Wherein Prisoners are Freed, a Tiger is Loosed, and More Orcs are Felled…

After some quick discussion, Thorondil’s need to sneak into the camp to discover Erandil’s fate matches with Finn’s need for additional intelligence about the capabilities of the orcs and the two put their heads together to bash out a quick plan. First, Finn weaves a few spells to enhance his elven comrade’s stealth as well as allowing them to maintain telepathic communication. While the rest of the group (along with Finn) maintains an overwatch, the elf intends to sneak past the guards. Everyone braces themselves for the worst.

Penetrating the camp turns out to be relatively easy for Thorn and he expertly skirts around the patrols. He briefly pauses at a rudimentary stable and discreetly unlocks the paddock before pressing on. The guard watching over the horses inside never even sees him.

At the center of the camp, he discovers a large construction wrought of wooden slats and poor quality chains that serves as a sort of prison. Inside is an elf, a dwarf, and almost a dozen beaten-looking orcs. None of them truly react to his appearance, though Thorn pauses to gesture for them to remain silent. He then continues to stealth toward the large, central structure that he suspects to be the chief’s hut.

Inside this hut, he is startled to discover a sleeping tiger who is leashed via a great chain. After briefly conversing with Finn via their magical telepathy, Thorn seeks out a lamp to grease up the stake that the great cat is secured to while Finn weaves a summoning spell intended to pull the tiger toward him. It is the young Sardock’s intent to cancel the spell once the tiger is free though he is hopeful that the great cat running through the camp will cause sufficient distraction to allow Thorn to sneak out. The cat jerks awake, then bolts out, dragging his now freed chain. Finn also asks the elf to seize any potential intelligence – maps, documents, etc. – available which Thorn does … right before he tosses the lamp against the cloth side of the tent where it quickly catches.

Pausing at the large cage, Thorn picks the rudimentary lock as the armcry is raised, both at the sudden appearance of the great cat and the unexpected fire at the chief’s tent. Only the dwarf and the elf accept the offer to make an escape attempt – the captured orcs appear to have all been thoroughly broken by their captors and do not stir even a little bit. Thorn and his two new companions race back the way he came but are noticed as they near the paddock. The dwarf and the elf hurl themselves at the orc there, managing to down him in a furious melee that lasts only seconds; while they do this, Thorn frees the horses and slaps them on their hindquarters, ensuring that they will flee deeper into the camp and cause even more chaos. The three then continue their mad sprint, dodging and eluding confused orcs turning to the noises. Along the way, the two escaped prisoners take injuries but do not let this stop them.

Warned by Finn, the rest of the adventurers break from their hiding place and sweep wide so as to reunite with Thorn and his two allies. Knowing that a group of orcs are now in pursuit, the group marches through the night, exhausting though it is. Near dawn, Finn decides that they will ambush their pursuers and they find a likely spot where everyone finds a good place to hide for the moment.

The orcs are caught completely by surprise and, though they do mount a valiant defense, they are soon felled. Recognizing that none can escape, the few that break and run when the skirmish turns against them are run down. Once again, Zistral’s great speed allows him to easily catch up to even the unwounded orcs and, in less than a minute, ten of the creatures are slain with no actual casualties on the adventurer’s side (though Thorn did manage to briefly throw out his shoulder.)

Back on the road they go, this time intending on pursuing the raiding party dispatched toward Defiant. Along the way, the dwarf and elf discuss how they came to be prisoners and Thorn learns that Erandil is likely at ‘The Crater,” which is Bulgaren’s headquarters. Even worse, the elf says that Erandil is being experimented on by the foul dwarf exile. At the same time, Haruki chats with the rescued dwarf and offers to see to it that they reach Defiant safely; at first, both the dwarf and the elf are concerned that they have no choice in the destination, but it is quickly made clear to them that they are not prisoners and may go wherever they would like. Both agree to continue on to Defiant so as to debrief Finn’s father, Ser Dane.

But first, they have to get to Defiant intact…

Player Notes:

• I think we were expecting some players to be out this week, but nobody missed. No game this week even though only one player (me) will be out; since Finn has become a fairly integral part of the narrative, my long planned Memorial Day weekend vacation has thrown a wrench into the GM’s plans.
• This session went really long. In addition to Thorn’s misadventure in the orc camp, the GM kept having to break away from the game due to familial obligations and was, for a while, using TeamSpeak while in his car. And then, the ambush fight took a lot longer than expected.
• Due to the above-mentioned misadventure for Thorn, he dominated most of this session, though not on purpose. As was normal for Gigermann, the dice were not kind so he ended up having to burn all three of his Plot Points while in the camp. In retrospect, if I’d been the GM, I think I would have had the other players run the imprisoned orcs who would rush forward and attack their captors, thus causing a major distraction that would let Thorn escape without too much notice.
• I don’t think the GM actually named either the dwarf or the elf that Thorn freed. We jokingly took to calling them “Gimly” and “Legulas” and intentionally misspelled the names.
• By my count, we’ve killed at least twenty orcs in the last two days (in-game) which is two full Mass Combat units. Go, Us!