Scene 2, closed but not yet revised: Bit with the Orcs
They left early. Very early. Varian didn't think he had ever been up this early except from the other side, and then he'd thought of it more as late. He liked late better. Grumbling to himself, he reflected that there had better be good money at the end of this.
The walk was uneventful. They hiked down country lanes usually used by the farmers to bring their produce and livestock to the school, the only dense settlement or link to more civilized parts on the entire continent. They walked the first ten miles in silence.
Ionjae finally broke the mood. "Thank you."
"Huh?"
"Thanks. I'm glad I don't have to do this by myself. They always tell us in class that a well prepared wizard is easily a match for hundreds of armed warriors, but it's still scary to actually try it out."
"Hey, that's what we're here for, right? A learning experience is what this is. It'll be good for us. Just wish it didn't have to be so early."
"We talked about that. We have to get in position before they wake up or get any kind of visibility. Neither of us is good enough to cast our spells at a distance, and besides, we wouldn't be able to pick up the loot if we weren't on hand."
"I know. The complaining just makes me feel better is all. So lets go over the plan again. When we get close, I'll make us invisible."
"No, we were going to be camouflaged."
"Nah, invisibility's easy enough. Easier, actually. I just make the light go around us. Camouflage is harder. I have to make our skin look like both skin and whatever's around it at the same time. Easier to accomplish with paint, harder with magic."
"All right, invisible then."
"So what next?"
"Well, after we're invisible, we get into position. Loannae showed us that hill about a hundred yards off with the big bushes on the south face. We'll sit there. I'll start it raining oil. Hopefully they won't notice that. If they do, then we'll have to move the timeline up. So once it's raining oil, I'll summon a few air elementals to keep an eye on everything for us. Then the wolves to guard the back door, over in that gully. Then you again."
"Right. Then I send in a hoard of illusionary vermin, and hopefully send them running out into your oil."
"Yes. Then I light it all with a bolt of lightning. That ought to kill them all, but if it doesn't, then the wolves and elementals go to work. We never did discuss what we'll do if any get away."
"I don't think they will, but it's your job, what do you want to do? Do we hunt them down, or let them go and hope that no one reports it?"
"Well, I don't know. Do you think you could track any that get away?"
"Yeah. I can do that no problem."
"Then we'll deal with that if it comes up."
They walked a few more miles, again in silence. A light rain started to make puddles in the lane. An hour before dawn they reached their goal. Varian muttered and waved his hands for a few moments, then stopped. Ionjae looked at him.
"I thought you could do it."
"I did. I just let us see through it, so we don't get separated. Same way we see out of the illusion. Easy."
"Oh, right."
As they headed to their selected bush, they saw a single orc, standing near the door of the farmhouse.
"He's huge. At least 6'6". And that axe. Damn. I wonder what that's worth?"
"Ha. Even if it makes it through the fire, do you want to carry it all the way back?"
"Oh, I thought we'd take one of their carts. If one makes it through the fire. Do you think you could keep the oil off just one cart?"
"Yeah, good idea. I'll leave the farthest one clear."
They sat down. Ionjae scratched a few symbols in the dirt. The smell of the rain changed. The orc didn't seem to notice. "A few more minutes of this and we're ready." He started muttering to himself. A few minutes later, he looked up and nodded. "The oil's ready, and we've got our wolves and elementals. Your turn."
Varian mumbled some more. Bats, rats, snakes and insects seemed to boil out of the air and earth at the side of the house. The orc around front saw nothing. The vermin began to push through the wall and windows. Then the screams began.
"Do they have prisoners in there?"
"No. Loannae checked that. She said they were all orcs. She showed us. They were all orcs."
"All right..."
Just then the door burst open and orcs of various sizes began to pour out into the yard.
"Shit," Varian swore, "light it, quick."
Ionjae thrust his hands into the air and clapped them together. A flash of lightning split the air amidst the crowd of orcs, illuminating them for a moment. Then, the entire yard and house burst into flames. Ionjae sat silently, mouth agape, reviewing the image seared into his mind.
