Tellurian Tales (vol 0d): The Ogre's Stairwell

03 Oct

With little to do after saving Durik's Pass from plague, Rorik and Invellios head to the nearby local capital of Gitteras for supplies and news. Luceo and Sarah stay behind to scribe scrolls and tend sick villagers, respectively.

05 Oct

In Gitteras, Rorik and Invellios are approached by the assistant to the Dhunraven ambassador. Based on news of their performance in Durik's Pass, he requests their aid in the manor of Dhunraven in locating a missing mountain trading party.

In Durik's Pass, Hope Springs refugees reach the gates, followed in the distance by rampaging Ulaan orcs. Most villagers flee to the fort in the center of town; Sarah and Luceo remain at the inn. Orcs and a few ogres spread out through the largely unprotected village, pillaging and looting. As different small bands enter the inn, Sarah and Invellios help the innkeep Saunders and the stable boy Fergis defend the common room and the back kitchen door, slaying over 10 orcs.

However, when the orcs call in an ogre, and Fergis is pulverized with a single blow of the beast's greatclub, the remaining defenders flee upstairs. The ogre follows, but is slain as it tries to squeeze up the narrow stairs. The two adventurers and the wounded innkeep manage to fend off the few remaining orcs that enter the inn, blockaded behind the ogre's massive corpse.

Late in the afternoon, the militia manages to rout the orcs from town. Saunders the innkeep vows to rename his inn The Ogre's Stairwell.