With only three ogres left standing, the party concentrates their firepower to overwhelm the remaining Kreegs, taking little extra damage in the process. The sounds of battle reverberate through the stone-lined corridors of Fort Rannick’s main floor, threatening to give away the party’s position. Several minutes pass and there isn’t any sign of advancing ogres. Yet.
A quick but thorough investigation of the keep commences, with several party members checking the rooms and the others looting the corpses for equipment and information. Besides the numerous dormitories, Fort Rannick has an armory, workroom, barracks, kitchen, pantry, and ladders leading up to the upper parapets. It’s no surprise that the ogres have done a number on the belongings here, as mostly everything is smashed, destroyed, broken, mangled, or otherwise bamboozled. Of the items on the ogre corpses, the most curious object is a necklace of canine teeth. Theo detects that the item has been enchanted with a powerful scrying spell and he shoves it into a bag to prevent further spying.
The decapitated body thrown by one of the ogres is identified by the Black Arrows as Petter, an amateur poet with a heart of gold. There are plenty of other signs alluding to the carnage and brutality of the Kreegs, including a macabre scene staged by another ogre involving a dead Black Arrow. If nothing else, these ghastly vignettes have impressed upon the party that the horrors that have transpired in the weeks since the ogre assault began. Surviving Black Arrows are nowhere to be seen, but Vale and Jakardros are holding out hope that their commander, Lamatar, is still somewhere in the Fort.
Instead of using the ladders in the towers, the party decides to ascend to the second floor via the stairs to avoid a situation where danger is afoot but everyone is stuck in a choke point. At the top of the stairs, Barnaby scouts ahead and notices three sets of locked doors, the nearest one containing the soft sound of rhythmic tapping coming from the other side. He carefully steps around the smeared blood on the floor and the group quietly discusses a quick plan: Trace will knock on the nearest door and wait until something approaches before opening the door and unleashing an assault. He knocks.
There’s definitely an answer.
From the other side of the door, a loud voice bellows out and all of the doors in the hallway burst open to reveal a total of five ogres; two are relatively nondescript but the other three have distinguishing characteristics to set them apart. The owner of the roaring voice is a strong, hulking ogre with long strands of thick black hair wielding a massive ogre hook in both hands. At the other end of the hallway, one of the ogres has a lower jaw that has been replaced with a metal contraption with sharp, jagged teeth, while the other is a woman with wild, wispy hair to accompany a pink, magical glow.
Theo steps bravely forward and lets a terrifying lightning bolt loose, which is drawn to the metallic jaw of the ogre to the south. Both he and the woman take a direct hit, at which point the metal-mouthed ogre (Hookmaw) charges directly at the source of the electricity with a roar. In a single, mighty swing, Theo’s academic body is sliced in two.
There is no time to mourn while battle rages.
Holding back whatever emotions might be manifesting themselves at the loss of one of their friends (even if, publicly, it was a one-sided friendship…we all know Theo was a big softie), the party is forced to fight for their lives on multiple fronts again. Initial efforts are directed towards Hookmaw in retaliation for ending Theo’s life, and the ogre eventually succumbs to the attacks and falls. Meanwhile, the wild-haired woman has been casting spells and using the wand while the largest ogre continues to dish out massive damage. Unfortunately, Vale is struck down as well, leaving Fobias and Richard open to subsequent attacks. Once Fobias is taken below zero and knocked unconscious, panic starts to set in – is fleeing an option here? Who knows how many ogres have heard them out on the parade grounds? Is the pouring rain enough to deafen the sounds of battle coming from inside the Fort? What if the tunnel is blocked? The risks are too great, but it seems like the party isn’t even considering running seriously. Theo and Vale must be avenged, and Fobias must be saved.
Trace and Barnaby team up to beat down the spellcaster to the south, while Shalelu, Jak, and Krask fire arrow after arrow at the hulking ogre that took down Vale and Fobias. And when the last of the ogres falls, the gravity of the situation kicks in.
Theo is dead. Vale is dead.
Who’s been scrying through the ogres’ eyes? What will the party do with Theo and Jak during the remainder of the assault? Does anyone need a set of crude braces for their teeth?
—
We Done Gone Goofed – Rules Clarifications
Human Bane, a keyword on some weapons, means that extra damage goes through on a successful attack targeting human characters. However, there are explicit racial traits for half-orcs and half-elves (Orc Blood and Elf Blood respectively) that indicates:
- Orc Blood: Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
- Elf Blood: Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Because of this, Fobias would have been susceptible to multiple triggers of the extra damage on the +1 Human Bane Ogre Hook, and the additional damage would likely have caused permanent death. For a sake of argument, 2d6 were rolled, resulting in a 5. Fobias was put down with 7HP to lose before permanent death, and failed at least one Constitution Saving throw. This extra damage definitely could have mattered. It is too late to retroactively apply, however, so Fobias will live.