Rise of the Runelords Recap # 49 [RPG]

[21 Kuthona 4707 continued]

In a dusty storeroom near the stairs to Fort Rannick’s central tower, Artemis and Kang listen at the door to an adjoining room.  They hear the sounds of ogres talking about whether Jaagrath will notice that they’ve ignored the “ambush bell.”  Kang cracks open the door quietly and reveals that the two ogres are in a large chamber, squeezing dead rangers who are hanging from the ceiling in order to collect their dripping blood in buckets below.  Artemis whispers something to Kang, but the ears of the ogres perk up—they’ve heard it, and now notice that the door has been opened!  With a bellow, they rush to investigate.  Kang, who had previously made himself invisible, is safe, but Artemis has to make a run for it and gets smashed in the lower back with a massive greatclub before escaping back up to the top of the tower.  He jumps off and starts to float down safely down to the ground thanks to a magical ring.  When the two ogres reach the top of the tower, Kang is there, flying invisibly overhead, and drops a few explosives—liking shooting fish in a barrel, the ogres are doomed.

Meanwhile, down blow, Goragar puts his beefy shoulder to the already-busted doors of Fort Rannick’s central keep and breaks through the pile of debris used to bolster it.  Javelins come flying towards him from a pair of ogres stationed around the corner at either end of a “T” intersection.  The battle cleric of Gorum strides into the fray, knowing he’s walking into an ambush: ogres are arranged down the left and right sides of the “T” as far as he can see.  “They’re going to try to surround me!” he shouts to Kozen.  “Make sure you back me up!”  The brave, lithe fletching stays close behind Goragar and heals him repeatedly with a magic wand as the wounds of battle start to escalate.  Like a farmer rhythmically cutting wheat with a scythe, Goragar goes to work on the ogres, reaping bodies around him as a ghastly crop.  The half-orc doesn’t retreat even when Kozen is forced to withdraw.  From the doorway, Sir Roderick uses his musket to great effect, never missing except when the weapon jams.  Soon Artemis and Kang arrive to add their firepower to the scene.

Even Jaagrath can't stand up to a Musket Master!

Through it all, a booming voice has been shouting to the ogres and giving them orders, and now the source of that voice appears:  Jaagrath Kreeg, a mountain of an ogre, a full 14’ feet tall with veritable boa constrictors for arms.  He lands a telling blow on Goragar and then, overconfident, tells his remaining coterie of ogres to finish him off while he mops up the rest.  He charges Sir Roderick and slashes him across the throat with his ogre hook, but somehow the hardy little goblin stays on his feet!  The battle is chaos, as both Goragar and Jaagrath are effectively trapped behind enemy lines.  Goragar fights with desperate vigor as he’s surrounded by Jaagrath’s lieutenants, including a massively obese ogre with spellcasting ability.  Sir Roderick backs up and fires three rapid shots from his musket, dropping the massive Jaagrath before helping (along with Kang’s unerring bombs) to kill the spellcaster.  The tide has turned, and although the remnants of Jaagrath’s forces keep fighting, they fall in quick succession.

Once again, the adventurers have eschewed strategy or stealth for the direct approach, and once again the bold gambit has resulted in a stunning victory!  The interior of Fort Rannick lays before them—what horrors will they find inside?
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Director's Commentary (July 9, 2018)

This was another great session, with a massive battle that could have gone either way.  When Jaagrath devastated Goragar and made it all the way to the rear of the PCs' formation, I thought maybe they were doomed.  But fate favoured them, and somehow they made it out of another epic battle alive.

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