Journal Entry 00 - Riding the Waves Orc Style - A Backstory

Tars finds Rafe. Along with Falgrieg and Graykar, they commandeer a ship belonging to Captain Durkik’k of the Flayed Serpents. Ship is renamed the Sea Pronk. In the process, an orc child with unusual powers is rescued and returned to Chrailis.

General Summary

This story takes place before the events currently portrayed by the game. It represents the true initial meeting between Tars, Graykar, and Falgrieg.
Sergeant Falgrieg Wineberry, largely retired from the Rangers at this point, is still on reserve status. When the Rangers were asked for one of their Wily Warders to perform an escort mission, he was the perfect choice.
He reported the estate of a minor noble couple, Sir Lantry and Dame Huwandra. They were the ones requesting the help of the Rangers. When Falgrieg arrives, they are fairly close lipped about the details. They introduce him to the specialist he is to escort to the fishing town of Tidewaters Down. That specialist is Graykar, and Falgrieg is told that Graykar knows the needed details of the mission.
Falgrieg is also given a pair of spectacles with rose quartz lenses, being told that they will come in handy halfway through the mission. With them, he will be able to tell if the person they are being sent to retrieve is the correct person.
Once Falgrieg and Graykar arrive, their first priority is to locate a ½ orc by the name of Tars Everwood. They do so, and that meeting was rather tense as Tars did not take to Falgrieg’s charm and flattery, taking it as insulting and sniveling. Tars was quite pointed in letting Falgrieg know his thoughts.
However, they got past that quickly as soon as the name Rafe was mentioned by Graykar. Tars became quite insistent that they tell him anything they knew of Rafe, and Graykar was having trouble saying what he knew quick enough between Tar’s demands. However, the message finally got across.
“Rafe has been located, he’s gone to sea and is now with the pirate clan known as the Crimson Blades. One of their smaller ships is actually in port right now finishing up a trade run, we have secured passage and it will take us to Rafe’s ship. The ship is the Water Hawk and is commanded by an older, yet honorable orc by the name of Farsk.”
Upon hearing that his escort mission is now a seafaring mission, Falgrieg’s eyes get a little big, even for a gnome. Clenching his jaw tight in irritation doesn’t help his visage.
Boarding the last row boat out to the Water Hawk, they set sail deep into the ocean, heading due East. The winds favor the ship for the first 3 days. During those three days, the orc crew slowly becomes more accepting of Falgrieg and Graykar. At least enough so that the constant barrage of insults dwindles to just making comments when they are near.
Early in the third day the outlook sees three attack ships quickly approaching flying under the flag of the Flayed Serpents.
Captain Farsk knows he is outmanned and doesn’t have the weapons to repel the ships, his main hope is to reach the other ship before he is overtaken. The ship Rafe is on is a war galley, captained by a fierce pirate named Captain Durik’k (hard K following the final K for a double K sound).
Over the next day, the three ships get closer and closer. Suddenly the water around the Waterhawk turns muddy, becoming turbid. The Water Hawk slows suddenly and has fallen prey to the mages on the other three ships. Within a short time, one ship approaches on the right, grapples are almost immediately thrown to tie the ships together, and enemy orc raiders start crossing over.
With many of Water Hawk’s crew perishing in the initial onslaught, the first wave is repelled. Falgrieg makes a heroic casting of Glitterdust – not only does it afflict all of its targets to maximum effect, none of them are able to resist the resulting blindness even once in the rounds to come.
Unfortunately, one of the last to go down from the initial ship was one of their three ship mages who was able to cast a wicked combat spell, a spell unknown to the party, however the effects were obvious – forced water breathing. Several of the remaining orcs of the Water Hawk and the party could no longer breathe air.
As the second ship started boarding, it became obvious that the Flayed Serpents were after prisoners and not out to kill everyone. Some of the orcs start surrendering, followed by Falgrieg and then Graykar. Tars – much too noble and warrior-like to ever surrender, had to be fully subdued. In the process, he killed two more raider orcs. After they were defeated, they were tossed into the water so they wouldn’t suffocate. The spell had a duration of several hours. During this time, the party is forced to hang onto the ropes alongside the ship, breathing the warm waters of the sea.
While in the water Captain Durkik’s ship, the Dead Orphan, arrives. During the hours during which the party is stuck in the water along with several orcs, another battle ensues, and this time, the Crimson Blades win. Not only that, Captain Durkik’s successfully takes all three attack ships and seizes the Water Hawk as one of his trophies (Captain Farsk was killed in the initial wave of raiders.)
As the spell wears off, the party is brought aboard one at a time and placed into shackles. Captain Durkik’k has no intention of honoring any deals now that Captain Farsk is dead. His intention is to offer conscription to any of the orcs captured and to sell Falgrieg and Graykar into slavery. As Rafe is only third in command, there is nothing he can do. And he tells this directly to Tars, apologizing that while he is happy to have found his blood brother, he can only suggest Tars willingly joins the crew.
While sitting down in the brig, Rafe does come by and visit, again counseling Tars to reconsider. All of the other captured orcs have already agreed to follow Durkik’k as their new captain. As he leaves, he makes a final comment to Tars, “Just like we were forbidden to hunt the pronkers as kids, we must accept the certainty of the situation.”
