The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 019

Gameplay Date 08-26-07

Players present: Mordek, Taneus

Mordek has a second shadow

As I'm heading for Corna's General Store, I pass by Zelnus's Armory & Weapon Shop and I suddenly have a moment of inspiration. I stop at Zelnus's place and inquire if he has any warhammers, the favored weapon of Moradin. He pulls two out to show me... the first is a very finely crafted piece of death-dealing beauty... oh I really want this one! The other one is just an average quality hammer, though it has been given a very high polish... probably to try and jack up it's price. Doesn't matter... it'll suit my needs just fine. Looking around, I also spot a halfling sized dagger... a bit easier to conceal... and a large steel shield bearing the symbol of Moradin upon it. I tell Zelnus that I'll take the shield, dagger and the polished hammer now, and that I have an ornate morning-star back in my room at the Inn that I'd like to offer in trade towards the other hammer he showed me. I give him enough gold to cover the first 3 items, and a few more gold to reserve the other hammer until I can return.

As I head out with my new purchases, making sure the hammer and shield are visible, I can see on the horizon that we're in for another stormy night. Looks like I need to hurry up before the rains start. I make my way next door to the General Store, where I'm greeted by a woman I assume to be Corna. She welcomes me to her store, saying she has just about anything I could need... except for tools... as they've all been appropriated for use on building the stairs and dock. I tell her that I'm in need of ink, a quill and several sheets of parchment. It doesn't take her long to gather them up for me and I thank her for her quick service as I pay her for her goods. I tell her that I will most likely be back for a few more things after concluding some business I have at the High Temple tomorrow morning. As I'm leaving, she tells me to stop back in anytime. Now that I've got the means, I start heading back to the Stone's Throw Inn where I can sit in relative peace as I draw up some floor plans for a completely fictitious temple.

Along the way though, I manage to catch a glimpse of someone eyeing me. As I keep walking, I occasionally spot him as he is following along in my wake. I stop at one of the local vendor's shops so that I can turn around without being too obvious and manage to get a better look at the guy. He's a 5' tall, lithe human, wearing a cloak and whole lot of daggers slung across his chest. OK then... either it's a thief looking to rob a new traveler in town, or I didn't completely win over Aglim and he's got someone keeping an eye on me. Well, I'm just gonna continue with my little ruse and keep heading for the Inn, but I'm keeping a tight grip on my new shield, just in case. Back at the Inn, I grab a table and an ale and set about drawing my plans for a Temple of Moradin. But where to begin... taking a swig of my ale and setting it back down, my eyes fell upon the hammer I had just purchased that I had set down on top of the table. Another wild inspiration hit me, and I laid the hammer on the floor next to my foot. Looking down on it, I started sketching out it's shape. Once I had that, the other details started coming a lot easier.

As I was ordering another ale, I noticed that it had started raining outside... hope my shadow's keeping himself dry... assuming he's even still out there. Taneus eventually showed back up at the Inn. He shook the rain off of his cloak, ordered some food from Kaela and started making his way over as if to sit with me at my table. But I catch his eye and give a small shake of my head and a slight tilt of it toward the next table. Taneus caught my meaning and he sat at the other table, close enough to hear each other but with his back to me so it didn't look like we knew each other. We traded a bit of information back & forth using quiet whispers, but each of us concentrating on the stuff in front of us. I gave Taneus the high lights of my time with Aglim and that he's after someone or something in his basement. Taneus told me that the leader of the local thieves group, the Grey Fingers, is someone called Malward the Mad. That there are 10 "Fingers" and that they work for the highest bidder... most likely Aglim's group given the situation in town.

