#25: Rock and a Hard Place

Aside from construction of the shrine and helping with general tasks around camp, an exorbitant amount of time is spent with Zargon, as Zeb and Selben attempt to coach the bard through the rudiments of magic.  Despite Zargon’s willingness to learn, much of the magic eludes his grasp.  The time is not wasted, however, as he does manage to scribe a few spells and increase his magical repertoire.  It’s a style of learning that Zeb is not accustomed to, but he’s glad to help.

We spend a fortnight in various tasks and training, assisting Perhegan and the other men and women of Dagger’s Deep.  Eventually, the light snows turn into heavy winter storms, and the settlement is battered by several especially harsh squalls with accumulating snow.  That makes it difficult for the hunters to conduct regular hunts, and Perhegan declares a “precautionary ration” of food.  We learn that he’s readying a group of men and wagons that will travel to Mirabar to resupply under the guise of merchants heading to Xantharl’s Keep, as he does not yet want to reveal the existence of Dagger’s Deep.

As Perhegan departs, Dagger’s Deep is left in the command of Pol Rallinoth, a man-at-arms who works with what serves as the settlement’s soldiers and militia.  Pol Rallinoth sends out a hunting party during a break in the snowstorms, and they return with dire news—all signs of fauna have seemingly dried up, and worse, they discover a family or small clan of ogres that have found shelter in a nearby cave.  As a result, much of the wild game native to the region have fled their area of hunting and influence, leaving Dagger’s Deep with a dilemma.

The hunters found a pair of ledges in the woods which, when observed from a distance, come together to form a cave at their bases.  Movement in the area alerted them to the presence of ogres, but not before they could count six of the creatures, all assumed to be residing together in the cave.  When Zargon questions the gender of the ogres, he finds that they were an apparent mix of adult male and female ogres.

Questioning the resources of Dagger’s Deep that we have at our disposal, there are a half-dozen legitimate warriors among the citizenry of the settlement; Pol Rallinoth and Weald are included in this number.  There are perhaps a dozen more men in a solid enough physical condition that they could fight in the case of an emergency, but these are the settlement’s craftsmen, and we would need to be sorely pressed indeed to risk them without great need.

We discuss several options, and Pol Rallinoth is amenable to us having the same three hunters escort us to the cave, but not until they’ve rested for the evening.  We did not intend to leave in the afternoon anyway, so we retire to our various tents and prepare for the next day’s travail.

In the middle of the night, we hear the cry of one of the town’s watchmen.  At the southeastern part of the settlement, the watchman saw the shadow of a very large form in the trees milling about the woods around camp.  When he looked back again, it was gone.  We discuss plans, alerting the other guards, and Audric sends Lume to investigate.  When the familiar returns, Audric learns that she detected the scent of a repulsive creature, but nothing else.

Deciding that discretion is the better form of valor, we decide to stay awake the rest of the night to bolster the guards’ confidence, and to put more sets of eyes on the Lurkwood, with the intention of investigating further in the morning.  The night passes otherwise uneventfully.

We find the tracks of a large humanoid, what appears to be a single set of prints only, and the tracks prove reasonably easy to follow.  After a little exploration, it appears that they lead back to the general direction of the ogre’s cave.  We also discover that the ogre’s path crosses the trail of the Dagger’s Deep hunting party from the previous day—just as we intended to scout the ogre’s cave, they apparently have sent a scout of their own to gauge our defenses.  Nothing about our plan is changed after the night’s events, and Pol Rallinoth fortunately agrees, so we prepare with haste.

Eight of us set out from Dagger’s Deep—three of Pol Rallinoth’s hunters, Zargon, Audric, Bonie, Selben, and me.  With a fresh set of tracks to follow, Jakke’s nose and the various talents of the hunters, we quickly arrive at a place where we can see the top of the ogre’s ledge.  Audric devises a plan whereby we split the group—archers will head to flank the cave from two sides, with Bonie, Selben, Zargon and Audric divided between the groups.  Being uniquely qualified to drive ogres from their cave and also repel attacks to some degree, I will be the diversion meant to draw them from their sanctuary.

Zargon is accompanied by two of the hunters, and it is not long before they cross paths with one of the ogres.  The bard’s recitation of bravery is interrupted as all three men bring bows to bear.  One of the hunters proves a capable marksman, and Zargon strikes the enemy with his second arrow, though not before it nearly reaches the group in melee.  Fortunately, Audric’s group and I are alerted by the sounds of battle, and spells and arrows are raised in Zargon’s defense.  To Zargon’s credit, his group of hunters pepper the creature with another round of barbs.  As it raises its club to attack, an arrow from Bonie catches the creature in the chest and topples it.

Before we can celebrate, however, a pair of ogres—one of them mighty in stature, nearly 11 feet tall, the other a smaller female—turns a corner, likely having heard the encounter and come looking for trouble.  Both rush forward as I turn and run, hoping to draw them after me while our allies fire arrows.  The volley is effective, arrows raining into the enemies as I nimbly evade their reach.  The giant ogre falls to another of Bonie’s arrows, buried up to the feathers as it slumps forward, dead.

The female ogress seems enraged by the death of the giant one, presumably a mate, stooping to retrieve his oversized club and charging towards me as I move to close the distance.  Meanwhile, the arrows of our allies continue to take a terrible toll on the ogress, and before it reaches me, it is felled.  Bonie’s final arrow ends the life of the ogress, and I witness Bonie’s triumphant smile as her arrow draws a thin line across its neck, spilling its lifeblood. 

The Lurkwood is still, quiet, with only our heavy breathing breaking the silence as we recover from the fight.  We regroup as Audric sends Lume forward again to scout, and we learn that there are at least two more, near or within the cave.  We follow our original plan, and as I encounter the first ogre lying in wait outside, I conjure forth a mystical arrow of acid that misses, sizzling as it strikes the ledge wall behind it.  It approaches me cautiously as our allies take positions at the flanks.  Before any arrows can be fired, however, it retreats into the cave, and we can hear guttural noises—presumably speech—from within.

I layer abjurations as I approach, lighting a torch as Audric joins me to examine the opening, as it seems our enemies seek to avoid a direct encounter.  Through my magic, I detect the presence of an ogre hidden within, and as I step towards the cave, it reacts aggressively, raising a club high.  Fortunately, Malar’s blessing prevents it from smiting me, and I puff out my chest in challenge as our allies take aim and fire.

The angle proves awkward, however, for no arrow finds purchase, and the creature is driven further into the cave and the protection the darkness provides.  Knowing that there are likely several more enemies, we decide to backtrack, reconvene, and discuss possible options.