30 Desnus 4711

Delivered verbally by Sahar and Costin to Marquan:

[quote=Sahar's Report]We set out in good time from Castle Firrine. Slightly before noon, we spotted a thread of smoke from the nearby trees. We debated going straight on to Rustknoll, but decided it might be something orc-related that was too far away for the villagers to know about. Investigating orc activity seemed useful, so we did that.

We found a party of seven Bloodtalon orcs that had been slaughtered by another party of three orcs lead by a half-orc. The half-orc was a priest of Szuriel - the Horseman of War. His comrades set him on a pyre when they left, but the fire failed to burn him completely. He had his weapon, holy symbol, and garments, but not a left hand. The hand was removed deliberately.

The dead Bloodtalons were in a pit which had been dug around a great silver acorn, split open and poisoned. Our mage was determinedly interested in the magic acorn, and he and our oracle were able to remove the tainted metal wedge holding it open, heal the putrid parts within the acorn, and seal the split. We reburied it so it could continue to work its magic, which seemed to be powerful growth magic for the surrounding orchards.[/quote]

Sahar grimaces at Costin. [b]"I should have stopped on the way here to see if it was unmolested."[/b] She continues,

[quote=Sahar's report]We proceeded to Rustknoll with no further issues. There we were briefed over dinner by Rickan and Hamish, who gave us interesting background about the area. When the two arrived in the village, they found that the village seemed built on the bones of a larger dwarven settlement. The area seemed to be avoided by other orc tribes because of some curse, involving brass dwarves, a molten dragon, and an immortal sorceress. The last exists, but not in the Rocknoll area. The others are just talk, so far.

In the last year and a half, the Bloodtalons have replaced their shaman with a masked witch doctor and developed some real magic. They added a party of a War Drummers since then. Around midwinter, they started becoming more active. Their leader is pressured by younger orcs and the new arrivals, so he has to make himself look dangerous to keep control. Other orc tribes have been settling nearby, ignorant and uncaring of the Bloodtalon leader's rules for raiding Rustknoll. That's bad news for Rustknoll.

On top of that, there are new orcs in the area, the Outcasts. They take in the orcs with defects, poor warriors, failures, females, and have build their own tribe. They may be weak for orcs, but there are a lot of them about. They are smart and well-organized; they fight together instead of for individual glory. They have some dwarven weapons, and there is talk amongst them of a second Dwarven Forge somewhere near Rustknoll. The known entrance was completely blocked by a severe rockfall, but they believe a second entrance was in the area. The orcs were discussing getting blasting powder - "stump powder" - from Rustknoll's farmers and trying to blast through the rockfall, as well as searching for the second, hidden entrance.

To summarize: the local Bloodtalons are growing in capability and ferocity. Their new witch doctor was apparently trying to steal magic - for whatever reason - from a powerful artifact.

Second, new orc tribes are pushing in to the area and acting like orcs will, without the restraint of the old Bloodtalons.

Third, the Outcasts/Blacktusks are a new and different faction, smarter, more organized, and with a completely different philosophy from the usual orcish "might makes right" rules. They took the left hand of their dead leader, possibly to become reincarnated. Which means they could be just about anything. The reincarnated with be excellent spies.

Rickan suspected the Outcasts of having message drops in the area. He led us to the first one that first night. We found it and its contents to be sophisticated - an actual hole in the ground, covered by a rock with a rune of destruction on it. An orc party - led by a half-orc - arrived, and we ambushed and killed them. An inking kit was hidden in the leader's shoe, along with an unusual smoked glass. We dug around the cap, fearing it would incinerate the contents. Inside, we found leather strips with markings on them only seen when viewed through the smoked glass from the leader's shoe - symbols, not a clear message. We also discovered that the hafts of the two orcs that lead the party coming to the message drop had inscribed leather wraps, and that these new leather strips fit around them, so we took the hafts, along with other loot. When we returned to town, we recorded the contents of the strips, then tried to decipher them. It took a long time, because they were in several languages. The group of orcs at the drop called themselves "Blacktusk," possibly a grouping within the Outcasts, and their leader was a half-orc, like the warband by the Acorn. The half-orc leader also worshipped Szuriel.

The next day, Hamish and Rickan helped decipher the strips and a couple of maps we found on skins. We assumed the maps were to other drop locations. After helping Rickan clean out a nasty and apparently deliberate bunch of mold in his basement, we set off for the second drop: Rickan's wife's family farmstead, burned to the ground 13 years ago and abandoned.

