Orc Trouble Quest at Wyvern Tor

From Phandalin - Part 2

Harbin is looking for someone to head east on Triboar Trail Encounters, where travelers have reported trouble with a band of orcs near Wyvern Tor. He offers 100 gp to any group that can take care of the problem. If the party pursues this quest, see "Wyvern Tor".

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From Part 3 ...

The Spider's Web

Wyvern Tor

This crag is a prominent landmark in the rugged hills northeast of The Sword Mountains and is easily visible from twenty miles away.
People traveling along the Triboar Trail in the vicinity of Conyberry catch glimpses of Wyvern Tor to the south as they go. The tor was formerly the home of a large and dangerous nest of wyverns, but a band of bold adventurers dealt with the monsters years ago. Though the wyverns never returned, other creatures lair here from time to time. Wyvern Tor's current squatters include a band of orcs and their ogre ally.

The orcs are scouts of the Many-Arrows Orc Tribe tribe. These orcs often roam into the more civilized areas of the North, spying out human settlements, waylaying travelers, and looting and plundering as opportunities present themselves. Stories of new settlers near Phandalin and renewed traffic along the old Triboar Trail drew this band to the area. Their leader is Brughor Axe-Biter—a savage brute who is more interested in murdering and looting than scouting.

Orc Camp

Wyvern Tor is a sizable hill, with miles of rugged terrain on its flanks and slopes. Searching for the hidden orc camp takes time. The party can attempt one DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check or DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check per hour to find the camp, made by the character leading the way.

When the characters find the camp, read the following:

The faint smell of smoke hangs on the air as you ascend a rugged ridge on the lower slopes of the hill. Fifty yards away, a cave mouth opens up at the bottom of a ravine. Hunkered down by a boulder twenty yards outside the cave, keeping watch, is a single orc.

If the characters can quietly and expeditiously take out the lone orc, they have a chance to surprise the orcs in the cave. If the sentry spots the characters sneaking up, or if it is not silenced during the surprise round, the orc retreats back to the cave to warn the others.

The marauders in the cave include Brughor Axe-Biter (an orc with 30 hit points), six ordinary orcs, and a filthy ogre named Gog. Gog fights until slain, while the orcs fight until Brughor is killed, at which point any remaining orcs flee.

Treasure
Brughor's band plundered several homesteads farther north on their way to Wyvern Tor. An unlocked treasure chest in the cave holds 750 cp, 180 sp, 62 ep, 30 gp, and three vials of perfume (10 gp each).

Awarding Experience Points
Defeating the monsters at Wyvern Tor completes a quest given to the party by Townmaster Harbin Wester in Phandalin, and it delivers on a promise to Hamun Kost at Old Owl Well. Divide 1,250 XP equally among the characters if the party deals with the orcs and the ogre.

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Homebrew (add the relevant numbers to the map)


IMPORTANT: The orc camp is to be found in a cave beside the stacks of crags that form the Tor but is hidden. Only show part of the map when the players have found the entrance to the cavern. (From module: Searching for the hidden orc camp takes time. The party can attempt one DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check or DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check per hour to find the camp, made by the character leading the way.)

1 Northern Path

Description from Outside


' As you ascend the hill you can see the large stacks of the tor looming larger above you. It stands on a large stone shelf well below the mountain summit. After another half an hour of a steep climb on a rough hill, the path leads you round behind the crags and you arrive at the ledge of the shelf.


Facing you, to your right, is a flat stony, and grassy promontory where the huge stone stacks stand. The stacks create a series of nooks and crannies which would have been ideal for some huge nests. Below the northern wall, you notice large white bones protruding from the ground, fanned out in the shape of a small dragon wings.'

On the other side, there lie a jumble of rocks, thickets, and trees, as the mountain rises up steeply from that point onwards. You can also hear very clearly the running waters of a small brook/burn further south of where you stand. You assume the burn is hidden behind the rocky outcrop to your left. How would you like to proceed?'

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2 The Crags and Wyvern Remains

The stacks are the lair of the ogre Gog. He lives in filth within one large overhang that forms a natural open cavern within the crags. The ogre lair can be approached from any direction and lays deep among the narrow alleys of the Tor.
Inside his cave, Grog is cooking a whole cow (stolen!) on a huge spitfire on a roaring campfire. He can be surprised if the adventurers use stealth to approach. When attacked, Grog will try to flee, alert and join the orcs in the nearby cavern.

Inside the lair
the lair is dark and full of acrid smoke. The stench is unbelievable as Grog never cleans up offals and other 'non-edible' parts of its prey from the one-room he lives in. Investigations will find out that the remains also pertain to humanoids as well as cattle, sheep, and deer. There is no furniture but a roughly put-together stone table, in front of a natural stone 'seat' formation along one of the cave walls. and a stinky straw mattress in another corners.

