Lord Ulbrec was extremely thankful for their spirited defence against the goblins at the Palisade, but the threat was by no means ended. Goblin forces had taken Shaengarne Bridge, the primary route for reinforcements from Neverwinter to reach Targos!
Upon arrival in the Shaengarne they were immediately threatened by Torak, the chief of the Broken Tusk orc clan which had laid claim to the area. He boasted of their prowess, and then vanished down a rocky gully – practically begging them to follow. That’s Orc subtlety – they expect us to walk straight into that?After fighting their way through a few more orcish ambushes, they were approached by Dereth Springsong – the local druid. In exchange for pushing the Orcs away from his home and rescuing his wife he would help them neutralize the rest of the ambush points so that they could continue on. This did not seem at all unreasonable, and once Garin and Elara had tracked down the kidnapped woman they were able to reunite the couple in short order. The druids told them Torak had built a dam on the river, and if it remained through until summer all of the villages up-river would be flooded!
Continuing on, they discovered an abandoned logging village. A woman hiding there, Kaitlin Silvertongue, told them that the orcs had captured the villagers – using them as slave labor to build the dam. And the Orcs would execute the villagers if they saw anyone approaching. They would have to stabilize the situation before they could confront Torak directly and make their way through to the Bridge. To do that, someone would have to sneak in to the Orc palisades and unlatch the entry gate to the slave pens…. Percy immediately volunteered. Katrina was hesitant, but he was adamant that he was by far the stealthiest member of the company. Kaitlin offered up a potion of invisibility to seal the deal. Percy snuck up, and then vanished. The orcs never saw a thing.
Once the gate was unsecured, the rest of the company was able to storm in and take the orc guards by surprise, freeing the villagers! Kordaal and Solstice were the first to rush in to free them. They knew what it was like to be rounded up, and they knew what it was like to be freed.Which meant that when they assaulted Torak’s fort and confronted him directly, Kordaal had some extra incentive to *really* let loose on the schmuck. Left yourself just a little too open there, bud…When they passed Torak’s territory to assault the dam, they discovered that they dam was occupied and protected by a different foe. Malarite cultists. Now Garin and Elara had the extra incentive.
When they found and confronted the Malarite High Priest, he extended magical claws and promised to show them the true power of the Lord of Beasts. Elara was only too pleased to show him what “one with the beasts” *truly* meant. It did not end well for him…
Once the Malarites were dispersed, Garin wasted no time tearing down the dam. He knew exactly where to weaken the supports until the whole thing gave way .At the bridge itself they were met by a motley force of orcs, bugbears, ogres, harpies, and were-rats. A rather bizarre collection of enemies to be banded together. When they fought their way through to the bridge, a robed woman signalled that she wanted to parlay. Katarina came forward to speak with her, and the woman – Xuki – claimed that she could negotiate peace with Lord Ulbrect. Katarina was skeptical, but let her speak.After a short time Xuki gave a harsh laugh and declared, “Fool! I was only distracting you so my Ogres could have time to destroy the bridge!”. To which Katarina replied, “I know. But I figured I’d let you monologue while he got in place.”“What!?! Who?!?” exclaimed Xuki, turning around…. to be met by a surprise from Percy. Knives aren’t the only thing he can throw with uncanny accuracy. The battle was on!While Percy took care of Xuki, and the others fought the assorted Chimera troops, Solstice kept the Ogres entranced so that they would not destroy the bridge.
In the end they reclaimed the bridge, destroyed the dam, and learned a bit more about the nature of the adversary they were facing. According to Xuki they called themselves “the Legion of the Chimera” and there were much deeper implications than a mere goblin assault. They would have to check back in with Lord Ulbrect in Targos and determine their next steps.
2 responses to “IWD2 Winter’s Warriors: Shaengarne Shenanigans”
atcDave
Terrific renders. I especially like Percy’s dead aim with a snowball!
it’s actually kind of fun not knowing this story so well, it reads like a graphic novel.
That snowball was actually painful. I started out wanting her to turn into Percy knocking her out. No can do. Filters to the moon.
Fine. Thought about it. Putting a bag over her? No. Knocking a pile of crates onto her? No. Pushing her off the bridge? Lots of bizarre scenes of her “falling” upwards or Percy trying to save her.
Eventually hit on having him pull her hood down over her face or flipping her cloak over her head – funny and non-violent. It completely couldn’t get it. Lots of Percy lovingly wrapping a cloak around to warm her up and such. Blanket, tarp, canvas, you name it. Didn’t work.
Went with the snowball (which, legitimately, was almost as funny as the cloak thing), and still couldn’t get Percy running towards her in a throwing motion while a snowball hits her from an appropriate angle.
Most irritating was that through all of this it would constantly get it right… but reversed! Xuki wrapping her cloak around Percy. Xuki smacking Percy in the face with a snowball. Etc. It was maddening. Didn’t matter how I phrased it. Didn’t matter whether it was active voice, passive voice, third person. You name it. It desperately wanted her to be doing something to him rather than vice versa.
Honestly think its down to the sizes and sexes. Woman hits man, ok. Man hits woman, not okay. And Percy being short he often hits the child interpretation as well. Blech.
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