S1 E7: Into the Chaos
General Summary
In which blame is passed, a challenge is met and a curse is discovered...
Steeling itself against the darkness - or the colorless dimness, in the case of those with Darkvision - The party enters the first cave they had come to, its mouth shaded by a large oak tree draped with gigantic cobwebs hanging down 20' from their 80' crowns - a problem left for later. Upon entering they narrowly avoid falling into a pit that could not be labeled more clearly on Willow's map; after the trap is jammed by a pair of wooden chocks there for the purpose, the group was greeted by a coterie of five small red creatures - Kobolds - in often-repaired and modified armor. As two of the party is fluent in Draconic, it was not difficult to negotiate a meeting with the Clan Boss to address questions about the missing Wizard, Willow Candler.
The Kobolds seem friendly enough, if a little irritated that the party isn't there to buy any machine parts from them. The group is led down a short hall to a workshop full of gears, springs, bolts, washers, cogs, a pile of metal junk and a small forge; it looks aboveboard but everything also smells like rat pee and garbage. The Kobolds immediately redirect the party's questions about the wizard to the Orcs a level up - "Hey man, like if anyone knows where the Wizard is, it's the Orcs, you dig?" They talk the Kobolds into taking them there, and right away the leader picks two flunkies and won't do the job himself, and then the two flunkies only take them to the closed door and then dart back down the hill to the safety of their burrow, more than uncomfortable at being outside before sundown.
After a short discussion, Blizzard bashes the door open, so hard that it hits the inside wall and slams nearly shut again. In the gap, they see something in the distance down the hall - rocks? Skulls?
Everyone files in, and realizes quickly yes, it's a 25' by 8' wall of heads of all kinds in little recesses, nearly all picked down to skulls -even another Orc head which seems fresh and intact, Lorfel finds. Wanting to show the others, it appears that it was just a gnarly Goblin head after all.
Then Orcs attack from two connected rooms, rushing into the hall but then pulling up short - and one of them has the head from the wall - its his own head attached to his perfectly functional body. A long fight against eight enemies ensues in which the groups of Orc guards sometimes seem unwilling to fight, though they glower and growl. Orcs aren't a completely unfamiliar foe, but normally they're known to charge in and attack with heightened aggression; this is a difficult fight but at least the unrestrained charges by the enemy are rare rather than constant.
Eventually all but one orc is dispatched, and he flees across their field of fire and into rooms further to the west- the party pursues because they don't want him to warn the rest of the lair, or bring more guards - but instead they see him run into a group of Orc civilians, unarmed and unarmored men, women and children, and post up next to an older Orc female tattooed and festooned with totems and Shamanic symbols of the Orc Gods. Rather than continue the fight against unarmed and likely helpless noncombatants, the party decides to try a parley instead and finds the Clan Shaman to be receptive and talkative. She gives her name as Voshagul, and the name of the Clan's War Chief as Malbyish. She doesn't seem particularly concerned at the death of seven guards and extends no particular aid to the one that remains.
A curse is explained, in Common for all to hear, that Gruumsh, the primary Orc deity, has rejected this clan, once called the Blade Wardens (Selkla Sel), now cursed as the Dark Wardens (Sorna Sel). A religious schism has occurred, based on something literally unspeakable that took place during the harsh winter - the same famine that drove the Lizardfolk enclave to attack the keep drove the desperate Orcs of the Blade Wardens to an action that their God found detestable and that Voshagul is at first unwilling to disclose but finds it necessary to explain after they persuade her to discuss her knowledge of a 'Bat Demon' - surely the party means Shargaas, the Orc god of secrets, subterfuge and schemes - an evil deity rejected as a coward and dishonorable betrayer by most orcs, including the Shaman. But when famine drove the War Chief to do the unthinkable, the Chief embraced Shargaas - and with the Night Flier's dark blessing betrayed the trust of and slaughtered their neighboring ally clan, the White Spears, butchering them into slabs of meat. There was no majority decision to do this, but the War Chief holds absolute power unless a rival dares to unseat him or her, and none dared. The Chief then commanded all of the members of his clan to eat the meat. It has been a cold spring since then - the War Chief insisting that there was no other way to save the clan, and the Shaman holding fast to the belief that Gruumsh would either of provided, or that they were only in that position because they were too weak to survive. She seeks redemption but at the same time doubts it will ever come.
The Shaman explains that the War Chief has holed up in the cave of his victims, and the Shaman, though opposed to him, is not in a position to overthrow him, nor is the Chief powerful enough on his own to cast out the High Priest of Gruumsh despite his own change of loyalty to Shargaas, the Night Lord - a lesser-known Orcish deity of subterfuge, associated with bats. Sensing a theme, the Party offers to take care of the Orc Wart Chief in return for help finding the Wizard. The Shaman suggests probably the Hobgoblins took her, as they keep slaves and are active kidnappers, suggesting that the Lizardmen couldn't tell an Orc from a Hobgobline or likely even a human if pressed. Or maybe it was Goblins, numerous and tenacious or Bugbears, fewer in number but more cunning and clever. Or Gnolls, if the Gnolls still remained in the caverns - a more nomadic sort of tribe, they may have left their lair in the fall before the weather turned. The party resolves to go deal with the Cannibal Chief and then continue looking for Willow, but the Shaman is unwilling to reveal a path to that section from inside of their caves, and tells them they'll have to go in through the mouth of the cave, which the War Chief had earlier had blocked off.
Voshagul agreed to give what aid she could to the party, in return for their assistance in killing the blasphemer War Chief and exacting the Vengeance of Gruumsh.
Rewards Granted
Missions/Quests Completed
- "The Sin of the Blade Wardens"
- "Kobold Tool & Die"
Character(s) interacted with
- Kobold Alchemist Underboss
- Voshagul, Female Orc Shaman
- Malbyish, Male Orc War Chief (Named, but not met)
Report Date
10 May 2022
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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