Three Worlds #14

After nine days, our heroes arrived at the dwarven settlement of Karn Buldhar, a wooden-walled town of some five hundred souls. They were met by Melin, a retainer of the council that ruled Karn Buldhar, and conducted to meet the three councilmen. After the appropriate formalities were performed, they were led to the dining hall, where they were fed a meal of beef dumplings by Baba Clay. Here, they were introduced to a young woman from the Northland named Bliss (see PC profiles here), who had come to seek her fortunes too. Here too Enree found Vaclovas the fur trapper, whom he had met at Obanhold.

After their meal, Melin spoke to our heroes of the events that had led to their invitation of Karn Buldhar. In recent months, a fever has gripped the town as rumours of orc treasure hoards that laid hidden in ruins in the Labyrinth of Shadows, a vast jungle that laid in the next valley from Karn Buldhar. Adventurers have streamed into Karn Buldhar to provision and recruit followers for expeditions into the jungle; few return, and those who do spoke of attacks by savage orcs and monsters, and none return with any treasure. Yet each day more adventurers arrive, and more young dwarves abandon their profession in the town to seek their fortunes. The council feared that the incursions into the jungles would provoke a retaliatory attack from the orcs that lived there.

But more immediate was the problem at Amethyst Ranch, a cattle ranch that laid a day away from Karn Buldhar, by the Lake Amethyst. The ranch provided the town with beef, but in the past few weeks Taggert the ranch owner reported that he was losing cattle. Soon, he began to lose ranch hands, and after a third disappeared the rest decided to abandon the ranch. Fearing that the orcs of the jungle were involved, the council tasked our heroes to investigate the disappearance.

So Arwin, Baldrik, Bliss, and Enree made the journey to Amethyst Ranch. When they arrived they were met by Taggert and the only two ranch hands who remained behind. From the three they learned that the cattle (and later ranch hands) were lost when the cattle were led to drink by the shore of Lake Amethyst. The next morning, our heroes helped the ranch hands drive the cattle to the shore of the lake, and there they waited.

After a while, Enree heard a sound coming from the water of the lake not far from the shore. It sounded like a drowning man struggling, and when he looked he saw what seemed to be an arm waving and bobbing up and down in the water. Enree was suspicious, but he felt himself compelled to take the boat by the shore and row towards the drowning man. The other heroes saw Enree rowing the boat out, but they could not hear nor see what Enree did.

As Enree rowed out into the lake, it seemed to him that the arm began to drift further and further away. When he finally reached the arm, he looked through the surface of the lake and saw a blue bestial face of a creature the size of a large dog staring back at him. The "arm", in reality a long tail of the creature that ended in what looked like a hand, grabbed the side of his boat and tipped it over, causing Enree to fall into the water.

Enree felt himself being dragged into the depths of the lake. He drew his sword and hacked at the creature; he felt his blow connect, and he was free to swim to the surface.

On the shore the others saw what happened, and Baldrik and Bliss began to swim out to reach Enree. Arwin saw the creature surface, and loosed a crossbow bolt at it, striking it and causing it to bleed dark red blood that left a trail in the water and the creature swam towards an island in the middle of the lake.

Once they had reunited, our heroes decided to follow the creature in their boat. When they arrived at the island, they found a cave on the side of the island that opened into the water. The followed the watery passage deeper into the cave system. The passage wound one way and then the other, and soon the party was in complete darkness. Our heroes lit a lantern, and continued.

After a while they saw a light ahead of them. Heading towards the light, they found themselves at the bottom of a large sinkhole. In the middle of the sinkhole was a small island. Above them they could see the sky; dark clouds were gathering above them.

Our heroes beached their boat and stepped onto the small island, which measured no more than sixty feet across. At first they thought that they saw a strangely geometric pattern on the surface of the island, but they soon realised that the pattern was formed by more than a hundred orc skulls, laid twelve to a side in a square. Rain began to fall.

