"Go get 'em. They stand no chance!" Amira cheers the troupe on.
Ivan follows after Daseem, not wanting to let him get too far ahead.
The ogrekin flees but there is not much room to go to. It decides to try it's luck with a jump off the wall. It lands below in the moat, beneath the orcs, who use the opportunity to pay these a#$!~&@s for all the times they shot from the wall.
Menrozzar dropped his hammer and pulled out his longbow, firing an arrow at the fleeing ugly.
Bupkis follows his friends, and then looks down to see where the jumper ended up. He waves at the orcs!
One of the orcs gives Bupkis a thumbs up.
The little goblin tells his friends, "Bupkis heard dwarven down below somewhere! Could be Ingrahild's brother?"
Daseem raises one eyebrow, "D'ya t-think?"
He bellows out, "Ingrahild's b-brother, where are ye?!" he then strains to hear any reply.
Daseem hears a voice, but can't make out what it says. Following it, and calling again and again, he backtracks to the first tower finally sees someone short, sturdy and dirty, down in the moat .
Daseem waves to try and get their attention before asking the others, "Ye got a r-rope? Could lower it and h-haul 'im up."
Menrozzar looks at Daseem, then pulls a rope out of his pack and hands it to Daseem.
Bupkis says to his friends, "Not good spot to go down rope, unless orcs are friendly! Safer to go back to secret entrance we come in, and walk along moat. Or we go down stair in last tower, and cross drawbridge into gatehouse. "
He doesn't bring up the idea of himself flying over to Ingrahild's brother, because going alone seems really dangerous!
Daseem looks at Bupkis and back to Menrozzar and shrugs, "If n-not friendly, Dey have conversation with my s-sword?"
Bupkis takes the lead through the labyrinth of corridors, stairs and doors. On the way he remembers the chamebr with all the secret doors. One of them leads outside of the fort. Which would be much shorter und less stinky than going through the sewer again.
And so the group quickly finds their way to the moat, or more precise, into the colorful tent of the chief of the orcs. Through a tapestry hanging on the rear wall of his tent.
The pockmarked orc general in heavy armor is surprised but his looks change to calculating immediately.
"Ah, the infiltrators. I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Didn't think you're bold enough to come directly to me."
He doesn't get up from his 'throne', but picks up his blade.
Bupkis is ready to fight the orcs, but he thinks there might be divisions between the orcs and the giants, and wonders if they could take advantage of that somehow. He asks the general, "Why orcs camp down here in moat, where degenerates shoot from walls at them for fun? Giants not allow them in castle?"
"They think they are something better. I might accept that from giants. From strong ones like Grensledek. But not from those s$@&ty ogres. Where is Grenseldek these days to show them their place. If she doesn't I'll show them myself!" the orc boasts, hitting with his fist on his armored breast.
Daseem notices, that this orc wears the insignia of the Lord in Iron.
Bupkis tells the orc general, "We kill Grenseldek, so she can't do that anymore. So now up to you!"
There might be diplomatic opportunities in this situation, but Bupkis is faster than all and blurts out what is, without any thought for tactics.
The orc general narrows his eyes. "What do you want here at the fort?" he inquires while getting up, raising to an impressive size.
Menrozzar speaks, ”To ensure Trunau is no longer threatened by the Twisted Hearts tribe. How we accomplish that mission is more malleable.”
"Then go on and finish what you have started! Root out the ogres. I'll send Droja with you. She knows the ways around the fort."
He calls for Droja and a half orc woman comes into the tent a moment later.
Daseem eyed the orc longing to test his mettle against such a foe. Every time the Orc puffed himself up Daseem's grin seemed to grow. This didn't change when he noticed the insight of Our Lord in IRON although that did complicated things. He probably couldn't just attack, could he?
As he was thinking of such things the conversation moved on and with a start he realised the prospect of a fight was almost gone. But then the meaning of the Orc's words filtered through to his brain and with savage glee he cried, "In GORUM'S name we bring them WAR!"
"YEAH!" the orc hollers back, raising his two handed sword onehanded into the air.
Bupkis introduces himself to Droja, "Me Bupkis!"
He says to the others, "Let's go get Umlo!" He hopes it's Umlo, Igrahild missing brother that Daseem saw by the gatehouse. He leads the way along the moat.
A smile sneaks on Droja's face at the mentioning of Umlo. General Karrguk doesn't recognize the name.
"I'll lead you. Come." Droja tells and leaves the tent. She leads the group along the moat to the bit doors in the palisade.
Behind Karrguk comes out of his tent and calls his orcs to the weapons. As it gets clear that you want to have the dwarf, Karrguk shouts "You can have the mens toy, once the battle is over!"
Droja's smile disappears.
Ivan mutters the whole time, knowing better than to open his mouth, due in part to the stream of pure golden curses that would come out in regards to the orcs. Maybe he should have, surely the orcs would have enjoyed the colorful language chosen if nothing else. As it is, he merely keeps his shield and hammer ready, and his eyes twitching from left to right waiting for one of the green meatbags to give him enough to reason to crush something. He doubts any real agreement will be struck, but, if they can convince the orcs to fight the ogres, less work for them... less fun too though.
