GM Ukyo's Rise of a Hero campaign arc

Game Master Ukyo

Ok then, I'll assume your going to leave on the 3rd the day after Tertius leaves.

Will you take any guards with you? Essen wants to go, he'll even go so far as to beg to go.

The trip to the sawmill is uneventful, you'll get there to find things running very well, the two militia guards are performing regular circuits and the orcs still keep axes nearby just in case. Photius Remus, the foreman, has learned a bit of orcish and they've learned a bit of caratosian, they've melded it into a adlib sort of language that works for them. The sawmill needs some stone and quite a bit of iron for final repairs but is otherwise in excellent condition and producing well. It looks like Photius has even managed to get the minotaur to take a bath.

Yeah, he'll take Essen with him.

No, with Grush and Essen I think he'll be fine.

Grush will check in with the orc he left in charge and upon finding everything ok you'll move on. About a day north along the river you'll come to a fording spot where orcs are pushing the logs into the water that are being caught by the sawmill. There are about sixty orcs here and twice that many goblins, all with stone axes. The goblins cut limbs off the trunks and then the orcs drag them down to the water. Immediately you can see ways they can improve the system with some rune enhanced brass axes for cutting and cleaning the logs, and wagons and mules for moving the logs to the water. Grush will ford the river and talk to the orcs there as well, especially when several of them draw weapons at seeing you. It won't take long though and they'll return to work. "They ok now, we go." and Grush starts into the forest.

He'll just nod and follow.

The trees don't hinder your movement hardly at all, the lowest branches are higher than your reach and the undergrowth is almost nonexistent, consisting of dirt and flat lying leaves. Grush pushes through without concern, occasionally stopping to look at a tree before continuing on. You won't see any markings on the trees he stares at. After about an hour you'll encounter a tiny stream maybe three feet thick, "Good clean water, come out of mountain this time of year, good for drinking." and Grush will stop to fill up his waterskin.

Over the next two weeks Grush sets a fast walking pace, you and Essen are at the top of physical fitness however and have no problem maintaining it. You'll head steadily west by southwest, eventually coming to a well worn trail, "For hunters getting back" The terrain will get more hilly as you go, followed by occasional outcroppings of rocks. The path will turn into a narrow furrow cut between high rocks after about a week. None of this seems to bother Grush, his gait that of a man who was raised in these high hills. The first four days you'll sleep on the ground, but after that Grush always seems to find a cave just as night falls, each cave shows the signs of having been lived in but not well maintained. Grush will even comment, "Me getting soft, never thought smell so bad before."

At the end of the second week Grush will suddenly stop, his hands dropping to his brass runed gladius (Courtesy of Derbin), he stares ahead at seemingly nothing...

Titus will signal to Essen to stop, then will also get ready to draw...

Grush frowns, "Orcs not at post, no sign of fighting..." and he pauses a moment, thinking, "Fighting other side of village!" and he sprints forward down the trail, drawing his sword and unlimbering his shield without slowing down!

I'll assume you follow.

The trail whindes down the steep hill, rocks on either side four to eight feet high. After about 10 minutes of running you'll hear orcish battle cries. 2 minutes after that you'll break through the trees, Grush still in front of you, into a town of dirty tents and orcish women and children. The women don't wear shirts, leaving breasts exposed and nipples pierced with tiny bones, some just once and some many many times! The children all hold tiny goblin sized stone axes and the women knives carved of (you hope) animal bone. They huddle together in a gaggle formation and wait fearfully.

On the far side of the tent village there's a partial wall of wood, construction rudimentary and incomplete. Roughly twenty orcs with stone axes fill a gap in the wall battling more orcs trying to get in. Goblins on both sides dart in and out of the melee stabbing shins, ankles, and feet, when they can.

Grush charges towards the melee and as he passses the women and children a cheer goes up! He hits the line with a force of rage unlike any you've seen before, he really WAS holding back in training...

I will support Grush with any buffs I can cast, and include Essen and myself. We'll move in and tag team skirmish while Grush holds the focus. If there are archers, we'll harass them, with sword and spell.

