Orcs in the Old Manse
24 Marpenoth, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
Neverwinter Wood, The Sword Coast
Sarros Basha, a druid of the Circle of Swords, has joined Turnoroth Brimsdall and his giant badger sidekick, Wink, in exploring the old manse in Neverwinter Wood which is said to be inhabited by half-orcs and other monsters.
The distant sound of something crashing onto the floor alerted everyone that they were still possibly in danger.
The three adventurers had just finished killing all the stirges in the upstairs hall when they heard the loud sound. Sarros, who was standing near a set of wooden double doors, pressed his ear to it. He didn't hear anything. Whatever caused the noise was not directly behind the door but sounded farther away.
Momentarily avoiding the other sets of doors farther down the hall, the three carefully opened the door where they heard the sound come from.
Beyond the doors was an upper arcade that connected the back of the house to the front. The corridor was enclosed by two double doors and four open windows. The same ivy they saw covering most of the house outside was growing in through the windows to the east. They heard raucous talking through the southern double door.
They carefully made their way to the other side of the gallery. Brimsdall pressed his ear against the southern double door and listened. Although he couldn't understand what was being said, it sounded like orcish to him. It also sounded like there were several orcs behind the door.
Everyone readied themselves for battle as Brimsdall carefully pushed one door just wide enough for him to see what he could behind it.
A wooden javelin suddenly thunked into the other door, burying itself halfway into the wooden door. Brimsdall quickly shut the door he had opened.
"I spotted two orcs," Brimsdall warned Sarros. "I think there are more though."
Sarros nodded, stepped closer to the double doors, and readied his bow. Taking a deep breath, the half-elf druid kicked the door open.
Suddenly, a javelin came hurtling at Sarros! It pierced through his hide armor and the left side of his hip. Excruciating pain surged through Sarros as two other javelins came flying at him. Luckily he was able to avoid getting hit by them.
Brimsdall, using the other closed door for cover, leaned in and unleashed a fire spell burning some of the orcs who desperately screamed and tried to put out the fire burning their hide armors and skin.
Meanwhile, Wink who was still in the upstairs hall heard the sounds of battle and rushed to join his friends.
The room where the orcs were looked as though it may have been a guest room or even a master bedroom. Once fine furnishing now littered the room. A stone fireplace stood against the north wall. A large hole was visible in the southwest corner of the floor.
Brimsdall readied another spell and stepped into the room.
Once inside he found himself surrounded by three of the five orcs in the room. Each held a greataxe, sharp enough to cut Brimsdall in two. The dragonborn sorcerer/warlock smiled. He had the orcs exactly where he wanted them.
Brimsdall slapped his hands together. A sudden burst of thunderous sound that was loud enough to shake the entire house radiated out from his hands. The force of the sound slammed into the orcs surrounding him. Although hurt by his spell, the orcs weren't beaten.
An orc, far enough from Brimsdall to be affected by his spell, rushed at him. The orc raised his greataxe over his head and brought it down on top of Brimsdall.
It never struck the dragonborn.
The orc was surprised to see his greataxe hovering inches away from the dragonborn, having been stopped by an invisible barrier of magical force that protected his opponent.
Outside the room, Sarros took aim and let loose an arrow. It struck and lodged itself in the orc's left leg. The orc grunted and broke the arrow with a swipe of its greataxe. It then glared at the druid and rushed over to fight him. Sarros ducked low. The orc's greataxe brushed against the top of his head, its momentum causing it to slam into the closed door splintering the top half off.
With a feral snarl, Wink leaped onto the orc in front of Sarros. It fell as Wink tore into the orc's stomach, tearing out a chunk with his powerful bite. He raked the orc with his two claws. The orc screamed and desperately tried to dislodge Wink who held on tight. Within seconds, the orc was dead.
Back inside, Brimsdall reached out to touch a nearby orc. Lightning sprung from hand to deliver a shock to the humanoid. It screamed and shook violently but survived the attack. But it had had enough. The badly hurt orc turned and jumped into the hole. Brimsdall heard the orc land hard onto the room below.
An orc suddenly lunged at him with a greataxe. He avoided getting struck by the sharp blade but hurt his back as he stumbled backward into the room's stone fireplace.
