Heavy Metal

As you approach the northern border of Alexandria where it meets with Mythwood and the Vast the sky is a deep blue color, the sky above is clear, and a cool breeze comes in from the side to sweep over the land. It's still heavily forested here, but soon enough you can tell by the way the trees are getting smaller, you will be out of the woods. So far there has been no sign of any Ourch, but the border here is pretty small so it seems likely that you'll bump into them eventually.

Erakirak doesn't entirely understand what the Guild of Explorers is, or what it does. But he understands that it hires adventurers to perform various tasks, and as his elders in the Aerie have explained it to him these tasks are often valuable to do, and provide funds that can be used for other purposes. This particular mission involves travelling to the Mythwood, which he has always been curious about, so he signed up happily when he heard about it. The human he's travelling with he's met before, and is tolerable enough for a human. The sildanyari with the Elunite symbol he does not know.

Vaalyun is, indeed, quite the tolerable human. But right now, he has his shield slung over his back and uses his bill like a wizard's staff, puffing along in his armor with his limp becoming quite noticable after a long walk. "Do we know what exactly we're looking for, by the way? I haven't seen a single Ourch yet... Aren't they supposed to be causing trouble? Usually, they aren't a subtle people."

To say that Valadhiel has been gone for a while is an... understatement. But still, the Guild of Explorers is a reliable source of coin, and it is a way for her to learn of what's happened in her absence. "That's what worries me... from my experience, the Guild isn't always accurate in their threat assessments." She hasn't spoken much, but the tall elfmaid smiles faintly back towards Vaalyun, "How many of these have you done with the Guild? I've been... away, for a while, so I'm a little out of touch."

Arynne walks her way into the group and looks to Vaalyun. "Normally, Oruch aren't very subtle, but they can be if they need to be." She then looks to Valadhiel. "I don't know what would make the Oruch head for the Mythwood, but they may detect something that the rest of us don't....

Distantly you can hear the sound of singing. Deep rugged voices in the sort of harmony that comes from a group of people who have no idea how to sing but are doing so quite enthusiastically. "Total slaughter! Total slaughter! We won't leave, a single man alive! La-de-da-de-de. Genocide! La-de-da-de-du! An ocean of blood!" They seem to be singing in Yrch-Speak. <yrch-speak>

Arynne turns her head at the singing and....winces. "Well....that's not a very warm chant." She makes a face as she looks at where the voices are coming from. "this way...."

Erakirak perks up. "There are your oruch, I think," he says, gesturing off in the direction of the singing. "Is that... considered melodic, among Walkers?" Valadhiel wrinkles her nose a bit, murmuring softly, "And there are times that the Guild is far too accurate for my tastes." She looks at Erakirak, arching a brow, "Melody is not something that most of them worry about." She smiles faintly, unslinging her bow as she moves cautiously in the direction of the voices, instinctively seeking cover to avoid being spotted by any sentries.

"No, it is not. Melodious, that is. At least not to human ears. It could by Yrch-speak opera, for all that I know. I keep meaning to learn it." Vaalyun says, with a snort. "But I need to spend more time keeping my mouth shut about what I haven't seen. The Gods do so love to punish our hubris."

As you follow the sound of singing you find yourselves at the edge of a clearing that five Ourch are walking through. They are covered in Ourch armor and bristling with weapons. They're singing another round enthusiastically as they march in a straight path deeper into the forest. If their path is any indication they seem to be headed right toward where you were informed that they'd be heading.

As you follow the sound of singing you find yourselves at the edge of a clearing that five Ourch are walking through. They are covered in Ourch armor and bristling with weapons. They're singing another round enthusiastically as they march in a straight path deeper into the forest. If their path is any indication they seem to be headed right toward where you were informed that they'd be heading.

GAME: Erakirak rolls perception: (16)+11: 27
GAME: Vaalyun rolls perception: (18)+4: 22
GAME: Arynne rolls perception: (15)+9: 24
GAME: Valadhiel rolls perception: (11)+12: 23

In spite of their singing and their armored state, the thing you notice about them is that their eyes have a distant far-away look to them. As if they're not really looking at the forest. There's something off about these Oruch. Which is when you realize that they've decimated the forest behind them. The trees have been cut down, the brush hacked away. They've walked in a perfectly straight line and destroyed EVERYTHING in their path.

Erakirak frowns. He's seen this sort of thing before, and it wasn't good. He climbs the nearest tree to get some altitude and draws his bow.

