Fiendish Footsteps

[pigdish]

Ivellios you are very annoyed at the audacity of the barbarian to question his tactics and to further embarrassing him by proving him wrong. Ivellios was angry with himself for not knowing more about what these people were capable of and offering aid to a...beast calling himself the Great Warchief of the Orcs. This news will not go over well with the others. He also worried that Mara had not defended him and that somehow during her captivity with the Orcs she was brainwashed to work for them.

Alongside Ivellios walked quietly the large feline Tampons (sorry I couldn't think of the name but knew it started with a "T" but I'll change it later). It was strange to see the forest coming, that he walked through now, coming back to life after the events at the Black Tower. At least some good had come from these uncivilized creatures. That is when Tampon stopped and a low growl started in her throat.

Ivellios looked about with his keen senses and found nothing. Then he noticed an oddity sticking out of a bush. Moving the bush aside he finds a small disk of old walnut with fine etchings on one side.


((You can make Knowledge checks to see if you can find out any information about it. Anybody in the party that wants to join the adventure may do so depending on what Ivellios does.))

[jkb2grizzly]

Ivellios looks long and hard at the item in his hand. He rolls the image over in his mind several times. Minutes pass.

Knowledge (geography)
[dice=20] + 11 = 13

Knowledge (dungeoneering)
[dice=20] + 11 = 23

Knowledge (nature)
[dice=20] + 11 = 27[rand=057755365809353144160220634193293470555037765821817991028131397393]

[jkb2grizzly]

Guessing that the one image looks like a tomb, potentially, Ivellios tries to remember if any tombs are nearby to this area.

Knowledge (geography)
[dice=20] + 11 = 27[rand=78581806677084250454909404024549458388186173775594640042314413025]

[pigdish]

Studying the small wooden disk you are able to decipher that was made by hobgoblins, given the markings, the area marked by the circle and the name refers to a place you know as the Ashen Tower. The name Nepenchil sounds familiar but you can't seem to recall the details.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a sudden growl coming from your companion. You look at Tarquell and she nudges her large head towards the deeper woods. Soon your nose catches the scent of something burning mingled with another familiar scent. In a minute you recognize it to be...Elves!

What are Elves doing here? Ivellios thought to himself.

[jkb2grizzly]

((OOC: Tarquell is a male panther.))

[jkb2grizzly]

Ivellios draws his scimitars, makes eye contact w/Tarquell, and motions off to the left. The cat prowls to the left disappearing into the foliage.
Ivellios reasons that if he can smell Elves, then it's a good bet they're close and they know he's here. Sending Tarquell out flanking will result in one of three things: divide they're attention between him and the panther, focus on the panther allowing him to flank, or focus on him allowing Tarquell to flank.

Spot:
[dice=20] + 10 = 13

(OOC: dumb as s dice roller)[rand=09497877761443624391641875521871584678069071604475418272648164161]

[pigdish]

Tark goes off in the opposite direction as you circle around the origin of the smoke. Before you are able to move 10 yards an arrow whizzes past your head. Out from the bushes and trees you see several Elven archers. You notice that they appear to be extremely nervous. They recognize you as being Elven and one of them says in Elven.

"Who are you and what business do you have here?"

Behind the elves you see a large clearing. This campsite consists of an ornate pavilion, surrounded by fifteen smaller tents. All the tents are colored in varying hues of green and blue.

[jkb2grizzly]

"My name is Ivellios. I was hunting. What are you doing here?" Ivellios asks still holding his swords at the ready.

[pigdish]

Upon hearing the stranger speak his name one of the archers says, "You will come with us." The archers form a ring around Ivellios and move in towards the camp.

In the clearing you see that the elves look weary some bearing wounds from a recent fight. One group of elves is preparing a pyre, gathering firewood and fresh picked flowers. While others sort items from a pile of spoils that includes numerous black shields and well polished steel blades. A few hundred yard from the camp, a grassy meadow rolls down into the still waters of a shallow bog. Near the bog, a macabre heap of humanoid corpses has been put to fire--this is the source of the plume of smoke. The land between the camp and the burning cadavers shows signs of a small but intense battle, fought by the victorious elves against a band of hobgoblins. Mingled with the bodies are strange humanoid beings whose bodies seemed to be made of vines covered in green slime.

Soon the archers and the camp guards stand to watch as elves from the far side of the camp appear carrying wooden litters bearing, nearly a dozen, bodies of their fallen brothers and sisters to the central pavilion where a cleric wearing a winged helm waits. Beside the cleric stands a hooded acolyte and a noble warrior with a bandage wound around his head. The acolyte carries an incense burner that trails a thin cloud of exotic smoke.

After the ceremony which takes over an hour you are invited to see the leaders in the central pavilion.

One of the leaders is a warrior named Litiraan and Telkya a priestess of Corellon Larethain. The two elves are overlooking a table with maps and other papers when you enter. Seeing you they both express a collective shock. "What are you doing here?" And they move to your side. Litiraan speaks to the guards, "See that we are not disturbed brother and please have a light meal brought in for us."

After the guard departs both Litiraan and Telkya turn to Ivellios. "Well this is indeed a surprise. How came you to find us brother Ivellios?"

((You know these two people having met them in the social court and in your secret meetings with the secret society.))

