The Battle of The Lea, Part 2

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About the Saga

The Blackrazors continue to fight giants, and some surprising giant-kin, as they work their way across the Geoff countryside to The Lea.


Timeframe


Cast of Characters

Notable Quotes

“Insolent band of wandering mayhem” -- an apt description of the Blackrazors in Geoff


What Has Come Before

The Blackrazors have returned to Geoff to help in the liberation of the once-great nation from the giants and giant-kin currently marauding across the land. Their first encounter on this foray into the wilds of Geoff saw them fighting, and subsequently defeating, a pyrohydra in the remains of Fort Diligence, one of the outposts of the Grand Duke’s army. At Fort Diligence they met Gideon, a member of the local Steelstormers guild, who joined them on their mission as his party had been decimated earlier by the giants oppressing The Lea. After moving on from their towards The Lea, their destination as assigned by The Grand Duke of Geoff, they encountered a band of ogres and orcs led by a hill giant. After defeating this giant-kin warband, they pressed on towards The Lea.


The Saga

Patchwall 7, CY 590

After dispatching the giant-kin warband and looting the bodies, the Blackrazor contingent, with their Steelstormer ally, pressed on towards The Lea. About midmorning they took a brief break from marching to rest slightly and consume some refreshments. Suddenly, two mages appeared nearby – which caused the guildmembers no alarm, as it was Sven and Falgar, additional Blackrazors. Having completed his favor to Falgar by teleporting him to join the adventuring party, Sven collected his 500 gp “travel” fee from Falgar and teleported himself back to Obsidian Bay to continue his arcane research. Falgar quickly joined the others, reporting to Tanevir that he had received word that his brand of magic was requested – it seems the party wanted his more explosive and destructive spells (fireball, lightning bolt) in their war against the giants. Realizing they could spare some force now that they had Falgar’s magic with them, Tanevir suggested that Kannett use his ranger skills to do some scouting of the surrounding countryside, in case they had missed any giant-kin warbands on their trek away from Hochoch. Kannett readily agreed. This meant the Blackrazor contingent now stood at: Tanevir, Kalib, Troll-Greggor, Erilar, Falgar, Baldwin, D’klar, and Gideon.

The party resumed its march, and for a short time things were quiet. Then the party saw its first sign of trouble. Troll-Greggor, running point for the group, heard a sound ahead of him. Concentrating, he determined that there was a fairly large group of creatures up ahead. Due to the thick Geoffite brush, he was unable to determine anything more. He waited for the rest of the party to catch up with him, and explained to them about the creatures, possibly another warband he thought, about 150 yards ahead. After he informed them he could no longer hear the noises that had caused him to stop.

The party discussed it briefly and then sent Tanevir, Erilar, and Troll-Greggor ahead to investigate. The three found physical evidence that creatures had indeed been close by, but there was no trail to follow nor any additional clues.

While the scouts were trying to find more leads, the rest of the party was quickly beset by ogres. The party was surprised, a feeling that was not alleviated when they realized that it was ogres that had gotten the drop on them. These particular ogres looked a bit more cunning, more stealthy even, than your average ogre – if indeed such a thing is possible. The party did not have time to consider this much longer, as they began to hear a faint chanting. They all felt the slightest tinge of fear prickle their skin and make the hairs rise on their napes – and then nothing. Not only ogres then, but magic as well – magic that obviously failed.

Falgar wasted no time, focusing his counterattack on the direction of the chanting. His signature Fireball lit-up the day, igniting the hearty brush and putting an end to further magical attacks. It did not, however, end the conflict, as two sickly-hued, yellowish humanoids charge out from the flames. These ogres were not nearly so civilized looking as the first few – indeed, they looked even more degenerate than you’d expect even an ogre to look. They immediately closed on Kalib, dealing copious damage to the Trithereonite. More ogres also appeared, flanking the party.

The Blackrazors were not daunted, having fought ogres on numerous occasions before. Falgar unleashed again, this time with a Lightning Bolt, and took out some of the ogres. The rest of the party entered the fray with the physical and magical attacks at their disposal. The scouting party returned as well, and were able to flank some of the ogres when they too attacked. In Blackrazor style, the melee did not last long and the warband that had gotten the drop on the adventurers was soon itself dropped.

The party wasted no time healing its hurt members and looting the ogres. They discovered the remains of an ogre cleric, which they figure accounted for the early magical attack. While examining the other bodies, they noted that some of the ogres looked almost like barbaric versions of their species, while others seemed to have tracking equipment. The idea of variant ogres, especially those with more civilized skills gave some of the party some pause, if just for a second. In all, their haul included much copper, sliver, and gold, some platinum, and a few golden and black pearls. Also, there were the following items among the ogres’ possessions: Bracers of Defense +2, a wooden shield +1, a giant-sized club with a rune on it (the “woe” rune, which they divined would bestow curse on those struck), a potion of sneaking, a wand of magic missiles, a potion of cure moderate wounds, three scrolls, two potions of jump, a scimitar +1, a potion of spider climb, a long sword +1 that shed light when drawn, a dwarven waraxe +1, and 8 vials of acid.

At this point, the party made camp and tried to get some rest before continuing on in the morning.

Patchwall 8, CY 590

Rest was not to come for the intrepid Blackrazors and their Steelstorm companion, however. Under the full moon, as the next day began, the remaining, and larger, portion of the giant-kin warband returned, notified by ogre-rangers who had escaped the previous day’s fight. The Blackrazors were quickly attacked by three contingents of the giant-kin.

The party was again surprised, but quickly fought back. The giant-kin had a large force, and its three-pronged attack pinned the party into a defensive position. The stealthy ogres even managed some surprise attacks during the melee, further weakening the party. But the Blackrazors have a reputation for mayhem and destruction for a reason, and they unleashed their full force upon the attacking creatures.

Gideon, feeling that the Blackrazors were a group he could comfortably fight alongside, unleashed some of the powers he usually kept hidden from others. Using the force of his mind, he caused several orcs to explosively rupture, their bodily fluids bursting forth from their skin. The Blackrazors fought hard, using powerful, destructive magics and deadly martial force. The battle was truly epic, the details blurring in a haze of carnage. The Blackrazor party emerged victorious, slaying the combined might of hill giants, ogres, and orcs without losing a single one of their company.

A single ogre was captured and subdued by the Blackrazors. They looted the dead bodies, and pieces of bodies, and then continued on towards their destination.


Experience

Not available.