Of Orcs and Men Chapter 5: A Pathfinder Campaign

This is the tale of Team Zero Comp’s Pathfinder adventures.

We play every Monday and it’s a blast! We’re part Lord of the Rings, part Monte Python and 100% fun. If you’re curious about joining in on an RPG and have some friends that are interested, jump in and give it a go! We sell all Pathfinder (and D&D) products at 20% off, so even if you don’t see something you want in the online store, we can most likely still get it so feel free to shoot us your order! Orders@FrontlineGaming.org

Also, while I strive to learn as much as I can about the setting and rules of Pathfinder, I am sure I get some details wrong here and there, so forgive my changes to cannon because we don’t worry about it at all!

We use fully painted miniatures too, and 3D terrain to make it more emmersive. If you want to have any of your RPG miniatures painted by us, drop us a line at Painting@FrontlineGaming.og and we’re happy to give you a quote!

For all previous chapters of the story, PC bios, and the Rogue’s Gallery, click here!

Previously, our party found itself knee deep in danger as they tracked an Orc band into the Fangwood Forest, where they observed them treating with a Forest Drake, the representative of the mighty Dragon, Zedoran. They heard the Drake confirming that the Dragon would indeed help the Orcs attack Castle Everstand in exchange for tribute in treasure and slaves. The party destroyed both the Orcs and the Drake, and made their way back to Lance Farstrider with all haste to let him know what had transpired. Upon hearing the news, Lance made the difficult decision to take the party with him to his family’s tomb where apparently, they could fine some form of aid in the coming fight…

“I seen the man you be lookin for, m’lord,” Harlie said to Damion. “He’s come back through the secret door you’ve had me watchin, was headin towards the armory.”

Damion’s eyebrows raised. “Go on,” he said.

“Aye, m’lord, he’s returned. A real shifty lookin fella, and dressed all in black,” Harlie replied.

“You’ve done well, Harlie, thank you,” Damion said, tossing the man a handful of coins. “Craxis, go and alert Lance of what’s happening while the rest of us make our way to the armory.”

Craxis cast Expeditious Retreat on himself and sped off in a little grey blur towards the keep. The party made their way with all haste to the armory, dropping into the under levels of the Castle, weapons at the ready…

Frugeon and Craxis crept stealthily into the armory, looking for any sign of disturbance, but could see nothing. The door was closed and locked, so they opened it and entered. Frugeon sensed that something was out of place, but couldn’t put his finger on it. They did notice though, that several suits of armor had gone missing…

Then, Craxis and Frugeon managed to spot a figure in black, hiding at the back of the room. Craxis reacted first, firing a bolt at the figure but missing by a mile. With a laugh, the mysterious rogue pulled a wand from his belt, aims it at the wall of the armory, canted magik words and steps through the wall!

“He’s escaping!” Frugeon shouted as he turned for the door, Craxis close behind him.

Out the door and back in the hall, Frankie unleashed his new companion, a hawk he’d befriended in the Fangwood Forest on the way home. “Fly Hawkey, and find the intruder!”

The bird took to the air, flying numbly through the hallways of the under castle. Fregeon and Craxis went the opposite way, heading towards the secret door which the intruder must have surely been heading towards.

The Rogue was swift though, and beat his pursuers to the secret door….only to find himself facing the rest of the party! The fleet footed Rogue used his amazing agility to leap past those in his way and was nearly out the door when Durbag managed to get off a spell at the last minute: Web!

The Rogue laughed, as he was so incredibly agile he knew the odds of him being caught by such an amateur effort were slim to none….and then he slipped on a lose stone and found himself ensnared in the Web! (GM note:I rolled a 1 on his save, the ONLY result that would leave him caught! haha, not what I had planned)

“We got him, Slugo!” Durbag shouted with glee.

“Well done, ye bleedin green Witch!” Dimak responded.

The Rogue shook furiously in his bonds, only serving to bind him further into the sticky threads, “This is humiliating. I’m a professional, and to be caught by such simple snares is beneath me.”

“Well, we’ve got you by the short hairs, haven’t we Elf?” Dimak said, laughing as Craxis placed manacles on the Rogue while he was still bound in the webs.

Damion stepped forward, “Search him.”

“Craxis is finding great treasure on sneaky Elf!,” the Deep Gnome said as he gleefully pulled all manner of loot from the Elf. “Magical armor, an enchanted Rapier, many gems and shiny gold, this strange metal mask, and ooh, what is this? Craxis spies a magical bag of holding!”

Damion took the bag from the Gnome and opened it, “And here is how our culprit has been transporting the stolen goods.”

“Ah-ha!,” Craxis shouted for glee, “and here is how he walks through walls: a magic wand!”

Damion nodded, “well that explains the how of it, but not the why,” he looked at the Elf, “which I think you are going to help us in learning.”

“I am a paid to keep my secrets,” the Rogue replied.

“You can tell us who hired you, or we can turn you over to the the resident Cleric of Gorum, perhaps you’ve heard of him? He recently executed an entire village of Orcs and crucified the Chief’s mate, just to send them a message,” Damion said.

