Theme: The Doctrine of Christ
Type: Sandbox hexmap
Time for us to complete: 22 game sessions.
Session #16
Date in Real Life: Sunday January 30th, 2022
In Game Day: Akhat the 25th of Yuwol (7th day of mission)
Player Characters:
Philip the Raid Leader (commanding his third mission), riding Johny the horse,
Starflower the Lion Warrior (with Regulus the Lion), riding Alogo the horse,
William the Bear Knight (with Bill the Bear and Arled the horse)
Edward the Knight of the Way (1st mission as Knight of the Way), riding Edmur the horse.
Cenbald the Potential (NPC), on his 1st mission.
Milda the Potential (NPC), with Cyna the badger. On her 1st mission.
“The storm is over!” Cenbald called out.
“Looks like the muk got washed away,” Starflower said.
William looked up from where he had taken shelter. “The fog is gone, too. Nice.”
“Let’s keep going,” Philip said, leading the group further up the path.
They walked for another 10 or 20 minutes, shivering a bit in the wind.
“Last time we were on a path like this, we met a giant,” Starflower remembered out loud. “That was our first mission, remember?”
“Yes, I remember. Sense any evil, Philip?” Edward called out.
Philip paused for a moment, then shook his head. “Nope.”
Cenbald nodded his agreement. “Me neither.”
“Good,” William said. “Probably wouldn’t be that easy. Imagine just conveniently meeting the giant on this random path.”
After a few more minutes, the trail widened, then came to a dead end. There were a couple of bones on the ground, but otherwise the trail stopped at a rock face.
“Uh...” Philip said, “Alogo?”
Starflower’s horse looked up.
“Wasn’t there supposed to be a door or something?”
“I’m just as confused as you are,” Alogo replied. “We’ve seen orcs on this trail. I was told it was a back door to the giant’s castle. But I’ve never been up here myself.”
Cyna the badger ran around, sniffing at the walls.
“What is it, Cyna?” Milda asked.
“Hey, there’s something written on the wall, here,” Edward said, coming over to where Cyna was.
“Let me see,” Starflower said. She elbowed her way from the back of the group to get to the rock face.
“Can you read it?” Edward asked.
“Is it the same language we’ve been seeing all over the place?” Philip asked, pulling out his hero spear.
“No,” Starflower shook her head. “This is something different. Looks like a different alphabet. I can’t read this.”
“Looks familiar,” Milda remarked.
“What?” Starflower asked.
“I’m sure I’ve seen stuff like this at the Quartz Academy in town.”
“The one place we didn’t go,” William muttered.
“Yeah, there were some scholars studying some strange languages. I’m sure I’ve seen letters like this, there.”
“So what do we do?” Cenbald asked. “Go back to town and see if they have a dictionary?”
“Maybe we could go ask the horse chieftain?” Alogo suggested.
Edward shook his head. “Or, we assume that there’s a door here, and ask the Overlord to open it for us!”
“Say what?” Cenbald asked.
But Edward was already starting to recite a WordRune.
Matthew 7:7.
Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7.
Everyone jumped back as a crack formed in the rock wall, and a stone doorway swung open. Edward smiled. “Thank you, Overlord,” he said, looking up to the sky.
“It stinketh,” William said, eyeing the dark doorway. Milda pinched her nose.
“Orcs,” Starflower said.
“I’ll go first,” Philip said, pulling out his battle axe. He stepped into the doorframe, and immediately stumbled back, almost tripping backward into Cenbald and William.
“You’re hurt!” Cenbald cried. There was a hilt of a throwing knife buried into his shoulder. A trickle of blood was oozing down.
Philip grabbed the knife and yanked it out, “They’ll pay for that,” he muttered darkly.
“Beware the revenge enchantment!” Starflower shouted. “Milda and I will pray!”
“Right,” Philip handed the knife to William, “Here, free knife.” He got back on his feet and charged into the doorway, his buckler and battle axe ready.
William held the throwing blade uncertainly, momentarily distracted by the sight of Philip’s blood on the blade. “He’s going to get himself seriously hurt one day,” William said. He bent down to clean the blade on a nearby shrub.
Cenbald and Edward charged into the doorway right behind Philip, followed by Bill and Regulus. William straightened quickly, slipped the throwing knife into his belt, and pulled out his daggers. He ran past the praying girls into the gloomy cave.
Edward was glowing, apparently he had recited the night light WordRune so that they could see. William was just in time to see them hacking a fat female orc to the ground.
“There’s some more knives lying around, William. I think they’ll be good for you,” Philip said.
William found one by the doorway, another in the middle of the room, and several more by the dead orc. “Are you hurt?” William asked, counting his new blades. He now had ten throwing knives.
