The group did not have much focus this meeting. With the warming weather and one of the members more interested in flirting with the lone boy at the table, it was more of a “hang out” with D&D on the table than a D&D meeting. As the next person here with 30+ years on the group, I was willing to run this for my daughter but lamented the fact that I missed out on 3 hours of doing whatever I needed to do around the house on the Sunday.
It’s part of why the NPC eventually read the group the riot act when they were wrapping up and let them know that their actions and lack of good choices affect a lot more than just themselves.
Write up follows:
So the group was discussing with the orcs hiding down the right corridor their terms of surrender, hoping to avoid any further combat since they were already spilling hit points and had not really gotten too far as of yet throughout the complex. But the party was hyper-vigilant and when it became obvious the orcs were stalling for time the group went to charge in and got a few spears tossed at them for their efforts.
The largest green-skin doing the talking was targeted by Proserpine who blasted him in the face with a magic missile, allowing William to go running in and engage the remaining two orcs at close combat. One tried to make an escape but was shot in the back by Charlotte and then it was just butcher time for the party to end the last of the orcs.
We paused after the fight, heard that our combat didn’t seem to carry too far through the complex, and then went through the orcs’ belongings. There weren’t much. We split the handful of coins and everyone took a pile of spears knowing we could sell them back at the Keep.
Then it was time to discuss…do we press on through the orc caves or do we go back? It was a lively discussion and the end of it was that the …6 crowns we had found per person and the three or four spears did not constitute enough of a haul to make our return to town worthwhile. We should press on and try to find another small cache of orcs and maybe with luck, some treasure to bring back.
We lit a lantern and traveled back to the original “T” intersection, this time pressing on to the left. There were a few side passages but the cavern eventually opened up to a large chamber equipped with a number of tables and benches – more than enough to seat 20 or so. There were a few other passages out of here but they were across the chamber and from the western most archway, we could hear orcish voices (many many of them) as well as some wavering torchlight and shadows from the room beyond.
There was talk about engaging the foes and also talk about not facing them but going to one of the other archways and further corridors to see what was there. However the decision was taking some time and for some reason Charlotte decided to take matters into her own hands. She ran up to one of the tables, vaulted on top, and called out, “Hey! Anyone here? We want to talk!”
Which alerted well over a dozen orcish voices from the western corridor; and we heard the scrape of metal and wood as we assumed they grabbed weapons and were coming out to face us. Loq cursed up a storm followed by William and the cleric and fighter ran for the cavern exit. Charlotte scrambled off the table and her and Proserpine raced along next, the howls and grunts of the pig-faced orcs growing louder as they gave chase.
The party hit the exit and then skittered down the slope to the floor of the ravine before turning to the east and racing for the tree line. Orcs ran out into the sun to follow us and a few kept of the chase for a little bit but we had already outdistanced their spear throws and left them behind as we panted and gasped our way into the underbrush.
Once we were sure to be safe the party fell to bickering about the bad choices we had been making and the fact that we just ran from the caves with almost nothing to show for it. The cleric, Loq, was the loudest, complaining that there was no way we was going to be able to pay off the Lord his loan and the 10% interest with only 6 crowns to his name. If the party was going to continue to behave this recklessly and this poorly, then he was going to have to let them know he was not going to go with them again AND would be letting the other wanna-be adventurers at the Keep know how poor this party was to go exploring with. Charlotte was cowed and apologetic and promised that this wouldn’t happen again.
With a backwards sigh the party turned away from the Caves and started the long trek back to the Keep to rest up and discuss what the morrow was going to bring.
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