Bloodcrier's Theft
You stand in a burrow just outside of Alexandria. A place where refugees who could not find a place to live inside the city walls have gathered together to make their own little village. The weather makes standing here miserable. Icy rain falls from the sky, and what was once mud has become a treacherous mixture of black ice and uneven terrain. There's a heavy wind blowing in, making it all the more uncomfortable, and most everyone has tucked themselves into their makeshift homes rather than be out in this chill.
What you're looking for has already been explained to you. You're looking for a pair of Fel Orcs hiding beneath cloaks. But given the circumstances you know that finding them won't be that easy.
Azog is checking for tracks, first. He knows there's not much chance in this weather, but he's quite a good tracker, and they might have dropped something that's not buried or trodden under. Well, they could have. That's about the limit of his skill set.
Morgan looks to the group "Thank you for coming." mostly looking at the elven ranger but everyone gets notice "I am not a good tracker and we have two Fell orcs that stolen a old Dwarven hammer that I wanted to return to its family." she then adds "I will take all your leads on how to deal with this as it's not my area of expertise."
Murder has chosen to ride along on her Worg, and is encouraging him to sniff at people. "Come on Wilfred, sniff that one. Okay, this one then. Is that even a person or laundry? Ewh."
Ga'Elian says, "You mentioned involvement with demons. I couldn't let that go idly by." He pauses then says, "Before we get all busy, though, I can alleviate your discomfort from the weather if you like. Gather for a quick huddle if you're in. Your companions are welcome, too."
GAME: Morgan rolls survival: (15)+5: 20 GAME: Azog rolls survival: (14)+19: 33 GAME: Murder rolls survival: (8)+7: 15 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Track+Urban: aliased to Survival+4+10+5+2: (18)+31+4+10+5+2: 70
Azog peers at Ga'Elian, shakes his head about the spell. "I'm no /elf/," he says, possibly derisively, it's hard to tell with his thick Dranei accent, "that I need relief from weather -this- mild. I will tell you if I need your magic." The way he says it implies he will be bleeding from the eyes before that happen. "There are some tracks over here that I think are from them." He points out some large tracks.
Murder nudges Wilfred with a knee, guiding the Worg to stand next to Ga'Elian. The Gobbo smiles at the Elf, actually able to look him in the eye from her mount's back. "Sure, Elian, I'll take a spell to make things comfier. Got anything to protect bare feet from getting soggy, too?"
Morgan is floating in the air a few inches off the ground so she does not leave tracks "Why can't Fel Orc have different kind of feet?”
Ga'Elian looks amused at Azog's refusal, but casts his spell on Murder and her worg. Then he gets down to business and searches around, himself. Regarding the tracks pointed out by Azog, he adds, "They are, for certain. In fact, the tread of their boots indicates that these particular Fel Oruch are high-ranking commanders in a war-band."
GAME: Ga'Elian casts Life Bubble. Caster Level: 20 DC: 16
Morgan nods. "This hammer they had stolen for them has history of killing fel orcs."
Azog says to Morgan, "Well, when I get through with them, they're going to have something to fear a lot more than a hammer." As an Adom-ish oruch, the Fel orcs are particularly foul to him. "High ranking commanders is good, though," he says. "More honor in killing them." He does peer sidelong at Ga'Elian, though. "How do you tell that from tracks, though? Do they wear different boots than normal fel orcs?"
The Gobbo grins as the spell takes effect, and she removes her furs and the clunky boots that annoy her. Tying them up to Wilfred, she glances at Azog. "They probably walk different from other people. Perhaps on their toes more, where as many humans do a heel to toe movement. 'S'easy if you look.", she says with a toothy grin. "Wilfred! Smell!", she commands, pointing to the tracks identified as Fel Oruch. The Worg does sniff, but makes a bit of a face and looks away.
Ga'Elian nods to Azog, "That's right. Only their senior chieftains get such quality." Then to the others, he points, "They lead off yonder." He follows along the tracks, his griffon keeping fairly close behind him, the pair moving silently. While the griffon does leave tracks, Ga'Elian doesn't.
Darius for his part, also follows along, his sword and bow are near at hand in case they get ambushed or surprised and says to himself, "Be wery wery quiet... we're hunting waaaaaabbits... ahahahaha." He then shakes his head as he's taken over by the ghost of Elmer Fudd from the Looney Tunes Plane for a moment.
