Tag Archives: ogre

One, two… Principle missing!

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Suspiciously eyeing the pentagram, Lilith tries to erase part of the circle. After a few moments she succeeds, thus severing it. She takes some time to heal herself and be ready for the challenges ahead.

The room of Thra’esue is bare, apart from a small stone table with parchments. Phaedra takes a chart of a graveyard with her. On the map directions have been indicated with arrows. Lots of humanoid skulls litter the floor. At the back is a locked door. Jharrath summons an earth elemental and orders it to demolish the door. With several power attacks, it splinters the wood. Inside is a sarcophagus, which – the lid pushed aside by the summoned elemental – reveals the resting body of the ogre. The cleric takes a vial of holy water and pours half of the contents in the giant’s mouth. His eyes snap open, and with a horrible scream, he pulverizes. No mist, no nothing; the beast is gone. In his sarcophagus  lie a pouch with three potions, a key and a magical chain shirt. The potions inflict moderate wounds when used.

130403sarcophagus

The drow now move towards the room of Mephisolis, the upper Principle. The corners of his room are decorated with big urns. Something clicks when the scout passes the threshold and she gets hit by an arrow full of acid. With Thra’Esue’s key she tries to open the door to the inner sanctuary, but it doesn’t fit. Jharrath gets the same treatment, when he tries to open the lock with a scorching ray. One of his Melphs acid arrow takes care of the problem: the door is gone. The inner room is lit by four ever burning candles. A huge jump brings Alvra almost to the sanctuary… almost. Another acid arrow finds its target.

Now the method to destroy the Principles is clear, the cleric decides to leave it up to her siblings to take care of the vampire ogre. Elegantly she throws the still half full vial of holy water towards her brother, almost into his waiting hands… almost. Fumbling Alvra fails to catch the little bottle and it crashes to the stone floor. Quickly he wets a piece of his robe with the remnants of the holy water, while Lilith scowls at him. He walks towards the second sarcophagus – lined in red silk – and pushes the lid off. It takes quite some strength and the help of the wizard to accomplish, but finally they succeed. The wet cloth is not enough to finish the ogre, so they cut off his head and set the corpse on fire. Principle number two is gone from this world.

In the coffin another key, a beautiful magic chain shirt and a ditto great sword stay behind. Phaedra decides to keep the chain shirt for herself, though she will have to resize it. There are also two pouches and two shiny flasks, containing a silvery liquid. Alvra recognizes it as silver sheen. With a mighty jump, the fighter manages to reach the safety of the central room. His brother isn’t that fortunate, his clothing damaged by the acid that’s still eating its way through the fabric. The fighter hands the pouches to Lilith, and she finds gold pieces and two blue sapphires, worth 3.500 gold pieces.

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Checking out the Principles’ third room, Lilith commands her shield to transform into a spider and sends the arachnid to investigate. When nothing happens, she walks in to and tries out the keys she has found. They won’t fit. Out of holy water, Alvra and Lilith coat their weapons in silver sheen and hammer down the door. A closed coffin awaits them, which proves to be empty though. Where is the third Principle?

The Xaniqos gather in the central space, where the cleric casts a mass shield of faith. She warns her siblings to let their guard down before releasing the spell. Then they continue towards the last door: the library. The key fits the lock smoothly, and inside there are several shelves with lots of books and scrolls. Two are especially beautiful, but when Phaedra tries to read them, she gets nauseated. The wizard takes her place and soon finds out these are magic scrolls about necromancy. He takes them with him.

In the room of the ghouls, Alvra discovers a pouch with a black opal. Hurriedly he leaves the filthy nest. The cleric once again checks out the central room and the pulpits, but there is nothing there. All siblings search for hidden doors and other hiding places, but there’s absolutely nothing. The bats have found a quiet corner and witness the search.

