This team moved forward to the fifth cave. Having passed the fourth cave where Orcs were spotted at the back, it was expect that there would be Orcs in this fifth cave, too. A quick peek around the corner showed that was the case.

It looked like only four Orcs, but there could have been more behind the three stone pillars at the back. It also made it hard to see if there was another exit from the cave, but it didn't seem likely that the Orcs would have holed up in it if the entrance was the only way out.
This message was last updated by the GM at 06:25, Fri 08 Oct 2021.

This cave was unexplored territory as far as the group was concerned--none of them had been in here during the assault.

She looked at Victor expectantly to see if he wanted her to scout ahead.

She got down on her belly and slowly inched forward until she was in position to take a quick peek around the cave entrance.

A-ha! Four, probably more, Orcs were waiting for them at the back of the cave. They were hiding behind the natural cave formations called columns... where the stalactites from the ceiling had dripped for so long onto the stalagmites on the floor that the two had merged.

She used a hand gesture to Victor to signal '4' and then shrugged to indicate there could be more.

After squirming backwards and standing up again, she whispers to the other two:

"I can turn invisible or disguise myself, but I don't have any range spells that might affect them or flush them out."

She'd already cast Mage Armor on herself; that was good for a few hours.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Fri 08 Oct 2021.

Victor whispers, "Do you speak orc? If not, can you disguise me instead? I might be able to get one or two to follow me outside, so we don't have to fight as many at once."

"I can cast Sleep," offers Vane. "It might do the trick."

"I can disguise myself, but I don't speak Orcish."

He considered the ramifications of what he could do, realizing he'd have to step out into the open to see them as he cast the spell. That'd make him vulnerable to any range attacks they might have.

The good thing was that he didn't think any of them had bows, but they probably did have javelins.

Victor whispers, "I could try sleep, myself. I'm a harder target for those that remain standing. I'll probably only get one of them, but the rest shouldn't hurt me too bad before their numbers are reduced further. Good?" He looks to the others for confirmation.

Kessife went ahead and cast Invisible on herself. Then when the others were ready, she stepped over to the other side of the mouth of the cave and cast Thaumaturgy to cause minor tremors in the ground.

She hoped it would cause the Orcs to hesitate long enough for the others to cast their spells.

As soon as he felt the ground tremors, Vane stepped out and cast Sleep as a 2nd level spell at the back of the cave.

The advantage of the spell was that it wasn't blocked by cover or concealment.

18:22, Today: Vane Talstepp rolled 36 using 7d8 ((7,8,3,6,2,2,8)).

Whether it was one spell or the other, or perhaps a combination of them, or maybe just Vane's spell directed at the back of the cave, the back wall suddenly glowed with arcane light from some mystic symbol. A moment later, two figures seemed to fall out of the symbol amid a wave of rolling thunder and blue-and-purple lightning.

The thunderwave smashed into the Orcs that were there behind the stone columns, shattered the two central columns, and sent the two figures flying forward.

Although you couldn't tell what one was, the second one was clad in blood-red armor.

The one in red armor staggered to his feet.

"Curse you, Nemeia! What have you done?" he nearly shouted at the other figure. He still seemed a bit dazed as he clearly glanced around to reorient himself, to see where he was and what was going on.

Nemeia's head hurt and the ringing in her ears was constant but thanks to her training, she was able to keep a hold on her sword and shield. Her Darkvision adjusted quickly as she noticed the signs of being in a cave and the smell of dust, mold, bat droppings and orc assaulted her nose. The muffled shout of the cult leader helped her focus. There was a job to do. Nemeia turned towards Sly, who was a few feet from her, and pointed her sword at him.

"By the Knightly Order of Taelther and the Oath of Vengeance I took, you are found guilty for your crimes against humanity and the evil your cult spread across the world."

08:09, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 10 using 1d20 with rolls of 10.  Initiative.
Bonus Action: Cast Hunters Mark
08:14, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 9 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 5.  Attack roll.
If having advantage:
08:22, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 24 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 20.  Advantage dice roll attack.
08:25, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 4 using 2d8+2 with rolls of 1,1.  Critical damage Longsword.
08:26, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.  Hunters mark Damage.
(Dice roller hates me. I blame it on character still recovering from trip.)
This message was last edited by the player at 13:38, Tue 19 Oct 2021.

Victor stepped between the growing crowd and cast Ray of Frost on the nearest standing Orc. "Think maybe the orcs will wait 'til you two strangers are done with your fight?" He shouted, trying to draw the attention of the orcs to himself.


08:47, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 13,11 using 1d20+4,2d8 with rolls of 9,8,3.

He didn't see any Orcs getting up from his Thunderwave spell, but if they did, he was prepared to cast Vicious Mockery at one of them.

Then again, maybe he should be targeting one of these newcomers that had fallen out of the wall. He tried to recall what the glowing symbol had looked like and if he recognized it.

Vane's Thunderwave spell had eliminated all four Orcs that were waiting here, mostly because the cave was a bit narrow for the spell. It also hit the back wall and rebounded a bit. It was certainly powerful enough to kill the Orcs.


Thus, Victor has no living Orcs to caste Ray of Frost at.


Having recovered a few seconds before his archenemy, Nemeia attacked to invoke his sworn vengeance upon the evil he knew as Sly.

In spite of scoring a critical hit (and doing 24 points of damage ((OOC: House Rule: natural 20 does maximum damage)) ), it's not enough to kill Sly.

Although not recovering as fast as Nemeia, Sly took a moment to assess his surroundings. Since the others clearly weren't anyone he knew, they must be Memeia's allies. He chose to cast a spell that dealt damage in an area and could kill several people at once.

He unleashes an Ice Storm towards the other end of the cave. Rather than coming down from above, which would have been impossible in the relatively low ceiling of the cave, it seems to emanate from his hands.

8:01, Today: StarMaster rolled 14,11 using 2d8,4d6 ((7,7,3,3,2,3)).

The ice storm will do 14 points of bludgeoning damage from the hail and 11 points of damage from the cold! A Dexterity save reduces both damages by half.

"Big mistake. Now we know whose side to take." Victor said as he slashed from the left then the right with his Defender.

Attacking Sly twice with Defender, hitting AC 23 for 16 damage, then AC 14 for 11 damage.

19:36, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 20 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 19.  Dex save.

19:38, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 23,16 using 1d20+9,1d8+8 with rolls of 14,8.  Defender attack, damage (+0 bonus set to AC).

19:38, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 14,11 using 1d20+9,1d8+8 with rolls of 5,3.  Defender attack, damage (+0 bonus set to AC).

Nemeia almost dropped the sword from the sudden cold storm that pelted her body. But she clamped her sharp teeth together to ty to make them stop chattering. The target was in front of her and she could not let this evil get away.

"I vow to end your evil ways on this world and send you back to the depths of the hells!"

The paladin raised her sword to attack the enemy once again.

Bonus Action: Vow of Enmity
11:05, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 22 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 18.  Advantage dice attack roll #2.

11:05, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 15 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 11.  Advantage attack roll.
11:07, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 9 using 1d8+2 with rolls of 7.  Longsword Damage Roll.
11:09, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Hunter'sMark damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:10, Fri 29 Oct 2021.

It wasn't that she'd been waiting for it, but it was part of her being. As a reaction to taking damage from the ice storm, Kessife cast Hellish Rebuke.