"I take it this isn't good?" Vaalyun says, to his companions, as they all notice the strange Oruch behavior. "Like a puppet on a string..."

Valadhiel narrows her eyes, glancing over at the others as she says softly towards Vaalyun, "This is... unusual, yes. Normally in this case I would just cast a fireball and be done with it, but now, hrm."

Arynne says, "Now we just need to cut the strings. the question is....how." She then takes a deep breath. "and I don't have enough spells to dispel all of those possible spells."

Arynne says, "Now we just need to cut the strings. the question is....how." She then takes a deep breath. "and I don't have enough spells to dispel all of those possible spells."

Valadhiel glances at Arynne, "Should we try once, then, to see what happens? If this is an effect that can even /be/ dispelled?"

It doesn't seem as though the Oruch notice you. They continue on their path until they hit a bush which they begin to hack away at. They are very intent on this task until it is complete and they can continue walking. In a few seconds they will be through the clearing and close to where you are.

"Try not to set fire to the forest," Rak comments to Valadhiel in passing. "That seems to end badly." To Arynne he adds "Not to seem heartless, but if they pose a threat, we _could_ just kill them."

GAME: Arynne casts Dispel Magic. Caster Level: 5 DC: 18

Vaalyun bows his head and murmurs an incantation in Celestial, beseeching Althea for her aid for the party in their time of privation and need. A feeling of wellbeing, like the gentle rays of the moon, shines down on everyone around the cleric.

Arynne makes a bit of a face. "they're gonna destroy the forest at this rate." She shakes her head and runs her way forward to see if she can find one of the ones leading the group. Once she's in range.....she actually uses dispel magic on that oruch....and hopefully it works.

Erakirak gives a cheerful whistle of approval as the spell invigorates him.

The ourch that Arynne casts the spell on stops in its tracks, looking around himself in confusion. Then he looks at his comrades. "Where am I?" He looks around again and grasps one of the other ourch by the shoulder. "Davvgar what-"

His words are cut off when his comrade turns around and punches him square in the face. The others move as well, circling the poor disoriented ourch and those that can attack him without mercy.

Erakirak regards the fight, thinks about the oruch’s potential value as an ally, and decides intervening is worth it. He starts firing arrows into the attacking orcs.

GAME: Erakirak rolls 1d20+8: (16)+8: 24
GAME: Erakirak rolls 1d20+8: (2)+8: 10
GAME: Erakirak rolls 4+1d8: 4+(6): 10

Erakirak fires an arrow into the back of one of the attacking oruchs. He seems untroubled by this.

GAME: Arynne rolls ranged+1: (15)+5+1: 21
GAME: Arynne rolls 4d6: (10): 10
GAME: Vaalyun casts Spiritual Weapon. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16

Arynel doesn't like attacking the ensorcelled oruch, but...when they attack the bewildered and released oruch, she blasts it. She arcs a ray from her fingers into the back of the attacking oruch......

GAME: Vaalyun rolls 1d20+7: (6)+7: 13
GAME: Valadhiel casts Dispel Magic. Caster Level: 5 DC: 19

Vaalyun prays again, this time putting his hands together and drawing them apart. The holy symbol on his robes and armor flashes, and a bill appears, made of pure force. But in his haste, Vaalyun's blow from the spiritual weapon is deflected away by the heavy armor of one of the Orcs.

GAME: Razen rolls 1d20+8: (11)+8: 19
GAME: Razen rolls 1d20+8: (15)+8: 23
GAME: Razen rolls 1d10+6: (1)+6: 7
GAME: Razen rolls 1d10+6: (6)+6: 12

One more Oruch is freed, and he watches in horror as his companions turn on his - "Brother!" The oruch in question goes down under the heavy weight of blows from the others. It doesn't look like he'll be getting up again. It's hard to tell if he's actually dead or not, but he's certainly not standing. Enraged Daavgar roars and draws his own weapon. "Stop brothers!"

GAME: Erakirak rolls 1d20+8: (9)+8: 17
GAME: Erakirak rolls 1d20+8: (7)+8: 15
GAME: Erakirak rolls 4+1d8: 4+(3): 7

Erakirak fires another two arrows -- one into the same oruch's back, a few inches away from the first, and the other into the dirt at his feet, a few inches away from the first. He's nothing if not consistent.

GAME: Arynne rolls ranged+1: (18)+5+1: 24
GAME: Arynne rolls 4d6: (16): 16
GAME: Arynne casts Scorching Ray. Caster Level: 5 DC: 17

Another beam fires from Arynne's fingers and the Oruch goes down. However, before she checks on him, the rest of the attacking oruch must be knocked out.