“Nope,” Philip said. “It was just that first one that surprised me. She couldn’t even scratch me when I was ready.”
William looked at the dead body. The orc also had a bone with some meat on it. Smelled like deer meat. “Is that deer meat?”
Philip grabbed the meat out of the dead orc’s hand and took a large bite. “Yep,” he said with his mouth full. “Venison. It’s even cooked.” He swallowed.
“Guess we interrupted her supper,” Edward said.
“This room is clear, ladies!” Cenbald called out the doorway.
Starflower and Milda came in, followed by Cyna and the horses. The horses had to duck their heads to get through the doorway.
“There’s a door,” Edward pointed to the right.
“Sense any evil?” Starflower asked.
Philip and Cenbald both responded at the same time, “Yes!”
“Okay, watch out for throwing knives,” Philip said, standing to the side of the door.
“Shouldn’t you take a healing fig or something first?” Milda asked, looking at the wound on his shoulder with concern.
“Right.” Philip dug into his pack, pulled out a fig, and chewed it thoughtfully. The bleeding stopped moments later.
Philip was feeling better already. Praise the Overlord. “Happy? Okay, everyone out of the way of the door.” Once everyone was in position, Philip reached out, grasping the latch on the wooden door. “Ready?” he asked. Everyone nodded. He pushed the door open and swung himself back out of the way. Nothing happened.
“No knives,” Philip muttered. “Come on out!” Philip called out.
“That you, Dear?” a gruff voice came from within.
Edward shrugged.
“Yes! I’m out of meat! Can you bring me some more?” Philip called, trying to imitate the voice of the female orc.
“Come get it yourself,” was the reply.
“They’re not buying it,” Edward said.
“Too bad the door’s narrow. Cover me,” Philip dashed through the door, his teammates behind him.
He quickly took note of the surroundings. They were entering another dimly lit cavern. Light was coming from a small fireplace at the far end of the room. There were five orcs, here. Four of them were armed with spears and shields. The fifth one, who was the furthest away, was the biggest, meanest looking orc he had ever seen. This one was holding a wicked scimitar. The curved blade was in his hand, and they were all facing the door, ready. No element of surprise here. These guys were waiting for them.
The four with spears closed ranks and came rushing at them.
“I got this guy!” Philip yelled, swinging his axe blade at a random orc. Edward and Cenbald were through the door next, and met the other attackers first.
Philip ducked under a spear thrust, bringing his axe up under the orc’s shield arm. The creature roared in pain, dropping its shield. It attacked again with its spear, but Philip had his buckler in place too quickly. He felt his shield of faith deflecting the blow. Philip brought his battle axe down again, slashing the orc across its torso. The orc tumbled to the ground, and Philip jumped over the carcass to face the huge brute in the back that hadn’t joined the fight, yet. He was vaguely aware that Regulus and Bill had charged into the room by this point and were keeping the other orcs busy.
“AARRGGHH!!” the big orc screamed, turning to face Philip.
Philip raised an eyebrow. “Do you think that can scare me?” he said calmly, “I have the peace of the Overlord. My battle axe can scream louder than that. Want to hear?” He swung his axe with all of his might, slashing an angry gash across the creature’s upper leg.
He was just about to bring his axe back for another blow, when he saw the scimitar slashing down at just the wrong angle. Philip’s arm exploded with pain as the dark blade cut right through his wrist. Philip watched in horror as his battle axe fell to the ground, his right hand still holding the handle. Time seemed to slow down. He felt a wave of rage pass through him, but that was quickly quenched by the feeling of love from his Saviour. His battle axe was a two handed weapon. He couldn’t wield it with just one hand. He was scared to look at the damage to his arm. There would be a bloody stump on the end of his arm. It was already a miracle he hadn’t fainted from the pain, yet.
He looked down, and was surprised to see a hand on the end of his arm. The hand seemed to be glowing faintly with a bluish-purple hue. It reminded him of the colour when a unicorn had last appeared to them near Othrond. Had Starflower and Milda been praying for him at this exact moment when his hand had been cut off? Praise be to the Rescuer of Many Names!
Time had seemed to slow down, but it hadn’t stopped. He suddenly remembered he still had a knife up his sleeve. With a flick of his wrist, the knife was in his hand, and then sailing towards the orc in a quick throw. He could see that Cenbald had just dispatched another orc, and had jumped behind this big chieftain. Help was on the way.
Philip could already feel the shock from his arm subsiding, as he quickly crouched to retrieve his axe. He wasn’t sure if the knife had hurt the brute or not. The Scimitar was arcing wildly, now deflecting Cenbald’s trident, now blocking Bill’s claws. Philip swung his axe at the orc, feeling a moment of satisfaction as he felt the blade bite into the creature’s flesh.