22:32, Today: Kessife rolled 20 using 2d10 ((10,10)).

Wow! Max damage! The person who'd cast the ice storm takes 20 points of damage from the flames that envelope him, Dex save for half.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 04:32, Fri 05 Nov 2021.

Surprised at this strange occurrence, Vane was torn between wanting to study that strange symbol and attacking back at the one who'd attacked him.

Common sense overrode his curiosity, though, and he cast Witch Bolt at this new enemy.

00:40, Today: Vane Talstepp rolled 15,6 using 1d20+7,1d12 ((8,6)).

Might have hit since the flames from Kessife's Hellish Rebuke that surround the target grant a +2 bonus to hit. Damage could have been better, but as long as he maintains concentration, the blue lightning continues to dance around the target and shock him every round.

Victor's first attack didn't hit, but his second one did.

Nemeia's attack hit, but it clearly wasn't enough to kill him.

It hadn't been obvious that the attacker in the crimson armor had been wearing a black cloak as well... not until Kessife's spell hit him, he staggered back for a moment as he cast a glance backward, and then made a leap for the glowing magic circle still glowing on the wall.

In an instant, he was gone... presumably back from whence he'd come. As soon as he vanished from sight, the magic circle stopped glowing.

Nemeia simply couldn't react fast enough to follow before the glow disappeared.

The Paladin gritted her sharp teeth together and let out a harsh grunt in frustration. The enemy had escaped to continue his evil and it was all her fault. Many more will now die now and the blood of the innocents will be on her hands. The task of hunting him down again will have to start from scratch.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Nemeia slowly sheathed her sword. She was now surrounded by strangers and had no idea where the dammed portal took her. She was still shaking from the cold and needed healing but now was not the time. With the shield still being held in her left hand, Nemeia held he right arm slightly away from her body, palm up. The Paladin turned her red eyes on the strangers.

The first one looked human and screamed career soldier and a good one. She did not recognize the markings on his surcoat. He would be the front line fighter of the group. He was also the one that blocked her at the start of the combat. It was not his fault really because he did not have all the information.

Then there was the ashen tiefling with white-blond hair. Nemeia noticed a shield on her back and her movements spoke of some training. She was somewhat relieved that the group did not hate tieflings on sight.

There was another but he was staying out view for now. A cautious one. (no description)

It was time to figure out a few things.

"My name is Nemeia and I am a Paladin of the Knights of Taelther. I have no feud with you. I just need to know where I am."

Victor raises a gauntlet to his chest in a warrior's salute. He says, "Well met, Nemieia. I'm Captain Victor Harkness, Neverwinter Infantry 42nd Division, retired. You're in the middle of an Orc war camp in Wyvern Tor. We discovered these orcs were amassing to attack nearby towns and are here to stop them. If my compatriots don't mind, you're welcome to join us."

OOC: I think that's the gist of it. If my recollection is off, Victor would likely have still given the correct information, as his own knowledge of the area is much better (and his knowledge of our mission is more recent.

Vane now took the opportunity to step forward and examine the remnants of the magic circle that had appeared.

"I believe this is a magic teleport circle... well, no, not teleport, since it provided a physical portal," Vane commented more or less to himself... thinking out loud.

"We could try to cast a spell at it again to see if it opens. However, there may have been some sort of link established between here and the other side. Nemeia, do you happen to know if there was some sort of magic going on at the other location?"

"I only caught a glimpse of it, but you are correct, Vane--it is a magic circle that creates a portal," Kessife agrees. "It is my understanding from those who were in the mine that there was some sort of magic energy storage going on there... something to do with magic that was flung about when the mine fell and continued to linger there as if waiting for something to release it. Someone tried teleporting adventurers into the mine, and that seems to have triggered the release."

"After that, people were getting randomly teleported in and out of the mine. I suppose this could have been a portal to the mine, and the spell cast here created a surge."

"I take it, Nemeia, that you weren't just in the Lost Mine of Phandelver?"

Nemeia's eyes widened in shock.

"I had tracked Sly to a cabin that was hidden in the forest at the base of the Giantspire Mountains. He was standing in a pentagram drawn in blood when he threw a bottle at my feet. When the bottle broke, I was consumed in an odd color lightning."

She was on the other side of the continent. Even if the paladin left now, it would take months to get back but by that time he would be long gone and the trail would be cold. Is this what Sly ment when he said Gurin had plans for her? Nemeia did not like the implications of that at all. Then another thought struck her.

"At the start of the fight, he was as confused as I was."

"Yes, he did seem perplexed, as if what he'd done should have produced a different result," Kessife agreed.

"I would guess that whatever he was attempting to do--obviously magical, he accidentally tapped into this portal here... probably by way of the magic from the mine."

"While you can look at it as if he escaped you, you could also say that you escaped him, even if you didn't want to. You have to track him down again, but, in doing so, you will no doubt get better and be more prepared for him next time."

"You are welcome to join us on our Orc hunt."

Nemeia nodded her head in agreement. She would just have to start the hunt again when able. As of now, she was in a strange new land with new people willing to let her join them. There was also the fact that she did not have much money or supplies for the long journey back. Also, was this work of one of the gods, for her to be at here at this point of time?

The paladin held her right hand over her chest as Nemeia closed her eyes. A soft glow emanated from her hand. The bruises on her body lessened and a warmth chased away the cold from the spell earlier. With a soft sigh, she slowly opened her red eyes.

"I will take you up on your kind offer and thank you. I also know some orcish. If we can capture a leader alive, then I can do some interrogation." She said with a sly smile.



Lay on hands: 15 points

"That's good. I'm notoriously bad at interrogation, myself. Lucky a lot of orc [Language unknown: esniivekmi] are happy to brag about their plans of uniting the [Language unknown: undthuenc] and crushing the [Language unknown: nosami]," said Victor.

"There's no way of knowing how many Orcs were in here," Vane offers. "As near as we could tell, none of these Orcs ran into our ambush, but those dozen bedrolls along the walls means there had been a number of them in here."

"They may have left these four Orcs to slow us down while they went deeper into the caves. I see only one passage out of here. It looks like the tunnel slopes downward."

"These Orcs were just a delaying force," Kessife said. "I'm sure they didn't consider themselves as such... probably thought they could take care of us by themselves. Not so sure they weren't right... without the strange but timely appearance of Nemeia."

"There's still the tunnel back here that slopes downward. I expect the rest of the Orcs may have retreated that way. I'm not getting the impression that they were all that familiar with this cave system, so maybe they hoped there was a back way out."

"I don't relish chasing them if there is."

Heading down the tunnel takes you into the darkness as the light from the front cave doesn't penetrate more than 30 feet.

After about 60 feet, the tunnel takes a dogleg to the left and within 20 feet ends at a room. It looks to be about 50 feet left to right and 30 feet across. The opening is in the center of the wall. There's a second opening directly across from the one you're in.

Although they are trying to hide, they aren't doing it very well, and you can spot 2 Orcs in the other doorway... 5 feet or so in and laying on the floor, apparently keeping watch.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:05, Sun 02 Jan 2022.

Making no attempt to hide, Victor casts light on his shield before walking into the darkness, Defender at the ready.

With a wicked smile, Nemeia moves along with Victor's shield flank and points her sword at one of the orcs as she shouts in orcish.