Morgan is a wizard with little experience in stuff like this but she is learning a lot from all the hunters in her group. She is taking mental notes except from Darius you never learn things from him.
Azog eyes Murder, and after a moment, he says, "I hate Fel Orcs. But I do not think they mince. Anyow, these tracks, if they are on their toes at all, is not by much. Perhaps they are attempting to move stealthily?" He'll follow the tracks as well, left hand on the hilt of his sword.
Murder grins toothily once more at Azog and shrugs. "If they know they are being hunted, it stands to reason they would try to move stealthily." She takes off after the Ranger, her Worg following along. The Gobbo plows through the messy road, heedless of everything save the ice, catching herself from falling a few times along the way. It's not hard to follow her tracks at all.
You follow the tracks around the burrow. They wind around the place as if purposefully trying to get lost among the other tracks. There's no luck in it for them however, and you follow them through the borrow and back out into the forest. From here the tracks lead back north; the way that not so long ago Morgan and her then-companions had gone in order to return the hammer to its rightful place. From what you can tell of the tracks you are hours behind the fel orcs. Worse you're moving slower than they due to keeping track of their trail.
GAME: Morgan rolls survival: (19)+5: 24 GAME: Murder rolls survival: (7)+7: 14 GAME: Darius rolls survival: (3)+7: 10 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Track/forest: aliased to Survival+4+10+5+4+8+6: (18)+31+4+10+5+4+8+6: 86 GAME: Azog rolls survival: (18)+19: 37
Azog nods to Murder. "It will do them little good in their flight from us, but if they are sneaking, perhaps they are going a little slower." Outside the encampment, of course, that reasoning would vanish anyhow. Oh well.
You quicken your steps as you follow the tracks, unwilling to be left behind. The tracks are easier for Ga'Elian to find here in the forest. You track them all the way to the the clearing where they've stopped to make camp for the evening. They're already on their feet, having heard your arrival before you appear. They're not alone either. There's several lower-level orcs with them, and one who's clearly dressed differently than the others in robes and carrying a complex staff.
"Drat, they're awake still.", Murder calls out. "GEEK THE MAGE FIRST!", she yells, her eyes glowing red.
Darius draws his sword and mutters, "Well, here we go."
Morgan stops as she is in air and looks to the one with the staff "I am glad Murder is onmy side."
Darius looks at Morgan and says, "She's right though... the mage needs to die first..."
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Stealth/nat+forest: aliased to Stealth+4+4+8: (4)+36+4+4+8: 56 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Stealth/nat+forest: aliased to Stealth+4+4+8: (11)+36+4+4+8: 63 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (3)+20: 23 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (13)+12: 25 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (16)+12: 28 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (4)+12: 16 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (7)+12: 19 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+32: (19)+32: 51 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+32: (14)+32: 46 GAME: Aftershock rolls 2d8+13: (9)+13: 22 GAME: Aftershock rolls 2d8+13: (11)+13: 24 GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+25: (17)+25: 42 GAME: Azog rolls 2d8+26: (9)+26: 35
Ga'Elian and his griffon vanish into the woods.
Azog shoulders his shield, draws his sword, and charges. As he runs up, his speed increases, and he doubles in height, so that by the time he's up on the caster, he's fourteen feet tall. He was scary-looking before, but this is a whole 'nother thing. He charges in past all the orcs, and their blades mostly skitter off his armor, bit the two big ones manage to wound him. He hacks at the caster-looking orc with his faintly glowing sword, drawing blood.
The orc hit by Azog takes a step back, bleeding heavily and the two largest orcs move with him. He casts a spell quickly and the two orcs touch him in unison. Together the three vanish leaving behind their companions to fight you. A moment later however another creature stands in the place of the orcs. A horned humanoid clad in leather and bone armor. Immediately he looks at Azog and starts casting a spell too. Meanwhile the other orcs take defensive poses, looking a bit lost without their leaders.
GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (19)+13+2: 34 (THREAT) GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (12)+13+2: 27 GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (19)+13+2: 34 (THREAT) GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (20)+13+2: 35 (THREAT) GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (17)+13+2: 32 GAME: Darius rolls damage7+2: aliased to 2D6+10+2: (5)+10+2: 17 GAME: Darius rolls 4d12+14+2: (27)+14+2: 43 GAME: Darius rolls 4d12+14+2: (21)+14+2: 37
Darius draws his sword and rushes the group of orc around the one that Azog went after and roars as he makes a giant swing with his greatsword, hurting three of them slightly... enough to piss them off.
