12 - 2/15/24 : Code of Honor

"Yes, Burning Blood! Announce your glory to all who would hear! Gromm favors us this day!"  

Thokgrim the Stormlord

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  After their course of action was decided, the party decided to depart for the verbeeg cave with Thokgrim. However, they were interrupted by the arrival of a torch-carrying posse led by Shandar Froth, a local dwarven logger. Shandar was upset that an orc had been let into town after their kind had raided Honeybrook for decades, and demanded that Thokgrim be driven out, if not outright killed. However, the party, with Ragna taking the lead, intimidated Shandar into standing down. The posse dispersed, and the party was free to carry on with the mission to retrieve the stolen mead.   Along the trek northward, Thokgrim spoke to the Lonesome Few to ascertain their origins and capabilities in combat. He asked about Alith's origins, having never known a gith before. When hearing tales of her origin, he realized that she had arrived in one of the two 'falling stars' that Thokgrim had witnessed a few weeks prior, which he had taken as an omen to begin his quest to overthrow his rival of the Bleeding Moon Clan. Thokgrim dubbed Alith 'Xunug', which meant 'Fated Star' in the orcish tongue.   To Ragna, Thokgrim proudly stated that he had heard tales of the barbarian's battle-prowess from other orcs who had survived encounters with him and lived to tell the tale. Thokgrim expressed excitement at the prospect of fighting at Ragna's side and seeing the Burning Blood in action himself.   To Melfina, Thokgrim asked if her magic powers derived from the spirits of the land, or if they came from a power on high like Thokgrim's Gromm-given spells. Melfina explained her arcane inclinations, and Thokgrim responded positively, and endorsed the tactic of Melfina hanging in the back of most combats to be most effective. Thokgrim was also keenly aware of Melfina's drow heritage, and the two bonded over their similar situations in being judged poorly for the malicious actions of their own people.   Lastly, to Tali, Thokgrim recognized a 'shadowy energy' about them, but could not sense any malice of it. Tali responded somewhat bashfully, and expressed their incredulousness that they were even tagging along in the first place. When reminded that the cave might have interesting fauna, Tali was placated.   When asked, Thokgrim gave a review of the five clans of his home village; the industrious and peace-seeking Stormcaller clan (to which he belonged), the primal Giant Paws clan, the firekeepers and Surter-worshiping forgemasters of the Flame Keepers clan, the shamanic mystics of the Spirit Fangs clan, and the bloodthirsty Grotaag worshipers of the Bleeding Moon clan. Thokgrim told the Lonesome Few of the 'Code of Our Fathers', a philosophy he followed that he intended to make law among his people should he become chieftain.   At last, the party arrived at the verbeeg cave. On the outskirts, they noticed a set of mammoth tracks mixed in with those of the verbeegs, and decided to approach stealthily. They managed to get the drop on Duhg, the verbeeg living within the cave; when set upon, Duhg called out to his ogre minions, 'Friend' and 'Not-Friend', commanding the latter to fetch his pet mammoth.   Duhg was unable to stand up to the party's overwhelming might and soon fell, well before the mammoth was able to join the fray. However, from the south came Gahg, a female verbeeg that Duhg had been courting. Infuriated that her potential mate had been slain, Gahg attacked the party as well.   While Alith, Melfina, and Tali kept Gahg and her deadly spear busy, Ragna and Thokgrim worked together to take down the mammoth. Although the beast fought ferociously, it was eventually felled by the combined might of the two burly warriors. Thokgrim stood proudly on the mammoth's body and praised Ragna's might, and then went to aid the others in felling the remaining enemies.   Once Gahg and the ogres had fallen, the cave had fallen silent. Within, the party found the stolen mead, as well as a corral full of goats and sheep. Further within, they found that a nearby frozen stream ended in a frozen pond inside the cave, and underneath the ice sat a statue of the god Silvanath, depicted as a young man wearing naught but a leaf for modesty. Melfina and Alith cooperated to melt the ice and find out if anything was special about the statue.   Although the statue itself seemed to be mundane, the water around it appeared to be restorative in nature. As Alith touched it, she was magically cured of her mental affliction that had her fixating on finding potential Tiamat cultists in the area. Melfina and Ragna, suffering no long-term effects, only felt soft tingles from the water.   However, when Tali attempted to touch the water, they physically recoiled as if burned. When asked about this, Tali reluctantly admitted that the elven half of their heritage was specifically of the Shadar-Kai; the elves of the Shadowfell that had sworn themselves to the service of the Raven Queen. Although Tali was mostly raised in Revelmoore by their human father, they had been born in the Shadowfell to their Shadar-Kai mother, and as a result many aspects of the natural world withered or recoiled from Tali's presence. The party noticed soon after that the corralled goats and sheep seemed to be afraid of Tali.   Despite this heritage, Tali held an ardent adoration of nature and its gifts, and difficulties such as the Silvanath-blessed waters reminded them of what they could never have. Melfina discreetly reached through the Weave towards Tali to inspect their presence within it; she was alarmed to find Tali surrounded by a small pocket of Shadow Weave, pure shadow magic from the Shadowfell.   Thokgrim congratulated the party on their success and encouraged Tali to keep fighting for what they wanted, and then returned with the rest of the group back to Honeybrook. The group's success was reported to Olivessa Untapoor, and plans were made for Shandar Froth and his compatriots to go fetch the stolen mead and animals from the now-cleared cave.   After Shandar's group departed, Olivessa asked the party to consider speaking to the people of Honeybrook before they departed west for Bleeding Moon, hoping they could convince the people to vote for her as Town Speaker over Shandar, the other leading candidate. Olivessa hoped that both Thokgrim's help with the mead problem and the party's word would tip the scales in her favor.   Ragna and Tali took up the task while Melfina and Alith declined. The persuasive efforts of the pair seemed to make a difference, and many lips in Honeybrook spoke favorably of Olivessa as the Lonesome Few rested for the night.   As morning came, Thokgrim led the party west on the path to Bleeding Moon. As they traveled, they saw a rare sight in the aurora-streaked sky to the west; a thunderstorm, striking a focused point on the barely-visible mountains in the distance. Thokgrim described the Anvil of Storms, a legendary magic anvil powered by the power of lightning from on high. He and his people had been forbidden from working the Anvil under Hortog's guidance, but Thokgrim assured the party that if he were to become chieftain and secure the allegiance of both the forgemaster of the Flamekeepers and the high shaman of the Spirit Fangs, he would use the anvil to create treasures for the party as thanks for their help.   Ragna also informed Thokgrim of her relations to Siegmar, who Thokgrim's people called 'Groghmir'. Thokgrim said that resisting the Broken Blade incursion was his primary motivation in becoming chief, and that he would surely come into conflict with Ragna's father. Ragna still considered the Broken Blade her people, but understood that Thokgrim would do what he had to do if he were to become chief.   Thokgrim also revealed that Hortog, the current chieftain, had been persuaded to align himself with Siegmar by Gunnar Siegsson, another of Ragna's siblings. Gunnar was a massive half-orc warrior and a dangerous opponent, one Ragna was wary of to the same degree as she was of Ulfur.   After sleeping along the road for a night, the party continued their trek. As they went further northwest, Alith realized that the psi crystal in her backpack had begun to vibrate and emit strange sounds. Melfina recognized the sounds as fractured deep speech, which she was able to speak. She translated the message as it came through and looped.  

