Session 13

Date Played: November 4, 2000



Lunadain, 22nd of Vatermont, 1,000 A.C. (sometime around 12 pm)

The party was surprised during a quick exploration of the tunnels leading northeast from the large underground cavern. Niedra and Markus faced off against two large, powerful orc guards who advanced threateningly. The party decided to fall back into the cavern to fight. The orcs were well-armored and wielded glaives. They lashed out at the party and quickly felled Torino and Markus. The party members seemed shocked and dismayed as the combat slowly turned against them without many blows struck against their foes. Luck seemed to be against them as two more party members, Niedra and Larwynn, fell under the orcish weapons. When three more orc guards entered the room, fresh for combat, they faced only Maribor, Chow-Lin, and Eric. Maribor was knocked unconscious rather quickly, leaving Chow-Lin and Eric to surrender.

The still living members of the party were hauled up by the orcs and carried/dragged down a north tunnel. Passing through some empty corridors lit by torches and through a barracks occupied by other orcs (including females and young), the party was brought in front of the chieftain, an obese orc sitting in a cart converted to be a large bed. The chieftain seemed pleased with Chow-Lin and kept her for his own amusment. The others were thrown into the slave pen near the entrance (along the unexplored eastern tunnel). The elves, Larwynn and Niedra, were not seen again (and are presumed deceased).

Chow-Lin was then attended by the orc chief’s harem, who arranged her hair and dress to a more "suitable" orcish fashion. Her face was smeared with “cosmetics” and she was left to sleep with the chief’s whelps on furs under the cart-bed. Chow-Lin, scared and in darkness, waited until the orcs drifted back to sleep. Luckily, no one noticed the serrated orc knife she had hidden in her robes. So, she waited and watched to make her move.

Eric found himself in a dank slave pen inhabited by ragged humans, halflings, goblins, and kobolds. He made the best of the situation and struck up a conversation with one of the halflings. He didn’t hear much that he couldn’t have already guessed. Luckily, the orcs had overlooked his silvered dagger hidden in his boot. With some sleep, he would be able to regain his spells and use them to escape this place. Before he could drift off to sleep, however, the door to the slave pen opened and the limp form of Markus was tossed in. Luckily, Markus was carrying the jar of healing ointment given to them by the elves. Eric was able to revive both Markus and Maribor using the ointment. Torino remained unconscious, although his wounds were bound. The party thought it best to retain the last application of ointment for an emergency. While Eric then drifted off to sleep, Markus spoke with the slaves about trying to attain freedom.

Meanwhile, Chow-Lin scurried about in the dark room trying to locate her candles and spellbook which were discarded in a heap of old clothing along the south wall. She dragged a pile of clothing over to the door and used the faint glimmer of torchlight from under the door to locate her cloak. Once she had both her cloak and backpack, she decided on a definite course of action. She lit a candle and explored around the room, looking for anything she could use, keeping the candle covered so that only she could see. Eventually, setting the candle down on a stool near the cart, she gripped her orc knife tightly and prepared to murder the orcs while they slept. Cautiously, she slit the throat of an orc hag, making sure to restrain the orc’s limbs to keep her from alerting the others. Then, partially climbing over the dead hag, she plunged the dagger into the chief's neck, immediately killing him as well. After this harrowing act, she then killed off the other two hags and the two whelps under the cart. Now at least she had time to explore in peace and not worry about sudden interruption from the orcs. Once more making a circuit around the room, she found a few items of interest. The first stop was the cart bed. The posts of the cart had been removed and nailed to the foot of the cart like bed posts. On each was a large horned animal skull hanging on a crossbeam. Draped over each crossbeam was a black cloth banner sporting a large red-colored rune of unknown meaning. The Chief apparently slept with a coin purse under his pillow, he wore a key chain around his neck, and a necklace of bear fangs (one of which was cut and carved with the symbol of an eye). The chief’s weapon, a large black-metal battle axe inscribed with the same rune in red hung on brackets alongside the cart-bed hidden from the door side. The vanity had some interesting items on it, among which were a silvered mirror bordered by brass oak leaf designs and a silver comb. Over this, hung on the wall, were two large, crossed battle axes. The pile of clothing in the southern portion of the room were all used and quite dirty. There was a chest tucked under the cart. Chow-Lin managed to drag the chest out quietly using some of the discarded clothes to cushion and muffle the noise. Using the key from the orc chief’s neck chain she unlocked the chest. Luckily it was not trapped. Inside were hundreds of coins and a few other treasures. Sitting atop the coins was a pair of gemstones, a wrought gold belt buckle in the form of a wreath of oak leaves, a pouch, and a wooden box. The pouch contained several gemstones of marble-size and the box contained potion vials packed in hay. Chow-Lin took what items she could carry (leaving the chest full of coins, and the key in the lock), and bedded down in the southern portion of the room, hiding in the mess of clothes on the floor.

