Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

Minsys’ handaxe flips end-over-end through the air and hits the orc in the back of the head. The blade does not strike squarely and so the axe does not embed itself in the orc’s flesh, rather the implement ricochets off his thick skull sending the weapon high into the air before it lands harmlessly a few feet away.

The orc does not even flinch when the weapon strikes him...he pivots slowly in place to see what insect needs squashing next. As he turns to face the house, the orc finds Vaxis and Minsys  closing in on him quickly, but the spectacle of the slender female elf casting a spell from a place of relative safety incites his anger further: “Come closer elf! Come...join your friends in death!”

The bell tolls drowning out the next several seconds of the orc’s words. Wisdom Save: 11 vs. DC 13 (toll the dead; Tabesha’l)

The harmonic frequency of Tabesha’l’s spell begins to resonate in the orc’s bones and skull and a small trickle of blood can be seen coming from his ears and nostrils. “Yes, more! More pain! Urzul loves pain! More puny weaklings!!”

The orc is clearly injured in several places: he absorbed Connak’s arrow directly to his eye, which he then ripped out in homage to Gruumshh. Then he took a handaxe to the back of the head which he shrugged off as if it were nothing more than a fragile mosquito. And now Tabesha’l’s spell - which caused the other orcs to suffer lethal brain hemorrhages - drew barely more than a few drops of blood...and still the orc invites more abuse as a child might beg for more sweets!

Connak is more than happy to give Urzul more pain, but from a distance.  He'll stand (half of 35 movement), disengage (bonus action), move behind Minsys and Vaxis then offer some more pain...

Longbow Attack: 24 Damage: 4

The orc howls With a mixture of agony and pleasure as the tip of Ando’s blade strikes bone in one leg while Connak’s arrow does the same in the other. He then winds up and swings his axe sidelong, level with Ando’s neck, intent on separating the half-elf’s head into upper and lower halves:

Greataxe: 17 vs. AC 18 (Ando), dealing 23 slashing damage on a hit.

(OOC: Vaxis takes the dodge action this turn.)

Minsys rushes forward and pivot steps at the end putting his full weight into a 360 degree arc with the maul.

Reckless attack: Attack: 22 Damage: 12

The massive weight of Minsys’ maul slams into the orc, knocking him over, crushing several ribs in the process. The brute has been obliged with the pain he requested of the party, and while he is most certainly down, the brute is not quite out just yet:

”...argh...enough!” come the orc’s words in between labored breaths. He raises a hand in surrender, though he suspects the time for parley may have already come and gone. “...you have...bested Urzul...worthy challengers you are...most wretched ones!”

 Tabesha'l walks towards the beast, her flowing dark purple robes weaving through the tall grass as she calmly approaches. She raises her staff, crackling blue light snaking around it and through her right arm, raised for the killing blow. Her eyes are hidden by the wide brim of her pointy wizard's hat as she asks, in languid tones:

" Shall we consider thy surrender, Oh Butchering Fiend, or send thee to join thy blood-thirsty deity ? Do answer me: why should we spare thy foul stain of a life on this world ?"

** She will stop at exactly 30 feet from her target. Prepared action: casting Witch Bolt if he does anything like running away or attacking anyone in sight. Attack: 14 Damage: 7 **

The orc snarls at Tabesha’l, the sting of his defeat feeling much sharper with a high elf seeking parley rather than the honorable killing blow of Minsys (or at least Vaxis) that Urzul was anticipating. “So many of your fragile kin...” the orc rasped between ragged breaths, “...have felt the touch of Gruumshh...as I peeled the flesh from their bones...” mocks the dying orc, seemingly aware that his only remaining useable weapons were his words. The orc then turns his eyes skyward and bellows out:”Gruumshh! Would you allow your servant to die by cowardly elven magics! GRUUMSHH!! Answer Urzul’s call!” the orc actually begins to sob, not because of pain or the imminence of death, but rather because his orcish deity has seemingly abandoned him, only moments after blessing him in battle.

Connak looks disgusted at the orc and the situation.  "Hmm, someone come with me, he was torturing someone.  I thing whoever that is, once healed, should decide how much mercy an orc that worships Gruumshh should have."

Connak finds a middle-aged human male unconscious in the cellar of the house. He is seated backwards in and secured to a heavy metal chair. Several open wounds on the man’s back are bleeding heavily. The fresh memory of the massive orc swinging a pair of oversized, two-handed pliers at his head only moments earlier flashes through Connak’s mind.

Vaxis ponders for a few moments.

"It is not too late to find honor in battle. Nor is it past time to repent and be saved into a life of virtue and glory. Bahamut watches, tests, and blesses all who seek his guidance."

Connak returns from the basement and shouts, "Vaxis, there is someone here who can use bahamut's blessings more than that orc!"

The orc looks at Vaxis with a mixture of confusion and revulsion at the mention of the words “repent” and “virtue.” It is unclear to Vaxis whether the orc did not know the words or if he did not understand the entire concepts of such things. Before Vaxis could prod the orc further, Connak’s summons echoed across the lawn, though the strain in his voice was not one of annoyance, but rather one of urgent need.

During the brief interlude, arcane lightning of Tabesha’l’s readied spell crackled and popped as bolts of energy snaked around the head of her blue-glowing staff as she watched the orc’s every move right down to the micro-expressions creasing his face, looking for any sign of hostile intent. And then the high-elf wizard noticed something she hadn’t expected to see:

Dangling from a leather strap around the orc’s neck and among an assortment of shriveled ears torn free from the head’s various races, was the familiar shape of a very unique earring...one that Tabesha’l had not glimpsed in quite some time...and that upon seeing it hanging from the orc’s neck, caked in dirt and dried blood, gave her cause for great concern...

