Revival of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

Colvyn's swings impact the ogre's armor, leaving it unharmed. On the other hand, his dismissive taunt has the ogre snarling in frustration and anger. It bellows "I'll crush you, squeaker!" and rears back to strike again.

|||| INIT ||||
Colvyn
Flo (46 dmg, prone)
Kargas (18 dmg, see invis)
Kellek (9 dmg)
Kaven (4 dmg)
Guiness (77 dmg)
Red Ogre (64 dmg)

"Guiness, you should go help Colvyn! I think I've still got the magic with Flo, if they hit me she'll get hurt worse too... I'll be right behind you."

If I am reading the map correctly, Kargas, you are already adjacent to the ogre...

Nodding, Guiness releases his defensive stance and moves to attack the remaining ogre. Assuming he survives the inevitable AOO, He wearily but determinedly aims Dragonfist at the base of his foe’s spine.

Dragonfist Attack with Fatigue: 1d20 + 15 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 15 - 1 + 1 = 32
Dragonfist Damage: 1d8 + 9 + 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (4) + 9 + (2) - 1 = 14

AC 28 due to dex penalty from fatigue. Blooded trait gives +1 attack versus giant types

Thanks for spotting that! I started to have Kargas move and attack, then remembered the AoO and Shield Other and would hate to accidentally kill Floredana :( I've moved the token back now.

Flo shifts uncomfortably. "Soon? What do you mean soon? How soon? What's going t-"

Before she manages to finish her questioning, she's launched with a blur back into the waking world, sucking in a huge gulp of air. "WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN SOON?!" she shouts in anger, smacking her fists against the floor.

"Thank you, Kellek," she whispers as she manages to process her current orientation. "At least the swing that put me down was aimed for me, right?" she says weakly. Her hand swirls with butterflies as she waits for someone to strike the remaining Ogre.
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Readied Luck on whoever moves in on this oaf! Then you can make a lucked Acrobatics to avoid AoO too ;)

Guiness, just moved your token in. I'll assume Flo's readied luck hits you after your attack, so it'll apply the next round.

Giving up on the ratfolk for now, the ogre tries to batter the dwarf into submission instead. But his strikes are knocked aside and deflected by the weary Guiness, much to the ogre's frustration.

|||| INIT ||||
Colvyn
Flo (46 dmg, prone)
Kargas (18 dmg, see invis)
Kellek (9 dmg) x2
Kaven (4 dmg)
Guiness (77 dmg, luck)
Red Ogre (78 dmg)

Thanks, I was posting from my phone, and trying to move Guiness' icon was quite problematic.

Deflecting heavy blows, Guiness grips his hammer tightly and tries to take down this remaining foe with a set of Desna-blessed Dragonfist strikes to each side of the beast's ribcage and a steel headbutt aimed right at its solar plexus!

Dragonfist Primary Attack with Fatigue and Blooded: 1d20 + 15 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 15 - 1 + 1 = 22
Dragonfist BOL Primary Attack with Fatigue and Blooded: 1d20 + 15 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 15 - 1 + 1 = 29
Dragonfist Damage with Fatigue: 1d8 + 9 + 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (6) + 9 + (5) - 1 = 19

Dragonfist Secondary Attack with Fatigue and Blooded: 1d20 + 10 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 10 - 1 + 1 = 13
Dragonfist BOL Secondary Attack with Fatigue and Blooded: 1d20 + 10 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 10 - 1 + 1 = 12

Steel Headbutt Attack with Fatigue and Blooded: 1d20 + 8 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 8 - 1 + 1 = 12
Steel Headbutt BOL Attack with Fatigue and Blooded: 1d20 + 8 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 8 - 1 + 1 = 12

Colvyn takes another step back next to Kargas. Looking at the ogre, he pulls an arrow from his quiver. "Squeaker? Really? Even your insult are weak." He looks at the table and back at the ogre. "Oh I get it now. You're not a warrior, your a waiter. That's why they hid you here. You serve the food to the real fighters."

