On Goblins

The Denizens of the Goblin Wood

After the Beast King was slain by the Jabberwock his body lay amongst the ruins of The Wabe. Mome Raths and Slithy Toves burrowed into his flesh and the Jabberwock made a nest of his corpse. As pieces of the Beast King rotted and sloughed off, the Jabberwock consumed them and birthed the goblins. They multiplied in sick fecundity and overran the eastern wood.  The goblins are evil humanoids who serve the pale green wyrm in fear and awe. They are separated into tribes and the chiefs have been made powerful through loyalty to the Jabberwock. The largest tribes are:

I tried to use monster images from the 3LBB but couldn't find kobolds. This of course is from the AD&D Monster Manual. I believe it was drawn by David C Sutherland III 

The Kobolds – Diminutive bipedal reptilian dogs. The Kobolds delight in torture and mindless destruction. Individually they are the weakest of the goblins but they are numerous and their chief is the Great Dragon Dzapkun. In battle the Kobolds will never attack in melee individually, only closing if they have two or more allies. They prefer to make use of insects to deliver poisons at range, flinging scorpions and spiders with slings.

From Men & Magic. Goblin? Dwarf? What's the difference really... 

The Goblins – Bent, ape like humanoids with pointy ears, sharp teeth and earth colored skin. There are 3,333 goblins. Their chiefs are the Eiki, viscous jelly like polyps. When a goblin dies, a new egg sac appears on the Eiki and 3 days later the goblin is reborn. The Goblins are nimble, sneaky, and proficient at hiding. In battle they prefer to set ambushes and attack from surprise. When confronted they will attempt to sneak away in order to return and strike from advantage.

From Men & Magic. This guy's hangover was interrupted by adventurers kicking down his dungeon door. 

The Orcs – Human sized sinewy limbed humanoids, with cruel faces and pointed ears. The Orcs serve evil anti-Druids known as Wickerlings, and delight in destroying plant life. They are utterly fearless, and actively seek death in battle.  When slain they have a chance (1-2 on a d6) of being reborn as an ogre in the black grove of the Wickerlings. In battle they wield greataxes and fearlessly charge their foes, fighting until they are slain. They also make use of fire as a weapon, using flaming arrows and controlled burns to harass and harm their enemies. It is not unknown for an Orc to actually set themselves on fire and wildly charge a foe.

Again from AD&D Monster Manual. I believe this is DA Trampier. This hobgoblin is not only bristling with weapons, he is also bristling with honor. 

The Hobgoblins – Tall ape like humanoids with a martial bearing and sharp teeth. The hobgoblins muster into warbands and their chief is Batu a cunning and fearsome warrior. The Hobgoblins are an organized and efficient fighting force, forming the core of the Jabberwock’s fell horde. They are adaptable and skilled, using terrain and tactics to their advantage. In battle, they will form a shield wall to protect their archers, and use missile weapons to slay magic users, before advancing into melee.

From Monsters & Treasure. One of my favorite Gnoll pics. 

The Gnolls – Tall bipedal hyenas with yellow eyes and slavering mouths. After the Battle of the Wabe, Gnodabe the Prince of Hyena’s was drawn to the slaughter. The prince was caught and corrupted by the Jabberwock, and from this corruption the Gnolls were born. Gnodabe is now a monstrous lord, and his pack haunts the Goblin Wood feeding on the weak. In battle the Gnolls attack in groups attempting to surround and separate their foes, targeting the weakest enemy first.

From Supplement I Greyhawk. The picture is actually "Bugbear, Ghoul, and Friends." I guess this is the bugbear...Link to full picture.   

The Bugbears – Great hairy brutes with bear like faces and claws. The Bugbears are the strongest of the goblins and often enslave and eat their lesser brethren. Cursed to be forever hungry, their ravenous appetites drive them to constantly hunt and consume meat of any kind. When a Bugbear eats the heart of a fey, it transforms into a Troll and the Bugbears especially seek the fey for this reason.  They are skilled hunters and despite their size are quite capable of sneaking through the woods. Their chieftain is Bykiobonda the Troll Wizard Queen.  In battle the Bugbears will let their Troll brothers assault their foes and draw attention while they sneak off to attack from surprise.

