The Stinking Bugbear Cave (Intro)

[OGRE MAGE]

At the very back of your cave complex, up near the top of the ravine, lies the entrance to the dreaded Bugbear cave.

This is where you have each been summoned to meet and discuss the massive undertaking you are about to attempt.......

[OGRE MAGE]

I hate making ready players wait, so I think we will kick this thing off right here and now.

Lets do a quick intro while we wait for the rest of the sheets to be finished and posted. (this always seems like the best way to motivate any stragglers)

Outside the Bugbear cave, things look the same as they have for over half a century, with crude signs in several scribbled languages welcoming any wandering rabble into their dangerous lair. Inside the dimly lit cave smells of stale smoke, burnt meat, and sweaty wet dog. The acrid stink of low hanging smoke billowing from a large incensed brazier burns your eyes and throat.

The Bugbear chieftain crouches at the head of a large stone slab, flanked by two menacing looking members of his tribe. Other than the hobgoblins, who blatantly refused to send an envoy along on such a foolish mission, every tribe currently dwelling in the Caves system is present.

A single kobold is there, this one sporting an interesting deformity of leathery wings protruding from its back. A familiar goblin represents his tribe. It is known that this revered shaman has some experience in this particular mission. One orc and one gnoll lean back against the cave wall on their crude stools throughout the meeting, both of them appear to be quite capable of holding their own in a hard fight. A rather large and disheveled minotaur squats nearest to the cave entrance, looking nervous an confused most of the time. You have all seen this creature around the caves complex for many years, as long as anyone can remember actually, moving and surviving from cave to cave whenever there was a vacancy. A massive ugly hill giant sits on the floor in an alcove off to the side of the bugbears. None of you have seen this brute before, but he appears to have been staying with the bugbears for a short while for some reason.

The bugbear chieftain raises his gangly arms and shakes a skull-head rattle loudly to bring the meeting to order.

"As most of you know, I am Nardgrog, chief of all the bugbears here." The ugly beast nods to his sides, acknowledging the pair of stout bugbears standing next to him.

"Since you already know why we're here, there's no need to go into all that. I will ask for a short introduction from each of you before we begin, in case some don't know you yet."

"Since you will all need to work together as a group, I also suggest putting on hold any.......differences you might have before we begin."

"So lets just go around the table quickly before we start.

"Who are you?"

[Pulpatoon]

A scrawny bugbear steps forward, from beside her Chieftain. Her spindly limbs stick out from a great mass of feathers and fur—she wears a generations-old owlbear cloak, hung with brass spangles crusted with verdigris. She snarls, "I am Thamansa, child of thunder, wife to lightening, mumsy to storms. I can kill you with a blink of my eye! I can pluck out your soul and ball it up into a suppository for a runny-gutted troll! So don't muck about with me or my tribe, right?"

[Rex]

Othrod

The menacing form of Othrod slowly and silently inspects the room from his spot next to his chieftain.

Loudly in Blackspeech "I am Othrod, Slayer of Gronk. Most of you know me. I have never failed my chieftain when given a task and I have no intention of failing now."

Glaring at the assembled, he seems poised ready to leap into action at this very moment. "Death comes soon. Death to the keep dwellers!"

[Computer +1]

Shozbot

Shozbot stands up and thumps his chest. He yells in Blackspeech Shozbot of Red-Eye and Broken-Bones.

[Urson]

Horsefly

The goblin shaman stands. He's weathered and scarred, with mystic symbols tattooed all over himself. I be Horsefly of de Goblins Beneath the Hill. Youse know dis be a dangerous place. Many of me mates 'ave died here. We gots to be smart an' careful! It's hard ta trust ennybody- but we gots ta do it!

He sits again, his numerous bone decorations rattling together.

[Rusty Tincanne]

With hairs bristling on his neck, the Minotaur snorts. He looks casually out the cave entrance, whether looking for signs of a trap or of mere disinterest of the others is not clear. But he does seem to be working hard to understand the others. Horny Carl. I been living here. Shrugging, he adds, I guess I'm gonna keep on living here.

[ravenn4544]

Ondrake

The huge and hairy hill giant grunts and shrugs. "Keep has food. Food good. Keep make new home for Ondrake." His club-like weapon resembles a large leg of some kind. Probably because it is a leg. An Ogre's leg. And it's rotting. And it stinks. He holds it up proudly by the exposed leg bone. The rest of the slowly rotting leg is covered in tatoos, old leather bindings and a crusty boot. "Ogres came and took Ondrakes home. Ondrake took his leg - and his life"

He shrugs again.

[Scott308]

Kermut

The gnoll begins to speak- at least, that's what the others assume he is doing. He begins making a series of growling, yipping noises before abruptly stopping. He starts up again, this time speaking something that can best be described as rocks grinding together while an ice-pick jabs at your eardrum. He quickly realizes this is going over as well as his first attempt. He finally begins speaking in orcish, visibly pleased that at least a few of the others in the group can understand him at last.

