Ascension
General Summary
Having secured the remainder of his tribe, the First of Clan Granite sought to follow the path of Gruumsh One-Eye, securely tying the clan to the will of the orc godhead. Wolfsbane, the clan's shaman, offered to perform the ritual that would turn Grud into an Eye of Gruumsh, a prestigious honor reserved for His most devoted followers.
Grud gathered a few capable allies and headed for Hunter's Glen, where the clan had camped after being freed from the Abkheset Arena. Wolfsbane would keep his word, but required a task, first: The Hunting Lodge was demanding the orcs vacate the area. In Grud's absence, he was assumed dead (correct), and so Bratton placed a trophy of his own above the antlered throne and claimed the title of Huntmaster away from Grud (incorrect). Instead of slaughtering the upstart where he stood, Wolfsbane advised Grud retain the loyalty of the Lodge and challenge Bratton to a duel. He agreed, but Bratton insisted upon using firearms only. Savin mouthed off and was banished from the Lodge, while Tiff (masquerading as T.S. Hart) would be the referee. (Necthan, having been respectul, enjoyed the comforts of his lodging among the hunters.) Bratton and the Lodge continued singing his praises, Grud sang his own song, and Savin sang the new and "improved" version of Bratton's song. Grud left to retrieve the Stag Crown, and Savin found the Granite Clan, following the ways of their god, was completely hostile toward the half-elf. At dawn, the duelists stood a few paces apart and fired upon each other. Bratton made an excellent shot and Grud lost an eye, but the barbarian refused to concede, firing several rounds into his opponent's gut. At the urging of his bard, Bratton conceded, and offered the winner his rifle, before leaving Hunter's Glen forever. Granite Clan's refuge secure, Wolfsbane told Grud of his intention to unhallow the Demon Grove again and perform the ritual there. All he required from Grud was a sacrifice: he could choose to acquire 3 elf children, 3 unsullied elf maidens, or 3 whole elf warriors. Not wishing to upset his companions, Grud set out to secure some drow. Discovering Rogueharbor's Underdark portal had been destroyed, the party found out that the hobgoblins moved all of their prisoners of war to the capital. While the rest of the company dealt with the hobgoblin bureaucracy, Grud used the power of his former Warmaster title in the Sovereignty to see Captain Malgrim, the leader of the Hobgoblin Nation. Unwilling to risk upsetting his ally since the title had been revoked, the Captain nevertheless granted Grud the prisoners on the condition that the orc never return. The party then set out across Kraken's Pond to the shore cavern where the drow had been put to work harvesting mushrooms as a food source for the land-starved Nation. While crossing the Pond, they came across a boat filled escaping drow being chased by hobgoblin guards. The female drow drew a dagger and slew her allies, before turning the knife on herself in some sort of revenge ritual. Tiff saw that while the ritual was magical, the female was not conjuring anything, but was casting an enchantment, like a beckoning call. Suddenly, all of the boats were consumed by a giant squid rising from the depths of the pond. The kraken then turned its attention to the party's little rowboat. Savin said, "Can we please?" and Grud drew his blade in response. The rain hampering their movement, the party waited and unleashed their fury upon their foe once it drew close, blackening the lake with its dying blood. They found the cave, acquired one of the drow's brawlers, and a few more prisoners for good measure, and after Tiff realized they needed willing participants to teleport, knocked out their sacrifices and returned to the Grove. Savin, however, his conscience pricked, was unwilling to participate and resigned from the party. The unsure captain reached out his contact amongst Selune's angels with a sending spell, but received an unhelpful reply: "I am not a phylactery of faithfulness, dammit. If you keep accidentally helping Gruumsh's pet and sacrificing mortals, I cannot help what my blade's going to accidentally do to your--" Savin decided to speak with a priestess of his God in Xiomara. She however, told him to seek his own truth, and that helping his friend surely wasn't a sin. Meanwhile, arranging the prisoners around the bloodstained altar, Wolfsbane unhallowed the site by burying a darkskull. A few drops of blood and a burned page containing the story of Grud's sacrifices to set the tone for the Clan, and a portal in one of the henges opened in response. A orc as mighty as Grud and twice as wide stepped forth from the Abyss, but this was no herald of Gruumsh. The Demon Grove active again, Yeenoghu's Champion had been summoned to reclaim the circle. Duurk the Vengeful recognized Grud, but the fanged smile that distorted the clawed gnoll hands marking his face bore no friendship. A few flashes of blood and light later, and Duurk lay in carven pieces before Grud, and the portal reopened, but not to Yeenoghu's Realm. Instead, a snowy valley emitted two abyssal ghouls who gathered the remains, leaving only the severed arm still grasping the his three-headed flail, Duurk's badge of office. Collecting the legacy item, Grud returned to the ritual, slaying the drow, and then Wolfsbane instructed him to perform his greatest act of faith yet: the removal of Grud's only remaining eye by his own hand. Grud did not hesitate, however, and taking the offered ritual dagger, gouged out the eye without a single cry of pain. Knowing that a champion of Gruumsh would need to see, however, the shaman took a coal and placed it in the carved-out socket and restored the eye. Again the pain. Again, no cry from Grud, his burned face now displaying forever a scarred and single-minded faith no less than the fallen Duurk. The ritual complete, Gruumsh himself decided to bless the young orc, and Wolfsbane's assistant's neck snapped, and her contorted body mouthed the words of the orc god: "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Later, Tiff returned in secret to the blood-soaked grove and recovered the darkskull from its grave, once again leaving the unholy place in peace. ... Somewhere deep underground, a servant approaches his master with news. "There is rioting from the gnolls, my Lord." The samurai's armor showed signs of bloodshed, proving his point. Only a disinterested grunt responds from within the dark chamber. "Apparently their champion was slain. No easy feat. It was apparently another orc that did it." "I have no interest in the petty squabblings of barbarians," came the impatient reply. "Yes, Master." The samurai hesitated, but then spoke again, the death rattle of his throat creating a warbling echo. "The orc clan is not strong, but they are nearby, and their strength will grow. Would you like me to slay him? He is one of your Forgotten, after all." "No, if he was a threat, I would remember... The memory is the only danger to me now."
