Orc shaman's page

Halak nods to Brolin. "Yes. Can stay on ship." His men grin back at him. "Time for wrestle challenges."

So that's a 28 for Brolin to get the orcs to behave and a 23 for Mel to convince Hannady the orcs aren't a threat.

Halak listens carefully to Brolin's words though there are many things Brolin refers to that Halak doesn't understand. He nods solemnly at the end of Brolin's speech and speaks a single word quickly to his warriors, who follow in a tight formation.

Halak looks uncertainly at the dock, as do his warriors. "What we do now?"

Halak and the orcs listen more attentively to Fyrtor than they did before the sparring match. Perhaps he gets through to them somewhat. Occasionally after the evening meal, they request a story from him and listen without comment.

Halak grunts and nods. Grukkan walks over and Halak explains things to him. Grukkan nods and unsheathes his falchion, which he twirls smoothly in his hand. He moves back and forth on his feet somewhat uncertainly, however, unaccustomed to the moving of the ship. When Halak gives the word, the combatants leap toward each other, weapons flashing in the light from the sun and the waves.

Give me 10 rounds of attack rolls with damage and we'll see if you down him before he downs you. Also add in parries and ripostes there as you see fit.

Halak shrugs at this idea. "Orcs like fight much more than stories. Good idea. Grukkan smart enough. Should be good time." He points out a tough, lithe orc with a bow and a falchion.

Don't assume a lot of specific cosmology but you can make up stories of your own that don't alter the cosmology on a large scale.

Halak shrugs. "Want fight? Sound good. Who fight?"

Halak blinks slowly as Fyrtor embarks on a long, flowery description of things far beyond what Halak normally considers important or thinks about at all. Then he shrugs "Fine. Tell story to me and warriors. Maybe good story. I translate."

Halak has the best common of any of the orcs so it's pretty hard to talk to the rest of them. We shouldn't have anything waiting on these conversion conversations though. Anything else that needs to be happening should happen simultaneously, e.g. the sword talk.

Halak raises an eyebrow at Fyrtor's question. From his demeanor, Fyrtor can read that this type of question isn't typically considered much by Halak or his people. Having this question pushed on him for the first time, Halak shrugs in disinterest. "Why think about that? Nobody see or feel that."

When Brolin tries to train the orcs to become seamen, they grumble and seem disinterested. But when he describes the sea as a great monster, they nod in agreement and shuffle nervously, eyeing the water all around them. But despite this, they don't set to the tasks Brolin provides until Halak grunts a few words in orcish at them. After that, they work reasonably well.

After a day of capable sailing, you are well out of sight of land catching a trade breeze and heading toward Helm as the sun sets.

Halak shakes his head at Fyrtor with a shrug.

Night falls soon as you take watches. In the morning, Brolin wakes up with a headache but in control of his body again. You reach the mouth of the river without incident.

Thanks for the reminder, Fyrtor.

Halak startles at first when addressed in the secret tongue then seems to relax somewhat.

Kazador gets the sense that Halak truly cares for his own people and considers the light-skinners useful allies.

Halak considers this quietly for a moment, then spits at Turion's feet. "Don't need help from puny elf. But we conquer sea first. With you if you heal some and give food."

Halak helps his remaining warriors out of the pocket of survivors then retakes his orc form. He walks among them, healing a few and binding the wounds of others. It is clear they respect him as a true leader, instead of simply fearing his might as is often the case among orcs. You note that two of the orcs are bound as prisoners. In addition, many of his men have fine dwarven goods and armor bound on their packs. After seeing to his men, he turns to you. "Grateful. We return tribe home now. What you do?"

Some penalty for Kazador being very grumpy and contradicting Fyrtor but with a roll like that he still succeeds at aiding. Makes Fyrtor's diplo a 31. Note the earth elemental isn't stuck in the rubble at all. He's just digging in it.

Halak the earth elemental regards you quietly or some time then nods. "Good help. Some maybe still alive." He puts his magically-enhanced strength as an elemental to work digging.

Strength check: 1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 4 = 27

Ok skill challenge time. Everyone who wishes to participate, make one check representing your efforts to help with this project. If you make an ability check, add half your level to it so that raw ability checks are somewhat less bad compared to skill checks. You can flavor it as reasonable, e.g. K engineering for Turion. You need a total of 200 to save all the remaining orcs (20) in time without causing any collapses. By every 10 short of that the total is, you save one fewer orc. GO!

