The Troupe wander the Wood of Sharp Teeth hoping to find the whereabouts of Jet’Laya’s sister. Deadly orc barbarians fill the woods, giving the Troupe a hard time. Aegon is starting to realise they may need a change of strategy if they are to survive this deadly place.
6 Eleint 1368
These woods hold more than just orcs hidden within the trees. We encounter a small group of kobolds that ambush us with their Arrows of Fire. I ask the Weave to instill Horror upon the yapping lizards.
We chase them down as they flee, and they drop like flies. They show little threat to us compared to the orcs that roam these trees.
After the fight, Kivan collects up their Arrows of Fire for his quiver. When we encounter more orcs their flesh will burn.
As we explore the forest an Arrow of Fire whizzes past, almost striking my helmet. We turn to face our foe, expecting orc archers, but we find the clanking bones of a skeleton instead.
I blindly rush in with my War Hammer while the others support with their weapons. The skeleton drops its bow and readies a halberd. And I rush straight into the spike at the end of the weapon.
Kivan makes a precise shot with his bow, setting the skeleton’s bindings on fire. They detach quickly, collapsing the skeleton to a pile of bones. I am forced to heal myself once more.
I need to start learning not to rush into battle. We are better at range, especially with an archer like Kivan. We are mages and priests, and we should start to fight like we are.
We move south along a cliff face and when we come to a turn in the cliff we see another orc. He won’t be alone. No more half measures. Let’s do what we do best.
My Fireball explodes just behind the orc. Grass turns black as gray flesh is consumed by the flames, but the burning orc isn’t slowed down.
The burning orc charges me head on, and I ready my War Hammer.
I raise my Heart of the Dragon to try and stay the inevitable blow, when Kivan pierces it through the skull. Its red eyes seem to dull as its body gives up on life.
As it turns out, this orc was acting alone. Damn it. That was a waste. An entire Fireball on a lone orc. At least we are still alive this time.
This orc must have been a scout, since it isn’t long before we encounter more. An orc mage spots us, which triggers its magical protections. I pull out my Wand of Domination and speak the activation word. All those protections and the mage still falls under my Charm.
It warns us that there are more orcs across the stream, so I summon some gibberlings. The orc mage whispers some words to the weave and several Mirror Images of it appears before us. We are ready to engage.
The gibberlings are killed almost immediately by orc archers, so I summon some more to act as a barrier. Our orc mage prepares a Deflection against effects from the Weave.
Branwen prays to Tempus, asking for some control over the Chaos of Battle. His blessing will help us defeat these barbaric creatures.
As the orcs approach I open with a salvo of Magic Missiles. The mage finishes a spell, conjuring a glowing green ball of energy that surges toward one of the orc warriors.
Dynaheir follows our attacks by conjuring a Snowball Swarm. Despite our magical barrage, the opposing orcs are left barely injured, and now they have a mage on their side as well.
Jet’Laya evens the odds by abjuring a Glyph of Warding right in their midst. It triggers instantly, sending lightning arcing toward the enemy orcs. They are stunned for a second as their skin burns, and the one of the warrior’s has their gray skin turned black.
Our orc mage follows up by evoking a Chain of Lightning. It leaps from orc to orc, untile their mage it convulses violently and falls down dead.
The weakened orc is struck with an arrow, finishing it off. Two orc archers approach the stream and ready their bows. Branwen Draws upon the Holy Might of Tempus, that she may better slay her enemies in this battle.
Dynaheir uses her Wand to instill Horror in one of the archers as they are joined by an orc in priest’s robes. The remaining warrior, sensing our weak point, screams with rage as it charges Dynaheir.
Dynaheir retreats as Jet’Laya attempts to Silence the priest. As she is casting her spell she is struck by an arrow from the archer.
I hit the orc warrior with some Magic Missiles, slowing him down enough so that Dynaheir can escape his attack.
This gives Dynaheir the time she needs to evoke Melf’s Fiery Missiles. They strike the orc and it falls down in flames.
Our orc mage creates an Ice Storm over the remaining orcs. Huge hailstones, some as sharp as spears fall from the sky, many of them striking the orcs.
The orc mage then turns to the priest and utters an incantation of death. The priest just drops to the ground, as if its soul had left its body.
Then a large hailstone falls upon an archer’s temple, cracking its skull and killing it instantly.
The orc mage whispers the same incantation toward the other archer and suddenly its body is without soul as well.
The Troupe takes a moment to rest while I gather up the orc’s equipment. The orc mage stands there in a trance, glowing with magical protections. It’s an eerie site, an orc with no emotion, willing to do whatever I ask of it.
Their equipment isn’t magical, and they have only a little gold spread amongst them. I wonder if orcs use the same currency as the rest of us.
We cross the river and another skeleton charges us with sword and shield. It is destroyed by bullet and arrow before it can get close to us. I wonder if there are any necromancers among the orcs of this wood.
We keep moving and are soon accosted by another group of orcs. I send our orc friend in first, and he summons a Storm of Magic Missiles.
As Magic Missiles launch from the mage against our enemies, Jet’Laya summons Magical Stones, bullets that will hurt a lot when they hit.
Magic Missiles rip through the enemy orcs. Dynaheir adds to the magical assault with a Chromatic Orb.
Though most of the orcs are severely wounded by the Magic Missiles, their mage is Shielded and the attack has no effect on it.
Branwen calls upon Tempus to grant her a Spiritual Hammer. A glowing blue hammer appears in her hands.
Kivan launches an Arrow of Flame and it drops one of the orc warriors wounded by our mage’s Missile Storm.
I feel a sharp thud as an arrow goes through my shoulder, barely missing my heart. I scream in agony and reach down to my belt for a Potion of Healing.
Our orc mage creates another Missile Storm that manages to disrupt their priests incantations.
As an orc warrior closes in on Dynaheir, Jet’Laya Blesses us for the battle to come. Despite my wounds, I step in to protect Dynaheir. Branwen prepares to heal my injuries.
Branwen heals me, and our orc mage finishes off the orc warrior with a third Missile Storm. Dynaheir uses her Wand in an attempt to scare the other orcs away.
The Missile Storm also kills the priest, and Dynaheir manages to cause one of the archers to flee the battle.
Another orc mage suddenly appears before me, attempting to hit me with its palm. Jet’Laya kills it with one of her Magical Stones.
The remaining enemy mage starts to utter an incantation, one we heard recently. I scream out as the orc finishes its words, and watch in horror as Dynaheir’s soul leaves her body.
Damn these orcs! Kivan kills the last archer and we all turn our focus to the remaining mage.
The enemy mage finishes another invocation and a field of energy emerges from the ground, surrounding us all. Suddenly Branwen disappears and reappears further behind us. It’s a Teleport Field!
We move out of the field and I manage to charm the other mage with my Wand of Domination.
Unfortunately our original mage happens to cast a Dispel Magic at just this moment, and my charm is gone. The enemy mage starts to utter the words of Discorporation once more. I swing my War Hammer around…
…but it is too late. Branwen’s face is drained of all emotion as her body falls to the ground.
It is protected from missiles, so we draw our melee weapons and turn on the mage. The Weave is on its side, however, as lightning arcs from its fingers and pain surges through our bodies. Aura is almost killed by the spell.
Kivan thrusts with his Dragon Spear and it goes straight through the mage’s chest. It coughs up blood from its cold grey lips before drooping over the weapon.
The battle is done, but it has come at a price. Both Dynaheir and Branwen are dead. Our first expedition to the woods hasn’t gone well. We are left licking our wounds and now we must find a temple to bring these two back. Hopefully we won’t encounter any more orcs along the way.
