Session 4.5: In the aftermath of orcs Report

General Summary

Scene 1: At the end of the rope

As the last of our heroes climb back to the top of Brevin's Gap, they find a solemn scene around them. The Bastion Lieutenants have returned from their defenses, and have left extra fresh defenders at each of the three northern towers. They are currently reporting on the wounded, dead, and damages done.  

Ruslan: Stands forward and states grimly, "Two Bastions dead at the Western tower, and Zofia is badly hurt. She's with the clerics now. We killed a big one, but not before he took her arm. Another orc- spellcaster- got away. Heard him called 'Zhall'"

Badraa just nods and looks to Maeral.

Maeral: Was studying his fingernails and cleaning underneath them. "Oh? But of course they were no match for our skills. We drove them away like the curs they are! Lasras fought to the end." Maeral frowns and looks toward the body of a muscular female dwarf. "Her name will not be forgotten. With her last swing he knocked their leader into the ravine. I think the beasts called him 'Dhomud.'"

Milo: Comes over from chatting with a human female and reports sheepishly "At least 25 citizens unaccounted for. Rescue parties will be sent into the ravine in the morning to look for survivors."

Badraa: gazes toward the dwarf body and mutters, "damn it... We met heavy resistance in the center, but we fared the best." She nods respectfully to your group. "Heavy damage to the tower, however - have to rebuild."

Brevin: "Aye, you did us a great help, and that's a debt that will be repaid, have no doubt." He says with sincere gratitude.

  At this, Brevin speaks up to the townsfolk around. "Gap-dwellers! We've been struck a blow this day, a worse one that we've ever felt. I know the fear that even now is creeping at your hearts. But I also know the mettle and strength of each and every one of ya! There's mourning to do, and planning as well. But you know as well as I - not tonight. Tonight, there's work. Tomorrow, we pay our respects. The Gap needs each and every one of you to do your part, as much as able. This is all of our homes - you know what needs done."  

Before following Brevin, Xabu stays behind to talk to the guards:

Maeral: "We will send the dead toward the horizon at dawn - such is our way. We will do this at the Norward Gaze in the Creaky Quarter. Of course, your presence would be an honor, and your words even more so." Milo: just nods solemnly and looks down at the body of Lasras Ruslan: Says nothing, but gazes to the Spire Quarter. The lieutenant Bastions all break at this point to go about their duties, but Xabu is struck by Ruslan - something is troubling Ruslan more deeplly than the other bastions tonight  

Into the store

Brevin and Badraa take you six into Brevin's home (and store) and shut the door behind. Badraa says in a matter-of-fact tone. "More coordinated than ever, down to the fireworks. Rumyana was set to scout this week, but hasn't reported back. Even worse..." She puts a bloody dagger on the table. "This was in the back of a guard at the Eastern tower. Three guards died by this blade."   Brevin sighs while looking at the dagger, then turns to you. "These matters don't need concern you. You've already done more than your share. Puttin' your lives on the line for strangers, don't think we don't appreciate it. And I meant what I said before: The Gap repays its' debts. Once we pull through the wreckage of tonight, I promise that we'll help you as we can.  

Stumps: Badraa nods to you, agreeing that this most likely was an inside job. She is troubled that Rumyana is missing from her scouting duties, but seems reluctant to point fingers at this point. There are no firsthand accounts from the guard towers - it seems like none of the guards stationed at those towers survived the initial assault / assassinations.

Relic: Turning the dagger over in your hands, it looks well made, and modern. It is simply made, but well-kept. You notice a marking on the base of the blade, which Badraa identifies as the maker's mark of a smith in the Quarry District, Tumelane Caveborn.

Gnarles: Brevin nods at you. "Aye, the whole thing is troubling to me as well, for all the reasons you said. Never before have we seen such an organized raid against the town. Badraa, you know I hate to ask, but do you remember anything about this "Master" the half-ogre mentioned?"

Badraa exhales lightly and begins to answer, when Althea pipes up. "If anything in orc society would be called master, it would probably be Gruumsh, the One-Eyed. Everyone is right to think that orc raids don't usually show this level of organization. In fact, written history details only savage raids, solely for the purpose of death, destruction, and gaining resources. Captives are rarely taken, and only then for breeding stock. Never in this number. Orcs and Ogres will breed with any humanoid, really. They're pretty non-discriminatory. Half-orc / half-ogres are called Ogrillons, and their presence here probably indicates ogre breeding stock somewhere. Orcs are dumb, for the most part, but ogres are duuuuuuumb. I know more, if you want me to tell you!" (Rachel, I'll email you some more info you can share at your leisure.) "As for the Mist, my research hasn't shown anything conclusive or predictable about the rate of Obscurement. Some accounts have people losing their minds within moments of hitting the Mist, while others claim to have been in the Mist for hours without more than a headache and some short-term haziness. One thing seems certain - there are no verifyable cases of individuals spending an entire night in the Miasma without becoming Obscured."

