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By mere chance or fate, you were all in Hawking when FAT FARLSBAG a notorious murderer and kidnaper of dozens of good folk over the years decided to kidnap PRINCE ADELHEID’S wife-to-be just days before the wedding.
The Prince put out a massive bounty, which only caused Fat Farlsbag to murder the poor girl, and proclaim that he would never be caught in the cruel mountains of the north.
That proclamation did not stop around a hundred men, with you among them, from organizing a manhunt and heading into the mountains to track him.
You traveled for several days over snow and ice, clearly going back to town will not be easy but fortunately, the party has several good huntsmen that guide the party managing to avoid most natural hazards ...
One night when the sun was starting to rise, in a foggy morning with some men still asleep you heard some commotion, looking around you see a Warband of orcs and hobgoblins, and then a scream ... Ambushhh!!
The fight is brutal ... screams of pain coming from everywhere and corpses quickly started piling up in the battlefield...
The white snow became red ...
Men trying to flee ... despair ... you realize that most of your party is dead when you are hit in the head and ...
See the campaign notes here.
'Chaos...' - Akkrammar's eyes took in the whole scene as the elf witnessed the attack from behind the flap of his tent.
Without hesitation, he went for his gear - taking but a moment to don his armor, putting the quarterstaff at his back, grabbing his prized elven longbow, and the enchanted quiver.
Again he peered outside, surveying the area around him and looking for his companions - "They shouldn't be hard to spot..." - he whispered to himself.
As the chaos started, Lukas mumbled a few simple words and vanished from sight.
Unseen by both sides of the fray he tried to gain some distance from this mess firing a spell here or there
When things calmed down, he appeared to his surviving companions with a smile... and was promptly knocked out
I have no idea what this soldier roll is so I'll make the same roll as Akkramar
Always a bit of a loner, Seamus felt himself getting lost in the chaos...
He forced himself to focus and get a grip on what's going on.
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The battle is brutal, the orcs are many and vicious, they fight relentlessly ... your party fights back and you hear screams from ... everywhere ...
During the battle, you realize that you are being attacked by a large Warband of orcs ...
As you fight you start to see dead bodies pilling around you both friend and foe...
Seamus is overrun by multiple orcs, and while Duncan helps him by killing the orcs on top of him, it's hard to say what happened to him ...
During the fight, Ducan is bull-rushed and that makes him fall a small cliff.
Absorbed by the fight, Akkramar kills another orc, as he looks around he sees one orc attacking Lucas that had just appeared from thin air and is promptly knocked unconscious by an orc ... Akkramar fires one more arrow dowing the orc.
Akkramar looks around in search of the next victim just to realize that he's the last one standing ... it's possible that some orcs have fled, who knows.
Around Akkramar? Human blood, dwarven blood, elven blood, orchis blood ... Akkramar realizes that a river of blood covers the campsite...
As things calm down, Akkramar ears some moans and slowly Seamus, Duncan and Lucas start moving ...
Akkramar tries to lay low and hidden as much as possible, moving to each one of his companions at a time, to check on them - "It seems they are gone..."
He keeps his senses attentive for any signs of more enemies.
By the gods, what an onslaught... Are we the only ones left?
Seamus asks this as he scans the carnage for any signs of life, on our side or the orcs'.
He starts moving among the bodies, looking for survivors.
He's also interested in finding the warband chief or anything on the orcs' bodies that could help identify them, or who sent them.
Are they just a random raiding party, or were they sent by someone for the purpose of stopping us from reaching Fat Farlsbag?
Seamus can't stop a chuckle, even in the midst of all this carnage. That man's name has always made him laugh...
Fat Fartsbag more like it! Hahahahah. Oh man, was he laughing out loud?
Sorry men, I think the stress of battle finally got me...
Ah! Fat Fartsbag... What happens to you now I wonder?...
I keep an eye on our surroundings while I help Seamus trying to figure out the orc chieftain or somehow identify them.
Could Fat Fartsbag send these orcs to deal with us?
Fat Fartsbag! - Lukas laughs amid the carnage - It has a nice ring to it
He walks among the dead, trying not to slip in the blood
So, everyone's dead... I hate it when this happens.
He starts looking at the bodies, checking if anything catches his eye Less men to split the bounty I guess
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You notice a strange silence ... you feel the cold wind blowing on your back and a chill flowing thru your spine ...
Akkramar
You look around and see no signs of enemies moving or hidden outside of the battlefield.
On the battlefield you see multiple orcs fallen all over the place.
During your search, you notice that there's a dark storm with heavy lightning brewing to the north, you believe the storm will hit in a couple of hours or less, a storm like that on the mountain, you better find shelter and wait out the storm.
Clearly you do not have enough time to check all the bodies for survivors and find shelter.
Seamus
You start going thru the bodies and you quickly realize that it's going to a long time to cover the entire battlefield.
one thing that you and Duncan realize is that the Orcs do not have many possessions beyond their weapons and armor and even those are of poor quality.