Examining the skulls, our heroes found that they seemed to have been laid there as severed heads, as each had a short length of spine at its base - some of the vertebrae were cut clean across, as if by some sharp implement. Venturing into the middle of the skull formation, Enree discerned something with a magical aura - an obsidian dagger set in a jade handle laid in the centre of the formation. Curiously, the handle of the dagger depicted not an orc, but a stylised elf. Enree pocketed the strange dagger.

The rain started to fall heavier, and our heroes realised that the water level had begun to rise, causing their boat to drift away from the shore and threatening to seal off the passage by which they came into the sinkhole. When they sought to return to their boat, they found the creature lying in wait for them in the water by the shore. When they waded into the water, the creature would leap to attack them, and then vanish into the water before they could strike back. But Bliss, gifted with foresight by the Fates, were able to sense the creature coming towards her, and struck it a heavy blow with her club; the creature became motionless, and floated up on the water. At the same moment, the rain stopped, and the clouds soon parted.

Our heroes hauled the creature into the boat, and made they way back towards the ranch.

Prepping and Running the Game

This was once again a bit of a filler adventure. We have suffered some attrition in our player pool, but Bliss' player, a longtime member of our group, was able to join us for this session.

The session was based mostly on the module, with the main monster swapped. The creature in the story is an ahuizotl, which I thought was an interesting monster.

Much of the session was actually spent roleplaying as I introduced the main NPCs who will appear in this arc of the campaign, chiefly Melin, and Vaclovas from the previous arc. They players also spend some time roleplaying with the two ranch hands, whom they found amusing.

The discovery of the elven dagger sets up the rest of the campaign. It will probably take another two sessions before we are truly into the plot of this arc, but I wonder if I will have enough players to see this through.

Altar of Freedom

Due to my recent move, one of the gang offered to host our monthly game for June at his place instead.

The game was the Battle of Stone River, using Altar of Freedom rules. The tactical rules were rather simple, but the command rules were interesting, especially in a multi-player game where there were two or more commanders on each side. The whole experience was made even better with the beautiful table and large number of 10mm figures. I would certainly want to play these rules again.

Three Worlds #13

After the danger at Obanhold was over, our heroes returned to Belton, where they spent their well-earned money on various things - it was not long before the silver began to run low. Fortunately, their fame as "orc slayers" had spread, and they were approached by a dwarf from Karn Buldhar in the south.

Novac, for that was the dwarf's name, was a "seeker" working for the Council of Karn Buldhar, a mining town in the jungles in the interior of the south known as the Gemthrone Wilderness. The Council had been having "orc trouble", and was looking for people who could handle the problem for them. Novac gave little detail of the nature of the "trouble", but the pay was handsome.

And so our heroes found themselves in the port city of Coluha a few weeks later, where they spent a few days acclimatising to the heat and humidity while preparing for the twelve-day journey to Karn Buldhar.

One evening at the inn they were approached by a merchant named Cregna, who sought to employ them as bodyguards as he too planned to travel to Karn Buldhar. Once more, handsome pay was promised, the full sum of which would be paid upon arrival at Karn Buldhar. Our heroes accepted the job, and two days later Arwin, Enree, Melig, along with Cregna, his bodyguard Baldrik (see PC profiles here), and two other servants set off on the road into the interior.

Three days into the journey the party came across the site of a carnage: the bodies of a few human and dwarves bearing signs of violence laid on the road. Several crates laid broken on the ground, their contents, including some silver, lay scattered. Cregna let out a cry of despair when he realised that the crates bore the mark of Novac the seeker. He revealed that he had been waiting in Coluha to buy a "trinket" from Novac, but had decided to travel to Karn Buldhar to find the dwarf when the latter did not show up for their appointment. When he failed to find the trinket in the debris, and when our heroes found signs that someone had been dragged off the road into the jungle, Cregna offered to pay our heroes even more silver if they could find Novac and recover the trinket for him.