The earth elemental turns toward you as you approach, a bulky, dense seven feet tall. In a deep, gravelly voice it replies "Yes Halak. Most warriors die. Some survive. Trying dig." He surveys the lot of you, his stony expression impossible to read. "What happen?"

If you want to remain potential allies with Halak, you'll need to bluff or diplomacy here, depending on what route you want to take. I'm not telling you the DCs, of course.

Halak smiles slightly. "Twenty we handle alone. We strip these dead then head south. You stay here. You loot. We loot. If find each other again, both back off. Deal?"

Halak raises an eyebrow as Kazador melts the face off the formerly unconscious orc. "Thought you wanted prisoners alive." He shrugs, not caring. He turns back to Fyrtor, still curious about the answer to his question. "How big was camp you see?"

No he just means general looting since there are a fair number of valuables in Kazad Gravr.

Fyrtor: I think you might have missed my edit above. The ruse can work here because you got a good bluff roll. Halak is just asking a follow-up question.

Halak shakes his head. "Mostly just scouts. Came up to help. You stripped those already. We taking these." He gestures to his men who are searching through the orc camp, removing armor, weapons, and other valuables from the wounded and dead while rummaging through sacks.

Edited:

But when Fyrtor mentions a whole bunch more orcs down to the south, Halak decides Fyrtor must have seen a group he doesn't know about. "How big?" he asks with intent interest.

Halak nods. "We be careful." Then he begins casting a few spells on himself. "Ready?"

Halak looks somewhat surprised and taken aback by this but shrugs. "Fine. Leave wounded and dying for you."

"Halak have many different opinions on how to treat foes. Right way to respond to hostility depend on situation. If foe fall down, bite neck. If foe not fallen down yet, injure legs."

Halak shakes his head. "Don't think so. This it. Then spoils. Unless elf people cause problems."

Halak grunts. "We help much. But shaman and tower problem. You deal with those, we kill rest."

So this fight is streamlined by giving you two objectives instead of "kill everyone." The fight between the masses of orcs is going to be abstracted. The enemy mooks, however, will still be in the way and will take AoOs on you. But other than AoOs, they won't actively target you because they'll be engaged by friendly mooks. Unless, of course, you're ambitious enough that there are no friendly mooks nearby. The shaman and the archers, however, will target you guys exclusively.

Halak nods, understanding the value of the questions. "Scouts say about thirty orc left. Some fled from last fight. Some new reinforcements." His plucky group seems to number about thirty, tilting the odds significantly in your favor. To Brolin's question, he grins outright. "Make some magicks while run in then tear enemies." He turns to Turion, always somewhat skeptical of the elf. "Enemies spread out some. Few in guard tower. Strong position. Be problem."

Will hopefully get the map to Mel tomorrow.

Halak nods. "Yes. Think so." He eyes Turion curiously but says nothing. He continues walking along with his troops as you head to the northeast of Kazad Gravr.

Position updated to show where you are on the map.

You come to a long, 10 ft wide hallway with a 90 degree bend to the right. Halak grunts and points "Scouts say enemy have position there. We go in. You help?"

Halak enters. "Come. We go that way" he points to the northeast "To push out enemy tribe. Scout say saw elf that way too but only for one beat so maybe wrong. We clearing out enemies. You stay close."

Kazador knows that the vaults are toward the northeast of the dwarven city as well.

Hearing you talking within but not exiting, Halak attempts to open the door. Finding it locked, he knocks again. "New day. Move on. Can't wait forever. If move quickly, other tribe no big problem."

Early in the morning you hear a sharp rap on the door and Halak's voice calls out "Ready go? Wasting time!"

Halak isn't sure whether or not you are done considering amongst yourselves but speaks up anyway. "My men are tired from combat. You look same. Take rest here. Then push on through rest of enemy."

Halak nods to Mel. "Elven tricks again." He spits in anger. "My people not toys or tools. Elves pay some day for this." He grins at Kazador. "Us against those bastards. I tell other orcs what Elves do. Much anger in clans. Form alliance to raid elves, refuse attack humans for them. Other clans, still decide to attack human villages." He spits again. "Stupid tools. We fight them for this place." He considers for a moment then decides "You helped us. This what can do for you. Safe passage through this place. Still more of enemy clan. We fight them for you."