"Dez nak alnej liga agh zemarpak poor excuse ro ij fighter!"


Bonus action: Compelled Duel

She watches warily as the two warriors advance on the Orc position at the other side of the room. She's not going to enter the room herself just yet... in case there's a trap or hidden Orcs or something. She has no qualms about assisting her allies, but she also wants an escape route in case those two fall. Anything that can take them out would probably make mincemeat of her!

She's casts a sidelong glance at Vane to see if he's of a like mind, then does her best to scan the rest of the room.

Vane catches Kessife's look and nods in assent, making a general gesture of spellcasting.

He doesn't say anything, though, so as not to further alert the waiting Orcs.

Having partially crossed the room, Nemeia is just within the range of her spell to affect the Orc. Since she can't see any difference between the two Orcs, it doesn't matter to her which one comes out to play.

The Orc she targets shakes his head for a moment, then springs to his feet and charges forward at Nemeia.

He doesn't say anything in reply, just roars an incoherent battle cry.

Since Nemeia is expecting the attack, she has initiative for a moment, and can attack the charging Orc.


A moment later, the other Orc also springs to his feet and charges after his buddy directly at Victor.

Private to GM
This message was last edited by the player at 01:41, Mon 03 Jan 2022.

The Paladin was ready when the orc left its defensible position and charged. That spell came in handy if the enemy used cover tied to hide in the shadows. With her Dark Vision, they could not use that trick.

With almost a bored sigh, Nemeia swung her sword at the charging enemy.

 11:29, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 11 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 7.  Attack roll to hit charging orc.

11:31, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 3 using 1d8+2 with rolls of 1.  Damage roll if hit.

The charge makes the Orc a bit more dangerous with damage at the expense of making it a bit more vulnerable to being hit. Thus, Nemeia hits it though just barely. The damage is minimal, so it attacks back.

15:12, Today: StarMaster rolled 16 (+2 for charge),10 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((11,7)).

It just barely misses hitting Nemeia.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:38, Mon 03 Jan 2022.

Nyssia, from the darkness of the passage, quickly takes note, and removing her hand crossbow, takes aim at the Orc attacking Nemeia, firing.

To the group, nothing is seen until the crossbow flies out, and a voice calls out. "C'mon - You'll miss all the fun!" The small form steps out and winks at the group.

---

<OOC: Action - Fires hand crossbow

Nyssia rolled 12 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 8.  attack - Hand Crossbow.
Nyssia rolled 5 using 1d6+2 with rolls of 3.  damage - crossbow.(If hits)

Bonus Action - None>

Neither of the Orcs appear to be seriously injured, but neither do the two allies. Nyssia sees that Vane and Kessife are still at the other opening into the room.

Then Ulrik goes charging past her, pauses for a moment, and resumes his charge through  the third opening which is on the left.

Whatever his reason for thinking there were more Orcs down that way was, it turns out to be true! The hallway only goes for about 20 feet before he bursts into another room... full of Orcs!

There are three on the left waiting against the wall and three more on the right waiting against that wall, plus three in front of him. And apparently a Human prisoner whose hands are bound and his feet hobbled, and he's trying to fight the two Orcs that were guarding him.

In his focus, he barely notices the loot-covered shelves and chests in the room, even after he runs into a small fancy table in the middle of the room and knocks the loot off of it onto the floor.

One of those items was a talisman, about 4 inches in diameter, made of lapis lazuli, carved with a seven-pointed star and hanging from a wooden triangular support.

As the table topples over and scatters the goblets and jewelry that were on it, the talisman crashes to the floor... and breaks in half! There's a sudden flash of bright blue light and then there's two more people suddenly in the room!

Star of the Morning lands lightly on his feet and looks around.
Well, this is something new. And look, my favorite scratching posts are sitting around waiting for my claws
He moves to the closest Orc and proceeds to sharpen his claws!

In Draconic: Come here little orcs and let me sharpen my claws!

The very loud sound of purring begins to echo in the room

---

15:54, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 19 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 14.  unarmed strike.
15:56, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 4 using 1d4+3 with rolls of 1.  bonus attack damage, if it hits.

15:55, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 4 using 1d4+3 with rolls of 1.  initial damage if it hits.
15:55, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 25 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 20. -- bonus unarmed strike

The cords bit into Biff's wrists as he had tried to break free and was a little surprised at the quality of their restraints I guess they have experience tying strong humanoids, though.

Biff quickly kicks the dagger away (free object interaction) and then attempts to headbutt the orc again, but manages to only flail about, restrained as he is.

15:40, Today: Biff rolled 10 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 3.  head butt.

Manaen was a very large, black-tinted, shelled tortle that looked more like a half-dragon. Every surface of him that should look like a smooth rounded turtle that could be a wise old man; was instead sharp, angry-looking, and had the texture of rough coal. As angry as he looked the tortle just looked around. "Right, so I was paid adventure for a healing potion. Delightful."

He flicked out his hand and pulled free a fuzzy black sword walking forward and striking at the first orc colored thing he could just barely see. Missing horridly

Nyssia watched as Ulrik and Lureene went past without a thought of the other group. "Hey....what about....Oh, bloody hells"

She rushes after the others, a scowl o n her face, her Crossbow now away she held a dagger in her hand.

She looks as the Talasman breaks and two more figures come to be and attack the orcs. "Why not." she shrugs, and turns around, concern on her eyes. "Ware behind....More of them" she says as she then looks at the one in the corner, whispering as her eyes glow a purple color.

---

<OOC: Movement - After the others...destined to save their asses

Action - Disonate whisper on orc X6

Nyssia rolled 7 using 3d6 with rolls of 1,3,3.  Disonate whisper.

Wisdom save 13 or takes 7 psychic damage and use reaction to move as far from me as possible. Save and takes 3 psychic damage.

 Bonus Action- None>


This message was last edited by the player at 02:09, Sat 08 Jan 2022.

OOC: Is everyone confused? I know I was getting confused, and I know what's going on (so he says...).

While I could have hand drawn a map for my benefit, it wouldn't have helped anyone else, so I made up a map. It's under Game Map 5.

X = an Orc
OC = Orc Chief

B = Biff
M = Manaen
S = Star of the Morning
U = Ulrik
L = Lureene
N = Nyssia

Hope that helps everyone.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:00, Fri 07 Jan 2022.

Star of Morning is a tall, humanoid cat.  And he is so happy at the moment, his claws haven't had a this much exercise in a long time.

OOC: When Star appeared and saw all the orcs, he would have headed to the nearest one -- X2

He notices all the non-orcs in the room

Hello fellow adventurers.  My name is Star of the Morning, but I'm afraid a more proper introduction will have to wait till after we deal with these ugly orcs.

happy to go after x1

That does seem rather a lot to chew, thought Lureene.

"Words blessed by the Lady Firehair", the beautiful, redheaded priestess responded to Star of the Morning. "And more blessings besides! Let the Lady's spirits come to our aid!"

In response to her invocation, Lureene was surrounded by beautiful angelic spirits of transluscent light. She wasted no time moving to back Nyssia up, worried that the lone gnome would get overwhelmed by the six orcs at the back of the room, and positioned herself so the spirits would cut off the way past her and towards the rest of the group as much as possible.

