This weekend we had a fantastic session - my players cleared out the Graul farmstead and their hatred for the clan was so palpable they ended the day burning the place to the ground.
Looking ahead, Jakardros has already mentioned retaking the fort. However, the party sees their mission here as essentially complete. They came from Magnimar to discover the fate of the Black Arrows - this they have completed and they're thinking any attempt to clear out the ogres is potential suicide.
Jakardros has already told them ogres are notoriously lazy and complacent, but I fear the PCs are going to completely balk at the idea of attacking a fortified position filled with ogres.
There are a few ideas in the module like the fact it will take weeks or even months to reinforce the Black Arrows from Magnimar. If they insist on falling back to Turtle Back Ferry and waiting for more help, I thought I might throw in an ogre raid on the town - perhaps an ogre raid sweeping in at night would nudge them in the right direction.
Does anyone else have ideas of how to encourage the players to attack Rannik without being too heavy handed?
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An Ogre raid would be a good thing in urging the players along.
What's the party's alignment makeup? If they are mostly good, I would have Jakardos insist that he will attempt to retake the fort without the PCs, even if it means his death. Appeal to their nature.
If they are more neutral, have Jakardos lie to them about a mysterious "treasure" the Ogres carried in with them that he can offer to bribe them.
I would also foreshadow the oncoming bad weather that is due to the hags. Make mention that winter is coming, that there won't be time to get reinforcements from Magnimar if the snows come early. Have Jakardos (or someone) tell them that Ogres breed profusely. If they don't take them out now the Ogres will spend the time fortifying and multiplying. Come Spring that fort will be a major base of operations for the Ogres, and all of Turtleback ferry will suffer.
They are essentially good (a couple of neutrals). Jakardros has gotten them to agree to at least scout the place, so I'm hoping I can convey the disorganized nature of the ogres and get them to think "Hey, we can take 'em."
Failing that, I probably will have Jakardros threaten to go it alone. Between that and the onset of winter cutting them off it might be enough.
I also like telling them that once fully entrenched the repercussions for Turtleback Ferry will be grim at best.
First, definitely stress the weather. Snows are coming, and constant rain and winds are making it impossible for any large organized army to make it in from Magnimar until spring.
Drop hints that strange things are happening upstream, above the fort. Have bits of refuse or trash float down the river, along with perhaps the occasional charred troll body.
Have scouts (Either hunters in the wood, Jakardros, or whoever) report that they've seen shipments of weapons coming into the fort from the mountains, and stress that it looks like they're gearing up for an invasion and not an occupation.
You can also have scouts report that they've seen parties of ogres working on the dam from the distance.
If none of that works, throw a raiding party at Turtleback.
All else fails, play it out as it's set up. If the party insists on returning to Magnimar, let them do it. When they return they'll find Turtleback ferry a swampy mess of timbers, the surrounding lands sodden and flooded, and the entire lake and river downstream swollen. Hell, it could quite possibly make the river unusually high in Magnimar as the first hint that things are going wrong, but it wouldn't bee too bad with two large lakes in between as buffers. Lake and riverside communities all the way up towards Turtleback ferry would be increasingly hit with devastation the further upstream you went. Play it up. Sometimes the best storytelling and drama you can get is from the player's failures.
It would then be too late for Turtleback, but the party could still return to the fort and avenge the people. In fact, if they're not driven there with a righteous fury for revenge at that point, i don't know what would.
Thanks Ravenot - really good advice if they go completely off the rails. Ir really like the idea of scouts seeing them bring in weapon shipments - that might be enough to get them off their duffs right there.
My guess is if my group lets it get to the point where an ogre raid hits Turtleback, they'll be heading to the fort as soon as they've licked their wounds. Scheduling conflicts have us quite a ways from our next session - good for planning, bad for momentum. It'll be pretty easy to throw together a raiding party using ogre stat blocks from the module. Good times....