The evening shift is getting off work now and starting to come in for dinner. They're all grumbling and complaining about having to pull up loads and loads of rocks from down the cliff face. I decide to call it a night and gather up all of my things, freeing the table for the tired townspeople. I head up to the separate room I had gotten for myself and drop off most of my things. Then I listened at the door until I heard someone opening the door of our other room. Slipping out of my room, I quietly snuck into Taneus's room before he could close the door. I tell him I'm gonna be two rooms away tonight and that I had someone following me earlier, and that I was half expecting them to show up again during the night, perhaps just to rob me as I slept. I asked to borrow his crossbow, and grabbed mine from this room too. Quietly going back to my room, I propped up the loaded crossbows to aim at both the door and the window, then ran some string from the triggers to the bed where I would be "asleep." Then I settled in to wait for my guest to arrive... sure hope he shows up soon... I wanna get some sleep.

To be continued...

Sorry

I would like to apologize, I prostrate myself before you and beg your humble forgiveness and cast myself upon your mercy.
Ya, whats life without a lil theatrics. Anyway, with the arrival of Jace, and the Veteran Affairs' abominable scheduling tactics and of course work, I haven't had much time for game, both at the table and in preparations. For this I apologize and hope to get back on track soon.

The CoC is approaching and Mordek is incarcerated or eviscerated I can't remember which, at this point maybe both. I have 2 gaming sessions that need to be put up on the Chronicles and I will try to get that done as soon as possible because Travin has missed a session and I'd like for him to be up to speed. I hope to update some maps for the Chronicles of Mordek as right now they look like ogre offal. And more importantly I've got to regroup a bit, I've been so concerned with the micro that I haven't focused much on the macro(perhaps I should run for public office). By this I mean the CoC and the goings on in Straggor, What started off as a side quest has kinda taken on a life of its own. This is no big deal nor is it a problem its just that I hadn't really prepared for it to become such a journey. Remember this is your world and you go and do what you want and sometimes the party throws me an unexpected curve ball. First off, if you ever catch me leading you around by the nose through "your world" call me on it. Second, I think its great that this happens, I try to plan for every contingency and feel I've got a pretty good handle on what people are going to do but occasionally, I'm left scratching my head. Recent example would be Mordek riding a dead guy right to prison.

Anyway I'll try to get these things done, get organized and get this train back on track. Thank you for you patience.

Map of Nerom, on the Island of Wolfguard

I'm not sure how big the map will actually display, so you may not be able to make out all of the numbers. In any event, here is the list of prominent buildings in Nerom.

1. The High Temple

2. The Grove - serving the temples of Obad-Hai and Corellan Larenthian

3. The Temple of Wee Jas and the graveyard

4. The Temple of St. Cuthbert

5. The Temple of Pelor

6. The Temple of Hextor

7. The Temple of Erythnul

8. Corna's General Store

9. The Stone's Throw Inn

10. The Scarlett Jester

11. Zelnus's Armory & Weapons Shop

12. Vidgath's "Once Owned" Shop

13. Briar's Stables

14. Kelper's Wagon Shop

15. The Flaming Priest Tavern

16. The Voulder Mynstral Eatery & Tavern

17. Zeliath's Smithy

18. The Monk's Wagon Tavern

19. The Chalice & Mace Tavern

20. The Golden Shrine Tavern

21. The Temple of Olidammara (not pictured), about 1 mile outside of town on the road to Teryll

22. Future site of the Temple of Mordek... err... Moradin

Monsters we have encountered

Back in Vol. 002, we faced a ghoul.

In Vol. 004, we faced goblins and worgs.

In Vol. 005, we faced a swarm of Stirges.

In Vol. 006, we encountered a Dire Wolf, but faced off against a pack of wolves.

In Vol. 007, we met Jade, a young green dragon.

In Vol. 008, we butchered an Ankheg.

In Vol. 011, we had to deal with some skeletons and zombies.

In Vol. 013, Merrick showed us his true nature, that of a Were-Rat.

In Vol. 016, some of us were captured by ogres.

In Vol. 018, there are lots of orcs running around town.

