Forge of Fury IC

[Kish]

The narrow crevasse winds down quite a long ways, twisting and turning. The floor has been cut into hundreds of shallow steps, but the walls and ceiling are still natural rock. About 60 feet down a rushing stream spills down from a narrow crack to your left and crosses the stairway, disappearing into a narrow, winding tunnel to your right. Grack wades through the stream and continues down the stairs. The descending fissure opens up abruptly into a very high cavern, with a ceiling easily 40 feet or more overhead. The cavern extends to the east beyond the range of your light source or darkvision, but Grack unhesitatingly leads you to the south end of the cavern, where a stream from the north flows through a narrow fissure in the wall, and steps through the fissure.

[Cavir]

Suga continues to follow, with eyes, ears, and nose open. "How many does Zuhgan have? How many dwarves are being faced?"

[RolandDeschain]

Tarak

His pace slows as he enters the vast cavern, as he tries to evaluate his surroundings. Blindly following this stranger, recently released from his cell, begins to trouble him. As the two orcs disappear into the fissure, Tarak turns to Feagon, draws his kamas and says, "Stay alert", before ducking into opening.

Spoiler: OC

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I'm not certain if you can Ready an Action outside of combat, so Tarak will do a Perception check instead.
Perception: (1d20+12)[28]

[razorback]

At the winding stairs, Feagon scowls a bit. Putting his arrow back in quiver, he pulls out his morning star as he keeps his bow handy.
As they make their way down he touches the walls to see if there is any residual moisture.
Once down, he switches back to the bow.
"When am I not?

[Kish]

"Around thirty dwarves, as far as we've been able to count," Grack rumbles. "We'll bring up as many as necessary to fight them."

He wades through the stream briefly, but steps out of it on the other side of the fissure, in an even larger cavern. He leads you to the southwest corner and knocks at a stone door four staccato times before opening it and stepping through. You see passages leading off to the north and west as Grack leads you, unhesitatingly, to the south and east.

All this way, the only source of light has been the one you carry with you, but the cavern Grack leads you into now has a light source at its back. Grack leads you forward until you come in sight of three other orcs, one male and two female, and what appears to be a human woman.

"Zuhgan, these are Suga, Tarak, and Feagon," Grack starts, addressing the orc in the center. "They rescued me from the dglinkarz, and I thought they should meet you."

"Indeed?" the orc in the center replies, looking at the three of you. He looks to be in late middle-age, armored, with a dire axe at his side. "This is Celesta," he gestures to the human. "She found her way in by our passage, and we'd just told her about our fight with the dglinkarz here."

[Cavir]

Suga nods in greeting to all of them. "Yes, we want to hear that story too. How did both orcs and dwarves come to live so close with so much hate? Surprised one side or the other haven't launched an all out assault yet."

[CWater]

"Hey", the human greets curtly, but smirks, "Sounds like it's just a matter of time before some skulls get cracked." She is tall and muscular with shoulder-long blonde hair, and is clad in fur clothing and leather armour. In her hand she hold a long spear. Her appearance makes it clear she considers herself a warrior.

Spoiler: OOC

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In the game, yay!

Is the colour ok?

[Kish]

"Tell them about Ulf," Zuhgan instructs one of the other orcs.

"A few hundred years ago, we--that is, orcs--conquered this fortress from the Maker of Death and left it deserted. Recently, a dglinkarz named Ulf moved in, and has been waging a campaign of genocide against orcs from here. As far as we've been able to determine, he admires the Maker of Death and wishes to finish what he started," the orc addressed says.

[RolandDeschain]

Tarak

As the party is greeted by the orcs and human, Tarak slides his kamas into his belt loops behind his back. The lanky hobgoblin tilts his head curiously as the blonde warrior speaks, "Celesta. Fairly met...despite the odd circumstances." With a sly grin, "I believe you and Suga will hit it off spectacularly."

Taking in the orc's summary of events, Tarak nods, "Right. So this was a dwarven stronghold, and they have taken or seek to take it back. This is twice that the word 'genocide' has been thrown out. Could you, perhaps be more specific?"

Spoiler: OC

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Kish let me know if I need to 'refresh' Tarak's Mage Armor spell any time soon. It only lasts 2 hours, and I believe he last cast it when we started up the mountain path.

[Cavir]

"The Maker of Death- some wizard of the past? A god? Of what? Death by magic? Poison? Should have collapsed this place back then."

