Session 46 Pregame [Asher & Thokoli are exhausted] [By the end of the combat, even I as the DM was pretty tired, so here’s a quick revision of what happened after the warchief was slain]. Hearing the gurgling death cries of the Girkchar warchief, the Orc assassin took one panicked look at Thokoli and Alaise and took off. Taking one longbow shot, Thokoli got the orc in it’s leg while Alaise rushed after it. The creature made it all the way down to the south, straight hallway, and was in the progress of fleeing when Thokoli managed to get another hit and Alaise caught up to it, killing it in a single blow. Meanwhile Nuggle, Gillia, and Reeta swarmed about Helios and Bardman, showering them in hugs and handshakes. Looking at them, their lives hadn’t been easy lately either. All threw wore thick, fur coats and were carrying explorer’s packs with ropes, grappling hooks, lanterns, and everything else needed for a winter dungeon crawl. Nuggle’s face was covered in cuts and scrapes, he sported a black eye from one thing or another. Ropes that had bound his hands were still around his wrists, but the cord between had been cut. Reeta’s dark face was likewise bruised and battered, with a thick scar across her cheek, and blood trickling down her face from where something had hit her in the side of the head. She was wearing her normal leather armor, but had managed to pick up a couple of shortswords on the battlefield. Gillia’s face seemed the most different. She looked, just different. In Rhoghnah they had seen very little of her, now seeing her again she seemed the happiest she’d been since playing with the children in the Inn on the road to Rhoghnah. She gave both Helios and Bardman big hugs. The three looked about and Nuggle started to say something, but Reeta put a hand on his shoulders. She said, “Who is all is with you?” [Response] [Assuming they just mention Alaise, Asher, and Thokoli] The three of them nod. Going into the large chamber, they meet the dwarf covered in furs, with white eyes and electricity crawling around her skin. [If the party mentions the loss of Ugh and/or Nikon, Reeta, Gillia, and Nuggle]. The three of them look back gruffly but won’t mention it any more. Alaise and Thokoli return not but a couple minutes later, with steam coming out of their mouths. Thokoli specifically looks rather drained. Gillia, a gorgeous dark-complected woman with long flowing hair who dresses extravagantly comes up and hugs Alaise. He [I don’t believe] hasn’t met her before although he may have heard the party speak of her. She is dressed finely underneath the furs and other winter dress adorning her, and despite the cuts and gashes on her, seems well adjusted to the situation. She steps back from Alaise and says, “I’ve heard so much of you. Thank you for helping our friends. I know your services were as invaluable to them as they were for the people of Corrive. Those who have escaped think the world of you.” [Roleplaying opportunity] She turns to Thokoli and gives a slight bow, “Your lordship.” While Gillia is bowing to Thokoli, Nuggle has been hugging Asher (whom he doesn’t know), and runs amidst the party towards Alaise giving him a tackling hug. Alas, he isn’t very dextrous and ends up headbutting Alaise’s nether regions which almost knocks Nuggle out with a huge THUNK. Getting up from the floor, Nuggle begins asking Alaise, “Sir Alaise. Knight Alaise… King Alaise… the people you rescued said you killed one thousand hobgoblins single handedly to get them out of Corrive. Well, actually they didn’t say that, but I imagine you did and that’s what I’ve been telling everybody.” He seems very excited, and starts asking Alaise questions without giving him time to reply and then just makes up stories on the spot about Alaise’s exploits. [Roleplaying opportunity] [DC Check AA] Thokoli is panting, having been closer to death’s door than he ever wanted to be and nods at Gillia saying something along the lines of “Uble, guvmf, ackkk….” and throws up on the floor in front of her. She runs up to him, grabbing his shoulders, “Come, we should move.” she says to everyone. Meanwhile, Reeta is looking around at all of you. Having already hugged Bardman and Helios, she is now leaning against a wall. She nods at Asher and just looks at Thokoli and Alaise. The group make it into the main chamber. Healing up and entering the next room, they could see a single surviving Shuror Guide, and two surviving escaped slaves from Corrive, all of whom had apparently traveled with Reeta, Gillia, and Nuggle to come find the party. In their number, standing by the giant statue of a goddess, was a dwarf in heavy furs hands bound but held aloft, with stormclouds in the high vaulted ceilings and lightning come from her milky white eyes and also arcing around her hands. In the giant hall were scorched and dead bodies of orcs and two ogres killed by a mixture of lightning and daggers. Asher was aggressive at first, but Reeta said, “Bardman, Alaise, Helios, we suggest you tell your red friend to lower his axe.” The dwarf turned to them, and Helios approached, enamored by this elemental master, and offered to cut her hands that were still bound. She offered her bindings to him while the storm dissipated and her eyes turned normal. She proceeded to touch Helios on the cheek and heal him. After looking at him with a fascinating look, she proceeded towards Asher, also looking at him curiously. While walking past Helios, she was repeating under