I Kermut, now-time chief of Bloodfang Clan. As he realizes some of the assembled can understand him now, he mutters under his breath, Final, something some not too stupid understand. Speaking again at a commanding volume, he continues. Gnolls like kill elfs, dwarfs, humens.

He lifts up the necklace of ears he wears and continues speaking in orcish.

Kermut hope get many ears add to treasure. Maybe get nother finger too, less Kermut eat them first.

At this point, Kermut begins using the finger on his necklace to pick his nose with. Apparently satisfied with the progress he's made, he pulls it out and examines the large, greenish-yellow glob on the end, which he quickly licks off the finger. Realizing the others are still looking at him, he lazily gestures toward the kobold, saying in orcish,

Next talk. Next talk!

[OGRE MAGE]

Nardgrog beams with pride once his two kin answer his call first. While the others sound off one by one, his enthusiasm seems to drop progressively. He stands there peering down his wet nose at the lone kobold at the table who doesn’t seem quite sure what to say. The huge Bugbear roars out again.

“While we wait for a name from the “baby” of the bunch, I will give the rest of you something to look at. This map was found on a dirty human brigand that we killed on patrol a long time ago. The keep looks different now, but this should give you a rough idea of the basic layout of the place.”

He lays an ancient piece of brown stained parchment out on the slab for each of you to look at.

8F6FDA30-66DC-4EEE-9AF7-2704EA7B072E.jpeg (85.42 KiB) Viewed 1312 times

“As you might already know, we only have 2 days left before the third bloodmoon. An attack must be made by sunrise the day after tomorrow.”

“Before we begin discussing possible tactics, if any of you have inside knowledge of the current workings of the keep, now would be a good time to share them.”

[Urson]

Horsefly

The wizened goblin climbs up onto the slab to study the map, crouching down to trace the outlines and squint at the symbols. He mutters and mumbles something that has a lot of hard consonants in it, then hops down and begins casting the rune bones, studying the patterns, and casting again.

This is all theater- he's not actually doing any spellcasting or scrying right now.

[Pulpatoon]

Thamansa peers closely at Horsefly's scattered bones, nodding sagely and making ruminating noises. Pointing out a particular conjunction of owl ribs, she nods to Horsefly and says, "Red tongues and hungry heat. Fire, ain't it?"

To Nardgrog she explains, "The humans and whatnots don't live sensible in caves, now do they? They prop up walls and rooves in the middle of flat ground. And they use a lot of wood. Even when they make a house with good old rock, they frame it with wood, 'cuz stone don't wanna stand in a skinny little wall without no support.

"So, if you wanna kill them in the Keep, fire's the way to go. It'll spread lovely along all that timber. Bake 'em little partridges in the ovens they built themselves! Only question is, does the demon mind a bumper crop of souls?"

[Computer +1]

Shozbot

Shozbot walks over to see the map with the others. He dislikes being so close to so many non orcs but makes the best of it. When Nardgrog mentions if anyone has knowledge of the keep Shozbot scowls and thinks to himself for a minute.
Shozbot speaks to some who been in the keep he starts with in Blackspeech. The old leader gone and dead, keep weak. Now mage there who makes keep strong. Magic make most towers strong, only two still weak. He looks at his assorted companions Must strike now before magic done and whole keep strong.

[Scott308]

Kermut

The gnoll gets up and walks over to look at the map. In orcish, he asks,

Where humens warriors live? Where Chief live?

[Computer +1]

Shozbot

Shozbot nods and and replies in orcish to Kermut

My contacts didn't have any greater information of inside the keep. They only saw the mage using magic to strengthen the towers, melding stone and magic. The old weak points are gone, we need a new way to enter.

[Scott308]

Kermut

In orcish:

Which two weak?

[Rex]

Othrod

"Some should sneak in and kill magic person well others make loud attack."

[Pulpatoon]

Thamansa jumps eagerly at Othrod's mention of sending someone after the magic user. "I'll eat his human magic like honeyed maggots."

[Urson]

Horsefly

Great idear! We needs ta think of a lot more plan than that- unless youse all wanna die. We gots somebody whos good at scoutin'? Maybe dis new guy missed one of da old secret ways. You says two towers are still soft an' weak? Which oneses?

Horsefly scratches at the jagged scar on his ear, his wrinkled face drawn into a knot of concentration.

[OGRE MAGE]

NardGrog nods his large head at the suggestions so far. He continues speaking in the dark tongue of the goblinoids.

"Shozbot is correct. We know that a powerful mage lives in the keep now. One that can manipulate the surrounding stone to his will. Though he will simply be another soul for the demon to devour in the end."

He scoffs at the parchment on the slab, shaking his head as the members begin to go over it in detail.

"That map is very old. The keep looks different now."

He turns and grabs a large animal skin of some kind off of a nearby shelf that is rolled up on a cylinder.

"This map is more accurate. My spies have been busy. They have found you a way inside. Well, at least some of you." He looks at all of the smaller members of the group with a unsettling grin.

He is about to unroll the skin upon the slab, but waits to see if anyone else has something to say first.