A Gimble In the Wabe Session 6

Marsh Madness

Play began with the party travelling to an Utari village (kotan) to rest and await further instruction from Lady Haldora. As they approached the village they discovered and ambushed a raiding party of lizardmen led by a lizard shaman. Theolis snuck through the reeds, placed his Hunters Mark on the shaman and then killed the lizardman with one arrow. Pasco disintegrated the skulls of two lizardman warriors with a Shatter spell and the rest fled into the reeds. After having driven off the ambush the party was welcomed into a diminished Utari village on the shores of a small lake, and brought before Huisak, the matron of the village.

The Ranger clearly excels at dealing damage, with two shorts words, hunters mark, and colossus slayer Theolis can dish out 8-30 points of damage in one strike at level 3!

Mysterios IX and Bata wandered in late. We rolled in the “Lost in the woods” table. While lost the  wizard found a flower that changes the sex of whatever eats it, and the Druid met and impregnated a fey.

Unfortunately the wizard nor anyone else ate the flower, but Bata now has a fey child out in the woods somewhere….

Huisak asked them to stay and share in the catfish stew she was preparing. She questioned why Pasco and Bata did not carry the crocodile tooth sword that denoted them as Utari men, and asked why Tekka did not have a bear cub that marked her as a woman. The hero’s explained that they indeed sought these things and were ready to undergo the Utari rites of passage.  After the meal, Paco played Swamp Hen with the matrons brother Resak, and as they both faced all three spear throws neither lost the game. That night, as they slept in the reed huts of the Utari, Huisak climbed into Theolis’s (the only Utari adult male of the party) sleeping mat. While Tekka turned down the advances of Husaiks young brother Akisi.

Huisaks clan has only two families so the arrival of other Utari (even half-Utari) presented an opportunity to grow. I’m not squeamish about sex in my D&D but we don’t go into detail.

The next day, Pasco and Bata set off with Huisak’s brothers to check the fish traps and seek crocodile hearts so that they could offer them to the Reed Witch as part of the ritual to attain manhood. Theolis accompanied Tekka to find a grey bear den and capture a cub so that she could become a woman. Tolbert and Mysterios IX wandered the swamp to find spell components.

Pasco and Bata found crocodiles basking on an islet near the Utari fish traps. Pasco cast Vicious Mockery on one to draw it out, and as the creature was charging hit it with Shatter, this of course roused the other three and in a moment the Bard and Druid where facing four angry crocodiles. Tolbert and Mysterios IX where near enough to hear the Shatter spell and rushed in its direction. Bata protected Pasco with Spike Growth and by the time the wizard and paladin arrived they had slain the creatures. After taking the hearts the party then set about skinning and cleaning the reptiles. As they were headed back to the village, the smell of the crocodile meat attracted the attention of a Black Dragon Wyrmling. Pasco lashed its psyche with the Dissonant Whispers spell and the dragon was scared off.

I think the players were kind of disappointed they didn't actually get to slay a dragon even if it was but a wyrmling. I almost never use them but this game is supposed to be exploring some of the standard 5e rules so they exist in the setting. Nevertheless, the Dissonant Whispers hurt and caused the dragon to move its maximum distance away. It made sense for it to flee, it’s not stupid and I bet they will get another chance at a dragon.

Meanwhile, to the west of the Utari kotan, Theolis led Tekka to a Grey Bear den in order to capture a cub. Tekka sent her sprite familiar into the den to explore, and when the invisable Dustbelly was quickly captured by the Grey Bear mother, Tekka decided to parlay.
She  learned from the Bear Mother that the first secret of the Utari matrons is that they exchange their firstborn for a bear cub, both to be slain blood for blood, a custom the bonds the Utari with the Bear and comes from a pact made when the Utari first came to the swamp. Tekka, being only half Utari was hesitant, until she realized she would be unlikely to have children and agreed to the exchange. The Bear Mother called upon the Faerie Queen to hear their bargain and touched Tekka on her abdomen telling her that “what comes of this is mine.” She then relinquished a bear cub to the warlock, that she might raise it to adulthood and then slaughter it to show her understanding of the natural order and fulfill the ancient pact between Bear and Man.

