Ogres, Hostages, and the Mine
" On the road to Silverton, our party encountered a well-armed group of soldiers. Their leader, a distraught merchant by the name of Yorick, explained that ogres had ransacked a caravan of his and taken several captives -- including his niece. He asked for our aid, and added that he was wealthy enough to compensate us for the effort. We agreed to help Yorick.
While tracking the ogres, we came upon the body of one of the fallen. Valicus remained behind to tend it, while the rest of us proceeded to follow the ogres’ trail to a nearby abandoned mine. Once there, Yorick remained a short distance away along with the several soldiers in his employ, allowing us to scout ahead.
Pressing against the entrance to the cave, I heard a group of the creatures about 15 feet from the tunnel’s entrance. By the sound, I estimated 3 to 5. I did not venture closer, knowing as I did that the ogres would be able to see in the dark, while I could not. I returned to the others, who had concealed themselves behind a rockfall.
Upon hearing my report, Marcel regaled us with a story of a blue ogre who took over a town and ruled as king among his kind. However, sometime during the story, it was discovered that the ogres were approaching. One in particular was coming close to the rocks we were hiding behind. Apparently, the ogres had heard us.
Robert asked whether we could take them by surprise, and seemed eager to engage them. Marcel suggested distracting the ogres with a loud noise. Suraliha watched quietly in her accustomed manner. I admit I was uncertain. Though I had encountered ogres before, it was with a team of experienced trackers and foresters beside me. I suspected distracting would be more successful. A loud noise, however, seemed like it would draw the ogres toward our group. I knew I was the fastest, and decided to move, distracting the creatures away from the rest of the party. Running from cover, I took a shot at the closest ogre. I did not expect it would be much wounded, but an arrow would draw its attention. As planned, the other ogres noticed me and began to take chase. Three of them from the cave followed me, while the first one stood before the pile of rocks, seemingly surprised.
Suraliha was the first to leap from behind the pile of rocks to strike. She stabbed her blades deep in its chest and withdrew swiftly, while Robert followed with a blow of his own, cleaving the ogre from shoulder to hip. I concentrated on distracting the other three ogres, firing another arrow into their midst. Two, however, would not be distracted and heading toward the two. The paladin avoided the blow of a club, while Suraliha deftly scissored the ogre’s head off with her twin blades. Meanwhile, Marcel began singing an uplifting tune about a toothpick hero. It was strangely catchy, though the ogres did not seem to appreciate it. The creatures struck at the two swords-wielding warriors, who returned the favor by slicing them up into ribbons. By this time, Valicus had completed his ceremony and rejoined the party. Robert consulted with the wizard, catching him up on what we had done.
Meanwhile, I noticed something peculiar inside the mouth of the cave I had not noticed earlier. It was a slab of bacon, presumably from the caravan. Though it had been gnawed on, I picked it up to show the group later, and proceeded further into the cave. There was a lot of noise from the ogres, and the echoes made them sound distant, as if on a lower level. It seemed there were several. I did not scout in detail, however, deciding to return to the others and warn them. When I returned, there was some discussion of what to do. It was decided I would lead Valicus into the tunnel where he would then cast a spell to draw them out.
The interior of the cavern was as dark as I had feared, and we remained mostly silent for fear of being overheard… if the ogres didn’t hear him sneaking first. But I led Valicus into the tunnel, using the wall as a guide. He tapped my shoulder at one point, and I presumed he was going to cast his spell when he was within a proper range. Meanwhile, I noted a flickering on the wall. Lacking any means of communicating with the wizard in the cave, I moved forward, expecting I would be able to return quickly.
The tunnel sloped slightly, and the wall ended about 100 ft from the entrance. I switched to the opposite wall and edged closer. There I detected a wooden ramp, and a large cavern. The captives were chained to a forge, being harassed by the ogres. I then decided to return to the others...
...Valicus was already at the entrance, having decided not to cast his spell while I was inside. Once we were assembled (and after some discussion), he cast his spell at the entrance to the cavern, running out as, the ogres poured forth. Another battle ensued, this time with Robert and Suraliha standing at the entrance, Marcel and myself firing arrows, and Valicus summoning a large ethereal hound to assist us. 8 ogres appeared, and were dispatched as their fellows had been earlier.
After a message spell cast by Valicus, I again scouted inside. A scream alerted us, so I ran into the cavern. Inside, I found a large insect-like creature known as an Umber Hulk. I had heard of them, but this was the first time I had encountered one. I was not able to communicate with it, and it was approaching the prisoners. I contacted Valicus.
The rest of the party apparently heard the screams as well and entered the cave. We engaged the Hulk. Though it cast a spell of some sort, we were able to fight it off and eventually defeat it, thanks to the blades of Suraliha and Robert.
We freed the hostages, who were grateful for the release. Valicus, Marcel, and myself proceeded to accompany the hostages to the entrance, while Suraliha and Robert checked for any further threats. Apparently there were none, but the Hulk's digging had unearthed some sort of tomb. Robert returned to the mine entrance, while Suraliha and myself explored inside. We found an urn of ashes, and an engraved stone box with an ornate sword within. Suraliha and I intended to take the items back for Valicus to examine.
The swordbox posed no problem, but touching the urn resulted in a loud, painful shout in some sort of Goblin language. It was a swear, of sorts. "Thief", "betrayer", "bastard" or the like. The sound affected Suraliha, so we returned to the entrance of the cavern, bearing the sword and urn. We did not have a chance to discuss the sword or urn with Valicus, for we had all been invited by Yorick to return to Silverton with him. We accepted.
Before the party rested for the night, the topic of the sword was brought up. Thanks to magical intervention, writing on the sword was deciphered to, "Strike ever true against the ancient foe" and "the force and the hope of we the people of this kin", the inscription on the box was, "Here is the tool of Yeverex. Let him take it on his great journey and let him bless us, his kin, when he reaches its end." and the urn was revealed as the remains of Yeverex."