Session 48: Where the Were Were Part 2

General Summary

Summary: 3 points

Sunday, 12th of Longharvest

The group is mid-combat with some lycanthropes fighting boar-mounted orcs led by a bear-man.

Combat Objectives

Given that folks felt a little rushed in getting the fight going, the players had a discussion about what the goals of the combat were going to be going forward. The upshot of the discussion was to knock out werewolves, attempt to communicate the goal of leaving the werewolves alive to the orc/boar/bear-man party, and adjust as the situation unfolds.

Werewolves and boar-orcs and a...bear? Oh my...

Round 3

• Kol strikes a werewolf with Pelor's Rising Sun twice, and on the second hit applies a level 1 spell slot for a smite.
• Maya shifts shape to a (Huge) giant elk form and charges a werewolf, landing significant damage with his horns though the foe holds his feet. The werewolf looks a bit crazy, and clearly didn't regard the elk horns at a threat until there were buried in him. Maya speaks to the bear-man telepathically about who's the biggest on the field, to the bear's confusion.
• Saf wallops a werewolf across the jaw with the hilt of Excowlibur, dropping him but leaving him alive.
• The bear-man eviscerates a werewolf with two blows of his greataxe. Sunny (via Tongues) understands the command called out in orcish to one group of boar orcs to circle around.
• Harb calls out to the bear-man commander to leave the werewolves alive so the curse can be removed. He takes a few swings and lands one of them on a werewolf.
• A few orc attacks are noted to be made with weapons that have been silvered (somewhat crudely but effectively).
• The dismounted orc pulls a javelin or two out of a downed werewolf.
• Sunny calls out in orc that "We need these alive!" A few of the orcs grunt, somewhat nonplussed. The bard then closes in and double-kabongs a werewolf with Deep Rumble with a charge on the second one.
• Sunny calls out to Saf for a third strike on that same foe, and the rogue grounds him.
• Leucis casts Remove Curse (DnD Beyond) on one of the downed werewolves, who reverts to the form of a half orc. While his ribs are broken, he's not dead.
• Harb gets bitten but doesn't seem to suffer any immediate ill effects beyond the damage.

Round 4

• Kolvonnin takes a pair of strikes on a werewolf, then Channels Divinity to Turn the Tide, closing a few wounds on the surrounding boar riders.
• Maya charges a werewolf and knocks him out with the impact.
• Saf lands a pair of strikes with her rapiers, but the offhand one doesn't seem to leave a wound.
• Harb strikes a werewolf with HeadOn twice, putting him on the ground. He then moves to another one and uses his Action Surge,
• Sunny repositions and calls out to Saf to toss in another attack.
• Harb wards off a bite using the Shield (DnD Beyond) effect from his Initiate's Gorget
• Kolvonnin strikes down a werewolf that took a snap at a nearby ally.

Round 5

• Kolvonnin strikes the last werewolf but he remains barely upright.
• Maya resumes his natural form and goes to help Leucis tie up unconscious foes.
• Saf closes in and finishes off the last standing hostile werewolf with a precision pommel to the back of the head.

Combat summary:

• Total duration: ~5 rounds
• PC drops: None
• Kill board:
  
  1. Saf: 3 foes dispatched
     • Round 3: 2 werewolves (Excowlibur, non-lethal)
     • Round 5: 1 werewolf (Excowlibur, non-lethal)
  2. Harb: 1 foe dispatched
     • Round 4: 1 werewolf (HeadOn, non-lethal)
  3. Kolvonnin: 1 foe dispatched
     • Round 4: 1 werewolf (Pelor's Rising Sun, non-lethal)
  4. Maya: 1 foe dispatched
     • Round 4: 1 werewolf (elk horns, non-lethal)

Foes and friends

Combat ends

The orcs take a few moments to ascertain that there are no more hostiles on the field, but many don't put away their weapons as yet. Saf and Kol start gathering the unconscious folks into a group. Sunny starts in on a song about orc bravery while he can still speak the language, while the orcs start looking after their wounded.

