The All Orc Campaign Journal

by Flaming Man of Iron

What happens with a when a group of dumb orcs decides to go adventuring? This is a campaign journal. Character sheets and bios are in chapter 1, go to Chapter 2 for the story.

1. Background Prologue Information

1,274 years ago a green dragon by the name of Vaectorfinyairuxo signed a pact with a tribe of orcs. The orcs saw this as a sign from Gruumsh. He had sent them a dragon to protect them and to aid them in conquest. What other explanation could explain why a powerful dragon would aid a tribe of orcs? The tribes name was officially renamed from Lion's Pounce to The One Eye'd Dragons Claw. The pact was mutually beneficial. The dragon taught the orcs divine worship of dragons, thus the shamans of the tribe began to revere and emulate dragons. With their powers aiding the tribe, raids grew more bold and fearsome. The green dragon also taught the tribe the powers of arcane magic, especially necromancy. In exchange the orcish tribes brought tribute, everything of value was given to the green dragon; especially tomes on necromancy.

This green dragon had a purpose, a fear. He feared death and sought immortality The Green Dragon studied Necromancy actively for over a thousand years. (He also loved orc flesh. Any arcane pupil who failed, and there were many, were consumed)

The tribes leaders were still chosen from the mystical connection to the lion, an ancient tradition. However many thought these traditions were outdated; specifically the Dragon Shamans and those who could wield the powers of necromancy. This caused a perpetual leadership conflict that existed until the tribes' unfortunate downfall.

Two years ago the green dragon Vaectorfinyairuxo achieved his lifelong goal. He became a dracolich. However this wasn't enough. He still realized that if word got out about him that he would be hunted. He could be defeated by powerful heroes. No, any knowledge of his existence must be eliminated. In his paranoia he slaughtered the orcish tribe The One Eye'd Dragon's Claw. He though he killed every single orc. He animated as many corpses he could and flew back to his lair to embrace eternity.

Another event had transpired that night. Three orcs had gathered far away from the tribe to discuss yet again, who was actually in charge of the clan. If not for standing on the holy site of Gruumsh, much bloodshed would have fallen to the ground. As usual no progress was made. When they returned to the tribe they found death. Searching through the bodies they found no survivors. Fearing whoever was powerful enough to kill the entire village the orcs quickly went to leave. On the way out a moan was heard from a pile of bodies. A survivor. Confused because the dragon shaman's aura originally had no effect on the pile of corpses, they helped there comrade to his feet and eventually found out the story of the dragon's betrayal.

In the two years that have past much has changed. The four orcs have traveled together, being pretty stupid their goals are simple. Originally they had intended to throw themselves into battle with the nearest elf village, taking as many elves with them as they could. Then they realized that revenge against this dragon would be the best action. He had betrayed the orcs, and obviously he had betrayed Gruumsh. For was it not Gruumsh who sent the green dragon to them? It was a double insult. But even these orcs knew that such a task was impossible. Impossible, until one day a passing half-orc bard told them the story of a human. This human was capable of defeating dragons. Surely if a human could learn to defeat a dragon, then an orc could learn how too; and faster!

They learned that he wielded powerful magical items and had learned to battle dragons from a young age. If the only thing between the orcs and killing the green dragon was some magical items all they had to do was get some. The dragon shaman under the guise of a half-orc snuck into the human city and using everything he had learned about the civilized race struck up a conversation with the human. Kolt Dragon Slayer he was called. They learned that Kolt had been a professional adventurer all his life, and that he accumulated great amounts of coin and magical gear and that in the realms there is always work for an adventurer. He also mentioned hearing about an adventure in the city of Palischuk.

Thus the four orcs have a new goal. Pretend to be adventurer's, get magical items, kill the dragon who betrayed them. (And keep a track of who is killing more people)

Current PC's

Grutt Halfling Crusader 2

Before the day the Green Dragon slaughtered the tribe there was just nothing special about Grutt. Stupid, crude, and lacking of any common sense he was destined for levels in NPC class; probably warrior. But that was then. Grutt believes he died that day, the day the dragon came. He awoke changed and often times engages in conversion with Gruumsh outloud. Since that day two years ago he has unbelievable flashes of divine powers that lend great credit to his claim that Gruumsh speaks to him. He tries hard to be the group's diplomat with the civilized races, but with him speaking openly to gruumsh in front of them, he often fails. Grutt wields a great axe but Gruumsh is talking to him about how awesome a spear is, he's thinking of converting. He recently was reincarnated as a female Halfling.

Statistics

Grutt Level 1 Neutral Evil Crusader
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 7
HP: 12
F5/R3/W-2

Balance: 4 Ranks
Diplomacy: 4 Ranks
Intimidate: 4 Ranks

Feat: Extra Granted Maneuver
Stance: Martial Spirit
Maneuvers: Stone Bones, Leading the attack, crusaders strike, vanguard strike, douse the flames

Equpiment: mwk battle axe, tower shield, chain shirt, everburning torch.