[jkb2grizzly]

Ivellios relaxes somewhat...
"Quite by accident, my unit was ambushed and all but myself and Mara were killed, to my knowledge. Mara fled, only to be discovered by a band of Orcs. The half-breed actually talked her way into servitude and they spared her life. The gods must smile on her 'i'kla'ilk' (roughly translated, impure blood). I don't believe that she could ever embrace the nobility of her elven blood, she's too (spits) human."

[jkb2grizzly]

Ivellios asks;
"What are you brothers doing out here? And what happened here? Was it a raid by the hobgoblins or your own raid that caught the 'h'thil'lilithyss' (loosely translated, 'lesser trash', equivilient to using any racial slur, i.e. honky or the n-word)?"

[pigdish]

The three elves sit at the ornate table with a fragrant arrangement of foods.

Telkya, the priestess, listened to Ivellios' tale. "Corellon's blessings on you brother for surviving the tainted ones. How did you come to rescue the half-breed? It usually takes a few of ours to slay a savage Orc."

Litiraan, the warrior and commander, added, "Aye, those Orcs are quite fearsome but lack the mental fortitude and unity of kinship that the civilized races possess." Taking a sip from his cup. "It is for the better after all that they stay divided. Who knows what vile thoughts may enter their tiny brains if they were to unite their numbers." Litiraan laughs at the thought of orcs working together.

At Ivellios' question the smile is swept away and responding in a cold voice. "We have been on the trail of a savage that claims to be the king of the Hobgoblins. He has even taken on a name, Khurbok, in an attempt to be civilized. A few weeks past Khurbok and his kin attacked an elven village. They burned many homes and destroyed the forest nearby. Some of the survivors claimed that the hobgoblins were praising a fire god. We managed to question a captive and he claimed to be a member of the Burning Fist of Pelor. What nonsense!" Litiraan showed disgust at the thought of hobgoblins worshiping Pelor.

"Regardless we were ordered by the Queen to find Khurbok and those responsible for the attack. We tracked Khurbok and his allies to the point and we cannot go on further. Anyway, what news do you bring us Ivellios?"

If pressed on the matter of why they won't go after them Telkya explains.

"The woods beyond are cursed, and a dangerous area for elves. Ages ago this area was the home of Luthicath, one of the greatest orc druids of his time. Luthicath's hatred of the elves was legendary and he cursed the area so that elves could never inhabit it by infesting the place with wretched mockeries of elvenkind. Litiraan and I believe that Khurbok has established himself in Luthicath's ancient tower we know as the Ashen Tower."

[jkb2grizzly]

Ivellios nods and explains how his uncle, the king of his village, ordered him to accompany Mara and her group in tracking and seeking revenge on the Dark Elves, the Drow, that attacked one of their neighboring villages. The group tracked the Drow to an Underdark village and destroyed it, but clues there led the group into this region where the Drow had lain a trap. Ivellios believed that he was the only one to survive until he happened upon the tracks of Mara's current group.

"I must return to her. The mutant Half Orc is close to uniting the Orcs and is now going to try for a city named Kha-Kadesh, the Jade City. We must not allow this to continue, do you think?"

"If my uncle would just die or cede the throne to my father, half breeds and 'h'thil'lilithyss' would not be allowed to polute our village and peoples."

[pigdish]

"Madness!" Lithiraan and Telkya both said in unison.

"Did you say an orc has managed to unite the fractured tribes? You must tell us all there is to know about this creature and what his plans are." Telkya spoke uncomfortably while Litiraan drained a full glass of wine.

Litiraan sat back and spoke. "We of the Caerorill Melovictorin were formed in the event this day would come but we all had hoped that would not happen. You brother Ivellios are new to the order and your rank prevents you from knowing the finer points of our mission but you know that we must do all that we can to prevent this h'thil'lilithyss from achieving whatever dark designs his tiny brain will hatch." Litiraan had a look of disgust on his face.

"What more can you tell us about it? How many does it command? What are its goals? How did you manage to infiltrate his camp?" The questions came fast and furious from both elves sitting at the table. Both elves spoke of the orc chieftain as if he were an animal.

"You say this chieftain plans to invade Khedesh? The capital city of the Jade Empire?" Litiraan laughed at the absurdity of the prospect. "Surely this h'thil'lilithys is mad and dim witted than the rest of his people. Even in the weakened condition the Jade can fend off an attack from a few savages. It seems the mighty warchief will be doing the job of getting himself killed for us." Litiraan drank another glass of wine. Telkya looked at him and on her face Ivellios could see that she was not convinced.

[jkb2grizzly]

"When I had left there were still two factions aligned against this 'Tusk'. Mara somehow fell in with these ylth'lon'E (misfits). This Half-Orc hybrid of some such beast somehow has allied himself with a Yak folk that was a former guard of the Jade City. The yak is akin to a hellspawn. He lives only to kill. He is a force to be reckoned with. Tusk himself is an enigma, he has strength, ferocity, possesses magick and can become as a ghost. Our elven brother, Aramil, has been punished and transformed into a half dragon/elf, and possesses more skills than were previously attributed to the thief."

"Could we warn the remain Orcs and the Jade City, use the enemies of our enemies against them?"