Before setting forth to Sothos Karr, the PCs debate whether or not it's the best course of action, some desiring to head out to the Crowslode and attempt to trace the head of the legendary axe of dwarven lords.
They also debate taking time out to have Baro learn a spell or two from Mudgol, but realize the time crunch could result in the Score making some further, nefarious moves. Rumpridge leaves some money with Odd Jon in case he is unable to come back for it, and the group also decides to grab a bunch of the unidentified potions from the party treasure at Royal Leathers, so that Mudgol can discern their functions en route. At long last, the PCs head off through the Tooth Marsh to the pass where the orc-occupied Mimresh fortress stands, and then argue over how to breach it. Should they use the 'contact' Skremek Slaughtertrees and pay a handsome fund? Or should Mudgol just use his teleport spells to blink them safely to the opposite side. After first using clairvoyance above the Mimresh to scope out safe destinations, they decide to go with the latter plan, and safely arrive in a sheltered nook of the Vernal Wall where the soldiers on the Mimresh minnerets and battlements won't spy them.
They travel a bit further south into the Fyreklaw Barrens, where the night brings cooler air, and eventually come across the path of a large, stone-wheeled wagon being driven by rock-hided, burning-eyed trolls. Ballyhoo turns invisible to scout out the potential danger, and finds that the cart is occupied by a massive, three-armed giant and a pile of stinking furs of great beasts. He returns to the rest of the PCs, and they decide to avoid a confrontation with the giant-kind, much to the dismay of several of the party's more militant individuals. They press on through the early hours until arriving at the River Thaar, on the banks of which they make camp and set watches after avoiding another confrontation with some wheeling hippogriffs they spot in the sky above.
Tault, Martenin 20th, 838 ID
Ginkwrench and Gruulsh devise a small rope bridge to ford the River Thaar, and the party makes it safely across after the gnome swims it. Mudgol chooses instead to teleport with the rest of the group, not taking any chances. After hours more travel, the edge of the Barrens is in sight, where it meets the vast desert known as the Sunkindle. The rough lands become cracked, and they spy an orc settlement that has been established over a series of gorges in the earth (the 'Mothergorge')...Badash. After a near encounter with a flight of giant wasps who decide it in their best interest to just 'buzz off', they make a plan to infiltrate the orc slave town. It is deemed safest for Mudgol and Ballyhoo to make the attempt, the latter using a magical disguise, and to tow along Gruulsh as a slave. So they snap on an extra pair of her manacles, and drag her up to the stone bridge granting access to the town. The two guards there, heavily armed, seem not to trust the 'silver tongue' of Ballyhoo, far too well spoken for an orc, but admire the gruff parlay of Mudgol, and so they allow the half-orc to bring Gruulsh in to the slave market.
Annoyed, Ballyhoo uses a charm spell on the other guard to follow them. When the pair arrives at the large slave stockade, they come across a group of silent, gray-clad orcs speaking with another that wears a large birdskull mask: a local slave master called Tel'tesh. He confronts Mudgol about trading Gruulsh for a pair of human children, but the half-orc instead chooses to pay to have Gruulsh caged up for the night. Soon, the bugbear is harassed by a dwarf prisoner in a neighboring cage which has lost his marbles, but she does her best to ignore the racial hatred. Mudgol and Ballyhoo head over to the Scorpion's Clutch, a local tavern and inn to see if they can dig up more information. Meanwhile, at camp, Rumpridge disappears into the night, deciding to scout out the Mothergorge channels and see if he can't locate the hidden Score prison that is purported to lie beneath the slave town. He manages to climb down into the shit, piss and corpse-strewn chasms, where he encounters a sniveling, begging elderly gnome who is both emaciated and amputated, not to mention blind in one eye...
Baro and Ymurf notice that Rumpridge has taken off, and after waiting, Baro decides to scope out where the rogue might have gotten to. He uses a spyglass to examine the Grays' Enclave, home to the sorcerous orcs wearing the strange robes, and note that they employ everburning alchemical fires to keep their district lit. But no sign of Rumpridge. Over at the crowded Scorpion's Clutch, Mudgol and Ballyhoo encounter an orcish prostitute who takes a liking to the 'far-too-handsome-for-an-orc' disguised bard, and she agrees to bring both to her chamber at the Dustrunner Enclave. They follow, but before 'sealing the deal', Ballyhoo casts a lesser geas on her to put her to sleep, and they then teleport back to camp, where they learn of the Private's disappearance somewhere in Badash. It is now nearly morning, so the PCs decide to rest up while they await Rumpridge's return, and then head back in to reclaim Gruulsh and make a further plan.
