Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs |
Fiendish dot.
EltonJ |
In the mountains bordering Sembia, you all find yourselves in an orcish stronghold. The people of the stronghold are sharpening their weapons, making new armors, and preparing their wargs for riding into war.
You are all gathered in order to be the vanguard, the special forces unit, to soften up the humans or to probe their strengths for war. Gathered at the orc village church you await for your time to go spread fear among the humans. You are just one of a group of warriors sent out to do damage. New and green, your time has come.
Thorjo of the Burning Death |
Trying not to think about how easily the wooden parts of this church could burn, Thorjo checks his equipment, weapons, and spellbook to make sure they are secured, available, and protected, respectively. He looks askance at his warg, which he considers a necessary evil. He doesn't trust a beast that would instinctively flee from an open flame, but that's what the warg trainers were for, supposedly.
"Are we prepared to deliver death today, brothers and sisters?" he asks the warriors standing nearby.
Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs |
Rauuskshalogh grunted in reply, tugging at the collar of his chain shirt. It was too damn hot in these lowlands. He punched Thorjo's shoulder in a semi-friendly gesture - half friendly, half annoyed at the wait, and at the heat.
"Let's make the human-meat cook, instead of us in this blasted sun," he grumped sourly. Spotting the others approaching, he sighed in relief, and elbowed Thorjo with an evil-looking grin, displaying a maw full of fangs. "Look who's coming. It's that kobold, and its keeper. Want to bet that the wargs eat it before we reach the first town?" He chuckled at his own joke.
He surveyed the group he was to set out with, thinking himself superior to them all. *No doubt they will need my leadership,* he thought smugly. He could almost taste the first shedding of blood in the human lands... by his arrows, of course.
Sorry about how annoying Rausk will be thinking. He is pretty full of himself.
Agatha Mystblame |
Agatha slides into to the room quietly, and takes stock of her companion’s. hmm, there is potential here. Even the kobold.
there will be much death before we are done, warrior. Let us make sure it is human death. The omens say there will be great battles, but little about who has the victory.
She adjusts her cloak, ignoring the heat. Her garments were black and gray, and she had a deep hood over her head, so that her eyes could be seen glinting in them. An amulet with a carved skull hung around her neck, along with a holy symbol of the orc mother. She smiles, her pointed teeth obvious.
It is good we have such strong warriors for the task. And a kobold.
Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs |
He's just a conceited bastard. That said, warchiefdom is something he dreams of, for that reason. After all, the human lands are large, and once they take Sembia, an orc generation later they'll be ready to take on the Dales or even Cormyr. Plenty of room to carve an orc kingdom out!
He'll gain some respect for the others once they strut their stuff, though. Maybe even resign himself to an Orcish Council. ;P
Ak'iss the Witless |
A tiny little green kobold comes skipping and jumping into the room excitedly. Her screeching voice comes out high pitched and fast, her orc accent surprisingly good for a creature so dim. "SwordFodderAk'issTheWitless reporting! Am I late?" Behind her prancing form, a sleek warcat prowls into the room, giving the kobold a tired look that seems to say, what now? It's armored plates move silently on its midnight-black form, an unusual quality in this breed of creature. The kobold appears to have adorned it in leather armor just like her own.
Ak'iss sidles up to Agatha and whispers, though it comes out shrill and not at all quiet. "Psst... Agatha... When do I get my sword?!"
Grumbar Bahgro |
A hulking orc walks in with a giant axe and sword strapped to him. He looks around for a moment before grumbling loudly, "Are these supposed to be my squad mates? The only one that looks worth anything is the one grey one over there and he's barely carrying a weapon Though he does look quite strong." Grumbar is obviously not impressed with most of the warriors before him. He paces around impatient to get going.
Thorjo of the Burning Death |
"The only one that looks worth anything is the one grey one over there and he's barely carrying a weapon."
"I am worth any thing, brother. I am worth many things!" Thorjo pounds his chest. "If you were to put a number to the many things I am worth, it would be a large number. Larger, even, then the number of humans that will die by orc hands in the days to come."
Thorjo points an accusatory finger at Grumbar. "I hope you make sure your worth is that of a large number of things, also! I do not wish to suffer meaningless boasting."
Agatha Mystblame |
later, ak'iss. Agatha whispers back.
She watched the obligatory boasting with hidden amusement. Warriors! Always checking to see who's better. Still, this is war. This could end in a duel, and that served none.
if you both are as good at fighting as boasting, then this war is as good as won. It is obvious you are both great fighters.
Grumbar Bahgro |
"Hmph, we will see won't we... UGH!! When are we going to leave!? My axe aches to draw Sembian blood." His impatience has got him in a sour mood.
