RC Jalpiar - On the Road Again

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After finishing up with some purchases, everyone finally met up at the Purple Worm for a fine meal of Roast Goat a.k.a. Nelax. In trying to bring closure to the recent run in with the twisted druid Belak, they wondered if there was a connection between him and the Dwarven Manuscript. Knorr explained the contents, but they were still very perplexed.

Not knowing what to do, they decided that a return to the town of Oakhurst, and a meeting with Mr. Esterhauze, may bring some insights. First they stopped by the temple of Alvernus so Nyora could seek the counsel of her high Priestess, Astrianna Sumadon.

After hearing the tale of Belak and the Gulthias Tree, Astrianna asked to see the Dwarven Tome. After looking at the few remaining fragments, she pointed out a passage that, to her, seemed to indicate that Belak may not have known about the tome. “…..final preparations have been made. The room this journal is being sealed into should relocate itself in the event of the demise…..”

Seeing her point, the party decided that the answers they were seeking would not be found in New Jarla, they would have to travel to Sibor Alga. Perhaps someone there would be familiar with the tale of this Kheldegan Tolm and the location called Blasingdell.

It was decided that they would follow the river Durusk toward the lake of Norren Durusk, then head straight through the forest toward Sibor Alga. Traveling along the river, the group wandered through farmlands, seeing little else other than farmers and the occasional Patrol from the City Guard. They camped on the shores of the lake the first night. Olanth thought he heard the sound of goats bleating in the night during his watch, and awoke Knorr to verify the sounds.

The second day of travel took the group into the forest. Karak noticed a trail of boar tracks that headed north. Several hours later, the boar tracks were joined by large “Ogre” sized tracks. It would seem that four Ogres were on the hunt. Karak and Verna moved into the Forest to scout out the audible sounds of boars being slaughtered. They arrived upon the scene to discover that the Ogres had killed eight boar. The rest of the party moved up, taking up positions around the Ogres. The Ogres were so intent on their recent kill that they did not notice the group until it was too late.

Before acting, Knorr cast the spell Ambient Sound, followed by an inspirational rendition of Flight of the Valkyries, which due to the spell could not be distinguished from the normal sounds of the forest. Nyora then cast Bless on the party and the surprise was sprung.

Karak led off the attack chopping at one of the Ogres with his two battle axes, followed by Knorr plugging another with an arrow and Naffin firing off his crossbow. Olanth, going into rage, scored a heavy blow to the fourth with his bastard sword and Verna hit the first with a sneak attack bow shot. The next round did not go as well, beginning with Nyora missing with two arrows. Karak managed to hit with one of his two axes, and dropped the ogre he was attacking, and nearly dropped the other axe. Knorr misfired his shot, and came close to breaking another bowstring while Naffin moved in and scored a hit on the ogre, striking the large brute in the jaw with his fist. Olanth Scored another heavy blow on his Ogre, killing it with his second strike. One of the remaining Ogres then proceeded to swat Naffin like a ball, striking him with his great club for considerable damage (15 points), luckily the other missed Olanth with its spear. Verna fired another sneak attack shot at the Ogre that nearly knocked out Naffin, killing it. During the next, and final round, the one remaining Ogre was whittled down by an arrow fired by Knorr and a flurry of blows by Naffin, the second of which hit the Ogre in the groin (Dirty Fighting Feat). The Ogre was finished off by a powerful critical hit scored by Olanth. A quick search of the Ogre bodies produced a total of 72 gold pieces. Knorr took one of the boars for roasting that night, and the rest were left for a wolf pack that could be heard approaching from the west.

After traveling north for a few miles, the party stopped to ponder where to go next.

Each party member received 400 experience.


[This message has been edited by Baldak Oakfist (edited April 03, 2002).]

 

Before the group sets up camp, Naffin approaches Karak:

"A thought, it occurs to me that 4 creatures as large as those recently dispatched ogres would require a very sizeable lair. What do you think of tracing their tracks back to it? Certainly if they carry gold on their persons, who knows what we might find in their den? I, for one, am curious as to what they may have collected over the years."

[This message has been edited by ArtEChoke (edited April 03, 2002).]

 

Knorr thinks spelunking is a wonderful sport to while away an afternoon. "Surely Karak can drop his axes (again) and follow these tracks."

 

"I see no reason why we need to rush to Sibor Alga right now. Perhaps investigating what lie in those ogres paths might be interesting"

 

"Easy there Knorr, I wouldn't want to drop my axe on your foot." Karak grins. "Ok, we'll have to do a little back-tracking, but that shouldn't be a problem. If you want to track the ogres, I'll give it a try. No complaints if we run into wolves though."

When everyone is ready to move, Karak leads the party through the forest back to their previous slaughter scene with the ogres and boars and backtracks the ogres' tracks. While treking through the forest, Karak is inspired by Knorr's tunes and is able to track the ogres' tracks.

[This message has been edited by Big B (edited April 03, 2002).]

 

[Knorr was singing his newest hit, "Ode to Nelax's Tender, Tenderloins," which is sure to be a pop hit in New Jarla.]

 

[Nyora has already inquired about the release of the single]

 

As the party moved along the trail, they began to notice the faint smell of open Air cooking. Here and there wafting trails of smoke could be seen. Ahead a hill rose out from the forest floor, the top of which could be seen. Several trees dotted the summit, but the slopes reaching it could not be seen through the trees. Gradually the path widened until it became nearly 30 feet wide. Ahead a huge stockade fence, crudely built, could be seen. The trees used to make this fence must have been very old indeed as each one was four to six feet in diameter. Two gigantic towers stood at the entrance to this compound rising up 20 feet. Between them, a crude gate formed the entrance to the compound. One Ogre stood upon each of the towers, holding a spear with several more within easy reach. Cliffs lined the sides of the hill except in two places which were enclosed inside the compound. Two massive cave entrances led into one cliff, also located inside the compound.

