Some time has passed and your deeds at Starport have not gone unnoticed, for bards have been singing throughout the Dragon Empire about what you have done. The Orc Lord’s agents have gotten word of your deeds at Starport and have sent a message to you all.
The message is the Orc Lord has a job for you… To cause problems for the renegade General Gul and his Red Flag Army.
The Orc Lord has been uniting the belligerent orc tribes under his banner – through a combination of reawakened race memory – charisma – and conquest. He has been drilling the orcs – training them – turning them into a unified force. General Gul – leader of the Red Flag Army – has gotten tired of waiting and has marched his portions of the orc horde south.
Your deeds at Starport have become known amongst the Icons of the Dragon Empire where bards across the land to sing your praises. The agents of Orc Lord have heard of your bravery and come to you asking that you complete a quest for them. You all find yourselves in the employ of the Orc Lord tasked with tracking down and defeating a rogue general.
He has a job for them. Go cause problems for the renegade General Gul and his Red Flag Army. Go around to each player and ask them what the Orc Lord will do to their character if they do not do as the Orc Lord commands.
The characters have travelled north for days – walking towards the Frost Range. The going has been tough.
Astrid Joins the Party!
Astrid started off as a scholar investigating ancient forest ruins from Ages past. Very successful, her work caught the eye of the Elf Queen, who sent her with a group to take a look at a ruined elven fortress from decades past. On their way there, her group was ambushed by orcs, slaughtered to the last, save Astrid. She fled to the fortress and hid within for three days. When she emerged, she was different. She had been contacted by the spirits within, and they awoke in her a connection to all things living in the present and their links to the past. The spirits guided her to the High Druid’s people to train her in her gifts.
Tradestone Tavern: The last outpost of civilization on the way to the orc lands is the Tradestone Tavern. It serves as a sort of unofficial orcish embassy – and is by written treaty left alone by the orcs and the empire alike. South of here are lands still mostly controlled by the Dragon Empire – east of here is the dwarf kingdom – and north of here is the realm of the Orc Lord. North of here any villages are more half-orc than human – and the scattered dwarven mining outposts are heavily fortified affairs.
- Brath orders two shots and quickly drains them; ignoring everyone else
Troll Bridge
To cross into orc-controlled territory to do battle with General Gul they first need to cross the infamous Trollbridge River – which as the name suggests is passable at this time of year only by a bridge. A bridge with a troll. Ordinarily travellers headed north would purchase a couple of goats at the Tradestone Tavern to throw to the troll before crossing. The troll likes travellers feeding it and mostly leaves them alone.
Orcish Archers, Trolls
ENGAGE!
- The adventurers push on ever northwards. After several cold nights in which they receive almost no rest they start seeing more signs of orcs.
The adventurers crest a hill and see below them the Red Flag Army in the valley below. The army is vast. Uncountable. There are whole battalions drilling in preparation for war in the valley below. It is obvious to the adventurers that even if they can sneak into the camp (impossible to do) and somehow locate General Gul (among the half-million orcs) and kill him (a feat his fellow orcs probably try on an hourly basis) there is still absolutely no way to get out alive. Even with cunning disguises. Even with a brilliant plan. Attacking General Gul with an army around him just won’t work. They need some way to draw the general out – some way to create a military situation that requires his attention. As they ponder this a group of orcs discover them…
Argwolf, Half-Orc Rider, Orc Berserker
ENGAGE!
Loot:
- 2x Potion of Healing (A)
- 2x +1 Runes
As soon as the fight is over an orc runs up to the party. The orc is huge, hulking even. It is also clearly terrified, and not of you all. Staying just out of combat range it signals that it has a message for you.
Loot (Terek the Sorcerer):
- 2x Potion of Healing (A)