I figure he was told where he came from and that gave him a big ego. I'm sure once we get a few fights under his belt he will quit being a jerk.
EltonJ |
"Awe there you are," says the chieftain. "Everyone gathered? Good. It is time for your first mission into human lands. The proud and haughty Sembians won't guess it is us coming when you take out two of their signal towers."
He pulls out a map of Sembia showing Sembia's signal towers. The Sembians depend on them for signaling orc raids into Sembian territory. You know that much.
"You will be joining other advance parties in taking them all out. For you, its just these two," the Chieftain explains. "Our warchief wants them to burn."
Gorthug |
Gorthug nodded, and then shifted his stance to make his oversized axe more comfortable. His tattoos and piercings clearly marked him as a Warpriest of Gruumsh. He looked at his companions with distaste. ”The only thing I hate more than weak pinkskins are braggarts. And as much as I hate to admit it...” Gorthug sneered at Grumbar. ”...the boastful one is right. We should leave soon, especially if other parties are also going out there to screw things up for us. When they loudly fall on their own spears, the humans will be sure to reinforce their defenses.”
Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs |
Rauusk watched Agatha calm the brewing fight with ease, and grudgingly admitted to himself that this band might not all be incompetent. Someone with her wisdom and ease of manipulation might be good to have as a councilor once he had wrested his kingdom from the humans.
***
"We will get it done," Rauusk rumbled, stepping forward before the chieftan. He slammed his chest with his fist. "I have experience moving through the pinkskins' lands. I have traveled far to join the Horde. I will lead them. The humans won't know what hit them until we're knee-deep in their blood, and their towers are ablaze."
He paused, then added, "But if the towers burn, the humans will still be warned. Better to simply destroy them, and kill the humans before they can give warning. Yes?" He cocked his head, waiting for the chieftan's word.
Don't worry, I don't expect anyone to actually listen to Rauusk. If the chieftan doesn't have any more info or equipment for us, let's get this show on the road!
Grumbar Bahgro |
When Grumbar sees Gorthug's axe he grins a toothy smile, "Finally another real warrior.". After noticing his accoutrements he says, mostly to himself, "And he's got a connection to father? This is going to be fun!
Grumbar looks at the map, making note of the roads and terrain. "Finally we have our targets! Come, lets move out!" His excitement is apparent in his voice.
Agreed!
Gorthug |
Looking at Grumbar, Gorthug sneered. ”We are all the children of Gruumsh. You just have the burden of being one of his miracles. You are no different from the spells that I cast. If I fall off the path, or presume Glory that belongs to him, then the orc-father will take away what he has given. Bear that in mind before you start thinking that it is you, and not Gruumsh, who has made you what you are.”
Yup...Gorthug has -1 diplomacy. Could you tell?
Agatha Mystblame |
Agatha stay silent, listening carefully to the chieftain's words, her sharp eyes alert. She winces at Thorjo's burn the land for miles comment. that one is a fool, or powerful. Maybe both.I should watch him.
When Gorthug shuts down the boastful grumash spawn, Agatha narrows her eyes. that one pulls no blows. But that was probably not the most politic thing to say. We just work together.
This task was going to be challenging. She smiled, face hidden in her hood. Good.
She nods at the chieftain's instruction, and asks when do you want this done? And how many defenders are there?
Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs |
"If the towers are set ablaze, won't that have the same effect as lighting their signal fires?" Rauusk pressed, convinced he was right.
EltonJ |
Agatha stay silent, listening carefully to the chieftain's words, her sharp eyes alert. She winces at Thorjo's burn the land for miles comment. that one is a fool, or powerful. Maybe both.I should watch him.
When Gorthug shuts down the boastful grumash spawn, Agatha narrows her eyes. that one pulls no blows. But that was probably not the most politic thing to say. We just work together.
This task was going to be challenging. She smiled, face hidden in her hood. Good.
She nods at the chieftain's instruction, and asks when do you want this done? And how many defenders are there?
"Our scouts have found that there are ten people defending the towers, five each," said the chieftain. "However that number has not been checked in quite some time so prepare for more. And the Warchief wants this done as soon as possible."
"If the towers are set ablaze, won't that have the same effect as lighting their signal fires?" Rauusk pressed, convinced he was right.
"Yes, but the Warchief is counting on that, at least from our end, since we have the most troops."
Ak'iss the Witless |
The little kobold skips foot to foot excitedly as the big orcs discuss their plans. Interjecting weakly, and clearly a bit lost, the kobold speaks up. "If there are humans in those towers, Bitey and I wanna kill 'em! When can we go see?"