I don’t know if Tekka’s player had decided that Tekka thinks humans are savage before this encounter but Tekka now clearly has disdain for the human tribes. The Queen's law IS savage, the law of the jungle. When all the animals can talk it takes a certain understanding to fulfill the natural order and eat flesh. The animals are bound by the Queen's Law to eat prescribed prey, The Northrons and Southrons follow these laws, and although they are typically the apex predator their flesh too is fair game for certain animals. The customs and beliefs of the human tribes developed from the early contact with the animals and veneration or pacts with predators is essential for survival. The Elfs on the other hand, are from the moon not the wood and are thus not part of the natural order. This sets up a cool conflict in Tekka and Pasco who are half-elfin. Especially in Tekka, who gets her magic from the Queen but seems unable to accept the nature of the wood.

When the party rejoined at the village, the children of Isonash were taken to the hunters chisay and the matrons chisay for the next step in their coming of age ritual. Bata and Pasco where ritually purified with incense and tattooed along their collar bones. They were each given an emush, short swords fashioned from the teeth of giant crocodiles, and told to keep them sheathed until the Reed Witch granted permission to draw them. Tekka sat in communion with Huisak. The young warlock was irritated that Utari children were offered to the Bears and only agreed to have her hands tattooed and accept the spoon that marked her as a woman ready to breed in order to honor her father.

In celebration of the hero’s coming of age, Huisak prepared deer sausage wrapped in pukusa and served it with sito millet dumplings. While they ate Akihi burst into the chisay and warned that lizardmen were poised to attack again. The hero’s rushed outside and prepared to face ten lizardman she-warriors who were driving three giant toads to avenge the death of their husband, the shaman.

The lizardmen were separated into two groups of five on either flank with the toads in the center. After an initial volley of lizard javelins wounded Pasco and Mysterios IX , everyone in the party fell back to seek cover except Bata the Druid and Tolbert the Paladin who bravely charged the right flank.

The toads proved to be slow, and two were slain by Theolis’s arrows, Mysterios IX Witch Bolt, and Tekka’s Eldrtich Blast before they reached the mobile and withdrawing defenders. Pasco put most of the lizardmen on the left flank out of action with a Sleep spell. On the right, Tekka managed to gain mental control of one Lizardman with Crown of Madness, and Tolbert hewed through his foes with the mighty swings of his maul. Bata seemed unable to find his footing but was fortunately assisted by the Utari hunters. In the center, Theolis stood his ground to face the last giant toad and after failing to kill it, was swallowed whole. Pasco quickly slew the beast with an arrow and the ranger survived being eaten. With their toads and most of their sisters dead, the remaining lizardmen surrendered, and Tolbert took them into custody.

In gratitude Huisak prepared pipes of dried drowsyflowsy and once everyone (except the scornful Tekka) had imbibed she chanted a story of the golden otter and the tribes that made war to attain her. That night, the matron again lay with Theolis. The next morning she told the party that she had dreamed they would help her clan finish the crannog in the pond, so that they would be protected from further attacks. She explained that a fox had made a burrow on the island, and that they could not complete the fortress since they considered the fox to be sacred. She asked the hero’s for help, and we ended the game.

I awarded XP for the lizardmen that fled as well as the Black Dragon Wyrmling. Overcoming a monster does not explicitly mean slaying it. In fact, sometimes not killing a monster is worth more than just XP. Most of the party gained a level. Going from 1-4 in six sessions seems like a fairly quick pace, but looking at the advancement chart it seems that it's a pretty big jump between 4-5. Most of the players have figured out combat strategies that play to their class strengths, and some of them have even started to discover who their characters are.

A Gimble In The Wabe Session 5.

The Ogre With No Heart Part 3.

We do a lot of resting in the Tugleywood, many a nap is taken, and many a day ends with making camp for the night shortly after lunch. It is an enchanted forest and the air is filled with golden magic and the heady fragrance of faerie. Also, spell slots are precious.

We were short a Druid this game, Bata’s player needed a real nap.

The session started as others have before, with the party making camp inside the crumbling ruin of the temple to which they had tracked the ogre’s heart. They had obtained the heart from an owlbear egg, and bashed a hole in the doors to the inner sanctum of the temple through which they could see a black granite altar, so feeling reasonably secure they rested.

