Conquering the Barbarian Altanis: Session 113
Adventurers
| Character | Class | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ajar of the Plan | Dwarf level 2 | Unbelievably strong and dexterous dwarf. |
| Balarus | Fighter level 1 | An ex-woodsman, quite a crackshot with his bow. |
| Gomm | Thief level 5 | Swarthy, good looking, dark-skinned thief. Sweet opium-like aroma is his fragrance of choice. |
| Zhoron Trisrie | Elf level 2 | Always frowning and morose; sporting thick handlebar moustache down to his chest and a black top knot. |
| Darius | Cleric level 4 | Follower of Dacron, God of Craftsmen. |
| Hector | Fighter level 3 | Balding warrior in the dwarf corpse retrieval business. |
| Tarkus the Promising | Cleric level 4 | Follower of Bachontoi, God of Red Wisdom. |
| Beorg the Gravedigger | Fighter level 3 | Inspired to adventure after burying several adventurers. |
| Ambros | Cleric level 5 | Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time. |
| Ignaeus | Elf level 2 | A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiselled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge. |
| Centuria | Elf level 1 | An academic elf fond of teasing those of lower status. |
Thistleburn 8th, Earthday
“The farm is straight ahead!”
“Quiet... Can you hear the running footsteps?”
“Yes!”
“If someone is running it is either a monster fleeing, meaning we should intercept, or an ally retreating, meaning we should intercept.”
Tarkus the Promising wisely summarised. Himself, Beorg, Hector, Darius, and Centuria were heading toward the farming compound their friends set out to explore two days.
⁂
“We had a plan...” Gomm mussed to himself as everything fell apart.
The carefully prepared ambush was for naught. Everyone had missed the whistling orc, and the bastard just ran out. Night benefited him more than the adventurers.
Making an educated guess where the pig-faced mongrel might be headed, Gomm made a run eastwards, scaled the ten foot palisade, and jumped out of the compound. Then he gave chase after the orc.
No one followed him.
One hunter.
One hunted.
The thief moved swiftly, torch in one hand, sword in other.
Insect filled jungle was as alive during night as it had been during the day.
Although he could rarely spot humanoid silhouette, Gomm could almost always hear the joyful whistle.
He followed and tracked and pursued relentlessly, caring little for dangers hiding in dark canopy above him.
Success, at last! He had caught up with orc in the time his third torch burned out.
By now Gomm's eyes have somewhat accustomed to the night. He could see the silhouette walking through small clearing, causing bone-crushing sounds. Then it barked something into the dark opening ahead.
He took off the bow from his back.
He aimed.
He released an arrow.
The arrow hit the cave wall right next to the orc.
A massive dark figure stepped out of the cave.
It roared and charged into the jungle.
Behind it followed several humanoid figures.
Hunter became the hunted.
Gomm scaled the tallest tree he could find. Then he found the thickets branch to lie on. He prostrated himself, belly down, and held his breath as long as he could.
Minutes felt like hours.
Summoning the courage to move after what felt an eternity, Gomm descended the tree.
No monsters befell him.
Through luck and skill he managed to find his way back to the farmer compound.
⁂
“It's Gomm!”
Adventurers were happy to see the thief return. It's been more than four hours since he had left and they were beginning to get worried.
While he was away they spent time surveying the whole compound, fixing the gates, inspecting the buildings for anything useful, and in general getting ready to defend themselves.
The sun had risen, but everyone was tired from full day and night of draining activities. Hence they decided to spend rest of the day sleeping. Everyone would get two watches of rest, while they'd spend one watch on guard duty.
Come night, they decided to remain at the compound, fortify their position, and prepare even more traps in case troll shows up here.
They prepared one bonfire by the compound entrance and one by the farmhouse. Both were unlit, but doused with oil so they catch fire faster. They also loaded two carts with hay and branches, and doused them with military oil for extra crispy burn.
Demihumans took the elevated positions: Centuria on the tower, Ajar on the southeast barn roof, and Ignaeus on the south barn roof.
Humans mostly rallied around the gates. Some, like Ambros, prepared clay vials with military oil so they can throw them in rapid succession.
Zhoron took post by the gates so he can inform his human allies in case he sees something move in darkness. He had keen infravision, even for an elf.
Torches were extinguished.
With everyone at their position, the waiting game was on.
Thistleburn 9th, Fireday
Hours in darkness went by.
PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARP!
Suddenly a bronze trumpet blared from the west.
PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARP!
Another blaring trumpet, this time from the west.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
An orc appeared to the south, confidently walking towards the farm.
“Come closer, friend!” Zhoron called out in Orcish as he cast Charm Person.
Illustration by IdleDoodler.
Indeed, the orc obliged.
“Oh, you are at the wrong place at the wrong time! Now we will have to kill you all! I don't want to lie to you, it will most likely be a very painful death!” orc replied to Zhoron's inquiries.
“Maybe you can help us! How many of you are there?”
“Well it is just me, Kruggak, and my bros, Kruggak and Kruggak.”
