Warning: Spoilers below for the adventure, Barrow of the Ogre-King, in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide and the Living Forgotten Realms Adventure, Slivers of Eaerlann.
Leaving the Barrow, the party discovered two things. First, it was snowing…which wouldn’t be too strange except that it was late summer and very unseasonable. Second, they learned a little more about Dent. He had been hired by a man (a crybaby according to Dent) named Halaskar in Loudwater to recover the bodies of his fallen companions. The Fellowship of the Spear, as Halaskar’s group was known, had been hired by someone to find this tomb but were attacked by many, many orcs and Halaskar was the only one to survive and escape.
Halaskar had provided Dent a map that showed the location of the tomb where his companions had fallen. Unfortunately, the map was written in Elvish and Dent, not the brightest of the bunch, had been holding it upside down. So, instead of ending up in the High Forest to the north of Loudwater, Dent had traveled to the south of Loudwater into the Southwood. Rather insulted that a bunch of pointy-eared pansies would mistake him for having committed such a stupid error, Dent took his leave of the party telling them that they could go find the “crybaby’s” friends because he had better things to do. Yelling, “Here dragon, dragon, dragon!!!” at the top of his lungs, Dent the Dragonhunter departed.
Although they were not really prepared for wintery weather, the party made it back to Loudwater. The snow and cold temperatures had abated before they arrived in town. Repairs had already been begun on the damaged wall and Captain Harrowleaf was pleased to hear that the invading goblins had been put to the sword. The party headed over to the Green Tankard Tavern to seek out the man, Halaskar, that Dent had mentioned.
They had little problem finding him. Halaskar was sitting only at a table, clearly drunk and working on getting drunker. It was also quite clear that he had been drunk and depressed for a good length of time. Taking all due care in speaking with him and purchasing him additional drinks, the party learned that Halaskar and his companions had been hired by the “cursed Curovar” to locate some elven tomb in the High Forest. They didn’t need to enter the tomb…just confirm that it existed.
Using a map provided by Curovar (the same one that Dent had turned over to the party), Halaskar explained that his group had traveled to the purported location of the tomb. As they approached the location, they were attacked by dozens of orcs. Fighting a running battle, they found the tomb and took up a defensive position in its antechamber. They were overrun and could not hold off the orcs. Only Halaskar was able to fight his way out and, after another running battle, finally lost the orcs in the woods and came back to Loudwater.
Halaskar makes the same offer to the party that he had made to Dent…recover the remains of his companions and he’ll give them all the money he’s got. As they leave Halaskar to his drink, he orders more drinks and gives the barmaid a handful of coins from the pouch he had just shown the party.
Wanting to learn more about the tomb, some of the party seeks out Curovar and it just happens that he is also drinking at the Green Tankard (imagine that). Curovar confirms that he hired the Fellowship of the Spear to determine if the tomb actually existed or not and also confirms that the map the party got from Dent is the same map he had given to the Fellowship. He does not, however, know what, if anything, is contained within the tomb. He simply wanted to know if it was there and, if so, would later explore it. The old wizard graciously allows the party to keep the map in order to recover the remains of Halaskar’s companions.
The party obtains some rooms for the night at the Green Tankard and settles down for a hot meal and drinks before a well-earned sleep in a nice bed.
In the morning, the party heads up to the docks of Loudwater to see if they can get passage up the Delimbyr and closer to the location of the tomb. One individual offers to give them passage part of the way for a small fee and the party agrees. This person, whom the party will later come to know as “Pa”, heads off to get his boat and “Bessie” ready for the trip. After about an hour, and some speculation on the part of the party as to just what kind of creature Bessie might be, Pa is ready.
Bessie, it turns out, is a very large (about 8′ tall), very strong, young lady…most likely a half-giant or half-ogre (but none of the party is too keen on directly asking). She is one who originally calls the other fellow “Pa” and she takes quite a shining on the male members of the party…especially Yuri and Berran. In fact, although it was clearly not the intent of Yuri or anyone else in the party, the interactions with Bessie somehow conclude with her being convinced that both Yuri and Berran will be going on a “date” with her when they return to town. (I felt like having some comic relief and a little role-playing interaction so I just kind of winged it and made up Pa and Bessie on the spot to provide just that).
The party is transported quite a distance up the Delimbyr River before they strike out into the High Forest on foot. Bessie is very happy to have made some new friends and is greatly looking forward to the return of the party. Yuri and Berran, on the other hand, are not completely sure they want to survive this adventure. Striking out into an unknown wood with a fairly vague map in hand, the party struggles to find their destination. After a few days of travel, they arrive at a large mound which, they believe, is the location of the tomb, the remains of Halaskar’s companions, and possibly the orcs.
Before they can do much else, a group of orcs comes charging from the mound and attacks the party. (The travel through the High Forest was handled as a Skill Challenge…somewhat poorly on my part, still getting the hang of it. The party failed the challenge and although they found the tomb, as a consequence of the failure, the orcs were aware of their approach and ready for them. If the party had succeeded at the challenge, they would have noticed the orcs first and could have taken the initiative so to speak). A combat ensues that involves a number of party members falling in a small river and, in the end, a bunch of dead orcs. (It also included us, as players, learning the differences between Difficult and Challenging terrain).
After the combat, we ended the session.