Grud gathered a few capable allies and headed for Hunter's Glen, where the clan had camped after being freed from the Abkheset Arena. Wolfsbane would keep his word, but required a task, first: The Hunting Lodge was demanding the orcs vacate the area. In Grud's absence, he was assumed dead (correct), and so Bratton placed a trophy of his own above the antlered throne and claimed the title of Huntmaster away from Grud (incorrect). Instead of slaughtering the upstart where he stood, Wolfsbane advised Grud retain the loyalty of the Lodge and challenge Bratton to a duel. He agreed, but Bratton insisted upon using firearms only. Savin mouthed off and was banished from the Lodge, while Tiff (masquerading as T.S. Hart) would be the referee. (Necthan, having been respectul, enjoyed the comforts of his lodging among the hunters.) Bratton and the Lodge continued singing his praises, Grud sang his own song, and Savin sang the new and "improved" version of Bratton's song. Grud left to retrieve the Stag Crown, and Savin found the Granite Clan, following the ways of their god, was completely hostile toward the half-elf. At dawn, the duelists stood a few paces apart and fired upon each other. Bratton made an excellent shot and Grud lost an eye, but the barbarian refused to concede, firing several rounds into his opponent's gut. At the urging of his bard, Bratton conceded, and offered the winner his rifle, before leaving Hunter's Glen forever. Granite Clan's refuge secure, Wolfsbane told Grud of his intention to unhallow the Demon Grove again and perform the ritual there. All he required from Grud was a sacrifice: he could choose to acquire 3 elf children, 3 unsullied elf maidens, or 3 whole elf warriors. Not wishing to upset his companions, Grud set out to secure some drow. Discovering Rogueharbor's Underdark portal had been destroyed, the party found out that the hobgoblins moved all of their prisoners of war to the capital. While the rest of the company dealt with the hobgoblin bureaucracy, Grud used the power of his former Warmaster title in the Sovereignty to see Captain Malgrim, the leader of the Hobgoblin Nation. Unwilling to risk upsetting his ally since the title had been revoked, the Captain nevertheless granted Grud the prisoners on the condition that the orc never return. The party then set out across Kraken's Pond to the shore cavern where the drow had been put to work harvesting mushrooms as a food source for the land-starved Nation. While crossing the Pond, they came across a boat filled escaping drow being chased by hobgoblin guards. The female drow drew a dagger and slew her allies, before turning the knife on herself in some sort of revenge ritual. Tiff saw that while the ritual was magical, the female was not conjuring anything, but was casting an enchantment, like a beckoning call. Suddenly, all of the boats were consumed by a giant squid rising from the depths of the pond. The kraken then turned its attention to the party's little rowboat. Savin said, "Can we please?" and Grud drew his blade in response. The rain hampering their movement, the party waited and unleashed their fury upon their foe once it drew close, blackening the lake with its dying blood. They found the cave, acquired one of the drow's brawlers, and a few more prisoners for good measure, and after Tiff realized they needed willing participants to teleport, knocked out their sacrifices and returned to the Grove. Savin, however, his conscience pricked, was unwilling to participate and resigned from the party. The unsure captain reached out his contact amongst Selune's angels with a sending spell, but received an unhelpful reply: "I am not a phylactery of faithfulness, dammit. If you keep accidentally helping Gruumsh's pet and sacrificing mortals, I cannot help what my blade's going to accidentally do to your--" Savin decided to speak with a priestess of his God in Xiomara. She however, told him to seek his own truth, and that helping his friend surely wasn't a sin. Meanwhile, arranging the prisoners around the bloodstained altar, Wolfsbane unhallowed the site by burying a darkskull. A few drops of blood and a burned page containing the story of Grud's sacrifices to set the tone for the Clan, and a portal in one of the henges opened in response. A orc as mighty as Grud and twice as wide stepped forth from the Abyss, but this was no herald of Gruumsh. The Demon Grove active again, Yeenoghu's Champion had