[Horde] Chapter Two: Session Seven
July 15th
0:00 Arrangements are made for the young draenei child and saberon. The draenei girl is placed into the care of the other draenei.
Phaedra called to Remnii when she started to stir.
Remnii goes to check on her, and she asks where she is. She asks Remnii what her name is, and Remnii introduces herself. The girl then introduces herself as Dorna. She seems really tired, and Remnii encourages her to go back to sleep. She does, curling up gentle against Remnii’s arm.
Arthak, meanwhile, is approaching the saberon. Arthak asks Azgadaan to use magic to strengthen his words when dealing with the saberon. Azgadaan agrees, and will do so when the saberon awake. Lantresor informs Arthak that they had not yet awoken, and Arthak asks him to inform him when they do.
Just then, one of them awake, furious, and releases a roar. He attacks Arthak twice. Sorak runs in and tells the saberon he can leave if he wants, they aren’t holding him. Arthak jumps in on that and also tries to reason with the saberon that they had the opportunity to kill him but they save him from the spiders instead. If he keeps attacking, however, that would change.
Remnii and Azgadaan also rush to the scene, and the saberon seems to be calming. He asks for weapons, and Arthak said that they didn’t find any with him. The saberon said his pack would leave.
Arthak tries to convince the saberon to join his clan instead, and the saberon refuses, citing that the orcs had hunted and attacked them. Remnii then steps on and puts her “medical voice” on, asking that they take things outside if they are going to raise voices, as his “pack” was still resting, as was the draenei child.
The saberon turns to Arthak, relenting, and asks again for weapons. Arthak said they didn’t find any of theirs, and the saberon clarifies he wants him to give them weapons. Arthak refuses unless they are joining, as his clan needs the weapons, and then walks outside to negotiate.
However, the saberon doesn’t follow. He sits on his cot to remain with his packmates, but quiets down. He snarls a bit at Remnii when she comes close, but Remnii points out that he was unconscious like them too, and she helped him, so don’t snarl at her.
July 16th
Within the hour, as the clan starts to stir, the rest of the saberon awake, and they start setting out. Their eyes fall on the cart with excess weapons, and the leader seems to tilt his head and they start to move toward it. Arthak and Azgadaan immediately interpose themselves, and Azgadaan offers a short sword he had picked up a while ago once they leave.
The saberon insists on having it now, but Arthak and Azgadaan both repeat he would get it at the edge of camp. There would be no negotiation.
There is tension for a moment, but eventually, the leader’s clenched claw loosens. They go to the edge of the camp, and Azgadaan warns them of the direction of the spider nest. The saberon makes one last threat that if they encounter them again, the orc blood will feed the blood.
Arthak tosses his nodachi (the extra, extra sword he’s been carrying around) to one of them, and simply says that it would be his choice. Azgadaan also hands over the shortsword.
The saberon then lope off into the distance, and Azgadaan and Arthak return to the camp.
0:34
The camp is stirring. Arthak gives his recruitment speech to the orcs they found, and some of them do end up joining. However, many others set off. Several at heading toward Hellfire Citadel, and Spinyl find the most trustworthy-looking of the orcs (the first one she found) and paid him to take a letter with them back to Aracyra.
They continue their journey, and they get to an overgrown, hilly area known as the Thornfang Hills, which is a surprisingly lush place. Sorak also happens to know that this is a breeding ground of ravagers, which are incredibly aggressive and dangerous beasts.
They look up and see heavy cloud cover coming in, and suddenly the sky erupts into a downpour for a few minutes before it starts sunshining again.
They then enter into the area known as the Iron Front. Gramgun points out this is the last big fort they will be passing through in a while.They would have to stock up.
They discuss how much they should get for the two week journey. They also get a few more carts and animals to pull them.
Spinyl dances to try and get some money, and she gathers a small crowd. It goes over quite well, and she does manage to get some currency
Azgadaan goes and sells his unused quarterstaff. Meanwhile, Remnii is resting after staying up for so long caring for those who were injured.
At some point, Dorna also awakes. She mentions to Remnii and explains she had a dream. She heard a lot of talking but couldn’t understand a lot of it. Remnii explains that wasn’t surprising as they weren’t traveling alone. There are several other draenei as well as many orcs and… others.
