The Root of the Problem - Group 3 - Session 5
from the game session held on 15 February, 2023
General Summary
The party continues its search for any signs of the mysterious "they" - the entities behind the cursing of the public well in Karnstown and the ones that the witch Fenric Morrikarn threatened would seek revenge for his capture. They have been searching in the forested foothills to the west of Stannilode, not knowing exactly who or what they were looking for. Their efforts have taken them beyond the marked trails leading to the various mines that supplied Stannilode; they were now traveling in the unmarked wilderness of the forested foothills of the Iron Mountains.
As they neared the top of a tree-covered hill, the sounds of combat reached their ears - it was coming from beyond the crest of the hill. Creeping forward carefully to the crest, they looked down the far slope to see another band of Gnolls. These were pre-occupied with their assault on what seemed to be a poorly defended creature, albeit a quite muscular creature that stood nearly ten feet (3m) tall and was swinging a length of tree branch like a club to fend off the axe-wielding attackers. An Ogre, the party believed.
The two motionless Gnolls lying at the Ogre's feet suggested that it was faring well, but the several arrows protruding from it - including one that seemed to be trailing wisps of smoke - suggested otherwise. In addition to the two axe-wielders in close combat, there were two others standing off with shortbows, while another - apparently the leader - literally barked orders in the yipping hyena-like language of the Gnolls. One more Gnoll also stood apart - this one seemed to be a spellcaster, and indeed the Ogre's legs seemed to be entangled in a mass of unnaturally writhing vines. The party arrived just in time to see one of the axe-wielders score a significant blow on the hapless creature.
The group fanned out and approached quietly at first. Gambit the Goblin alchemist scrambled up a tree and readied her hand crossbow. Tom offered a quick tune to grant extra protection to Dhhraangg before also advancing to see if he could aid the creature believed to be an Ogre. Dhraangg the Half-Orc Champion readied his bow and fired, but the arrow whizzed by the head of the Gnoll spellcaster before slamming into a tree. Gambit's first bolt struck the sergeant, but apart from getting the creature's attention, it didn't do much damage. Kleone ran forward to the top of a ledge - in full sight of the attackers, and shouted to the leader to get its attention before casting a Ray of Frost that missed its target.
The Gnoll Seergeant spun and fired his bow at the exposed Halfling druid, scoring a devastating hit. After barking orders for the others to finish off the Ogre, it then drew its viscious-looking scimitar and began purposefully walking up the hill to face the party. Tom, seeing Kleone's distress, changed course and directed a healing tune toward his Halfling companion. The Gnoll spellcaster's attention also turned toward the party, and suddenly the vines, grasses, twigs, and branches all around Kleone came to life and began grasping at the Halfling's legs.
Meanwhile, a mighty blow from the Ogre's club was enough to finish off one attacker, and the backswing took out another. The one remaining axe-wielder saw this and dropped its axe while backing off, attempting to ready its bow to fight from a distance.
Gambit fired again, and missed. Dhraangg dropped his bow, drew his two-handed sword, and charged straight for the Gnoll Sergeant, leaping off a ledge as he attempted to crash down on it with a powerful two-handed attack. This succeeded in doing some damage to the Sergeant, but unfortunately Dhraangg ended up doing more damage to himself as the sword rebounded and slashed at its own wielder.
The Ogre closed on the attacker that was backing away, striking it with her club. This Gnoll - too close for a bow shot, and bereft of a melee weapon, struck out attempting to bite the Ogre before backing further away. The Gnoll Sergeant struck at Dhraangg with its scimitar, slashing a nasty gash into the Champion. Gambit fired again - and missed again, but got the spellcaster's attention. A magical arrow shot forth from the spellcaster's hand into the tree that was concealing Gambit. Though the arrow missed, it passed close enough to the Goblin for Gambit to smell the distinctive odor of the powerful acid that the arrow's magic carried. Kleone, refreshed a bit by Tom's Soothing song, hurled a mote of fire at the Sergeant, but this, too, missed its target. Tom moved forward and sang the same song of Soothing, this time directed at the Ogre who seemed to be very near collapse.
The Ogre managed to catch up with and dispatch the last bow-wielder that had been accosting her, while a combination of Dhraangg's sword and a finally accurate Ray of Frost from Kleone proved too much for the Sergeant, who dropped at Dhraangg's feet. The spellcaster, seeing this, quickly cast a Darkness spell centereed on Dhraangg to conceal its retreat before turning to run. The fearful yipping sounds of the spellcaster and the lone remaining (now weaponless) Gnoll quickly retreated into the forest.
The party turned its attention to the Ogre, with Tom offering a bit more healing music. The Ogre identified herself as Kronoo, explaining she was just out "doing chores for her aunties". She politely declined offers of assistance, though, saying "aunties want Kronee to do own work". The Ogre explained that "aunties" were three very old "little people like you" that lived in a cabin in the forest not far from here. The Ogre declined to lead the party there, saying she still had to finish her chores, but she did provide directions.
And so, the party left the Ogre behind and set out. While on their way, though, something they had noticed earlier suddenly "clicked" in their minds. As the group spoke with the Ogre, they noticed that Kronoo was wearing some sort of pendant or talisman that seemed crudely made of woven twigs and was fastened to a thin leather cord around her neck. Its crudeness didn't seem out of place on the Ogre, so they didn't really pay attention. But shortly after setting out to follow Kronoo's directions, they realized they had seen a similar pendant before -- on the neck of Fenric Morrikarn.
The directions led to a cabin made of thatch in a cut clearing in the forest about a mile or so from where the combat occurred. Next to the cabin was a large lean-to that looked like it was intended for the Ogre. There was no sign of the "aunties", though smoke was coming from the hole at the top of the conical roof that topped the circular cabin.