Longbow1: 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 13 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 - 2 = 23
Longbow2: 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 13 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 - 2 = 21
Longbow3: 1d20 + 8 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 8 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 - 2 = 29
Longbow3, crit?: 1d20 + 8 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 8 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 - 2 = 12
Damage1: 1d6 + 4 + 1 + 4 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 1 + 4 + 2 + (4) = 18
Damage2: 1d6 + 4 + 1 + 4 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 + 4 + 2 + (2) = 14
Damage3: 1d6 + 4 + 1 + 4 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 1 + 4 + 2 + (1) = 17

Current Buffs: Holy Strike, Shield of Faith, Cat's Grace.
Ac at 26

A solid strike from Guiness followed by a pair of precisely aimed arrows from Colvyn are just enough to deal the final mortal blow to the last ogre. He falls to his knees, a final weak insult against Colvyn on his lips, but loses consciousness before he can sling in. With a thud, he falls and bleeds out.

Combat Over!

As you catch your breaths, you can hear the fight in the courtyard against the shocker lizards dying down as well. While you've clearly cut down some of the ogre clan's most powerful warriors here on the top floor, there's likely many more ogres still at large below. There's no sound yet to suggest that any of them are coming up the stairs.

Sagging in relief, Guiness drops the flaming warhammer on its head and leans on it heavily, only realizing by the smell that he is burning the most recent ogre kill after a few moments.

"Well, that didn't go as well as it could have, but we seem to still be alive. Shall we take a quick breather and heal up, maybe pick up any obviously useful items from our defeated foes before resuming the fight?" he suggests.

Searching the bodies/Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27

"Hey Flo, how're you feeling? Those were some pretty mean bruisers we just handled. Hopefully the bosses around here--but I'm pretty sure the ogre-sorceress wasn't 'Lucretia' so best to assume there's more heavy hitters around. I'm okay to press on if you lot are."

Flo groans. "Maybe if someone would dodge every now and then..." she quips back with a wink. "Colvyn, if you wouldn't mind helping me, we can get back to all of this faster," she asks, gesturing at the bloody remains.
________

Kellek takes a few rounds to look over the possible loot.

Of course Colvyn will help with the healing.

Smiling at Floredana's comments, Colvyn pokes the big guy. "I told you a while ago to invest in a good armor." He then looks at Guiness as he is being healed. "Then again, it doesn't always help."

After the healing is all done, Colvyn resists the idea of looking out of the window. "So, I know I still have a lot of fight left in me, but my ressources are starting to run low. What's the next part of the plan?"

Are we planning a charge out of the fort like the dwarves in the Hobbit?

The team scatters for a short bit to gather up the assorted loot, before Flo settles in to restore the party's wounds. (Yep Flo, your channel did go off earlier.)

As part of searching the bodies, Guiness briefly looks into the southern room that the ogress mage was hiding within. The walls of that room are decorated with finely crafted longswords, stuffed animal heads, and a map of the Hook Mountain environs. A large oak table surrounded by several chairs has been smashed to splinters, and an immense bed has similarly been ruined. An open cabinet that once contained several bottles of wine has been crushed as well, and broken bottles and the faint scent of wine lingers around its ruins.

Thanks to Guiness' sharp eye, he notices that the wine cabinet isn't as deep in its shelves as it should be. A brief examination after that reveals a hidden compartment in the back of the cabinet that he's able to open. Inside, he finds a flat wooden coffer, carefully engraved a pattern of flowers, a pair of soft green leather boots, and a tiny jewelry box.

Kellek is easily able to identify the boots as a pair of Boots of the Mire.

You're able to restore your wounds over the course of the next minute, and take your time identifying the items, without any interruption from below.

Guiness will show the others what he found. He also responds to Colvyn, saying, ”I think better tactics for the moment would be to clear the fort room by room and floor by floor, keep the battles small where we can have a numerical advantage. Then if the courtyard is all that is left, we either head out for a bigger battle or just rain arrows down on them from above until they get the hint.”

What bonus was the belt of giant strength?

"Without their leader, though, I can't imagine they'd be able to muster up much of a counterattack if we escaped the way we came in and rested for the night," Flo adds. "Might even have some deserters, lose a few to infighting, etc. too!"
________
Without a sign that we've dealt with Lucretia, I think any more fights that aren't against her will only make the fight against Lucretia harder via drained resources. I say we keep heading to the top and hope we find her next! If we tackle the rest of the Ogres below us, we'll probably have to rest before fighting her and at that point she might flee or just bring the fight to us, knowing we're likely at our lowest point.