GAME: Vaalyun casts Prayer. Caster Level: 5 DC: 17
GAME: Vaalyun rolls 1d20+9: (17)+9: 26
GAME: Vaalyun rolls 1d8+2: (8)+2: 10
GAME: Valadhiel rolls 1d20+10: (19)+10: 29
GAME: Valadhiel rolls 1d20+10: (19)+10: 29

GAME: Valadhiel rolls 1d20+10: (19)+10: 29
GAME: Valadhiel rolls 1d20+10: (19)+10: 29

Vaalyun throws his arms out wide and again the holy symbol glows, "Althea, show mercy to your children, and guide us back to hearth and home. Guide our hands as we smite those who would defile this place!" Then he brings his hands together with a clap, and the bill of force winds up and smacks into the Orc that was moments ago feathered with an arrow. This time, the attack connects with a palpable, telling blow.

GAME: Valadhiel rolls 1d8+2: (8)+2: 10
GAME: Valadhiel rolls 1d8+2: (8)+2: 10

Valadhiel might be a wizard, but she's always prided herself on being more than that as she pulls out her bow, elf-runes glowing like moonsilver along the wooden surface. Taking careful aim, she fires a pair of arrows rapidly at one of the still-enchanted oruch's, both arrows lodging deep in its back as it falls to the ground, unmoving.

The ourch attack one another viciously, but in dodging the hit from his brother Daavgar misses his own.

GAME: Erakirak rolls 1d20+8: (13)+8: 21
GAME: Erakirak rolls 1d20+8: (3)+8: 11
GAME: Erakirak rolls 5+1d8: 5+(4): 9
GAME: Arynne rolls 3d4+3: (9)+3: 12

Turning her attention to another, Arynne tosses out three blue bolts to strike the back of another oruch. "I'm hoping we can knock them all out......."

GAME: Vaalyun rolls heal+1: (3)+12+1: 16

Vaalyun moves over towards the felled Oruch. The one who was no longer brainwashed and was struck down by his fellows. The Cleric leaves the fighting to the others for the moment as he quickly assesses the injuries and pulls out his healing kit, doing enough to keep him alive until the last of the brainwashed can be dealt with. Valadhiel slings her bow, moving up towards the remaining Oruch that isn't unconscious as Vaalyun does his work, "You are Daavgar? Do you remember anything before coming here?" She keeps it curt and to the point, one brow arching slightly <yrch-speak>

GAME: Razen rolls 1d20+7: (4)+7: 11
GAME: Razen rolls 1d20+9: (4)+9: 13

The oruch on the ground being tended by Vaalyun groans. He's near death, but Vaalyun's efforts are keeping him alive for now. Meanwhile the two remaining oruch fight one another, landing heavy blows that hit armor but nothing else.

GAME: Erakirak rolls 1d20+8: (4)+8: 12
GAME: Erakirak rolls 1d20+8: (8)+8: 16
GAME: Arynne rolls 3d4+3: (7)+3: 10

Arynne tosses out another three blue bolts, which strikes the oruch on the back, and knocks him out on the spot. "Now tend to them." She says looking around to make sure there aren't more.

Erakirak remains on the treebranch, alert for other threats. "What was THAT about?" he asks anyone inclined to answer.

Valadhiel glances up towards Erakirak, "Some kind of mind control magic, it seems... driving them to cut a path through the forest." She shakes her head, "I haven't seen anything quite like this."

GAME: Vaalyun casts Protection From Energy. Caster Level: 5 DC: 17
GAME: Vaalyun rolls 3d8+5: (17)+5: 22

"I have," Rak replies. "Some corrupted treants last week."

Arynne looks to Rak. "How bad off were they?"

"They were trying to destroy a Druid grove, before we stopped them," Rak replies. "Bad enough. I suggest we backtrack to where these fellows started out... they certainly left an obvious enough trail!"

As the others turn to talking, Vaalyun pulls out his holy symbol and holds it over the injured Orc. He beings to speak, as he holds both hands out, and as he does, the light of the evening star bathes the wounds, and they begin to knit closed. "You will live to see your home again, by the grace of the Star Mother." the Cleric says.

Suddenly healed the oruch groans and looks around. The ourch are alive but badly injured, unconscious or unable to move. Daavgar turns toward the woman that had spoken to him and shakes his head. "I remember... glowing green eyes..." He looks upset, kneeling beside one of his brothers to check and see that he's alright. "Can you free them as you freed me?"

