Adventure Log, Session 5 The Old Orc Temple, Part 2

General Summary

They had just adopted the stray dog, Mr. Wiggles. “Ownership” passed to Elitheris. Taid cast Mystic Mist over the campsite as a protective measure. They still had a watch, despite the protective mist that covered the camp, hiding it from prying eyes and hungry teeth. Taid also cracked open his spell book, finally learning enough about Recover Energy and Restoration to be able to cast them.

  Eykit practiced sword stances, cuts and thrusts, and other esoteric martial sword forms. Only recently has he decided that combat skills might be something of a priority; earlier, his charm and wit had been enough. But out here, in the jungle, those skills are less helpful, much to his chagrin.

  Elitheris took first watch, Eykit the second. There was no third watch, and so of course something happened. The dog started barking just before dawn, as a small herd of trihorns (antelope) ran around the edge of the mystic mist, startled by the sudden barking of Mr. Wiggles, who was simply excited to see them. Or watchful, and doing his part. Awake now, the group set to breakfast and breaking down the camp.

  They decide to follow the beaten down pathway that a previous group made, as it was going in the right direction. And it’s likely it was made by the abductees and their captors, so they figure it was going to the same place they were. The boat, anchored and tied off at the fork in the river, they left behind.

  That day was relatively quiet, although Eykit, not being used to long hikes over rough terrain (and not ever having properly-fitted shoes, being an urchin) got some pretty severe blisters, that really slowed the group down. It was easily fixed with a casting of Minor Healing by Taid, and Eykit’s feet had never felt better. A couple hours of more hiking, and they made camp.

  Taid again cast Mystic Mist to protect the camp from potential intruders. They set watches, and again, the night was uneventful.

  The next day, at about midday, Elitheris noticed that there was a cluster of bushes of healing herbs. These herbs can be used as alchemical ingredients, and are worth about $200. That evening, as they were searching for a campsite, they found a mostly buried, vegetation-covered statue. It looked Orcish, probably a leftover from the ancient Orc tribes that used to live here. It was leaning, and the vegetation hanging from it made a pretty good shelter.  

  Camp was made, and Taid again cast Mystic Mist, failing the casting. He tried again, using up his entire reserve, and barely made it to his bedroll before falling from exhaustion. Elitheris took first watch, while Eykit took second watch. Taid, now recovered, took third watch. While stepping around the statue to relieve himself, he noticed something they hadn’t found the night before. It was a large backpack, filled with some quality camping gear, some empty potion vials, and a single Morpheus pastille, used to put targets to sleep. Someone had apparently stashed it by the statue, and hadn’t come back for it. It was loaded up on Clyde, the mule Kylen had lent them.

  Around midday or shortly afterward, Taid stopped in his tracks, an odd look on his face. He was feeling something underfoot, a vibration in the earth. Kneeling down, he placed his hands on the ground, and felt a rhythmic throbbing. His first thought was some disturbance in the earth, perhaps an earthquake, or a large rock worm. Neither of those answers fit, however. As they hiked along the precut trail, blazed by some large group of hikers, he would test the ground every so often. The vibration was getting stronger, or, rather, they were seemingly getting closer to the source.

  By early afternoon, they topped a rise overlooking a broad valley, and saw, rising from the tree canopy at the far end, a stone edifice. The vibration could actually be heard now, a pulsing, throbbing beat. Definitely not an earthquake. It was drums.     They continued onward, down the slope and into the valley. They stumbled on some overgrown foundation stones, but after the first one or two, they knew what to look for, and avoided the rest. As they got closer, they noticed that what they thought was a hill, wasn’t a hill at all: it was some kind of temple, or the ziggurat of Kylen’s dream. It was overgrown with vegetation, about a thousand years’ worth. Some had been cleared; there was a fairly large thoroughfare down what must have been the main street of the ancient town, leading to a set of stairs going up to a tower and into the structure. It was a three tiered step pyramid, broad and flat, rather than vertically oriented.

  Eykit, being the stealthy little green Goblin that he is, made his way closer to the structure, where he observed it for a while. He noticed a couple of things. One, there were people in it: one in the lower floor of the tower, and two in the top floor. They were scanning the area, keeping an eye out for intruders. Two: there were some sentries wandering around on the plaza level, the lower of the three tiers. Occasionally, they would go up to the upper level, then back down again. Their paths were rather random, and they didn’t all go around the building in the same direction. They also wore what appeared to be religious robes. Eykit retreated back to the others, and told them what he saw.

  The group stashed Clyde several hundred yards off the beaten path, where, hopefully, he and their gear will be safe. Then they moved around to the northwest corner, where the plan was to climb up the vegetation on the side of the structure and take out the sentries, one by one, with Elitheris loosing arrows, hoping for headshots and quick kills, with Taid and Eykit available to grab the sentry to finish him off and dump the body.

  Elitheris waits for the first guard to turn the corner and expose the back of his head. The arrow flies true, and the guard drops without much of a sound. Taid quickly grabs him, Eykit cuts his throat to make sure he’s dead, and they drop the body to the ground, where Mr. Wiggles waits (since he can’t climb). Mr. Wiggles sniffs at the body, but isn’t really tempted to eat him, as his new pack has been giving him food lately. The next sentry’s fate is about the same: ambush, kill, dump.

