Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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The orc approaches the campfire and sniffs around at the air. He turns a puzzled look as he detects the smell of the dragonborn, and licks his lips greedily as he identifies the scenty of elven blood, especially the particularly delicate flesh of the lady Tabesha'l. Finally, identifying Minsys as one akin to his own bloodline, the old orc limps over and snatches the lump of snake meat from the half-orc's offered hand. As he began to eat, the party could see that the creature had but two teeth left in his mouth: one on the top and another on the bottom of the front of his mouth. The scene was hardly what any would deem "civilized" and Tabesha'l in particular had to look away at some point to prevent herself from gagging in front of the others.
Having finished, the orc turns to Minsys and grunts out in orcish: "Gorthok coming for you..."
Minsys shrugs, "Gorthok come, we kill monsters, fight dragons, Gorthok no dragon." He continues to eat as if the warning held no sway over him.
"Gorthok, you say? Who or what is a Gorthok?"
He eyes the orc cautiously, not putting down his mace.
(EDIT: Requested Religion Roll: 12 , History: 10 )
DM - Saturday and Tuesday: Eberron
Player - PBP: (Vaxis, Dragonborn Cleric of Bahamut, DoIP), Discord: Byron Bojengles III (Dragonmarked Half-Elf Rogue/Warlock Hexblade)
Other games: (Aardwolf MUD, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Pokemon, Borderlands {all})
Tabesha'l for once remains silent, but seems to intently listen to the conversation; her face is still as white marble, her eyes fixed on the old orc.
Will Roll Insight during this conversation to detect anything off or strange about what the orc is saying, or any hidden meanings...
** Insight 2 **
' Rogues Will Be Rogues ' (Circle of Fives Admission Rules, § 6 par. IV)
" Put It Down. Now. Or Be Sorry. " (D. Khar-Errendis' Reported Tips For Curing Soul Ailments And Assorted Bad Behaviours, v. LIV p.XIII)
" Tween thisThy and yonThou, shall I prove to Thee that these art what thou dost see ? " (Grimoire of The Great Pananthyr)
" This One has said enough. Now, we fight. This way please ?" (8th Grade Bronze Disciple Raulnar Drohjo, Way of the Open Palm)
Minsys shrugs, "Don't know Gorthok. Guess an Orc, but he's no dragon. We fought a dragon today. Woulda won too. Not worried about an orc now."
The old orc finishes gobbling down his hunk of snake meat. "Gorthok is the Thunder Boar, servant of Talos and deity of the Anchorites...orc half-bloods, like you," he says poking a snarled finger at Minsys. "Cryovain fractured orc tribe, ate chieftain, chased us away from fortress..." he continued. "Tribe make pact with Anchorites to destroy dragon...when they call forth Gorthok...then we all go to Gruumshh One-Eye, heh, heh, heh..."
OOC - The following skill checks could apply:
Intelligence (Religion) to recall information about Gorthok, Talos or Gruumshh One-Eye
Intelligence (History) to recall information about the Anchorites or about this particular orc's place in the tribal heirarchy
NOTE: Minsys half-orc heritage provides him with advantage on both rolls
Minsys continues to eat and says, "Guess I'm wrong, Gorthok is a...Thunder Boar from Talos and some anchor people, half orcs, worshiped it. Orc tribe made pact with half orc tribe to summon boar and when it happens all goes to Gruumshh..." He pauses a momebt to think on this.
Religion 8
History 15
WHAT VAXIS KNOWS:
RELIGION:
Vaxis remembers his grandfather would refer to "...the will of Talos..." anytime a lightening storm, forest fire or other such natural disaster would occur that damaged homes, property or even claimed the lives of those they knew. Later in life, during his studies to become a priest of Bahamut, Vaxis learned that the deity Talos (also known as Stormlord or The Destroyer by those who worship him) is the god of storms, forest fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, and general destruction. He represents the dark side of nature - the uncaring and destructive force that might strike at any time and counts ravagers, raiders, looters and brigands among his followers.
WHAT MINSYS KNOWS:
HISTORY:
Minsys' remembers a ghost story from his childhood of a tribe of evil half-orcs called the Anchorites, who worshipped Talos and conducted ritual sacrifices during stormy weather to call forth Talos' servant of destruction - Gorthok the Thunder Boar, a primal nature spirit that takes the form of a boar as big as an elephant, with lightning that dances along its tusks.
He also remembers that the Anchorites were said to have the ability to change their physical form...into that of a boar...
Vaxis frowns.
"If the Stormlord's hand is involved....we should be on our guard. No telling what destruction he has planned."
DM - Saturday and Tuesday: Eberron
Player - PBP: (Vaxis, Dragonborn Cleric of Bahamut, DoIP), Discord: Byron Bojengles III (Dragonmarked Half-Elf Rogue/Warlock Hexblade)
Other games: (Aardwolf MUD, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Pokemon, Borderlands {all})
" Well, 'tis mighty kind of thee to warn us about said-dangerous deity... and its very unsavory-sounding followers," Tabesha'l quips(*), " Yet I can't quite fathom, for the life of me, why thee wouldst go through the trouble of telling us of such dreadful plans. Art thee perhaps disagreeing with said-thunderous religion and its plans for Boar Deity Invocations and the like, or art thee simply gloating over our soon-to-be determined fate, whilst eating our victuals ? Now, that would be cheeky, indeed !" the elven wizard chuckles at her own comment, brushing a few loose strands of jet-black curls off her forehead.
She looks at Tink, sitting next to her and sighs. " I am quite sure yonder brute isn't grasping my meaning. Do be a dear and translate for me, wouldst thee ? These Anchorites' designs do sound terribly ominous though, do they not ?"