A map of the area can be seen at
http://home.attbi.com/%7Ebaldak/Jalpiar/Ogre_Lair.GIF

[This message has been edited by Baldak Oakfist (edited April 04, 2002).]

 

"Well, I suppose it goes without saying that we're not going to let a few ogres stand between us and some serious booty," Knorr says. Then, for the benefit of the lawful among the group, "Besides, they've no doubt been harassing more than just herds of boar in the area.

"I suggest we make a good inspection of the exterior while it's still daylight then wait until night, stealth as many of the guards as we can, and then set fire to the place. When they move to put out the fire we pick them off from the shadows or the trees.

"Any other ideas? I also have a nice lullaby spell that we could try."

 

After hearing Knorr's suggestion, Karak scouts out the lay of the land, but does so from the cover of the forest. Once he covers the entire perimeter of the stockade he returns to the party.

"The trees are closest to the wall on the west side of the stockade. That's where we can get closest to the stockade with the cover of the forest, for whatever plan of action we decide to take. It's also not far from the entrance."

 

Naffin nods, "Yes, Knorr I do not believe the ogres procured the gold we found on them from the boars they killed, or that they earned it through their day-job, unless, of course, their day job is killing and looting travllers.

I like your idea of burning the walls to draw them out, I only have a few concerns... do you know if ogres have darkvision or not? It may not make a difference as to whether we strike at night or not. However, given that they were hunting during the day, perhaps they are at a loss at night as well... my other concern is, I have heard of groups of ogres being led by ogre mages, if this is the case here we should be very careful about spotting and singling it out of the group once we commence an attack."

 

"Hmmm. Good point about the ogre mages. I don't think ogres see unusually well at night, though.

"How about we do what we can to burn the place with the few vials of alchemist's fire we have left and watch what happens from the woods? That way we can either smoke out the mage or watch as he helps put out the fire. There's no reason we have to burn and attack in the same night."

[Dammit, why didn't I take that "Pyro" feat from Song & Silence?]

 

"If we burn the compound there might be some sort of patrol to see what caused it, so we'll have to make it look like an accident. I don't see how alchemist's fire can seem like an accident, unfortunately, so if we're going to use that as a method we should expect a fight. However, if we're successful, and they decide to put out the fire exclusively instead of figure out the cause for it....than we will atleast know approximately how many ogres we're dealing with. At least, we should expect a fight in the near future after the fire, with less ogres, only because most of them will be consumed with dousing their compound."



[This message has been edited by Xenecor (edited April 05, 2002).]

 

Verna is quiet for a while as she listens to the other's ideas. "Nyora's right, we should find out how many ogres there are, but perhaps smoking them out wouldn't be the best idea. I could sneak in at night and scout out how many there are. I'm sure that I could climb up the cliff on the north side of the hill, after all we Halflings are excellent climbers. Then we can attack them how we see fit when we know what we're up against."


[This message has been edited by Serena Lynx (edited April 05, 2002).]

 

"Uh. Verna, I already wrote a ballad for you. I'm in no hurry to write a requiem.

"If you get caught inside the walls with those ogres, there's no way we could get to you to help before you were squashed flat.

"Besides, if they do send out a patrol to look for the cause of a fire... well, it'll be easier to take out a patrol than a whole fortress. Plus, with a little costume ingenuity we'd get the opportunity to enter their compound by pretending to be the returning patrol."

Knorrs looks about to see what others think about the various ideas. "Olanth, no one outside the group is around. You can talk now too."

[]

[This message has been edited by Shralp (edited April 05, 2002).]

 

Verna looks over at Knorr, "I'm not talking about asking them about their defenses. I can hide in the shadows with the best, and if I go in at night, it is very unlikely they will will spot me, I don't think they see in the dark very well. As the night falls, all we have to do is observe the compound. If they use a light source, they don't have darkvision and I won't be seen."

 

Looking at Knorr...
"Like I said earlier, there will be less ogres to fight, after the fire, if they *do* happen to send a patrol. I do like the idea of disguising ourselves (although I don't know how I'll ever pass for an ogre at my size). Unless ofcourse we plan on pulling the "prisoner" scam again."

"As far as you sneaking into the fortress, Verna, I have no doubt that you are quite capable at keeping yourself hidden from these 9ft creatures but it would be awfully dangerous if, perchance, you were to be seen. I am not willing to put someone in that sort of danger, however, I believe it is up to you to make that decision."



[This message has been edited by Xenecor (edited April 05, 2002).]

 

"As far as disguising ourselves as ogres, perhaps Verna standing on Olanth's shoulders with both of them wrapped in a cloak could work, but the rest of us would be a problem.

Perhaps Verna's idea and Knorr's idea should be staged simultaneously. We set fire to the barricade somewhere in the front, and retreat into the forest. The ogres will probably come out to deal with the fire, and in the ensuing confusion, Verna, sneaking in from the back, should have a full run of their camp with no fear of being detected.

Perhaps if she determines that the ogres force is small enough, she can set fire to the compound in a different area, drawing the ogres back in, so that we might move in right through their front door and hit them from behind."

 

Verna pipes up, "Even if I did stand on Olanth's shoulders, my head isn't big enough (ego doesn't count)." Looking at Nyora she says, "They couldn't see me, I'm invisible!"

 

"Alright... Let me see if I understand this correctly... We will set fire to the front.. Verna will sneak and determine whether or not we can handle what's inside. If we can.. she'll set fire to the back and that will be our cue to enter through the front. Sounds reasonable enough. It would be nice, however, to know exactly what we were hitting and where but if she thinks we can handle it.. than I don't mind just going in."