Xabu: Brevin's eyes lift and he looks to Badraa questioningly at this "nightmare creature" you and Gnarles mention several times. Badraa shrugs silently back at him. "What is this creature you speak of, boyo?"

 

An interlude before sleep

During the short hours of the morning, Xabu and Gnarles spend some time cleaning up the wreckage in the spire quarter, collecting the dead and healing those still able to be helped. Maeral is there, leading the cleanup at the central tower and seems appreciative of "every trifling attempt at help." Despite his arrogant words, his appreciation seems sincere.   Before going to bed, the team runs across a restless Ruslan - he is going to check on the wounded Zofia. He says little but seems to be anxious and mostly is going to the infirmary to take his mind off of something.   Stumps tracks down the blacksmith who crafted the dagger, Tumelane Caveborn. "Aye, that's me work - I recognize my sigil and the turn of my hammer from a dozen paces" she says. "I've made dozens of the things, and there doesn't seem to be anything speci- wait a titch... what's this here?" She looks at an etching at the base of the blade. It looks like a small humanoid figure about an inch in height - a simple stick figure ... with two heads. Felix is able to identify this as being etched with acid. Tumelane says "Sorry I canna help you more - though if it's acid that was made in the Gap, it probably came from Primi's lab in the Creaky Quarter. Place's called 'Primium Contents'."  

A long overdue rest

At this point, the heroes retire to their abode for a very needed rest. Thanks to Gnarly Toes' restoration totem, they feel fully rested after only 4 hours, enough time for them to make the funeral for Lasras, the fallen Dwarf Bastion lieutenant.  

A Dwarf they hardly knew

As dawn approaches, the group is summoned by Brevin, who arrives wearing more formal wear than they have seen him in before. He leads them to the Northeast corner of Brevin's Gap - to a serene location called the Norward Gaze.   Norward Gaze Description: As they get closer to this area, they see well-groomed gardens and topiaries grow more common, with lattice-work walls and arches guiding the paths for the 300 feet or so on the approach to the Gaze. Several benches are seen along these paths, in secluded alcoves that all seem to face toward the ravine leading to the northeast. These twisting paths lead to a central platform that is enclosed by lattice walls that seem to conceal the paths once the platform is entered. The custodian of this place is named Usalea, a female elvish musician. She seems to make it her job to read the emotional state of visitors here and provide a suitable environment for whatever they need. Mostly this involves providing refreshments and music from her and a small staff of workers.   As your group enters with Brevin, you see that many of the regular Bastions and Lieutenants are there already - Badraa, Maeral, and Milo are all quietly sitting and several more dozen Bastions are standing solemnly. At the edge of this platform, the very edge of the city overlooking the Northeast ravine, are multiple wooden platforms, upon which are lain the bodies of 6 individuals. Central in this is the broken body of a female dwarf (you recognize as the one they called Lasras).   A brief memorial is made to the fallen, and many townsfolk stand to speak to the gathering about those that were killed. As the memorial goes on, workers are seen on the cliff to the southeast, carving names into the cliff face. During the memorial, anyone can add words, if they wish.

Notable quotes:

Badraa: Lasras always volunteered to defend this town - always took a week unless injury kept her in bed. She cared about everyone here...   Brevin: These fine folk are part of us, and will remain so forever more. The cliff remembers! *points to the cliff with the carved names* The Gap never forgets! *the crowd repeats this mantra*   As words are said for each of the fallen (finishing with Brevin's speach), the soarwood platforms are lifted and pushed into the ravine. As they drift forward through the air from the city, the heroes' eyes lift to see the ravine opening into the ocean miles to the northeast. And the sun begins to rise, burning away the Mist.   As the gathering starts breaking up, and the group wanders away from the memorial, something strikes Althea. Something kept drawing her eye back to Usalea, but it wasn't until Althea was gone that she realized what she had noticed: Usalea wore two parallel chokers around her neck of silver wire. This is a sign Althea once learned to be one that a thief might use if advertising their services as an informant or information gatherer.  