Sergeant's scimitar
Sergeant's composite shortbow (18 arrows)
Sergeant's hide armor
5 Gnollish battleaxes and shortbows (43 arrows total)
5 sets of Gnollish hide armor
12 days of edible rations
Kronoo the Ogre
As they neared the top of a tree-covered hill, the sounds of combat reached their ears - it was coming from beyond the crest of the hill. Creeping forward carefully to the crest, they looked down the far slope to see another band of Gnolls. These were pre-occupied with their assault on what seemed to be a poorly defended creature, albeit a quite muscular creature that stood nearly ten feet (3m) tall and was swinging a length of tree branch like a club to fend off the axe-wielding attackers. An Ogre, the party believed.
The two motionless Gnolls lying at the Ogre's feet suggested that it was faring well, but the several arrows protruding from it - including one that seemed to be trailing wisps of smoke - suggested otherwise. In addition to the two axe-wielders in close combat, there were two others standing off with shortbows, while another - apparently the leader - literally barked orders in the yipping hyena-like language of the Gnolls. One more Gnoll also stood apart - this one seemed to be a spellcaster, and indeed the Ogre's legs seemed to be entangled in a mass of unnaturally writhing vines. The party arrived just in time to see one of the axe-wielders score a significant blow on the hapless creature.
The group fanned out and approached quietly at first. Gambit the Goblin alchemist scrambled up a tree and readied her hand crossbow. Tom offered a quick tune to grant extra protection to Dhhraangg before also advancing to see if he could aid the creature believed to be an Ogre. Dhraangg the Half-Orc Champion readied his bow and fired, but the arrow whizzed by the head of the Gnoll spellcaster before slamming into a tree. Gambit's first bolt struck the sergeant, but apart from getting the creature's attention, it didn't do much damage. Kleone ran forward to the top of a ledge - in full sight of the attackers, and shouted to the leader to get its attention before casting a Ray of Frost that missed its target.
The Gnoll Seergeant spun and fired his bow at the exposed Halfling druid, scoring a devastating hit. After barking orders for the others to finish off the Ogre, it then drew its viscious-looking scimitar and began purposefully walking up the hill to face the party. Tom, seeing Kleone's distress, changed course and directed a healing tune toward his Halfling companion. The Gnoll spellcaster's attention also turned toward the party, and suddenly the vines, grasses, twigs, and branches all around Kleone came to life and began grasping at the Halfling's legs.
Meanwhile, a mighty blow from the Ogre's club was enough to finish off one attacker, and the backswing took out another. The one remaining axe-wielder saw this and dropped its axe while backing off, attempting to ready its bow to fight from a distance.
Gambit fired again, and missed. Dhraangg dropped his bow, drew his two-handed sword, and charged straight for the Gnoll Sergeant, leaping off a ledge as he attempted to crash down on it with a powerful two-handed attack. This succeeded in doing some damage to the Sergeant, but unfortunately Dhraangg ended up doing more damage to himself as the sword rebounded and slashed at its own wielder.
The Ogre closed on the attacker that was backing away, striking it with her club. This Gnoll - too close for a bow shot, and bereft of a melee weapon, struck out attempting to bite the Ogre before backing further away. The Gnoll Sergeant struck at Dhraangg with its scimitar, slashing a nasty gash into the Champion. Gambit fired again - and missed again, but got the spellcaster's attention. A magical arrow shot forth from the spellcaster's hand into the tree that was concealing Gambit. Though the arrow missed, it passed close enough to the Goblin for Gambit to smell the distinctive odor of the powerful acid that the arrow's magic carried. Kleone, refreshed a bit by Tom's Soothing song, hurled a mote of fire at the Sergeant, but this, too, missed its target. Tom moved forward and sang the same song of Soothing, this time directed at the Ogre who seemed to be very near collapse.
The Ogre managed to catch up with and dispatch the last bow-wielder that had been accosting her, while a combination of Dhraangg's sword and a finally accurate Ray of Frost from Kleone proved too much for the Sergeant, who dropped at Dhraangg's feet. The spellcaster, seeing this, quickly cast a Darkness spell centereed on Dhraangg to conceal its retreat before turning to run. The fearful yipping sounds of the spellcaster and the lone remaining (now weaponless) Gnoll quickly retreated into the forest.
The party turned its attention to the Ogre, with Tom offering a bit more healing music. The Ogre identified herself as Kronoo, explaining she was just out "doing chores for her aunties". She politely declined offers of assistance, though, saying "aunties want Kronee to do own work". The Ogre explained that "aunties" were three very old "little people like you" that lived in a cabin in the forest not far from here. The Ogre declined to lead the party there, saying she still had to finish her chores, but she did provide directions.
And so, the party left the Ogre behind and set out. While on their way, though, something they had noticed earlier suddenly "clicked" in their minds. As the group spoke with the Ogre, they noticed that Kronoo was wearing some sort of pendant or talisman that seemed crudely made of woven twigs and was fastened to a thin leather cord around her neck. Its crudeness didn't seem out of place on the Ogre, so they didn't really pay attention. But shortly after setting out to follow Kronoo's directions, they realized they had seen a similar pendant before -- on the neck of Fenric Morrikarn.
The directions led to a cabin made of thatch in a cut clearing in the forest about a mile or so from where the combat occurred. Next to the cabin was a large lean-to that looked like it was intended for the Ogre. There was no sign of the "aunties", though smoke was coming from the hole at the top of the conical roof that topped the circular cabin.
The session ended here.
Missions/Quests Completed
The party rescued Kronoo the Ogre from the Gnoll hunting party, defeating most of the attackers and driving off two.Rewards Granted
The Gnolls weren't carrying much:Characters Interacted With
Gnoll Hunting Party (Sergeant, Shaman, four Hunters)Kronoo the Ogre
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