While they slept, Tekka was visited by a sprite named Dustbelly, sent to her by the Archfey (The Faerie Queen) to serve as a familiar. Dustbelly immediately proved to be crass glutton for flesh, ravenously consuming the putrid bits of roebuck Theolis had slain days earlier and then passing out on Tekka’s blanket. Tolbert the Paladin was also visited in the night, having a vision while he slept of Sir Kewish the Thorn Knight for whom he once squired accompanied by the Faerie Queen in the form of dappled golden light. Sir Kewish praised Tolbert for adhering to the rigorous path of the paladin and inducted him into the Order of the Ancients, telling him that he was not yet a Knight, but that he was on the right path.

Most of the party is now level 3, and Tekka the Warlock gained the Pact of the Chain while Tolbert the Paladin joined the Order of the Ancients.

Dustbelly, like nearly all Sprites is a nasty little shit. 

During the night, Theolis heard the signature grumble-hoot of more owlbears in the area, but they seemed to keep their distance. In the morning the party awoke to a rotten ghoul face leering at them from the other side of the hole they had smashed in the temple door.  Tekka wrecked it with an eldritch blast that also enlarged the crack in the door. The Ghoul shimmed through only to be hacked to bits by the party. They could see several more inside the temple milling about a black statue of a goddess.  The ghouls seemed mostly interested in trying to croak prayers, so the hero’s started picking them off one by one. Frustrated that they couldn’t open the door further Tolbert put his mighty thews to the task and broke the massive granite door from its hinges smashing a ghoul in the process.

After defeating the pious ghouls the party stood before the twenty foot tall black granite statue of the goddess, the sanctum was also of black granite with an arched ceiling strewn with diamonds in the patterns of constellations. The wizard, Mysterios IX explained that he had read about the ancient Club Men venerating two gods, the Sun Goddess and the Night Mother. As they tried to determine how they could pry diamonds from the twenty foot high ceiling the door to the inner sanctum opened and the ghost of a Priestess emerged bearing a black blade.

The Priestess praised the Night Mother and asked if they sought the power of the King of Clubs in the name of the Red Queen, and after some murmuring the party decided they did not serve the Red Queen. The Priestess then asked if they would willingly take the black blade and use it to slay the foes of false darkness.

Tolbert affirmed they would and took the blade. The Priestess’s ghost merged with it and she was relieved to “once again see the stars and taste the blood of her foes.”

All Hail Brom! 

The Sanctum had another door, bearing a mural of the Night Mother and an inscription in the ancient tongue of the Club Men. Pooling their collective and limited knowledge of the language the party determined it said something along the lines of: devotion would open the way. Several attempts were made to show devotion until Pasco alighted on the idea of kissing the door, which opened it. On the other side was the entrance to the temple housing a multi-breasted statue of the Sun Goddess and an owlbear nest with a mewling owlbear chick in it. Theolis again heard the grumble-hoot of the chicks parents. The party wasted almost no time in deciding a live owlbear chick was worth facing two adult owlbears and rather than just close the door they prepared to fight. Pasco viciously mocked a mama owlbear, Tolbert called on the primeval powers of nature to root one in place with vines, and Tekka mercifully put the chick to sleep so that it would not witness the death of its parents. The male owlbear moved in and scooped up the chick however, and made good its escape, saving its innocent brood from the clutches of adventurers.

No one can resist this. 

After having spent a hectic morning putting an end to the undying devotion of penitent ghouls and attempting to abduct an owlbear chick the party was understandably tuckered out. They took shelter in the sanctum of the temple and prepared camp, eating up the last of their trail-rations in the process. While they slept they were subject to disturbing visions of the empty/death/winter aspect of goddesshood. Most of the heroes were able to come to some unconscious understanding that there is no light without darkness, but Theolis and Pasco did not rest well.

We had some grumbling about my ruling that the rations were used up, but at least a few weeks had passed since the start of the game. You cannot really “buy” rations in the Tulgeywood and I want the players to care about food and eating so I decided this was the last of the rations they came out of character creation with. I think that having characters eat and drink as well as hunt for food helps to define the setting by forcing decisions on flora, fauna, and cuisine. I also enjoy the “realism” of the characters being hungry sometimes and caring about something other than XP. Generally I will not allow a long rest without food and water. This quibble also produced the memorable line from Tolbert's player:"Don't I have some kinda Paladin crackers?"