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 018

Gameplay Date 08-26-07

Players present: Mordek, Taneus

Nerom's in need of another temple

Well before dawn, Taneus & I wake and start talking about what we're gonna do today. While we're talking, I pull out my toolkit and start tying some of the picks and wires into the underside of my beard... just in case I need them at odd times. Taneus says that he's just going to blend into the crowd. I tell him that I intend to head back outside the city a little ways, then renter as if coming from Bumfor. That I plan on posing as a representative of the Temple of Moradin in Bumfor, looking to purchase land and begin drawing up plans for a Temple of Moradin to be built there in Nerom. That I was going to allude to a team of dwarven craftsmen following in a few days to begin the actual construction. And that I was doing all of that to gain as much information as I could as to what they were actually doing, and at the same time, hopefully I'd be in a position close to the ones in charge if the time came to knife 'em. Taneus kinda gave me a dubious look, as we would each be on our own at times, but at least he knew what I was going to be up to. So while it was still dark and not many people were out and about yet, I left the room and quietly left the Inn and headed southeast along the road to Bumfor.

I didn't go too far, so that when the first horn of the morning sounded, I started to make my way back in to town. As I got closer, I could see that a crowd was gathering around the reflecting pool in front of the HIgh Temple, so I made my way over to join them. There is a raised dais at the northern end of the pool, most likely where speakers can address the crowd and be seen by all. There are also over a dozen orcs about, either serving as a guard near the podium or wandering around the edges of the crowd. When the horn sounds for a second time, the doors of the High Temple open and out come 2 men. One is silver haired and is carrying a military style helm in one arm, while the other is dark haired and steps forward when they both reach the top of the dais. From the hushed whispers of townspeople near me, I find out that the silver haired man is named DeGarren and the dark haired man is named Aglim, and that they are followers of Erythnul. All around me, the people look very tired and very dirty, probably from just getting off work on the stair project.

ORC

Aglim starts addressing the crown, with the usual platitudes and inspirational speeches to inform everyone of the progress they've made and praising them all for their hard work. He also comments that soon, Teryll would no longer have the monopoly on trade goods from other lands. No longer would they be forced to pay the high tariffs and fees to have goods sent here overland. At that, Taneus raised his voice to speak from the crowd. He told everyone that Teryll had recently gone through some major changes within their city government and that they were doing away with the huge tariffs. The crowd murmurs for a bit, but Aglim gets their attention again and finishes off his speech. As he and DeGarren turn to leave the dais, the horn blows for a third time and the townspeople start to disperse. The orcs move in and start grabbing people from the departing crowd for the next shift of workers on the stairs. I catch a glimpse of two of them as they are approaching Taneus, but I missed whatever it was he did to suddenly make them think twice and leave him alone. I spot Luvana in the crowd, along with a few other priests of Obad-Hai, and make my way over to her. She seems excited and even has some information for us. She's found out that the Temple of Pelor has been serving as a hospital for the weak, weary and injured townspeople. Then she explains that the orcs we see around town are from the "Crimson Spears," a savage tribe from Daegus Woods, which is west of Nerom, and that she and others from her Temple are heading out tonight on a mission to prevent any more of them from coming into town. I wish them well as they turn to leave, then I turn and start putting my plan in to motion.

There are still a few townspeople hanging about, mostly those that had just gotten off of work. I wander over to a few of them and introduce myself, and ask them if they could help a newcomer with some information. I ask them where I might find a blacksmith and a carpenter. They direct me toward Briar's Stables, as Zeliath's smithy is just north of it and Kelper's wagon shop is just south of it. They also warn me about the Scarlet Jester, which is a little bit further north than Zeliath's place, that it's a very seedy and wild place with a new woman in charge of running it, and that lots of people have been disappearing from there of late. I thank them for their warnings, then ask if there's an Inn where I might get a room for a few days. They point me toward the Stone's Throw Inn back on the south edge of town. I tell them I must've missed it as the gathering they had this morning drew my attention as I came into town. Finally I ask them whom in town I would need to speak to about purchasing some land. They tell me to speak with Aglim, the dark haired man that was on the dais, and that I could probably find him at the High Temple.

I thank them graciously for their time and head in the direction of the Stone's Throw Inn, where I greet Kaela again and pay for a second room, just 2 doors down the hall from the first room I was sharing with Taneus. Then I swing by both Zeliath's smithy and Kelper's wagon shop to let them know I may have need of their goods and services in the very near future regarding a new temple being built, and that I was on my way to the HIgh Temple to secure some land. And that was where I went next. With the renewed sounds of hammers coming from behind the High Temple, I stepped up to the two grand double doors at it's front. They were 10' high with stained glass designs set into them. I opened one and stepped inside, only to be greeted by an orc asking me what I was doing here. Even though he was being a bit gruff, I politely told him my name and that I was told by the local townspeople that Aglim was the person to see about purchasing land in Nerom, and that I could most likely find him here. The orc looks me over, then tells me to remain here as he walks off to relay my message. I casually look around to take in my surroundings... there are several doors on this level as well as a 15' wide staircase leading upward to a second floor balcony hallway with many more doors along it's one wall. Soon, the orc comes back to take his post again, and Aglim is coming out of one of the first floor rooms. We introduce ourselves to each other, then he asks me about this land that I'm interested in. I tell him that I don't have anything particular in mind, that I'm merely here on behalf of the Temple of Moradin in Bumfor. That for quite a while now, our elders have been wanting to expand and build a new temple in Nerom, especially since nearly every other religion is represented, and having heard that Nerom is about to become a thriving port town, they felt the time was right. I told Aglim that I was sent ahead to broker some land, and start the groundwork by meeting with local artisans about materials for construction. And that in a few days, a group of dwarven masons would be arriving to begin the construction in earnest. I told Aglim that I hope I wasn't being presumptuous as I had already spoken with the local smithy and carpenter as I passed by their places of business on my way here.

Another orc then rushed over from a door off to our right and interrupted us. Aglim excuses himself for a moment, then wanders a little ways away to speak quietly with the orc. As I stood there looking around, admiring the temple's architecture & design, I did my best to listen in. The orc whispered to Aglim in the orc tongue, but that wasn't a problem as fortunately I can speak it myself. "Nothing's working... we can't breach it!" Aglim's whispered reply was, "Tear down the wall!! I want that bitch out of my basement!!" The orc runs off again and Aglim walks back over to me, apologizing for the interruption. He quickly gets back to the topic of the dwarven masons, asking how many we might expect and when they would be arriving... good... he seems to be taking the bait! So I tell him that there were about 15 masons that were preparing for the job when I had departed from Bumfor, and that it would probably take them about 2-3 days yet before they and their equipment would be arriving. Aglim seems happy as he mulls that over. So then I steer the conversation back to the land we would like to purchase, and I ask him if there are any lots available either within or on the outskirts of the town. He tells me he'll have to check the city plots, and that if I'd like to come back tomorrow at this same time, he'd be free to even take me around Nerom and show me what's available. Aglim then asks if I have any idea how big the finished temple would be? I tell him nothing as large as the High Temple we were standing in, maybe more like a quarter of it's size... after all we weren't trying to outdo the Grand Temple in Bumfor... and I give a hearty chuckle. I tell him that I can sketch out a rough floor plan and bring it with me tomorrow when we meet again. Then I ask him if there is a general store around where I could pick up some parchment, ink and a quill. He points me towards Corna's, which is just two buildings to the east, just past Zelnus's Armory & Weaponshop. I shake Aglim's hand, saying thank you and that I'd be back in the morning. As I leave the High Temple, I spotted an offering plate built into the wall near the double doors. I reach into my coin purse and pull out roughly 15 gold pieces and drop them into the plate, looking back to Aglim and saying "May Moradin smile upon what we have started here." I have a sly grin on my face as I walk outside and down the steps of the High Temple and turn toward Corna's General Store.

To be continued...

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 017

Gameplay Date 08-19-07

Players present:  Mordek, Taneus

Arriving in Nerom

We lost pretty much all of the supplies we had been using the cart to transport.  The little bit of food & water that we still had was what we were carrying in our packs.  So we pooled it all together and divided it up amongst the three of us.  The horse was going to have to get by on grass until we could get to Nerom.  Luvana looks terrible, as she's covered in bruises and some minor scrapes from her encounter with the ogre, but she says she'll heal up just fine.  As we continue on our way, we spot some mud & rock houses ahead.  They're surrounded by rock piles to their left and rolling hills to their right.  As we get closer, it appears that no one's home.  We decided to rest for the night in one that still had a full roof to it.  Before the sun sets completely, we managed to spot smoke on the horizon in the direction of Nerom...  must be getting close.  I take the first watch while Taneus & Luvana get some rest and heal up a bit from their injuries.  After a few hours, Taneus wakes and he takes over on watch so I can get some sleep.

When I wake, I'm surprised to find that it is just as dark out as it was when I went to sleep.  Luvana's looking much better than she had been and Taneus is looking at me a bit guiltily.  He then tells me that he slipped a drug down my throat and that I've been asleep for the last 24 hours.  And that while I was unconscious, I turned into a were-rat again during that night's full moon and then reverted back to myself when the day came.  I'm feeling great after having had such a restful sleep, and all of my wounds are completely healed up...  I just wish he would've told me beforehand.  As it's still several hours until dawn...  again...  I take over on watch from Taneus and let him get some sleep for this new night, as Luvana's already conked out.  When morning comes, we gather up our things.  I also left behind a few gold pieces for the owners of the house, should they ever come back, as thanks for us using their house for the last few nights.  We started heading north again, but this time, we followed the river and not the road.  It's near the end of another day when Nerom is finally in sight.  We stop for a minute, as I want to bury most of the money I've brought with me, under a large rock in the river stream...  I don't really wanna have to be watching out for pickpockets too, if Nerom is troubled the way we think it is.

Nerom is situated right next to the cliff edge on the north side of the island of Wolfguard.  As we make our way into town from the south, we can hear the ringing of many, many hammers coming from the north side of town.  Right in the middle of the town is a large reflecting pool, though the 15' tall statue in the middle of it has been toppled over.  Off to our right, we spot a sign on a rather large building...  The Stone's Throw Inn...  so we head there to get some general information about the town.  There's a rather well-worn path leading out from the Inn and right to the Temple of St. Cuthbert just next door.  We tied up our horse just outside, then we opened the door and went in, where we found  4 tables and a woman scrubbing tankards.  She introduced herself as Kaela, and we introduced ourselves to her.  We got a room for the night and asked her if there was a stable where we could board our horse.  She told us to try Briar's Stable, that he's a pretty honest fellow and his stable is just north of the Inn next to Kelper's Wagon Shop.  Luvana asks her where we can find the Temple of Obad-Hai, and Kaela says it is a big grove to the west of the center of town, and that the Temples of Obad-Hai and Corellon Larethian share the grove.

Kaela then warns us about the Grey Fingers, a Guild of Thieves and Assassins that come and go as they please here in Nerom.  She also warns us that the orcs & goblins in town are the muscle for the priests from the Temple of Erythnul, and are constantly rounding people up to work on the staircase dock at the north end of town.  She says, if we're not careful, we'll end up working on them too, and that everyone is basically worked from dawn to dusk with barely any time to rest...  and all for the betterment of Nerom, as the priests are always saying.  She and the other shopkeepers in town are maybe a bit more fortunate, in that they only have to work half a day on the stairs and are then allowed to come back and run their shops for the other half.  Luvana seems a bit anxious to get to the Temple of Obad-Hai, so we thank Kaela for her warnings, telling her we'll be back, then head outside again.  The first thing we do is lead our horse to Briar's Stable to get it boarded.  Briar is more than happy to stable our horse for us, and says it'll cost us 1 gold piece for a week.  A reasonable price, so we pay him, then head to the reflecting pool at the center of town.  From there we walked west until we saw the big grove of trees that Kaela had mentioned.

Inside the grove we found a single, dark cloaked figure.  As we entered the grove, he turned and lowered his hood to reveal that he was human, and with a cleanly shaven head.  He welcomed us to the Temples of Obad-Hai and Corellon Larethian, and introduces himself as Buccor, the head priest of Obad-Hai here in Nerom.  We introduce ourselves as well and tell Buccor that we were escorting our young friend, Luvana, at the behest of Fazu, to the temple in the hopes that she might become a member of their order.  Buccor looks at Luvana appraisingly, then motions her forward into the center of the grove where there is a pool of water.  Together they step into the pool, where they turn to face west.  Buccor speaks a few words of incantation, and then the two of them disappear in a flash of light.  Standing there in the grove with Taneus, I ask him what just happened.  He thinks that Buccor cast a spell of teleportation, that maybe this grove isn't the real temple, but rather the gateway.  Something tells me that Buccor isn't going to be coming back for us anytime soon, so Taneus & I head back to the Stone's Throw Inn to retire for the evening.  When we arrive, there is a crude dagger jammed into the door holding a note in place.  The note is calling for an assembly of all citizens at the High Temple by the first horn of sunrise.  As we went inside, we found Kaela in tears as she was nursing a huge blackened eye.  We asked her what happened and she told us that the orc who dropped off the note wanted to make sure she understood that everyone's presence was required.  She tells us that she'll be alright, that it wasn't the first time it had happened.  She asks if there is anything else we need before we turn in.  Taneus doesn't require anything so he starts to head up to our room.  I had one more question for her though.  I asked her where I might find a Temple of Olidammara in Nerom.  She tells me that it is located about a mile outside of town on the road to Teryll & Salaan.  I already know that there isn't a Temple of Moradin in town.  The mighty stone & iron temple in Bumfor was carved right into the mountains...  Nerom just doesn't have that kind of majesty to work with.  But I was starting to get an idea, one that by the grace of Olidammara, would have the priests of Erythnul thinking that a godsend was dropping right into their laps.  I bid Kaela a good night, then went upstairs to put more thought into my blossoming idea.  Taneus was already in bed, if not asleep when I came in the room.  I went over to the other bed in the room and got ready for sleep myself.  Then I blew out the candles and laid out on my bed, staring up into the blackness and thinking about tomorrow.

To be continued...

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 016

Gameplay Date 08-05-07

Players present:  Mordek, Taneus

Waylaid on the road to Nerom

Well, we managed to get a small campfire going, but it's raining pretty good out there, so we stayed close to our little bit of shelter.  Even over the sound of the rain and in between the thunderclaps, we manage to hear something moving through the grasses.  During the flashes from the lightning, we make out a lot of shapes, until they finally move close enough that we can see that it is just a herd of Bison.  After a little while, they moved on, but the storm clouds didn't...  it continued to rain all night until the pre-dawn hours.  When morning came, we packed up our stuff and got back on the road to Nerom.  Along the way we came across a busted cart...  it looked like it had fallen out of the sky!!  One of it's wheels was still in working condition, so I broke out my toolkit and started to remove it from the busted axle.  Then we loaded it up in the back of our cart as a spare, just in case.  After we got underway again, we soon came across a second busted cart.  We grabbed 4 planks from it that were still in good shape and put them, pointing upward, in the 4 corners of our cart.  Then we took one of our tarps and draped it over the corner posts, then lashed it down to give ourselves a bit of shade while we traveled.  As we put all of that together, we could hear the sound of running water not very far off to the west.  So we headed in that direction to give the horses a chance to rest and get some water.

We're only about 250 feet away from the road when we come across a gully, where the water has carved it's path and now runs along about 5 feet lower than the plains around it.  We found an easy slope where the horses could get down on their own, and then took a break ourselves.  Taneus offers to spar with Luvana to continue her quarterstaff training.  I sit back against the cart and just watch for a while, then make a bet with Luvana for 5 gold pieces that she can disarm Taneus.  Offering her a few pointers on striking the wrist with one end of her staff, then striking quickly with the other end to knock a weapon from that same hand.  She's a quick study, I'll give her that.  It didn't take her long to get the hang of it, and soon Taneus was picking his sword up off the ground.  I happily handed Luvana my gold as she had a big grin on her face.  But before she got too happy, we asked her what she would do if faced with more than just one attacker... then I pulled my weapon and stood on the opposite side of her from Taneus.  Her grin quietly disappeared.  After a while, we finally got back on our way.  We didn't stop again until we decided it was time to camp for the night.