Cast Spirit Guardians, designating everyone in our party to be unaffected, including the new adventurers and those who aren't there in case they show up. The spirits flit to a distance of fifteen feet from me, halve the movement of orcs in its area, and if they enter the area or start their turn there, they take 3d8 radiant damage (Wisdom save DC 16 to halve).

Was it overconfidence or the wintery spell from earlier that made her last attack so poor? Maybe it was a little of both. It took way too much of her skill to evade the orc's attack. The Paladin could now hear the sounds of more orcs and other voices behind her. There were two other party members in the rear but she was not sure they could hold. She should have stayed back to protect the rear flank since the enemy could attack from all sides.

It was time to try to end this fight quickly.

"I will end the enemy that lays before me." She intones softly before lashing out with her longsword at the orc once again.

Vow of Enmity. Advantage for 1 min or until target is at 0.  Bonus action. Channel Divinity

08:27, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 13 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 9.  Attack on orc

08:34, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 5 using 1d8+2 with rolls of 3.  Longsword Damage.

Hellish Rebuke: Reaction action.

08:32, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 8 using 2d10 with rolls of 2,6.  Hellish Rebuke damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:36, Sat 08 Jan 2022.

In his eagerness for battle, Ulrik was not only oblivious to the lurking Orcs around both corners, but he crashed into the little table and knocked the items on it to the floor. His tunnel vision saw only the prisoner and the two Orcs that had been guarding him. One of the Orcs looked a bit stunned, so Ulrik focused on the other one.

As he rushed past, he dropped his dagger into the prisoner's bound hands, and then proceeded to attack the Orc (X2).

11:39, Today: Ulrik Donnarsson rolled 14,9 using 1d20+6,1d10+4 ((8,5)).

Should be a hit, but won't kill it... unless it's already injured. Maybe?

And then there's the flash of light and two more people suddenly appear in the room. He's momentarily concerned that they are more enemies, but quickly realizes that they aren't Orcs, and then they start attacking the Orcs, too!

"Don't know what brings you here, Strangers, but anyone pounding on Orcs is welcome!" he calls out... just to make sure they know he's an ally.

Waiting back by the entry way to the Weapons Room, Vane spots the other team suddenly run into the room from a side entrance, but then they dash through the far opening.

"So much for their help!" he mutters to himself as he steps into the room and off to the left so that he can clearly see the Orc Victor is fighting... and the Orc can see him.

"Hey, Orc! You ugly pusillanimous pile of pigshit! Take THIS!" he yells out at the Orc when he sees he's caught its attention while casting Vicious Mockery at him. WIS save or take 3 pts of psychic damage and have disadvantage on his turn.

She had a modicum of confidence in the newcomer's ability to deal with the lone Orc, Kessife was just a little bit tired of feeling useless when it came to battle. Without having taken a rest since the Big Battle, most of her spells were spent.

She'd probably live (or not!) to regret it, but she cast Misty Step and appeared  behind the Orc Nemeia was attacking.

"YO!" she called out just to distract the Orc a bit.

After casting the challenge spell at Orc #10, Nemeia prepares to meet his charge. She just barely manages to hit the Orc for 3 points of damage. Despite its charging attack, it doesn't hit her this round.


As the one Orc charged forward to attack Nemeia due to her challenge, the other one quickly follows suit to attack Victor. Victor's first attack misses Orc #9 while the Orc's attack also misses Victor.


Having stepped into the Weapons Room to help her allies, Nyssia attacks Orc #9 with her hand crossbow. She hits for 5 pts of damage. After that, she follows after Ulrik and Lureene when they run through the opening at the far end of the room.


Suddenly materializing in the middle of the room in a bright flash of blue light, Star of the Morning quickly assesses the situation and attacks Orc #2 with a pair of unarmed strikes.


Still hobbled and bound, Biff tries to attack Orc #2 as well, but misses as he's at a Disadantage.


Also appearing in the flash of light and seeing what's going on, Manaen attacks Orc #1 He pretty much gets a free shot as Biff's head butt has stunned the Orc and it hasn't quite recovered yet. The shadow-blade attack deals enough extra psychic damage to kill the Orc. It's the first Orc in the room to go down!


Nyssia casts Dissonate Whispers spell on Orc #6. Unfortunately, he manages to make his save, probably do to all the distractions going on around him. He takes only 3 points of damage.


Lureene, having chased after Ulrik and finding her and her allies nearly surrounded by Orcs, casts Spirit Guardians spell. Orcs #5 and #6 are within the area of effect while Orcs #4 and #7 are just on the edge of it.

13:59, Today: StarMaster rolled 9,6,3,5,16,20,9,2 using 3d8,1d20,3d8,1d20,3d8,1d20,3d8,1d20.

Only #4 manages to avoid most of the damage. The others aren't killed by the Spirits, though.


Nemeia attacks again, hits, but not even the Hellish Rebuke is enough to finish the Orc this round.

Perhaps the nature of the damage fires up the Orc's own fury, for his retaliatory attack just barely manages to hit her for 9 points of damage.

14:14, Today: StarMaster rolled 19,9 using 1d20+6,1d10+4 ((13,5)).


Ulrik charged straight into the room and attack the first Orc (#2) that he encountered. This time he hits, and the 9 points of damage he does is enough to kill the Orc.


Vane is able to attacks Orc #9 with his spell. The Orc fails his Save, takes 3 points of damage, and is at a Disadvantage during his turn.


Kessife took a Misty Step to just behind the Orc that Nemeia is fighting (#10). She's not quite able to attack and probably wouldn't have hit anyway. On the other hand, she just might have created a distraction.


Orc #9 attacks Victor... and misses.

Orc #10 attacks Nemeia again... and misses.

14:31, Today: StarMaster rolled 13,12,8,12 using 1d20+6,1d10+4,1d20+6,1d10+4 ((7,8,2,8)).

Having survived Lureene's spell, only Orcs #5 and #6 are in position to attack back.

#6 goes after Nyssia because she hurt him with her spell. He hits for 6 points of damage.

#5 moves into melee with Lureene, swings his great axe, and also manages to hit... for 9 points of damage.

14:33, Today: StarMaster rolled 18,6,20,9 using 1d20+6,1d10+4,1d20+6,1d10+4 ((12,2,14,5)).

Pretty much having been ignored because he was still lurking in the shadows, the Orc Chief finally manages to gather his wits about him from all the strange things that haven't gone quite the way he'd been expecting, he steps forward towards the nearest threat and attack Manaen.

14:44, Today: StarMaster rolled 21,16 using 1d20+8,1d10+6 ((13,10)).

He hits Manaen for 16 points of damage! Ouch!

If he ran they would beat the ever-living hell out of him. If he stayed they would beat the tar out of him. So the only thing Manaen could do was fight and hope someone would pick him up before he died. Whoever that someone was, it was all strangers at this point! So he swung on the orc chief and swung wide. (Fairly sure he has more than a 11 ac.)

"HA! Take that, you wretched little creatures!" Ulrik shouts in victory as he kills the Orc he was attacking.

He then looks around and sees the Human off to his left getting beat on pretty badly by what appears to be the Orc chief.

"I got this! Take a break while I deal with the stupid Orc chief! HA! He has to be stupid to have come here!"

It only takes a step or two to reach the Orc chief, and Ulrik swings his battle axe at him.

17:25, Today: Ulrik Donnarsson rolled 20,14 using 1d20+6,1d10+4 ((14,10)).