GAME: Murder casts Burning Hands. Caster Level: 5 DC: 14 GAME: Murder rolls 5d4: (9): 9 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+5: (14)+5: 19
GAME: Morgan rolls Knowledge/the Planes: (17)+12: 29
The Goblin cheers as Azog charges through the horde of orcs, but boos loudling when the orcish mage and two of his flunkies disappear. She yells as Darius carves into a few of them, with Murder following in his wake and blasting one of the Oruch with a blast of fire to the face. "BURNINATE!", she screams at the top of her lungs.
GAME: Morgan casts Haste. Caster Level: 10 DC: 20
Morgan extends her hands to her side as she sends out a blue energy that makes her companions notice the world seem slower "Damn don't know what that is so avoid fire on him."
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1: (10)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1: 58 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1-5: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1-5: (9)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1+-5: 52 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1-10: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1-10: (18)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1+-10: 56 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1-15: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1-15: (8)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1+-15: 41 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1: (18)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1: 66 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1: (6)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1: 54 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (6)+3+7+(8)+(9)+1+10+1+12: 57 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (2)+3+7+(6)+(3)+1+10+1+12: 45 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (8)+3+7+(7)+(7)+1+10+1+12: 56 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (8)+3+7+(6)+(3)+1+10+1+12: 51 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (1)+3+7+(2)+(4)+1+10+1+12: 41 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (5)+3+7+(11)+(9)+1+10+1+12: 59 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (8)+3+7+(9)+(5)+1+10+1+12: 56
Ga'Elian hails a volley of arrows down upon the demon, all from his hidden spot in the trees. He makes no effort as yet to come out of hiding.
GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+25: (16)+25: 41 GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+20: (10)+20: 30 GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+15: (10)+15: 25 GAME: Azog rolls 2d8+26: (12)+26: 38 GAME: Azog rolls 2d8+26: (12)+26: 38 GAME: Azog rolls 2d8+26: (3)+26: 29
Azog scowls towards where the bowshots came from, and shouts, "If you'd done that when our quarry was here, we wouldn't have lost them." Meanwhile, he goes all out on the remaining Fel Orcs, and he's not in any mood to be stopped. He hacks him limb from limb in as many strokes, leaving him dismembered messily. He really doesn't like Fel Orcs.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+14: (1)+14: 15 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+14: (4)+14: 18 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+14: (17)+14: 31 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+9: (14)+9: 23 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+9: (11)+9: 20 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+9: (8)+9: 17 GAME: Aftershock rolls 3d6+10: (11)+10: 21
One of the orcs attacks Azog wildly, but each blow rebounds off of armor or misses entirely. Meanwhile Darius faces two, one of which manages to land a heavy blow.
As the fighting ensues, there is a soft 'pop' in the air and then suddenly there is a demon of such mass that he barely fits in the portion of the clearing that you are in. His wings are tucked close to his body and his eyes search through the mass of you with thinly veiled revulsion. Then he notices the body of the demon (swiftly becoming nothingness) that clearly had summoned him. He reaches out with care and picks up one of the arrows that slew the demon and grins. "Come out Ga'Elian and face me!"
GAME: Morgan rolls Knowledge/the Planes: (15)+12: 27 GAME: Darius rolls weapon7: (17)+13: 30 GAME: Darius rolls weapon7: (5)+13: 18 GAME: Darius rolls damage7: aliased to 2D6+10: (9)+10: 19
Darius grunts as one of the orcs manages to hit him good with a shot, leaving him bleeding. He attempts to return the favor with another huge swing, but only gets the one in front of him, hurting it very slightly.
GAME: Murder rolls weapon10: (1)+9: 10 (EPIC FAIL)
As one demon becomes a pincushion, and another suddenly appears, Murder yells. "Hey Ga'Elian! You have company!!" She looks to the demon then, and in Abyssal says, "Hey, what's your name? I'll get Ga'Elian to come out." She then sees that not all the orc-slaying is done, and draws her sword with a flourish. "HAAAAAAAH!" She goes to charge one of the orcs buts comes up short, the tip of her blade having been thrust into a tree in her excitement. "DAMMIT!"
