A Traitor in Their Midst

"**A Traitor in Their Midst**" is a *Dungeons & Dragons* adventure played by Lilu, Anna, and Hunter on 19 February 2023, and the sixth episode of the *Ventures Unlimited* campaign.

The game was DMed by Capwithoutacountry, and hosted in person.

## Party

* **Gray** (Lilu) – Changeling Inquisitive Rogue
* **Shadowtail** (Anna) – Tabaxi Fey Wanderer Ranger
* **Wintersky** (Anna) – Tabaxi Battle Smith Artificer
* **Cole Ashe** (Hunter) – Human Eldritch Knight Fighter
* **Marck Hunter** (Hunter) – High Elf Oath of Conquest Paladin

### NPCs

* Sarsen Tessera III – Dwarf Peace Domain Cleric
* Yaslin Hylinath – Drow Bladesinging Wizard
* Kai Oonragaar – Half-Orc Oath of Vengeance Paladin

### Villains

* Orc Guard #1 (CR 1/2)
* Orc Guard #2 (CR 1/2)
* Orc Archer #1 (CR 1/2)
* Orc Archer #2 (CR 1/2)
* Orc Archer #3 (CR 1/2)

## Summary

*...continued from session five*
After Cole accompanied the pair of orcish guards into the entry room of the underground stronghold, Gray slams against the outer doors hard enough to crack the beam barring them, startling the guards with the force of the blow. In their moment of surprise, Cole takes the opportunity the attack, killing one guard with two strikes and wounding the other with a third before suffering an attack from the injured guard; as he does, the rest of the party continues to batter the doors until Shadowtail eventually breaks through, and the group enters the space as Cole kills the second guard with another pair of strikes.

As they begin to investigate the bodies, two doors swing open from opposite sides of the entry room: a massive Half-Orc emerges from one, spots the party, and says, "You finally arrived," after which he hurls a spear at three orcish archers who appear at the other door, striking one in the shoulder. The group then battles the archers, who attack the Half-Orc for betraying them; Cole nearly falls from the ledge into a deep chasm before narrowly catching regaining his balance, and the party defeats the archers before dropping their bodies into the chasm.

The Half-Orc introduces himself as Kai Oonragaar, and asks the party what took them so long; Cole and Gray explain that they had to deal with a cult along the way, and then ask what's going on. Kai becomes suspicious of them, asking what his father told the party. They claim that Kai's father told them Kai would explain the situation, at which point Kai realizes that Cole and Gray are lying; he demands to know who the party are, and they finally admit that they are just adventurers who were hired to find Sarsen.

Kai leads the party into the relative safety of the archers' station, where they rest shortly as he leaves briefly, heading back into the stronghold and ordering the two guards on duty to return to the bunk room and send out two new guards for the next rotation. While they do, Kai quickly releases a prisoner they were guarding and delivers the man back to the archers' station, where he introduces himself to the party as Marck Hunter; he explains that he had learned of the orcs' presence at the stronghold about a week ago and attempted to confront them himself, getting captured in the process.

Kai explains that he sent a courier with a letter three weeks prior to ask his father for reinforcements with which to depose his commander, Ulfrid. Kai explains that the stronghold is the forge of his ancestor, and that his battalion had been sent to the stronghold by his father two months ago to reclaim it; they had found it overrun with goblins and troglodytes, and had cleared the first level before encountering a cult of kobolds in the lower level who worship a dragon that had made its lair in the lowest level.

After losing a quarter of the battalion to the kobolds, Ulfrid had the entrance to the lower levels sealed, and decided instead to use the upper level as a staging area from which to launch assaults on the nearby towns, starting with Focksford. Kai explains that what remains of the battalion is ready to move immediately, and the party debates heading back to Focksford to warn Endral so that she can prepare a defense. Kai does not disagree, but advises them that the battalion currently consists of about a dozen more orcs, a lieutenant, and Ulfrid himself, as well as a couple of clerics who might be persuaded to turn if Ulfrid is deposed.

The party decides to send Cole's hawk back to town with a note tied to its leg explaining the situation, and then try to defeat the orcs on their own. Finishing their rest, they follow Kai through a short hallway to a door that leads to the battalion's common room, where he believes the lieutenant Yorrel to be, along with a few guards. The party moves into position as Gray stealthily approaches the door and prepares to open it.

*continued in session seven...*
## Total Damage

Overall, damage was inflicted and suffered thusly: