EoD 016: How is the Half-Orc Still Alive?

Polumya hurled one of the double doors open using his clerical magics. The door only opened a few feet—the goblins had blocked it with a table, but the resultant gap was large enough for the party to see a terrified goblin standing in the gap. Dimble slew the goblin with a well-placed ray of frost, and Elmo leapt through the breach…straight into the goblin chief’s hall and straight into the goblins’ trap.

The doughty half-orc dominated the centre of the room until a swarm of goblin skirmishers burst from their hiding places to stab and hack at the warrior. Elmo was tough, but quickly, the sheer number of wounds told, and he fell. Luckily, his friends rushed to his rescue, and Helmia revived him with a healing spell.

As the party fought their way back out of the hall, they quickly decided to hold the corridor and slay the goblins and their huge ogre leader as they approached. As they prepared for a desperate battle, three half-naked, unnaturally large goblin females burst from cover. Each clutched a scimitar and a handaxe. Screaming, they charged the party. 

Worse was to come. As the party braced for the mad women’s charge, a gout of flame washed over Elmo and Lion—and it came from their flank, not the front! As the flames cleared, the two warriors saw a gigantic ogre-thing standing to their side. It had appeared from nowhere, wore chainmail, and held the biggest sword either of them had ever seen. Elmo fell again before the beast’s assault. Polumya healed the half-orc again, and as he staggered to his feet and retreated, the goblins were upon the group. Luckily, Dimble and Helmia had shut the doors leading to the great hall, providing a brief respite. Helmia then unleashed a burst of magical sound that hurled the doors open and slew several goblins. 

As the screaming women and the other ogre, leaping over the bodies of their fallen minions, reached the party’s line, vines burst from the floor to slow their pursuit, and a sleep spell from Theoden knocked down the women. 

Still, matters were desperate. Elmo went down again, protecting the rest of the heroes as they began to retreat, and Lion—charging to his rescue—was cut down with one mighty blow from one of the ogres. More healing magic—virtually all the party possessed—revived the two warriors. 

As the group retreated, Elmo again fell, and this time, two of the unnaturally large women tried to drag the helpless barbarian away to some unspeakable fate. Helmia intervened in bear form, standing over the vulnerable half-orc to save him, but she was forced to return to her own form when her magical shape took too much damage.

As Dimble somehow dragged the bulky warrior away, the party continued their retreat, harried by the goblins and the two large and powerful ogres. Horrifyingly, both ogres seemed at least partially immune to magical fire and cold. Theoden deployed flaming oil to slow pursuit, but it was Lion’s ball bearings rolled into the flames that tripped the lead ogre. 

This small respite was just enough to let the characters escape. Rushing up the stairs and out of the ruined donjon, the group barely slowed down as they fled the keep.

Several hours later, the group—battered and bruised but all still alive—reached Dulwich. There, they planned to rest for several weeks. They had a small amount of loot to sell, and all the heroes wanted to reflect on their recent experiences fighting the Blood Moon…

This post is a session summary from my weekly 5e D&D Edgelands of Darkness campaign set in the Duchy of Ashlar.

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