You start weaving runes in the air, Bite of Brass on the three of you making your swords sharper and faster, then Runic Aegis creating a small defensive barrier on your skin which assists in deflecting blows, then you and Essen wade into the battle, the orcs attacking all have black splotches on their shoulders that look somewhat like spiders that allow you to easily identify the enemy.

The Black Spiders outnumber the Bearclaw fighters three to one, but the partial wall and the sheer force of Grush's charge has kept them outside the village. Essen darts left and right, crossing your path and back again without once interfering with your own tactics, a manuever the two of you have worked on several times. His blade deflects blows that would cleave him in two leaving the powerful orcs open to counters that he takes full advantage of.

You quickly realize that the fighting style of the orcs is the same as Grush's was when you first saw him fight, all offense and no defense at all. At first those around you get frustrated and more aggressive but as they realize the two of you are whirling blades of death they back off, attempting to avoid you... giving you a brief reprieve in the fight.

You see four goblins well behind the enemy lines jumping up and down around a fifth who's trying to light a torch. On the other end of the line you'll also see three orcs have broken through and are charging towards the females and children.

Grush is heavily engaged and unaware and unable to help either concern.

Titus will move off to defend the women and children, and he'l lcall out to Essen so he knows I won't be there.

The first orc dies unaware you were even there, the second spins in time to see his own death... The third managed one swing at a woman and then turns towards you, his eyes go wide and his body stiffens, then he crumples to the ground, an orc woman holding a bloody knife stands behind him.

You turn around to return to the fight and see smoke begin to billow from the wall... the goblins got the torch lit.

I'm pretty sure titus has create water, so I'll do so after fighting my way to a vantage point to do so...how's Essen doin?

You do have the spell Conjure Water, it creates a quart of water inside a non-living container or containers, base difficulty is 6 with the ability to take +3 DIF twice to increase the quantity by a quart each time. The spell's range is touch.

Essentially you can cast it to fill up a bucket, but you can't just cast it to have it rain over the wall (It was intentionally written to stop this sort of use actually, or someone using it to drown people).

The wall itself is catching fire quickly, the orcs didn't treat the wood against fire, they didn't think of that. The goblins are bouncing up and down running along the wall lighting as much as they can!

Essen is doing fine, he's created a wall of bodies to keep them from hitting him from behind, and despite his skill the black spiders can't get past his size and so they keep coming.

Grush isn't doing as well, he's fighting against an orc that's wearing actual armor not just furs and is struggling to hold his own.

Oh...when I used it in octad before the reboot of this story i cast it to slick cobblestones, not in a bucket...if you dont want it cast into ppls lungs specify you need line of sight. You cant see a person's lungs. If you have a high enough runes to see into a person's lungs, then it's fair play, i reckon. just my 2 cents.

Titus will force dagger (the level 2 magic missile) the orc fighting Grush, then flank the orcs essen is fighting.
He'll also burn spell points to enhance his 2 hander (his warlock ability)and go to serious work on the enemy orcs...play time is over.

The purpose was to remove or greatly reduce it's combat effectiveness, I failed you the last time when you used it to slick the floor that shouldn't have worked that way, my error.

You weave runes and they coalesce into a purple glowing dagger in your hands, you let it fly at the orc and it actually arcs around another that stepped in the way to slam unerringly into the chest of the orc who stares down at the blade in shock... a second later his head flies free as Grush's powerful swing slices clean through his neck.

What was hardly a challenge to begin with becomes even more so as your blade cleaves through orc flesh like a hot knife through wax... Essen pauses for a second to wipe blood from his forehead, not his own, and grins at you, then turns his attention to pushing the orcs back further...

A minute more and the black spiders realize their leader is dead and their morale breaks, they turn and run... most of the bearclaw orcs give chase at first, but Grush calls them back with a loud commanding noise similar to a growl.

As you look around, there are easily 100 bodies in a fairly tight area, and the wall is still on fire.

Titus will shout "Grush! Get me a bucket!" as he heads over to the burning wall...

Grush will give some orders to another orc who'll run into the village, then he turns and drops to his knees next to an old orc laying on the ground.