The moment was cut short, as another blow came crashing down on his leg. Philip felt his legs collapse underneath him, and he crumpled to the floor, pain blocking his vision. He couldn’t remember feeling this much pain.
Wait? Was he dreaming? Did that mean he passed out?
“Philip!” Milda cried out, coming into the room with Starflower after the last orc had fallen. Cenbald pulled his trident from the orc chieftain’s corpse and rushed over as well. Bill was wiping his claws on the fallen orc chieftain.
“Where does it hurt?” Cenbald asked. Philip’s horse, Jonny, rushed over as well.
“My leg!” Philip winced. Milda looked down and saw Philip’s leg bent at an unnatural angle. “I think it’s broken!”
Milda felt tears coming to her eyes. “But we were praying!” she weeped.
Starflower came and knelt beside her, pulling out her first aid supplies. “Get him some healing figs, fast,” Starflower commanded. Edward and William pulled out their packs and started looking for figs.
“Thank you for the prayers,” Philip said, squeezing his eyes shut. “They were answered. That orc cut my hand off, but the Overlord instantly healed me.”
“What?” Milda asked, not sure she understood. Philip’s hands looked normal to her.
“Check it out,” Edward said, picking up a bloody hand off the ground. “This is Philip’s.”
“Eeewww,” Milda said.
“Praise the Overlord, but gross, Edward,” Starflower said, wrapping bandages around Philip’s leg.
“I’m going to keep it. You know, in case we need a hand with something.”
William snickered, “Now we have an extra hand.”
“Hey can you give me a hand with this?” Cenbald joined in as he handed a broken orc spear to Starflower.
“Sure,” Edward held out the hand.
“Really, boys? Really?” Milda said. “Philip might have been permanently maimed, and you’re making jokes?”
Edward stopped smiling and stood up straight. “Sorry. I guess it’s just our way of coping with the stress.”
“How long does it take a broken leg to heal?” Philip asked weakly.
“Couple of months,” Starflower grunted as she secured the broken spear handle as a splint to Philip’s leg.
“Great,” Philip said, leaning back.
“We need to get you back to the Liberated Lands,” William said.
“We need to finish the mission first,” Philip said, fire in his eyes. “We’re so close.”
“Maybe Bill can carry you,” Cenbald said.
“Forget it,” Bill replied. “I’m always carrying injured people. It’s someone else’s turn.”
“I’ll carry him,” Jonny vowed. “As soon as we get out of this cave.”
“Is there a way out?” Edward asked, standing up and looking around. “Oh, there’s a stairwell back here. Looks like it goes up... somewhere.”
“Like to the giant’s castle?” Cenbald asked.
Milda stood up. “I could send Cyna to go take a look around. Scout out the area.” At least she would be doing something useful. She felt like she couldn’t even pray properly if one of their best warriors now had a broken leg.
She told the badger to go up the stairs and scout out the area. While she stood waiting, the others chatted, but she wasn’t listening. She was staring at the dead orcs on the ground. She felt more tears welling up. Orcs had caused so much pain and suffering in the valley. They had killed her father. She herself had been under a revenge enchantment for years. She had finally been liberated from that bondage, only to have the orcs hurt her again, by injuring one of her new friends. She felt the feelings of anger starting to well up inside her again.
“Hey,” Starflower was suddenly beside her, a hand on her shoulder.
Milda turned towards Starflower, who wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. “I just hate orcs so much!” Milda said, feeling the tears roll down her cheeks.
“The Sacred Scrolls say that revenge belongs to the Lord. He will repay.”
Starflower’s embrace helped the pain to melt away. After a moment, Milda could feel the anger dissipating, to be replaced by the love of the Overlord. The tears kept coming. It was true. She didn’t need to hold onto the anger anymore. She had been set free when she had been introduced to the Rescuer.
After a moment, they drew apart. Milda could see tears in Starflower’s eyes as well.
“We’ll get through this. The Overlord is with us,” Starflower said.
“Always and forever,” Milda returned automatically. She let the words echo in her memory and her heart. Always and forever.
Edward sat up when Cyna came scurrying back into the room. “What does she say?” Edward asked as Milda attempted to communicate with her. Will her gift of conversing with animals work this time?
It must be working, because Milda had a lengthy conversation with the badger. At last, she looked up. “Okay, so the stairs lead up to a passage outside. It comes out by a rock behind a huge building. There’s no one around up there. Looks like the courtyard to the giant’s castle, from what I can gather. There’s a few buildings in the area, but the exit to this cave is relatively hidden from view.”
“We should get to the surface,” Edward advised.
“It stinketh,” William agreed. Edward nodded. He was starting to feel a little nauseous from the smell.
“What about Philip?” Cenbald asked.
