IC II

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

Rides forward and takes his place in the middle of the line. His mace will work hard to keep the orcs off the archers and spell casters.

[thirdkingdom]

Round One

The orcs in front of the building advance, those with bows firing as they go. All of the arrows miss. More orcs can be seen sneaking through the trees to the right and the left of the adventurers, but either they don't have bows or are not able to get off a good shot.

Telemachus raises his hands; an instant later a foul, putrid smoke rises up from the very ground itself, like fog on a cold morning, enveloping the largest groups of orcs in a miasmal haze. None of the other adventurers can see within, but the sound of hacking and coughing is audible.

To the south a great ruckus can be heard, as if some enormous, wheezing beast is pushing itself through the trees. It's too early yet to tell what the orcs in that direction will do.

If anyone wants to continue their actions given the new information go ahead. The flanking orcs will have a substantial bonus to their AC due to the intervening trees; but then again so will you guys.
Initiative, PCs first:: 2#1d6 1 5
Missile fire first. http://orokos.com/roll/757013: 5#1d20+1 4 14 10 8 12 5#1d30 14 19 20 22 17...

*Just* at the very edge of the range for stinking cloud. Affected orcs are green, now.

[VonAlric]

Gardo

Looking to Wulfka and Notai, "Hey, I need you two to back me up. Use your bows to watch my back if any orc sneaks around. If things start getting thick, best you move up and we fight back to back in a circle. If you see something large coming towards the group, call me quick." He raises his head up and shouts back to the main group. "Mariusz! You best keep back behind those archers and run if things get real bad!"

Gardo's eyes light up, a hint of wildness, even derangement, can be seen behind the look. "Let's have some fun, shall we?" He will move up 20' to the south and try to catch any orc unawares of things or running from the sound to strike them down.

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"Ignore the orcs in the cloud! They're helpless for now. Kill the ones on the flank!"

The mage tells Casfrea to stay close and protect him. He then takes cover and observes.

Should any orc advance on him, Casfrea attacks. He casts Magic Missile on any that Casfrea can't stop.

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

Feargus turns to Newton and says, "Keep an eye on my back, Newt?" Not waiting for an answer, he then stalks forward paralleling Gardo about 15 feet to the side engaging the first orc that comes at him.

[Atlictoatl]

Haaki, the Feather Witch

Haaki casts Hold Person on any orc or group of orcs getting close to Telemachus or her.

If she has to concentrate to maintain the illusion, she’ll keep that going instead of casting.

[thirdkingdom]

Haaki, the Feather Witch

Haaki casts Hold Person on any orc or group of orcs getting close to Telemachus or her.

If she has to concentrate to maintain the illusion, she’ll keep that going instead of casting.

Nope, duration is 3 turns, so no concentration is needed.

The rest is relatively easy. Orcs stagger out of the foul smelling cloud and cast their weapons to the ground, some fleeing, others surrendering. The group to the south, near Haaki's auditory illusion, also flees as their morale breaks at the thought of an unseen monster lurching through the woods towards them. The other three, smaller bands of orcs have some fight left in them, but given the overwhelming superiority of the adventurers' and their minions the fight is over almost before it began. Fleeing orcs are chased down by groups of bowmen led by an adventurer.

The cleanup takes most of the rest of the day. The interior of the lodge is foul and filthy, a disgusting parody of an actual hunters' lodge. Grisly trophies are tacked to the walls and left to rot. Most of them are animal carcasses, but there are some disturbingly humanoid parts as well. The boast of the saucy orc encountered the previous night seems to be true; a half-dozen human skulls are found that have been crudely fashioned into drinking flagons. The following treasure is found after a thorough search of the place:

*5,280 gold coins, scattered about. The coins are largely of recent mint, and from the Principalities.
*8 gems of varying worth: 10, 50, 10, 100, 100, 500, 50, and 10, respectively.
*3 casks of fine ale that looks like it was brewed somewhere near Alice. Each are likely worth 25 gp.
*Two score deer hides. Most have been ruined by poor hygiene, but seven are in decent condition, and likely worth 7 gp each. They're somewhat bulky, though.
*A potion of some sort in a bottle of blue glass.
*A brass scrollcase containing a scroll of some sort. Knowing that oftentimes magical scrolls are cursed the adventurers have yet to examine it.
*A staff of some light-colored, reddish wood, carved with entwining snakes. This is found in the possession of an orc who must have been the shaman of the tribe, but she had been caught in the cloud of stench and emerged, puking, before she could call upon her deity for aid.

Initiative, PCs first:: 2#1d6 5 5
Morale checks: http://orokos.com/roll/757128: 5#2d6 10 10 7 8 5
Main group fails, as does the one near the auditory illusion. The others continue to fight, but there are only 18 orcs remaining agains 20 mounted bowmen and a group of high level adventurers. I'm going to assume you guys beat the crap out of them. Here's what we'll do: it takes the remainder of the day to secure your victory, chase down fleeing orcs, etc. I'll assign a chance that some escape, but otherwise you'll get the bulk of them. I usually like to assume the orcs are slain or given a quick, clean death -- it eliminates the issue of prisoners -- but if you'd like to capture one or two alive for questioning that's fine.
Spellcasters, assume you used two more spells each of an appropriate nature: Telemachus magic missile, or perhaps another stinking cloud, Haaki hold person and one other, Newton and Ribar healing spells to attend to minor wounds, etc.

[Atlictoatl]

Haaki, the Feather Witch

After first casting Cure Light Wounds on an injured mercenary, Haaki instructs her owl Syoksya to search amongst the fallen for the hulking brute Newton described, and follows suit herself (in human form). Determining the fate of that one is her priority.

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"I wonder if this isn't the safest place to camp, now that we've cleaned this group out. I doubt any escapees will come back here. And most everything wild around here has probably already figured out that they should give this place a wide berth."

[thirdkingdom]

Haaki, the Feather Witch

After first casting Cure Light Wounds on an injured mercenary, Haaki instructs her owl Syoksya to search amongst the fallen for the hulking brute Newton described, and follows suit herself (in human form). Determining the fate of that one is her priority.

The large orc was slain after emerging from the cloud of sulfurous fumes, his might at arms no match for half a dozen arrows and the blades of Haaki's more war-like companions.

[Atlictoatl]

Haaki, the Feather Witch

Haaki interacts with the surviving orcs until she finds one that speaks Common reasonably well, then casts Charm Person on the orc.

[thirdkingdom]

Haaki, the Feather Witch

Haaki interacts with the surviving orcs until she finds one that speaks Common reasonably well, then casts Charm Person on the orc.

A suitable orc is found, dazed from a wound it had suffered. It, however, proves remarkably resilient to Haaki's spell of beguiling.

http://orokos.com/roll/757402: 1d20 18

[Atlictoatl]

Haaki shrugs, and goes and pets her dogs.

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

Feargus watches Haaki retreat to her pets and then approaches the orc. "CAN. YOU. UNDERSTAND. ME?" He speaks slowly and enunciates carefully. He then offers the orc some water and a strip of dried beef from his saddle bag, also taking one for himself.

Assuming he gets some kind of understanding, he continues, "My name's Feargus. My friends and I just have a few questions for you. I take it your...tribe?...was the power in this area. What can you tell us of the road north? Do you know of a human settlement that way? What other tribes or groups live up that way?"

If the orc refuses to share anything, Feargus will give up quickly.

He finds Mardan Cy and goes through a detailed after action report of the fight, trying to understand what the lad saw and what he missed. "What you saw here is one of the most important lessons in fighting chaos. It's my Rule 1: Fight to win. Bring overwhelming force, act quickly, finish the job."