So leaving the servants behind, our heroes and Cregna entered the jungle and followed the trail. Before long the trail led to a narrow causeway that led through a swamp, which our party followed. Two hours later, Arwin smelled smoke in the air. Scouting ahead of the party, he found that the causeway led to a large opening half a mile wide. Dozens of ruined dwellings covered the opening, and huddled outside one of the dwellings were several orcs cooking lunch.

When they noticed Arwin the orcs immediately began to attack him with arrows. The other members of the party joined in, and soon the orcs were either cut down or fleeing. Near to the orcs' campfire our heroes found a dwarf's clothes, muddied and ripped. Our heroes followed the orcs through the ruined dwellings further into the clearing, which opened into a large opening that was previously paved with stone. At one end of the opening two rows of ruined columns flanked a paved path, which lead to a mound. The orcs were fleeing towards the mound where many more orcs have gathered.

Seeing that they were now outnumbered, our heroes scattered and hid among the ruined buildings, while the orcs gave chase. By stealth and speed made their way to the base of the mound, where they found the body of Novac. His limbs were broken, and a large wound had been made under his ribcage - nearby was his heart, ripped from his chest. A trail of blood led from the slope of the mound, and our heroes surmised that he had been thrown from its summit. Three stone orc heads each half the height of a man or taller stood at the base of the mound, but there was no sign of any "trinket" which might be what Cregna was after.

Presently the orcs began to return to the mound, and our heroes ascended it. At the summit they found a stone altar bearing the relief of dragon on one side. A groove was cut on the top of the altar, which led into the jaws of the dragon. Dried blood, presumably from Novac, lined the groove. Here too there was no sign of any trinket, and by now the orcs were beginning to ascend the mound. In desperation our heroes searched the altar, and found a hidden door that led into the interior of the mound. Peering into the darkness, Enree saw a stone steps leading down a stone-lined passage - this was no hill, but a pyramid!

Our heroes lit a lantern and descended the stairs, and as they did so they poured lamp oil onto the steps. When they had reached the chamber at the bottom of the steps, they put out their lantern, and waited. Soon afterwards they heard the sound of the orcs entering the pyramid, and then the sound of the orcs falling down the slippery steps to the base of the stairs. Lighting their lantern again, our heroes quickly put the injured orcs to the sword.

When they had slain every orc, they surveyed the chamber they were in. The walls were lined with relief depicting the life of an orc king. In the far end of the room a set of double doors bore the relief of the king worshipping what was no doubt an orc god. 

Cregna, who had evaded the orcs, now called to the heroes from the top of the stairs, and was warned about the oil. The merchant gingerly made his way down the stairs, and when he could not find his trinket among the bodies of the orcs, urged our heroes to explore further. Our heroes passed through the door to a colonnaded gallery that led to a smaller door, bearing a relief of the orc king with what seemed to be a mask over his face. Entering through this door, our heroes came into a smaller chamber. In the middle of the chamber was a stone sarcophagus. Around the rooms were broken pottery - it seemed that the tomb had previously been looted.

Our heroes decided to lift the lid of the sarcophagus and search within. When they opened the sarcophagus, they saw the mummified body of an orc warrior, but it bore no treasure. Baldrik began to search the body of the orc warrior, and as he did so the orc warrior reanimated and began to attack him with its obsidian sword. Baldrik was struck down, but the others overcame the undead warrior, and afterwards managed to rouse him.

When a search of the undead warrior's body revealed no sign of his trinket, Cregna became crestfallen. Then Enree noticed that the depth of the sarcophagus did not match its height. He urged Cregna to exit the pyramid and search the dwellings once more, and when the merchant had left he and the others searched the sarcophagus once more and found that it had a false bottom. Lifting this false bottom, they found the remains of the orc king, stripped of his burial treasures but one: a flawless jade mask that covered his face. Enree lifted the mask off the king's face, and tucked it inside his backpack.