Varony, Martenin 21st, 838 ID
All the while, Rumpridge is sneaking through the chasms of the Mothergorge. He's first jumped by a gnoll thug, who he quickly dispatches, and then he finds a cavern the blind gnome from earlier had noted, being guarded by one antagonistic orc soldier who hurls rocks and spit at him in passing. Later, he comes across a strange, foreign looking man smoking offal through a bone pipe. 'Lhuno the Mystic' introduces himself and exchanges some conversation with the young man, begging him for help to escape the pits and to reclaim his camel 'Shirli', being held at the stables above. Mudgol and Ballyhoo re-enter Badash during daylight hours to get Gruulsh back, but find to their dismay that they've waited to long, and that another of the stockade masters (Surtuk) has purchased the bugbear for a small fee and plans to perform some horrible experiments. Gruulsh is just about to break free and fight her new oppressors when Mudgol discharges the situation by purchasing back Gruulsh for 1000 gold coins! The three hastily beat feat back out of Badash, and then Lt. Ginkwrench orders that they all wait for Rumpridge's return.
But Rumpridge can't climb out of the Mothergorge...after a lengthy wait, when the evening arrives, the PCs all sneak down into the 'gorge, with Ymurf, and start exploring the place. They pass numerous thugs who are sneaking about to escape the waste cast into the chasms by the orcs, but none are willing to confront such a large and serious band. Eventually, after also encountering Neddyn the half-blind gnome, they follow his lead and discover Rumpridge and Lhuno the Mystic hanging out. With the group combined at last, they decide to scope out these mysterious caves beneath Slaughtertree Hold which Rumpridge had been tipped off to. As they arrive, the guard who was previously there is nowhere to be seen. They enter the caves...
PCs: Ballyhoo, Baro, Ginkwrench, Gruulsh, Mudgol, Rumpridge
NPCs
Lhuno the Mystic (human male): A strange, plump, squat middle-aged human with flecks of black/white beard on his ashen-tinted skin. Lhuno claims to come from far across the Sunkindle, and wandered into the orc community of Badash only due to becoming blinded by a sandstorm. His faithful camel, 'Shirli' guided him to the Fyreklaw Barrens, where he was captured and eventually thrown into the Mothergorge refuse pits due to his unfitness. Lhuno, a 'mystic', claims to be able to project himself out of his body, and he also gains insight and tranquility by smoking whatever he can find. Takes to Pvt. Rumpridge quite handily.
Neddyn (gnome male): Amputated below the left knee, pitifully wan and pale due to emaciation, and with a cloudy, blinded left eye, this pathetic gnome has reached the brink of insanity after being cast into the Mothergorge and trying to eke out survival among the piss, shit and bones tossed into it.
Surtuk (orc male): One of the 'day masters' at the Badash slave stockade/market, like his fellows he wears an ugly giant bird skull/beak as a mask to conceal his features. Quickly purchases Gruulsh after Mudgol fails to pick her up on time in the morning from her temporary cage, and seems to have some knowledge of magical trickery after Ballyhoo (disguised) fails to charm him. Reputed to be one of the crueler slave masters in Badash; woe to he or she that winds up in his clutches.
Tel'Tesh (orc male): A 'night master' of the Badash slave stockade, he wears the traditional greatbird skull mask to hide his face when dealing in the buying and selling of unfortunates.
Vessa (orc female): A prostitute working out of The Scorpion Clutch, the crowded tavern and inn located at the heart of Badash. She takes quickly to Lord Ballyhoo thanks to his too-perfect disguise, and then takes he and Mudgol to her flat at the Dustrunner Enclave to turn her tricks. Later, Ballyhoo casts a lesser geas to put her to sleep so he and Mudgol can teleport back to the rest of the PCs waiting outside the village.