Regrouping

K'gruk orders Ishthak to "call them in" - at which point the lieutenant winds a small horn, then advises Sunny (the only known orc-speaker in the group) that some of their comrades who weren't fit for the fight would be joining.
A trio of orcs looking much the worse for wear approach from the north, as well as Kagethor. The bear-man strides over to the boarochs, gives it a friendly scratch under the chin, then pulls something out of a saddle-pack. On the other side of the boar's body, he changes shape to an orc himself and dons the simple clothing he just obtained (notable for the bloody eye symbol of Gruumsh).
Folks decide to take a rest here to confer with their new acquaintances, butcher the fallen boars for their meat, and deal with the prisoners.

Conferring with the chief

In Common, the bear-orc introduces himself:

I am K'gruk. I am the war-chief of my clan, and I thank you for your assistance in putting down these... creatures. I don't know why you wanted them left alive.

It's apparent that the other orcs understand Common and are following along with the conversation - they make no real effort to conceal their understanding.

• When Maya asks if they fight these creatures a lot, the chief explains that they run into them more than they want to.
• The werewolves have killed many orcs in the tribe, but since the orcs lack the means of removing the curse, they've taken the action of killing the ones they can.
• K'gruk is fine with removing the curse from those who mean no harm.
• The war-chief acknoweledges that his leadership is a bit of a break from the old ways of the tribe and that some of his followers bristle at the changes.
• The group is invited to join the orcs for the feast of their dead mounts as they "perform their final service to us."
• The orcs do these culls periodicially to keep the numbers down so that the werewolves don't show up at the orc camp.
• The orc camp is somewhere west of the group's current location but they don't offer any real detail.
• This is the last cull before the winter.
• K'gruk explains a bit about these culls and the fights with the lycanthropes in general:
  • Most of the fighting is with the "mad" lycanthropes, who in their madness are poor at self-preservation against those armed with sufficient weapons.
  • The ones that are not mad are much more difficult to slay as they will usually run once it's clear they can be hurt.
  • The orcs have killed some few of these not-mad lycanthropes, and they were carrying some potions that the orcs can't identify.
• Sunny's speech pattern seems to grate on K'gruk's sensibilities a bit.
• The chief expresses his thanks for the actions in the battle, but has concerns about the prisoners - if the party will commit to either removing the curse or killing them, he will allow the prisoners to be kept by the party without issue.
• Leucis suggests staying together until the full moon so that any afflicted orcs can get the curse removed. K'gruk is amenable but is unwilling to move until his troops are rested and recovered (tomorrow).
• The orcs will also have to eat all the boar meat they can stomach since they can't preserve it. The group considers using the Heward's Handy Spice Pouch (DnD Beyond) to salt the meat, or using the Alchemy Jug to pickle it, but land on Leucis offering to Gentle Repose the boars so the meat will not spoil for 10 days.
• Saf inquires about how their weapons were effective, and K'gruk shows the relatively crude but serviceable silvering on their weapons. It seems their forge facilities or skills are not great. A few javelins, however, use horns or tusks with silver veins instead.
• Lycanthropes have been an issue for the orcs for several years. K'gruk himself was bitten by a mad werebear and got the curse, but not the madness (though he's not sure why).
• The numbers of lycanthropes in general have increased in the last year or so, but it's almost exclusively the mad ones that the orcs see.
• Leucis relates that he and Maya had issues with lycanthropes. There's some grumbling in Orcish among the other orcs that K'gruk silences with a glance. Upon Maya's inquiry, the war-chief explains that his subordinates were confused about why the prisoners would be left alive if these creatures had attacked the druid or cleric's homeland.
• K'gruk agrees to be Identified by a very persuasive Sunny.
• There's a somewhat fraught negotiation about acquiring the potions:
  • Leucis disusses making more, which K'gruk dislikes as an idea because it seeems his more powerful enemies use them.
  • The cleric further suggests it may be possible to enhance the potions to remove the curse as well as the madness, but K'gruk is unconvinced that the party can do that.
  • Saf announces that Maya is "a master herbalist" (and rolls a Deception of 22). Maya, leaning into this exaggeration, pulls out the Adamant Mortar and Pestle (DnD Beyond) which really clinches the deal with the orc-chief.

