Session 58 - Blood Spears and Bone Gnawers

13 Ambyrmont 1010 - 17 Ambyrmont 1010

General Summary

The party crosses the river, and find themselves suddenly flanked by Goblins riding wolves, along with a slightly larger Goblin riding a dire wolf, and a Nilbog riding a crazily decorated dire wolf. Since the party is in overland travel mode, Leo and Stavos are on Leo's mount, Seraphina and Elincia are on Seraphina's Warhorse, Tork on foot, and Haish is on his gifted mount from Seraphina.
Seizing the initiative, Stavos rides forward, dismounts and strides to the nearest wolf-riding Goblin to the north and pierces it twice, then knocking it prone. Tork moves to the central group, and engages, putting a smackdown on the leader. Leo, now in charge of the mount, drops Synaptic Static on the leader, the Nilbog, and a couple other goblins to the north of the leader. None of the goblins save, but the Nilbog negates the attack with his Reversal of Fortune. The result for those that did not save, is relatively devastating, significantly tilting the odds. The party goes on to pick off all the remaining goblins and manage to remain mostly untouched in the encounter. Stavos takes this opportunity to use two more of Waldhexe's Coins, on a goblin and a wolf.
After a bit more travel, the party is able to find the Kuurn Kopan tribe, which has swelled with the arrivals from the Dhauwrud Wurrung and other tribes. They are welcomed in to visit with Rehla, who is both the Matriarch, and the Warchief. After a discussion on why shouldn't the other tribes, and especially Tork's Dhauwrud Wurrung simply join her tribe, and she can protect them all, Tork seems to make it clear that the party is not here to negotiate such things, but merely to arrange a war council to decide how best to deal with the Giants. She seems impressed with Tork, and asks if he is married, and when he says no, suggests that Tork should wed her granddaughter Kablu. Tork yet again manages to sidestep this issue in as diplomatic a way possible. When she returns to the topic of what can the other tribes do to participate in this, when all the power is in the Kuurn Kopan, the discussion moves toward a Champion contest. If Tork is able to best their strongest warrior, the Kuurn Kopan will participate in the War Council. Tork of course is far more comfortable with this line of negotiation than the marriage proposal and accepts.
Tork finds himself face to face with a powerful Half-Orc named Zarn. The rules are simple, the combatants will be unarmored, and have their choice of weapon, and no magic. Tork suggests that Zarn take his preferred weapon, and Tork will use only his fists, as they are powerful weapons on their own. A crowd gathers to watch the event, and the granddaughter Kablu takes great interest in the contest. Tork makes the first move, and closes the distance between them easily, lands some blows on Zarn, and rages. Zarn in return spits out some sort of curse at Tork, which doesn't seem to do anything, and slashes at Tork far too slowly; Tork easily dodges the attacks. Tork then lands some solid blows, surprising Zarn with the force behind the punches, but he seems undeterred. Zarn once again spits some curse at Tork, this time it takes effect and prevents Tork from moving. Tork smiles at this, and pulls a surprise of his own, as the tattoos on his arms extend into inky versions of his arms, but far longer, and hits Zarn particularly hard, and is able to stun him. Unable to dodge or block Tork's attacks, let alone respond, he is quickly beaten.
There is some hubbub around whether Tork's strange ability was a violation of the no magic rule for the combat, but with Zarn's similar lockdown attack, this seems to blow over smoothly enough. Tork explains that this is part of what the Dhauwrud Wurrung can bring to help in dealing with the Giants. Leo asks around about Kablu, and learns that she does seem interested in Tork, and perhaps may be a nice candidate for Tork if he should wish to settle down. Seraphina discusses the possibility of enriching the surrounding lands magically with Rehla, and she agrees to allow them to do so, but after a bit of logistic checks, they determine that this will have to wait until after the war council, since its long casting time would mean getting a very late start the next day. The party plans to depart at daybreak in search of the Warrud Boll.
The next few days pass without too much drama and eventually they find the Warrud Boll. This tribe is further from the Giants and seems to have been unaffected by the incursion, but has definitely seen an increase in northward traffic of troublesome creatures leaving the Black Eagle Barony. The party assures them that flow should decline, since the Barony has been defeated. And, with a little convincing, they agree to at least attend the war council. This time the tribe agrees to Seraphina's land enrichment program (the shaman seems familiar with this type of magic), and there is time to perform the long ritual, so she begins. The evening passes without too much excitement. As the party prepares for the next day they decide that, since there is still much time left, they will venture northward, back toward the Giants, and see what is happening with the Orc tribes nearest the Giants. They would also like to make an assessment on whether to invite the Orcs to the council. Not to mention the mapping work they can accomplish.
After a day of no significant events, the party finds the smoldering remains of a small hunting camp. They decide to investigate and find half-eaten Orc corpses, signs of wolf-like (but large) prints throughout the camp, and plenty of slaughter. It seems likely that this was a Gnoll attack. Investigating further, they find evidence that this was a Red Spear hunting camp. Not sure what else to do, the party decides to pursue the Gnolls, who seem to have departed north. After a few more hours of tracking they decide to make camp for the evening, which passes uneventfully. The next day, they resume the hunt and eventually come upon a small Gnoll encampment. They dismount and sneak into observation range, and find a group of Gnolls and Hyenas, including Giant Hyenas. The Gnolls seem to be gnawing on a former Orc, and it is clear that this is in fact the raiding party they were in pursuit of. The environment being favorable, Elincia casts Wrath of Nature, and the Gnolls and Giant Hyenas are confused and dismayed as the world around them becomes suddenly hostile. The party begins the process of systematically dismantling the Gnoll raiders and their Hyenas; while the ground became difficult for the enemy, it allows the party members to traverse freely, making this a death trap for the Gnoll raiders. In just a few rounds all the enemies are defeated - the party investigates the camp, but finds little of value.  Stavos again decides to use one of Waldhexe's Coins, this time on a Hyena.

Report Date

04 Dec 2021

Primary Location

Cruth Lowlands