immediately finished the sorcerer with his sword. Obviously, the sorcerer was counting on better protection from his henchmen. Mad Dog and Gin Blossom were upon us, as were their 20 or so companions, all closing in for melee after a volley of bolts.
After a few solid blows, Gin Blossom was the first one I put down, while Kellan and Nik were making quick work of the orc regulars. I asked Gin Blossom to surrender at least twice, but his rage had got the better of him and it was he who chose to end it this way. Once Gin Blossom went down, Mad Dog offered to surrender--a wise choice, but better made sooner than now. Our group finished the rest of the orc regulars, who all failed to lay down their arms. Now it was just my group and Mad Dog, as he tended to Gin Blossom to try and save what was left of his traitorous life. In return for their lives they gave us the curious gemstones that came from the portal back at the yuan-ti vampire's lair.
If it weren't for Kellan and his code, I think I would have just finished Gin Blossom to teach Mad Dog a lesson! What's more, Kellan is letting the two traitors deliver a letter to his lady in Verbobonc! I think my opinion of Kellan is diminishing after what he's done. Where is the hand of justice for the traitor that just moments ago was prepared to lay us low?! As a fighting companion, Kellan is a good warrior, but I think his ethical code goes too far sometimes. I hope it doesn't come to it, but I may have to show Kellan what's "right" someday. Justice is justice. Letting your enemies go to come back and kill you another day is outright foolishness!
We returned to Lord Thomist and informed him of our findings. "If there were any more orcs they are cowards and unwilling to fight," I told him. He gave us the reward he promised and we rested there a few days while Nikolai tried to divine more information about the portal. It is certain only that Stirling Dale, Kellan's missing comrade, lies somewhere beyond the portal, and it opens into a faraway land near thick jungles. And though I loathe the thought of traveling in a jungle, I am indebted to repay the gift of my second life granted to me by the church of Heironeous.
DM's TWENTIETH SESSION NOTES
The only thing better than a villain is a recurring villain, and the only thing better than a recurring villain is seeing that villain get spared by the party a third and even fourth time. If they'd just finish them off they'd stop recurring, now wouldn't they?
By the time Maddog and Ginblossom catch back up to the party with a few more levels under their monk's belts, it's gonna be ugly...
Sign of the Skull bought me two sessions to prepare the next part of the adventure. Not bad for $3.95!
KELLAN’s TWENTIETH SESSION JOURNAL
After quickly healing ourselves, we began to pursue the orcs - a task made simpler by the fact we were following about two dozen armed and armored orcs. We continued through the day, and thanks to Nik's location and flying spells, he was able to determine that the retreating party was in fact less than a half-mile in front of us. While we were determined not to let them get away, our still-weakened state, and Rod's absence (he returned to the village to check up on them) forced us to re-evaluate our course of action. Nik flew ahead of the orcs and hid himself in a tree to count the party as it went by: 5 units of four orcs each, their shaman leader, and an unexpected sight - the half-orcs Maddog and Ginblossom, whom we had encountered before with Honkin Puddinsack, and later when they helped us in our assault on the vampire yuan-ti's fortress. This time, however, they were working for our enemy; while this did not surprise me, given their mercenary nature, I knew they were not truly evil, and I hoped we would not need to battle them face to face.
This intelligence forced our hand. We could not continue pushing our mounts past their limits, and we would need rest ourselves. Hoping for a night's rest now that the orcs were moving ahead of us, we bedded down. About 3am, though, our hopes were dashed; one of the half-orcs had seen Nik hiding in the tree as they had passed by his position, and had led the band around to finish us off. It was not as tough a fight as it could have been; Jaag and I moved as one to fell the shaman before he could wreak more magical havoc on us. The half-orcs did, in fact, attack us eventually (Ginblossom insisted later that he didn't really want to hurt us, but "we weren't playin' along"), but we were able to knock him unconscious, the other surrendered, and the orc band was easily destroyed in detail.
After I healed Ginblossom enough so that he could talk, we stripped the two of their possessions (including, interestingly, the missing pieces of the broken yuan-ti shrine we had previously encountered), and interrogated them. They claimed to have just been recently hired on as bodyguards for the shaman, and really didn't have much more light to shed on the situation. (I develop ever-greater respect for those of our brethren who are able to call on Heironeous' favor to discern when others tell lies.) As far as I could tell, they were simply trying to make a living, and happened to fall in with the wrong group this time. Some inner sense told me to give them the benefit of the doubt, and as I quickly thought of ways to get them out of the area so they could not cause more trouble, I hit upon hiring them to deliver the first part of this letter to you (the part I have re-copied above). If they did, in fact, earn the gold I gave them to deliver the letter to you, I would be slightly surprised; but I felt it best to give them a chance to redeem themselves. We sent them on their way with the understanding that should we cross swords again, they could not expect mercy from us.
We returned to Lord Thomist's keep the next day to report our success, and to receive the reward he had promised for ending the orc threat (the gold will come in handy to properly equip us, as you will see below). We made our way back to Verbobonc, intent on finding out more about the shrine. A local sage was able to tell us that the shrine was indeed crafted by yuan-ti, that it was a gate that would require "more" to activate it that just replacing the missing fangs, and that something "more" had to do with the bowl the twisted females at the base of it were holding. While the sage was making his investigation, Nikolai was able to cast several divinations; he was able to determine that the other end of the gate did reside on the same plane of existence as ourselves; the nearest city of more than 20,000 souls to the destination lay far to the south of us, near the Hepmonaland jungles; and that the best place to look for Stirling Dale did indeed lie through that gate.
