Tuesday, August 2, 2016

(Hackmaster) Burning Trogs Rule! #49: Against ALL the Giants!

Zorin Redrock - Gnome Titan Fighter.  Veteran of the Barbarian Wars, and hero of Marakeikos due to the retaking of Frandor's Keep.
General Fonzy "The Fonz" Schlepprock - Hero of the Siege of Akorros.  In reality a low-level Gnome Titan fighter with a silver tongue.
Janus Redrock - Gnome Titan Priest of Pangrus.  Cousin of  Zorin Gnome Titan of loose morals and a hero of Marakeikos.
"Whitey"  - Albino Halfling Priest of Yondalla.   Zorin's sidekick.
Gwendalyn Lorax  - Half Elf Druid.  Her trials alone in Mer Kasp did not last as long as Cecelia, but they were equally intense and damaging to her psyche. 
Tywuelyn - Pixie Fairy Infiltrator - Gwen's sidekick

14th of NonDec, 1135, Steading of the Hill Giant Chieftain, Danaan
The Trogs got through three watches the night before without incident so the spellcasters  got more than enough sleep and replenish their magic arsenal.

While navigating through the quiet manor, two bugbears wearing chain mail and looking like they mean business, spotted the party, drew weapons, yet did not approach.

Gwen:  Zorin charges in ... He's like that

They came upon a cellblock,  Zorin needed to be used to give Gwen a boost to see through high windows in doors.

The first cell contained a human in one, dressed in rags, hunched over. He only howled upon seeing Gwen.

The second cell held a middle aged man, who identified himself as Marquad.. He's admits that he was trying to be useful to the giants so they wouldn't eat him.  He tells the Trogs where to find the keys, and the Trogs let him out. The hill giants had captured him and his group travelling through the area.  Everyone else had been eaten except for him.  Gwen cleaned him up and spent a considerable amount of time combing his tangled hair.

The third cell was elf, chained to wall, badly burned. His name was Carlino Oakland.  They let him out and equipped him.  He had been part of a raid last year,when he was captured in the great hall. His friends had all been eaten as well.

Fourth cell had three skeletons bound to walls. Each were wearing rings, gold with gems in them.  Upon opening the door, Gwen bolted from the room screaming at the top of her lungs,  while barreling down the halls.  Whitey, Marquad , and Carlino followed suit.  

Once she regained their senses, Gwen stopped to subdue a screaming Carlino, when suddenly Ogres popped out of a room!  The ogres seemed to know who Marquad was, telling tell him it's way too early to start working, much less making any noise after the party last night.  Marquad apologized and recommended the whole group go back to the cells until the Giants were ready.

The Trogs all laughed

From the sounds of things,  the festivities were STILL going on, a peek into the Great Hall showing most of the giant were are still at it.

The silence of the hallway was broken by a screaming Carlino, running down the hallway and chucking a giant javelin through the ogres.  They quickly aid Carlino in killing the ogres, but another ogre from the Great Hall finally comes out to investigate Trogs.  They kill it as well, but  Carlino began demanding for better weapons  On top of that, Whitey was still missing. 

They eventually found Whitey, laying in a pool of blood on the floor. Upon second glance, it appeared he fell narcoleptic into a pot of some red sauce in the kitchen.  Gwen taps him with her quarterstaff and he woke up, quite embarrassed.

The reunited Trogs dashed down some stairs to find a weapons caches in  some underground caverns.

*BOOM*

Carlino found a magical javelin that shoots lightning, and proceeded to wipe out a bugbear patrol with it.

Janus:  It will probably attract everyone in the Steading, not just the bugbear patrol.

Bugbears, ogres, giants, and a few hobgoblins storm into the large chamber in the basement.   There are way too many for even the Trogs, so they hole up in a small armory with no other exits. With Gnome Titan Tactics (Fonzy/Zorin/Janus holding the front line), they stand against the onslaught in the doorway.

Fonzy:  Occasionally one needed to rotate out for healing, but the Gnome Titan trio, under my leadership, slayed many a beast that day.

Not all felt that victory was as guaranteed as when Fonzy spoke of it in later years....

Zorin:  KILL! KILL!  KILL!  By PANGRUS, THESE BUGBEARS JUST KEEP COMING!  KILL !  KILL! KILL!

Upon killing the Bugbear Captain, they created a means of escape through the bodies.  Unfortunately that meant further into the caverns.

Continuing to search the "basement" they found five orcs in a cell.  They claimed that they wanted to revolt,  now that most of the bugbears were dead. The Trogs freed them and the orcs agreed to take them to their leader .  Everyone agrees to a truce to help, in exchange for Evar's head.   The Trogs were led to a common room to clean up and rest.  After a bit, they heard yells from the hallways.  Upon checking it out, a broken orc is thrown over their heads. Three more giants appear, one of them possibly Evar, and nine more bugbears.


They are all slain, Tyweulyn falls as well. 

Evar's head was taken and returned to the Senate.  Danaan formally gave their support.  Tyweulyn was raised and the Ambassadors decided to check in with Barthey.

25th of NonDec, 1135 Barthey City.
The Trogs check in with General Winters.  General Winters was quite pleased.  The War with The Master is holding steady, the coastal cities still showing great resolve.  The group agreed to continue their duties to seek additional aid by visiting Stronghome, land of the halflings, via a check-in at Celsior.

31st of NonDec, 1135, Mirros, Marakeikos
They reached Mirros and were all awarded medals for our defense of Celsior.

36th of NonDec, 1135 Celsior, Marakeikos.
The Trogs arrived in Celsior, being received as the heroes they were.  A great feast was held in their honor.   Cecelia has officially been named Governor General of Vadevincsky.

A  Trog Council was held, and the they welcome Tyweulyn, Carlino Oakland, and Fonzy into the group.  Afterward, a fit and ready Mutumbo announced that he was accompanying them to Stronghome.

In game, there have been some big battles.  The Siege of Felsthenheim and the subsequent retreat back to Frandor's Keep two session, but nothing compared to the pure carnage of the basement combat between the Hill Giant Steading and six very small warriors.   It was fabulous dice-chucking at its finest that lasted one session entire four hour session from start to finish.  I'm certain there are mook rules in modern D&D that alleviate the grind, but it would take away from the exhausting glory that everyone earned as players, much less characters. 

Gnome Titans plus doorway plus their advantage against giants and ogres kept the attackers at bay. It was beautiful.

Next:  Episode #50  The Dragon's Head

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