Our heroes exited the pyramid and joined the dejected Cregna at the base, where they began to make their way back to the road. But as they passed the stone heads at the base of the pyramid, the ground began to rumble. Large stone hands erupted from the earth and pushed against the ground; the stone heads lifted off the ground and revealed themselves to be attached to giant stone bodies. Our heroes ran pell-mell towards the swamp as the stone giants pulled themselves free from the earth and pursued them. It soon became clear that they were converging on Enree. Panicking, Enree retrieved the mask from his backpack and tossed it to Baldrik. When he saw the mask Cregna let out an cry of excitement and demanded it be given to him. The stone giants now turned towards Baldrik, who tossed the mask to Cregna. Cregna caught the mask, and for a moment his face was filled with joy instead of fear. But it was a brief moment, as the hand of the largest stone giant closed around his body and seized him. Cregna screamed for help, but there was little our heroes could do as the stone giants now strode back to where they were buried, and when they had returned to their posts, their bodies began to sink into the earth along with Cregna and the mask, until once more only their heads were exposed.

Prepping and Running the Game

This was our first session after my recent move, and so I did not have time to prepare the sandbox module which I am basing this arc of the campaign on. I needed a one-shot module to depict the party's travel to the new base, and after some searching I found the module Watchers of Meng. This was a rather straightforward module, but the imagery of the Olmec style stone heads actually being attached to giant bodies was something which I thought was a nice twist.

Three Worlds #12

Our heroes returned to Obanhold to find that the fort had been reinforced by a company of 500 cavalrymen sent by the Castellan of Belton. After they had reported their mission to the Castellan, Averic, the captain of the cavalrymen, proposed that they allowed the orcs to advance to Obanhold, while he and his cavalry laid an ambush for them - surely they would be able to scatter the orc army on the open plains?

Elze, on the other hand, proposed that Agh'hkan be lured to the river, where the Great Horned Serpent's power was the strongest, and there he would be slain and the orc threat eliminated.

The eventually decided on adopting both plans, ordering our heroes to return to the north with an emissary under the pretext of negotiation at the river crossing, while also preparing an ambush against the orcs should the mission fail.

And so Enree, Mala, Melig, and Rokas (see PC profiles here), accompanied by Elze and Father Fiatus and two of the cavalrymen traveled north, where after three days they were intercepted by an orc patrol, disarmed, and once more brought to their camp. There, they were met by a furious Chogan, who threatened to execute them, but our heroes were able to convince him to arrange for one more meeting with Agh'hkan. Unwilling to bring the humans to Maut'ghar again, Chogan decided to take them as far as the river crossing, and then to fetch Agh'hkan himself, thus falling right into the heroes' trap!

The party camped by the river crossing for two nights, under a guard of six orc warriors. On the third day they spotted Agh'hkan and Chogan and a few orc warriors come towards the crossing from the north. The party made ready to meet them, and when Agh'hkan's party was in the middle of the river Elze called to the Serpent. A fait rumbling was heard upstream, which grew louder - seconds later a swelling came down the river. Agh'hkan's bodyguards held on to him and braced themselves. When the wave struck Chogan and one of the guards were swept away, but Agh'hkan maintained his footing.

The orc warriors guarding the party drew their weapons and moved towards Elze, and the unarmed cavalrymen and our heroes moved to defend her. Agh'kahn and the remaining bodyguards started to move towards the river bank, but out of the river rose the head of the Great Horned Serpent.

Seeing the Serpent, Rokas had a change of heart, and moved to strike Elze, while the girl summoned up a wall of water to defend herself.

The Serpent breathed a cloud of noxious gas on Agh'hkan and his bodyguards, who succumbed to it, but before the Serpent could do more a shrieking peal was heard from the north - a giant bird swooped down through the canopy of the forest towards the Serpent. Lightning issued forth from its wingtips, striking the Serpent.

