By Cloister (http://cloister.deviantart.com/)

Orcs and ogres, dressed in finer armour and wielding better weapons, pour out of the keep, followed by a stone giant that unfolds as it more or less crawls out of the keep’s gates; out of the keep, and straight into a flurry of elven arrows that make the giant into a pincushion. The party move out of immediate range, ducking as the giant lobs a stone in their direction. Zarkov lobs a stone back, the one that’s sporting a silence spell.

Then the giant falls, dead, as Sidni (female Idni) places an arrow in its eye. The poor giant never had a chance. She follows that with one arrow after another, felling an ogre, one of the orc champions, then another, and sticking an arrow in an ogre boss’s gut as it lumbers after the giant-slayer. Ungrid charges in, cutting it down before it gets more than a few feet, and around him Corvin and Halmary wound the enemy, Zarkov slays one of the elite orcs, and more elven arrows speed overhead, wounding several others and killing another orc as it tries to get a grip on what’s happening. The distraction allows Corvin to sneak up behind an ogre; he uses a dead body to gain some height, and stabs the beast in the back, cutting through its spine and killing it instantly!

Four orc champions remain, and they turn tail and flee back into the keep, slamming and bolting the doors behind them.

The party follow, Halmary bashing open the door and leading the way with Ungrid, using their now-common shield-wall tactic. Down a corridor they go, doors all around, which slam open as the orcs try to ambush them: one falls down as Halmary clubs in its head; a second is stabbed through the heart by Sidni’s Werebane spear, and the third is shot through the head by Corvin’s well-placed arrow. Zarkov manages to wound the last, breaking several ribs. In one of the rooms, Ungrid stumbles upon the orc’s boss, peeing up against the wall: the boss hasn’t a chance to even pull his pants, before Ungrid decapitates him.

The last orc flees, tries to hide away in the giant’s bedroom, but Halmary smashes open the door again, and after a clash of arms, Sidni stabs the final orc to death.

They loot the keep while the elves clean up the dead outside. Amongst the crates of weapons, coins, gems and other valuables, they bag themselves a nice suit of magical leather armour (that allows the wearer to better Hide in Shadows), as well as a magic mace that Zarkov identifies as the Haymaker, which packs a wallop; plus some potions and scrolls. The weapons and other useful items they gift to the elves, and the allies camp for the day before they head off to continue their journey to the mountains, where the elven King is supposed to be captive.

Brewfast, Day 2 & 3

They once more hike through the forest, up in to the wooded foothills, and into a pass into the mountains. Thingolfin leads them to a secluded gully, with a narrow path leading to a tunnel. Beyond is a door that opens onto a wide ledge, where the ruined keep stands on a pinnacle of rock, held by a frost giant and its orc allies. All this is pointed out and described by the elves, and plans are made.

Corvin, in the middle of the afternoon, sneaks up into the tunnel and spies several orcs guarding the stone door. He reports back and they make plans, deciding to leave the elves as backup and deal with the enemy in their own sneaky fashion.

End of Session

Kills: 1 stone giant, 1 orc boss, 1 ogre boss, 7 orc champions, 2 ogre champions.

Level-Up: Halmary is now a level 6 cleric.

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