The Second D&D Tarak Campaign - Back To Oakhurst (Again !)

Welcome to the ongoing saga of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign I ran a little while back. It started off using The Sunken Citadel module from the Tales From The Yawning Portal source book, but was then fitted into my Homebrew setting and moved on from there.

In the last post, the party managed to get the trapped kobolds free, just in time as the orcs smashed the rock arch they were hiding in. Now all they have to do is get back to Oakhurst....

I hope you enjoy my D&D campaign write-ups, and the commentary I add to them. Questions, comments and feedback are welcome !

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With the kobolds safely out of the collapsing rock bridge, the party's next task was to escort them back to Oakhurst. It was their base, as well as safety for the kobolds among their kin who were already living there.

The bridge had spanned a deep ravine between two mountain peaks. That had the great advantage that they were safe from the risk of the orcs just swarming down to slaughter them. But it also only gave meant they'd have to follow the ravine until it became a valley and then eventually opened out at the bottom of the mountain.

As they trudged along with their column of diminutive refugees, they spotted a plume of kicked-up snow in the distance. They were being pursued !

Picking up the pace, they saw the column of snow diminish a little. Although they didn't know it, they'd successfully outrun the mass of orcs on foot. What was left was a strong force of orogs and an orc chief mounted on large, ferocious war-pigs.

During the long chase that ensued, it became clear that this was an opponent they couldn't outrun. The demoralised and exhausted kobolds were not in a position to fight; they relied on stealth and traps. So the fugitives were sent onward while the party stopped and turned to face their pursuers.

The enemy consisted of a dozen orogs plus the chief, and when they saw the heroes standing in the snow waiting for them, they charged, with the war-pigs squealing hideously. It required a roll to stave off the disadvantage this fear effect could cause, although the party all made it successfully.

As the enemy closed, Garnet and Erioch both cast offensive spells at them. A fireball from Garnet was the most effective, followed by a Burning Hands at closer range. While none of the orogs were felled by this, quite a few were severely weakened as the smell of flash-fried bacon filled the air.

Then the line of riders hit. The battle was fierce; the players had fought plenty of orogs before, but never this many at once, and never mounted on beasts. But by this time, they had fine-tuned their tactics. They might be a bunch of murderhobos with dubious judgement, but their combat prowess and co-ordination were impressive.

Erioch and Griff focused their efforts on taking down the chief, while Fartacus and Garnet used spells to impede the orogs. The chief had lots of hit points, but the heroes used feats to dish out vast amounts of damage, and he soon went down.

One thing about orogs is that they don't easily get discouraged, and the loss of their leader didn't seem to harm their morale in the slightest. They were in this until the end, not going to flee like goblins would.

The rest of the fight was a slugging match. The orogs were already weakened by the spells they'd taken as they charged in, which made it easier, but they fought to the death. So die they did, together with their war-pigs, which had fought just as fiercely as their riders.

The party wouldn't run short of meat again for a good while.....

The rest of the journey back to Oakhurst passed without incident, although it was slower than they'd anticipated due to the burden of bacon everyone was lugging along.

When they got back, the kobolds were overjoyed to be reunited with their kin, and partied long into the night.

Kerowyn was happy to receive the key the party had talked Arixxiphan out of, but had bad news for them.

Next time.... Jabzug Dwarfswallower.