The drow decide to go back to the first room. The corpses of the two ogres are still there, but the body of the mage ogre has disappeared! Could he be the missing Principle? It must be. A trail of blood leads upwards, but when they enter the upper floor again, an occasional drop and boot prints in the dust are all that is left of the trail. Though they search the mansion, even the upper parts and outside, there’s no trace of the mage ogre. He must have regenerated. Perhaps he ran off to House Shi’quos, they simply don’t know. The Matron Mother can be content: the leader of the Principles is dead and the rest has been slaughtered.

The Principles

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The mist solidifies into the large form of a vampire ogre. He’s very pale, which is emphasized by his black cloak. Like the ogre mage, he has two horns. Next to him another big form appears, no horns though. The vampire ogre sends forth a large cone of cold, which hits the elemental, Alvra and his cleric sister straight in the chest. The remaining ghoul dies in the process. The vampire looks content. The other ogre hurls a javelin towards Lilith, but misses completely; the weapon splinters against the wall. She counterattacks and launches a bolt of cold darkness from her left hand, leaving the beast dazed. Phaedra tumbles down from the wall and loads her hand crossbow.

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When the drow and elemental go after the vampire ogre, their opponent proves to be unnatural fast. Alvra’s charge misses and the vampire lays his hand on the fighter’s arm. The icy cold drains his energy, while the vampire visibly grows stronger: his wounds heal! The other ogre is still under the effect of the darkbolts and wanders about. Lilith casts a healing circle, helping Alvra and the earth elemental, but harming the ogre. The horned giant is not troubled by the spell. Several attacks of the Xaniqos fail, so Phaedra changes back to her spiked chain. The vampire ogre grabs his shiny greatsword and pulverizes the earth elemental, sending it back to its own plane. A malicious roar echoes through the cave. The beast is laughing! What can they do to take him down? The drow cleric calls on the power of the Spider Queen to dispel any ongoing spells on the vampire ogre.

Meanwhile Jharrath is still in combat with the rats. The bats have been expelled but one rodent doggedly hangs on. The laughter has just died away when a new sound fills the room. The roar of a lion blasts straight into the rat’s ear, and with a squeak it runs after the bats… it will be its last race though, for the cleric kills the passing rodent in one swipe. Satisfied the wizard nods. Sometimes a trick is all it takes.

Alvra changes the hold on his sword and takes another swing at the horned ogre in front of him. This time he succeeds in wounding the vampire – twice – but again the creature’s wounds start to heal. The scout isn’t that fortunate:  her chain whizzes through thin air. Walking towards the cleric, the giant attacks and with a mighty swing wounds her badly. Again his maniacal laugh bounces against the walls. His fellow ogre is still under the influence of the dark-bolts.

Holding up the holy symbol of Lolth, Lilith rebukes the vampire ogre. She seems to succeed, as his behavior changes and his arrogance is somewhat tempered. The wizard sends down a hail of stones, while Phaedra scores two hits with her spiked chain. Again the ogre’s wounds heal, but only partial. He glares at the cleric but won’t touch her. He even turns around and starts to walk away! Alvra immediately lashes out with his sword and strikes home. The vampire takes to the air and tries to flee into another room. Jharrath’s answering ray of flames doesn’t do any damage, but Phaedra and Alvra’s combined attack with chain and javelin do: the vampire ogre dies and dissolves into mist.

Still under the influence of the cleric’s rebuke spell, the dazed ogre is commanded to answer her questions.

What is behind that door?

The library, with very important items; Thra’esue has the key.

When Lilith orders him to give her the key, the ogre refuses.

Where does the other corridor lead?

To the resting place of Mephisolis, leader of the Three Principles.

Aha. And how do we kill Mephisolis?

He is most vulnerable in his coffin.

Having extracted all the information she needs, the cleric attacks the ogre, aided by her siblings. It takes their combined forces to wound him and finally the wizard takes him down with his wand of scorching rays. Patches of mist are the only proof that there ever was an ogre.

 

Open Sesame

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The doors won’t budge and have neither lock nor handles. There’s a gap between the two slabs of stone. Jharrath can’t detect any magic surrounding them, and finally his fighter brother simply bangs on the doors. They hear a loud cracking and the massive stone doors slide to the side. Two huge hairy arms appear in the opening. The arms are attached to one of the giant kind. Two horns protrude from his skull and a blue aura surrounds him. The wizard realizes it’s an ogre mage. Behind the mage are two more ogres, dressed in a hide armor. They both have a wooden club in their hands.