Dorna asks if they were trying to kill Remnii, and Remnii said no. Ultimately the group are friends. Dorna mentions that everyone she traveled with said that orcs would kill her on sight and should normally be fled from. Remnii emphasizes that normally that is the case, but this is a special case. For now, however, she didn’t have to run from anyone unless they were fighting someone.
Dorna touches Remnii’s cheek and said she was so pretty, and asks if that was what their people looked like. Remnii nods, and then asks Dorna if she had been traveling with Broken. Dorna nods, and Remnii said they were also what their people look like. Dorna accepts this immediately.
She then asks where they were at, and Remnii explains they were at the fortress called the Iron Front, and Dorna said that sounded like some place she had to run from. Remnii said that she would be right behind her if they had to, and they banter a bit, before Dorna promptly says she’s hungry.
Remnii brings them food, and Dorna asks if Remnii had ever seen a naaru. Remnii said she was friends with one. Dorna explains the people she was traveling with had said they were guides to their people. She then if Remnii was friends with one, then she might know where to find one. Or save their people. She asks more about the naaru, and if they could say the alphabet backwards.
They continue some small talk, and Dorna said the soup was good. Remnii said they would have to thank Azgadaan (who made the soup) later.
Remnii then mentions that, when they found Dorna in the spiders web, they didn’t find anyone else. Dorna said she understood. It wasn’t the first time she saw people die. It was how things were. She then said she was okay because she had…
She brushes her ear and there is momentary panic as she feels nothing, but then Remnii produces an earring and she gives it over. Dorna is relieved she found it, and mentions she thinks it might have belonged to her mother. She believes she hears a naaru in it, and it has real water. She shakes it in Remnii face.
Remnii asks if it hears like chimes, and Dorna doesn’t know what chimes are. She said it sounds more like… she pours water in her hands and blows on it. Remnii explains that the naaru sound more like the wind, and Dorna wants to hear it someday.
She then said that the people she traveled with said the smartest person they ever knew had a bunch of naaru for friends, and he had a big bushy beard. Remnii explains that the man, Velen, is her father.
Dorna is starry-eyed, and Remnii promises that they will talk more soon. Dorna puts herself to bed, as it’s already night, and she doesn’t want to wake up late.
1:26 As Arthak is patrolling, he notices a strange inconsistency. One of the other orcs that’s supposed to be on watch is not, and he hears some ruckus coming from one of the wagons. Arthak starts to approach, and an orc scrambles out from behind it.
Arthak comments he was supposed to be at his post, and the orc said he was just checking on some things. Arthak can tell he is full of shit. He asks who else was in the cart, and the orc says he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Arthak says he can either say, or he’ll go in there himself and find it out. As Arthak inches closer and goes to move past him, the orc steps in front of him and says it’s really nothing.
Arthak said if it wasn’t nothing he would tell him.
The orc relented, and explained that him and a few others were looking to split. He then calls, and eight other members of the Broken Blade -- mostly younger -- pile out. All of them had come with Sagaz.
The orcs said that when they first arrived they had no idea they were stomping through hydra camps and having people kidnapped in the night. Plus saberon, who they thought were all dead.
They were going to stick with their friends, grab some supplies, and go.
Arthak: “So. You’re going to take our supplies. Take from those with children, or those that cannot fight, and leave. And Sagaz… do you see what that boy does every day? He works. Constantly. To make sure that you all can maybe have a place here and survive.”
Orc: “What of it? He’s the one that wanted to go on this adventure.”
Arthak: “And you chose to follow.”
Orc: “It was better than dying in that swamp. So we thought. Before that hydra ripped…”
Arthak: “Right. So you want to go? Then go. But if you take a single scrap of food meant for one of my people, I will kill you. And I will make it slot. Go now. Leave. Go back to begging for scraps or whatever you want to do with yourself. But these people deserve better.”
The orc looks at him and spits at his feet.
Orc: “Fine. We will. Fuck you and your clan. Come on, we’re leaving.”
They all leave. Just with their own things. Arthak fills the orc’s watch that night.
July 17th
1:34
It quickly spreads through the group that a few of the number have left. No one is really talking about it yet beyond the rumors. There are hushed whispers talking about the group that left and not knowing what happened.
Arthak appraised Spinyl, Azgadaan, Remnii, and Sorak of the situation. Spinyl asks Arthak if he wants her to keep an eye out, and he agrees, but if they want to leave, let them, as long as they don’t take anything.