To Tars however, he knows what the message means. As youths, Rafe and Tars were indeed forbidden to hunt pronkers (a type of large green and white striped deer with long razor sharp horns. Even for orcs, they were considered quite deadly. Their name comes from the nature of their ‘pronking’). However, Tars and Rafe had developed a scheme which not only let them sneak off unbeknownst to the elders but also to successfully bring down a few of the pronkers. As far as Tars knew, not one of the elders ever discovered their disobedience.
After two days in the hold, another orc comes by and unlocks the cage – telling the group to stay below deck – Rafe is taking the ship as Captain Durkik’k is off ship helping secure some of his new ships. The party quickly escapes. Their gear was stored in the armory a few doors down, guarded by a single orc. Though he was armed, the party quickly takes him down – largely through Tars subduing him with several vicious punches. A newly summoned Zanzeil did help, however.
Donning their gear, waiting out the combat, they hear from above from presumably Rafe to come up topside, they need help taking care of the last of the crew loyal to Durkik’k. Arriving on the deck, the party helps defeat the last of the enemy. The final three jump in the water, using magic to shift into grey mako sharks and swim away.
Having won the battle, Rafe quickly sets the crew to manning the ship as Durkik’k will be sending the three attack ships to retake the Dead Orphan. As the strongest orc present, Tars takes the wheel and working with Rafe, starts steering the ship away from the attack vessels.
Graykar, actually having some sailor experience, takes over on the sails, helping the orc crew move them expertly to aid Tars in his navigation.
And finally Falgrieg, not being used to ships but knowing how to work a ballista, helps out with the ship’s artillery.
As the attack vessels close, a battle ensues. It takes Tars a little bit to get mastery navigating the ship, but as he does, he starts lining up the two catapults of the ship so they can throw heavy loads at the attack vessels.
By the end of the battle, the Dead Orphan has lost some of its mobility, however Falgrieg has zeroed in with the ballistae and is starting to get some devastating hits on the attack vessels, disabling one, and then another.
Winning the battle, the Dead Orphan sails clear, now under Captain’s Rafe’s command. With the non-orc members of the party hiding below decks, Rafe briefly docks with a floating city of the Crimson blades to sell off some of the excess goods, make a few basic repairs, and reman his ship. Then they are off to complete Graykar’s mission per the original agreement.
Renaming the ship to the Sea Pronk, after Tar’s suggestion, Rafe explains why he had mutinied against Captain Durkik’k. Durkik’k had seen that the Water Hawk was about to be attacked but intentionally held back from aiding a fellow Crimson Blade. His plan was to go in and clean up the wreckage once the Flayed Serpents won the day. For this betrayal, Rafe and several orcs felt Durkik’k had dishonored clan code, and while there was nothing to be done with regards to clan justice, Rafe was in his rights to try and take command – which he did. Captain Durkik’k is possibly still out there and will try to take revenge, however Rafe now has the bigger and stronger ship. Once he gets a few mages, he will be more than a match for Captain Durkik’k, should they cross paths again.
Over the next several days, they proceed east past Fool’s Tusk into the outskirts of Skraelic territory to the isle of Keloman. Taking dock for purposes of trading, Rafe and his crew create a distraction while Graykar, Tars, and Falgrieg sneak around the isle to a small cave being used to hold a teenage orc boy. Tars convinces the boy that Graykar is there to rescue him and then Graykar picks the locks and disables the traps around the entrance of the cave. Whoever had put him there was quite scared he might escape based on the complexity of the locks and traps.
Falgrieg, using the rose quartz glasses, looks at the boy. He is glowing almost impossibly bright.
Escaping back to the Sea Pronk, they spend the next week making their way back to Tidewaterss Down in the safety of Chrailis’s territorial control. Talking to the boy, they don’t find out why he is special (or glowing when Falgrieg looks at him) for that matter. The boy just knows that he doesn’t remember anything from over a month ago, the village elders are extremely scared of him, and that according to him, his name is Goske. Though he doesn’t remember, he had been told he was just a normal orc kid up until a month ago.
Rafe and Tars make peace over the incident that caused Rafe to flee their home. Rafe states he has no desire to return and has no blame for Tars, though he does say he will kill Tar’s father if he ever sees him for the insult given. Rafe also offers Tars a spot on his ship. Tars declines for now, he had some unfinished business back in the fishing villages, however, if Rafe is to come around again in the next year or so, look him up. Tars may just join him.
Once back, Dame Huwandra meets them and takes custody of the boy orc. Thanking the party and giving the party some parting gifts as rewards for their service, she departs with Falgreig and Graykar and heads back to Chrailis.
Sir Lantry stays behind. As soon as the party leaves town, he casts a mindwipe spell on Tars. While Tars forgets the entire mission, he is a little more at ease about the absence of Rafe and his inability to find his blood brother. As part of the spell, Tars imagination fills in the holes of where he has been for the last few weeks and how he obtained some of the cool new gear he has.
Once back in Chrails, Dame Huwandra in turn casts a memory wipe on Graykar and Falgrieg. No one must ever know that Goske has come to Chrailis.

Report Date

12 Mar 2018