It ain't gonna kill the Orc chief, but I'm pretty sure I hit him! If not, we're in deep doo-doo!

Nyssia, focused on the orc's behind the group, began a low whispering song, looking at the three orcs, feeling the magic of dread wash forward, she readied her hand crossbow.

---

 <OOC: Action - Cast Bane at X6, X7 and X8

Charisma save dc 13 or must roll a d4 and minus from rolls for Attacks or saving throws

Bonus Action - None>

The orc standing before Star of the Morning is still standing, so requires more attention.  Star of the Morning resumes sharpening his claws upon the hide of the orc.

My claws require more sharpening it seems!

---

21:28, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 17 using 1d20+5 ((12)).
21:29, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 7 using 1d4+3 ((4)).

If the orc dies, I will move to the next closest orc (#1) to make my bonus attack

21:29, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 24 using 1d20+5 ((19)).
21:30, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 6 using 1d4+3 ((3)).

Biff hastily cuts his bonds with the dagger, nicking himself in the process, not that he notices.

Seeing the nearby orcs quickly fall to the onslaught of adventurers, he steps over to the Orc Chief despite assurances from the newcomer that he has the chief covered.

Action: Unarmed Attack
Attack: 15
Damage: 12

If that hit lands, Biff gets a grapple check as a bonus action

Grapple check: 26

If the grapple happens, and if Biff has at least 10' of movement left, he drags the chief 5' away from the others, so they can step up if they want, or back off.

Pending some of these results, I may edit in some RP.

"Aaah" cries out Lureene, from the solid hit given to her by the orc, but she easily maintains her concentration on her spell. She was mildly surprised that the orcs had chanced going deeper into the gaggle of angelic spirits, but it was sound -- if they couldn't end the spell, then then she could easily pace them to force them to remain in.

"Lady's wrath be upon you", she cried, and swung her mace at the orc who struck her.

OOC: 22:44, Today: Lureene Raventree rolled 23 using 2d20+3, keeping the highest dice only with rolls of 20,6.  Concentration check (advantage due to Warcaster).

Spirit Guardians will still be up so any orcs that start their turn or enter the area of effect will take the same damage as before, with the same saves.


22:47, Today: Lureene Raventree rolled 20,5 using d20+6,d6+3 ((14,2)).

Nemeia gritted her teeth from the pain. She could not take more hits like that. More sounds of battle could be heard behind her and that was disturbing. The sooner this fight ended, the better. Then the blond haired tiefling just appeared behind the orc she was fighting. Brave but foolish. Now there was no way to protect her.

With new determination, the Paladin slashed at the orc again.

Vow of Enmity still active for advantage.

08:30, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 10 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 6.  Attack roll at orc.

08:31, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 16 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 12.  Advantage attack roll at orc.


08:32, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 8 using 1d8+2 with rolls of 6.  Damage Longsword on orc.

Victor swung his Defender twice at the Orc who charged him, though his focus was more on defense than dealing damage.

Sorry for the inactivity lately. Been having major connectivity issues.

Action: Attack twice, hitting AC 11 for 13 damage, and AC 8 for 9 damage.

14:37, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 8,9 using 1d20+6,1d8+5 with rolls of 2,4.

14:37, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 11,13 using 1d20+6,1d8+5 with rolls of 5,8.  Defender attack, damage (+3 bonus set to AC).

OOC: I've been working on this post for about an hour now... Unfortunately, I have to go out now and can't finish it, so I'll have to finish it later tonight.


In the Treasure Room, Biff head butted Orc #1 and stunned him. He then tried to attack Orc #2 but missed. Still tied up, it wasn't until Ulrik dropped a dagger into Biff's hand that he was able to cut himself loose. He immediately moved to attack the Orc Chief. The Orc Chief is already in combat with Ulrik and Manaen. Biff makes an unarmed attack against the Orc Chief with the intent of grappling him. He might have been successful if the Chief wasn't already in combat. Instead, his attack just misses.


Out in the Weapons Room, Kessife had taken a misty step to get behind the Orc that Nemeia was fighting. She had no chance to attack now, but simply called out to the Orc to distract it. Whether or not it had any effect, she couldn't be sure, but Nemeia attacked the Orc again and hit it!


Not fully understanding the nature of Lureene's spell, the two uninjured Orcs still within the spell's effect continue to attack, while the other two back away... or they would if there was anywhere for them to go. The best they can do is move into the corner. Orc #4, the one that hit Lureene, takes a bit more damage this round from the spell, and her mace attack finishes him off.


Manaen attacked the Orc in the back left of the room, the one that was stunned by Biff's head butt. His shadow-blade attack hits the Orc and kills it. Unfortunately, that brought the Orc Chief's attention, and the Chief attack and hit Manaen. As Ulrik and then Biff moved up to attack the Chief, Manaen also attacks him... but misses.


Back out in the Weapons Room, Nemeia's challenge had prompted the Orc #10 to leave his place of partial concealment and charge her. She'd hit him for some minor damage, he swung back and missed, she swung again and missed, and the Orc also swung back and hit her. That was when her Hellish Rebuke came into play. It wasn't enough to kill it, though, so she attacked with her longsword. This time she hit, and killed the Orc.


After dashing into the Weapons Room and seeing Victor in battle with an Orc, Nyssia fired her hand crossbow at the Orc and hit him. She then ran after Ulrik into the Treasure Room. Having dashed into the room, she nearly missed the Orcs that lying in wait just inside the opening. Catching sight of them at the last minute, she turned and cast Dissonant Whisper at Orc #6. It wasn't enough to kill him.

02:27, Today: StarMaster rolled 20,4,10,1,10,2 using 1d20,1d4,1d20,1d4,1d20,1d4 ((20,4,10,1,10,2)).

Orc #6 attacked back and hit her as a response to Lureene's spell. Nyssia then started a whispering song, Bane, targeting Orcs #6, #7 and #8. Whether she was aware of Lureene's spell still being in play or not, she left herself open to Orc #6's attack. As soon as he started it, though, Lureene's Spirit Guardians spell took affect and the damage it dealt to the Orc was enough to kill it.


Star of the Morning had attacked the Orc in the back right of the room. Ulrik had got there first because she was teleported in after he broke the talisman on the table. Her first attack finishes it off. She then turns her attention elsewhere... to Orc #8 in the front corner, moving forward to melee range. Her two attacks don't quite finish it off, but he's hurting. He attacks back, but misses.


Ulrik had charged into the room, knocked over a little display table in the middle causing the talisman on it to fall to the floor and break, and then attack the Orc in the back right of the room. His first attack didn't kill it, but Star's attack did kill it. He then turned his attention to the Orc Chief and rushed to Manaen's aid. Ulrik's attack hits and does significant damage, though not enough to kill the Chief.


Back out in the Weapons Room, Vane cast a spell at the Orc who was attacking Victor, and managed to do 3 points of damage and put the Orc at a disadvantage. He then tried to move around the melee to get into a better position to attack the Orc from the flank... if he needed to.


Also back out in the Weapons Room, Orc #9 was prompted to charge after his comrade, Orc #10, and attack Victor. He missed. Victor attacked back and missed. The Orc attacked again and also missed.

Victor tried once more with a double attack, but both miss. Due to Vane's spell, the Orc is at a disadvantage and misses when he attacks back.