The group begins to head up into the Thornfang hills. They split off into some groups for foraging. Spinyl and Sorak go with some other orcs from the clan, and Sorak is able to find a good vein where there are edible flowers and the like. They start to gather there, but then Spinyl hears something.
Spinyl pulls her bow on it, and in that moment, a ripple of energy manifests behind Sorak. It resembles a lizard with darkened, charcoal violet skin with stripes that are a mixture of red and fel green.
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Two appear in ambush. Spinyl immediately casts dissonant whisper on one of them, and it seems to fail completely rather than do even partial damage. Strangely.
Sorak examines the creatures, and then realizes that the creatures are monstrosities instead of beasts, meaning his animal friendship spell wouldn’t work. He also realizes a few other tidbits on them, especially the fact that they are able to displace themselves and make them harder to hit. Instead, Sorak grabs one of the warp stalkers and uses inflict wounds. It rounds on him, ripping into Sorak with its claws.
The non combatant orcs begin to flee. One gets tangled on the brambles, and gets a large gash as he trips. One of the others tries to help him up, while a third grabs a piece of bramble and tries to attack the other warpstalker to distract it. He misses, and the orc warrior that followed up with him misses as well.
The attacked warpstalker then disappears, and cuts off one of the commoner’s escape. It bites, ripping straight through the orc’s jugular. Another warriors tries to attack in vengeance.
Meanwhile, Wintermaw is attacking the first warpstalker. Spinyl follows up with eldritch blast, and both blasts manage to connect.
Several other commoners continue fleeing.
Wintermaw continues his assault, and shoves the warpstalker into the brambles. While it hisses and squirms, however, one of the commoners that was fleeing trips and falls on a large thorn, piercing her heart. She dies.
Sorak enkindled the warpstalker with fire, as it was unable to escape. After a moment it collapses, burned to death.
However, the other warpstalker teleports to another of the commoners and immediately rips into him, killing him instantly. Spinyl casts faerie fire on him.
Wintermaw then races in after the other warpstalker and starts to wrestle with it while the orc warrior hucks a javelin into its hide. Sorak follows up with another inflict wounds. And then another. Blood starts seeping through its scales, and it collapses.
As they maneuver around, they notice that the brambles move on their own, ever so slightly. As if they are trying to feed on people.
However, their spoils are fruitful. Sorak gets 26 pounds of food, and Spinyl gets 11. The remainder of the group also gathers some.
Sorak also tries to skin the warpstalkers, and successfully retrieves some skin, scales, and fangs.
2:25
They return to the group, and they see ravagers clicking and flicking in and out of the brambles. However, the ravagers don’t approach, though they are watching.
They continue their travels, and they manage to arrive in Talador. The forest around it have adapted in a curious way. The trees have almost started to crystalize as the inherent magics of the area have started to change the environment.
They set up camp here for a brief rest, and also erect funeral pyres for those that were killed.
2:35
However, Spinyl happens to catch some raised voices. Its two orcs arguing. They are two warriors, two that were with Sorak and Spinyl’s group when they were foraging.
Spinyl approached and asked if there was something wrong. One of the orcs explains that one of the orcs that died was his sister, and one of the orcs that left had been the other orc’s blood brother and mate. He didn’t protect her.
The other orc counters that his bloodbrother was not him, and he tried to defend her, and the first orc argues that his blood brother shoulder have died instead of him. They then go at each other again.
Spinyl says that doing these things isn’t going to bring her back, and the orc did try to do his best to protect her. She then apologizes they couldn’t protect her.
The aggressor admits that Spinyl is right. The orc that was being aggressed states he renounces his blood oath to the coward, and he slits his hand and offers it to the aggressor along with the knife. He also slits his hand, and they become blood brothers themselves.
One of them then thanks Spinyl, and gives her a pat on the shoulder (with the bloody hand).
2:46
Spinyl reports back to Remnii and Arthak, and Remnii compliments Spinyl on her approach.
Later, Remnii also uses detect magic on Dorna and her earring. The young girl has magic potential, but it’s different from priests and the like.
That night, during first watch, there is a whistle and Samaara wakes Remnii. She leads her to a small, crystalline rock buried in the ground. Samaara lifts it, and inside the crystal was hollowed out a bit. It was a waymarker the Ati-kaso uses, which Samaara had taught them to do. They had been present recently.
