Session 34: More Ogres Report

General Summary

Session 34 – Wednesday March 22, 2023 – More Ogres

4 .5Hour Role Play/battle session 5:45 PM to 10:30PM

The Stone Bearers. Party of 5:

It is the 25th day of the month of Uktar (The Rotting) in the 50th year of the Age of Enialis (Mid November.)

• Abrash – Wood (Desert) Elf, L7 Druid – Jacob Munson
• Ajani– High Elf, L7 Wizard – Nathan Gioconda
• Gazlowe – Goblin, L7 Artificer – Josh Pozsonyi (Midterms)
• Thomas – Human, L7 Blood hunter – Ryan Armstrong (Remote)
• Isabella – Forest Gnome, L7 Barbarian – Jackie Armstrong
• Juan Peyote – Gnome L7 Paladin – Will Johnson

A note

The Stone Bearers stood for a moment of silence at the departure of their dear friend Digby and Gazlowe stepped away to go get some more counseling. Thomas was quite hurt, and Ajani helped him up. They party then examined the carnage and searched the dead. Juan picked up one of the Balista bolts and decided to use it as a lance.

They also found about 7gp in total and a map that was very poorly drawn on the corpses. Abrash examined the map and determined that Zelbross was the destination, but there was a staging area for the attack a few miles away at a farm. The party decided that they should head to the farm to investigate. First however, Juan removed an arm from one of the Ogres. Thomas grabbed one also and put it into the tent.

Vandore Hallwinter

The villagers started to gather and stare, some pointing and saying, “It’s them!” An old acquaintance approached the group. He called out, “Hail thee. You are the esteemed adventuring party known far and wide as the Brothers in Arms. We've met before. I'm Vandore Hallwinter...” His speech slowed as he got closer and saw their faces. The party corrected him as to the name of their group. They all staggeringly called themselves The Stone Bearers. Vandore apologized for the mistake, as city guard and about a dozen soldiers joined the scene.

Vandore was not the same man they met before. Last time they met his armor was pristine. Now his face was scarred and his uniform was torn from recent battles. Vandore explained that he and his army of about 100 men had been hunting rogue bands of Ogres in the High Moor, south of Zelbros. He explained that the normal gangs of 5 or 6 ogres have been growing unusually large to 30 or more. They’ve been battling them. He inquired if the party has been hunting Ogres also.

The party explained they are on other business but are following up on a clue they found. Vandore offered his assistance, but the party declined. Vandore asked that they please report any findings back to him. He’d be at the Sword Coast Adventuring guild hall.

Farmer Brown’s

The party left Vandore and followed the map to the farm of Farmer Brown. They approached a hill and peaked over the top. Juan took the Ogre Arm and held it over the crest of the hill waving it. Thomas looked in horror and said, “Wait!” But it was too late, Juan disguised his voice a bit and said, “Hey over here.” The closest Ogre Approached the top of the hill and looked down at the heroes. Ajani tried to psychically pull the Ogre into the ravine with them, but the Ogre was too strong. Thomas took the time to sneak up the hill stealthily and was able to successfully hide in the bushes. Juan stabbed the ogre with his lance and killed it.

Juan said, “Let’s use this Ogre to attract another!” Ajani said, “That might work.” They setup the Ogre’s body and Ajani used his telekinesis to move the arm and wave to another Ogre guard. The other Ogre simply waved back and continued his patrol. Thomas continued to move stealthily towards what looked like to 2 leaders of the group. They all saw that one of the two leaders had a black demonic horn on his head. The other one had a wand in one hand and battle-axe in the other. There was a 3rd hideously deformed Ogre that had glowing runes all over his body.

Abrash suggested all approach stealthily and Ajani suggested they keep one alive. Thomas continued to go through a fenced in area hiding in the bushes. He focused on the 3 odd Ogres and noted that the horn was likely a gift from a demon of some sort and the other creature with the runes was undead. Ajani snuck behind a rock and waited for the group to get in position. Abrash wanted to get much closer and try to contain the 3 Ogres in the center. As the party moved there were not all as quiet and stealthy as before. Juan’s armor made noise as he moved. The Ogre with the wand looked up and told the Ogre guard to go inspect the area by the rock.

Spotted!

The Ogre guard spotted Ajani and was surprised by him. Ajani had smelled the Ogre approaching and then he released a chromatic orb as soon as he saw the Ogre. The orb hit square in the head and decapitated him. The Ogre with the wand sent the last guard over to see what happened. Abrash and Isabella and Jaun moved forward. Juan cast Armor of Agathys on himself.