=================================================================================

At the end of the round, Orc #10 out in the Weapons Room is dead, but #9 is still doing a battle dance with Victor. #10 is pretty much surrounded by Victor, Vane, Nemeia, and Kessife.

In the Treasure Room, Orcs #1, #2, #5 and #6 are dead.

The Orc Chief is being attacked by Biff, Manaen and Ulrik.

Orcs #3 and #4 are in the front left corner avoiding Lureene's spell. #3 hasn't been touched yet.

Orcs #7 and #8 are in the front right corner avoiding Lureene's spell, though Star of the Morning is attacking #8.

It's now clear that the Orcs are fighting a bit harder to impress their Chief.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:24, Fri 21 Jan 2022.

The edge of the longsword finally sliced through the orc's shoddy armor on its left side, moving through flesh. The momentum of the blade shattered ribs and stopped halfway into the lung. The orc's eyes grew wide in shock and let out a guttural wheeze as it fell to its knees. With practiced ease, Nemeia wrenched the blade savagely out before the orc's weight would take the sword out of her hand as it finished its journey to the ground.

She was panting hard. The wounds from the spell and the orc's strong attack really affected her. Nemeia wished she could heal herself right now, but it looked like Victor was mainly fighting defensively with the other orc. Was it his tactic to keep it busy while she fought her orc? She hated not knowing the new companions. What were their strength or weaknesses? There was no way to plan a battle and it hampered her greatly.

There was nothing that could be done about it now but try to survive and win.

"May the heat of my vengeance engulf your wicked soul!"

Bonus action: Cast Searing Smite

08:42, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 21 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 17.  Searing Smite attack on Victor's orc.

08:45, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Searing smite fire damage.

08:46, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 8 using 1d8+2 with rolls of 6.  Longsword Damage on Victor's orc.

Seeing Nemeia get wounded, Victor decided it best to finish things quickly, he slashed twice with his Defender, letting the enchantment aid his offense.

OOC: If Nemeia kills the orc in front of Victor, he'll try to find another to swing at.

12:22, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 18,15 using 1d20+9,1d8+8 with rolls of 9,7.  Defender attack, damage (+0 bonus set to AC).

12:20, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 17,13 using 1d20+9,1d8+8 with rolls of 8,5.  Defender attack, damage (+0 bonus set to AC).

Biff gives a primal scream in frustration, and throws a haymaker at the chief.

Attack: 16
Damage: 10

The wild punch lands, and Biff immediately pivots and grabs the chief in a powerful grapple.

Bonus action: grapple
Athletics check with adv for rage: 27 (crit)

Mana swung again with that shadow, his off arm hanging limp as he was not at all, in any way, doing well. He looked like a ball of hurt and angry if ever a turtle man looked like a ball of hurt an angry.

But people are fighting and he wasnt going to make them stand alone.


18:43, Today: Manaen rolled 8 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 2.  Advantage.

18:43, Today: Manaen rolled 14 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 8.  Attack grand pooh bah.


18:52, Today: Manaen rolled 2 using 2d8 with rolls of 1,1.  psychic damage.

Nyssia looked at the orc's and decided she needed to thin the herd a little. Narrowing her eyes at one, she spoke in almost a whisper, meanacing - but it was the magic connected to it that drove a spike into the enemy's mind

"Never piss off a gnome!"

---

<OOC: Action - Casts Disonate Whisper, Second level

Nyssia rolled 18 using 4d6 with rolls of 2,6,4,6.  disonate whisper damage.

Wisdom save DC 13 or take 18 psychic damage and must spendb it's reaction to get as far away as possible

Bonus Action - None>

With the Orcs avoiding her spell (those that hadn't been killed by it, that is), Lureene had achieved the tactical advantage she was looking for. At the same time, she was a little constrained. Victor and company were fighting in the other room, but she could hardly go that way and help, bringing the spell with her and in so doing leave an opening for the orcs to surround her teammates.

The most urgent, then, was to deal with the Orc Chief, so that the group would be free to deal with the remaining Orcs. She had to hope the others in the weapons room were doing fine, or at least would be able to retreat to the protection of her spirit guardians.

She turned towards the chief. "Lady Firehair's light scour you from this world!" she called, and fiery radiance came from the ceiling down upon the orc's head.

Casting Sacred Flame. As I am 5th level, the Orc must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 16) or take a piddly 4 damage.

23:36, Today: Lureene Raventree rolled 4 using 2d8 with rolls of 3,1.  Sacred Flame damage.

Nemeia's spell wouldn't have been quite enough to finish off Victor's Orc, but it had already been hurt by Nyssia's hand crossbow shot. The searing strike kills the Orc.

Having acted just a split second before Victor, Victor doesn't bother hitting the Orc as it crumbles to the floor. Instead, he quickly looks around for another Orc. There are none left in the Weapons Room, but there's clearly battle going on in the next room.

Victor can run in there and still attack one of the Orcs there. The element of surprise that they were hoping for is way past gone, so Victor's quick assessment is to go to the left and attack Orc #4. His first attack kills it, and he is able to direct his second attack to Orc #3 because it was backed into the corner with its buddy. The hit isn't quite enough to take it out.


Biff's attack with a haymaker punch hits the Orc Chief, and his second attempt to grapple the Orc Chief is successful, but there's no where to really drag him since all the others are ganging up on him, too. However, the grapple effectively eliminates his Dexterity bonus to AC and that lowers it just enough for Manaen to hit it for 2 points of psychic damage.


Nyssia casts Dissonant Whisper again, this time at Orc #7 (because Victor's attacking #s 3 & 4 in one corner and Star of the Morning is attacking #8 in the other corner. The damage is overkill since that Orc has already been injured. The spell kills it. Even as the Orc falls, she realizes that the 'herd' she was attempting to thin was mostly the rest of her group by now.


By the time Lureene finds a target, there's only one Orc still standing beside the Orc Chief who's in battle with Biff, Ulrik and Manaen. That's the Orc in the corner that Victor is fighting. Her spell is just enough to kill it.


All that's left now is Orc #8 fighting Star of the Morning, and the Orc Chief.

Biff tightens his grip on the Orc Chief and flexes his sizable muscles, and smiles as he inflicts some minor damage to the chief. He then attempts to sweep the orc's legs and Shove him to the ground.

*unarmed fighting style: inflict 1d4 damage on grapple opponent*
Biff rolled 2 using 1d4 with rolls of 2.  grapple damage (unarmed fighting).

Action: *shove*
Biff rolled 23 using 2d20+7, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 12,16.  shove attack (athletics w/ adv for rage).

Note: if shove is successful, orc should be attacked with advantage for being prone

Victor moves to attack the next target, once again opting for full offense.

Action: Attack the orc #8 if its still alive, otherwise, orc chieftain.
Attack 1: Hits AC 25 for 10 damage,
Attack 2: Hits AC 21 for 10 damage (23 if advantage applies)

16:37, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 21,10 using 1d20+9,1d8+8 with rolls of 12,2.

16:37, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 25,10 using 1d20+9,1d8+8 with rolls of 16,2.  Defender attack, damage (+0 bonus set to AC).
16:59, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 23 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 14.  advantage for attack 2.

16:59, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 23 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 14.  advantage for attack 1.

Charred orc did not smell very good. It had hardly hit the ground before Victor was already running off to the fight behind them. The sounds of battle had lessened somewhat so it might be almost over, and their side was winning. If the orcs were winning, they would be much louder in their victory.

