Session Thirty Seven

The thirty seventh session of the Adventures of the Dragon Crag was on the 14th December 2022.

## Party Members Present

* Brandr Sigurdson
* Snorri Morgrimson
* Relnwe Adiath
* Professor Meino Osterhaus
* Aleksi Lehtonen

## Synopsis

### Rangers in Reimar

We sat drinking in the Headman's House in Reimar after having dispatched the Manticores. It was evening and we were relaxing. Just as Brandr put another beer to his beard, Lina walked in. She looked mighty disheveled for one who usually scrubs up well. She took one look at us carousing, sighed, and headed to bed. Rel chased after her and asked her why she looked so awful. She somehow didn't take it as an insult and said that a caravan had been found by wandering ogres with rhinoxen. The caravan, of course, had been obliterated, but the rangers managed to kill the ogres with no casualties. All of the rangers went to bed behind Lina, so we thought that we should perhaps get some sleep to - we were to head out West with them in the morning and they seemed like serious folk.

### Go West!

#### Rivers and Hills

Lina and Anders woke us up before dawn. They said that we had at least two, probably three, days travel ahead. On the first we were to approach some difficult terrain, on the second we would cross said terrain, on the third we would finish the journey. We set off from Reimar and followed the river north. There were trees around the river, but further out all was scrub and dust - this was the Badlands after all. Lina took the lead with Anders - from behind, we could hear that their conversation became agitated every so often. Curious, Snorri and Rel went up to listen to what they were saying. The two rangers seemed to be arguing about the lack of help and reinforcements from up-above (probably the Dwarfs of Karak Azgal. They both seemed angry about this. Anders suggested breaking off ties and looking for local help. We journeyed for several hours and the river led us into a canyon and we were forced away from the river bank, up into the hills. Here the terrain was bad and slow-going.

#### A View to the West

We climbed to the top of the tallest hill in the area and we could see some distance in front of us. Immediately before us, a marsh stretched out. To the north we could just about see its end, but the the south it seemed infinite. Lina took out a map - a continuation of the one Anders gave to us. She shows us that we have to go through the marsh as it would take far to long to go around the south, and to the north was a big mark that said 'AVOID'. There were ruins and dead trees there. After some brief banter about the avoid area, Lina made it very clear that we weren't funny and this was a place to definitely avoid - she said rangers who went there never returned. Beyond the marsh was our intermediate destination - an old dwarf fortress called Umkar nestled in the Flatland Peaks, repurposed as a ranger outpost. From there, tunnels led further west under the peaks.

### It's a Marsh Life

#### Wet Boots

We moved down from the hill top to the edge of the marsh. It's smells extremely bad and flies are a real issue. Evening was falling so we made camp on the firm ground. We set up our tents and the rangers kept watch while we dozed. In the morning we proceeded into the marsh. Anders said we shouldn't go single file, so we fanned out into a long line, with each man (or elf or dwarf or lady or lady elf) in arms reach of the next. Our party was on the southern side of the group that stretched out a few hundred yards. After a short while of trudging, Anders came up the length of the line and and told us that the eastern edge had found some dead goblins. They were probably killed by beastmen. After another short while, rel spotted a ramshackle wooden tower up ahead. There was movement at the top of the tower as well as some red cloth. Looking in the immediate vicinity, Rel also spotted the unmistakable heavy mail boot print of a very big orc. We examined the orc camp from afar and saw some tents and a small palisade. The Professor declared that he felt uncomfortable, as though some chaos or necromancy were afoot. We told Anders that we would take this camp if they scouted around and took care of any more they found - greenskins always came in packs.

#### Wet Blades

The plan was for us to creep round and attack from the south, while Aleksi made a dash to take the tower. Unfortunately, we made quite a lot of squelching noises as we moved through the marsh. Thus, we decided to charge in. Aleksi immediately charged up the ladder into the wooden tower with his mace out. The rest of us remained on the ground and a big melee ensued. There were various goblins, orcs with bows, orcs with cleavers, and orc bigguns. The orcs weren't very accurate and we began cutting them down. Arrows flew in on us, but the Professor said "Gee wizz, I love darkness" and a swirling area of impenetrable darkness appeared, blocking the orc arrer boy's view. Brandr sent a biggun flying back with his warhammer. The orc fell into a tent and became tangled. Snorri dispatched another orc into the darkness. An extremely powerful arrow shot narrowly missed Aleksi, breaking the ladder to the tower. Brandr said he needed no help and then immediately got twatted by another orc biggun. Snorri came bravely to the aid of his cousin and dispatched two orcs with each end of his Azthrund. The Professor, feeling emboldened by his tussle with a manticore said "try it loser". An orc did indeed try it and gives the Professor a nasty cut. The Professor let out a mighty whimper. Aleksi then dove out of the tower to the Professors aid. We had finished them off. After, Aleksi healed us all up - especially the Professor who laid his head on Aleksi's lap and whined like a dog.

### More Work

#### Another Camp

Anders appeared in the ruins of the orc camp and told us that there was more work to do. He said that the rangers had cleared out many other camps around, but that there was a bigger camp further west that we needed to assault together. He took us to the top of a small hill with a large tree on it. The rangers had taken some wood and built a small platform there. From this vantage point, we got a clear view into the large orc camp. It was fortified to the west (probably to defend from beastmen), but not so much to the east, where we would come from. In the middle, a small patch of grass burned bright green. It looked a lot nasty business with wyrd stone. The orcs stepped gingerly passed it. Oh yeah, they also had a ballista.

#### A Plan Forms

Lina said that the orcs had probably been forced into the marsh by beastmen. She said a good plan would be to distract them from the west, drawing them out, while another contingent attacks from the east. We suggested that the Professor's shadowstead might be a good option for distraction. The shadowstead appeared from thin air and the Professor rode it around the swamp, cantering silently and at great speed, taking no heed of the swampy land. Lina was impressed, but said we would need more than that to create a distraction. Thus, we were to take her best rangers to assault the camp, while she led a distraction party. The sign to attack was set - hoot three times like a swamp owl.