[Kish]

Zuhgan gives Tarak a faintly puzzled look, before replying to Suga, "The dglinkarz who built this place. We do not speak his name. Our records say nothing of him being more than a warrior, but Ulf is a follower of the Sublime Way, a crusader."

[razorback]

Feagon gives a nod to Celesta as he listens.
"If this nameless being was a stout warrior... and Ulf a crusader, who usually follow a cause, for good or ill... well, could Ulf haave been a student of the nameless one? Perhaps a crusader in his evil cause?"

[Kish]

Zuhgan nods. "He and his followers have made it clear that they consider the Maker of Death a hero and wish to complete his 'great work.'"

[CWater]

Tarak

As the party is greeted by the orcs and human, Tarak slides his kamas into his belt loops behind his back. The lanky hobgoblin tilts his head curiously as the blonde warrior speaks, "Celesta. Fairly met...despite the odd circumstances." With a sly grin, "I believe you and Suga will hit it off spectacularly."

"Hah! We can hope so", Celesta examines the group, trying to estimate their strength.

Feagon gives a nod to Celesta as he listens.
"If this nameless being was a stout warrior... and Ulf a crusader, who usually follow a cause, for good or ill... well, could Ulf haave been a student of the nameless one? Perhaps a crusader in his evil cause?"

Celesta returns Feagon's nod as she listens.

Zuhgan nods. "He and his followers have made it clear that they consider the Maker of Death a hero and wish to complete his 'great work.'"

"Sounds like a good enough reason to remove them then!"

[RolandDeschain]

Tarak

Interesting nonresponse....

The hobgoblin slowly eases backward a few steps so that he's at the rear of the small assemblage and remains silent for the rest of the conversation.

[Cavir]

Suga's left eyebrow raised up in curiosity, making the two eyebrows even, temporarily. "A student of the Sublime Way? Yes, a crusader could well be inspirational to his followers. What is their aim? To kill your lot? All orcs everywhere? All non-dwarves? By military might?"

[Kish]

"Those we've spoken to, before or during battle, have told us they intend to kill all orcs," Zuhgan says. "All Ulf's followers seem to be dwarves themselves. Our last attempt to kill Ulf went badly enough that right now, we're holding onto what territory we have here and waiting for reinforcements." Zuhgan pinches his chin and continues, "There might be another option, though. I was going to suggest that Celesta leave before she gets hurt, but perhaps...we would be willing to pay you a bounty for each of Ulf's followers you kill, and give you an item of powerful magic if you could kill Ulf himself." He looks at Tarak and adds, "You can try to talk to them first, if you think they might be willing to talk to you." He sounds like he's trying to keep sarcasm out of his voice at that part.

[Cavir]

"Yeah they don't like to talk."

Suga turns to Tarak and Feagon. "They're intending to kill all orcs. That's genocide right? If their intent is to kill me then I'll take the fight to them. The bounty is pure bonus. Here we'll have more information and backup than when we dealt with the kobolds and goblins. What do you say? Will you stay and fight with me?"

[CWater]

"Those we've spoken to, before or during battle, have told us they intend to kill all orcs," Zuhgan says. "All Ulf's followers seem to be dwarves themselves. Our last attempt to kill Ulf went badly enough that right now, we're holding onto what territory we have here and waiting for reinforcements." Zuhgan pinches his chin and continues, "There might be another option, though. I was going to suggest that Celesta leave before she gets hurt, but perhaps...we would be willing to pay you a bounty for each of Ulf's followers you kill, and give you an item of powerful magic if you could kill Ulf himself." He looks at Tarak and adds, "You can try to talk to them first, if you think they might be willing to talk to you." He sounds like he's trying to keep sarcasm out of his voice at that part.

"Ha! And I would have told you that it's those who face me in battle would be the ones getting hurt!" The warrior grins.

"Yeah they don't like to talk."

Suga turns to Tarak and Feagon. "They're intending to kill all orcs. That's genocide right? If their intent is to kill me then I'll take the fight to them. The bounty is pure bonus. Here we'll have more information and backup than when we dealt with the kobolds and goblins. What do you say? Will you stay and fight with me?"

Celesta lifts her spear and hits the ground with the blunt end. "Don't know about your friends, but I'll stay. This sounds like a good fight, and for a worthy cause too!"

[RolandDeschain]

Tarak

The hobgoblin squints at Zuhgan for a moment, "Suga's right, the dwarves that we've met haven't been very forthcoming so far." His tone takes a slightly mocking tone, "Of course, that seems to be a pretty common trait 'round these parts."

To Suga, "Of course, I'll stay and fight along side you." To Celesta, "Glad to have you on board."