Bitey appears to be sleeping on the floor in the corner.
I'm ready to move on if we have all the information we need. Ak'iss isn't much for conversation... well, useful conversation(and I didn't want to derail this discussion too much).
Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs |
"We will take the wargs, and burn down the watchtowers. Is there anything else we should know?"
After the chieftan had sent them on their way, Rauusk knelt by the wargs and dropped a hand on the kobold's shoulder to keep him from running off. "Your people are said to be good with traps. Is this so? Go before us, and find the traps. You understand? FIND TRAPS."
*By falling into them before we do, if necessary,* he thought.
Gorthug |
Gorthug shook his head. It wouldn’t do to have the Kobold die while it’s beast was still alive. It was useful until then. Still, he didn’t care enough at that moment about my of them to speak up, and instead busied himself preparing his warg.
Agatha Mystblame |
Before leaving, Agatha focuses on the map, committing it to memory. After all, it would be good to find the place.
On leaving she saw Rauukshalogh harrasing the kobold.
Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs, I am certain he understands, and if he doesn't, I will amplify it. Unless you speak Draconic. She gestures towards the Wolf den.
Come warrior, there are battles to fight
Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs |
Rauusk nodded at Agatha's wisdom, satisfied, and rose. "Let us be gone, then. The humans won't kill themselves."
Haha, the universal translator: speaking really loudly and slowly!
EltonJ |
The wargs were all ready and saddled. The wargs, huge wolves, ate meat and lots of it. Unlike humans, which used horses, the wargs were big enough to support the weight of orcs on their back. And the orcs specially bred them for this purpose. Of course, there were bigger wargs, used for turning up the lands to plant crops. Of course the humans had the best land for crops, and the orcs wanted the human lands for this reason.
The wargs all growl when you come close until they could smell your scents. The difference between wargs and wolves is that the wargs wouldn't eat their masters.
Gorthug |
Handle Animal: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15
”Cur. I am your master now. Submit.” The shadowless orc growled this at his warg. He knew that it couldn’t understand him, but that didn’t matter. It could hear his voice, his lack of fear, and it could see his bulk. He got on the warg and said to the party ”We ride!”
Ak'iss the Witless |
"Your people are said to be good with traps. Is this so? Go before us, and find the traps. You understand? FIND TRAPS."
The kobold looks confused for a second before shaking her head. "No, no. I'm not very good at making traps. You'll have to get somebody else to do that."
Swordfodder Ak'iss the Witless saunters off importantly and wakes up Bitey. "来吧,Bitey。我们走吧。"
The cat lazily yawns awake and slowly rises before the kobold hops cheerily onto her back.
"I'm ready!"
I can use Stag Focus to get Bitey up to 45' speed. With a little hustling here and there, they should be able to keep up. I think it's funnier anyway if the Ak'iss has to struggle to keep pace.
Agatha Mystblame |
Agatha gives her warg a meat treat, then mounts up. She checks her gear, and then waits for the others to depart.
Chinese equals draconic is oddly appropriate. China is often referred to as the dragon, although Chinese dragons are more benevolent, in general.
Ak'iss the Witless |
Chinese equals draconic is oddly appropriate. China is often referred to as the dragon, although Chinese dragons are more benevolent, in general.
That was my thought too. I can do it differently if you guys like, though she'll probably only speak Draconic to Bitey. Also, Ak'iss doesn't speak common. Just Draconic and Orc. lol
Thorjo of the Burning Death |
Thorjo mounts up.
"Beast, know that in the unlikely event that we are stranded in a mountainous valley with no way out, that I will feel no qualms about eating you for survival, just as I suspect you would do the same to me. However, I possess the skills and opposable thumbs to set up a roasting spit over an open flame, so I expect you to recognize that it would be far better for me to eat you."
Thorjo tugs once on his warg's reins and then nods to the others that he is ready.
Rauuskshalogh Thousand Fangs |
Sorry, I should have been more clear. When Rauusk stopped talking to Agatha and Ak'iss, he mounted his warg. But if it's more amusing, we can say he's fashionably late.
Rauusk meticulously checked his gear, then mounted and spurred his warg forward. "On to victory!"
EltonJ |
The group continues down the hill on their wargs. With Ak'iss the Witless on Bitey. It doesn't take too long for the group to encounter something --
1d20 ⇒ 12
The group encounters a human scouting party. Probably on their way to the camp to spy on the other orcs and their strength.
Grumbar Bahgro |
"HAH, our first targets! After them warg!" Grumbar spurs his mount forwards to attack the scouting party. On his initiative count of course. I'm planning to charge when it comes to it.
init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11