After a minute an orc will run back with a handful of cups and bowls, none of which is very large but together make up quite a bit. yes your spell will spread out among multiple containers at no extra DIF cost

At this point the wall is burning nicely.

Titus casts the understanding rune...
"I fill with water, you all dump on wall, put out fire!"
and Titus will begin filling the containers with water...

You begin casting and they all dive for cover, when the bowls and cups fill up and nobody dies they start glancing around, feeling stupid... then they'll comply dumping water on the wall.

It'll take you half an hour to put the fire out completely, half the wall will have collapsed and your pretty sure the remaining wall will need to be replaced anyway, but the village and forest didn't burn so that's something.

exhausted and completely out of spell points, you'll glance over and see Grush still kneeling beside the old orc with a belly wound, Essen stands next to him with his hand on his shoulder, providing silent comfort. Two women have bowls of water also and are trying to tend to the injuries but you can see from here they are too severe, without powerful healing magics he will die in a day, maybe two at most.

"Grush?" Titus will say quietly coming up. "Who is this?"

He lets out a wail very much akin to the bear totem they take as namesake, "Chief Drak... this Chief Titus of humans."

Your magic translates, and again when the old orc responds, "You fight good Chief Titus, kill many bla..." and he breaks off as he coughs and blood spittles from his mouth.

He'll bow. "Thank you, Chief Drak. I wish we meet before black spider attack. Grush respect you, so I do." To Grush, "He's beyond my healing Grush, I'm sorry."

Grush nods, Chief Drak reaches up and tries to pull off a bone necklace from around his neck, one of the women helps him, and he puts it in Grush's hand, "You chief..."

Grush shakes his head, "No, I bad chief, I build wall, make Black Spiders attack." Drak coughs again and more blood spittle, "No, you smart chief, you make Bearclaw stronger than Black Spiders."

Observes, and says nothing

Grush shakes his head, but Drak's face changes from pleading and pained to fatherly and disappointed, "Grush you do what need doing, you take chief, you don't let Drak die coward on back!"

Grush looks at him and for a second you think maybe Grush was injured, then his eyes harden and he nods. The two women back away and another orc comes in and lifts Drak up, holding him upright by his sheer strength because Drak's legs can't bare his weight. Grush pulls his brass rune-strengthened gladius and looks at it, shakes his head and tosses it into the dirt, someone places a orc bone knife into his hand and he looks down at it...

"Do it," Drak mutters through clenched teeth...

your chance to stop it is here if you wish to

Grush inhales and steps towards Drak, sliding the bone knife between his ribs and into his lungs, "You Chief I kill, now I Chief." he says in a ritual singsong...

Drak opens his mouth to speak and blood pours out, the light in his eyes die and the last thing he does is.... smile...

Grush staggers back and Essen catches him, the two sitting down in a heap... like a voice from the distance you hear a wail from every orc voice in the tribe except Grush... your magical translator repeats "Hurt, Love, Grief, Jubilation, Hope," over and over and you realize... you are hearing the heartsong of the Bearclaw...

He won't stop it...he won't interfere in orc tradition.

It'll be a minute before Essen pulls Grush to his feet, you can't help but appreciate that your 9 year old son is strong enough to lift a full grown orc warrior by himself. Everyone in the village able to walk lines up to bow and pay respect to the new Chief. Grush woodenly goes through the motions at first, then about half way through he stops, turning towards two orcs that were about to pick up the old chief, "No, Drak great chief, we honor him no throw him out like goblin s$++!" and he charges the first orc, knocking him to the ground and sending him sprawling, the second orc backs away his arms wide palms up, Grush just stares him down. Then Grush switches to Caratosian, "How humans honor dead?" and when you tell him he nods, "You do this for Grush? For chief Drak?"

"Of course I will."

And he does, explaining each step and it's significance.
Before lighting the corpse, he asks Grush to say things in remberance of Drak that honor him. After he is done he hands him the torch.

I figure we can use remnants of the wall to build a funeral pyre.

It makes sense, the poor burn their bodies, the rich and noble houses would intern their dead, but you wouldn't really think of that as the way to go, coming from humble backgrounds

He uses everything left from the wall and builds a large one, declaring Drak the best chief Bearclaw ever have!

