Xorian Wars: Alliance and Rebellion

[Anxe]

Combo Session #1/Total Session #19
This session was held over Google Hangouts. We played the Rebellion campaign first followed by the Alliance one. Throgg, Salzar, thewamp, and Middle_Snu attended the Rebellion campaign. Then Middle_Snu had to leave. We switched to the Alliance campaign with Throgg, Salzar, and thewamp.

The party of Gregor, Korjak, Wu, Stanton, Sivirdm, and Reggy the Slave arrived at the small village of Neeshvale. The village was under the control of a necromancer and eight skeletons with drawn swords stood watch in the town square. The party stared at the skeletons warily. Lights were on in the inn and a large house on a nearby hill. The party went into the inn.
Five townsfolk were at the bar drinking and talking with the innkeep. The adventurers immediately asked them what was up with the skeletons. The innkeep told them, “Keep quiet! You never know who might be listening!” and he pointed at the skeleton in the corner. He motioned them over to the bar.
The innkeep said, “Er. Your slave will have to stay outside.” He pointed at Gregor (First instance of racism against Gregor being an orc in the game). Gregor kept his temper under control and went outside into the cold with Reggy.
The innkeep poured four drinks for the remaining party members and said, “You can all pay for these right?”
Stanton said, “Yes we can,” and pulled out his coin pouch to show that his words were true. “Now tell us about the skeletons,” Stanton whispered.
The innkeep leaned in and told the adventurers the tale of Neeshvale. Forty years ago the village had a lord who was sworn to the king of Sheerzen, the nearby tower city. After the Xorians conquered Sheerzen, the village became a forgotten place, separate from the rest of the world. The townsfolk eventually realized they could easily rebel against the Lord Reediathun without fear of penalty from the Sheerzen army. They took the Lord’s small wooden castle and executed him (Mostly because they hated paying taxes). However, the Lord was the one thing standing between them and the wilds of the world. Monsters began coming closer to Neeshvale. Finally, the necromancer came in with his skeletons.
The necromancer is a half-orc called Ratigon. He proclaimed himself the new lord of Neeshvale and took up residence in the old lord’s castle. Ratigon began collecting taxes again and took Lord’s Right with the married women of the town. Anyone who resisted was killed by his skeletons and then reanimated as one of them. In return, Ratigon has kept the village safe from all the dangers of the world except himself.
The tale done, the innkeep introduced himself as Tiesheera. The party decided they’d stay at the inn for the night. They paid up to Tiesheera and then went out to the stables to talk with Gregor and Reggy. Gregor thought it best if they collected more information first. After all, this was just one innkeep’s story. Maybe he was embellishing the part about Lord’s Right. The adventurers decided they’d gather more information from the villagers the next day. Gregor and Reggy went to sleep in the stables with the horses. The others got a good sleep in the common room of the inn.

The next day, Gregor and Reggy got a quick breakfast before heading out together to knock on townspeople’s doors and find out more about the necromancer. The others chose to stay at the inn to enjoy a large breakfast. Also, the others didn’t care as much about the necromancer as he wasn’t a Dragovinian and therefore not their enemy.
Gregor knocked on a house door with Reggy backing him up. A frightened woman answered the door. “He-Hello?”
“Good day ma’am. My name is Gregor and I am traveling through these parts. Could you answer a few questions for me about the half-orc lord of this town?”
“Y-Yes. I can.”
“Is it true that he’s been taking Lord’s Right with the people here?”
The woman looked visibly more frightened at that question. “The-The Lord. He-He seeks to better our human stock with his orc blood.” Her voice shook with every word.
“Has he been hurting the townsfolk?”
The woman’s lower lip quivered. “He does everything for the good of the people.”
“Thank you for your time ma’am.”
“Yes sir.” The woman closed the door after Gregor and Reggy had turned around to walk away.
Gregor said, “Perhaps it was not such a good idea for an orc to ask questions about a tyrannical half-orc lord.”

The party regrouped and decided to head up to the castle on the hill to see the necromancer for themselves. Intimidation would be best, so Stanton cast a silent image spell of four skeletons for himself as well.
The castle was more just a wooden fort. A palisade wall surrounded the top of the hill. Two gaps in the wall allowed entrance to the compound. A stable was built against the palisade. In the center of the compound was a large wooden hall with closed double doors. One motionless skeleton stood on either side of the doors with swords drawn. Korjak knocked on the door. A skeleton butler opened the door to the hall.
Inside was a long hall with an empty table and benches in the middle. Four skeletons were inside. Doors led out of the hall to the left and right. Ladders led above the doors as well to two lofts. At the far end of the table was a small throne. On the throne sat the half-orc Ratigon in all his glory. Behind Ratigon was a bear skeleton. Ratigon was bald, stunk like a pig, and wore fullplate armor. Around his neck was a golden symbol of Hades.