“Get me out of here,” Philip said, holding his nose.
Edward moved to help Philip get to his feet. William and Cenbald helped.
“Ow, ow, ow!” Philip winced.
“Try not to put any weight on it,” Starflower advised.
Edward let Philip drape his arm over his shoulder, and William did the same on the other side. They struggled up the stairs, Cenbald leading the way.
“At last, fresh air,” Philip exclaimed as they emerged from the cave.
The sun was almost setting. It would be dark soon. Edward took several deep breaths. He almost retched. It smelled like a latrine. “What building is this?” Edward asked.
“Looks like a giant outhouse,” William said.
“Of course,” Cenbald said.
Edward and William stepped away from the cave entrance and waited for the horses to finish coming out of the hole. Once Jonny was up and out, Cenbald helped them put Philip on his horse.
“How is it?” Edward asked, looking up at Philip.
“Hurts,” Philip said.
“At least you look like you can sit up,” Edward suggested.
“Let’s get the lay of the land,” Philip said, changing the subject off himself. “Milda, can you send Cyna out again?”
“Sure,” Milda said.
Edward looked around. He could see that they were in a small valley. Three sides were lined with a rock cliff face, with pine trees growing at the base of the cliffs. Near them was some run off near a large garden. Across from the garden was a giant shed with a chicken coop near it. If he peeked around the corner of the latrine, he could see the giant’s castle. Except it wasn’t really a castle. It was just a really large house. Large enough to be mistaken as a castle. The side of the house facing them had a door, a woodpile, and a window by the wood pile. He could see a wall on the other side of the house with some human guards on top, looking away from them. The front entrance, no doubt.
“I’m hungry,” Cenbald said as Cyna took off. Edward could smell the smell of cooking from the giant’s house.
“What, are we just going to have a picnic in the giant’s courtyard?” Starflower asked, incredulous.
“We need our strength,” Philip said.
“Fine,” Starflower returned. Everyone pulled out a ration pack and chewed quietly, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.
“At least it’s a big latrine. Can hide four horses and a bear and a lion behind it,” Cenbald remarked.
Edward didn’t reply. He was feeling nauseous again. He stood up. “I think I’m going to...” he took two steps away from the group and threw up on the grass.
“Are you okay, Edward?” Starflower asked.
“Good thing it was the stale biscuits,” Edward said, feeling only slightly better. “What a waste of food.”
“I feel kind of sick, too,” William said, just before throwing up in the grass as well.
“Me too!” Cenbald said, trying to cover his mouth as he ran three steps away before puking in the bushes. Two minutes later, Milda and Philip had vomited as well.
“At least there’s some trees here,” Edward mumbled.
Several minutes later, Cyna came back. Milda spoke with her before reporting to the others.
“Okay, so Cyna has had a look in all the windows of the house. This window facing us seems to be the crystal ball workshop. Right beside it on the side facing us, so the other side of the door, there, is the kitchen area. The kitchen leads directly into a living room of sorts at the front of the house. The giant is there right now, relaxing in a chair, smoking something and reading a book. Looks like he just finished his supper. On the other side, in the front, is a bedroom. There’s also another building that we can’t see from here. It’s on the front side of the house near the wall. Cyna thinks it is where the human guards sleep. A barracks, I guess.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Starflower asked.
“We could wait for him to need to use the latrine and ambush him here,” Edward suggested.
“I like that idea,” Philip said. “That way we can all fight him out in the open instead of a few of us at once in cramped quarters indoors.”
The giant eventually came out to go to the bathroom (although Cenbald and Starflower were getting a little impatient). The team moved into position when the giant was inside the latrine. The giant heard them, however, and tried to talk them into joining his personal guard (and they wouldn’t even have to work very hard). They refused, of course. The giant came out, club swinging. They attacked him from every angle. The club swung at three of them at once. Regulus and Starflower dodged, but Bill got whacked hard. Starflower used a WordRune to summon snakes. The snakes managed to distract the giant enough that everyone else was able to land blows and kill the giant.
They searched the house for crystal balls and smashed all they could find. They found some treasure, along with a letter from Lexcom that mentioned something about a master crystal ball. They restocked their food supplies and salt supplies, and found a book on poetry and another book on crystal ball reading (they destroyed this one).
Since the human guards didn’t seem to notice anything, but had gone to bed, assuming the [dead] orc guards were watching during the night, the team felt the safest course of action was to sleep in the giant’s house for the night.
As they lay there falling asleep, Philip felt that the Overlord wanted them to deal with the Master Crystal Ball as well. Meanwhile, Starflower found something suddenly in her pocket. It was a Wordrune to help her fight Crystal Dragons!
In the middle of the night, they were awakened by the scream of a dragon. Krokerdes had found them.
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