On the river bank the melee continued, with both cavalrymen struck down by the orc warriors, but eventually our heroes were able to overcome the orcs. At the same time, the Thunderbird had seized the Serpent in its talons, and plucked it from the river. The two creatures engaged in a whirling struggle in the air, and the Thunderbird was triumphant, tearing the Serpent apart and scattering its remains onto the ground, Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it flew away.

The wall of water protecting Elze collapsed, and the girl sat on the ground, stunned by what she just witnessed. Our heroes dragged Agh'hkan from the river, and bound him. Then they followed the course of the river westwards, until at last they reached Lake Rodophine, where they were picked up by a fishing boat from Yngley.

When they finally returned to Obanhold with Agh'hkan in tow they were meet with a great cheer. Days later, the cavalrymen would report that the orcs have retreated beyond the river and scattered.

For their parts in the great victory our heroes were rewarded: Mala asked for the island in the middle of Lake Rodophine to be granted to him; Enree asked for the lake itself to be renamed after him, while Melig and Rokas received silver.

Agh'hkan was imprisoned together with Bruthalan, and for now the orc threat on the plains was over...

Prepping and Running the Game

This session ended the second arc of the campaign. I left the session pretty open, giving the players several choices on how to bring about the final confrontation between the orcs and Obanhold. Much of the session was spent debating the best course of action, and while they did eventually agree on a plan, the players and PCs were still not 100% on their allegiance even when the final confrontation happened.

I feel I failed to make the fight between the Thunderbird and the Serpent sound epic enough, and that left the players a little disappointed about the power of both creatures.

Compared to the first arc of the campaign, the plot of this arc was more "sandbox" as one NPC faction (Elze and the Great Horned Serpent) were almost entirely invented in response to what the PCs did during the first session of the game. While there were relatively fewer fights, I believe the players enjoyed the interaction with the various NPC factions. I have yet to get a firm grasp on the next arc of the campaign, but hopefully I can come up with factions for the players to interact with again.

Operation Dumpkirk

Last month I moved from the place I have lived in for 15 years to a new place some 20km away. While I hired a professional mover to shift the furniture and other items, for my miniatures I enlisted the aid of six of my friends in an operation which I dubbed Dumpkirk (chiefly because in the run-up to the actual move I had to return the mats, terrain, books, and minis which some of them have left at my place over the years). The photo above shows what remained to be moved to my new place.

With three cars, we managed to complete the operation from loading to unloading in about an hour and a half, which gave us some time to play a game of Tiny Towns...

before dinner was delivered.

My dining table had not been delivered then, so we ate around the coffee table. 

A week later we had a supplementary session to move some stuff, after which we played a couple of card games at the new dining/gaming table, including Space Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirls,

As a result of the move I am several reports behind - something which I hope to rectify over the next few days.

Three Worlds #11

(photo from: link) 

Our heroes limped back into Obanhold four days after their confrontation with the villagers of Yngley, keeping off the roads to avoid pursuit, only to find that Saulinus, Remunas and Elze (see PC and NPC profiles here) were already there.

Elze had revealed her story to the Castellan: upon suggestion from Enree during his first visit to Yngley, she had left home to try to join the service of the Castellan, but when she deviated from the road to avoid Gatton (fearing that the villagers there would force her to return home) she became lost and came upon Spring Lake, near the source of the Rhodophine River, where she met the Great Horned Water Serpent. Through psychic communication, the serpent learned about the orcs, and promised her powers and protection against the orcs, if she would serve it and lead it to her home. Elze pledged her service to the serpent, and when she returned home tried to convince her father and the other villagers to do the same. The villagers were initially skeptical, but then the soldiers reported finding more than twenty dead orcs by the shore of the lake, they and also the soldiers became convinced of the serpent's power to protect them. Word spread to the villagers of Gatton, who likewise became converts. The villagers had wanted to keep the matter secret, but when our heroes arrived at Yngley the serpent demanded that Rokas be sacrificed, and matters came to a head.

