20000323 HanginWithTheOrcs

<H1> Hangin' With the Orcs </H1>
Editor's Note: Forgive the lack of information, but some of the more important information was on my character sheet, which the GM has. Also, my notes were somewhat sparse, and as a result, the speaking parts may not exactly match those of the players or GM.
<H2> Role Call </H2>
</p>
<UL>
<LI> Eric-Rah (Rick), ?/? level Elven Fighter/Mage
<LI> Paxus (Ray), 7th level Human Cleric (Hermes)
<LI> Fourier (John), 7th level Elven Mage (Transmuter)
<LI> Bynar (Matt), 6th/6th level Half-Elven Fighter/Mage
<LI> (Mike Nebeker), 7th level Elven Fighter
</UL>
<H2> Character Creation </H2>
Since most of us didn't have characters of the appropriate level and/or class, we took the option of generating a new 7th level character. Character creation was the usual, except that the GM let us each roll up three magic items from the DMG.
To keep a long story short, some of us ended up with interesting magic items. Most notably, a Helm of Teleportation for me, a suit of Full Plate +2 for Mike, and perhaps the most interesting addition, a Cubic Gate for John ("When am I ever going to use this?" asked John at one point). Matt, of course, ended up with the raspberry item of the evening, a Potion of Human Control usable versus Elves and Half-Elves.
<H2> Session Summary </H2>
In Aquataine, Paxus is called by the high priest of the temple and informed that the elves have requested help for a special mission. After hearing something about the nature of the mission, Paxus agrees. After gathering his equipment, he teleports to just outside the elven lands.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Paxus:</B> (Rolls) Oops
<B>GM:</B> What did you get?
<B>Paxus:</B> 02. (Looks up information) Is this place "studied carefully"?
<B>GM:</B> Sure.
<B>Paxus:</B> I'm high 10 feet.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Paxus falls on his butt. He quickly gets up, looking embarrassed as he dusts himself off. He then makes his way to the Elven Council.
<H3> Mission Briefing </H3>
</p>
When he arrives Fourier, Bynar, and (Mike) are already there. Also there are the two "generals" of the Elven forces, Lord Cerethan and Lady Mianna Also there is Hagal, the leader of a mercenary company known as the Black Lions.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Lord Cerethan:</B> As you may know, the war has been going poorly for the Elven people. One of the main reasons is due to the fact that we have no knowledge of their leader, Gorath of the Twisted Eye. We are unable to scry him or his home base for information.<BR />[Begin <I>Mission Impossible</I> theme music here]<BR />Your mission is to make it to Gorath's base and find out what information you can. Ideally, we want to know who he is, what his weaknesses are, if any, and where their base is.
<B>Lady Mianna:</B> We will provide each of you with two magic items: a hat which allows you to mask your appearance and appear as any kind of humanoid, and a ring which allows you to understand spoken tongues. Hagal and his mercenary company will get you behind the orc lines as close to the city of Sabha as possible.
<B>Lord Cerethan:</B> While it is imperative that you keep from being discovered, the information about Gorath takes first priority.<BR />[End <I>Mission Impossible</I> theme music]<BR />[Note: Rick arrives and tells the GM what character he will be using] At this point, an elf enters and speaks with Lord Cerethan. After a moment, Lord Cerethan turns to the rest of the group.
<B>Lord Cerethan:</B> I have some good news. The cloud city of Cirrus is no longer dissipating. The genie which maintains the city's integrity has been returned to the city. One of the members from that party will be aiding you in your quest. I am informed that he should be arriving shortly. (Looks up)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
We all look up and see a bright spot of light through the trees. As the light comes closer, it looks like the legendary Phoenix-descending in a circle, leaving a bright trail of light as it flies. As the figure continues closer, we can see that it is an elf who appears to have great glowing golden wings. He also carries an impressive looking magical staff (Staff of the Magi).
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> So, what's been going on?
<B>(Rest of Party):</B> (Mouths agape)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Lord Cerethan informs Eric-Rah of the mission. In the process, the rest of the party overhears phrases such as "Your people are putting up a brave front while you are away".
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Lord Cerethan:</B> I will leave you to discuss the details of your mission. You are free to consult the Sages about any information you need to know.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Lord Cerethan leaves and the rest of the party begins discussing what to do.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Fourier:</B> I think that Eric-Rah should be the mission leader. You are obviously of some importance and have already accomplished an important mission.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The rest of the party nods its agreement.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> Why does this always happen to me? The last party made me their leader too.
<B>Bynar:</B> They must sense the same thing that we all do-you have a flair for leadership.
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> The rest of the party nearly died last time.
