GM: Azyure
Party:
Ss'koreth
Fin
Alexios Laburinthos
Vex Tarn
Locations: Roanokae Camp, Hills outside of Roanokae
Report Summary: Offered a job by a disreputable catfolk, the party traveled to Roanokae Camp where they helped to defend against an assault by Olog's Pact orcs. While returning to camp, a group of orcs and hobgoblins was observed to be poaching drakes. The party intervened, and managed to save the majority of the drakes. Upon returning to Camp, we learned that there were two prongs to the Olog’s Pact assault, and the other prong successfully penetrated the camp’s defenses before being repelled.
Full Report: A job seeking a team to hunt drakes was posted in First Landing town square. We met the contact Fitz at the The Blinking Pug. Fitz, a catfolk, seemed disreputable and down on his luck. At the Pug we encountered another group of catfolk who had apparently left Fitz for dead recently in a mission gone wrong. Fitz claimed to know of drakes in the vicinity of Roanokae Camp and he wanted to capture a pair of drakes for transport to a buyer he had set up, collect drake eggs if possible, or at a minimum collect drake parts for sale. Fitz claimed there was a market for them at the Iron Front.
Ss’koreth, had been looking for an opportunity to seek a drake companion, and had no interest in breaking drakes down for parts for a shady catfolk, but Fitz had critical information that the group was missing. Uncertain they could locate the drakes without him, the party agreed to make their way to Roanokae Camp and speak further with Fitz there.
After making our way the next morning to First Landing’s Elemental Shrine, Fin had a “bodacious chat” with the shrine’s elemental guardian, who had manifested as a gigantic toad made of water, called “Waterfall”. The two “vibed on a deep spiritual level” and Fin attempted to arrange for a diving or surfing trip with the elemental guardian at the end of the quest. The guardian was friendly and invited all of us to return.
Passing through the portal took us to Roanokae Camp where we were met by Raket, the gnoll leader of the camp. He took us for a tour, and showed us the tactical situation in the area at the command tent. The population of the camp seemed to be diverse, with even orcs and minotaurs observed inside. While studying the maps we learned that scouts had spotted an incoming raiding party with explosives, who were expected to make yet another assault on the camp’s faltering fortifications. With the defenders already exhausted, we offered to help repel the attack.
Studying the geography of the region, Ss’koreth identified a location nearby which would permit an ambush of sorts before the raiders reached the camp. The party encountered an orcish raiding group from Olog’s Pact comprised of two warriors, two archers, and one artillerist. After a difficult battle the orcs were killed and the artillery destroyed. Several artillery rounds were recovered, and the archer was found to be carrying a horn which we couldn’t identify, but clearly was not of orcish make.
Near the end of the battle, a horn (which did not sound like an orcish horn) was heard in the direction of Roanokae Camp. Fearing that another group of orcs had begun an assault on the camp, the party patched up their wounds and hurried back to camp. While nearing Roanokae Camp, Vex spotted another orcish archer, hunting a small group of young drakes in the hills. The group decided to pursue the orc, and quickly learned that he was part of a larger group who were driving a relatively large group of young drakes into the hills. The poachers had a significant lead, but the party made good use of their strengths and closed the gap significantly.
The Olog’s Pact orcs managed to corner a surprisingly large herd of young drakes, and managed to trap a number of them using weighted nets before the rest of the herd stampeded into the forest, some deciding instead to dive into burrows in the ground. A massive explosion followed, seemingly a trap set by the orcs. Despite our concern for the drakes injured in the explosion, the poachers were too large a threat to ignore.
The poachers were a mix of orcs and hobgoblins, one of which was an arcane archer. We engaged them with some success, but a second group of poachers to our north arrived as reinforcements. The northern group was attacking four drakes, two adults and two youth. Ss’koreth was able to use a horn he had modified to communicate to the drakes that the PCs were not a threat to them. We split our party and managed to defeat the poachers. Searching the bodies, we found more of the horns that the assault party had been using, and Vex located a badly torn map. We were unable to repair it, as we lacked the necessary magic.
Following the battle, both young drakes and one of the adults fled to safety in the forest. The other adult drake, a female, remained near the group and showed some interest in Ss’koreth. Watching out for additional traps, the group went looking for injured drakes to help. Once again Ss’koreth used his horn to mimic the sounds that drakes would make, and the group found nine drakes which had been affected by a variety of explosive and live traps. Two of the drakes were already dead, and seven were injured. Employing triage techniques, the party split their efforts and all seven living drakes were saved.
Concerned for the safety of anyone else coming through the region, the party worked through the night and used a grid system to locate and disable all of the other traps set through the valley by the Olog’s Pact poachers.
Upon returning in the morning to Roanokae Camp, we saw that the outer fortifications had been badly damaged, and there were a large number of wounded in camp. Speaking with Raket, we learned that a second group of Olog’s Pact orcs had attacked the camp from the north, while we dealt with the group that had been spotted by scouts. The attackers managed to make it past the outer defences, forcing the defenders to fall back to the center of camp. The attackers withdrew of their own volition for reasons unknown. If both battle groups had made it to Roanokae Camp, they likely would have overwhelmed the defenders entirely and destroyed the camp.
While speaking with Raket, we noticed that he seemed extremely stressed by the attack. He told us that the horns being used by the Olog’s Pact orcs to signal their attack had actually been stolen at some point from Roanokae Camp, and their use may have been an attempt to confuse the defenders.
We helped with the wounded before making our way back to First Landing. Ss’koreth decided to remain behind for a while, so he and the female drake who had befriended him could get to know each other before attempting passage through the portal. The catfolk Fitz never showed up for the scheduled meeting in Roanokae Camp. His whereabouts are unknown.
Follow Up:
1. Investigate the drake poaching activities of Olog's Pact.
2. Determine the whereabouts of Fitz, the missing catfolk.
3. Repair the torn map recovered from the Olog's Pact orcs and determine where it leads.