Thomas sprung out and attacked the Bolt launcher Ogre bloodying him. The Ogre shot a massive bolt into Thomas. Juan closer to the undead Ogre with the Runes and commanded him to Bonk! The Ogre with his horn shot a magical black ray at Thomas but Thomas avoided the worst of the effect. The Ogre then walked up to Thomas with a Javelin in his hand and critically skewered Thomas. Thomas fell unconscious. Ajani was grieved by what happened but looking at the Ogres he saw that the majority of them formed a perfect line directly in front of him. The smell of ozone filled the air and the hair on their arms stood up as a lightning bolt shot from Ajani’s fingertips striking 4 of the Ogres. The guard and the bolt launcher were immediately killed; the other two were badly hurt.

The Ogre with the wand dashed towards Ajani. The Undead Ogre, commanded by Juan, turned, and attacked the Ogre with the demonic head horn. Isabella gave Thomas a greater healing potion. Thomas shot at the One-horned Ogre while still laying on the ground but missed. Juan cast spiritual weapon and a large log appeared hovering over the ground. He then stabbed the magical Ogre with his lance. The one-Horned Ogre used his horn and blinded Isabella and then critically hit her with his great sword. Ajani cast a Ray of Frost at the magical Ogre but the effect just chilled him a little. Ajani ducked behind a boulder for a little cover.

With a wave of his wand, the magical Ogre dispelled Abrash’s fey spirit. He then tried to curse Ajani but failed. Isabella, now blinded, felt for Thomas. Feeling the javelin still in his side, her anger raged. “Just because I can’t see you, doesn’t mean I can’t smell you!” Blindly, she swung her axe and hit the horned Ogre twice. Abrash hexed the horned Ogre and hit him with a weak guiding bolt. Thomas found his whip and struck at the Horned Ogre and killed him by pulling him down onto his own spear. The horn dissipated in a puff of smoke.

Juan commanded the Ogre with the Runes (the Elophar) to Bonk again and then he hit the other remaining Ogre with his spiritual log. Ajani’s face was resolute as he cast Mage Armor on himself and braced for impact. The Ogre with the wand (the Ogre Cunning Artisan) used his wand and, with a smile, dispelled the Mage Armor Ajani had just cast. The Orge then again tried to curse Ajani but failed. The Elophar bonked the Ogre Cunning Artisan and then ran straight ahead randomly, coming near Abrash. As Elophar ran, Ajani stabbed it with his dagger, and acid squirted out of the Elophar’s body onto Ajani.

Abrash begins to dissolve.

Isabella blindly shot a bolt at the Cunning Artisan and hit him. Thomas removed the spear from his body, breaking a few ribs in the process. Juan hit the Cunning Artisan with his spiritual weapon leaving the Ogre just barely alive. Ajani finished off the Cunning Artisan with a Ray of Frost, freezing him to death. The Elophar rushed to Abrash and slammed him hard. Abrash hexed the creature and then shot a guiding bolt at point blank range. The guiding bolt struck the creature and acid spurted out all over Abrash. Isabella shot an arrow that struck the Elophar. Again, acid squirted all over Abrash badly wounding him. Isabella aimed another shot as Abrash yelled out, “For the love of Snuffelsnort!” The shot hit, Abrash took a critical hit of the acid and was barely alive.

Thomas called to the Elophar, “Hey Ugly!” and tried to get it away from Abrash. He cast Shield of aith on Abrash. Juan went to Abrash and laid his hands on him. Ajani began casting chromatic orb and Abrash said, “Why not just make it acid damage!” Ajain said, “Okay” and the acid orb hit the Elophar, but the Elophar did not erupt acid on Abrash this time! The creature went to attack Abrash again and Ajani foresaw the future and with the Shield of Faith from Thomas, the creature just missed. Abrash shot another chromatic orb at the creature striking it. The creatures stomach exploded, spreading acid on Abrash, Juan and Thomas and fell over dead.

Why were they here?

Thomas examined the Elophar and saw the runes were devilish. Juan tried to obtain the creature’s head as a trophy. Isabella’s blindness dissipated. Thomas went to the Cunning Artisan Ogre and found a black wand that he gave to Ajani. Juan used his divine sense and felt nothing else evil in the area. They examined the previously horned ogre, and they found a large scroll in his backpack.

The scroll was in Giant. Nobody could read Giant, but Abrash made out a portion of the scroll that contained a map, but he couldn’t decipher what the markings on the map meant. Ajani noticed that the scroll paper was similar to spell scroll paper and therefore was written by someone with material means. He cast comprehend language on the scroll.