"Calling all allies to the Grand Design […] of the Id Ascendant […] frozen land. Environs unsuitable for cultivation of newborns. Integrity of […] without intervention or […] unable to persist without assistance […] Previous forward operating base has been compromised for some time, likely unrelated to the […] must not […] until […] critical that the […] unparalleled power in the hands of the Grand Design […]"

  Alith realized that this was a message from the Mind Flayer ship that had pursued the spelljammer she served on before landing in the Taiga, and that the message was a broad-banded distress call meant to reach any servants of the illithids in the area. This greatly disturbed the young githyanki, for unlike her allies who were confident in their abilities to defeat these alien invaders, Alith was aware of the extent and power of the illithid Grand Design. The party decided that finding the Id Ascendant would be a good objective to pursue after helping Thokgrim, and Thokgrim gave them an idea of the general area where the 'fallen star' had crashed based on his own viewpoint of the event.   Soon after, the party arrived at Bleeding Moon. They were let in by the ogre gatekeepers after Thokgrim vouched for them, and he introduced them to some of his clanmates. He asked that they prepare themselves to accompany him to deliver his challenge to Chieftain Hortog.   Alith pulled Melfina aside during this time and tried to persuade her to admit her feelings for Tali, given that they would be going into dangerous situations soon with dubious chances of survival. Melfina reacted with some confusion, and also stated that she was very confident at their prospects as she usually was.   After taking a moment, the party entered the Chieftain's residence alongside Thokgrim, where the latter presented his challenge to a duel to the death in the traditional manner. Thokgrim placed an axe before Hortog, and Hortog considered the axe before returning it (or rather, throwing it back at Thokgrim), meaning the challenge was accepted.   After ensuring their equipment and magic was in order, the party and Thokgrim presented themselves at Votar Venak Aghmat, the combat arena of Bleeding Moon that had been built out of various pieces of Old Hyperborean ruins. Hortog awaited them and proclaimed his faith in Grotaag, the Orc-Father, while also admonishing Thokgrim's choice of civilized allies. Thokgrim simply entreated Gromm the Thunderer and raised his maul, ready for battle. Soon, the fate of the orcs of the Taiga would be realized..