her breath, “Tiefling. Tiefling. Tiefling” as if trying to figure out the pronunciation. Looking at the lone Shuror survivor and the two escaped slaves, the party sees how wearied they all have been. All injured, captured by orcs, but now having fought for their freedom the two escaped slaves look upon Alaise with double admiration. On the ground are the bodies of one dead slave, and two dead Shuror scouts who were killed in their attempt to free themselves from the ogres and orcs, whose bodies now lie on the ground, dead from a combination of lightning strikes and stab wounds. Thokoli (unsuccessfully) snuck off to check out the vault, with Alaise trotting off with him to make sure everything was safe and Bardman standing in the doorway to keep an eye on his entire party at once. The dwarf continued to tend to the wounds of others and inspected the corpses of the fallen to wounds of the fallen. [Roleplaying opportunity, looking at Helios & Asher] Searching the temple (Nuggle, Gillia, and Reeta will assist whatever party members are involved), in the middle is a giant statue of a goddess (80+ foot tall) [DC check A]. They find many keepers and their goods, most of it has been frozen solid. Longbows, cloths, food, kitchen items, and all of these things are unsalvageable. Most of them have been broken and shattered by the ground tremors and creatures about. In the southwest chambers are some bedrolls, all frozen now. [DC check B] In a world accustomed to a dank, warm, environment, nothing was more devastating than an underground blizzard. In the north-most room is the body of the queen of the Keepers, frozen and on the floor [DC check C]. Searching the Girkchar veteran, the Girkchar warchief, the orcs, and assassins you find: 10 orc great axes (in poor condition) 10 sets of hide armor (all are filthy) 10 nasty looking daggers on the bodies of the assassins (decent quality) 5 pairs of black leather armor (decent quality) 40+ throwing darts (okay quality) (Warchief) Adamantite Breastplate (Warchief) Great axe of fine quality (Girkchar Veteran) Bracers of Defense + 1 (Girkchar Veteran) Fine spellbook, but only Nuggle can read it 456 gold [I’m assuming you only take the gold, bracers, breastplate, and spellbook for Nuggle] Examining the bodies, you see these are a hairy breed of orcs, different from the ones you’ve seen in other realms. They seem well-adapted to the cold. Locked in the vault is a variety of treasures: 9,000 sp 6,200 gp 2,600 platinum Uncarriable amount of copper (we’ll get to this later) Adding in the gold from the corpses, this is worth a total of 33,556 gold and weighs 356.12 lbs. Amidst the coins are Silver framed mirror (250 gp) Azurite Box set with Zircon (250 gp) Ebony Miniature of a Castle set with Quartz (250 gp) Jade Ring set with Jasper (250 gp) Leopard Fur Mask set with Zircon (250 gp) Crystal Vase (250 gp) Sable Boots (250 gp) Worth a total of 1750 gold total and weighing approximately 15 lbs. You find the following gems: 2x Amethysts (100 gp each) 3x Chrysoberyl (100 gp each) 2x Garnet (100 gp each) 3x Coral (100 gp each) 3x Jet (100 gp each) Pearl (100 gp) Spinel (100 gp) Worth 1600 gold and weighing roughly 4 lbs. You find 5 silver-coated scroll cases [DC Check D] if you open them. The scroll cases are worth 250 gold each for a total of 1250 gp weighing a total of 10 lbs (2lbs each). Also you find a total of 8 potions all encased in crystalline potion flasks including: 2x Potion of Greater Healing 3x Potion of Healing Potion of Climbing Potion of Frost Giant Strength Potion of Flying [You only find out what the potions and magic items are after a short or long rest.] [DC Check E when handling them] Last, among the other items you find [DC check F]: (Vault) Arrow of Giant Slaying (Vault) Figurine of Wondrous Power (Silver Raven) (Vault) Scimitar of Speed (+2 weapon) The total value of the coins, scroll cases, and gems is 38,156 weighing a total of 394.14 lbs. You haven’t even begun finishing your search, and are just beginning to understand the amount of wealth before you and Thokoli looks somewhat disappointed [DC check G], but he sees the scimitar and is instantly drawn to it. He is willing to completely forgo any cut of the loot for the scimitar and a proper introduction to Gillia [DC check H]. After the search and realization of the amount of wealth you all found, everyone is pretty wearied at this point. You all decide to make camp. The most obvious choice is the cavernous chamber to the southwest of the main chamber where the Keepers used to sleep. Between the lot of you and the numerous cloaks, bedrolls, hide armors, and other things from the orcs you are able to make yourselves perfectly comfortable in the cold weather. Along with some magic from Helios and the dwarf, you light a fire to keep you all comfortable. As you all eat some rations, you look around. The shuror scout, Orbowisk Goflane sits next to Thokoli and the surviving escaped slaves Meleema and Joerin, go take seats by Alaise. The dwarf speaks. “I am sorry I did not introduce myself before. I am, unfamiliar with interacting with those outside of my clan. I am… or maybe I was, the guardian of my clan. My clan is small. My name is Komwaeline Goldbrew of the Goldbrew Kwai. As you are my Komchinae now, You can call me Waelin. She stops and bows from a sitting position at everyone, one by one. She even does so Reeta, Gillia, Nuggle, and the survivors, as though she’s never had a chance to really meet them