Once the ceremony is done there's a feast in honor of the new chief. Grush looks as if he'd rather not, but even he can't flout tradition that much.

It's actually very good food, if simple... meat and apples.

After the meal Grush dismisses everyone so he can talk to you and Essen alone, "What Grush do now Titus? Black Spiders come back, bring more warriors, no more wall."

"Well, we could do a few different things. We could for a short while, stop production at the mill and bring what wood we have and just build another wall...or you could pack up your tribe and bring them back with us, and build homes for them there or nearer to there, closer. I don't know how attached you are to these lands."

Essen says, "Father, the farm closest to the sawmill is abandoned isn't it?"

Grush frowns, "Close to water, close to work, not so close to humans, but orcs not farmers..." He waves his hands to indicate everything around them, "Live here one generation, before that live over that way, Great orc tribes there make war on us, Drak bring us here, Black Spiders not as bad as over there." He gestures farther south.

"Orcs don't get..." he struggles for the right word, "handed things, we take things, no can be handed farm, must take farm." and he gives you a pained look, "Titus friend, no want take from Titus."

"hmm...Well, it seems Drak made some changes, maybe Grush should too? I know Bearclaw are not weak. You will lose no honor in my eyes."

He hangs his head for a minute then looks up at you, "Not worried about losing honor, worried about losing tribe." and he sighs, "If tribe think me weak, then many orcs challenge me, I have to kill, or be killed. Then tribe get smaller, none can kill me." he says the last not with pride but sadness...

"Well, I suppose the could come up with some elaborate ruse to get you that farm, but no matter what, I would be letting you take it. There's no one on it now, no one to take it from, and no one would try to win it back." He thinks a bit. "If the spiders come and theres no wall, then orcs will die. If you move everyone, then orcs may die. I am willing to help defend this or any other home you have Grush. If we need to quicken the building of the wall, then so be it, but if the wood isnt properly treated they will jsut burn it down over and over.
If I needed to make arrangements for all the wood to be brought here for a new wall, it's a long trip, and spiders may come back in that time. If it were me Grush, and it has been in the past, I would move my people now, to a more defensible position. Let them think they've won for now. Come back and crush them later. I don't understand all of the orc ways yet, Chief Grush, but I will stand by whatever decision you make."

Grush waits while a young female orc with no piercings brings in a large wineskin and some wooden bowls and pours you all drinks, Essen looks at you for confirmation that it's ok for him to drink.

Grush takes a drink and then glances down at the bowl in disgust, "Grush no want this! Orcs should be better!" and he looks at you, "We take farm, learn human ways, get stronger, smarter, better. Tribe will see!" and then he grins at you, as if the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders now that he's made a decision.

When you try some, the drink is a honey wine that needs about six more months of fermenting to be any good.

"Do you have a council or a group of elders that advise the chief? Is there anyone else we should talk to about this, or is the chief's rule absolute?"

"Chief have Shaman," he says, "Shaman advice chief, but only chief say rules, only chief..." and he growls a bit, "what is word for person who pay for mistakes?"

did you let Essen drink? Did you drink?

"Responsible?"

Titus will take a sip or two if it smells or tastes horrible.
He'll permit Essen the same, see how he handles it.

He frowns and nods, "Respectable... yes only the chief." and he sighs, "Only me.. I no want to be chief, but no one else do good for bearclaw..."

It does taste horrible, lowest quality you've ever had. Essen will drink, make a face, but will try it again, then set it down and push it aside. Grush grins at Essen, "It not all that bad, used to think this good, now it taste like..." he cocks his head to the side, "Piss water?"

He laughs.
"Yeah, Grush you'd think bears would make better honey drinks" he says with a smile.

He grins at you, "It would be good, if they didn't drink so much that they can't wait until it's ready. I had honey wine at your tavern and is good!"