During this conversation, it's notable that one of the orc lieutenants (Ishthak) and several of the other orcs that follow K'gruk aren't as on board with the war-chief's decisions as they might be, particularly around not killing anyone that could be a potential foe. Maya, in particular, expresses some animosity at this stance, almost to the point of calling the orc out in some fashion. Kolvonnin realizes that the anger on the orc's face when he rode by the paladin and Saf earlier was about the order not to engage with the newcomers.

Handling the wounded

The orcs report a few bites, but none that are immediately obvious in bearing the curse - three of the orcs may be infected but it may not be certain until the next full moon. The orc chief makes it clear that any of his subordinates that have acquired the curse will have to be put down, as they have no means of removing it. At this point, the party offers to remove the curse if the orcs are indeed afflicted.
Kolvonnin uses Lay on Hands on the most wounded of the orcs, but gets some unfriendly looks from the boarochs and demurs. Leucis casts Prayer of Healing targeting the two recently-uncursed werewolves and the most damaged orcs.
The boars are loosely staked near the watering hole.

Handling the fallen

The orcs dismount. One ceremonially cuts the throat of his fallen mount before the others take to butchering the boars. Most of the party and a few orcs help Maya dispose of the fallen humanoids (in separate Bonfire piles) a little ways away from the watering hole. The orcs grab the occasional memento from their fallen comrades.

Handling the prisoners

The party ties up the various werewolf or uncursed prisoners. Leucis casts Remove Curse (DnD Beyond) on a second one, which reverts to human. Seeing this, K'gruk inquires if the madness leaves with the form, and the cleric admits that he does not know (the lycanthropes that attacked Ironmere and Hearthstone seemed to have a similar reckless madness, but it's not always part of lycanthropy).
When healed, the un-cursed struggle a bit with their bonds and seem confused, but are mostly unresponsive (they look at people when they speak and startle when touched, but they seem very detached and do not speak). Leucis reasons that perhaps the long experience of the curse and its attendant madness has had some effect on the mind of these unfortunates, and it may take some time for them to shake it off - something similar to shock. Attempts to give them a drink meet with mixed results; they sputter a bit but don't fully choke or drown.
Meanwhile, the werewolves that come to struggle with their bonds, and then shapeshift to wolf loosen things up. The group knocks them back out before they can fully escape, and binds the new form so that the ropes would be tighter on the larger shapes.

Comparative Arcana Among the Recently Shifted

Sunny compares the Identify (DnD Beyond) results from several affected parties: a werewolf, an uncursed person, and K'gruk. The following seem to be the facts in evidence:

• The bard pegs the werewolf as under the effect of the curse of lycanthropy, though it seems to have some other elements of a mind-affecting nature, so it may be an unusual form of lycanthropy.
• The recently uncursed has no magical effects currently, but Sunny can sense an echo or a remnant of the lycanthropy curse having been on the person in the nigh-immediate past. He's pretty certain that he can only sense it because mere minutes ago he felt the energy of it on another person.
• K'gruk has (the bear version of) the curse of the lycanthrope and no sign of madness. He also seems to have some sort of blessing on him, though Sunny doesn't recognize the aura. K'gruk indicates that "the One-Eyed has always looked after my family."

Sunny also Identifies the potions as being Potions of Lunar Nullification, which Maya and Leucis read about before in A Study in Lycanthropy but do not have a full recipe for.