"Was that a teddy bear?"
"Yeah. I think we screwed up."
The conjured oil only burned for a few moments, but the things it had lit burned much longer. Small fires burned around the yard, and various heaps smoldered. Some of them screamed. Nearby, a child was sobbing.
24 comments:
Delving a bit more into their minds, Loannae learns that there are two of them, neither one one of the armed ones, that knows a little about abjuration. Some simple wards, a bit of skill at dispelling things, nothing major. They also have a very basic skill at healing.
They haven't constructed any defenses, but seem content to stay very close to the farmhouse.
Whatelse do you want to know? Specific questions are best. I've got the whole thing in mind, but I'm not going to just spill it without more detailed prompting.
They have some cash, but not much, maybe 200 gold or so, a little jewelry, worth maybe a fifth of that (it's mostly just colored glass or cheap metal), and some artisticly valuable furniture worth 300-500, but that will take a while to unload, and you'll have to wander around Sigil to find an appropriate dealer. However, in your search you discover that 3 of the farms have buried stores of cash for around 200 each. It is highly unlikly that the orcs would have bothered to bury gold on multiple burned farms, but not the one they've camped at.
No one was around when Kelp had his accident, so you're going to need to do a little more digging to find anything.
After speaking with his sister, Ionjae heads towards the library to plan his attack.
After a few hours he decides that his best option will be a two-fold attack using magic to overwhelm his opponents.
First, he needs to make certain that he is undetected, this safety will be fully on Varian's shoulders. Second, with the recognition of his limited power, Ionjae chooses to sprinkle the carts, occupied farmhouses, and camp sites with copious amounts of oils and fuels. Third, using his evocation skills he will rain globes of fire from the heavens, taking care to centralize these balls of fire on the orcs and away from any undamaged farmland.
Since this will no doubt create an immense distraction, Ionjae will then be able to summon swarms of rats and insects to overrun those that are wounded and any that may have ranged weapons. The last orcs still standing will face a pack of wolves from the elemental plain of negative energy.
After compiling this attack plan, Ionjae begins to search for Varian to express his desires and see if his skills will protect them from harm.
"Perhaps a two-thronged attack would be best, maybe a nice way to overwhelm these beasts would be to send in swarms of illusion rats and insects before sending in my conjured creatures. That way they should expect the second wave to be as painless as the first and let their guard down until it's too late."
Just tell me when you're done planning or asking questions and I'll run it.
... oh wait, how about this. Dan, I'm gunna need some help here, just cause I don't know what I can and can't do with my level of skill. Let me know if I've stepped outside my knowledge base and I'll rework my plan of attack.
First, Ionjae plans on summoning a group of air elementals (they don't need to be powerful, their purpose is to offer scouting and oversight) who will be ordered to stay invisible and hover over and around the camp keeping a lookout for any surprises we'll be unaware of from the ground. They will also serve as a last line of defense in case any creatures get away from us, in which case if they believe they can defeat the orc in battle they will be allowed to press on them, otherwise they will contact me and let me know as soon as possible.
Second, Ionjae will open a few portals to the plain of dreams (it could be a legitimate plain,) hopefully channeling a slight fog of slumber to slowly churn about the orc's campsite.
Third, he will wait till just prior to dusk, and conjure menacing storm clouds to rain a damp oily rain onto the camp sites, occupied buildings, and unfortunate guardsmen who happen to be on duty that evening. Once the rain/oil has thoroughly saturated the area I will invoke the powers of energy itself to channel lightening from the sky in the form of both bolts as well as balls of flames.
With the country-side now in considerable hurt, I will summon a swarm of fire elementals to burst from the flames that now are ripping through the buildings and people too, their commands are to track and attack any orc that is still standing.
It should be important to note that just as the air elementals are his eyes in the sky, Ionjae will summon forth a band of shadow wolves to prowl the plains around the orc's land to protect the still surviving farms from any last minute strikes.
Ionjae would still like to invite Varian along, it's always good to have an illusionist, just in case things get a bit hairy.
(What do you think?)