Duncan, so far you couldn't identify the chieftain if there is one.
You only know that Fat Fartsbag proclaimed to the town that he would never be caught in the cruel mountains of the north.
Could that mean that no one would find him or that he had allies in the mountains, you do not know ...
Lukas
on your first try you don't sense anything magic, do you want to move around and use the power multiple times or just once?
You also notice that the orcs are poorly equipped, and you would be lucky to find something worth the trouble to carrying back to town from an orc.
The humans, on the other hand, have better quality equipment, although you know that most of the people at the party only came because it was 100 men chasing 1 man.
You know, from the nights talking before the party got here, that most of them are commoners with little possessions.
You can find all sorts of common melee and ranged weapons as well as cheaper armors.
What do you guys want to do?
Lukas turns to the other survivors
So, I guess we're what's left. What now?
He looks around at the carnage
It was a bad start but it must have been a good blow the our enemies numbers. They'll probably think we're all dead or fleeing too... I'm thinking I'll still try and find our bounty, just to have a look around.
He turns a mischevious grin to them You in?
"There is a storm coming - we need to get away from this dreadful scenario, and find shelter" - Akkrammar replies - "Then we can discuss what to do next - agreed?" - he adds, looking around still for survivors, and some arrows to add to his quiver.
Lukas looks at the sky Uh.. right, a storm. Shelter for now, I agree, I hate geting wet
Scratching his beard he looks around Shall we start looking in... his eyes stop in Akkramar and he smiles again You look more confortable here in the wilds, I think I'll follow your lead if thats ok
"Deal" - he nods at the man - "I am Akkramar" - and extends his hand in a greeting.
Lukas Ardheim, at your service - Lukas shakes the elf's hand - So, what do you think? Keep to the path ou try to find shelter off the road?
"Well met Lukas" - Akkramar nods - "The worse of this storm is it will disturb any tracks we might want to follow, if we so decide" - the elf ponders - "But one thing at a time I guess" - he adds, looking around to decide what the next best steps might be.
Hmmm... ok, maybe we should get a general direction of the tracks first. So we know where to go next?
He starts to look at the sky again as if looking for something You don't happen to know how to talk with birds, no?
Seamus approaches Lukas and Akkramar.
Since we're doing introductions, I'm Seamus. I'd seen you around camp before but I guess I never got as far as to introduce myself, sorry about that.
I agree we find shelter for now. There's nothing I've seen so far to say these orcs are more than a ragtag band of mercenaries, probably in Mr. Fartsbag's payroll.
It's likely that following their tracks would be wasted time.
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Akkramar leads the group away from the battleground ...
The storm brews quickly, as time passes you feel the chill wind blowing ever stronger as if pushing the storm towards you ... as you move in search of shelter it starts to snow ...
After sometime Akkramar is able to find a path that seems promising and leads the party there.
As you move along the cliffside Akkramar spots a cave 15 yards up, high on a rocky cliffside.
You are not far from the cave entrance (around 30 yards horizontal) and with all the snow that has fallen it's not easy to spot an easy path to climb.
Before we leave the battle place.
Well met guys! I'm Duncan. Damn Orcs cut short my beauty sleep (smile)
If you'r in to it I agree to go get the Fat guy after we shelter to weather the storm.
"Well met Seamus and Duncan. I am Akkramar" - the elf nods at his companions.
Evaluating the steep incline, he moves to retrieve a grappling hook from his backpack and tries to launch it to latch in place.
I could, but let him do it, he's got the grappling thing and everything - Lukas suddenly says as if answering someone
As he notices some eyes on him he gives a disarming smile and continues as if he was talking to the group all along I mean, he looks competent enough, right?
He turns to Akkramar Do you, uh... need help or something?
He turns to Akkramar Do you, uh... need help or something?
"Hmmmm, it should be fine..." - the elf smiles - "You were talking to me, right?"
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Climbing up, the nimble elf peers over the rim to confirm the spot is adequate.
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With the rope in place, Akkramar easily climbs the wall.
The rope is well secured and will support the other party members. in front of the entrance of the cave, there's a small "walkway" that extends to the left and right and that's where you are.
From here you just have to walk a few feets until you reach the entrance of the cave.
Not far from the entrance of the cave, on the other side of it, you notice the top of a mostly snow-covered old wooden ladder.
You also see that it's a dark cave but you can make out some ruble inside the cave close to the entrance.
"You better come up" - Akkramar beckons the others, then hides and waits.
I go up and look around.
Hmmmm... Looks like we're not the first ones here
I want to make sure this place is secure, no one's waiting in ambush. Are there other places we could easily walk to from here, or just the cave entrance?
Are there for instance ledges above the cave, or to the sides, from where archers could fire a barrage?
vs 10
"Hmmmm, it should be fine..." - the elf smiles - "You were talking to me, right?"