Spoiler: Large Image

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“Welcome travelers, to the home of Lord Ratigon. I have been expecting you.” The party looked around a bit trying to decide what to do. Ratigon spoke again, “Please be seated.” The party took their seats at the table with Korjak and Gregor sitting closest to Ratigon. “What are your names and what are you doing in my realm?” Ratigon paid special attention to Gregor, staring at his face.
The party introduced themselves. Ratigon’s ears perked up upon hearing Gregor’s name.
“Are you the Gregor? Gregor the Mighty?” (Remember that the PCs remember nothing of their lives prior to waking up at the Rebel hideout. Throgg quickly caught on and decided he’d play the role Ratigon assigned him.)
Gregor said, “Yes.”
“The same Gregor who sought to unite the orc tribes?”
Gregor said, “Yes. I am he.”
“It is you! I recognize you from when I was a little boy among the orcs. I wanted to be just like you when I grew up! But you disappeared and the orc tribes remained divided.”
“I have returned.”
“But where did you go? You were gone for almost twenty years!”
“It matters not. I am more concerned about what you’ve been doing here. Is it true that you’ve been profaning your already diluted orc blood with human flesh?”
Ratigon sat back in his chair. “I-I sought to strengthen the human stock to make better soldiers for the orcs.”
“You weaken your own body by lying with these human women. They do not deserve the touch of an orc, even one such as yourself.”
“Forgive me Gregor. I did not-“
“You did not think!”
“Well. What about you? You disappeared for years! You were going to reunite the orc tribes and then you just left. Probably off to some city with human women yourself.”
Gregor pounded his fist on the table, “You dare to question Gregor the Mighty!”
“N-no sir.”
“Good! Now I want you to return to the orc lands. Spread the message of my return. I am coming and I will unite the orc people once and for all! You will be my herald to the people.”
“Yes! Yes of course Gregor! I will spread your message. I shall leave tomorrow. When we leave I shall burn this village to the ground to signal your return to the pitiful humans. The smoke will be visible from the tower of Sheerzen.”
“No. It is too soon to warn the humans of my return. They might arm themselves against the orc tribes before we even have a chance to unite them.”
“Yes, you’re right. We should wait to spread fear among the humans until after the orcs are one people.”
“Excellent! Now let us have a feast in honor of my return!”
“Of course!” Ratigon clapped his hands. “Slaves!” Three women quickly climbed down the ladder from the right loft. The main hall became quite crowded.
Gregor said, “Stanton, dismiss your minions.” Stanton made the illusion skeletons dissolve into black mist and then had the black mist dissipate.
Ratigon spoke to his servants, “Women! Bring in bread! Cheese! Wine! Beer! Ale! Meat! Bring in all the food! We shan’t be needing anymore stored food in the future! We’re leaving this town for good!” The women went into the room under the right loft. They brought out bread, cheese, a bottle of wine, and a small keg of beer.
One of the women asked Ratigon, “Which meat did you want tonight?”
Ratigon slapped the woman hard. “I said all of them! Fish, Chicken, Lamb, Pig, and Beef! All of it!”
The women went back to the right room to prepare the meat. Another brought out fruit. The feast went on through the night. Ratigon explained that he was mistreated in the orc tribes because he is only a half-orc. He turned to the dark arts of necromancy for strength. The orcs forced him to leave and he wandered for many years until he reached Neeshvale.

The next day the party resupplied and left to continue their journey to the north. Ratigon took his skeletons and went east back to the orc lands in Zeus’s Canvas. The first random encounter was two large spiders. The party just kept their distance from them to avoid it.
A few days later the party heard a fight up ahead. They investigated and saw a Dragovinian fighting what appeared to be three chickens. The party adopted a wait and see approach. The chickens bit the Dragovinian and it turned to stone. The party learned two valuable things. One, Dragovinians are vulnerable to petrifaction. Two, the cockatrices were coming for them next.
That party fired various ranged weapons. Stanton cast some color sprays to keep the cockatrices stunned. Sivirdm approached and slit the throats of the stunned birds. The party succeeded in slaying all three.
Reggy put the cockatrices into three sacks the adventurers brought with them. The party set up camp. They tied up the petrified Dragovinian and handcuffed his stone hand to a tree. The next day the Dragovinian was still stone. The party decided to smash the statue to prevent the Dragovinian’s return.