<B>Fourier:</B> Well, it must have been their own fault then.
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> (Images of the rest of the previous party tied up naked above a pit of scorpions float above Eric-Rah's head). Well, yeah.
<B>Fourier:</B> That settles it then.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The party gathers a bit more information about why the war is going poorly for the elven people. We discover that there are rumors of all sorts of evil creatures serving under Gorath's banner. Several rumors keep cropping up:
<UL>
<LI> Gorath has opened a gate to Ravenloft and various undead creatures have been seen on the front lines, including something which sounds like a Death Knight.
<LI> There is a new form of orc, known as Orogs, which appear to be as competent as humans. They have been seen using one weapon in each hand and appear to be considerably tougher than normal orcs.
</UL>
<H3> Rendezvous Point </H3>
</p>
Eventually, the party is ready to leave. We then ride Giant Eagles for several hours to (city) and begin 2.5 days of marching. During the first day, we talk to Hagal about their operation.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Fourier:</B> So, how much do you charge?
<B>Hagal:</B> Well, assuming a "standard" mission, (describes several parameters which I have forgotten), the fee is 100,000 pieces of gold per month.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The first two days are uneventful. The second evening, the Black Lion company sets up a defensive camp, including earthworks and magical wards. [Note: Their preparation clearly illustrates the key difference between player characters and non-player characters-they can handle anything the GM throws against them.]
The next day, Hagal informs the party of an group of 2000 orcs ahead. They are a known group. Hagal says that he will provide a "distraction" allowing us to slip into their camp. We tell him that we will wait invisibly on the other side of the orc camp and infiltrate after their attack.
We make our way to the waiting point and watch Hagal's forces attack the orcs. A huge volley of arrows enter the camp, scattering the orcs and causing many casualties. A deep rumbling follows as a large group of heavy cavalry ride through the orc camp. As the cavalry ride clear of the camp, leaving many dead orcs in their wake, another volley of arrows falls into the camp. The orcs gather and charge away from the cavalry, towards the group of archers. The cavalry swing around charging through the regathered orcs, demolishing them further. As the cavalry rides clear again, a magical wall of fire appears in front of the orcs and several blasts of fire and lightning appear in the midst of the orcs. The orcs then decide to retreat.
<H3> Joining the Orc Army </H3>
At this point, the party gets close to the camp and turns visible, but disguised as orcs. Several orcs appear to be putting out the tent fires (there appear to be three large pavilions) and we begin to assist.
As the party puts out the fire, the Orog leader gives orders to pack up. One group of Orogs approaches the party and many orcs flee. The He tells the party, along with several orcs who didn't quite manage to flee, to strike the pavilion and carry it. There are seven "orcs" to carry a very large tent. <Sigh> The trip is made difficult due to the fact that some of the weaker party members, along with the orcs, slack off in their carrying duties. The fact that a war troll amuses himself by ordering the group to "pick it up" every time we stumble adds to the annoyance.
In the process of moving, we notice that we are moving in the wrong direction. We finally set up a new camp, and begin putting up the pavilion. After some effort, we finally put up the pavilion. As we look around, we notice that the rest of the orcs haven't even gotten their tents set up. As we mill around with those orcs, we find that they are amazingly stupid. Eventually, several orogs give directions on how to set up the tent.
During the rest of the evening, we observe how the orcs, orogs, and war trolls are organized.
During this time, (Mike) has snuck off on a little mission of his own. (Mike) wins some blankets in a gambling match (giving up some money in the process) and heads back towards one of the burned pavilions. There are several Orogs standing near the burned hole.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Orog guard:</B> What do you want?
<B>(Mike):</B> Hole, (Points to hole) Fix.
<B>Orog guard:</B> Fine.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The guards watch (Mike) pretending to fumble around attempting to patch the hole. Unimpressed by his apparent incompetence, the Orog scoffs to one of the others: "yearlings" Eventually, they call an older orc (who appears to be their "medic") to tell him how to patch the hole. While patching the hole, (Mike) overhears the conversation inside the tent.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Voice 1:</B> I'm tired of waiting for them. Let's attack now.
<B>Voice 2:</B> We're going to wait for them. The only problem is that the orcs are going to get restless. Double the guard tonight.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
In the meantime, the party has agreed that there isn't any purpose in continuing with this army and decide to leave. (Mike) rejoins the party. We figure out how the guards are patrolling and through the judicious application of magic, manage to get past the patrols.