GAME: Morgan rolls spellcraft: (6)+26: 32 GAME: Morgan casts Magic Missile. Caster Level: 10 DC: 18 GAME: Morgan rolls 1d4+1: (4)+1: 5 GAME: Morgan rolls 1d4+1: (4)+1: 5 GAME: Morgan rolls 1d4+1: (1)+1: 2
Morgan is in mid air. "Oh fuck that is a duke of hell um every one run... and how the hell did a lowly demon summon something like this so fast." she takes a moment as three bolts fly out and hits the three orcs annoying them a little "Elian he knows you were here from a Message spell."
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1: (10)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1: 58 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1-5: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1-5: (9)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1+-5: 52 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1-10: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1-10: (1)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1+-10: 39 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1-15: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1-15: (2)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1+-15: 35 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1: (6)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1: 54 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Bow/vFiend-RapidShot-DA+1: aliased to Ranged+1+7+2+11+1-2-6+1: (12)+33+1+7+2+11+1+-2+-6+1: 60 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (1)+3+7+(11)+(9)+1+10+1+12: 55 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (5)+3+7+(7)+(6)+1+10+1+12: 52 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls BowDmg/vFiend+DAdmg: aliased to 1d8+3+7+2d6+2d6+1+10+1+12: (2)+3+7+(10)+(9)+1+10+1+12: 55
Ga'Elian fires first, then calls loudly out of the woods, "This foe is beyond all of you. RUN!"
GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+25: (16)+25: 41 GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+25: (14)+25: 39 GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+20: (17)+20: 37 GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+15: (12)+15: 27 GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+20: (19)+20: 39 GAME: Azog rolls 2d8+26: (12)+26: 38 GAME: Azog rolls 2d8+26: (9)+26: 35 GAME: Azog rolls 2d8+26: (14)+26: 40 GAME: Azog rolls 4d8+52: (29)+52: 81
Azog grumbles at Ga'Elian, "First you lose our quarry, then you're settling personal fights." He grunts in dismay. But there's a pit fiend here, so he'll step up and swing his sword, concentrating on his technique because this one looks tough. Morgan's question draws a sour, "That's elves for you." Which is probably not a nice thing to say to her. But he's an orc, so go figure. He watches Ga'Elian shoot the fiend, and watches most of the shots miss. He was going to take a swing at it, but that's enough to give even him pause. Furious, he instead concentrates on the lesser enemies we're facing, and he hacks it's head off so hard that it flies up, and lands fifty feet away, spinning slowly as the body pirouettes in a fountain of blood. He is not a happy oruch.
GAME: Azog rolls 1d20+25: (7)+25: 32 GAME: Azog rolls 2d8+26: (6)+26: 32
The orcs take one look at the demon and rather than continue the fight they beat a hasty retreat. Eclavdran grins at Ga'Elian, fist wrapped around the fired arrow. "I have you now Ga'Elian. Your name, your arrow, and soon enough your blood." He lets out a mocking laugh and with that disappears as completely as though he had never been there at all.
Murder huffs as the Orcs run off and then the Demon gloats and vanishes. She eyes Ga'Elian curiously after the Demon's ominous message. "That must be really annoying, Elian. Do they always run away when you show up? Impressive. Annoying when you want to make the world a better place by eliminating the local Orc or Demon population, though."
Ga'Elian asks Morgan to scry for the fel orc commanders.
Azog thrusts his blade at a retreating orc, but then doesn't pursue, since they don't have what we're after. He can stay on a goal, he's not a mindless ball of rage. "Cowards!" he shouts after the orcs, though given that they've been falling to him quite handily, it's certainly good sense for them. No honor, but sense, at least. As far as Ga'Elian and his pet demon go, the elf gets a scowl from Azog. "Well, you cost us our quarry. Let's hope we can get them back."
Morgan screams in the air "I wanted that one orcs staff, I never find good loot."
Morgan looks to the dead ones "I can speak to the spirit of the orcs. What questions should I ask?"
Azog says to Morgan, "Ask them where their leader would have retreated to." That's his suggestion.
Morgan sits down at the body and says a few arcane words and gets annoyed as she asks it 5 questions in 5 different languages "Stupid fell orcs not learning other languages."
Morgan stands up. "Ok let’s loot the bodies."
-End-