Turning back to Zuhgan, "How much is this 'bounty'? You and I might have very different ideas of what constitutes 'an item of powerful magic'."

[Kish]

"Hrm. One hundred gold pieces for each dglinkarz--" Zuhgan pauses.

Spoiler: Orcish

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"--how do we ask them to prove they killed dglinkarz? Spleens?"

The female orc who spoke before says,

Spoiler: Orcish

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"I don't know a dglinkarz spleen from any random chunk of meat on sight, do you?"

Spoiler: Orcish

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"Ears?"

Zuhgan suggests.

Spoiler: Orcish

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"They have two of those each, and some might have lost them already. Right hands? Those are recognizable on sight and no one's too likely to be missing them already if they're with Ulf here."

"--each dglinkarz right hand. If you bring back Ulf's armor--you don't have to give it to us, just show it to us, he'd never part with it if he was still alive--we'll give you a vest imbued with the power of the Iron Heart three times. Oh, that reminds me, I should tell you--one of the magical treasures Ulf has is a ring with a similar effect, likely seized from one of those he killed. It lets him use Diamond Mind arts that crusaders don't normally learn."

[Cavir]

Suga looks impressed with Zuhgan. "You are skilled with the Sublime Way too? Seems Ulf is a worthy and challenging opponent, and one that must fall in a glorious battle. Those are very interesting items. We've already killed four, as Grack will attest. Celesta, you look thirsty for battle. Good to have you with us."

"This is not one simple all out battle though. Strategy, tactics, maps, resources, all need to be discussed. Zuhgan, you want Ulf gone, you'll share all you know?

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm going away for the weekend. Hoping I'm not overstepping on razorback by assuming the "evil cause" statement has him on board.

If Zuhgan says yes, would it be easier to post a list of questions all at once instead of a back and forth on each point?

[razorback]

"Stay and fight. Guess that means you're with us, Celesta?"

[CWater]

"Yeah, you can count on that!"

[Kish]

"I can draw you a map," Grack says. "He's not in this area--the Glitterhame--or the mountain door, though you'll find some of his followers there; he's beyond, at the forge."

Grack begins drawing on a piece of parchment as Zuhgan speaks up, "When we're attacked Ulf before, he's demonstrated he can call all the dwarves in the mountain to him by some means. Your best bet would be to kill the dwarves in the Mountain Door and the Forge before confronting him."

Grack holds out an extremely crude map. "These are traps," he points to the western skulls. "This," he points to the northern skull, "is the tomb of the Maker of Death, and one whose hatred is as great as his doesn't rest easy. If you follow the arrows you'll reach Ulf...and more appropriately, if you avoid following the arrows you'll reach everywhere Ulf isn't before you reach him."

Spoiler: map

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[razorback]

Feagon smiles bleakly as he listens to Zuhgan.
Once genocide for another.
"Alright, seems simple enough on paper. Ready to see if we can manage this?" he says to the small band gathered around.

[Cavir]

Suga was a warrior but he didn't thrive on collecting body parts. "Hands? That will throw off being able to smell the live ones. They all have beards right? If you insist on hands get us some sacks."

"They have any casters? Do you have any healers in case we have to fall back?"

"Grack said there were about 30 of them? That's before we took care of 4 to get here?"

"Here, take a look at the scroll that got us here."

"Hmm. That vest would help us defeat Ulf. We're not going to just run off with it. We want to deal with Ulf and get the rest of the bounty too, plus we would have to come back through your group."

Suga has been checking his gear while getting answers then looks to the group. "Any last minute supplies or questions? We should eat before we go."

[Kish]

"Beards will do," Zuhgan says. "Most of them seem to be warriors of one sort of another, but they do have at least one priest. We have no healers here currently, I'm afraid. I would be more concerned about the vest potentially falling into Ulf's hands and leading to him costing even more lives to kill, but it would likely not help you anyway; like most such items it won't work until one has worn it for a full day."

He looks at the scroll. "This looks like it was written by one of Ulf's followers--or one of the Maker of Death's original followers. You found it outside?"

[RolandDeschain]

Tarak

The hobgoblin peers around Suga's shoulder at the crude map, then points at a couple of the markings, "What are these markings here, and here?"

Spoiler: OC

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Red squiggle to the north, and orange squiggle to the south.

Without looking up, he responds to Zuhgan, "We found that, in a dungeon complex several days away from here."

[Cavir]

"Beards it is. Where does this map start compared to where we are? We have a mule by the rope bridge to check on."