1.07 Who speaks for the Orks? Report

General Summary

The Low Bar have finally made their way to The Pen, deep in the Sawback forest. After descending into a deep clef in the rocky wood, they find a rich forest with an abundance of life. Unfortunately for them, that life is all out to kill them.   Blood lashers grapple onto Gunnar, Ylandra, and Lucky. Lucky is flung into a Poison Bush and is gassed with Mindfuddle. Ylandra is drained of blood. But otherwise the party find the plants an easy battle and vanquish them quickly. Veerefel heals the group and Gunnar cures lucky's disease a bit. Tbom, meanwhile, convinces Kal to attempt to gather some of this pollen from a Poison Bush. He does so, but is gassed in the process. TBom himself tried to gather some and fails, also being gassed. The group is now stumbling through a mind deteriorating poison and Tbom takes some serious damage. But the effects wear off after a minute and their minds clear.   At a wall of brambles Ylandra discovers a strange rose. Kal turns the rose to open the door. Inside he spys an orc feeding a stone horse. in a pen. The party decide to head back to the cart (Cart needs a name) and camp for the night. A storm sets in and a rainy night's sleep is passed with tents (I presumed everyone had a tent, but did not check. Ill check next time!)   The next morning the party returns to the rose door. Kreck and Tbom convince the group to allow them to talk with the orcs inside. They knock and an orc asks who's there? This is when the party learns that Kreck never learned Orcish. Tbom fills in, answering for the half orc that they are here for the medicine. The opens the door but doesn't know anything about any medicine.   'Are you the Client?' he asks in a grumble. Tbom says 'Yes, we're here for the medicine.' The Orc leads them inside and Lucky sneaks in behind. His stealth is not enough to hide him though and he must pretend to be a good looking goblin to fool the orcs. The guide leads them into a cave in the wall, past a chemistry lab with orc alchemists, and into a smaller room to the Sculptor.   'You're not the Client' he says. Deep behind enemy lines, Tbom, Kreck, and Lucky must act quickly and think even quicker to get out of this situation alive.

Rewards Granted

Loot

• Mindfuddle Pollen. Needed to reverse engineer a forumla

• 160xp each for the lashers (40x4)
• 5xp to Kal for using height to spy over the wall
• 5xp to Veerefel for fearing a plant
• 5xp to Gunnar for curing poison
• 5xp to Ylandra for doing the most damage
• 10xp to Tbom for a one-shot kill with his crossbow
• 15xp to Ylandra and Kal for figuring out the door
• 20xp each for discovering the pen
• 50xp Tbom and Kreck for posing as The Client
• 20xp Lucky for sneaking in after them

Missions/Quests Completed

They have infiltrated The Pen, Vilree's former HQ now the shop for The Sculptor. Who is this orc and how does he connect to the story? And where is Vilree now?

Notes

These modules are written presuming combat as the resolution. But if The Low Bar finds a way to resolve this or future encounters without violence, especially with intelligent races that have motivations beyond simple beasts, I will make sure the party is rewarded. But in the same vein, non aggressive paths are going to be difficult. You are dealing with individuals who don't know you and have no reason to trust you. Simple diplomacy rolls will not be enough. you will have to give them very good reason not to just kill you, because that is the simplest solution for many of them to your arrival.