Holding a magnificent greatsword, the mage ogre turns his white eyes towards the drow.

What do you want?

Ogre Mage

His long black teeth ground the words into a jumble of sentences. Lilith tries to talk her way in by claiming they want to do business, but the ogre growls that they are of the wrong house – threateningly he steps into the corridor. When he reaches for his greatsword, Jharrath starts casting. Grease covers the floor and the mage goes down with a heavy thump. He’s prone! The drow wizard releases a Kellgore’s firebolt at the creature and ignites the grease. Apparently burning up and attacking at the same time is not a good combination, because the ogre mage only manages to hit the door, which leaves his weapon stuck in deep. The air is permeated with the stench of burning hair and flesh. One of the ogres tries to pull the mage to safety, while the other starts sliding the stone door back.

The cleric walks towards the beast and attacks. They need the entrance open! She evades a counterattack and strikes the creature’s arm full force. Her flail draws blood, opening the limb to the bone. Her sister joins the fray and lashes out with her spiked chain. The ogre screams in pain. Then a javelin whizzes past, splintering against the far wall – Alvra looks chagrined. When the ogre mage tries to regain his feet, the drow sisters pull their attention back to this more formidable opponent and renew their attack, but can’t prevent the monster from getting back up. The ogre’s skin is healing rapidly, but he’s obviously still in pain. Before he can regenerate any further, Lilith ferociously attacks twice and finishes him off.

Jharrath summons an earth elemental, which goes for one of the remaining brutes. Phaedra nimbly climbs over the carcass of the mage and tumbles towards the wounded ogre. Her spiked chain yet again makes another victim. There’s only one opponent left, and Alvra claims that one as his. His two handed attack provokes a vicious reaction though and with bone crushing force the monster’s club hits the fighter. Twice! Heavily wounded  he stands back while the earth elemental goes for the kill, but it takes a couple of scorching rays from the wizard’s wand to scorch the beast to death. Three huge cadavers bear witness to the passing of the Xaniqos drow.

An oaken table and chairs, straw pallets, small sacks with personal belongings – Phaedra finishes her search rather quickly. The harvest: 435 gold pieces, 3 gems, a large steel shield and a healing potion. Meanwhile Lilith strides over to Alvra and assesses his condition. She calls on the Spider Queen, and Lolth grants her healing powers which she uses on her brother. After subsequently drinking a potion, he feels good enough to beat out the dents in his armor.

Lolth, Spider Queen

Lolth, Spider Queen

Shucks! VORN!

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The House of Xaniqos is in a slight state of uproar over the coming Council of the Eight Ruling Houses. Matron Mother Thandysha is away often and her eldest daughter is taking care of the daily routine. Somewhat proud of their success in getting rid of the kobold infestation, the siblings sleep in and have a late breakfast. Suddenly the Matron Mother sweeps in. Everyone is dead silent; the lady Thandysha never ever enters the dining room…

Though she looks ravishing, dressed up in her finest clothes, her face is contorted in a mask of rage. In an icy voice she tells her offspring that she has received a message. A message saying Vorn is still alive!! Due to their failure, Vorn’s second-in-command, who was supposed to take over from him and support house Xaniqos, barely escaped with his life. They have killed a doppelganger in stead of the real deal! Acidly she tells them,

Vorn needs to be dealt with at once. And try not to alarm the whole city!

In a swirl of robes, the Matron Mother leaves the room. Seems breakfast is over. Taldinyon advises them to hurry: Vorn is trying to escape the city!

After a stop at the armory, where Lilith asks for healing potions, the four make their way to Vorn’s mansion in great haste. When they arrive at the street, a carriage – pulled by a huge lizard – is parked in front of the main door. The Scout sucks in a sharp breath when she sees her ogre ‘friend’ carrying boxes towards it. Two drow are on top of the cart, while another is on the open loading platform at the back of the cart, surrounded by furniture. At every street corner pox bearing spies have been stationed and silent signals flow back and forth. So much for a stealthy approach.