With a little bit more prodding and encouragement from Zhoron, the party had learned that this orcish trio had always dreamt of having a pig farm. Instead they ended up serving horrible troll G'r'sh.
“If you help us kill the troll you can have a farm of your own! All your dreams will come true! And you can even beat the troll with his own arm, just like he did to you!”
“Wow, you are so smart! This is a great plan! But I have some really bad news. G'r'sh is already at the farm.”
Silence.
“Uh, huh, where?”
“He is hiding in the cellar of that big house over there. He will come out when I signal him to.”
“Why don't you go tell him he can come out, lead him through the main doors, and then we all attack him?”
“He is not dumb! He is expecting me to bring some of you dead with me!”
“We will gut a pig and smear blood over your hands. You just tell him we are all dead outside!”
“Wow, you elves really are smart! This plan will surely work!”
Now everyone but Centuria moved to position facing east side of the farmhouse. Although the house had several doorways, the east face had main doors. They also moved both carts with flammable material to the sides.
Hector and Balarus hid behind north cart, Ambros, Bakaru, and Zhoron behind south cart. Centuria remained on the tower. Gomm scaled the farmhouse and waiting on the roof. Others were at some distance away from the house. Everyone was still moving in the dark, relying on moonlight and demihumans to guide them.
Kruggak cheerfully ran into the house.
His lifeless, eviscerated corpse flew out of the window just mere moments later.
A large, nightmarish creature jumped out of the same window with great east. Nearly nine feet tall, with green-black leathery skin covered with warts and blisters, long arms with razor-sharp talons, crooked, floppy nose, and a maw full of shark-like teeth.
The monster walked over to the closest cart, northern one, and took in a deep whiff. Roaring, it chucked the cart over, and attacked bald but bold Hector with fury. Warrior managed to evade the bit, and deflect one of the claw. Alas, troll managed to nick him with the follow up claw attack.
Illustration by IdleDoodler.
Gomm took out rope and made a slipknot. His idea was to sneak from above and lower rope around the monster's neck so he could pull it into one of the fires. But none were lit yet.
Balarus fled bravely, looking for an opportunity to shoot his bow instead of swinging his sword. Hector stood his ground, trading blows with the monster. Ambros ran around, guided by the God of Red Wisdom, and joined the fray. Zhoron lit the south cart on fire, and then pushed it together with Balarus and Ambros. Alas, they missed the troll by few feet. One of the wheels must have been a bit loose.
Attracted by divine presence, the monster turned to Tarkus. It missed with first swing, but follow up landed to the cleric's side, nearly shattering his ribs. Tarkus quickly learned that black mass moved with great speed. He might've even questioned the wisdom of his choice to join the melee as large maw closed around his shoulder, sending such horrible pain through his body that he immediately collapsed to the ground.
Second cart attack was as impotent as first one. Seeing one of them going down sent the adventurers in righteous rage. They surrounded the troll and hit it with all they have. Hector delivered a series of brutal blows, hacking the monster to pieces.
Illustration by kickmaniac.
Following a very brief discussion, Ambros ran to heal Tarkus, while others collected troll pieces and chucked them into the burning cart.
There was little of value on troll corpse, but the dead orc had few silver coins and a key around his mangled neck.
“Let's investigate the cellar, just to make sure nothing else comes out at us.”
Ambros volunteered.
An hour or so later he confirmed there is a dug tunnel leading into the jungle.
“This key must unlock their treasure chest! Let's go straight to their lair, the sun is up!”
“But what if there is a horde of orcs waiting for us there?”
“This troll must've been G'r'sh, their boss. Surely he was the big bad?!”
In the end the party had decided to play it safe. They retreated to the shore, intending to summon the fishermen they paid a week or so ago, to pick them up and ferry them to Ketche.
No one showed up.
“Hmmm...”
With little else to do, they decided to camp in the wild.
Thistleburn 10th, Spiritday
Summer in Altanis is hot.
But summer in Altanian jungle?
Hot and humid beyond belief.
Adventurers backtracked to the farm. From there Gomm led them to the troll cave. It was a simple large cave, some fifty by fifty foot.
It was empty sans few rotting corpses, flayed humans, and a large chest broken open. The chest was, of course, completely empty.
Gomm checked if the key fits.
It fit perfectly.
Ajar spotted a rubble of stones; a cave in. Clearing it took few hours and revealed a tunnel some three feet in diameter. It slopped downwards, and was longer than few hundred feet.
“Let's camp here and then go back to the shore tomorrow.”
Thistleburn 14th, Fireday
“Ketche! Finally!”
Fishermen hadn't showed up where the party had expected them to. So they had to travel some ten miles through thick jungle instead. They were wise enough to avoid all monsters and encounters, and managed to reach the hamlet in a little under a week.
Smelly and tired, but alive. Ambros reported their great success to Jaffar. Then he took on another assignment from her: get the region rid of notorious gnoll headhunter Graylock.
The party also found their fishermen—dead drunk at the Goat's Beard Inn.
“What are the accepted punishments around here?” Centuria inquired.
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