SO, he finally mutters under his breath to Menrozzar.
What exactly be yer plan? Otha' than gettin' tha' poor dwarf free O this s$@!e hole?
Menrozzar mutters back, "I expected him to mock us and attack us, not give us someone to assist us in killing ogres. Let's get the orcs to kill ogres, then we'll see if we have to finish off the orcs, as well."
Looking at Karrguk, Menrozzar nods, then turns to Droja and says, "Lead us to the best way to catch ogres unaware."
The orcs come with a plank and put it up to the guarded bridge between the barbican and the fort. As the bridge is guarded by orcs, it is no obstacle.
Droja leads on into the yard. "There are the giant's pets. Maybe take care of them first?" She points to a den with dire wolves inside .
Bupkis asks Droja, "We need to fight wolves? Or can they be locked in?"
The large wolves are in the pen, which is locked for a wolf. Not locked for creatures with opposing thumbs.
Menrozzar looks at the wolves, then says, "Are there any giants nearby to let them loose? If not, I'd rather we skip them, and circle back to take care of them. Your chieftain doesn't want to try and tame them to make them your pets?"
"Has someone a chain and a lock?" Amira asks.
Droja looks at you with her milky eyes. "There could be, from where they usually move about. I can't tell if there are now."
Bupkis replies to Amira, "Bupkis doesn't bring lock or chain." He looks around for signs of giants.
Daseem shrugs and wipes his sword with a rag. He didn't see the point in fighting the wolves or letting them loose. Amira's suggestion of a lock wasn't such a bad idea but they only had rope. Suddenly he stared at Menrozzar before suggesting uncertainly, "Use R-Rope?"
"Just anything that makes it hard to let them out. But rope won't help with that. Even I could undo that with a knife." Amira replies.
"Where have you been already? You told you killed Grenseldek. And I heard, you threw the ugly cripple ogre off the wall. Where else have you been? Met the butcher?" Droja asks.
"We also killed three manticores, a couple hill giants, and a few ogres, one of whom was a mage of some kind. He and two others doing some kind of ritual over a corpse that had this signet ring and chain of office." Menrozzar shows the ring and chain.
"There is a giant in the kitchen. The orcs hate that one. He butchers everything that isn't a large creature and puts it in the food. If you go through the mess hall you'd meet him." Droja suggests.
She leads up to the entrance and opens the door for you. A giant table spans the entirety of this long room. A headless, fire-blackened horse torso, eviscerated from throat to navel, lies atop the table. The hollow carcass is stuffed with an even more macabre offering of charred humanoid arms, complete with crisp and curled fingers reaching in vain for salvation.
As if this disgusting view wasn't enough, something moves inside. The filling of the horse is pushed out by a hand that is large even for a giant. A hand that moves on its own without an arm and creature attached to it. Its color is a sickly brownish green.
Bupkis declares, "That giant must be responsible for cannibalism haunt! That evil must be stopped!"
He follows Droja to the mess hall and looks inside at the horrifying sight there. "Ugh, disgusting!", he cries, and shoots a crossbow bolt at the grotesque hand.
As soon as Bupkis opens fire, the door to the next room flies open and a giant wearing a bloody apron wielding a butcher's cleaver comes through.
He storms up to bupkis and swings the tool at him.
The sight upon the table is rather macabre, as is the hand that suddenly pushes out of the horse. Menrozzar finds the whole thing rather disgusting and savage.
Then the butcher comes out. Deciding that the giant with a cleaver is a greater threat than a hand, Menrozzar steps up and swings his hammer at the giant as his body morphs into a more draconic form.
The butcher isn't impressed with Menrozzar's skill. His thick skin and the fat below just take the blow, wobbling, without a scratch.
Daseem grins like a loon when the butcher comes into view. He growls, "GorrrRRRRUUUMM!" before wading into battle! Drawling alongside Menrozzar, Daseem suddenly flicks his sword out aiming to lop something off the blood stained giant.
Daseem's reach is not a big as that of Menrozzar. For that he runs into the cleaver of the large creature. But unfazed, he stabs his blade into the fat guys intestines.
Ivan bellows out a war cry in dwarvish as he rumbles as graceful as a boulder after Daseem right into the giant. His hammer swinging upwards straight at the giants softer bits between the legs.
The resounding splooch sound is heartening and Ivan lets out a bellowing laugh. BWAHAHA! I got ta' make sure tha' spirits O' those ye wronged feel rightfully avenged! BWAHAHA
The giant is badly hurt by the hammer blow.
The hand crawls near and grabs for Ivan.
The giant takes his cleaver in both hands and cleaves right through all those lined up, only to have his weapon stopped by Ivan's shield.
Menrozzar roars as he swings the hammer at the ogre again.
The giant would be offended, if he knew Menrozzar thought of him as an ogre. But as he doesn't and the puny human fails to hurt him again, he doesn't care.
Bupkis cries, "Evil butcher, now we stop you!" He focuses the power of aether, winds up, and punches at the giant's leg, but misses.