House of the Rising Son
| House of the Rising Son | |
|---|---|
| Date | 6/21/23 |
| Storyteller | Doug |
| Tier | Expert - Moderate-Severe |
| Player Characters | Sade Mrysky, Serene Leyvald, Satori, Fen Ergivald, Zeal, Grist Vanafeld |
| Rewards | 300 exp, 30 gold |
| Result | Failure |
| Author | Zeal |
Log
We arrived at the base of the mine to find a grotesque, mouth-like plant waiting for us. It opened up to reveal a shortcut to the grove, which was unpleasant to experience. Most of us took it by stepping onto it, though Satori elected to jump down the cavern regardless. At the ever-expanding tree we met with an aboreal named Teri, who was young with a concerning thirst for blood. Soon after we met Ai the dryad, who explained the situation to us. The Kodamas were busy meditating, preparing their bodies and magics for the coming war. We were to take a couple of vehicles, something called Anglerfish, down to an outpost occupied by the ogres. These electricity-powered machines proved to be too difficult for our magically inclined, so we took one of the experimental nature-based ones alongside the anglerfish. Teri drove the plant vehicle.
Fen drove the machine slowly but safely. This did, however, result in those of us in the other vehicle arriving a day before them because Teri refused to drive slowly. This allowed Satori time to scout out the area. He saw several ogres and many kobolds, no spellcasters and signs of traps at the entrance. Once we all convened, we planned out our attack. We would use a spell to create a staircase across the river into the central area where the forge was located, clearing out the zone and holding it down. Once we had a defensible position, we would begin our sabotage plans. Sure, on the day of the attack we saw an ogre boss speaking respectfully to a lower-ranking ogre, but we hadn't thought too much of it at the time. We were focused on our current plan, and chose not to adapt accordingly.
Despite how well it started, I am ashamed to say it did not go well for us in the end. Their numbers turned out to be very large, and once I finally got into position to hold the broken bridge and prevent the ogres from crossing, an ogre revealed itself to be an oni in disguise. Floating over the gap to one of our unguarded flanks, it unleashed a wave of fire that slew Teri and brought down Grist. Serene was able to get him back up, but with the split of our guard and Fen being surrounded by ogres at our rear, I had to break my position to go assist Fen. The large, martially inclined oni warned us of the approaching "Small master", who approached in a ball of fire.
As the oni brought low Grist and Serene with intention to capture them, Satori left Sade and I to help Fen while he took on the oni. He did well for the time, leaving me an opening to cleave into that oni a scar he won't soon forget. If not for what happened next, we could have slew him.
The small master, the fireball in the sky, was Kai. The son of aku, a flying oni with significant magical prowess. He was naive, but undoubtedly powerful. Though I was confident I could bring down this martial oni with one or two more strikes, our group as a whole was weakened and in no position to handle a spellcaster raining fire down upon us. Given the chance from Satori's negotiations as an oni, we were forced to depart with naught but our lives. This Kai would discuss the idea of a duel, a tradition among the oni, between one of us and the garrison commander, with Aku. If given the chance, I will gladly cut down that worm of a fiend next time.
Though we could not destroy their supply chain today, we intend to try again. We have gained valuable new information. Kai, son of Aku, is likely one of their more important generals, and we now know where he is. Though we should avoid killing him if possible to delay a personal response from Aku himself, killing him may be needed to stop him. As much as I loathe the idea, it seems most efficient to see if we can manipulate this naive fool to our benefit. He has also taught us something valuable: Whatever he can do, his father can likely do just as well. And Kai can hover, turn into a ball of fire, and cast exceptionally powerful magic. He needs to be dealt with, and we will do so when we return to this base eventually.