He barely managed to avoid another attack from another orc, its greataxe cutting a large chunk off the stone mantelpiece.
A blur of greyish fur suddenly appeared in front of Brimsdall and slammed into one of the two orcs
An orc screamed as Wink leaped onto it, biting deeply into it and raking it with both of his sharp claws. It struggled for a brief moment then lay still. Wink, his muzzle covered in orc blood, growled at the orc who had just missed Brimsdall moments before.
The two remaining orcs fled the room running past Sarros. He hastily tried to strike one as it passed by, but the orc was moving too fast for him to hit it.
Brimsdall ordered Wink to give chase while he stayed to search the two dead orcs.
In the hall, Wink managed to reach one of the two orcs who fled. He lunged for the fleeing orc, catching a piece of the orc's hide armor from behind and tearing it off as the orc leaped down the stairs.
The orc leaped across the gap where the stairs had collapsed and landed hard on his right leg. He stumbled forward and fell face-first onto the bottom of the stairs. Wink heard a loud crunch and never saw the orc move again. Unsure of where the other orc had disappeared to, Wink made his way back rejoin the others.
***
A short time later, and after Brimsdall had cut off the heads of the two dead orcs, the three continued to explore the house's second story.
They spotted the dead body of one of the orcs who tried to escape as they walked past the stairs. The orc's body lay impaled upon sharp wooden spikes beneath the staircase where the stairs had collapsed.
"At least we know only one orc managed to escape," Brimsdall said.
Farther down the upstairs hall, they discovered a balcony and later, a large bedroom. In the bedroom stood a four-poster bed between two shuttered windows against one wall. Other furnishings included a desk and chair, and an empty wardrobe. A fireplace featured an elegantly carved mantelpiece. Woodland scenes were carved into the mantelpiece with great craftsmanship.
While Wink stood guard, Sarros and Brimsdall searched the room.
While inspecting the fireplace, Sarros discovered a catch that opened a long hidden compartment on the mantelpiece. Inside, the druid spotted a lacquered wooden staff with a raven-like bird exquisitely carved on the staff's handle.
Sarros examined the staff. "I recall an old druid named Audobon who had a similar staff but carved with a turkey on top."
"What did his staff do?" Brimsdall asked.
"Not sure. He used it to lean on it most of the time whenever he would visit our enclave."
"If we can have this identified, it may be useful," Brimsdall said.
Sarros nodded in agreement. Looking around the room, he also noticed something strange about the wall across the room. A 4-foot square part of the wooden wall seemed made of slightly differently-colored wood. It was only obvious if one was staring at it and stood near the fireplace. The half-elf druid walked towards the opposite wall.
"What is it?" Brimsdall asked.
"I think there's a secret door here," Sarros said.
Moments later, they found a secret door. The door opened into a dark hidden room that extended through both floors of the house. The room had a ten-foot-high wooden balcony forming its upper level, reached by a wooden spiral staircase curling down to the flagstone floor on the ground floor below. Tall, empty bookcases lined the walls, their shelves mostly bowed and broken.
The three carefully made their way downstairs. On the lower level, on one side of two pillars, were four old desks with chairs tucked behind them. A few moldy books were scattered about. There were also two wooden doors along one wall.
The two searched through the desk. They found books that were written in Elvish that described long-lost elven kingdoms and civilizations. However, they were too damaged to be worth anything. One desk had a small book tucked under one of its back legs to level it off. The book was titled Elvish Idioms to Live By. They also found a small packet with a handful of silvery dust inside.
Sarros opened the book to a random page. On it was written several idioms such as Earn the envy of the songbirds - beautiful, Visiting Giants - daydreaming, concocting fantasies, and Judging a tree by its bark - making specious assumptions. He took the book and placed it inside his backpack.
Brimsdall took the small packet unsure of what possible magical properties the dust held.
Satisfied they had thoroughly searched through the desks, the adventurers turned their attention to the two wooden doors wondering what further danger or treasure lay beyond them.
Session played on December 11, 2020
Adventurers:
Sarros Basha (Male Half-elf Druid)
Turnoroth Brimsdall (Male Dragonborn Sorcerer/Warlock)
Sidekick:
Wink (Giant Badger sidekick)
Parent Plot
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