Three Worlds #10

When our heroes reported the threats by Chogan to the Castellan, he became grim. He led our heroes to a hut at the edge of the hold which was guarded by his bodyguards. Inside, held in an iron cage, was a blinded orc. Our heroes soon learned that the orc was Bruthalan, an emissary from the Plains Orcs and a former friend of the Castellan, but when tensions between the two peoples grew the Castellan had him blinded and imprisoned out of fear that he might provide information to the orcs.

The Castellan tried to learn more about the Thunderbird from Bruthalan, but the latter would not reveal more. Frustrated, he left our heroes to interrogate the prisoner instead. Our heroes tried to threaten, then cajole the former emissary, but met with no success, until Melig (see PC profiles here) promised to try to broker peace between the two peoples. Bruthalan then scratched an orc sigil in Melig's forearm, and bade him to go to Maut'hgar - the Thunderbird's Nest, the gathering place of the Plains Orcs, north beyond the Rhodophine River.

Our heroes plotted to travel to Maut'hgar, but to keep their purpose hidden from the Castellan, but before they could depart news arrived from Yngley that some twenty orcs were found dead in the woods on the north shore of Lake Rhodophine by a patrol. There were no wounds on the bodies, and fearing that it was from the plague, the soldiers burned the bodies.

The Castellan ordered Enree, Mala, Malkam (a dwarven warrior recently recruited), Melig, and Rokas to travel to Yngley to learn more.

The next day saw the party arrive at Gatton, the lumber village south of Yngley. Our heroes were welcomed by the villagers, but even as they gathered for dinner that evening, they noticed two villagers leaving. Mala and Melig followed the duo, and found that they seemed to be heading to Yngley, but decided to return to Gatton before their presence was missed.

The day after saw our heroes arrive once more at Yngley, where they were likewise welcomed by Remunas the headman, as if they did not last part on bad terms, although Elze avoided being near Enree. Remunas seemed confident that the orc threat had been eliminated, and the soldier garrisoned there asked them to recommend to the Castellan to recall them.

That night, as our heroes laid asleep in the hall of Remunas' home, Enree and Mala were awakened by the sound of four men entering the hall. Possessing darksight by their magic, they saw the four men pounced on Rokas and gagged and bound his limbs. The two raised the alarm. Confusion reigned as the others awoke but stumbled in the darkness. Melig rushed to a window and called for help.

Eventually the villagers arrived with torches. One of the assailants lay dead, slain by Mala's magic, while the other three were incapacitated. But our heroes' troubles were not over, as it soon became clear that the villagers were all complicit, and that they intended to capture Rokas to be sacrificed to the Great Horned Water Serpent, whom they claim slew the other orcs and now protect them. Elze it seemed was the Serpent's emissary, and she now promised the others their freedom if they handed Rokas over.

For a while our heroes were at a loss. Malkam threatened to kill Rokas if the villagers attacked and deny them their sacrificial victim, but Elze called his bluff, and our heroes had no choice but to surrender, on the terms that Mala and Melig be allowed to leave the village before Rokas was handed over.

At the edge of the village, out of sight of the other villagers, Mala and Melig turned on their escorts and slew them, and then entered the woods off the road to double back to the village.

Meanwhile, Rokas was once more bound, and led to the edge of the lake, where he was set upon a boat. As most of the villagers began to gather at the shore of the lake, Enree and Malkam also overcame their guards, recovered their gear, and left the hall.

Melig entered the hall briefly to recover his gear, and once more entered the woods, skirting the village to arrive at the edge of the lake, where he joined up with Mala and Malkam.

Meanwhile, Enree appeared before the villagers and taunted Elze and challenged her. As the two exchanged heated words Melig loosed an arrow at Elze, which struck her down, causing great alarm among the villagers. While the villagers were distracted, Enree made his exit, while Malkam tied a rope to his axe, and threw it at the boat. The axe whirled through the air and the blade embedded itself into the boat, and the trio began to pull the boat back with all their might. At the same time, a strange glow appeared in the lake near the boat, and the water began to roll and bubble. Moments later, the head of a giant snake bearing antlers broke through the surface of the water. Melig once more drew his bow, and his arrow once more found its mark, striking the serpent. The serpent's head recoiled, and it released a cloud of green gas from its mouth as it did so. But Rokas was now already beyond the serpent's reach; our heroes cut the bonds on his limbs, and together they fled into the darkness.

Prepping and Running the Game

This session saw the addition of yet another new PC - probably the last one for this arc of the campaign.

In this session I introduced the character of an imprisoned orc emissary, an element in the module, to give the players more of the orcs' side of the story.

The second part of the session was planned to introduce the "cult" of the Great Horned Water Serpent. Rokas' player had to drop out of the session at the last minute, but as an "orc sacrifice" was an important element of the plot, I decided to play his character for this session.

The final confrontation I ran unplanned, with no idea on how the PCs would get out of the predicament, and I was surprised at how they pulled it off. Their hasty departure did mean that they suffer some equipment loss, but they were well-rewarded in XPs.