The drow mercenaries urge the lizard forward and slowly the cart starts moving. The ogre drops everything he is carrying and runs alongside, while the other drow is balancing himself in the open cart. The Xaniqos race after, dodging crossbow bolts. They have to stop the wagon somehow! Jharrath summons two earth elementals, who attack the lizard, while the Cleric calls forth a spiritual weapon that gleams with an evil red force, hovering over the lizard’s head. The draft animal halts, unwilling to move forward. The streets are suddenly deserted.

The ogre turns back and aims for Phaedra, swinging his great club. Fortunately the Scout is protected by her armor. Alvra charges the giant ogre and throws his javelin, while bolts still hum through the air. Phaedra uses the opportunity to get clear of the ogre and tumbles past him towards the lizard. In the midst of this chaos, Vorn – with intricate spellcasting – counterattacks and suddenly one of the earth elementals and the spiritual weapon vanish. Enraged, the Wizard shoots a firebolt at Vorn to protect his remaining elemental, who is still punching the lizard.

Lilith calls upon the powers of the Spider Queen and commands the ogre to fall. When the giant humanoid crashes to the ground, Alvra immediately charges the prone brute. The Cleric again calls out to Lolth and orders the ogre to stay. One of the mercenaries jumps from the cart and stalks Alvra. The Fighter appraises this new opponent – hired mercenaries are not exactly known for their great loyalty – and decides to attack the new threat. While Lilith dooms the ogre, who is still on the ground, a newly summoned elemental finally delivers the last blow to the big humanoid: the ogre is dead! The Cleric helps Alvra and uses a touch attack to kill the hireling.

Meanwhile the Scout takes down the lizard, thus immobilizing the chariot. She then uses her spiked chain to try and pull Vorn from the carriage. Though she doesn’t succeed, Phaedra does manage to harm him. Jharrath aims a hail of stones at Vorn and the nearby second mercenary.

It is time for new measures. Vorn concentrates hard and is lost in the trance of spellcasting. With a spell of blindness, Lilith tries to break Vorn’s concentration, but to no avail. A huge gelatinous cube slides over the ground towards the Xaniqos Wizard and soons envelops Jharrath in acid ooze. Each creature that comes too close, will be attacked by the mindless cube.

Alvra throws a javelin at Vorn and hits, but the leader of the Pox Bearers quickly takes a healing potion. The Fighter launches himself at the carriage and attacks in melee, which causes Vorn to flee. The Xaniqos must prevent this, if it is the last thing they do! Phaedra and Lilith, who were both fighting the remaining drow mercenary, now turn to Vorn. The mercenary runs for his life and escapes, evading the Cleric’s hastily shot crossbow bolt. Phaedra attacks Vorn with the use of a tanglefoot bag, and Alvra jumps in for the kill. Vorn is down and out.

All three of them now shoot, hack and slash at the gelatinous cube to free their brother, who might still come in handy. At least his summoning skills are quite useful. Jharrath does look a ‘bit’ mangled. Phaedra orders two servant bugbears to carry all the furniture, books and papers from the cart back into the mansion. They hurriedly search the bodies of the slain drow and ogre and find a nightscale armor, a potion belt, a masterwork rapier and crossbow, spell book, plus a pouch with 100 gold pieces. The Cleric now orders Alvra to cut off the guild leader’s head and cover it in rags. This way the proof of his death is undeniable.

They head home – Vorn’s head dangling over the Fighter’s shoulder – where Taldinyon is waiting. The Weapon Master takes one look at the severed drow head and then sends a patrol to clean up the ghetto. The potion belt contains a potion of haste, which Phaedra can make good use of, and two potions of bear’s endurance. Lilith gives one to Alvra and keeps the other for herself. The Scout hands Jharrath the nightscale armor, but holds on to the spellbook, planning on giving that to the Matron Mother.