”Well, there is a tower we haven’t explored yet. If we keep going up, perhaps we will find her, or at least find a highly defensible resting location,” suggests Guiness.

Suggesting we do this level, then keep moving up, taking the tall tower.

"Well we came from the bottom so working our way up makes the most sense. If we need to we can use magic to escape a mob of ogres that tries to storm the tower after us. Probably better than trying to sleep here."

Once the healing is done, Kargas claims the Headband of Charisma for himself but ignores the rest (unless it needs to be carried).

Second Guiness' suggestion.

Moving towards the unopened door to the south, Kargas listens carefully but doesn't open it until the others confirm they're ready.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

Renewing his grip on his shield and hammer, Guiness wills Dragonfist into flame again, then steps up next to Kargas and nods. ”Sorry about the...ah, misunderstanding before. I was under the influence of the ogre’s spell. Proceed when you are ready.”

Belt was a Belt of Giant's Strength +2

After a brief discussion and time for Kargas to confirm that the room to the south is quiet, you open the southern room. This awkwardly shaped chamber has definitely seen better days. Wood and glass cases around the room lie in ruins, their contents scattered across the floor. These cases once held large and detailed maps of the region and beyond, but most are now torn, shredded, missing, or sporting disgusting snot-stains. You do find a few that appear to still be intact.

One depicts a network of smuggler's tunnels beneath Riddleport (worth 50gp). Another details the first few subterranean levels of an ancient fort called Viperwall (worth 400 gp to an interested party). And one last valuable one plots safe paths through the hazardous toxic swamps of the Lurkwood (worth 750 gp to an interested party).
---

You also open the chamber to the north from the meeting room. This storage room still holds various tools for building and repairing fortifications, but its most striking feature are the three corpses hanging upside down from the rafters. Buckets have been placed beneath each body, and each bucket is filled to the brim with partly congealed blood. A door to the north-east seems to provide access to the tower.

"It's always something..." Flo mutters with ample disgust, staring at the floor. She slowly makes her way to the next door. "We'll give them a proper burial on the way down," she promises, checking up on how Kaven is faring.
________
Sense Motive vs Kaven: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (10) + 15 = 25

"I forgive you, Guiness," Kargas tells the dwarf before opening the door. He looks the maps over briefly but the hanging corpses cause his lips to peel back in a snarl. "Black magic? Necromancy?" He looks to Kellek and Floredana for confirmation.

Are we planning a charge out of the fort like the dwarves in the Hobbit?

I was thinking Butch and Sundance, as otherwise we will need a few giant goats, but that's fine. That or going up. Being low on his most destructive spells he isn't particularly interested in continuing the exploration, until he's had time to rest and recoup.

Thanks to Guiness' sharp eye, he notices that the wine cabinet isn't as deep in its shelves as it should be. A brief examination after that reveals a hidden compartment in the back of the cabinet that he's able to open. Inside, he finds a flat wooden coffer, carefully engraved a pattern of flowers, a pair of soft green leather boots, and a tiny jewelry box.

"Ah, as usual your eye can always be counted upon to suss out the mysteries concealed in any wine cabinet." Kellek says to the dwarf. "What's that?" Kellek can ID the locket hair with a Take 10.

or if needed Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

"Nymph's hair."

Kellek eagerly looks over the discovered items. He looks down the length of the wand, racks it once, and stuffs it into his belt like a boarding gun. He puts the new potion of serious healing into his case to replace the one he used upon Flo... unless someone else wants it. He also angles for the boots of the mire (for personal comfort reasons and to figure out how they fit into a jewelry box) and the ring of protection +1. He's meh about the potion, and the ring (it's nice), but will fight for the boots and wand once he has had time to memorized summon huge gladiatorial monster IV.

He looks at the ogress's headband, and the late ogress herself with a bit of disgust. "Sorcerers."

He tosses the natty headband to Kargas "Here." before looking through the maps.

"The 'toxic swamps of Lurkwood'. Interested Kargas?" Kellek says and looks inquiringly at Kargas.