The Elf glared at them, but talked. “I was hired by priests of Razmir to steal armor from the Castle and deliver it to a group of Ogres who’ve set up shop refitting it for Orcs.”

Damion hefted the metal mask, the signature garment of the priesthood of Razmir the Living God. “What was the name of the priest that hired you?”

“I do not know, he never told me and was always masked,” the Rogue replied, “it may not have even been the same man each time. I only meet him for payments, to make reports and for supplies.”

“Are you a follower of Razmir?” Damion asked.

“Yes, and he will smite all of you filthy unbelievers for this affront to his godhood!”

The party shared a humorous look among themselves.

“No,” the Rogue said smiling, “I don’t believe he is a God. I think it is all a load of shit, but they pay good coin and I’ve no quarrel with them. Let them do as they please. I am more concerned with what you all plan to do with me now that you’ve caught me and liberated me of my possessions.”

“We plan to put you in a deep, dark dungeon, Elf. You have caused us a great deal of trouble in a time when we are already very troubled,” Lance Said as he approached. He turned to the party, “My thanks to you brave men, once again, for helping to avert disaster.”

After hearing the details of what the party learned from Mollarn he ordered the rogue to be locked in a cell.

“We shall look further into this Razmir business as soon as time allows, for now we have enemies gathering at our gates and we must plan for the coming battle,” Lance said as he left the Elf in his cell.

The party also left the cell, but Craxis hung behind, and before he left he used thieves’ cant to signal to Mollarn that all was square between them, and dropped a lock pick as he left the room.

“Ride hard for this Ogre forge, and learn what you can. Destroy it if possible and then meet us at my family’s tomb with all haste. Lazerous and I shall ride there now and begin preparations for entering,” Lance said.

Damion turned to Harlie, the Ranger that had served as their informant, “Care to earn a few more coins, Ranger?”

“Aye, I’ve a thirst and a few more coins to burn in the tavern would serve me just fine,” the Ranger replied.

The party left immediately, riding for the point marked on their map by Mollarn. They made their way into the Badlands of Belkzen, wary of Orc outriders and patrols. Upon closing with the location, Craxis and Frugeon scouted ahead stealthily. They saw the site of an ancient ruin, long dilapidated and destroyed. From within it they could see forge smoke and hear the sounds of working metal as well as the bellicose voices of Ogres.

They slipped into the ruins to get a better look and saw 6 Ogres working armor crudely into shapes and sizes more appropriate for Orcs. They were led by a 7th, huge Ogre who was clearly their chief.

“Oy, get to it, you lazy bastards!” The big Ogre shouted, cuffing one of his underlings behind the ear. “We’ve got to get this armor ready for the war! Orgug don’t pay us to sit on our arses.”

Craxis used his new magic abilities to communicate with the rest of the party, signalling for them to get into position. At his signal, the party attacked!

The fighting was brutal, the Ogres, upon realizing they were under attack, assaulted the party furiously. They swung great clubs the size of a man which splintered stone with each crushing blow. Drubag enlarged Dimak so that they Dwarf could fight the Ogres on an equal footing. Frugeon deftly wove through the ruins, peppering the Ogres with lethal arrows.

Damion called out the Ogres weaknesses and then moved into position to heal Dimak and put Ogres to sleep with his magic.

Harlie showed his mettle when after firing his heavy crossbow and the Ogres counter attacked, he leapt into the fray with his matching tomahawks, and with a mighty series of blows, clove on Ogre’s head in!

“Haha, that story will earn me free drinks at the Tavern for life!” he cried.

“We have to survive that long first, Ranger,” Damion replied.

Durbag cast web to slow the assault of the Ogres and break them into two groups so that the party could more easily deal with them. When he was attacked by Chef Ogre, he used his Witch powers to levitate into the air!

“Hold on Sluggo, we’re going to fly!”

The Ogre Chief, seeing that Dimak would be all but invulnerable to a direct assault, dropped his Greatsword and grappled the enlarged Dwarf, pinning him to the ground and smashing him in the face with a wart covered fist.

“Two can play this game, Ogre!” Dimak said as he reversed the hold, and used his axe to carve a chunk from the Ogre’s side!

“Help me out you bleedin fool!” The Ogre Chief shouted to his underling who jumped into the ruck. The two of them overpowered the Dwarf and began beating him bloody.

“I could use a hand hear!” Dimak shouted to his comrades.

“Fly Hawkey!” Frugeon shouted and to the surprise of everyone, the young Hawk attacked the Ogre’s face and clawed at his eyes, doing significant damage and allowing Dimak to fight back!

The Ogres began to fall one by one, and with magic, and overpowering force, the party was able to defeat them all until only the Chief remained, still locked in a death struggle with Dimak. The party came to Dimak’s aid, and between them they were able to cut the beast down.

“Well, now we know what’s happened to the missing armor. Damned Ogres have beat the hell out of it. It will take time for this to be reworked,” Damion said.

“Load it all into the bag of holding, and we must go. Lance and Lazerous are waiting for us at the tomb,” Frugeon said.

With that, the party made their way to face the new challenge that lay before them.