2. The Orc City

Smithy will make his way to the family establishment for that.
The bounty hunter will be released, his effects returned back to him, and he will help them track down smithy who will be doing fuck all. Dot will see his savior locked away in the prison. From there he will request dot take care of his family in tottenham and henry and jordan have already gotten their orders.
The group will be given a pass to get into the Orc city to make a delivery under the guise from the Iron parliament.
En route to the orc city, arty and lucid will have a dream. In this dream, they will confront the creature once more to where the artifact will appear, open, and an eye will come out and go into the other socket. The figure will form into Vecna. He will explain to them that he is an arch mage would was trapped in the astral sea and is willing to share his power to stop the world from ending. Within the astral sea there is are creatures that want to break through and destroy the world and there are those on their plane that are attempting to do this. He wants arty who has taken him as his patron to retrieve the totem and return it back to dance the dance that was given to him and will guide him to the source of power that he so desires that can level lord voss and utlimately save the world. The whispered one will tell them exactly what he wants to hear without delving into the truth of the world. He will also teach lucid how to utlize his psychic daggers to form into a hand by an expendature for usage for 1 minute.
Tottenham dungeon and corruption.
On the road encounters:
Broken Bridge: The party arrives at a river with a broken bridge blocking their path. They must find a way to repair the bridge or devise a different method of crossing the river, such as building a makeshift raft or finding a hidden ford. The group will find a path leading off into the woods that will lead them into a bandit ambush.
Bandit Ambush (Combat): The party is ambushed by a group of bandits looking to rob travelers on the road. The bandits are cunning and employ tactics such as traps and distractions to catch the party off guard.
It will start in Vrido where the primary care taker there by the name of Bashuk will explain that even though the Orcs are violent, they're taking it too far and some of the farmers aren't safe and new leadership has caused issues. As the track through the farming city, a group of Orcs will be causing trouble and will be beating a family where a young boy will take up arms as his father is on the ground and his mother is being threatened. It is up to the group if they want to defend this family.
After the fight, the female orc leader of the farming city will approach them and admire that they have shucked weakness from the clan as well as protected their assets in the farmers. they will soon discover that the city is under new leadership by a large orc woman named Ygash. In her journey to strengthen the clan, she defeated a giant and consumed his body and his power, becoming a giant herself. Only her most loyal soldiers followed in her footsteps and they all became giant-like. Ygash’s greed also grew to giant size, and her tactics have become more aggressive. Instead of being content with their current situation they have begun threatening the population. If they couldn’t pay up they would burn everything to the ground which is causing discord in the ranks of the orcs. Their leader Azuk who led the orcs to their original victory 30 years ago has been imprisoned and the ideals of the orc gods have fallen to the way side in and have been replaced by the symbol of Vecna from the original encounter at the temple.
Orc Blacksmith Dispute: The party hears about a renowned orc blacksmith who has been imprisoned for refusing to forge weapons for the half-orc half-giant ruler. The blacksmith promises to help them with information on the totem's location if the party can free him. The prison break could turn into a combat encounter with orc guards.
Underground Resistance: A group of orcs who resist the half-orc half-giant rule approaches the party, seeking help. They know the location of secret tunnels that lead to the totem's chamber but need assistance in distracting the patrols while they open the tunnels. The party may engage in guerrilla warfare against the patrols.
Orc Gladiator Arena: The party learns of an orc gladiator arena where champions are chosen to serve the ruling half-orc half-giant. The party could enter the arena to gain the ruler's trust and get closer to the totem. Combat encounters include facing other gladiators, wild beasts, or even the ruler's personal bodyguard.
Orc Street Brawl: A dispute erupts in the city streets between rival orc factions. The party can choose to intervene or take advantage of the chaos to gather information. Combat may involve brawling with orcs or breaking up fights, possibly attracting the attention of city guards.
The Child: The party is approached by a young orc child that steals some gold from them and gets caught and is to be taken to the pit.
Orc Shaman's Vision: An orc shaman has had a vision that outsiders will bring change to the city. The shaman seeks the party's help in a ritual to commune with the spirits for guidance. During the ritual, hostile spirits or minions may be summoned, leading to a combat encounter.
Orc Patrol Ambush: While exploring the city, the party encounters an orc patrol. The patrol might not be immediately hostile, and the party can choose to engage in conversation or attempt to sneak past. If combat ensues, it could attract the attention of other patrols.
Orc Distillery Mishap: The party discovers an orc-run distillery producing a potent beverage. If the party engages with the orcs, a brewing mishap might occur, resulting in an explosive situation. Combat could involve battling drunken orcs or dealing with the aftermath of the explosion.
Should they go the route of helping lead the resistance forward, the group will have to engage in poisoning the weapons cache and taking out Ygash's mount and sister.