With the monstrous heart in hand, the party set off the next morning to return to the Hag’s house in order to put the organ back into the Ogre.  As they approached the pond that surrounds the house the bloated and swampy Ogre erupted from under the surface of the water, the Hag now in her true (and hideous) form riding on its shoulders. The Ogre still had a hole in its chest where the heart was removed, only now it was filled with an owl bone charm that the Hag seemed to be using to control the creature.

Of course she knew they were coming back. 

Pasco was nearly crushed by the cypress stump the Ogre wielded as a club. Tekka and Mysterios IX wisely backed up from melee, while Theolis and Tolbert bravely charged. Mysterios hit the Hag with a Witch Bolt, and while the fight raged an arc of lightning connected the wizard to the evil fey witch. The Hag mocked the party, threatening to use the heart to again seduce a satyr and make more swamp daughters. Tolbert tried to put the heart back in the ogre during the melee but failed. After a few rounds of being zapped by the Witch Bolt the Hag fired a necrotic Ray of Sickness at Mysterios IX who was rendered unconscious only to be saved by the always timely intervention of Pasco. Realizing that the combined threat of the Ogre and Hag were deadly, the heroes decided to try and restore the heart again. Tolbert handed the organ to the greasy sprite Dustbelly, who Tekka commanded to become invisible. The warlocks will kept the sprite from the temptation to eat the heart and the Sprite easily placed it back into the Ogre’s chest.  Restored, the Ogre was released from the Hags charm. It threw her off it's back and with a furious roar went after her, seeking vengeance. The party wisely stood back and let the monsters fight. The Hag however, was no fool and disappeared into the ether.

Night Hags have well over 100 HP and are not stupid. She was not going to die to a party of 3rd level adventurers. Frankly I’m kinda surprised she only knocked one of them down to 0 HP.

All I want to do with my life is grow bloat-fruit. 

The ogre thanked the party, and vowed to return to the Goblin Wood and do no harm along the way. It promised to live the rest of his life as a farmer. Tekka who has a magical connection with her Sprite familiar knew that the Ogre spoke the truth since Dustbelly was able to read the heart while it was in his hands. The party weighed the merits of letting it go versus killing it as were their orders from Lady Haldora. The eventually voted, and let the creature go free. It gratitude the Ogre agreed to give them the treasure that it had stashed near the river bank. They followed the creature cautiously and were awarded with a sack of chalices and golden vestments.

I wonder if Bata would have swayed the vote. I suspect he would not have let the Ogre live…

Odolotino the titmouse returned to check on their progress for the Lady Haldora, and was incredulous that they had allowed the monster to live. The titmouse told them of an Utari village to the south and suggested they rest there while he delivered the tidings to the Thorn Knight and received new commands for the recruits. They marched south, leaving the cyprus bogs of the northern Maze Marsh and entered the reed beds of the true marsh where they found an empty crannog and two Utari houses on the shore of a small lake. Here we called it a night.

A Gimble In The Wabe Session 4

A Gimble in the Wabe Session 4

The Ogre With No Heart part 2

The game began with the intrepid heroes gathered around the campfire attempting to rest after a middle of the night ambush by lizardfolk. While Bata stood watch he noticed an owl observing the party’s camp. When confronted the owl hooted and flew into the night. The next morning Odolotino the titmouse arrived with a Northron human wizard. Mysterios had been in service of the Chieftain of Jarlberg until last King’s Day when he discovered a golden acorn in his Queen’s cake and simultaneously realized he controlled arcane powers. Lady Haldora evaluated him and sent him on his way to be proven with the other Thorn Knight recruits. The party was somewhat wary (Tekka has never really trusted the titmouse) but after parlay decided Mysterios intentions were good and welcomed him into their band.

After a game of Feeboo between Theolis’s Manes and Tekka’s Bloodhawk resulted in a dead bloodhawk and the Manes transforming into a swarm of rats, Bata heard cries of help in the distance. Setting off to investigate they found a Fey female caught in an Utari hunter's snare. After rescuing her, she explained that she was gathering herbs for her love who lays sick at her hut. Wounded, she requested that they carry her to her home, and that she would repay them with Gnome Ale. The party warily did so, and their suspicions were confirmed when the hut turned out to be the very house in the swamp where they had tracked the ogre. The Fey whistled a tune to make a stone path appear over the crocodile infested bog and the hero’s carried her into the house.