  The third sentry, coming from the other direction this time, is on alert. He should have passed by the other sentries by now, and was wondering where they had gone off too. He stopped at the corner, confused about not seeing the sentries where they should have been. Unfortunately for him, he too was killed without much of a fuss. Another body was dumped into the pile.

  Eykit, Taid, and Elitheris moved to the southwest corner of the second tier, at the base of the stairs. Eykit then sneaked over to the tower, and then inside. Taid and Elitheris stayed back at first. Then Taid, under the misapprehension that he was stealthier then he really was, was spotted by one of the guys on the upper floor of the tower. “Hey, who’s that?” followed by “Hey! You! Stop!”   Taid sprinted towards the tower doorway as the guards in the tower were roused to action. Eykit, meanwhile, had traversed the perimeter of the small tower, finding a ladder up, and a ladder down.

  Two other guards, an Orc and a Human, armored, came out of the topmost structure, wondering what all of the shouting was about.

  The first guard in the tower came down the ladder, not knowing that Eykit was under him, armed with his short sword. That short sword stabbed upward into the descending man’s crotch, causing him to leap the last several feet down from the ladder. Taid then uses his halberd like a cleaver, cutting a large gash in the guy’s chest and dropping him.

  The two guards at the top split up, the Orc going to the western stair, the Human going to the Eastern stair in order to come at Taid from two different directions. Both were armed with spears and swords; the Orc in gambeson and a chain shirt, and the Human in gambeson and linothorax.     Linothorax (a type of “yoke and tube” kind of armor, with ties in the front to hold the shoulder yoke in place, and ties on one side to seal the tube around the torso.)   Gambeson (A quilted linen garment made up of layers; light gambeson might have only 15-20 layers, while heavy gambeson has 25-30. It is actually quite good armor, better than most games portray. A light version is typically worn under most armors, and is often called an “aketon”).

  Eykit and Taid hear the two guards from the upper floor descending to the middle floor. They would arrive down the ladder shortly.

  Meanwhile, Elitheris has retreated around the stairway, to keep out of sight as the Orc guard comes barreling down the stairway in his rush to get to the one intruder he is aware of. Elitheris snipes him, putting an arrow between his chain shirt and the lobster tail of his legionary helmet. The arrow pierces him from the back of the jaw, through his tongue, and out his cheek. He gurgles, surprised, stumbling down the stairs but miraculously keeping his feet. Chalk that up to Orcish resilience.

  Elitheris charges him, pulling her knife out on the way, and slams into him, knife point first, cutting into his leg and knocking him to the ground. The Orc clumsily tries to hit her with the butt of his spear, but she dances out of the way. She pulls back, putting distance between him and her, in order to hit him with more arrows.

  Eykit spun around the corner, keeping out of sight from the two descending guards, while Taid has gone to the doorway to intercept the Human armored guard. Eykit attacks the first of two lightly armored guards, going for the groin. It’s at this point that Mr. Wiggles, not staying put but trying to find his pack, charges up the stairway, into the ground floor of the tower, and leaps at the guard engaging Eykit, latching onto the guy’s arm. 50 lbs of dog worrying at your arm will definitely make you lose the ability to wield a spear effectively.

  The armored guard on Taid strikes him in the head with his spear, a good, solid hit. Taid’s head rocks back, the spearpoint clanging off the helmet, denting it, but doing no damage. Taid smiles, striking back at the guy’s leg, which crumples and the guy goes down.

  He turns to face the other guy attacking him, who manages to get a few good blows in, but none that get past the armor.

  The Orc guard, finally able to stand, comes after Elitheris. She puts another arrow into his chest, and he collapses, wounded and unconscious. She slits his throat.

  Eykit manages a couple of more hits to the guard, wounding him in the groin again, and on the same arm that Mr. Wiggles is chewing on. That arm gets crippled, and the guy screams in pain and frustration and fear. Then Eykit and Mr. Wiggles both hit the same leg, crippling that too, and the guy goes down.

  Taid has turned back to the Human armored guard, and hits him in the torso with his halberd. The guy drops, dead.

  Seeing this slaughter, the remaining guard tries to flee. On his way around Taid, his arm gets crippled, and he drops his spear. As he tries to run, Taid does an upward swing with the spike, catching the guy in the groin, and ending any chance of him A) running away; B) having children; and C) breathing. A halberd spike to the nuts is a lousy way to go.

  The fight over, they quickly loot the bodies, then dump them a little ways out in the jungle to avoid them being easily spotted. The loot they put on Clyde; it consists mainly of the guards’ weapons and armor, with a bit of coin.

  Now the hard part begins. Getting inside and dealing with what’s in there.

Rewards Granted

4 character points. Some battle loot, some sellable alchemical ingredients, and a backpack full of camping gear, including a two-person tent. And a bit better understanding about how combat works, without taking any real hits along the way. Except for poor Mr. Wiggles, who took a bop to the nose for a whole 1 HP of damage.

Missions/Quests Completed

The arrived at the ancient Orcish temple. They removed/neutralized (well, killed) the guards around the external portion of the ancient Orcish temple.

Character(s) interacted with

Six "Acolytes", and two "Protectors" (an Orc and a Human).