Wait... Wait, this gets better. Preliminary planning first, so, here goes.
Preliminary:
First, Varian will need to protect us from detection from prying eyes with some basic illusions, maybe instead of invisibility we should shoot for something like illusionary organic camouflage. For example, cover the two of us with an illusion that makes us look like the flora around us, that way if we need to run from pursuers we won’t stick out like sore thumbs.)
Second, Varian should be prepared to spin up some illusionary vermin, which he will release on the clan of Orcs at the proper time. My only concern is that he may be unable to keep both illusions going at the same time, in which case we should still try to find some good coverage and not stand on a bluff overlooking the camp.
Third, Ionjae will dedicate a good deal of his energy to summoning somewhere approximately ten air elementals, which certainly don’t need to be super powerful. They’re purpose is to observe the “battle field” and make certain that no airborne defense becomes a threat, but primarily to keep tabs on any stragglers that may steal away into the darkness of night.
Forth and final, Ionjae will summon four packs of wolves from the elemental plain of shadows to enforce the perimeter of the “battlefield.” They will most certainly be able to rip apart any Orc that may try hiding from the carnage. The “shadow wolves” will be stationed one pack per compass point; however, they will spread out to prevent any breaches in the line.
Now, if all of these things can go off without any hitches, the next part will address the opening sequences.
Opening:
First, I presume we will wait till dusk to make our moves; however, I think it behoove of us to spend a few hours ahead of time on the ground to get a feel for the raiders as well as making certain our spells have a chance to fail and be recast without worrying about time-tables.
Second, Ionjae can conjure up a great deal of storm clouds, preferably above the air elementals (no reason to block their vision) to rain down a mixture of oils and other flammable liquids. These storm clouds while covering the camp will rain hardest on wagons, campsites, and other occupied buildings currently held by the group.
Third, after sufficient coverage, Ionjae will summon forth a devastating barrage of lightening strikes with the majority aimed at the larger groupings of Orcs. To offset the potential lack of sparks and subsequent fire a few large “ball lightening” attacks, which could easily be small orbs of flame falling from the sky will be readied.
Forth and final, Varian should send in his waves of illusionary vermin (both land and air based) to keep the combatants overwhelmed and confused from the lack of contact with the swarms of creepy crawlers.
The assumption here is that by surrounding the group of deviants with hidden offensive units and hitting them with “natural” phenomena that even the most vigilant guard will overlook the threats. Of course using the illusionary swarms will only further confuse the enemy, which will greatly increase the chances that my attacks will go over with a blazingly accurate and deadly display.
Now, garra, please consider what I’ve posted and make suggestions or add to it (you’re skills are welcome, I just didn’t want to overstep my bounds and make demands of your character that were above his level of skill.)
I'm not sure about that raining oil thing. Seems a little extreme. I'll allow it, but I'm not sure how long I'll allow the flames to persist. Also, the lightening seems unnessesary. You're already calling elementals, why not a single fire elemental, just running straight at the front door of the farmhouse. Even if they manage to kill him, he'd definatly get inside the area saturated with flamables. Also, shadow wolves? What are they, and why wouldn't something more normal, or at least semi-normal, like demons, work just as well?
DEMONS!!! That, sir, is heretical!!!
...you know, shadow wolves, they are like wolves but are made from shadows and thus are extra-slinky.
I was going to do a group of fire elementals, as per my previous post... it just seemed to be missing a certain something.
The oil rain is just that, droplets of oil falling from the sky, the delivery system could be a cloud of superheated oil falling to the earth. I know it doesn't make sense scientifically, but it doesn't have to... it's magic!
Could I just summon it from the plain of oil rain? (HA AH AHHH)
Huh. I'm just not buying the shadow wolves. You can have normal wolves. You can have a blast of lightning if you really want it. And the oil rain, though not from the Plain of oil rain, cause there isn't one, is fine too. And are you still working with the slumber fog?
"Varian, you are quite right. I believe that you making some duplicates to draw their attention from our location could only help us this evening."
@Dan:
No, forget the sleep fog, I don't think we'll need it.