Our course was clear: I, and those of my companions who were willing to come, needed to go through the gate to try to recover Stirling Dale, dead, alive, or otherwise. After a brief moment of uncertainty, when I mused that we could use some more experience before we tried to go through to what would undoubtedly be a dangerous compound of evil, the wise priest of this temple reminded me that Dale's sufferings would continue even if we delayed our departure. Thus properly chastised, we began our plans, and as I close this missive, we have prepared ourselves as best we can with supplies for a jungle expedition (with many thanks to the generosity of this local temple), and will soon set out to return once again to the yuan-ti fortress to do our best to recover our missing comrade. When we return, you will again hear from me on the success - or failure - of our mission. We will do our part, and hope that our several strengths will be sufficient to complete the task before us.
I remain your faithful servant,
Kellan Evershar
JAAG’s TWENTIETH SESSION JOURNAL
Jaag's journal:
We killed their leader! And the wretched dragonspawn it rode in on too! Our success over diminishing the majority of their war party was shortlived, however. Nikolai and Kellan worked their divine gifts and healed our party quickly of its wounds so we could give chase to the orcs that deserted their camp. It was dark, and the last thing we needed was to be ambushed in the trees.
Although we killed their warrior leader, their sorcerer was still at large. I made up my mind that I would have to put an end to their magical fog by striking their sorcerer first--the last thing I want is for them to escape us again!
Nik flew into the air to scout the enemy's path and report back to us. They were much closer than we thought--northwest of us and moving at full speed from their camp. We pursued them on horseback but kept a fair distance so as not to alert them. Nikolai counted about 20 orcs, their sorcerer leader, and two other familiar faces known to us as Gin Blossom and Mad Dog--those traitors! Just goes to show you that Uncle Hastur was right, never trust an orc!
We followed them cautiously, not wanting to get too close. Our group deduced that the orcs seemed to be heading toward Lord Thomist's Keep. I had to wonder if maybe Lord Thomist was in on something. A conspiracy? I suggested that we head toward the keep and warn Lord Thomist, as well as help fortify the keep, but the others worried we might lose the orcs if we deviated now. The keep was more than a day away so our group decided to rest for the night.
Next, I heard Kellan calling my name, rousing me from my slumber...it sounded too serious for just a wolf, it must be the orcs! I grabbed my axe and looked quickly around. Kellan hadn't enough light, but my dwarvish sight spotted the sorcerer and his two henchmen right away. I saw many others around our camp, but knew it was the sorcerer that was leading them, so I pointed with my axe for Kellan to follow and charged!
I passed by Gin Blossom and Mad Dog, with a sudden expression on their faces, and struck a hefty blow to the sorcerer. Kellan came after me and immediately finished the sorcerer with his sword. Obviously, the sorcerer was counting on better protection from his henchmen. Mad Dog and Gin Blossom were upon us, as were their 20 or so companions, all closing in for melee after a volley of bolts.
After a few solid blows, Gin Blossom was the first one I put down, while Kellan and Nik were making quick work of the orc regulars. I asked Gin Blossom to surrender at least twice, but his rage had got the better of him and it was he who chose to end it this way. Once Gin Blossom went down, Mad Dog offered to surrender--a wise choice, but better made sooner than now. Our group finished the rest of the orc regulars, who all failed to lay down their arms. Now it was just my group and Mad Dog, as he tended to Gin Blossom to try and save what was left of his traitorous life. In return for their lives they gave us the curious gemstones that came from the portal back at the yuan-ti vampire's lair.
If it weren't for Kellan and his code, I think I would have just finished Gin Blossom to teach Mad Dog a lesson! What's more, Kellan is letting the two traitors deliver a letter to his lady in Verbobonc! I think my opinion of Kellan is diminishing after what he's done. Where is the hand of justice for the traitor that just moments ago was prepared to lay us low?! As a fighting companion, Kellan is a good warrior, but I think his ethical code goes too far sometimes. I hope it doesn't come to it, but I may have to show Kellan what's "right" someday. Justice is justice. Letting your enemies go to come back and kill you another day is outright foolishness!
We returned to Lord Thomist and informed him of our findings. "If there were any more orcs they are cowards and unwilling to fight," I told him. He gave us the reward he promised and we rested there a few days while Nikolai tried to divine more information about the portal. It is certain only that Stirling Dale, Kellan's missing comrade, lies somewhere beyond the portal, and it opens into a faraway land near thick jungles. And though I loathe the thought of traveling in a jungle, I am indebted to repay the gift of my second life granted to me by the church of Heironeous.
DM's TWENTIETH SESSION NOTES
The only thing better than a villain is a recurring villain, and the only thing better than a recurring villain is seeing that villain get spared by the party a third and even fourth time. If they'd just finish them off they'd stop recurring, now wouldn't they?
By the time Maddog and Ginblossom catch back up to the party with a few more levels under their monk's belts, it's gonna be ugly...
Sign of the Skull bought me two sessions to prepare the next part of the adventure. Not bad for $3.95!