He looks the maps over briefly but the hanging corpses cause his lips to peel back in a snarl. "Black magic? Necromancy?" He looks to Kellek and Floredana for confirmation.

"Who knows. Sorcerers like that monster in the hall rarely write anything down. They might just be dinner."

Wrinkling his nose at the additional display of butchery, Guiness moves into the room and towards the tower door. "Do you want to keep leading, Kargas, or shall we let Colvyn take a look at the door first?"

"I doubt there's any traps there but a sweep can't hurt." Kargas answers Guiness with a shrug.

"The 'toxic swamps of Lurkwood'. Interested Kargas?" Kellek says and looks inquiringly at Kargas.

"No? Should I be?" the half-orc gives the wizard a puzzled frown.

Kaven looks queasy as he looks up at the bodies hanging from the rafters. Flo interprets his gaze as distressed but putting on a brave face. Most likely he wasn't close to any of the three hanging here, but he recognizes them at the very least.

Neither Kellek nor Flo see any obvious signs from the storage room that would suggest necromancy, but there are plenty of foul rituals that call for fresh blood - both magical and purely superstitious.

Colvyn vs. traps: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21

Colvyn examines the door to the tower for any traps and doesn't spot any, leaving Kargas free to open the way forward. The tower beyond is largely empty except for a rickety set of stairs spiraling up the interior to another floor twenty feet up.

You take the short climb up and enter into a circular chamber that once served as watchtower and belfry. A cracked bell hangs from a huge oaken frame that takes up most of this chamber's upper half. The ringer has been removed and replaced with an upside-down dead Black Arrow, a steel helm strapped tightly to his skull. A broken worktable and three chairs sit below, stained with the dead man's blood. The watchtower has arrow slits along its full circumference, looking out toward the cliff wall to the north west, and the lands surrounding the fort to the east and south.
---

While you're up in the tower, you start to hear the sounds of ogres downstairs more clearly. All is relatively quiet until you hear a panicked bellow. Those of you who can understand giant recognize "Pappy Jaagrath! The Pappy's dead! Someone killed him!" The bellow is followed by a rising hubbub as more giants respond to the call for alarm.

To be clear, at least some of these voices are coming from the floor you were just fighting on, while others are echoing up from the ground floor.

"Up, up, up! Even if we get cornered, fighting Ogres in a narrow tower is going to be a lot easier than somewhere they have room to maneuver," Flo urges.
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If we have to make a hasty escape, Flo has scrolls of Fly and Dimension Door. She could take two other people with her, likely the two who'd have the hardest time making possible fly checks (thinking Guiness and Kaven?).

Guiness moves up and prepares to take a defensive position at the top of the stairs. He looks out the arrow slits to get an idea of what the situation in and around the keep is like.

"You could sure use your bow to good effect from a room like this, Colvyn," says the dwarf, taking in the arrow slits all around the circumference. "I'll stay here and hold the top of the stairs against any ogres following from below," he adds.

Don't see the top of the stairwell in the top floor of the tower, but that's where Guiness wants to stand.

The stairwell rises up and then has a ladder up through a trap door to the watchtower. Its that square in the SW corner of the room.

Looks like we have two votes for staying up in the watchtower. Note that the watchtower only has arrow slits - no openings for small or medium creatures to fly away from it. Are you guys closing the trap door or leaving it open to be able to more clearly hear the ogres searching about downstairs?

Thanks for the explanation! We could also try to hold the watchtower lower floor (with the 20 foot stairwell) if we wanted to use the door to box them in and Kargas and Guiness attack them in melee if we think it would be too awkward with trap door.

"Heh. They found the big guy's corpse." Kargas hangs back to make sure the others get up, bringing up the rear in case any ogres are in close pursuit.

Is there some sort of roof access hatch at the top floor? My reasoning is that mundane repairs or maintenance would have been needed from time to time.

Good thought Kargas, lets say there is a roof access hatch, but its from the supply room (the room with the hanging bodies).

Guiness would prefer to keep his feet on the ground and bottle up the searching ogres at a doorway, but he is open to suggestions, especially if they are in danger of being overwhelmed.

"Hmm, let's hold the trapdoor, I can widen one of those arrowslits enough for us to get out of here if we need to."