A dozen more orcs pound around the corner, axes drawn. Halak waves them down and shouts

He then turns back to Mel and raises an eyebrow. "Three groups destroyed? You help much. This clan fight mine. All want control this place. Very secure. Some treasures still left here. Take long time find all." He looks warily at Kazador and Algric but doesn't speak to them directly.

Just because I hate looking like I made extra mistakes, Halak's alias is labeled after his tribal role, not his class. Just fyi.

It's unclear to me where you guys are standing. I'll assume on the battlements?

You see a huge bear round the corner running toward your position. When it sees you standing on the battlements, it slows down and approaches slowly, cautiously. When it gets within 30 ft, the bear stands on its hind legs regarding you for a moment. Then it shift form down into the only orc Mel has ever known well, Halak.

"Woman Mel, I see you here. What happens? I not wish more enemies."

As Hirda says her piece, Halak listens silently. Then he holds out both hands palms up and bows his head respectfully. Though they were enemies, he's come to respect the tough Dwarven woman and recognizes her wisdom.

Halak looks uncertainly at Mel with narrowed eyes. Then he shrugs and says "Woman no enemy. Fight with woman." He continues walking along.

Halak is, of course, strongly in favor of killing Elrin now but the choice you guys make as a group is all that matters.

Halak spits in anger at Mel. "Talk too much!" He grows hair on his arms and body and he slams a fist at the supercilious elf man.

Punch!: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
Dam: 1d3 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

He then grabs Elrin roughly and growls over him.

Ah that's correct Perrin. Thanks. I forgot exactly how command works. The damage never occurred, then.

Halak unleashes his magic, calling up vines on the opposing orc.

Vors Reflex: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (18) - 1 = 17
Orc Reflex: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Neither Vors nor the orc are entangled by the vines but it seems like it will be very hard to run through this new undergrowth. A look of concern briefly flashes across the orc's multiple faces.

Mel, Hirda, and Vors still up.

Halak stares at the sudden orcs with fury and confusion. In a low tone, he replies Me not know... strange...

The heavy, aggressive breathing of the orc warriors, the crunch of sticks underneath their hide boots as they take a step forward, and the rank, musky smell of unwashed orc conspire to drive fear into your minds.

Halak nods at Perrin's request. Can. Tell me when.

Once two or more characters declare a course of action, e.g. entering the cave, I will assume the party is doing so.

Halak glares at the cave entrance and in a low growl asks What me do?

Halak translates for you (you can read the spoiler). Halak grunts

Seem Ukar trying to find where letters coming from too. Where one spot around here could all types of animals come from?

Halak looks to you, not knowing the region around Brookside as well as you all.

You don't detect any magical auras. It seems that whatever would have proved very helpful in a fight, they brought with them and you probably already found.

Halak shrugs. Never used spell before. But letters talk like need animal.

He points to the following passage in one of the letters.

"My sobriety if this response meets you slowly. The frog was the only thing at hand."

Halak shakes his head at Vors. Not mean where letters come from. Where animals come from?

Btw, given the copies that have been made, it is fair for anyone to read the letters.

Halak shrugs. Maybe leave one, two guards. Maybe not. Maybe traps. He then thinks about your questions for a moment. Where animals come from? he asks.

Interested to hear what Hirda does next.

Halak stands, eyeing Mel fiercely for a few heartbeats. Then his shoulders fall and he steps back. He picks up the pair of bracelets and stares at them for a few moments. After a long silence, he looks up at you all If me know, me would tell you. Kill bastard coward.

Added a regional map of the Southern Bishopric of Helm to our main documents, which I've moved to keep up top. I provided this map earlier in the discussion but didn't keep it in an easy place to see it.

Halak responds with anger in kind.

Stupid woman!!! Only see Gornak letters before now. Not know trick. If know trick, no let whole war band die!!

He throws his shovel to the ground and solidifies his fist into solid wood and steps menacingly towards the edge of the pit.

Halak looks wearily at Mel, seeming to find her accusations exhausting.

Crazy woman. Why me do? What me get from all these?

He points around to all the dead orcs that he is digging a grave for.

Halak nods.

Don't have today but yes think could. He stares at the group.

Me dig more now? He sets back to it, moving his some-thousandth shovelful excruciatingly slowly.