The Strike on Turrosh Mak

About the Saga

Timeframe

• Greyhawk Date: Flocktime 15, CY 592
• Real World Date: September 19/20, 2008 (Nuke(m)Con 2008)
• Read other Blackrazor Guild Sagas

Cast of Characters

• Lord Tänévir Calywyn, Field General for the Obsidian Bay Expeditionary Force
• Lyle, Lord Tanevir's trusted Aide-De-Camp
• Kalib Ironfist, Blackrazor Guild alumni, now Lord of the Cathedral of Liberty
• Gideon Dwyfors, Blackrazor Guild alumni, hero of the Grand Duchy of Geoff
• Erilar, Blackrazor, Orcslayer, ranger extraordinare
• Moraim, Obsidian Bay's high cleric of Ulaa, Blackrazor, representative of Khelez-Mar
• Merwyn, the Blackrazor Redshirts infamous wizard
• Pag, Liason to the Mayoral Office
• Rencore, Knightly ally and representative of Khelez-Mar

Notable Quotes

None.

What Has Come Before

War has returned to the Pomarj. The allied forces of Obsidian Bay, the Principality of Ulek and the Kingdom of Keoland launched an offensive on the Orcish Empire of Turrosh Mak’s western front in Wealsun CY 591. Their intention was to drive the Despot’s forces from the occupied lands of the Principality, forcing them back across the Jewel River.

They have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. The orcish armies of Despot’s Army of Infernal Might was destroyed in a lightning fast invasion of Orc Harbor by the Obsidian Bay Expeditionary Force, an invasion made possible by the deft scouting efforts of the Blackrazor Guild.

The Army’s half-ogre/half-orc General Durbamog Elfmangler was slain in an epic battle with the Expeditionary Force’s commander, Tanevir Calywyn on the ramparts of Stormlight Keep and the remnants were forced to flee the city.

The battle was won, but the much larger fight remained. The remainder of the Army of Infernal Might were absorbed by the much larger Army of Vengeful Wrath led by the ruthless General Azog Deathsmasher, cleric of Grummish.

In the months that followed Tanevir continued his winning strategy of dispatching “special forces” of adventuring guild heroes – including Blackrazors, Orcslayers and Ralleymen -- into the occupied towns and cities of the Principality to gather information and to sabotage military targets.

The strategy worked. Appledown, Bridgeford, Goldmine, Grimfire, Madlond, Thunderstrike; Month after month these and other towns were freed from their orcish overlords. There were setbacks to be sure – the First Battle of Thunderstrike saw Tanevir’s first significant defeat as the orcs surprised him by launching a force of half-black dragons at his men – but he returned three months later and smashed through the city’s defenses, achieving total victory.

Now, in Flocktime 15, CY 592, the western war is nearing its end. Standkeep Castle on the eastern side of the Jewel River has just fallen to the Obsidian Bay Expeditionary Force, and the Army of Vengeful Wrath has fled back into the Pomarj.

And yet … all is not well. The battle at Standkeep Castle was hardly worthy of the name, and the Army of Vengeful Wrath put up only a token fight, instead choosing to withdraw from the battlefield. Never before had Azog given up a significant target without a fight, and this change in strategy worried Tanevir greatly … especially when news arrived of the other armies of the Despot withdrawing as well.

But withdrawing to where … and for what reason?

The Saga

Flocktime 15, CY 592

War Council

Lord Mayor Gabriel Longriver of Obsidian Bay has called for an emergency war council. In attendance are:

• Lady General Illandra Mooresend, High Commander of Obsidian Bay's military forces
• Field General Tanevir Calywyn, commander of the Obsidian Bay Expeditionary Force along with his two aids Lyle and Erilar
• Thror DuBak and Moraim representing Khelez-Mar
• Kalib Ironfist Lord of the Cathedral of Liberty
• Gideon Dwyfors and Merwyn of the Blackrazor Guild
• and Pag, liaison to the Obsidian Bay Mayoral office.