Next steps:

1. Player Plans:
   • Eddy: Harb is realizing how under-equipped the group is for specialized equipment for taking lycanthrope prisoners, make a list of gear.
   • Heather: Song of Rest during short rest. Ask Leucis if he thinks the Gruumsh blessing might have prevented the madness for K'gruk.
   • James: Inquire about boarochs training. Cooking. Call out Ishthak. Speak with animals with the boarochs.
   • Jeremy: No immediate plans
   • Matt: Try to find an offhand weapon that hurts werewolves.
   • Meg: Continue to talk to uncursed weres, remove curse on others (weres or bitten orcs)
2. Scheduled:
   • Next Wisdom today (in-game) - consider questions
3. Between session tasks:
   • DM: Adjust Identify and Identifying Items article to include detection of lycanthropy

Feedback

Eddy: Starting in combat made it easy to get back into it. I didn't remember anything about the last session until someone started talking about it. Getting into greater detail on the lycanthrope curse in person is cool. I had fun, even though I was kind of quiet today.
Heather: I thought that the battle was interesting mostly because we were trying to not kill people, so most of my ranged stuff wasn't as effective as it could have been. I was able to empower others to do more devastation which is cool. Part of a bard's whole thing is support, so that's good. I'm glad that me being like "Hey, we're with your bear-boss, man" didn't blow up in my face, that was nice. I enjoyed Sunny's interactions with K'gruk - anybody that's like "what the fuck is wrong with this kid?" is just joy for me, I love it. Finally getting the good roll on the Gnode instead of the neutral one, it's too bad I will immediately lose the temp HP but it was nice to have. Learning about the potential mind effects for the lycanthropes, Sunny is wondering about the blessing preventing the madness for K'gruk.
James: It was nice to have a clear goal of what we were going to do and to make it happen, because it happened very quickly after that. I'm enjoying this temporary truce we have with these orcs and I'm intrigued that there's another village out here. I was tempted to ask if they trade with anyone or know about Sohmweyr. I'm glad we decided to roleplay it out instead of fast forward because I feel like we're getting good moments for several characters. I had fun slamming down a werewolf in the face; that was a good feeling.
Jeremy: I like that we're getting pretty deep into trying to figure out how to handle lycanthrope captives. I liked Meg's response of not being ready for 7 captives. Originally I thought we'd start with two and see how that goes. But holy crap, we have a whole party of prisoners. We've already gotten this far with them, we know we can kind of fix them, they are in a weird state, but what are we going to do with these? Do they go with us now? We may have just burdened ourselves, but who's to say? Like James said, it was nice getting a common goal. Showing restraint on the battlefield - that was a little different. We were adults - it was shocking.
Matt: I'm glad we worked out the objectives - took a little longer than I'd like, but we got the answer. I feel like we executed well on the objectives as the team (aside from one kill that probably didn't need to happen). I especially liked the extra attacks, though one of them being three 1s and a 2 was meh. After combat - I am always interested when a character's motivation creates complications for the party, that's super interesting to me. I'm very curious about how we're going to handle possible people that can't take care of themselves. As far as the orcs, it seems like they have some interpersonal issues, I don't think there's much we as a party are going to be able to do about that but I don't think it really matters to us much. I feel like the lycanthropy stuff is still very unclear from my perspective.
Meg: There seems like a lot of stuff we could try to ram into the conversation between us and the orcs, so it felt a little rushed but not quite. We did the attack on the last orc instead of fast-forwarding. I was woefully unprepared for taking this many lyncanthrope captives. A little bit of a mess this time around. I am glad I thought of trying to persuade the orcs to come along with us, might be helpful to have them along plus we can help them on the way.
John: I'm glad folks enjoyed the "we can't just blow everything up and kill anything in the way" combat. Not that you couldn't, but you decided you didn't want to. I find the interaction with the orcs is interesting, as well as Maya squaring off with one of the orc lieutenants.?Their leader has something of a change of heart as a result of having become a lycanthrope and they're not really sold on it but he's still the dude in charge. I don't think portraying them as a monolith where they're all totally behind this guy would be realistic. You guys having seven captives is going to be interested to see how y'all work that out. It not being as cut-and-dried as "remove curse and everybody's cool" was a bit of a surprise but we'll see where it goes from here.