After roughly four hours of rest, Chow-Lin and Eric awoke to begin memorizing their spells. Eric was just starting to pray for his last lesser spell when the orcs came to the door. They opened the lock and two orcs dressed in scale mail entered holding manacles. They yelled for the prisoners to get up. Markus and Maribor hid next to the door, hoping to conceal themselves. The orcs noticed Maribor but were oblivious to Markus. Then Eric cast his heat metal spell upon them. Behind the two orcs, a leader orc and the two door guards were looking in. By the time the orc slavers were glowing red hot and dying in their armor, the lead orc recognized Eric as a spell caster and started to withdraw cautiously from the doorway. The orcs didn’t get very far before Markus and Maribor, armed with their daggers, charged after them. Catching them at the short tunnel entrance of the guard room, the two warriors attacked the orc guards. A struggle ensued, but in the end the orc guards were killed off and the orc slave leader was charmed by Eric.

In the Chief’s chambers, a guard unlocked the door about an hour after Chow-Lin memorized her spells (sleep (x2) and magic missile). She managed to surprise both guards as the door opened, putting them to sleep with a spell. She then killed the orcs in their sleep using her trusty orcish knife. She grabbed a torch off the wall and cautiously made her way south into the barracks room. There she spotted four large orc guards asleep and an open door across the room from which she could hear various orc voices. Luckily, she ducked down and pretended to be asleep right before a pair of orc guards entered the room, grabbed something, and left again. She recovered her discarded torch and very carefully draped herself in orc clothes, stuffing her clothes with more material to make her look more orcish. She then kept her head down and shuffled out into the corridor. She passed a feasting hall and another closed door with the symbol of a blood red eye painted on it. Making her way into a dark corridor, she used her torch to light the way. Chow-Lin hesitated a bit near the orc guard post, but the orcs thought she was just another hag and allowed her to pass with only flirtatious attentions. She pretended to be a torch-lighter to get past the orcs in the main cavern beyond. Maintaining her disguise, she made it by another guard post and the long tunnel back towards the entrance.

Meanwhile, the charmed orc slaver organized the slaves at the behest of Eric, chained them together, and led them out of the smoky slave pen. Under Eric’s deceptions, the orc slaver managed to convince the guards at the entrance that the slaves were being sold to “slave dealers.” Markus went along with the deception as well, using his orcish language skills to better “convince” (threaten) the guards. The slaves then followed Maribor (who was carrying Torino on his shoulder) back to the camp 2 miles south of the orc lair. Eric and Markus followed the orc slaver back to the north tunnel in the hopes of freeing Chow-Lin. Along the way, the small group of supposed slavers were questioned and glared at but not attacked. Chow-Lin and the rest of the party met up in a small tunnel connecting two large caverns filling with orcs going about their nightly business. Miraculously, the party was then able to leave the orc lair unmolested. Bidding goodbye to the orc slaver, they made their way back to the camp.

At the camp, they found Maribor and Torino, as well as the halfling and human slaves, but there was no sign of the kobolds or goblins. Apparently, Maribor tricked the humanoids into fighting each other over some food and they ran after each other into the night. Chow-Lin divested herself of the orcish garments and related the tale of her harrowing escape from the chief’s chambers to the others. Her “new hairstyle” drew some giggles from the others, but it seemed they were safe here for a while.

Consequences of the Escape:

After the battle that resulted in the party’s capture, various items were lost. Eric, Markus, Maribor, Chow-Lin and Torino all lost their original weapons. However, Markus had a hidden dagger in a wrist sheath and Eric maintained a silvered dagger in his boot. Chow-Lin had picked up an orcish blade in the kitchen area and hid it in her robes. Those items now missing include: Eric’s spear; Markus’ crossbow, boltcase, and long sword; Chow-Lin’s quarterstaff; Maribor’s short sword and hand axes; and Torino’s short sword and javelins. Although the packs were not lost, Chow-Lin did lose a flask of oil due to breakage, and two applications of healing ointment were used to revive Maribor and Markus. Chow-Lin, in her haste to escape, left behind the unlocked chest filled with coins as well as the key used to open the chest. The black battle axe was also left behind in the chief’s chambers. It was noted by those captured in the slave pens that elves were neither captured nor eaten, so it is safe to assume that Larwynn and Niedra are both dead. The orcs were typically up and mobile at this time of night (roughly 8 pm by the time the party gets back to camp) so they would probably discover the dead orcs in the chief’s chambers fairly soon. The party has not escaped the orcs’ wrath just yet!

Cast of Non-Player Characters

Larwynn Grunalf – Calarii elf fighter/magic-user, presumed dead at the hands of the orcs.
Niedra Erendyl – Calarii elf thief, presumed dead at the hands of the orcs.
Sub-Commander Maribor – warrior from Radlebb Keep; accompanied party to the orc lair.
Soldier Torino – man-at-arms under direct command of sub-commander Maribor.
Zulrik – orc slave master charmed by Eric; left behind in the orc lair.