Lord Mayor Longriver begins the meeting thanking all for meeting, and praising the numerous gains over the Orcish Empire in the past year. He also specifically thanks the efforts of General Calywyn. He then shifts his tone, describing the troubling reports of orcish armies withdrawing from their defensive – and occasionally offensive – positions:

• The Army of Vengeful Wrath has left the western frontier, leaving Standkeep Castle with barely a fight.
• Spies report that the newly-formed Army of the Black Wing, allegedly led by the half-dragon spawn of the great wyrm Woryx, has begun moving from Highport.
• The Army of the Burning Souls – heir to Weri’s Army of Burning Glory that was defeated at the Battle of Blue -- has withdrawn from its defensive position around the Spire of Grummsh.
• The status of the military occupiing Fury Bay is unknown. The Starfire Guild holds the last known details of this city.
• The Army of the Trembling Fist has not been seen since reportedly abandoning its occupation of the Suss Forest.

The clerics of Heironeous have used their devine power to attempt to discover where Mak is located. Unfortunately even a commune with Heronious himself is unable to reveal Mak's current whereabouts. They were however able to discover the answer to Mak's whereabouts can be found in the cities of Highport, and Fury Bay.

With this in mind, Tanevir charges his hand-picked strike team with two tasks: learn where Turrosh Mak is and, if possible, determine why the armies of the Pomarj are withdrawing from their positions. Once this is complete, this group of hand picked warriors can take on Tanevir's ultimate plan: kill Turrosh Mak.

The group quickly splits into two teams. Tanevir, Erilar, Moraim, and Pag will scout out Highport; while Kalib, Gideon, Merwyn, and Lyle will head to Fury Bay.

Highport

Lord Tanevir decides the best course of action for the small team is to infiltrate the town and see what they can learn on the streets. The only problem is disguises. A human can pass pretty easily in Highport, Elves would be rare but acceptable, but a dwarf? Moraim prays to his god for some guidance, and casts a spell to disguise himself. With that the group teleports off to highport.

They sneak around for a while, gathering intel on various armies. Seems they are all on the move, and heading East. To where though, what's the target? Could it be an all out strike on Obsidian Bay? And where is Mak? The party had to find out more.

Finally they find their answer: The Army of the Trembling Fist has been tunneling its way to Waterton. It's going to be a surprise strike on the water supply of Obsidian Bay. The rest of the armies are positioning for a siege, because without water the city would be in trouble. However the biggest news is that Mak himself is preparing to lead the strike. The party wastes no time in teleporting back to Obsidian Bay and calls the war council back into session.

Fury Bay

Kalib believes the first move his group should make is to gather whatever information they can on Fury Bay. Of course, this isn't as easy as it sounds. They know the Starfire Guild assaulted the city on Patchwall 3 CY 591. Unfortunately, there is some bad blood between the Starfire Guild and the Blackrazors. So Kalib tasks Merwyn and Lyle with the task while he and Gideon make other preparations.

Information Gathering

Merwyn and Lyle head to the Starfire Guildhall. At the front desk, Merwyn introduces himself stating he is on a mission for Lord Tanevir. This prompts the scribe to quickly excuse himself only to return moments later to lead them further into the guild. There they are brought before guildmaster Nola Fireheart. She immediately recognizes Merwyn as a Blackrazor, and states she only agrees to meet with him because of his respect for Lord Tanevir. Merwyn attempts to smooth things over with his charm, but Nola is unimpressed.

Merwyn then gets down to business stating his team has been tasked with scouting out Fury Bay. She agrees to relay all the information her guild had gathered, including producing a quick map for Merwyn. She tells him about the Temple of Gruumish, Fort Fury, the "Naval Academy", the dry docks, and the slave camps. She regrets that they were unable to do more; but the half-mad Beholder general of the Army of the Ever-Watching Eye was rallying his troops against the guild. Merwyn thanks her, then he and Lyle head out to find Kalib and Gideon.

Experience & Loot

• No experience and/or loot is available for this saga.