Of course! - Lukas smiles
He watched as the elf climbed the rope and then followed when he called
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And again
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and again
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and again
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Lukas barely contains a laugh, seeing Seamus struggling with the climb
Not wanting to go through it himself, he mumbles something to himself
So... help me out here
With a cocky grin he starts to levitate and lands easily on the ledge above
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The snow complicates things and Seamus has a hard time reaching the top of the rope.
While Lukas seems amused by Seamus "performance" Seamus looks around and he realizes that the face of the mountain does not seem to provide many places for an ambush. People would have to climb to small ledges and it would be hard to hide.
After Lukas refocus he effortlessly levitates towards his companions.
DM
from now on when we're moving around I want to look out for herbs I can smoke (I use my survival mountains, maybe at the end of the day I can make a few checks to see if I got something if you're think its ok)
I try to catch some wood to lit out a fireplace at the cavern to warm us
So, cave or stair? - Lukas says after Duncan finally arrives - I'd say cave, it's more... warm
He looks at each member of the group as if sizing them
So, who's the scout?
Once all are up top, Akkramar nods at Lukas and moves ahead carefully to take a further look at the cave, while Duncan is setting up a fire.
Seamus moves around gathering firewood and anything else that will burn, while keeping watch.
He's also looking for materials that could be used to build an improvised door to the cave. Maybe the rubble we spotted earlier could help.
Are there any other exits from the cave?
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Akkramar quickly realizes that the cave entrance is not in a straight line (more like an S shape), nevertheless he quickly peers into the cave.
The cave is dark (-5 darkness penalty without a light-source; but your eyes help you somewhat to adapt to the darkness; -3 for you), strewn with rubble, but warm, maybe due to the initial bend you don't feel the wind inside.
Although you cannot see very well the end of the cave, the cave seems to be a large space that stretches back between 50 and 100 feet into the rock.
After moving a bit into the cave you notice there are ancient dwarven runes set into the rock, and that the cave is partially carved.
Lukas trembles with cold, so he decides to move
He concentrates and mumbles a few words while making arcane gestures
His eyes glow for a bit and he starts to move inside the cave
He doesn't enter, he stops at the entrance checking things out. Soon he speaks softly Do I look like a dwarf? How should I know what it says?
When Seamus gets wind there's dwarven writing around he moves over and tries to read it.
As the others move forward, Akkramar stands watch at the entrance to the cave.
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The party starts to enter the room ... you immediately feel much more comfortable than outside.
As Seamus approaches the writings he immediately realizes that they are written in a very old dwarvish. This type of language is no longer in use.
Most of the carvings are no longer visible, faded away with time ...
Nevertheless, you realize it contains simple messages which describe tasks.
You make up the following passage:
"Three carts of three dwarves’ worth of platinum. Every third week, leave here for third crew to haul to the Halls of Davihn-Karr."
You all realize that there's still some old broken carts, rocks and boards and all kind of mining tools in poor condition spread thru the cave.
So, this is some kind of entrance for dwarven halls? - Lukas asks still at the entrance of the cave - So we'll have to keep watch on two sides.
Davihn-Karr...it rings a bell
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Lukas seems to recall something about Davihn-Karr ... what was it ... ha yes, Davihn-Karr was a legendary platinum mine of the Zarakian dwarves.
According to the old stories, dwarves would haul out platinum without end from these mines. Wizards from all across would pay greatly for the Davihn-Karr chains and brooches that would hold their powerstones, for it was said that they charge faster when held by such perfect metal.
It's common knowledge that most dwarvish platinum mines have been closed after they stopped being profitable. To prevent people from getting lost or dying due to collapses, some of the mine entrances were collapsed on purpose.
And there's also some common lore that states that Davinn-Kahr is a legendary huge platinum mine that had several entrances and was abandoned in a rush by the dwarfs. Supposedly, whoever can find an open entrance to it would find a vast pile of platinum — not to mention a mighty reputation for locating the site!
Lukas rubs his chin So... I'm most definetly NOT in the mood for spelunking but... it's said that Davihn-Karr still holds many riches. Just knowing the location of an entrance can get us a good bounty
He laughs - Climbing ropes is not our forte, we know that - he looks at the group with a grin - but... it would be a shame if we didn't at least have a look inside
"I have to admit some curiosity about this place master Ardheim, but we must not forget we were entrusted with a mission" - the elf comments - "I guess it is up to us to decide to pursue it or not, after that massacre. But if we do, this may be a delay we cannot afford?"
Weeeelll, I don't know about you fellas, but I'm in this for the money. I couldn't care less about Fat Fartsbag or some prince who lost his princess.
If there's more money to be made here, I wouldn't mind taking a look.
That said, I'm not cut out for spelunking as our friend Lukas there has so painfully pointed out. Still, no risk no reward.
If I recall correctly, the mission was a simple bounty hunting. We can still get his head in a few days, no? - He opens his arms in invitation - C'mon guys, ancient dwarven hall full of treasure, how can we pass this?