before. After a moment, she continues. “We have always traveled in the under realms in the summer, when the creatures of Girkchar were overland, and traveled above in the snow when they were underground. We had been underground for just a month and half, when the snows hit the above, or so I imagine, and the orcs took back to the under realms in force. We were driven from Girkchar, traveling for the last 4 or 5 days. Just this morning my clan was attacked. Our warriors fell, and I was forced to send my clan off without me. Two of my Komchinae came with me to hold off the orc assault. They caught us. They also had these prisoners, your friends, back behind them. I fought at first, but without my clan, I was unsure of what to do.” Nuggle interrupts her, “She was AMAZING! You should have seen her. She had this stick, this tiny stick, and when she hit an ogre with it his head snapped around like he’d been hit with maul.” Nuggle realizes everyone is looking at him with dour looks and quiets up, going back to reading the Girkchar’s spellbook. Waeline giggles. And says, “You are a delight, Nuggle. The first delightful goblin I’ve ever met. Granted I’ve never met a living one before until now.” Nuggle looks up smiling and says, “Oh jeeze, thanks!” As the words sink in he says, “oh jeeze.” And his brow furrows again, going back to his book. His somber expression spreads to hers. And she looks back up, “I am used to working together, as a group. I felt that succumbing to the orcs and Girkchar nobles was the right path, as it seems it was. I knew I would be stronger as a part of a group, even if it wasn’t my own. It turns out I was right. They bound us, beat us and brought us here, where they had heard the Keepers no longer patrolled the corridors. They had heard this nest had fallen. Here, I feared for all of our lives, we were so woefully outnumbered. My Kumchinae now dead, I just tried to stay alive. When the fighting first began, I had hope with the wolves that maybe another clan had found us. But then Warchief Fangflame said you were another band of orcs. He said you would certainly kill us all. He said that if I didn’t help heal his soldiers, he would begin killing the others. So I did. I am sorry. But I did what I felt I had to do to keep everyone safe, until I realized you were winning. Then, orcs or not, I knew we had to escape. That is when I began summoning the weather to our aid. This is the first place underground where I’d had the ability to do so. We are lucky to have met each other. Very lucky.” [Roleplaying opportunity] Shortly thereafter, the party is feeling better [having had a short rest eating and talking, but not a long rest yet.] Nuggle begins to ask a whole bunch of questions. Reeta shews him away and says, “I’m so glad we’ve found you. We waited for days. The winter began to consume Rhoghnah and the surrounding area. After 3 days, we knew something had gone wrong with your quest. We, well I approached Salgerra several times. Finally Gaffron and Firdulin agreed to let me meet with Captain Ergath Werjynd and request resources to come find you. I tried to dissuade them, but Gillia and Nuggle insisted on coming.” Nuggle piped up, “I was hiding in her backpack!” pointing at Gillia. Gillia said, “Not hiding well, I might add.” Reeta picks back up, “Well. Some of Alaise’s refugees from Corrive insisted on coming as well. Our original group was over a dozen. We traveled, for a couple days. The closer we got, the harder it became. The cold took some, and then we found ourselves trapped and turned around. The under roads have not done well in the cold. Ancient tunnels, burdened by ice and frost, have been blocked by snow and occasional cave-ins caused by echoes of sounds. But it might be something more, we aren’t sure. Some of the guides say it could be expanding water in underground streams and rivers…” Reeta, bundled up in cloaks, furs and hide armor says, “Should we talk about Ugh and Nikon?” Suddenly, the fire begins to spark and pop, the flames move in unexpected ways and grow [DC check I]. Gillia looks up and says, “We should rest.” [DC Check J] Being better used as guards, the Orbowisk, Meleema, and Joerin offer to take turns standing guard so everyone else can have a healthy rest. Reeta insists that she herself and Gillia overlap their shifts, giving them some extra coverage and lookout. Nuggle offers to help, but after 20 minutes into the first shift he passes out with his face in his new spellbook. During the night, the party are each haunted by dreams of their own making, all around the hall and the statue of the Goddess. Not speaking just of this exact moment, but in general. What do your characters: Love the most. Hate the most. Find the most beautiful. Find the most hideous. While I’m not expecting a diatribe on each, in fact the shorter the answer the better. Reasons why can be left for roleplaying. I’m also not going to ask you what you think your alignments are, because that’s really not for you to decide but society and the metaphysical world around you. However, I would ask you all to describe your character’s ethical ideals as an object. Feel free to be as descriptive as possible, but once again avoid the reasons why and just focus on descriptions of the object. Last, explain in one sentence or less what your character desires most. This should be an attainable goal or action. After that I need each of your to log into Roll20 and roll “/r 3d4.” [Send Email to remind.]