Eventually he'll reach over and grab a stick and prop open the tent doorflap. Almost immediately an orc woman with three piercings on her breasts will come in and say something in orcish(your spell has expired and your unable to cast again for the rest of the day unless you pull from life energy, very dangerous)

He nods to her and she sticks her head out of the tent and yells something. When she turns around again she's holding a wash basin and she begins washing Grush's hands and feet. A minute later two young orc women, barely more than children, with no piercings, come in with similar bowls and kneel down in front of you and Essen. Essen's eyes go wide in surprise and embaressment as the woman starts to remove his boots, he pulls back and she says something to him that he clearly doesn't understand.

The woman kneeling in front of you also starts to remove your boots.

"Ummm...Grush? What's this?"

Grush grins, "My wife Dati," and he points to the woman in front of him, "And my daughters Melg and Lera," and he gestures first towards the woman kneeling before you and then before Essen. "She washes my feet to show respect to her husband and chief, they wash yours to show respect to you as my honored guests."

The orc women again try to remove everyone's boots.

"Ahh, ok then..."
He'll remove his boots, and nod to Essen to do the same.

And Essen will. Though you can tell he finds it very awkward to have someone wash his feet, he keeps trying to pull them away, but resists.

The orc woman in front of you smiles up at you shyly as she washes your feet, you'd put her at maybe 14 years old, she has small tusks that barely protrude and young perky breasts that are unpierced. Her skin is a light green color and it strikes you that in the tribe she must be seen as a fine catch. The two girls will talk quietly to each other while they work, it has the tone and tenor of gossip.

After they finish, they dry your feet with a soft rabbit skin rag and leave, taking the bowls with them. Grush will say something to his wife on her way out, she nods respectfully and leaves also.

Grush grins to you, "My daughters, they say Essen is handsome." Essen's motley collection of shades of bronze and greens make him unattractive by Tskra standards, so this comment turns his entire face bright red and he takes a long gulp from the horrible wine bowl. This of course causes Grush to burst into loud obnoxious fits of laughter.

Titus will laugh, then hug his son. "What eligible female wouldn't want such a fine young man as my Essen? Get used to it son!" he says with an obnoxious grin.

Essen will respond the way any healthy nine year old boy does... girls, gross!

the rest of the evening will be spent mixing relaxation with work, going over the details of how Grush will move his entire tribe. You'll tire early, a battle like the one you had tends to leave a man tired. Essen falls alseep right there, but you'll carry him to the tent set up for you.

The next morning you'll awaken to the sounds of battle, you rush from your tent to find the sounds aren't combat but that of the incredibly fast break down of their entire village... maybe you drank more than you thought!

Grush is already up and has things in an ordered sort of chaos, it doesn't take you long to see he's following the plan the two of you put together the night before, at least what you can remember of it.

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It'll take three weeks to get back to the river, villages move slower than three individual travelers.

Over that time several orc females will come to you, always to thank you for fighting for Bearclaw, and sometimes to offer you one of their daughters in marriage... Essen gets the same even despite his young age.

Titus will politely decline, and explain he is already spoken for.
Not trying to start a race of half-orcs :P
Titus will help with the packing and the trip...

Grush will eventually get on the women about it, and will tell you his wife promises it'll all stop. After that it does stop, though you'll occasionally catch a young orc female starring at you with a disappointed look on her face. The same is true for Essen.

When you arrive at the sawmill things are running smoothly, there's a big reunion between the orcs there and their families. You'll guide Grush to the abandoned farmstead and he'll nod, approvingly, "Better than the village we left." It still has plenty of houses for the old farm hands and they're intact.

The trip back to Verienus will be uneventful as well, when you arrive Tertius will already be back and you'll see the blacksmith's shop is almost finished the expansion. You'll arrive at the same time as one of your hippotis is delivering his taxes, you'll see three wagons of grains, with several large farm hands acting as guards, and several more unloading into one of the warehouses.

The Hippotis himself will be arguing with the Consigliere. As you approach he'll turn towards you, bowing far lower than your station warrants, his voice is nasal, "M'lord Komis, I assure you that the harvest requirements have been met, my men are seeing to the transfer to your warehouses as we speak, but your man here refuses to cooperate with me."

I only have one hippotis...is this guy a dominus?