The next random encounter was a large swarm of locusts. The party dealt with it by throwing alchemist’s fire and singing the insects with torches. The party set up camp for another night and we ended the Rebellion session there.

Middle_Snu left during the break. I played Starcraft with Ozymandias during the break as well. Unfortunately, Ozymandias did not have time to join us and play during this session.

We started the Alliance campaign by cataloguing and distributing all the magical loot the party collected in the last session. There was quite a lot of it so it took a long time. We also dealt with raising the people who died in the previous session. Preta received a reincarnate and came back as an orc. The NPCs, Lamarr and Dralin chose not to come back to life. Lamarr was happy being with and his dead adventurers guild buddies in the afterlife. Dralin died honorably fighting the worst threat ever to face the dwarves. They were both satisfied with their lives. The other big death was Kig. Kig said in a speak with dead that he needed no resurrection and that he’d return in his own way. The group then decided that the Alliance base of operations would move to Jord, the dwarven city for now.

Thewamp had grown bored with Logan as a character and as a build. Warlock’s don’t have many choices in what to do and Logan never really had a backstory or a personality. Thewamp said that Logan would still be a part of the Alliance, but he would no longer be part of “the away team.” (The group has been watching lot of Star Trek lately).
Thewamp’s new character is called Tagenadi. He’s a crusader/warblade. He focuses on making lots of attacks of opportunity with Robilar’s Gambit and extended reach. He uses Stormguard Warrior to gain bonuses on future attacks. (I don’t fully understand all of it as I don’t own Tome of Battle).
Tagenadi was an officer in the Xorian army but he left when the Dragovinians started affecting his family life. That was several years ago. He’s spent his time since then training with the Rebels and traveling around the Xorian Empire assisting people with problems that the Dragovinians ignore or cause.
Tagenadi came to Jord after witnessing the devastation of Phoenix. He started traveling to the city from the heart of Xoria after hearing that the siege wall around Phoenix was completed. He’d sadly arrived too late to take part in Phoenix’s defense.
Tagenadi approached a pair of dwarven soldiers about joining the Alliance’s efforts to stop the Dragovinian expansion (Throgg chose to roleplay the dwarven soldiers in his best shifting Scottish/Irish accent).
Tagenadi said, “I’d like to join the Alliance. Could I speak to whoever’s in charge?”
The first dwarven soldier said, “Eh, don’t he look like a Xorian? He’s got a bit of the look about him?” (Xorians look Asian in my campaign. Most other humans look Greek).
The second dwarf said, “Aye, he’s got the eyes, the skin, the hair. Could be a spy. You a spy, Xorian?”
“My name is Tagenadi and I am not a spy. I used to be a Xorian officer. I have valuable information for the Alliance. You should let me see your superiors.”
The first dwarf said, “Hmm. He does look a bit better dressed than the usual rabble we get her trying to join up. We should take him to Lieutenant Dan.”
The second dwarf said, “Come with us Tagalong or whatever your name was.”
The dwarves took Tagenadi to the barracks to meet with Lieutenant Dan.
“Hey Lieutenant Dan. We got a Xorian who wants to join up. Says he’s an officer.”
“Alright, I’ll see him. You two can go.”
“Yes sir.”
The dwarf soldiers exited.
“Now what is your name?”
“I am Tagenadi. I was a Xorian officer before the war. I wish to join the Alliance to put an end to the Dragovinians.”
“Do you know anything about the Xorian operations currently?”
“I saw a bit at the battle of Phoenix, but I feel like I should be talking to the man in charge here. No offense.”
“Hmm… Perhaps one of the lesser council members can be bothered to deal with your case. I shall ask them.”
A meeting was arranged between Torin, Amalius, Erick, and Tagenadi. (I left for this part to watch the Oscars for a bit so I don’t remember the dialogue. I do recall Salzar using a southern accent for Erick though).
Erick cast a zone of truth and they asked Tagenadi a few questions. Tagenadi refused to answer a few, so Amalius insisted that they proceed with a mind probe to ensure that Tagenadi was not an agent for the Xorians in disguise. Amalius discovered that Tagenadi was not working for the Xorians. However he also discovered that Tagenadi had purposefully killed people he knew to be innocent since breaking with the Xorian army. Tagenadi refused to explain the reason for the murders. Torin and Amalius decided to overlook the murders because **** happens sometimes. (At this point we handwaved the problem away. PC privilege after all).
After accepting Tagenadi into the Alliance they decided to test his skills in combat. Amalius suggested Gradorian, the leader of the Phoenix mercenaries (Although the Phoenix mercenaries are now cut off from the Alliance Council or dead).
Gradorian and Tagenadi faced off in the training yard of Jord. A crowd gathered around to cheer on Gradorian or to marvel at the newcomer (Throgg roleplayed the crowd’s cheers. Salzar roleplayed an announcer). Gradorian won initiative. He moved to attack Tagenadi, but was tripped. Gradorian regained his feet and ended his turn. Tagenadi threw a few trip attacks at Gradorian on his turn, but was unable to succeed on any of them. Gradorian came within range of Tagenadi on his next turn. He used his first attack to trip Tagenadi, his second attack to disarm Tagenadi, and his third and fourth attacks to kick Tagenadi’s two parted kusari-gama ten feet away. Gradorian won the first round of the sparring match.
In the second round Gradorian once again came within range of Tagenadi. However, Tagenadi was more prepared and he was able to deal a large blow to Gradorian’s chest for 48 points of damage (Divine Surge).
Gradorian wanted a third tie-breaking round. He suggested that they be blindfolded in the third round. Amalius suggested the fight be on balance beams, but that was discarded. Gradorian used his blind-fight feat to sneak up on Tagenadi. He used a few more normal attacks. Tagenadi threw another Divine Surge at Gradorian’s head for 50 points of massive damage. Gradorian conceded and congratulated Tagenadi on beating him.
“When this war is all over you should join up with me in reforming the Phoenix Mercenaries Guild!” Gradorian said.
“Thanks for the offer,” Tagenadi said.
Tagenadi was welcomed into the Alliance and given a spot on “the away team.”