been summoned to reclaim the circle. Duurk the Vengeful recognized Grud, but the fanged smile that distorted the clawed gnoll hands marking his face bore no friendship. A few flashes of blood and light later, and Duurk lay in carven pieces before Grud, and the portal reopened, but not to Yeenoghu's Realm. Instead, a snowy valley emitted two abyssal ghouls who gathered the remains, leaving only the severed arm still grasping the his three-headed flail, Duurk's badge of office. Collecting the legacy item, Grud returned to the ritual, slaying the drow, and then Wolfsbane instructed him to perform his greatest act of faith yet: the removal of Grud's only remaining eye by his own hand. Grud did not hesitate, however, and taking the offered ritual dagger, gouged out the eye without a single cry of pain. Knowing that a champion of Gruumsh would need to see, however, the shaman took a coal and placed it in the carved-out socket and restored the eye. Again the pain. Again, no cry from Grud, his burned face now displaying forever a scarred and single-minded faith no less than the fallen Duurk. The ritual complete, Gruumsh himself decided to bless the young orc, and Wolfsbane's assistant's neck snapped, and her contorted body mouthed the words of the orc god: "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Later, Tiff returned in secret to the blood-soaked grove and recovered the darkskull from its grave, once again leaving the unholy place in peace. ... Somewhere deep underground, a servant approaches his master with news. "There is rioting from the gnolls, my Lord." The samurai's armor showed signs of bloodshed, proving his point. Only a disinterested grunt responds from within the dark chamber. "Apparently their champion was slain. No easy feat. It was apparently another orc that did it." "I have no interest in the petty squabblings of barbarians," came the impatient reply. "Yes, Master." The samurai hesitated, but then spoke again, the death rattle of his throat creating a warbling echo. "The orc clan is not strong, but they are nearby, and their strength will grow. Would you like me to slay him? He is one of your Forgotten, after all." "No, if he was a threat, I would remember... The memory is the only danger to me now."
Rewards Granted
Loot:
[10,000gp] +2 blunderbuss (stock is engraved with a werewolf's head with two crossed rifles behind it, the crest of Bratton's house)
[60,000gp] darkskull (unhallow with zone of truth; appears as an obsidian orc skull)
[4,330gp] large +1 cold iron flail (Knowledge (history) DC 20 to identify as the Fiendkiller's Flail (Weapons of Legacy, pg 83)) Experience:
Grud, Tiff (15): 5,063 XP each = 563 (No... One... Loses like Bratton!) + 3,375 (Krakey! It's a beaut, mate!) + 1,125 (Spelling slaughter with laughter)
Savin (14): 6,563 XP = 788 + 4,200 + 1,575
Necthan (12): 11,250 XP = 1,350 + 7,200 + 2,700 Alignment:
Tiff shifts to:
Empire Rewards:
None. Titles:
Grud retains the title of Huntmaster. Other rewards:
Grud defeated a legacy wielder, and may choose a legacy gift (Weapons of Legacy, pgs 11-12). Events:
Gnolls, angry about the death and disappearance of their champion, are rioting in West Haven (50% chance to encounter a band of fiendish gnoll/flind rioters within West Haven, any CR)
[10,000gp] +2 blunderbuss (stock is engraved with a werewolf's head with two crossed rifles behind it, the crest of Bratton's house)
[60,000gp] darkskull (unhallow with zone of truth; appears as an obsidian orc skull)
[4,330gp] large +1 cold iron flail (Knowledge (history) DC 20 to identify as the Fiendkiller's Flail (Weapons of Legacy, pg 83)) Experience:
Grud, Tiff (15): 5,063 XP each = 563 (No... One... Loses like Bratton!) + 3,375 (Krakey! It's a beaut, mate!) + 1,125 (Spelling slaughter with laughter)
Savin (14): 6,563 XP = 788 + 4,200 + 1,575
Necthan (12): 11,250 XP = 1,350 + 7,200 + 2,700 Alignment:
Tiff shifts to:
Show spoiler
after participating as an observer for an evil god's ritual and helping to procure sacrifices. N5/G3
Empire Rewards:
None. Titles:
Grud retains the title of Huntmaster. Other rewards:
Grud defeated a legacy wielder, and may choose a legacy gift (Weapons of Legacy, pgs 11-12). Events:
Gnolls, angry about the death and disappearance of their champion, are rioting in West Haven (50% chance to encounter a band of fiendish gnoll/flind rioters within West Haven, any CR)
Report Date
23 Nov 2024
Primary Location
Secondary Location