[thirdkingdom]

Feargus

Feargus watches Haaki retreat to her pets and then approaches the orc. "CAN. YOU. UNDERSTAND. ME?" He speaks slowly and enunciates carefully. He then offers the orc some water and a strip of dried beef from his saddle bag, also taking one for himself.

Assuming he gets some kind of understanding, he continues, "My name's Feargus. My friends and I just have a few questions for you. I take it your...tribe?...was the power in this area. What can you tell us of the road north? Do you know of a human settlement that way? What other tribes or groups live up that way?"

If the orc refuses to share anything, Feargus will give up quickly.

He finds Mardan Cy and goes through a detailed after action report of the fight, trying to understand what the lad saw and what he missed. "What you saw here is one of the most important lessons in fighting chaos. It's my Rule 1: Fight to win. Bring overwhelming force, act quickly, finish the job."

Orc

The orc responds in the same manner, used by tourists in foreign lands and childless adults talking to toddlers. "Yes. I. Understand. You. Let. Me. Live. And. I. Will. Answer. Your. Questions."

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

"You got a mouth on you don't ya. I gotta say though, I admire your moxie. Deal. Tell us what you know and you will be under my protection until we part ways."

[thirdkingdom]

Feargus

"You got a mouth on you don't ya. I gotta say though, I admire your moxie. Deal. Tell us what you know and you will be under my protection until we part ways."

Orc

The orc nods. Its accent is thick, and doesn't speak Common as well as the orc encountered the previous night. "We're of the Broken Foot clan, from the Boneslicer tribe, from further up there." It gestures to the northwest. "There are more of us to the north, many more. My people once controlled these lands, took them from Man with tooth and claw and blade, but when the Great Chief died we left, went back north. Our clan is small -- smaller now, even, since you've killed many -- and were driven south by stronger clans. We've lived off what we could here. I know there are Men that live north of here." It points to the northeast. "But have not actually seen their lair. I hear it is a fortress of iron, though."

[thirdkingdom]

Fourthmonth, Thirteenthday
Hex 236.130

The captured orc is set free as promised, the remaining captives given quick deaths. The adventurers set up camp around the abandoned lodge. It's kind of foul -- Telemachus isn't sure that his stinking cloud was actually that that much worse than the vapors that infuse this tract of land, despoiled as it has been by the very presence of the orcs. The mercenaries grumble, as they are wont to do, but eventually all settle down for the evening.

Wolves bay off in the distance throughout the night, but the adventurers are unmolested.

http://orokos.com/roll/757802: 1d6 3

Fourthmonth, Fourteenthday
Hex 136.129

The adventurers break camp in the morning and follow the spur back to the main road. The further they get from the orc lair the clearer the air seems, the fresher the slight breeze that blows through the boughs of the canopy above them. The adventurers continue north along the road. Around ten o'clock, after they have been riding for two hours, the road takes a slight bend, then dips down into a vale, and back up again. As the adventurers crest the hill* a small clearing comes into view, off to the right of the road, formed by a tree deadfall. Perched upon a fallen tree at least as wide as a man is tall are a quintet of filthy, shit-encrusted women with the wings and lower bodies of birds. They see the adventurers at the same time as the party spies them, and begin to cackle and rub their hands as fi in anticipation!

Encounter in subhex 0704 with fixed lair. There are five harpies. The reaction roll is . . . not favorable. The encounter distance is 19 yards away, due to the thick trees.
http://orokos.com/roll/757811: 1d6 6 1d6 3 5d6 19 2d6 3
Encounter on 1-2: 1d6 3
236.129

The attachment Hex 236.129 Player's.png is no longer available

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

The mage wastes no time in casting Fireball, centered on a spot behind the harpies that will envelop them but not any of the party.

Casfrea dismounts and charges into battle once the spell has been cast.

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

Feargus slides his mace out from its strap on his saddle, releases the bridle of his pack horse and rides hard at the beasts.

Obviously I'll let T's fireball hit first.