The Council members noticed that it was a full moon and the Ice Cave at the Tomb of Kruk-Ma-Kali deserved a second visit (Refer to this post for more about the Ice Cave). Preta, Shez, Tagenadi, Torin, and Amalius teleported there right away.
Nothing new revealed itself within the Ice Cave. However, Tagenadi was able to recall that the word for the moon goddess, Selene, can also mean brightness. Torin cast light on the previously revealed symbol for Selene. The light cast shadows around the cave. The light bounced off the icicles in just the right way to reveal a map on the cavern floor. The map resembled the valley that surrounds the Tomb. Two icicles cast shadows that created an X on the western side of the valley just at the location of the Tomb’s entrance. Thus the party gained no new information and the clue was unrelated to the occurrence of the full moon (I was quite pleased at the “big reveal” being almost nothing).
The away team teleported back to Jord to rest for the night. The next day the away team decided to locate Aldarian. They scried him and found that he was with the refugees of Phoenix. Apparently, thousands of people got in boats and made rafts out of doors, tables, and benches. Anything the people of Phoenix could get their hands on was made into a floatation device. Aldarian sat on one of the larger rafts with a few other people.
The party decided to go in invisible and flying. Shez cast the necessary spells and they arrived. Amalius flew down to talk to Aldarian through telepathy. The others were not privy to the conversation. However, during the conversation, Aldarian brought out a deck of cards to show Amalius. Next he brought out a key on a string around his neck. Finally, he unsheathed a dagger from his belt to show Amalius. Amalius was visible shaken by the dagger. He dismissed his invisibility and demanded that Aldarian hand the dagger over to him.
“Sure boss. Whatever you want.”
The townsfolk freaked out a bit, but then settled in to watch the famous people drama. Tagenadi swooped down and dismissed his invisibility as well. “What’s going on?”
Amalius shouted, “Give me the accursed dagger Aldarian!”
“Fine. Take it.” Aldarian unbuckled the sheath and handed it over to Amalius. Amalius moved to put the dagger into his bag of holding, but then stopped. His arm shook as if he was unsure what he wanted to do. Amalius then buckled the sheath to his own belt and began giggling like a mad man. Tagenadi was concerned for Amalius, but Aldarian only found it funny. Eventually Amalius stopped giggling and the party teleported back to Phoenix. We ended the session there.

The other characters don’t know what the dagger is, but all the players do. It is an intelligent vorpal dagger named Korm. Korm was used by Amalgami in the last campaign after he took it from a dragon’s lair. Korm loves cutting off heads and lives for little else. Amalgami used the dagger in his betrayal of the party and then used it to sow discord throughout Persia in the epilogue of the last campaign. Amalius is the only one who knows what the dagger is due to his familial connection. As some of you may have guessed, Amalius failed his Will save vs. Korm’s Ego and is currently dominated by the dagger.

No session planned for this weekend, but perhaps the next one.