After we had setup our campsite, Taneus & Luvana came over to talk to me.  They're worried that during tonight's full moon, I would be changing into a rat-thing like Merrick.  Taneus then pulls out a pair of manacles from behind his back, and they ask me to disarm...  just in case.  I appreciate their concerns...  and I grudgingly decide to go along with it...  not that I'm liking it one damn bit.  There's a little tree nearby...  and they have me put my arms around it before securing me in the manacles.  I gripe at Taneus that nothing better bite me while I'm stuck like this.  Inwardly, I was cursing that this was Taneus's revenge for every tree-hugging snide comment or thought I'd ever had about elves.  I better not catch him grinning.  Not much else I can do in this position so I lean forward and go to sleep.

I wake up with a burning pain in my...  full...  stomach?  There is a distinct aftertaste of gruel on my tongue and there is some really loud snoring coming from close by.  As I take in my surroundings, I realize a lot has changed...  first off, I'm naked.  I would've pummeled the elf for that, except that I was also not manacled to a tree, nor was I under the open sky on the grassy plains.  I was in a dark corner between a dirt wall and several crates stacked up on top of each other.  The crates seemed to hold a mish-mash of goods, and I manage to find some pants.  Looks like they were made for a human, but I manage to pull them on.  As I finally look out from behind the crates, I spot the source of the snoring.  There are 2 sleeping ogres lying on the dirt floor between me and the mouth of the cave I find that we're all in.  And to make matters worse, Taneus & Luvana are just 5 feet away inside an iron cage.  They're surprised...  and relieved...  to see me...  especially as I'm already inside the cave.  Taneus points me to the key for the cage as it hangs from the belt of one of the ogres.  I also spotted our gear lying nearby.  Grabbing a dagger, I crept as quietly as I could until I was hovering over the sleeping ogre and carefully sliced the cord holding it in place.  Making my way back to the cage, I quietly slipped the key into the lock and grimaced as a click sounded.  Quickly glancing back at the ogres, one of them shifted slightly, but neither of them woke up.  The cage door gave a quiet squeak as we very slowly eased it open.  I motioned for Luvana to start making her way out of the cave as Taneus & I gathered up our equipment.  I started heading out of the cave, thinking that Taneus was following right behind me, but when I got outside and turned to look back, Taneus was hovering over the legs of one of the ogres with a dagger in hand.  As I tried to wave him on, he bent down and sliced the hamstrings of the ogres as they continued to sleep.  They must've been drunk off their arses not to have felt that.  Taneus finally made his way outside, and we're looking around to see where we are.  One of our horses is tied up nearby...  no sign of the other one, nor our cart.  Luvana's already untying the horse to take it with us, then we quietly head away from the ogres and their cave.

Once we're a ways off, we finally ask each other what the hell happened?  I tell them that I don't have a clue...  that I fell asleep manacled to a tree and woke up in the cave...  so Taneus tells me that a few hours into the night, a big rock sailed into the campsite.  He yelled out to wake Luvana and myself, but I had disappeared and the manacles...  and my clothes...  were lying at the base of the tree.  One ogre suddenly appeared and grabbed the yoke of the cart, then started heading off with it.  The other was approaching the horses muttering "meat."  Then he spotted Taneus & Luvana and said "stair builders for the many."  That's when everybody started running, and unfortunately, it was away from the light of the campfire.  As the ogre gave chase, Taneus tried to hold it off, but was knocked unconscious.  Luvana ran blindly through the dark until she fell down into the gulley.  The ogre quickly caught up with her and laughed as he shrugged off her attempts to hold him off with her quarterstaff.  She was knocked out too.  Then they woke up in the cage in the cave watching as the ogres finished off a leg of horse then passed out from drinking a barrel of spirits that came from their pile of loot.

To be continued...