The scroll was from Kishen to General Doz. It told General Doz to take Lt. Urso and Non to the staging area and send the Ogerepede with a small escort to the center of Zelbross and let them cause havoc. The instructions indicated that this was just to test the forces of Zelbross. He expected a report back to the horde camp. The map showed the location of the horde camp and the placement of a cave at the back of the camp where General Doz was to report back what he discovered.

Rest at Blackmore’s Manor.

The party gathered themselves and decided to go back to Zelbross and rest before they headed to the horde camp. They passed through the town and made sure that Revalor’s shop was still closed and locked up. Abrash provided the party some Goodberrys for snacking and healing. They made their way to the Blackmore estate and were greeted by Mr. Homn.

Willet came down and greeted the party. Willet had clearly gone Goethe with black nail polish and eye makeup. He was excited to see the party and showed them how good he had gotten with a crossbow. He then invited them for dinner and had Mr. Homn get some food for everyone. Mr. Holm brought out a delicious venison dinner.

While at dinner, Thomas excused himself and went to Willet’s room. He found nothing demonic or necessarily evil, but the kid was clearly into the color black and seeking vengeance. Thomas came back and Willet spent some time becoming reacquainted with the Stone Bearers. After a delicious dinner and some quality time together, Willet allowed the party to utilize the resources of his manor. Each of the party found the room of their choice and learned some additional traits, leveling up to level 7. Ajani also learned that the wand they found was a Wand of Dispel magic with 5 charges.

The keep

In the morning, Mr. Homn brought the party a charcuterie board and some pastries for breakfast. While the others enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, Thomas went to the keep to check on the Hell Hound Johnny Cash and the lizardfolk Flicktongue. Flicktongue greeted Thomas along with about 6 of his lizardfolk friends. Flicktongue expressed his disappointment that it had been 6 weeks and they never gave him his mayonnaise. Flicktongue also revealed that he and his friends captured several more kobolds and are forcing them to lay eggs and basically making them slaves.

Thomas also checked on his Hell Hound. The dog wasn’t happy, so Thomas tried to do some training with it. Afterwards, he told Flicktongue to clean the place up.

Thomas returned to Blackmore’s manor and relayed what he found at the Keep. The party then discussed telling Vandore about the encampment. They decided it would be better to first check out the camp and if they needed help, they could perhaps seek Vandore.

The encampment

Abrash easily followed the map towards the horde camp. As they got close, Abrash cast Pass Without a Trace and Juan took off his chain mail. They stealthily climbed a small hill and saw a large camp with about 100 Ogres in it. They wisely surmised there is no way they could take on 100 Ogres. They slipped away and headed back to Zelbross.

In Zelbross, Abrash went to the temple because he needed Holy Berries for one of his spells. He met with Fredricka and asked, “Can you please bless my berries?”. Fredricka’s confusion cleared when Abrash held out a handful of his berries. She gladly took a bit of Holy Water and blessed about 34 berries. Thomas also got a vial of blood from Juan.

Meeting with Vandore again.

Isabella offered to lead the discussion with Vandore. The party went up to the SCAG guild and found Vandore. She put on her best sultry voice and caught Vandore checking her out. She explained to Vandore that they found a large of encampment of about 100 Ogres. Using the map as a guide, she pointed to the location of the cave where they believe the leader to be.

Vandore explained that he has an elite squad that could infiltrate the cave as his army attacked. Unfortunately, they are currently on assignment in Baldur’s Gate. The Stone Bearers agreed they could infiltrate the cave if his army provided a distraction. Juan suggested that the party masquerades as Ogres. He proposed that he could ride on back of Abrash as an ostrich. He would wear the head of a dead ogre and hold Ogre arms while covering himself by a sheet. Something about the way he proposed it made it sound like a great idea and Vandore agreed! Vandore determined that they should combine their plans: his army will provide the distraction and the Stone Bearers can sneak in disguised as Ogres.

Vandore told the party he can send out a few reconnaissance teams to gather a bit more intelligence. They should reconvene in 48 hours, ready to attack. Vandore gave Isabella a personal sending stone so they could stay in touch. He kissed Isabella’s hand and they agreed to meet in 48 hours.

Campaign

The Forest

Protagonists

Thomas Elliot

Abrash Asim

Chaotic Good Moon Wood Elf (Folk Hero)
Druid 1

9 / 9 HP

STR
7

DEX
10

CON
13

INT
8

WIS
19

CHA
14

Report Date

26 Mar 2023