20000318 LetLooseTheDogs

<H1> Let Loose the Dogs of War </H1>
<H2> Role Call </H2>
<TABLE>
<TR>
 <TD> Kill'Dar </TD>
 <TD> 9th/3rd Elf Wizard/Fighter </TD>
 <TD> Rick DiRicco </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Colin </TD>
 <TD> 9th Human Fighter </TD>
 <TD> Jim Yonemura </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Kieran </TD>
 <TD> 7th/4th Half-Elf Cleric/Wizard </TD>
 <TD> Ray Chiang </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Ander </TD>
 <TD> 6th Human Fighter </TD>
 <TD> Matt Miller </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Grackle </TD>
 <TD> 6th/5th Half-Elf Fighter/Rogue </TD>
 <TD> Mark Whisler </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Prince Donner </TD>
 <TD> 6th/5rd Human Fighter/Wizard </TD>
 <TD> John Speck </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Travian </TD>
 <TD> 8th Human Paladin </TD>
 <TD> Robert Giedt </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Fingle </TD>
 <TD> 3rd/7th Gnome Cleric/Wizard </TD>
 <TD> Richard Jacobsen </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<H2> Prelude </H2>
<P>
Most of the first five hours is spent converting the characters partially 
towards AD&D third edition, using the speculation and rules from
Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition News.
</P>
<H2> Session Summary </H2>
<P>
Donner's forces number 6000 men and equipment. Each ship carries fifty men 
and their equipment. The 120 ships travel silently across the lake, with the 
lizard men acting as guides. On one of the ships, Donner travels with:
</P>
<UL>
 <LI>The rest of the party (7) 
 <LI>Some of Colin's better knights 
 <LI>15 Heavy Infantry 
 <LI>20 Archers 
 <LI>Each of the unit leaders (5 extra) 
 <LI>Hagal, the leader of the Black Lions
</UL>
<P>
The plan is to have Kill'Dar and Fingle scout ahead on the flying carpet
(the thought being that Kill'Dar can teleport back to the ship if they
run into trouble). They make their way to Og-Kund by skirting the edge of
the lake. After a few hours, they make their way to the city.
</P>
<P>
Atop a hill overlooking the docks is the heavily fortified central keep.
The original city walls surround this hill, with a single fortified gate
controlling access from the lakeshore road. Og-Kund has obviously outgrown
its original boundaries; cottages and lower-class housing sprawl outward,
eventually giving way to farmland. The original city, now referred to as
the inner city, has become almost entirely the province of mercantile and
political elites.
</P>
<P>
The outer city looks as though it could hold about 7000 people, and the
inner city looks as if it could hold a like number of forces. Fingle and
Kill'Dar spot normal activity going on in the city.
</P>
<P>
As they move closer, they spots signs that the city is inhabited by the 
military forces of the orc army. Fingle spots some giants' heads protruding
over buildings as they walk around the city. With the help of the spyglass,
Kill'Dar also sees the giants. As the pair continue to close with the
city, they spot more giants--they count approximately half a dozen
wandering around, but cannot get a more accurate count. The giants appear
to be organized, wearing piecemeal armor, and Kill'Dar notices one has
two heads.
</P>
<P>
Deciding that they've approached close enough, Kill'Dar and Fingle circle
the city. Not surprisingly, the outer area of the city also has military
forces occupying various buildings. There are many signs, such as:
</P>
<UL>
<LI> Weapons laying outside the door 
<LI> Small bands of orcs wandering in the city 
<LI> Along the river, there appears to be construction for disembarking troops 
</UL>
<P>
Inside the keep, they spot what looks like a new structure, built of
misshapen boulders and tribalistic tokens--it appears to be the finest
in orcish building talent. Fingle pulls out and invokes the Runestone of
True Seeing. In the air, he sees several noncorporeal invisible beings
flying in random patterns above the keep. They appear to be some sort of
air elemental. The stones used to build the building also appear to be
enchanted. Just at the gates of the keep, there are some concealed traps.
</P>
<P>
As this information is relayed back to the command ship, one of the
commanders with family ties to Og-Kund describes the layout of the original
city. The new construction is built over the temple of Zeus. Also, there
is an underground section to the keep.
</P>
<P>
As the reconaissance group continues to watch the inner keep in the city, 
Fingle spots six individual single-headed giants--they appear to be coming
out of one of the buildings large enough for them to be housed in.
</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Sidebar:</B> Political Background of the city
<BR>
Og-Kund used to be the independent villages of Ogalach and Kundain.
They merged into the city-state of Og-Kund as a defensive measure,
pooling their labor to build the original city walls and inner keep.
It was taken after a brief siege during the early stages of the orcish
invasion and the mayor, Uli Torag, disappeared. There may have been
some buying out or other form of deal or bribery. Also, due to the
independent nature of the citizens of the city, it's entirely conceivable
that the citizens are quite willing to live with the occupying army.
Thus, it seems unlikely that the group can count on the civilians for
help in taking over the city.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
In order to cut off any messengers running south towards the next orc
city, the river road must be explored. So, Fingle and Kill'Dar begin
flying away from the city down the river. Along the way, they spot a
concealed bunker near the river. They get closer to investigate. Fingle
gets six minds in the ESP detection. He ESP's several of the individuals
hiding. The first appears to be sleeping. The second appears to be
thinking about eating. The third is foggy. The fourth appears to be very
bored. Every once in a while, he appears ready to "kick the dog."
Fingle probes deeper and gets an image of the "dog"--it appears
to be a Hell Hound.