<H3> Joining the Orc Navy </H3>
</p>
We travel invisibly for a few hours before resting for the rest of the night. We spend the next day making our way to the city of Sabha. As we approach the city, we see a huge orog (a la Jabba the Hut) being pulled around on a wagon by several other orogs. Trailing the wagon appears to be an ettin. As we make our way to the docks (in hopes of getting a boat to the next orc city), the ettin looks at us with one of its heads. As we look around, we notice that there are no other orcs outside. We decide to quickly duck into one of the buildings.
As we enter the building, we see several orogs drinking and partying orc-style (think of a rowdy Klingon party). There is a huge orog who appears to be guarding the keg, while orcs serve. We order some drinks, but find that the quality of ale is extremely bad. Eric-Rah decides to pretend to drink by tossing it over his shoulder, but manages to toss his drink on to another orog. This begins a bar fight between Eric-Rah and (Mike) and three orcs. Eventually, (Mike) is the last one standing, Eric-Rah having been knocked out by one of the orogs earlier. After the fight, we are shown more respect and are given enough room to discuss our options.
Later, we scout out the docks and see that there are several barges floating on the river guarded by two orogs. Eventually, we hole up for the evening and decide to walk down to the coastal city of Grax.
On the way down to Grax, we hide as 17 barges full of orcs are being pulled upriver. [Note: Thank goodness the five of us didn't decide to sail downriver.] We estimate that there are ~2000-5000 orcs being carried by the barges.
We eventually get near Grax. We scout it out and see that Grax is a large walled city, built on a delta. The harbor appears to be full of ships. Eventually, the party decides to fly over the city invisibly to scout out the harbor, in order to determine the best way to get to Gorath's island.
As the party flies over the harbor, we see that there is an old orc who is overseeing the repairs of five cargo ships in the harbor. Fourier casts an ESP spell and reads the old orcs surface thoughts. He appears to be concerned about being behind schedule and is also concerned about being given "stupid orc" replacements since they don't make good sailors. He also appears to have some thoughts about "getting back to Dugati". After Fourier passes on this information, we decide to simply join his navy.
We fly down into the city and become visible. We then make our way to the harbor, disguised as orcs.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Old Orc:</B> What are you doing here?
<B>Fourier:</B> We were told to report here.
<B>Old Orc:</B> Really? What wave are you from, sixth or seventh?
<B>Fourier:</B> Uh, sixth.
<B>Old Orc:</B> (Harrumphs) All right then. You're now sailors. If anyone asks, you're working for Harg. You're not joining any army.
<B>(Party):</B> Okay.
<B>Harg:</B> Now, get over to that ship and start working.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The party makes its way to one of the ships. Unfortunately, none of the characters have ever been on a ship before. However, since Fourier and Bynar still have their Fly spells active and Eric-Rah and Paxus know how to tie knots [Ed: Rope Use skill], the party quickly gets the ship in working order. In the meantime, (Mike) is still wearing his Full Plate armor and has decided not to climb the ropes. As a result, he is tied to a rope and lowered down the side to scrape barnacles.
The ship that the party is working on is the first to be ready to sail and Harg comes on board. Eventually, the other ships are ready and we begin sailing to Dugati.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Fourier:</B> You know, if this were "The Knights of the Dinner
	 Table", we'd stay in the orc navy and begin trashing
	 elven ships. Oh well...
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<H3> Dugati: Orc Paradise </H3>
</p>
The trip to Dugati appears to take about a week. When we arrive, we anchor in the harbor there and are told by the first mate that we have half a day of shore leave. We follow the other orcs off the ship and up a dirt path which leads to some mud huts, which appear to serve as an tavern. A few orcs attempt to go to a nearby cave entrance, but are chased away by the orogs guards.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Paxus:</B> What's in the caves?
<B>Orc:</B> (Grunts) Orc women. (Laughs)
<B>Paxus:</B> Who gets to go in there?
<B>Orc:</B> Chosen ones.
<B>Paxus:</B> How do you know if you're chosen?
<B>Orc:</B> You get orders: go to Dugati. (Looks over to another large group of orcs) And what do you say when you get those orders?
(Large group of orcs): Yes, sir! (Much raunchy laughter)
<B>Paxus:</B> I mean, who choses the orcs?
<B>Orc:</B> Gorath.
<B>Paxus:</B> So, what next?
<B>Orc:</B> We take the next shipment back to Grax. You guys are lucky, you've got the easiest job. (Glances at the caves) Well, maybe the second easiest.
<B>Paxus:</B> And we keep doing this?
<B>Orc:</B> Yup. (Takes a drink, relaxes)
<B>Paxus:</B> How many waves have there been?
<B>Orc:</B> Dunno, sixty? Seventy?