”Sounds good. We might be able to rig the stairwell to collapse if we have the time too,” adds Guiness, looking at Colvyn.

Resolving to hold at the trap door, you all climb up into the watchtower. With the trap door cracked open, you can hear the shouts of ogres as they begin aggressively investigating the situation on the top floor. More dismayed and angry shouts rise as they discover the fallen spellcaster "Someone got Dorella too! She's dead!" and then rising panic as they find two of their lesser leaders dead as well.

It doesn't take much intuition to tell the crowd of ogres discovering these "murders" have been shaken by the deaths. There's some audible posturing from the most prominent voices - signs that they might already be trying to work out who the next chief is and restore what passes for order in an ogre clan. But by and large, the tone right now is only a couple of steps away from outright panic.

None of the ogres have yet wandered into the tower leading up to the watchtower, but its likely a matter of minutes before they investigate in this direction too.

"We could rush 'em. Kill a few, make the rest panic, if they flee the fort they'll be a lot less dangerous."

”If they are grouped and we can bottle them up so they can’t surround us, that might work very well if we have some area attack support from our casters,” suggests Guiness, looking at Floredana and Kellek.

"I don't have any magic of the sort, but I agree that if we can spook them hard enough, we might be able to avoid a fight altogether!" Flo says.
________
That'd be pretty clutch! Hit them hard, maybe a few intimidate checks? I'm down to try it!

While you're up in the tower, you start to hear the sounds of ogres downstairs more clearly. All is relatively quiet until you hear a panicked bellow. Those of you who can understand giant recognize "Pappy Jaagrath! The Pappy's dead! Someone killed him!" The bellow is followed by a rising hubbub as more giants respond to the call for alarm.

To be clear, at least some of these voices are coming from the floor you were just fighting on, while others are echoing up from the ground floor.

I knew I should have put a knife in one of the dead lizards hands before leaving.

{Heavy sigh} "Excellent. We've backed ourselves into a corner."

Kellek listens at the trapdoor. waiting to hear what the remaining ogres are up to. He speaks Giant too if it comes to it.

Colvyn pulls an arrow from his quiver and nods at the group. "Let's kill some more ogres!"

As you're talking the giants continue investigating the top floor. You hear one knock over a bucket of blood in the store room. From the grunts and annoyed calls from other ogres, you think at least a pair of them are currently approaching.

I've added the two ogres to the map. If you'd like to jump into action and attack, you can assume you have a surprise round to do so, since the ogres don't know about you.

Two ogres is a bit 'meh' for Kellek--but TWELVE OGRES, well, now we're talking! Kellek waits until he has more targets, or they do something he has to react to.

Colvyn pulls an arrow from his quiver and nods at the group. "Let's kill some more ogres!"

"By all means." Kellek says and gestures toward the ogres below.

”I’m not particularly fast, so I’ll open the trapdoor and you guys can lead the attack. Leave me a space up front to defend once I get there,” says Guiness as he lights up his hammer.

When the others are ready, he uses his surprise round turn to open the trap door for the others.

"Guiness, if you and Colvyn can kill them I'll be with you in a second." Kargas draws his adamantine longsword and starts sawing a wider gap into one of the arrow slits facing out towards the wilderness.

I'm not sure how long that will take, but it's good to have an escape route!

If someone else can open the trap door, Guiness will start heading down the steps and Colvyn should be able to take a shot, assuming we position ourselves properly...

Flo gives everyone a nod and swings the trapdoor open!
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ATTTTTACK! :D

If the ogres don't immediately notice the opening trap door, Guiness waits for Colvyn to take his shot, then moves down the stairs (20' single move as his action in the surprise round). If they do notice, he heads down as soon as he can react in the surprise round.

Guiness moves down the steps as far as his short legs can carry him, his sturdy shield and a Flaming Dragonfist at the ready.

I'm guessing that all my min/level buff have expired by now?

Walking down the stairs, Colvyn uses his last fervor to increase his fighting prowess. Once he got one of the ogre in sight, he sends one of his arrow flying.

Longbow: 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 13 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 2 = 28
Damage: 1d6 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 4 = 19

Divine favor as a free action.