With no enemy in her sight, she had a chance to recover. Placing a hand on her most grievous injury, Nemeia mumbled a few words. A soothing and warm sensation enveloped the wound and the pain subsided to a dull ache.

It was not much, but at least there was less of a chance of going down with the next hit she took. With weapon and shield in hand, Nemeia strode purposely towards the sounds of the fighting, making sure not rush in blindly and keeping an eye out for other hidden dangers.

OOC
Cast Cure Wounds on self
07:34, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 7 using 1d8+4 with rolls of 3.  Cure Wounds.

The sounds of battle start to quiet around Star of Morning and he realizes that he still has much to learn if he wants to ever achieve his goals.  He redoubles his effort to take out the orc in front of him.

OOC
Full out attack against orc #8

09:15, Today: Star of the Morning rolled 24,6,24,5 using 1d20+5,1d4+3,1d20+5,1d4+3 ((19,3,19,2)).

With a wounded limb Mana twisted his wrist and kept trying to get that cloudy beam into the ribs of the orc leader.

13:01, Today: Manaen rolled 17 using 4d8 with rolls of 6,3,6,2.  Psychic damage.

12:59, Today: Manaen rolled 26 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 20.  Advantage.

12:59, Today: Manaen rolled 23 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 17.  To hit.

With only one enemy left, Nyssia slows her pace down, loading her hand crossbow and begins to cover their backs, searching for any hidden enemies or doors

---

<OOC: Lots of people attacking the poor, lonely orc, i'll let them have their fun

Nyssia rolled 12 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 6.  investigation check.>

With only two orcs left and well-engaged, there seemed to be little chance of the party being outflanked. Thus the importance of Lureene's own positioning had dropped sharply and she felt ready to move away from her position. The situation seemed now well in hand, and she needed to make sure her compatriots, old and new, were going to survive the battle.

The tiefling who walked into the room along with Victor seemed injured, but as Lureene watched, she healed herself with a spell. The priestess was glad for it, because the Tortle seemed in a particularly bad way. The priestess swiftly padded to a position behind him, away from the Orc's reach.

She kissed her own hand, then laid it on the Tortle. "Lady Firehair bring you succor and healing, valiant one", she said, and her hand glowed golden with the power of her goddess.

OOC: Cast Cure Wounds on Manaen.

18:31, Today: Lureene Raventree rolled 9 using 1d8+8 with rolls of 1.  Cure Wounds.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:32, Tue 01 Feb 2022.

The dual attack of Victor's tremendous swings and Star of the Morning's hit, Orc #8 is pretty much splattered all over the wall, floor and ceiling!

Likewise, Biff's damage and Manaen's psychic damage to the Orc Chief finish him off.


Although battle was still (barely) going on, Nemeia's cure spell on herself works at maximum because she was no longer in combat so she was able to concentrate on spell better. She gets 12 HP back.

While Manaen was still in battle, by the time Lureene reaches him, he's managed to kill the Orc chief! Even as the prone chief dies, Lureene realizes that the battle is over, and she is able to concentrate on it without splitting her attention between the spell and defense.


With the battle nearly over anyway, Nyssia begins investigating the room. There are the two sets of shelves against both side walls which are full of 'treasure/loot', and the upturned table in the middles of the room with the broken talisman on the floor.

While there appears to be no other way out, she's surprised to discover that the middle section of the right-hand shelves conceals a secret door. She'd have to clear a few items off the shelf to keep them from falling and breaking, but the section folds down to provide access to the secret door in the wall.

Nyssia sets to work in looking at the treasure on the shelves and the table, sorting the worthwhile in a pile. She then goes to the secret door and opens it. "Can anyone see if any of that is magical in nature - such items can be useful."

---

<Plan is to sort the items into treasure...then open the door>

Biff, still in the throes of rage, grabs the Orc Chief head and jaw and yanks his jaw downward with a loud *crack*. He looks around, breathing heavily, then exhales deeply and relaxes.

Seeing the others eyeing the treasure, Biff walks over and grabs his personal pack, "This is my pack from when they got me."

He proceeds to check the Chief's possessions.

Well, now that all that excitement is finished, allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Star of the Morning.  I am currently on a quest to discover all I can about unarmed combat.  It appears that my lord has plans for me since I seem to have appeared here quite unexpectedly.  I look forward to more fun with you all, my new found friends!

The shell like a volcanic mountain ridge turned slowly and that big snapping turtle head inclined to the crimson-haired... healer? He dropped the shadow beam into his own shadow but kept concentrating on it.  "Thank you kindly." He was still wounded but he was MUCH better than he was. He had been a hit away from going down the whole fight!

He smiled, which looked rather aggressive due to the structure of his head. "I am Manaen, or Mana. Mage and scribe."

Nemeia was leaning against the cave wall, arms crossed, next to the entrance. Face showing no expression and red eyes sizing up each party member in turn. One would get the impression she was taking mental notes and seeing into their very soul. The latter was not very far from the truth.

OOC
Using Divine Sense

First was the half-elf in all red. She instantly tended to the wounded like all healers do. Nemeia noticed the holy symbol and tried to remember which god she was a cleric of.

No description of character.
08:10, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 13 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 9.  Religion check.

Next was the large black humanoid cat. A stealthy self-professed infighter. Great for hit and run tactics, but a squad of archers would take it down if detected.

Then there was the strong looking human whose wrists looked like they had been tied recently. Why was he captured? Why was he kept alive? She did not like unanswered questions. Other than that, he moved with a practice ease of a fighter.

No character description

She almost failed to notice the small gnome with a hand crossbow that looked more like a toy. Was that a tiny musical instrument? Nemeia groaned inwardly. A bard that could play tiny and annoying music. The gods must really hate her.

No character description

There was another human with the trappings of a fighter. His armor looked well maintained but something about the style suggested old or outdated. Maybe from an isolated village? His smiled looked natural and seemed very easy going to the new people he just met.

Last but not lease was the large, dark colored, dragon turtle? It stated it was a mage. A mage with natural tough armor. At least she would not have to spend too much time babysitting it.

The gnome found a secret door. She started to take things off the shelves and stated her plans to open it. Nemeia shook her head slightly and hoped the gnome checked for traps first. Before anything else happened, the paladin made up her mind.

"Nemeia. Knight of Taelther who has taken the Vow of Vengeance." she stated coldly.

"The orcs in the other room were behind good cover and planned to make the fight there costly. I plan to find out why."

With that said, Nemeia uncrossed her arms, got off the wall, and went to investigate the other room. Not caring if anyone followed.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:24, Thu 03 Feb 2022.

Bleh. That's what I get for posting when I'm tired. I posted the intent but then didn't explain it. HOUSE RULE: All healing occurs at maximum when you are out of combat.

Thus, Manaen is fully healed the 16 points of damage he took from the Orc Chief.


Not sure which room Nemeia is referring to... there are only two rooms that were the scene of the fight. The first room was the Weapons Room, a long somewhat narrow room with weapons hanging on the wall. That was the room where Nemeia fought the two Orcs with Victor, Vane and Kessife.

The second room was the Treasure Vault. That's where Biff, Star of the Morning, Manaen, Ulrik, Lureene and Nyssia had fought the Orc Chief and his minions.