Althea after the memorial:

As everyone is scattering after the memorial Althea approaches the elf. "I noticed that you're wearing two necklaces and they're arranged in a perfectly parallel pattern. It could simply be happenstance but it could also indicate your affiliation with The Guild. Did you intend for your necklaces to be arranged specifically in this manner? And if so was it a purely aesthetic choice or a message for other members? And if it is a message, might we ask for your services? We do not have much of monetary value to repay you, but from what I understand, in kind payments are rather common in situations like these."   Usalea seems nonplussed by the abrupt question. "Oh these hands are hardly used to toiling with the craftsmen. You must have me confused with my --quiet-- cousin. She works --here--, and only works --alone--, sadly. Though from what I understand, she stays up until --midnight-- most nights, working at her craft. (Stop talking so much. Come here, alone, at midnight)   Althea gets SUPER excited. "Yes, of course. Of course. Your cousin works alone at midnight. Quietly. Quietly alone at midnight. Of course. Of course. Good day!" She walks away quickly...  

Stumps sleuths after Ruslan

You sneak along behind Ruslan unnoticed. He isn't making any effort to stay hidden, and only offers cursory acknowledgement to passersby. You sneak along behind Ruslan unnoticed. He isn't making any effort to stay hidden, and only offers cursory acknowledgement to passersby. He seems to be heading with purpose toward the Eastern tower on the northern cliff. He walks through the tower and leaves the other side, heading into the jungle.   "Classic bungle in the jungle. You've blown it big time, Rusty. But the guards don't stop him...could they be agents of the two-headed monkey? Stay sharp, Stumps, stay sharp." He waits for two minutes, then takes a deep exhale. He approaches the gate. He stops at the gate and tells the guards some cockamamie story about how he wants to catch some jungle rats. "Where's the best hunting ground in this direction? I'm starving. Have many hunters gone this way? Looking the way I do you can't be too careful, see, I don't want to get shot by mistake."   "of course you can leave, but I don't recommend it. Who knows where the orcs are now. I recommend waiting until the scouts have more information." The guards will not stop you from leaving.   "Scouts, yes, of course. When do you expect them to return? I sure am hungry."   "just missed one. Ruslan and Rumyana are the best scouts in the gap." The other bastion shakes his head sadly "I hope she's ok. Been missing a full day now, and with the raid..."   "Hmm yes, I see, very troubling. Well I'm something of a scout myself, maybe I can help. Is there any hard evidence related to her disappearance? Witnesses? How would you describe the relationship between Ruslan and Rumyana? Oh hi Relic and Gnarley. Want to help scout and catch jungle rats?"   "oh, you don't know? they're married"   Relic and Gnarly Toes catch up with Dances on Stumps unexpectedly at the Northeast . The Tabaxi lord of the dance fills in his friends on Ruslan's expedition into the northern jungle while the two Bastions awkwardly look on. After a bungled attempt at bluffing past the uncaring guards, the three friends head into the northern jungle to track Ruslan. After only a short time they find him holding an arrow in his hand with a crumpled note. It was hastily scrawled and had an arrow hole in the middle, saying "Orc raid. 5 score. Ogres. Cages". Ruslan explains that this is Rumyana's handwriting and she must have fired it at a tree for the next day's scout to find. Unfortunately that scout must not have seen the note.   Ruslan braces himself and starts to track his missing wife with the three heroes following.  

Undersea expedition

: Althea and Xabu (and probably Felix) use one of the many boat winches to lower themselves down to the water. It's a clear and sunny day - they get a good view of the ocean, miles along both ravines to the northeast and northwest. Below them, fishing and gathering boats are already at work. The fishers are heading father from the city, while underwater gardeners are diving under the water to gather seaweed from their gardens. At one boat close to your landing site, you see a boat with a human in the back, steadying the boat while a woman emerges from the water, emptying a basket of seaweed fronds into the boat, pulling herself into the boat, and removing a wad of some plant material from her mouth. Under the water, the soft glow of the crystal formation can be seen spreading under the rippling water.   As Xabu leads the way under waves, the thick fronds of kelp part to show glimpses of the glowing crystals down below. Althea, with the gas reed in your mouth, your time without needing to breath is doubled. The properties of the plant seem to slow your metabolism to the point where you don't feel the need to breathe as often. You would assume (based on what the fisherman said) that these properties could be concentrated alchemically to make a more potent effect.   The crystal formation itself must be huge, perhaps even larger than the one under the sunken city. The are which these crystal tips emerge from the silt and dirt at the bottom of the sea stretches over an area around 100 feet in diameter. In between these crystals grows a forest of thick dark-green kelp. As you approach the center of this area, the crystals grow taller and closer together, until the dirt is gone for the central 20 feet of this area. In this central clearing, the sea floor is covered with a beautiful formation of crystal spires, with multiple smooth faces. The smallest of these is 3 inches in diameter and about a foot long, while the largest is about a foot in diameter, and rises about 10 feet from the floor.