The Castellan was displeased that Rokas, an orc under his service, had been attacked, but he knew he needed allies in the upcoming war with the orcs. He warned Remunas that if any of the villagers of Gatton or Yngley dared harmed Rokas, it would be as though they had harmed the Castellan himself; at the same time, he considered that the death of the villagers slain by our heroes meant that the matter was closed. Our heroes grudgingly agreed to a truce with the villagers.

Elze then told those present that the serpent would slay the leader of the orcs and end the orc threat, if he could be brought close to the lake, where the power of the serpent was strongest. The Castellan then ordered Enree, Mala, Malkam, Melig, and Rokas to travel to the north to make an offer of peace, and if that was not accepted, to try to lure their leader to the lake.

Our heroes once more visited Bruthalan, where they asked him about the serpent. Bruthalan scoffed at the mention of the serpent, claiming that the Thunderbird had defeated the evil creature countless times, and would no doubt do so again.

The next day our heroes set forth once more to the north, bearing a flag with the sigil given by Bruthalan painted upon it, and after three days they were intercepted by an orc patrol. Our heroes dismounted and gave up their arms, but refused to be bound, and were led northeast, towards a forest. As they traveled north, they noticed that storm clouds gathered on the horizon.

As evening came the party arrived at an orc encampment at the edge of the forest. Their arrival caused a stir, and not long afterwards Chogan appeared. Chogan was at first angry at our heroes for not heeding his advice and leaving the plains, but when he saw the sigil and learned that Bruthalan lived and that our heroes came to offer peace, he agreed to lead them to meet Agh'hkan, the prophet of the Thunderbird and the leader of the orcs.

The next day Chogan and a party of orc warriors led our heroes north, through the Sword Belt Forest and crossing the Rhodophine River. As they emerged from the forest they found that they were at the foot of a ridge, where a path led further northwards; the storm clouds that they had seen the day before now loomed larger and nearer above them. As they trekked north they noticed dozens of clusters of tents on either side of the path - hundreds, if not thousands of orcs were gathering. When they neared the crest of the ridge they saw that the path led into a large crater a mile across in the side of the ridge: Maut'hgar, the Thunderbird's Nest; above it was the centre of the whirling storm cloud.

Inside the crater there were hundreds of orc warriors. The sound of drums could be heard as everywhere clusters of warriors danced in circles as they cut symmetrical wounds in their faces and limbs. Chogan led our heroes to near the centre of the crater, where he approached a large orc warrior: Agh'khan, Prophet of the Thunderbird.

Agh'hkan spoke to our heroes haltingly in the Northern Tongue, demanding to know why they had come. Our heroes presented the Castellan's terms: the Plains Orcs would quit the lands they now held, and be given land south of Obandhold, where Men would not enter. But Agh'hkan knew that the lands promised them were too small to house his peoples, and that the beasts there would not be enough to feed them. He dismissed the Castellan's terms, and asked our heroes to bring a message to the Castellan instead: send all the women and children away from these lands, and let the battle be that between only warriors. They were then escorted out of Maut'hgar.

Our heroes knew that their quest was unsuccessful, but they had learned much: that the orcs were more numerous than they had expected, and that among them were warriors from the other tribes: Coastal Orcs, Canyon Orcs, and Woodlands Orcs - Agh'khan's message had been brought to the other lands, and many had joined his cause.

Prepping and Running the Game

This was another combat-less session, and one with the most number of players yet, with all five active players present.

While there were plenty of role-playing between me and the players, probably about half of the session had them discussing what to do between themselves. The players are divided at first in whether to work with the villagers and their serpent patron, and later in their support of the orcs and the humans, and the events unfolded with them not having a clear common objective between them.

While the session ended in what seemed like failure (or at least a lack of success), I believe that the players left with food for thought.

On my part I have to decide how the Castellan will respond to the rejection of the peace offer -I do not envy the man's position.

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.