</BLOCKQUOTE>
At this point, the conversation becomes less informative. It's loud enough that the party can discuss their options.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Fourier:</B> Look, we can see the tip of the next island. I say that we
	leave here and fly to the next island.
<B>(Party):</B> (Agrees)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
So, we once again make ourselves invisible, leaving our tenure in the orc navy, shrink everyone but Eric-Rah and make our way to the next island.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Paxus:</B> You know, we've spent time in the orc army and the orc navy.
 What's next, the orc marines or the orc air force?
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<H3> Touring the Orc Islands </H3>
</p>
As we approach the next island, we can see that there is a strange mist surrounding the island. However, there appears to be a small piece of the island above the mist.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Fourier:</B> I think that's where the Ravenloft gate is.
<B>Bynar:</B> Gee, you think?
<B>Fourier:</B> I don't think we want to rest there.
<B>Bynar:</B> Good idea.
<B>Paxus:</B> I've got an augury. Want me to try it?
<B>(Party):</B> Yes.
<B>Paxus:</B> Hmmm....I get "Death and life everlasting await"
<B>Fourier:</B> I think we'll go to the next island.
<B>(Party):</B> Agrees.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The first Fly spell runs out, so Eric-Rah casts his Fly spell. We continue on past the Ravenloft island, giving it a wide berth-the party pictures Surface-to-Air Lich Launchers and other similar anti-aircraft devices lurk in the mists. As we do so, we see the tip of another island ahead. We begin slowly making our way there, but determine that there isn't enough duration on the Fly spell to make it.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Paxus:</B> We could teleport there.
<B>Fourier:</B> I don't think that's a good idea.
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> I begin studying a spot to teleport to.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The party continues flying.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>GM:</B> You can feel the fly spell wearing out.
<B>Fourier:</B> I don't want to...
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> (Teleports)
<B>Fourier:</B> ...teleport.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Fourier reaches in his pocket and pulls out his Cubic Gate. He then pushes the sixth side twice. The party finds itself floating in a strange grey mist. Fourier pushes the first side twice and we return to the island.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> What the hell was that for?
<B>Fourier:</B> I said that I didn't want to teleport.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The party then decides to hide in a nearby jungle to rest and rememorize [Ed: Mistake #1]. As we do so, a patrol of 10 orogs jogs past us. We hear sounds of a patrol jogging past every 10 minutes. We decide to go deeper into the jungle to rest.
Two hours later, we are awoken by the sounds of footsteps. We hear some voices.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Voice 1 (sounds like a War Troll):</B> (Sniffs) They're over here.
<B>Voice 2 (sounds like a deep commanding voice-Death Knight):</B> Find them.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
As they come closer, Fourier signals to use the cube. The party panics and agrees. As we float about in the Astral plane, we discuss our options.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Fourier:</B> Now what?
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> I dunno.
<B>Fourier:</B> Maybe we can go back in ethereal form using your staff and see what's going on.
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> Okay. (Uses staff)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
We get a misty picture of what's going on. There appear to be four war trolls searching the area we just vacated. Behind them is definitely a Death Knight. He appears to be looking straight at Eric-Rah.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> (To Fourier) Get us out of here, now!
<B>Death Knight:</B> (Waves goodbye)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
We end up in the Astral plane again. After a little while there, we can see a creature making its way towards us. Fourier uses the Cubic Gate again and sends us to Limbo.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Fourier:</B> You know, we're going to have to move around.
<B>Paxus:</B> You're right.
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> Are you sure this is a good idea?
<B>Fourier (Player):</B> Look, Ray and I agree on this. That means it <B>must</B> be the right thing to do.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
We move 100 feet in a direction we think is "away" from the Death Knight and use the Cubic Gate to return. Unfortunately, we find ourselves 800 feet above Gorath's island. As we fall, we use the Cubic Gate to return to Limbo. We adjust our position again, using the information previously gathered, and end up on the island, some distance away from the Death Knight. Currently, Eric-Rah is the only individual not Reduced. He begins jogging around the island away from the Death Knight. Fourier uses Clairaudience to spy on the Death Knight's location.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>War Troll:</B> Why are we waiting?
<B>Death Knight:</B> They'll show up here again.
<B>War Troll:</B> Why?
<B>Death Knight:</B> They have to end up here.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Some time passes...
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>War Troll:</B> Why are we waiting?
<B>Death Knight:</B> <Sighs>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<H3> Gorath's Lair </H3>
</p>
In the meantime, Eric-Rah meets up with another orog patrol and joins them. He jogs with them a great distance around the island and eventually enters a large cave. As he follows the orogs, he enters a large lobby where orogs are dropping off their equipment and heading down a corridor. Near the entrance to the corridor appears to be the Death Knight, who appears to be staring at Eric-Rah.