Inside they found a wan satyr, lying pallidly in a bed beneath an owl bone charm. It was immediately obvious to the parties spell casters that some enchantment was being worked on the satyr. The Fey told them to help themselves to the Gnome ale in a cask on the mantle. Pasco and Bata headed for the drinking horns while everyone else was cautious. The floor of the hut before the mantle was an illusion and the Druid and Bard fell into the swamp below. The fey dropped her false appearance and proved to be a hideous hag. She warned them to flee or die. The party decided to be heroes.

The hag offered to make a deal, she would reveal the location of the ogre’s heart if the party could convince the satyr to love her. The satyr begged for help and they hero’s scoffed at the deal. A furious combat ensued, Mysterios proving his worth by flinging scorching firebolts and Theolis once again ensnared  his foe with magic vines. The hag’s claws were fierce and sharp; Tekka was rendered unconscious and Tolbert the Paladin nearly slain. Outside the hut, Bata and Pasco deftly clambered up the houses stilts and onto the roof. They dropped through the thatched ceiling just in time for Pasco to revive Tekka and Bata to replace Tolbert in the melee. The hag put Theolis to sleep escaping the vines, but was being brutalized by the combined firebolts, eldritch blast, and melee attacks of the party. She offered again to reveal the location of the ogres’ heart if they would surrender, they party refused and she disappeared into the ether. Fortunately the satyr mumbled that he knew where the damn heart was…

Trusting that the hag had been bested for the moment, the party decided to catch their breath in her hut. Rummaging through her assorted witchy paraphernalia they discovered four magic items and thinking they may be useful took the time to allow the Wizard to identify them. A cruel looking and notched longsword of vengeance, a twisted black rod of the pact keeper, a wood and leather sentinel shield with living eyes around the rim, and a ring of jumping.  The party’s assumption that the hag would not harass them was correct, and they recuperated in the hut before setting off to find the temple.

We rolled treasure randomly using the horde table for a CR 5 creature. I had Mysterios player roll, and they got very lucky, acquiring four items from magic item table F.

While they rested Pasco and Bata played Feeboo and Pasco’s wolf ate Bata’s monodrone. After they had recuperated, Pasco tried to perform the the tune to make the stone path appear over the swamp but failed, fortunately Mysterios remembered. After crossing the crocodile bog the Satyr lead them to an ancient Club Man temple, where he could sense the heart hidden in an owlbear egg. Deciding against the front entrance, they came around the side and found a collapsed wall that led directly into the den of the owlbears. The creatures were fierce but after a sharp melee were slain by the hero’s. They discovered the ogre’s heart in the owlbear nest. They also found a black stone door leading further into the temple. Unable to open it Tolbert took his maul to it, and with help bashed a hole in the stone. Peering through the hole into the darkness within, they could see some sort of ancient Club Man altar. At this point we called it a night.

Now that our heroes have the heart, how will they defeat the ogre who lies at the bottom of the swamp? Where did the hag go? What treasure might be hidden further inside the old temple? We will find out in the next session of A Gimble In The Wabe…

A Gimble in the Wabe Session 3

A Gimble in the Wabe

Session 3

The Ogre Who Had No Heart.

We had another player join the game, and we created his character in the following order: Roll ability scores, pick race, pick background, and pick class. Creation only took a few minutes, yay!

Odolotino the Titmouse. Like many of my NPC's he is kind of a douche. 

The game began with the party resting around the campfire, and receiving a visit from Odolotino a titmouse messenger from Lady Haldora. The Thorn Knight sent the bird to learn what they had found in the ruins under Snoggle’s turnip patch. After telling the titmouse about the Wight they were asked to await further instruction and Odolotino flew back to Lady Haldora. While they waited Tekka and Pasco played Feeboo.

Tekka summoned a giant rat with her card, and Pasco a pony. The Pony survived a rat bite then smashed the rodent’s brains out with her hoof. Pasco won and the Pony absorbed the power of its defeated opponent transforming into a Wolf.

Of course derpy hooves won. 