We encountered a group of rapors and and ash drake who had been baited to a signal fire by a Quickling, who had apparently been tormenting us since we arrived. He warned us to return to Lastwall.

At the farmhouse, we found the ground littered with various traps and guarded by a tiefling orc and a half-orc caster. We also found Costin here, who had been trapped in the barn, hiding. He told us his guide was in the house. Once we killed the guards, we found the guide being transformed, probably alchemically, with strips of various hides - including undead - grafted to his body and face. He was suffering and dying, so -with his agreement -I gave him the coup and took his hand for reincarnation, at his request. We found quite a number of fun strap erasing and writing toys, some clever magic devices, and more straps in the pedestal of a table. The house, rebuilt since it burned, seemed to be a way station for the Outcasts, a place for their alchemist to brew whatever they needed, and for them to experiment on captives. It took us until after dark to return.

The next day, we heard from Hamish's scholars about the topics they had been researching. The closed mine apparently had green ore that the orcs sought, as well as a Runic Hammer. The Hammer could be a formula for forging formidable weapons, or an actual [i]Hammer of Torag.[/i] The claw symbol we found was also used by a famous half-orc pirate, Blacktusk, who terrorized Lake Encarthane up until 60 years ago. Blacktusk recruited the weak, deformed, and unwanted for his crew, much like the Outsiders do, which could mean their name is no coincidence. we debated going to the third message drop, seeking the hidden mine entrance, or pretending to leave. We opted to go to the third drop, and had to rescue a child - used as bait - from a pair of landsharks, goaded on by a voice we couldn't see. The boy had been out watching goats when he fell asleep, along with his goats, and woke up in the middle of this field. He froze and hid when he heard something thump up from under the rocks. We visited the third drop, found more straps, and hid messages of our own. We told them the "Lastwall war party" - us - was leaving town because the leader was killed. No more raiding farmsteads, switch to searching for the entrance. And that "the dwarf" - their contact within the village - had been misleading them, to kill the dwarf.

We brought the messages back to town to decode, but then got wrapped up in preparations for yesterday's travels and plans. I believe our Mage has them and may be decoding them even now. The rest of the group peeled off the road into the countryside around Rustknoll to patrol and protect the town.

We also found there is a fox enrolling awakened trees to watch the village. It watched us for a time without offering to attack, but I sent it off so our more, uh, defensive party members didn't slay it. A Quickling is definitely our enemy, and we can't see or stop it. We are very unpopular with certain factions in town who seem to be actively undermining us... seem? By Sarenrae, they [b]are![/b][/quote]

Sahar takes a moment to calm herself, then continues:

[b]"In summary, we believe:

• The nearby mine still had something of value within when it was shut down 3 centuries ago, something the orcs seek.
• The Outcasts/Blacktusks are the remainders or descendants of Blacktusk's crew, who kept the tradition of claiming outcasts and focusing on fighting smart, not ferociously. They are the ones seeking the mine.
• Whatever is in the mine, the Blacktusks think it will allow them to make better weapons, the better to kill everyone with. Szuriel is not particular about who dies, just that it's done in correct, smart military fashion. If they are bound together by Szuriel worship, this could be a very large effort.
• The Blacktusk search parties are operating independently and use the message drops to communicate between the groups and recieve orders from their commanders.
• The Blacktusks have alchemists to brew weapons for them, as well as to experiment on grafting onto the living to change them. They may also have been involved in polluting Rickan's cellar with the destructive mold and injecting his cat with poison... well, at least the mold.
• The Blacktusks have druids or shamans, someone who can reincarnate their dead into a new form. This would help build loyalty and make spies who can walk among us without notice. They may have been spreading among the people here for years without us being any the wiser.
• The Bloodtalons have changed since the arrival of the new, masked witch doctor. It was daring to try to steal the magic of something as powerful as that Acorn. The new shaman may be a force to be reckoned with.
• The [i]Pax Rickan[/i] has gone by the wayside since the witch doctor's - Helgu, I think - arrival and the normal pressures of new orc tribes entering the area.
• We don't know why villagers or the quickling are against us, unless... We should probably speak Orcish to Norfin - the innkeeper's malicious assistant - and see if he responds to it automatically. I could certainly see him being a reincarnated orc![/b]

Sahar takes a deep breath and sits back in her chair. With a half-smile at Costin, she says, [b]"Did I miss anything? Besides all the fighting? Oh, and did you wish to join us?"[/b]