After a moments thought, Eric-Rah decides to make his way past the Death Knight, and manages to not be affected by the Death Knight's Fear aura. Insides Eric-Rah's pocket, Fourier and Bynar begin panicking and attempting to crawl their way out. Fortunately, Paxus, (Mike), and Eric-Rah keep Fourier and Bynar down long enough for the fear to wear off.
Eric-Rah continues down the corridor and passes an opening. It appears to be a temple of some sort. There are many priests wandering around inside and orogs appear to be kneeling at the front. As Eric-Rah continues on, he passes another large room which appears to be the mess hall. Eric-Rah continues down the corridor and ends up in a large chamber which appears to have a large shaft and a crank elevator at its center. There also appear to be several sleeping chambers attached to the central room. Eric-Rah makes his way to one of the rooms and we eventually all become normal size.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> Now what?
<B>Fourier:</B> I say that we go down the shaft.
<B>Eric-Rah:</B> How are we going to do that?
<B>Fourier:</B> We've got a scroll with Advanced Illusion. We can make an image of the Death Knight and they'll lower us down.
<B>Paxus:</B> I'll go check some other things out while you two discuss the plan.
<B>(Mike):</B> I'll go with you.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Paxus and (Mike) first head to the temple. As they approach the altar, they see that there are two large cyclops-like statues inside the room. There is also writing all over the walls and a large book at the front of the room. The priests in the room appear to be bestowing blessings and Paxus and (Mike) notice that some of the priests have the left eye put out while others have the right eye put out.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>GM (To Paxus):</B> Make a religion roll.
<B>Paxus:</B> (Rolls poorly on d20) Nope.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Eventually, Paxus and (Mike) leave the room and make their way to the mess hall.
In the mess hall, Paxus and (Mike) grab trays of food and begin milling around. Many of the orcs appear to be complaining about "we're the best, and we've got nothing to do". Eventually, Paxus manages to start a conversation with a war troll who appears to be somewhat friendly to orcs (1 on d12 perception, 4 on Charisma check).
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>War Troll:</B> Man, we're the best, and we've got nothing to do. But I
	 hear that there'll be some excitement soon.
<B>Paxus:</B> What do you mean?
<B>War Troll:</B> The commander thinks that there are intruders here.
<B>Paxus:</B> No way! Who would be foolish enough to come here?
<B>War Troll:</B> It's true! I've even heard that they detected elves. (Licks lips) There's nothing sweeter than elf meat.
<B>Paxus:</B> I can't believe it.
<B>War Troll:</B> Yup. They let the wards down and let the intruders in. The priests are doing stuff right now. Once they find out who the intruders are, they'll close the trap.
<B>Paxus:</B> (Begins to look nervous)
<B>War Troll:</B> I can't figure out why they'd be here though. There's nothing for them to find out. They already know who the commander is and they can't do anything to him. And there's no way they'd get past the all-seeing.
<B>GM (To Paxus):</B> Make a religion roll.
<B>Paxus:</B> (Rolls 19) Argh.
<B>Paxus:</B> Maybe they want to do something to Gorath.
<B>War Troll:</B> (Laughs) You're funny. (Punches Paxus in a friendly manner, knocking him sprawling) There's only one way to visit Gorath, and that's through the priests (makes knife-in-heart sacrificing gesture).
<B>Paxus:</B> Well, I gotta go. See ya.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Paxus and (Mike) make their way back to the rest of the part. They relate the information found from the temple and the mess hall. Numerous party members make Ancient History and Religion rolls.
At this point, much of the picture becomes clear. From Paxus' knowledge of Ancient History, the cyclopses were the children of Poseidon. Some were good and some were evil. Many of the evil ones were banished. It's possible that Gorath is one of these evil cyclopses.
From Bynar's knowledge of Elven religion, in the ancient battle between Corellon Larethian and the orcs, Grummsh was one of the orcs to accept the Covenant and in doing so, become a god. His brother chose mortality.
Putting two and two together, the party decides that Gorath is most likely the latter. At this point, Fourier decides that going down the shaft is a bad idea.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Bynar:</B> Man, I wish it was a beholder.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Worried about the wards closing, Paxus decides that now is a good time to leave. Paxus and (Mike) teleport as one group to the elven lands while Eric-Rah, Fourier, and Bynar teleport to Cirrus. Everyone arrives safely and the information is passed to the elves.
<H2> Closing Notes </H2>
In closing, the only mistakes we made were 1) trying to rest on Gorath's island, and 2) not reading the runes on the temple wall to find out what they say.