(*) assuming both Vaxis and Minsys share what they know with the rest of the group
' Rogues Will Be Rogues ' (Circle of Fives Admission Rules, § 6 par. IV)
" Put It Down. Now. Or Be Sorry. " (D. Khar-Errendis' Reported Tips For Curing Soul Ailments And Assorted Bad Behaviours, v. LIV p.XIII)
" Tween thisThy and yonThou, shall I prove to Thee that these art what thou dost see ? " (Grimoire of The Great Pananthyr)
" This One has said enough. Now, we fight. This way please ?" (8th Grade Bronze Disciple Raulnar Drohjo, Way of the Open Palm)
As Tabesha'l speaks, the old orc begins to crane his head slowly towards her, like a blind cat that has detected the presence of a church mouse. A moment later, the breeze shifts and Tabesha'l finds herself directly downwind of the orc, who smells as though he had been sleeping in a pile of bat dung. Though she knew the orc was as blind as the bats he smelled like, his silent stare in her general direction was thoroughly off-putting:
Charisma (Intimidation): 13
As he stared at her, Tabesha'l notices a tattoo on the orc's neck: a skull super-imposed over a red crescent moon.
Connak watches the interactions between his friends and the orc, then wonders what else is in the woods while this orc is distracting the party. Connak stands and begins to walk the perimeter of the camp while eating his meal, looking and listening for anything out of place.
Perception: 22
Minsys looks at the older orc and says in orcish, "He wants to know why the warning. Just likes to use to many words."
Connak finds no evidence of other creatures or hidden allies of the mysterious orc laying an ambush for the party. It appears the the orc was legitimately wandering - blind and alone through the middle of the Neverwinter Wood...at night. As he circumnavigates the camp, Connak also sees no weapons on the orc.
"Not warning, half-blood" the old orc responds sharply, "...glimpse of your future. Anchorites will make sacrifices to call forth Gorthok....to defeat white dragon. Reclaim Icespire Castle..."
"Excuse me!" Tink suddenly speaks up, having remained silent for a long while, "I know everyone is curious about this Gorthok. But I have a more pressing question, how is it that you are able wander about and see though your optical reseptors are clearly not functioning? Do you have a secondary optical sensor somewhere else on you? I don't mean to pry but such things truly do facinate me. Just having backup sensors on a biological person would be nice but even more so think of the possibilities! What about a secondary optical sensor that provides some sort of sight your primary reseptors do not! So if you don't mind sharing I would very much like to know."
Active Characters
Tink - Elf Artificer Nicholas Meloncreek - Human Fighter
Thurkear - Lizardfolk Warlock Bjorn "Whitewalker" Akannathi - Goliath Ranger
Minsys stops chewing on the meat and swallows. He turns to the look at the old orc and says, "A telling of my future? Why they after me? I'm out to kill the dragon too. They should be thankin me... Unless they scared of something."
Vaxis looks quizically at Tink.
"I think my friend here wishes to know how you can move about blind. A rather interesting question I might add. Either that, or he is speaking in an unfamiliar language."
He flashes a grin at Tink, which looks more offputting due to his draconic visage then he clearly intends it.
"And more to the point, who are these anchorites planning to sacifice?"
DM - Saturday and Tuesday: Eberron
Player - PBP: (Vaxis, Dragonborn Cleric of Bahamut, DoIP), Discord: Byron Bojengles III (Dragonmarked Half-Elf Rogue/Warlock Hexblade)
Other games: (Aardwolf MUD, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Pokemon, Borderlands {all})
"Shargaas guides me through the wilderness," speaks the old orc.
(OOC: make a Religion check to recall information about Shargaas)
"Who?" replies the orc, genuienly puzzled by the question. "Who cares who..." he follows
(Religion check: 15)
Vaxis frowns.
"Well. That is a bit foreboding. Tell me, where can I find these folks so I can give them a piece of my mind?"
DM - Saturday and Tuesday: Eberron
Player - PBP: (Vaxis, Dragonborn Cleric of Bahamut, DoIP), Discord: Byron Bojengles III (Dragonmarked Half-Elf Rogue/Warlock Hexblade)
Other games: (Aardwolf MUD, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Pokemon, Borderlands {all})
WHAT VAXIS RECALLS ABOUT "SHARGAAS"
Shargaas, “the Night Lord”
Shargaas is the orcish god of darkness and the unknown. He is a secretive and murderous deity, dangerous to all except Gruumsh. His realm is the darkness that no creatures but those devoted to him can see through. To other orcs, the followers of Shargaas are depraved and twisted creatures that have no honor and skulk in the shadows. Most followers of Shargaas are exiles, living in the farthest reaches of the lair away from the rest of the tribe. When faced with a particularly skilled foe able to withstand direct assaults, a war chief might call upon the cultists of Shargaas to assassinate an enemy leader, kidnap an influential hostage, or steal a valuable item.
Gruumsh doesn’t always look kindly on acts of subterfuge and indirectness, because orcs are meant to take and do what they want through straightforward assault and brutality. Nonetheless, when the chief seeks the aid of Shargaas to accomplish such a task, the leader of the cult is willing to comply — for a price. In exchange for its less than honorable services, the leader will strike a deal with the war chief to provide food, tools, slaves, or some other commodity that the cult prizes.
"The Anchorites will make the ritual sacrifices needed to summon Gorthok in a place they call the Circle of Thunder. I know not where it is, but a shaman named Grannoc who lives in the elven wizard's abandoned manse does. You can ask him, if you dare approach him..." The old orc stands slowly and begins to hobble off into the pitch black woods (unless one of the party members attempts to stop him.)