Arynne says, "I can. It'll take time though." She says softly. "But I can." She then looks to Valadhiel. "Sooner, with help."

"In the meantime," Rak says, removing weapons from the unconscious oruch and handing them to the still standing one, "let's make sure we have less of a fight on our hands if they wake up." Pulling a length of rope out of his pack, he starts tying their feet together.

Valadhiel nods slightly, "I don't have another dispellation prepared this day, but I suspect that if we eliminate the source of this magic, then we wouldn't need to do that." She glances at Vaalyun, "Glowing green eyes, hmmm."

"If we backtrack to where they were taken," Rak repeats as he continues tying their feet together, "we might find the green-eyed wizard, or whatever it was"

GAME: Vaalyun casts Protection From Evil. Caster Level: 5 DC: 15

Arynne says, "And I don't have the resources to go after them immediately. If you go, I can't follow. I'd be more of a liability than help."

GAME: Razen rolls 1d20+1: (11)+1: 12

Vaalyun says, "Let me try something. I don't know if this will work." He raises his holy symbol again, and once more prays for the protection of the Evening Star to protect one of the orcs from evil, including things that would twist the mind.

Erakirak nods. "All right. When I'm done here I'll check it out quietly, then." He continues tying knots.

Valadhiel nods, "If it does, I have a similar spell prepared." She looks over at Erakirak, "And if you want, I can come with you. I have some skill navigating forests."

Erakirak nods. "Company would be welcome."

In spite of Vaalyun's spell the semi-conscious orcs keep muttering things like 'kill' and various other nasty things and straining in their ropes. It doesn't seem as though the spell worked.

Vaalyun shakes his head as he stands, "Perhaps it's his injuries, but he is still too weak to resist the control. We could wait until morning, and then if the effect continues, we could prepare the proper prayers and spells."

Arynne looks to Vaalyun. "I can do one more, then then I would need to rest for the others."

Arynne takes a deep breath and grasps the amulet at her neck with her right hand, while placing a hand on one of the mumbling oruch with her left. After a few spidery words of power.......there is a pulse and the effect breaks. "All right....that's it...."

GAME: Erakirak rolls perception: (1)+11: 12 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Valadhiel rolls perception: (17)+12: 29
GAME: Vaalyun rolls perception: (16)+4: 20

It's a quiet night all the way through, and though the oruchs do make an effort to free themselves of their bonds they have little luck with it, and you're able to keep them from getting away or hurting themselves in the process of trying. The next morning dawns with a little fog between the trees, but prettily.

Erakirak tucks his beak under his wing to sleep, and wakes up with the sunrise.

Valadhiel rises from her trance, then decides to take care of the oruch first, removing the enchantment that was placed on one so that his mind could be freed. Then she glances over towards Vaalyun, "We should probably take precautions, so that our minds can't be similarly brought under thrall."

Arynne rises from her sitting position and pops her neck. "OUch. I dislike meditating while sitting up." She says before walking her way over towards one, then the other oruch, using a few spidery words and breaking the enchantment, just like that. "Hopefully, I didn't waste my time out here." She then looks to the other oruch. "Not in saving them from the enchantment, but in the information."

The oruch looks embarassed. "I sorry that we know not more." His Tradespeak is heavily accented, but he does his best. He and his brothers are happy to lead you out of the forest following the devistation that they left in their wake, but once you leave the forest it's hard to tell where they came from. Until Daavgar points northward. "Home. We go home now. Thank you for freeing us."

Arynne places a hand on Daavgar's shoulder and smiles. "May the White Disc shine and guide you back to your homes." She says in somewhat accented Yrch-speak.

Valadhiel nods slightly towards Daavgar, "Do you remember anything else about the thing that did this to you? Anything at all?" She sounds somewhat sympathetic, looking rather relieved that the spells worked on them. <yrch-speak>

The orcs converse with one another and finally Daavgar shakes his head. "Manven says he remembers black. Shining darkness filling him up." He shrugs and then leaves with his brothers.

That's all the information that he has to share with you. However Erakirak regales you with another story brought up by this one. A story of trees that uprooted themselves to attack the druid groves. Trees that had lived surrounding a lake of glittering, shining black water. Trees that had exploded with blue fire once they were dead. The story ends with the fact that /someone/ had been dumping this strange magic water into the lake. Some unknown man.

...with the letter Z.

-End-