As soon as she sees the exquisitely carved pendant nestled amongst the torn ears, Tabesha'l's blood freezes into her veins and a hot flush creeps all over her being. It takes all of her training, drilled into her by the elven masters of the Taelessar, to retain her countenance. The knuckles of her right hand become white as chalk, as the slender fingers grip the cobalt staff like the talons of a bird of prey. 

 There is no doubt in her mind; she'd recognize it amongst a thousand other pieces of jewelry: this is none other that Thranandiel, The Pride of the Pananthyr ! This had been her inheritance, the mark of her house and she'd worn it around her own slender neck as long as she could remember...

Until she'd parted with it, one fateful day.

Given as a gift, to the man who was to break her heart and tear her from her roots, sending her to roam the human lands as a pariah. An outcast. A lost soul.

She remembered the day she'd given the glittering aquamarine gem embroidered in silver filigrane to Duncan Dornedain. It had been a token of her trust, of her love. He'd smiled his famous half-grin, as if he'd wanted to apologize for something. She hadn't paid attention to his unusual manner then, she hadn't wanted to see past her own foolish dreams. Only when she found him gone the next day, did she understand that it had been his way of saying goodbye.

She suppressed a shiver of loss and contained fury. Yes, the coward had broken their vows, but no-one deserved such an demise. What had the beast done to him ? Did he lay in a shallow grave somewhere near, his ears sheared off like animal meat brought to slaughter ? No, it couldn't be. He may yet still live ! She barely dared to hold on to that last thought.

 Visions of Duncan's death and a wave of panic started to flood her mind and she bit her lower lip to smother it all... In any case, she knew she couldn't betray her thoughts to this fiend: the cruel Orc would only snort its disdain at best, and most certainly use this weakness against her. She had to be sharp-witted and remain cold as tempered steel on this instance. There would be time to pry the information she needed from its brutish brains.

" Tell us what brought thee to this place and what thy intentions were here. Describe thy journey hence, who sent thee and thy tribe, and what sort of beings thou didst capture or killeth on yon rampage... tell us every detail and be thorough, then thou shall be granted a last duel to honor thy beastly deity. Otherwise, I shall enthrall thee with my magic and sell thy worthless hide as a pleasure slave to the Wizards of Thay. Decide now, while my patience holds, aragnieh (*) !'

 Those watching the elven wizard as she said these last words suddenly notice something new showing on her perfectly still alabaster features: sheer hatred now shines in the blue of her eyes, darkening like the sky before an ocean storm.

** Deception to see if Urzul falls for her threat: 17 **

(*) aragnieh  - moon elf for 'filth'.

URZUL - Wisdom (Insight): 20

The orc notices the slightest quiver of Tabesha’l’s lower lip, followed by a barely perceptible breaking of her voice...and then he follows her gaze down to the string of ears hanging from his neck. He looks back up at her with a cruel grin beginning to form across his face:

”Hmm...see something you like elf? Which one is it...” the orc reaches up slowly so as not to trigger any further attack and begins to sort through his collection of grisly trophies, trying to get a bead on what caught her eye. “This one I took from a young elfling...right in front of his mother....not it?” The orc moved on: “I snatched this one from an elf bard who thought it wise to travel the Triboar alone and in song...but not that one either....” His meaty fingers roamed over the right charm and Urzul caught Tabesha’l’s eyes as the began to fill ever so slightly... “Ah....found it....”

The orc stared at her for a long moment, savoring her torment. “What a sweet memory....“  he teased, “...for both of us....”

Tabeshal's countenance finally breaks along with her self-control. The lightning flares from her staff, and her robes start to billow up with the static charge as she hisses between clenched teeth:

" What didst thee do to him, Wormspawn of Gruumsh ? SPEAK, before I fry yon worthless hide and rid this world of thy foul stench !!! SPEAK NOW !"

The elven mage's aristocratic demeanour has all but vanished: her teeth are bared like a wild animal's as she spits the last words, and the night-blue stone at the head of her staff starts to swivel in Urzul's direction.

Ando levels his longsword at the orc's throat. "Choose your next words carefully, orc. Or else lose the opportunity to speak again."

Intimidation: 22

URZUL - Wisdom(Insight): 13

URZUL TO TABESHA’L: “Our ancestors, led by King Uruth Ukrypt destroyed old Phandalin five hundred years ago and we seized the dwarven fortress atop Icespire Peak! For generations, the Iron Bone Tribe has ruled the southern Sword Mountains, holding the Triboar Trail at risk! Then came the dragon...a cruel white...Cryovain, we called him... tracked us to the stronghold where it...invaded...ate our war chief, Kra Iron Bone! The tribe scattered...my raiders and I went west. Days later, we ambushed a half-elf and a human near the gold mine at Mountain’s Toe. Gave the human to a pair of stupid half-ogres and we kept the other. I snatched away his ear as we put him in the boiling cauldron for dinner...his screams drew the cursed wyrm right to us! With an icy blast it killed six of my finest warriors and knocked over the cauldron...the last I saw of the half-elf he was running scalded and naked away from the dragon...”

URZUL TO ANDO: “Go ahead, elfblood...do me the honor of opening my veins...let my life force bathe you in victory...drink my vitality and glorify Gruumsh, as I have done for countless hundreds of others...send me to Acheron to join the eternal battle!” And with that, Urzul reaches for his axe in an attempt to cut down Tabesha’l and Ando at the knees.