Upon entering the Treasure Vault, Nemeia can see that it is a dead end... except for the secret door that it would appear that the Orcs didn't know about. Thus, they were cornered and fought accordingly.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Nemeia," the 'foolish' Tiefling said.

"I am Kessife (rhymes with knife). I have not been with this group for very long myself, but as I understand what happened, there was an old abandoned mine that they investigated and accidentally unleashed some sort of magic storage device. Ever since then, strange comings and goings have occurred."

Victor, Vane, Kessife, and Nemeia had been in the Weapons Room fighting the two Orcs that had been lying in wait but had then charged out at Nemeia's challenge.

Once those two Orcs had been dispatched, the four had briefly headed for the other room from whence the Orcs had come. Seeing as it was getting rather crowded and that the Orcs in there had been dealt with, Nemeia had assessed those that she saw before turning her attention the walls of weapons in the first room.

Her first assessment is that there are a LOT of weapons, probably 50 or so on each of the side walls.

Her second assessment is that there are no two weapons alike. While technically, several swords could all be classified as 'long swords', each one on  display is slightly different. Same for the short swords, bastards swords, and great swords, as well as the axes and hammers.

Her third assessment is that there are no ranged weapons on the walls, other than a melee weapon you could throw, such as a dagger.

Her fourth assessment is that there are six different polearms on each wall, but the width of the room would make it difficult to wield any of them in that direction.

In the Treasure Room, Lureene is the only one that can cast Detect Magic, so after she points out which of the many treasures have a magical aura, Nyssia sets them all off to one side on the shelves. The other non-magical items she puts on a different shelf.

Nyssia sets about separating the items, first the magical items, then those of value, like the statues, then the rest. It took some time, but the gnome sighed as she looked at the pile. "Those orcish bastards have been busy!" She muttered.

She looks at the group. "Unless we have time to figure out what they are, i think we should pack all that up or come back for it once we clean out the orcs. First, we gotta find the others."

she looks at the others.

---

<OOC: If people want to stay and find out what thinsg are, she will open the boxes if locked, if not, i say we store them and return.>

Mana was in a rather good mood now that he was no longer hurt. He settled near Nyssia, "I can help with the identification of the magic items to help cut down on time if you like." He was tapping on an extremely detailed metal book that tapped back at him. He was an Order of the scribe wizard.

Nyssia looked up at the tortle with a surprised look. "WOW...your - big!" She looked at the"If you can help, be my guest buddy gear, then the tortle again and nodded.

she looks through with a snort. "...but where to start, and how long we gonna spend here?"

---

<OOC: About 30 items, 10 minutes to identify them each. for one person that is about 5 solid hours alone>

Considering the dust that's on everything including the shelves themselves, these items have probably been here for years. The Orc Chief probably kept the other Orcs in line so that nothing was disturbed just yet. That, of course, means the Orcs didn't put any of this stuff here.

It appears that only a few of the non-magical items have little value to them, such as the candles, though it depends on just how you define value. Considering that they were stored here with other items, particularly magic items, it seems likely that everything might have had some personal or sentimental value if not outright intrinsic value.

Nyssia goes about opening the secret door, easily opening it like the last.  Again, a hallway was in front of her, and in the distance she heard a familiar voice. Smiling, she turned. "Damn me...i think their all connected. I hear that big barbarian fella who came with you....Viri-something?"

She shrugged

"Not a Dwarf and not a cave-dweller," Ulrik says to Nyssia  as he peers over her shoulder down the secret passage, "but already figured that out."

"I may not have been expecting wyverns to still be living here, but it's been home to someone other than Orcs."

"It's still good to know. Might mean we've got all the Orcs."

Mana opened his large book and very rapidly cast a ritual spell in the same amount of time it took to cast it normally. It took a moment but a disk rose up from the ground that was spiked on the bottom looking like his shell pattern. "I can keep six disk going but it takes a bit to get them all up. Pile on the disk and once we get everything sorted and people have what gear they want I have a few contacts in the market network that could sell what remains."

"Betting my own shop is being robbed blind right now." He started piling things on the floating disk if he was allowed to.

Nyssia nods, and helps the tortle load the disk with the magical items, so when teh time came, they could identify them all

As the group moved to the treasure room, Lureene introduced herself just before she cast her detect magic. "I am Lureene Raventree, of the Raventrees of Waterdeep, a priestess of the Lady Sune Firehair. Do let me know if anyone is wounded that I missed, and in need of healing."

She started to help Nyssia load up the disc. "A convenient spell."

Manaen nodded twice, "Comes in handy back at the shop." She was a caster for sure. "Manaen, I run a shop on the coast but I'm thinking being teleported here that is not so much the case anymore."

"Thanks for the patch job."

"Captain Victor Harkness, Neverwinter Infantry 42nd Division, retired. Pleased to meet you!" Victor said as he began to help load up the disk.

Nemeia looked at all the weapons with some interest. The human's information about the orcs planning a war was correct. But did the orcs make the weapon themselves or did other clans give it to them? Was there a supply chain that could be disrupted? Were there other supply caches in different areas? With all these unanswered questions, she went back to the others.

Biff looks over the loot and pauses to admire the abstract painting. After a few minutes, a single tear rolls down his cheek and he moves on.

"They call me Biff. Prizefighter. Thanks for the backup."

Once the disk is packed up with the magical items and valuables, Nyssia goes down the passage to the otehr end, listening and looking for dangers.

Manaen shouldered up and kept his book open while he quietly started refreshing the disk spell. The last thing he wanted to do was play fifty two card pickup for being lazy. He kept his distance behind Nyssia but kept trundling along.

Rituals in order time allowing:
Identify
Identify
disk
Letting us ID 2 parts every half hour until we can just sit down and crank out the IDs

As expected, the haversack turns out to be a Handy Haversack. If it had been anything else, the magic would not have been so readily identified.

However, putting unknown magical items into the haversack is not a wise move. The Haversack has extra-dimensional spaces into which other extra-dimensional spaces should not be placed without causing a catastrophe!

The Wand is a Wand of Greater Magic Missiles. It takes a bit of analyzing the magic to realize that the missiles do 1d6+1 points of damage.


Out in the Weapons Room, Nemeia thinks the weapons on the wall are of much better quality than anything the Orcs were wielding. Functionally, the Orcs' great axes were fine, but they were clearly of inferior quality.


Nyssia leads the group back down the passage to the Weapons Room, through that to the next room, and through that to the cave. The cave, of course, opens outside into the area where they found the six cave entrances.

By the time the last of the group files out, you spot Mithra dragging an Orc body out of a cave two openings over.

Nyssia led the way through the secret passage and outside, waiting with her crossbow for the others as they emerged. When she saw Mithra, she smiled. "You found a new pet? Looks like you may need to break him in a bit first."

"Ha! What about the four strays you picked up?" Mithra replies to Nyssia as she drags the last Orc body out of the cave and over to the far side of the wide ledge and tosses the body over the edge.

"This is Kassan... what I've always heard called 'Warforged', some type of Living Construct. As far as we know, he's been standing in these caves for a hundred years... just waiting for someone to come along and wake him up. Lucky us."

Nyssia shrugged her shoulders. "Some came when an amulet broke - a dimensional prison maybe.  Either way, their pretty handy. Snappy the turtle here has some magic skills. Oh, we found some toys as well! When we rest, he's gonna be busy."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 06:23, Mon 14 Feb 2022.