/famous last words
I told you only 8 were armed. 8 in 30. I even mentioned that the others were smaller. Why didn't you think of women and children?
Considering the number of targets and the range, your cure isn't going to be terribly effective. The 8 adult males are dead. Of the 10 adult females, 8 are dead, and the other 2 are seriously burned. Only one might be able to walk, if she wakes up. Of the 12 children, one is in good condition, he was hiding under a cart and was the closest to you so he gets the most benefit from your healing, and 8 are dead. That leaves 1 frightened child, 3 seriously wounded children, 2 seriously wounded women, the smell of cooked meat all over, Ionjae unconcious or at least too weak for magic, and your wolves are coming. Oh, and the air elementals, who have been instructed to attack anything that runs away.
I failed to mention, you did keep anyone who isn't dead from dying of their wounds. Your healing did that much.
Also, the roof of the house is still burning.
Neither of you cares about children, just because they're orcs? That's hardhearted. Well, if you wouldn't have helped orcs, then sure, do over. You most definatly saw that the small thing in the nightgown with the teddy bear also had greenish skin and small tusks, just before it vanished in flames.
So, with the do over, there are several dying orcs moaning and smoldering, and wolves on the way. You didn't try to heal them, so you're still concious and active. There is the one uninjured child under the cart, crying. The roof is still on fire. What do you do?
Does Varian still try to loot the other farms? Does Ionjae care? Does Varian try to hide that from him, either to avoid censure or to avoid splitting the money?
"I'll have to have a word with my sister about this... this should fix everything." Ionjae murmurs to himself and draws glyphs into the air that glow for a short time before fading. Suddenly, a cavernous maw opens in the hill about fifteen feet below where they stood and an army of rats, and insects poured forth heading down the hill towards the carrion and wounded.
"Between these servants and the wolves, we shouldn't have much to deal with in regards to cleaning up. After which we can use the cart that still stands to return to the school with what we want."
Unless Varian can come up with a good excuse to separate from Ionjae for an hour or so, you're going to have to tell him about the money or skip it.
Does Ionjae care about robbing farmers?
I'm not sure about that gaping maw in the earth, but rats, sure, you can have a bunch of flesh-eating rats.
"Do you think it wise to travel with my wolves still about?"
Between the wolves and the rats it takes about five minutes for all the dead and dying orcs to be reduced to piles of bones. The dying ones put up some fuss, but you pay them no heed. After seeing her mother eaten, the one uninjured girl tries to run, bolting across the field away from the house, but the wolves chase her down and kill her.
Everything's dead and eaten. You could dismiss the wolves, elementals, and rats now, if you wanted.
With a wave of his hand, Ionjae dissipates the three forces he summoned. Watching as Varian trudges off towards one of the now desolate farm houses, Ionjae takes the opportunity to put out the burning buildings and enters the valley to see if anything may peak his interest.
Furthermore, Ionjae mutters a quick spell and summons a pair of oxen for the remaining wagon.
"No need for us to try pulling it ourselves," he says to himself.
Good job noticing that, but you might want to wait till you're ready to leave. Even summoned right as you leave, they aren't going to stick around for the full 15 miles.
Opp... okay, I'll hold off then. But I do certainly plan on summoning a couple of take us back to the school.
Between the orcs' gold and the farmers' gold you've got 800 gold in cash. You've got the orcs' jewelry, worth 40 gold or so, if you can find anyone who wants it, and the orcs' heirloom furniture, worth around 400 if you can find someone who deals in orcish artwork. The orcs had 2 bows, 3 axes, and 3 short swords, 4 small shields, and a bit of leather armor. Also, assorted knives. The weapons and shields might be worth something to the same dealer in orcish art, though you'll want to be careful as any dealer in orcish goods will tend to be sympathetic to orcs and wonder how you came by these things that orcs don't like to give up nicely. It all fits in your one whole cart.
"I agree with you. If anyone asks questions, hopefully we'll be able to change the subject."
As so as we return, Ionjae will research which shops would be most likely to make a purchase from them.
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