Feeboo was fun. Everyone likes “safe” pvp and I also like having games within the game to help pass downtimes when someone is away from the table. I rolled randomly on a list of monsters by CR from the fantastic website: http://donjon.bin.sh/ to determine what the cards would summon.

Odolotino returned the next day accompanied by a Northron Human, a Paladin named Tolbert who served as a squire to Sir Kewish the Thorn Knight and had been released from service to find his own path to Knighthood.

Tolbert the Paladin. Deer horns are a sign of loyalty to the Faerie Queen. 

The party welcomed the able bodied warrior into their ranks. Odolotino warbled a mission from Lady Haldora:

“-chirp- The Lady Knight commands you to track down an ogre -squawk- that escaped the River Wardens. -chirp- They claim it arose after being slain -chirp- find out if it did , and slay it if it still walks. -squawk-”

Wanting to find favor with the Lady and gain acceptance into the honored circle of the Thorn Knights, the party accepted the task and set off behind the titmouse to the last known location of the Ogre near the river.

Reaching the banks of the western branch of the Sweetail River they heard sounds of battle and came to the aid of two Elfin River Wardens whose boat had been smashed by a voracious and overly large river trout. One of the Elfs was floundering in the water trying to fight off the attacks of the fish, and Bata the Druid bravely waded in to help. Hoping to befriend the creature with Druid magic, Bata cast his spell but it was resisted. The rest of the party stood on the banks firing arrows and flinging cantrips at the trout. Bata tried the magic again, casting while swimming in the swift river and again the trout resisted. The fish then turned its attention from the Elf to the Druid and grabbed Bata in its mouth thrashing him into unconsciousness. Pasco the Bard saved Bata’s life with the quick use of a magic healing word and the druid did not drown. Tolbert the Paladin cut himself and trailed blood in the water in an effort to draw the fish away from the now gravely wounded Bata. It worked and the Paladin who had removed his chainmail to enter the river was also mouthed to unconsciousness. After dragging the Paladin from the water, Pasco successfully put the ravenous and deadly trout to sleep with a spell and the Elf Wardens were saved.

I used the stats for a killer whale for the river trout. A CR 3 creature that can bite for 5d6+4 damage, the damn fish landed a crit on poor Bata. (14-64 damage). I never plan to intentionally kill anyone but I didn’t expect them to actually get in the water with the beast either…The damage hit the massive damage threshold on the nose for the Druid and I gave him a death save to stay alive.

In gratitude the wardens offered the party some feeboo cards. The Elfs pointed out the place where they claimed to have slain the ogre and gave them an owl skull charm they had found on its body.  Theolis the Ranger examined the sight of the battle and easily found the ogre tracks leading south towards the Maze Marsh. The party decided they could afford to rest or rather couldn’t afford not to rest with two members nearly slain by the fish.

The next day, Theolis led the party into the Maze Marsh tracking the path of the Ogre.  Late in the day they heard the cry of the Grey Bear but decided not to investigate. Towards evening they came across a dead Satyr, it’s head pulped by blunt trauma. Shortly thereafter they spied the Ogre. Theolis snuck forward and surprised his quarry and the rest of party followed up the assault. Surviving the initial ambush the ogre defended himself with a massive club. As they faced the creature they realized it had a gaping hole in its chest where its heart should have been. Ignoring the Ogres plea to leave it alone and weathering the furious blows of the monstrous club the adventures eventually slew the creature.

Just leave.. me.. alone! 

It then stood back up.

Crying again that it wanted to be left alone the reanimated Ogre dashed into the swamp. Instinctively the party chased it in order to attack again, and then they thought better. Rather than fight the obviously enchanted beast they followed it through the marsh. It led them to a lonesome hut standing in a weed choked pond full of crocodiles. The ogre plunged into the pond and promptly sank to the bottom with the crocodiles swarming over it. As a blood pool rose to the surface of the dark water, the party decided they could rest again before venturing to the hut. 

Placing Pasco on first watch they attempted to rest but the Bard’s vigilance was not enough to spot Lizardfolk. A volley of javelins awoke the party and their rest was interrupted by a furious assault by the reptiles. After a brief but fierce melee the lizardmen were defeated and we quit while the party considered it options. 

Continue to camp in the swamp  and risk more ambushes or press on to hut in the hopes of discovering what magics are sustaining the ogre?