</P>
<P>
While Kieran relays the reconaissance to the command staff, Colin talks
to the lizard men to see if there are other ships in the harbor of
Og-Kund. There appear to be "more than four hands" worth of
warships anchored in the harbor. The group discusses plans to take the
ships. During possible discussions, the lizard men volunteer the
information that they can cut the anchors of the ships and set them
adrift.
</P>
<P>
The group's first thought is to send the army along the harbor and have
the Black Lions take the ships. Donner suggests the plan to the commander
of the Black Lions. Hagal suggests that it would be better to have the
ships away from the docks to prevent reinforcements from arriving. As
the group continues to discuss refinements on the plan, Fingle and
Kill'Dar continue their scouting. 
</P>
<P>
As they head east, they see several farmsteads. The farm roads are kept
in very good condition. The road along the lake is currently not
maintained well. Kill'Dar notices that there isn't the normal level of
wildlife. Given the size of the forces occupying the city, it's possible
that the area has been overforaged. Also, a lot of the farmers appear to
be carrying weapons, much like the citizens of Dulax Moir. Kill'Dar
casts True Seeing from the runestone, and he suddenly appears to be a
soldier. Kill'Dar casts Know Alignment and he appears to be Lawful
Neutral. This man appears to be a former soldier turned farmer out of
necessity.
</P>
<P>
The next plan is to use the army to pacify the city proper, while the
Black Lions capture the warships. In the meantime, Donner and the rest
of the party will attempt cross the inner city and take the central keep.
No one has any objections to the plan, so Kieran attempts a Divination:
</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
 One takes the bait
 One takes the prize
 One pays the price 
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
After this Divination, the group decides to simply sabotage the boats
and invade the heart of the city, using the strength of the Black Lions
and Donner's party to take out the major obstacles (such as trolls, giants,
and the inner keep in the city). Hagal makes the suggestion to have forces
at the south of the city to prevent messengers from escaping. The plan is
to have a detachment of Black Lions on the other side of the river and a
detachment of regular troops on the Og-Kund side.
</P>
<P>
The majority of the forces are to approach along the main road. They
are supposed to advance in strength, but not to attack the outer wall
until Donner and his group can secure the gate. In the meantime, fifty
"stealthy" Black Lions will go over the back of the wall of
the inner city and hold the gate. At that point, the remaining Black
Lions will head towards the gate, while the remaining military units
prevent the outer part of the city from coming in. Eventually, the
heavy infantry and the archers will relieve the 945 Black Lions,
allowing them to join Donner's party to attack the keep.
</P>
<P>
The remaining plan is to simply have the troops disembark half a day's
travel from the city and equip for combat. The ships will remain anchored
offshore and will keep the supplies. The troops will then invade the
city, making their way to the main keep.
</P>
<P>
With the final plan in mind, the army begins disembarking. Despite the
fog covering the shoreline, the tremendous sound of six thousand
infantry and cavalry beginning their prepartions can be heard by the
group. They spend the next few hours organizing into combat units.
Then, the army begins moving towards the city.
</P>
<P>
As the bulk of the armies pass the farm areas, Kill'Dar spots a wolf
rider coming from one of the farmsteads. He steers his insect down
towards the wolf to allow Grackle to attack the rider. In the first
round, Grackle slays the rider. Noting that the wolf might be a warg,
Kill'Dar and Grackle spend the next round finishing off the warg. The
next round, several members of the group spot a group of blackbirds
heading towards the city.
</P>
<P>
As the group heads through the city, there are several minor
skirmishes as some of the orcs blunder into the main bulk of the
army. Along the walls, it appears as though that the guards on the
walls of the keep have noticed the 6000 troops moving through the
streets of the city and have begun organizing. At the gate tower,
there appears to be several armored archers and a giant right around
the gate tower.
</P>
<P>
Kill'Dar and Grackle are the first to arrive at the top of the tower.
Colin and Ander get off the carpet. Fingle casts a Wall of Fog behind
the tower gate, turning everyone with him visible. Travian, Kill'Dar,
and Ander quickly dispatch their orcs. Colin prevents the giant from
grabbing him with a vicious swing. He follows up with two more attacks,
furthering injuring the giant.
</P>
<P>
Travian finishes off the remaining orc on the top of the tower. Fingle
casts Grease under the giant, who promptly climbs up to the top of the
tower, where Colin quickly dispatches him. In the meantime, Grackle
enters the gate tower from the level below and quickly slays two orcs.
The rest are quickly dispatched by Travian and Colin as they come down
the stairs. Kill'Dar and Kieran begin opening the gate to the outer
wall.
</P>
<P>
The group positions themselves for holding the tower. Fingle dispels
the Wall of Fog in time to see some of the Black Lions running along
the wall towards the tower--it appears as though the relief team has
arrived. Fortunately, Fingle manages to warn them about the Grease spell
in their path. He eventually dispels the Grease as they filter into the
gate tower. Travian spots several figures running along the wall towards
the doorway he is guarding.
</P>
<P>
The next round the six giants (four with two heads, the other two are
large) in the keep appear to be leaving and heading towards the gate
tower. Donner spots four war trolls with the giants. At the same time,
he spots the Black Lions also breaking away from the main part of the
army and heading towards the gate tower.
</P>
<P>
The commander of the Black Lion team tells Colin that there were around
20 orcs along the wall. He begins deploying his troops along the wall.
The figures running toward Travian are orcs, and he quickly kills the
first one. The Black Lions hold off the rest of the orcs. The bulk of
the Black Lions begin to close to the gate.
</P>
<P>
The group begins to form up at the top of the tower to assault the
keep. As they become ready to travel, they begin to see giants pulling
rocks out for throwing--the next stage of the battle for Og-Kund has
begun.
</P>
<H2> Foes Fought </H2>
<P>
</P>
<P>
Base Experience: 
</P>