The city itself will be brutal will all manner of creatures there and the group must keep on their toes or suffer against the guards. Eventually, they'll find themselves being introduced to Bula who is the wife of Azuk. She will explain that there has been talk of a resistance rising up against the orcs and should they help, then they can remove the cursed object that brought Ygash into power so they can go back to their original tomes of worship. The ideal scenario will be them getting with the resistance and then sabotaging some things quietly to set up a raid in the middle of the night to jailbreak Azuk and then take down Ygash.
There are two major encounters in the city that they can find themselves in. The first is poisoning the weapons cache at the armory. The weapon's cache encounter can go extremely well for the group and they can convince the thundermace orc general to switch sides from her uncertainty that they can hear upon sneaking up. After so much time destroying others just for the sake of greed, Thundermace is not quite so sure they are traveling the right path. The second is taking out Ygash's sister and her boar mount.
The group will meet Bula and begin to formulate a plan. She will lead the charge to save Azuk and the group can go steal the artifact atop the hill. Bula will let them have it and provide them with the elemental sled to get out of dodge. She claims that the artifact sword did empower them, but they didn't see what it was doing and have lost their way and wants to get rid of it, regardless of how Azuk feels. 
Smithy will have a dream with his ancestors and be granted a boon. 
Lucid will be given some of his backstory. His dream will start with him sitting in a room with roses on the table and the sound of clapping from behind him. The hat will step out with a smile on his face, "Have you been taking acting lessons boss, because that was one hell of a show. The way you looked when your hand fell off...and you didn't turn around to come back and get it?! You're still nubbing it? Haha! That's dedication to the cause boss."
If Lucid says anything negative to the hat: "Boss, that's a lot of sass coming from such a good boy. Property shouldn't talk back that much...or have you forgotten all I've done for you...and the fact that I literally own you?"
Eventually the conversation will shift: "C'mon boss, I'm so tired of having this conversation. Over and over. You're like a broken record every year or two. I mean really, do you think you just stumbled across Grangerford's repository? I needed more and ran out, so who else to send to go stumble there and replenish my supply than you? Just go back and we'll get you fixed back up (with a point to his head)."


The three holy people will find themselves seeing through the veil at times and will be able to see past undeath's guise. Homebrew C2_Divine Harbinger - Smithy for breaking his oath

• Smithy: Felotl (Fell ot il)- God of Light
• Dot: Krorone (Kro Rone naye) - Goddess of the Darkness
• Arty: Bihta (Bee tah) - Goddess of Art and Commerce
• Voli: Ilmos (Ill Mose) - God of the hunt and nature

Lucid will have a conversation with the hat in a dream where he will find out that his memory is being altered and he's "gone rogue" this go round. smithy will be hailed as a hero by his ancestors and will be granted a feat.

Henry's warlock self will start having dark thoughts and realize that the sword is a totem. This sword is a broken sword of Kas. What currently exists is the hilt and a piece of the blade. The group will have no choice but to return it to Trosall; however, they will be given the elemental sled to be able to return back home. Upon returning home, they will return the sword back to Gror and lucid will receive his hand back and will be given paperwork to be sent into the underdark for the mind flayers. At this time, one more interaction with nebnuss will occur. She will explain that her father doesn't feel like she's safe here, so she's going to go on a cruise to visit the sea elves at Wallingfil Cay on their island with her mother for a vacation along with jeeves. This will be the final tear of heart strings. Going down into the underdark, the initial look is it is a mind flayer hive and there are drow thralls everywhere. One of the flayers (Vex'lar) will commune with the group, receiving their paper work and leading them down into a chamber where they will be given an opportunity to be granted magic powers by having a blood infusion performed with a sorcerer that has been kidnapped from the school (lucid would know of the kidnappings, but nothing more). They will be given the sorcerer's initiate feat and then will have the opportunity to multi-class into a sorcerer should they choose to.
They will explain to Arty that their savior came to them and explained how to free him and will offer either through force or not and open the artifact. The eye will pop out and a cloudy form will swirl around it and the create will speak as a globe of energy radiates out, freezing movement for everyone except for Arty. "Excellent work young Artimus, it seems the time of my arrival has become expidited from your efforts. The first task is complete, now only two more remain before you get exactly what you desire. My hand lay dormant in a temple south west of here, held down by the broken blade that struck me down and buried in the jungles of the Maidlita Islet within the wilderness of galdi. The Hat man is en route to there; however, I question his loyalty to me along with his benefactor who now has half of that baneful blade. 
The second task is to aquire the vessel for my return. The reincarnation of a god walks this earth from their death years ago by your associate's friend over there (motioning to lucid). You see Artimus...God's are a tricky thing. The ones you see today didn't exist in the beginning, they feathered out from the source and aquired minds of their own. The one that perished in that cavern was a true god, the one that slaughtered it was a one of these false ones...yet they hold enough power to make a mark in this world...but all faiths lead back to the true gods. Now within this vessel there is no awareness of any divine spark much like the original host that died; however, there are sparks of divinity that shine through and garner abilities beyond normal means. Retrieve the true god's reincarnation nebnuss Smilkie (an image of her would wave in front of him) and the circle will be complete. I have already made plans for her to be near you once you acquire my hand. She will be my foothold into this plane. 
Should arty choose to go with Vecna: A wizard will teleport in on fire and will attempt to stop the eye from entering arty. He'll be too late and the spell will be counter spelled. 
Should arty not go with Vecna: He will be lifted up and shocked to his core, taking a substantial amount of damage. He will cycle through variations of people from his changling form before dropping down. All magic will be removed until he can find a new patron. 
This is the choice. Nebnuss and the future or the return of your love? If he chooses Layla, the group will know what he is in for and at this point Arty will become an NPC that will end up being the BBEG, performing the ritual on Nebnuss and summoning the Dracolich for protection. If he chooses Nebnuss, then his powers will be blocked off and he will become a "commoner". The group will need to band together and Arty must find a new "real" god that will reach out eventually. This choice will ultimiately end the orc city arc and the underdark arc will start or if they choose to escape the mind flayer hive and back to the surface to chase after the hat.
After those events, Vecna will turn and look towards the mind flayer and say, "The time is nigh; fulfill your oath to me."

Related Session Reports

• Session 5: The Orc City Report
• Session 6: The Orc City Report