Treasure
Adventurers do not find anything of value in here as Grog gives his loot to the Orcs (as part of his rent to stay in the stacks). He only keeps a few ornaments on his person: a gold tooth as part of a trophy necklace worth 2 gp, and a pretty ivory pendant of a winter wolf (5gp) part of the same necklace. His weapon is a massive tree trunk roughly shaped into a club.


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3 The Rubbles

When the players continue around the southside of the Tor, they come to what is a short plaza covered with rubbles and the remnants of an ancient battle.

It is full of rubbles and whitened bones. Two huge wyverns skulls can be seen among the tall grasses as well as some discarded rusted helmets and rotted wooden shields. Perceptive players would be able to see smoke coming out from deep inside the crags of the Tor on their righthand side.

On the mountainside of the ledge, nothing can be seen but dense thickets of trees, shrubs, and grasses growing up a rocky outcrop. However, if adventurers investigate the surroundings for tracks and passage, with a high enough DC roll, they could make out a path and heavy footsteps into the undergrowth.



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4 The Orc Camp Entrance

A well-camouflaged (average size) entrance leads into a dark passage deep within the mountain and underneath the rocky outcrop behind the crags of the Tor. Humans do not have to bend down to enter it, but orcs and other larger species would.

The passage is natural and players without darkvision can still benefit from the daylight filtering through the small entrance. With a DC 10 roll perception, players could make out some writings in ochre in Orc Language on the cavern walls:

'Kulknej ayh ul milambak ro Uruth Ukrypt' Dajo naj-ri'uk adog nart shum arrows liwo gimb lat'

It roughly translates as:

'We are the children of Uruth Ukrypt' Follow his path or many arrows will find you.'
If a player can read orcish or 'understand languages' they will be able to translate the message. A History check DC 10 or above will jog the player's memory and he or she will remember the name of the Many-Arrows tribe and some of its recent history. A history check DC 15 or above will also uncover who Uruth Ukrypt is and what the orcs might be doing at Wyvern Tor.

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5 Main Cavern

The dimly lit passage ends in a very large damp cave that continues unseen in its southern section. The ceilings are well seven meters high and a natural chimney throws some light on a very messy and stinky rough camp on the lefthand side (northern) side of the cavern. Three orcs are sitting around a cold hearth, and are busy attending to their axes, maybe getting ready to go hunting and/or marauding.

Development
If the players are stealthy enough, the orcs can be surprised. However, if Gog managed to escape, he might be among them and have alerted the orcs to the adventurers' presence.

If the players are found out and a fight starts in this part of the cavern, the other two orcs and their leader, Brughor Axe-Biter come round the corner from the right and join the fight.

From the DnD module: Gog fights until slain, while the orcs fight until Brughor is killed, at which point any remaining orcs flee.

Treasure
For Gog see 'Section 2'. In this area, not much can be found: the orcs do not have anything of value on them. (Maybe add some fun stuff? rations in some crates?)

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6 Orc Leader's Cave

On the right-hand side, the cave turns westward and creates a more private room/space that Brughor has claimed as his private quarters. This is also where the band's loot is being kept in a large trunk that serves as a bench in front of a rickety wooden table. There is also strangely a well-made and adorned armchair (looted from a passing caravan a few months ago) that has become already dirty and moldy after a few months in the cavern in the hands of the orc. A few more crates and barrels, mainly empty, are strewn a bit everywhere else across the room.


If spied upon, a player could see Brughor talking animatedly to two other orcs (maybe his lieutenants or scouts). The discussion bears on the orcs' forthcoming outing and target - this can be gleaned from someone able to understand Orcish - a caravan a few hours from the Tor on the Triboar Trail. The orcs run through different strategies on how best to attack it.


Further listening in and an intelligence check (DC 12) could also glean the fact that Brughor is getting impatient with the lack of progress in their artifact finding mission. The orcs have not been able to find any relics pertaining to the Ancient Orc Kingdom and King Uruth Ukrypt despite hours of foraging around the crags.

Treasure From the module: Brughor's band plundered several homesteads farther north on their way to Wyvern Tor. An unlocked treasure chest in the cave holds 750 cp, 180 sp, 62 ep, 30 gp, and three vials of perfume (10 gp each).

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7 The Wyvern Nest

At the edge of the crags, past a fallen tree, there stands a lone stack of huge stones that forms the southern tip of the Tor. If players investigate the crags, they would find nestled among the large stones, a long-abandoned, very large, wyvern nest (need to check what that would look like!).

An orc sentry is guarding the southern access to the Tor and is hidden behind a big stone beside the old Wyvern nest. If the players climb up to the Tor from the south, and are not stealthy enough, the sentry will be able to alert the rest of the camp before the party arrives at the crags.

The orcs have been going through the crags with a fine toothcomb to find any valuable artifacts that might have been left behind. Only an investigation check DC of 20 or higher would get a player to find something valuable in here (insert here ...). Players might be able to find scales? or eggshells? Need to look more into it ...
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