However, they were going in the opposite direction they were. Samaara isn’t sure what Remnii wants to do with the information, but mentions there are not many warriors left with the Ati-kaso. If they were lead back to Arthak, and he could offer them asylum, she was positive they would make themselves worth it.
They could go and get them as a group, or maybe just send someone to lead them back and they could catch later, or if Remnii had another idea…
Remnii thanks her for telling her, and goes to hug her, but stops at a hand on the shoulder as Samaara jumps. She expresses it’s a foolish thought, but she is still worried her presence may somehow turn Remnii into one of the krokul.
Remnii comforts her, saying that “broken” would never be a name that truely should be used for her, or any other. Samaara thanks her, and expresses how grateful she is for Remnii’s presence. Remnii starts to get teary, and they bid each other goodnight before Remnii heads off.
3:03
On second watch, Sorak and Spinyl are together along with Phaedra. As the night goes on and they are chatting. Sorak is watching Wintermaw, and suddenly the frostwolf’s ears perk up and he looks down toward the south. At that moment, he sees something streak through the trees. Something big.
Sorak’s breath catches in his throat as a massive shaft of wood slams into him. As he looks over a massive bolt is jutting out of the ground where he was standing right before. He hears Wintermaw let out a piercing howl into the moonlight, and there is shouting in ogrish.
They are combat orders.
It’s a detachment of ogres wearing the tattered remains of the Gorian armor they wore long ago.
Sorak shouts a warning, and drops his stoneskin totem.
Yrel also jumps up, unarmored, and uses hunter’s mark on the nearest ogre. Samaara also rises and ducks into cover. She then tries to return fire, but misses.
Arthak hears the commotion, but is not able to rouse himself quickly. He scrambles to his feet. Spinyl focuses on waking people, while Dranosh works to get people to safety.
Azgadaan is roused and runs into combat. He slides down a small cliff, but falls into the crystal brambles and stumbles and falls prone again.
Lantresor also focuses on getting people to safety.
The battle commences. Wintermaw tries to return to Sorak, but gets stuck on a bramble and is unable to climb back up the cliff.
One of the ogres fires its weapon at Samaara, but misses, just as Thura comes out in only a loincloth, wielding two battle axes. She releases a war cry and charges into the throng of combat.
Remnii uses Power Word: Shield on Yrel.
Another huge javelin goes sailing, and one of the orc warriors is dropped, but he scrambles slowly back to his feet, just barely hanging on.
Another ogre closes on Wintermaw and he slams his massive club on him. A third ogre breaks formation, and charges for Azgadaan, but is unable to land a hit.
Spinyl tries to dissonant whisper the leader to get him to flee, but it is unsuccessful. Sorak, however, fires a lava burst at the ogre that went for his wolf.
The commander shouts for them to stay in formation and lumbers forward.
Remnii uses her Channel Divinity and heals Sorak, Wintermaw, and one of the unnamed orcs.
Azgadaan gets up, stretches, gets his warhammer, and sends a lightning bolt through three of the ogre legionnaires. One of the drops unconscious. Azgadaan calls for them to leave them alive because he wants to “try something”.
Arthak charges into the fray, followed by Yrel. Yrel stumbles down the hill, but lands a hard hit on one of the ogres as she does. Thura follows suit.
Meanwhile, Spinyl once again tries to dissonant whispers and succeeds in sending the commander fleeing into the woods.
Gramgrun then kills one of the ogres with a decisive slice.
Sorak fires a flame shock at the surviving ogre, and he is immediately set on fire. It is followed up by an orc warrior, who plants an axe in the ogre’s skull. The ogre drops.
The other ogres start to run, but Azgadaan knocks one of the fleeing ones out.
Wintermaw goes and tears out the throat of the nearby, unconscious ogre, and Azgadaan sighs, muttering “bad dog”. He runs after the retreating ogres, and the last legionnaire drops unconscious. The centurion, however, tries to keep running. Azgadaan catches him with an attack, and there’s an explosion that almost knocks the centurion off his feet, but he keeps running.
Spinyl pings him will a few long range eldritch blasts, but he keeps going. Azgadaan releases one final bolt of lightning, and the centurion drops to the ground.
4:03
They run off to try and collect the ogres before they fully die.
