Orc Assault by ~daRoz (DeviantArt)

Wrapped in silence thanks to the stone Zarkov enchanted, the bold adventurers moved up into the tunnel, spotting the orc guards before they saw the silently advancing intruders. Sidni ran through their midst, turning round as he reached the stone door; then Halmary waded in, mace swinging, and bashed in the orcs’ skulls one-by-one. Still under cover of the silence spell, Corvin failed to lift the outside bolt with a dagger (the blade proved too thick), so Halmary stepped up with his crowbar and pried the door open, surprising the orcs standing guard behind it: Halmary just stepped up and bashed them on the head, crushing both of their skulls. Looking out they could see the partially ruined keep standing across a thin bridge over a chasm, the wind howling across the steep sides of the mountains. No orcs could be seen peeking over the battlements or through the few arrow-slits.

Ditching the silent stone, disguising Corvin and Sidni as orcs (badly) and with Halmary wearing a cloak over his heavy plate armour (barely concealing it), the three elected members scurried across the ledge, over the bridge to the door. Halmary knocked, and as soon as an orc voice called out, he used a command word “Open”, and the door swung open: as soon as it did, Halmary barged past, slamming his bloodied mace into the orc’s face, killing him outright. The others hurried inside, gesturing to the tunnel where the others waited. The door opened onto an open, ill-kept, courtyard, with doors leading off and more orcs standing shocked at the sudden attack. One pulled open a door, yelling that they were under attack and disappeared through it. Inside the keep the shouts were echoed and movement could be heard.

Sidni grabbed his spear, stabbing an orc through the heart, then threw werebane at another, felling him. Through the open doorway, more orcs were moving to the courtyard; Corvin let loose with an arrow, slicing through its leg, but not stopping it. One orc charged out, stabbing Sidni with his spear, allowing Halmary to slip inside, swinging his orc-slaying mace and smashing down another one. The two dwarves and Fingolfin joined them, and as another door opens, Ungrid forced his way inside the hall of the keep and waded into the mass of orcs inside, slashing and cutting, killing orcs left and right; in the other room, Sidni joined Halmary and together they too started laying waste to the orcs. Then Corvin looked up and saw, at the top of the ruined and roofless tower, the frost giant, that lobbed a stone that narrowly missed Corvin’s head. The human thief ducked as shrapnel flew through the air. Fingolfin fired a magical missile at the giant, scoring a minor burn. In retaliation the giant hurled a rock at the elf, cracking a few ribs and knocking the spellsword into the wall.

As Ungrid, Halmary and Sidni cut down more orcs that just kept coming, the frost giant leapt down into the courtyard and took a swing at Zarkov, but the dwarf priest ducked and flailed uselessly at its leg. Opposite them, Corvin ducked into another room, takes aim with their remaining giant slaying arrow and lets loose: it misses by a hair’s breadth, shattering ineffectively against the wall. Behind him, another door opens and orc champions, orcs and a shaman were seen through the open doorway. In the other rooms, with most of the orcs now dead, Ungrid and Sidni charged out to attack the giant, leaving Halmary to finish off the orcs and the cast striking on his mace. Fingolfin aids their battle with a timely cast haste.

Sidni was cut deeply by the giant, who in turn was wounded by hasted attacks by Sidni and Ungrid. Meanwhile, Corvin was stabbed by an orc, then sent into a brief slumber when the shaman cast command word “sleep” on the thief. The orcs surround him, intent more on helping their giant leader than dealing a death blow to the fallen human. As Corvin wakes up, he saw Fingolfin shoot the orcs dead, an arrow skilfully aimed between their eyes. Halmary charged out to engage the giant, but it is slain by a stab from werebane as Sidni drove her spear into its heart. As the giant fell dead, landing with a huge thud, the orc shaman cast hold and froze Sidni and Fingolfin in place. Then Corvin grabbed his sword and leapt up, cutting down the final three orcs, leaving the shaman for last.

The dust settled. No more orcs could be seen, although at least two were spotted withdrawing back inside the keep. Wounds were healed, Sidni’s paralyse removed, and the adventurers looked around at the mass of dead bodies and considered the battle a success.

End of Session

Kills: 30 orcs, 5 orc champions, 1 orc shaman, and 1 frost giant.

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