Gorm Deatheye Gnoll Barbarian 3

Gorm's Childhood

As a young orc of great strength and therefore the potential of someday being a leader of the tribe, Gorm was made to participate in all the rituals of the ancient orc culture, despite the fact that he may have been both the dumbest and ugliest thing that had ever come out from between a females legs in over a generation (and that's saying a lot). However, the leaders decided to look past this, because they thought he had potential, but more importantly they were desperate to hold onto all of the sons of those that still practiced traditional orc shamanism as opposed to worshiping the dragon. They also believed that stupidity might work in their favor, because the more intelligent and reasonable youth were more likely to follow the dragon.

One of the comming of age ceremonies was a lengthy solo spiritual journey through the mountains. The approximate path of this journey would be laid out by the youngling's spiritual councilor, a wise elder barbarian orc that would have taken the youngling under his tutelage in pre-adolecence. Unfortunately for Gorm, at the time of his departure on his 13th birthday, his councilor became ill (unbeknownst to Gorm) and died a few days after Gorm departed. In fever on his deathbed, the councilor gave the scouts who were in charge of recalling younglings if they failed their spiritual journey (which they invariably did, for the dreams granted by Gruumsh had deserted the tribe) the wrong last known location of Gorm. As a result, the scouts were never able to find Gorm, and he quickly became helplessly lost in the wilderness.

In the wild, Gorm relearned the ancient tricks of survival that had been forgotten by his people after living a relatively plush life (for orcs anyways) under the rule of the dragon. He learned to listen to the beasts (plenty of whom he also was able to kill), becoming wise in the ways of the natural world (just in case you were wondering how an Orc barbarian could have a wisdom of 13). Through his trials, Gorm became injured a variety of times for extremely stupid reasons, scaring his already not so good looking body (in a way that they could not be mistaken for "beautiful" battlescars). After spending 4 years in the wild alone, by chance, Gorm encountered an orc raiding party on the way back from a successful raid, and was able to return to his people.

Due to his lengthy stay in the wild away from compatriots speaking the orc language, Gorm has a difficulty expressing himself in words. His language skills in Orcish is on par with how well an average orc can speak common. Also, he picked up a rank odor (bad even by orc standards) that follows him around in an almost visible cloud. His favorite things are booze, sex (though he's never had a voluntary partner, the concept is in fact foreign to him), and killing. Gorm is quirky in that he enjoys fine dining, which to him is whatever booze he has handy, poured over whatever raw piece of meat he just finished cutting, off of something he just finished killing. He aquired this taste during his solitude when he ambushed a human trapper far outside of normal hunting trails, who was drunk off his ass. In the ensuing, poorly executed surprise, the jug of moonshine the trapper was carrying spilled all over him, moments before Gorm killed him. Feasting upon the booze soaked human flesh was undisputedly the best meal Gorm has ever had, and since then he has tried to replicate the experience.

Physical Description

He looks like a Gnoll now, yay reincarnate!~

History

Gorm Deatheye's lineage ruled the tribe by birthright. He was born with a spiritual connection to the Lion, just like his father, and his father, dating back for thousands of years. All that which it entails was taken by the dragon. With each year the dragon lorded over them, though their coffers filled, the visions that the cheiftains and elder sages used to guide their tribe gradually became less defined, until in the time of Gorm's sire's time, the visions dissapeared all together. The cause of the loss of this power was never found out, but two trains of thought existed, one was that the close proximity of the dragon's mighty magical energy was disrupting them, or the tribe fell out of favor with Gruumsh. As orcs are not predisposed to philosophical inquiry, (the few times that it is "discussed" it quickly degenerates into a fistfight, at the very least) Gorm isn't really looking for an answer, though he does believe that if his tribe did fall out of favor, the best way to gain it back is by brutally slaying all his enemies, which he wanted to do anyways.

The most important of the visions to depart was the chieftain's recurring vision of his own death. Experienced by only the most elite of the Deatheye's, the vision of one's own death granted the orc with a particular confidence in their relative immortality in all manners occuring before this incident. This confidence and bravado resulting from the dream led almost all cheftains being members of the Deatheye lineage, and those that were not did not remain so for long. For most generations this also resulted in the one to experience the dream to kill the previous chieftain. The same can be said for Gorm who, though he did not experince the dream, claimed to, and murdered the previous chieftain (who by that point in history was mostly a figurehead that did the dragon's bidding), in an attempt to revive the old ways of pure blooded orc greatness. This deciet was not particularly well executed as Gorm is far from an eloquent speaker, but since he was the strongest of the tribe, this warranted the respect of those that respected the old ways. The only faction that gave him any problem were the dragon's necromancers and shamen, but with the death of the majority of his tribe, these power disputes have become less meaningful to Gorm.

Now, with the loss of his tribe and a feeling of helplessness before the might of the magics that decimated it, Gorm must rely on Zuk to (hopefully temprarily) lead the party in the search of magical items to defeat the dragon and take their revenge. Along the way Gorm will take every instance available to demonstrate that he is still mightier (in physical strength at least) than Zuk, though his wisdom tempers his responses for he feels that he needs to keep the survivors of his tribe together, united against their enemies.

Statistics

Gorm Level 3 Neutral Evil Barbarian
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 17
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 13
Charisma: 5
HP: 45 (yes the lucky bastard rolled 12's at level 1,2, and 3)
F6/R3/W2

Climb: 2 ranks
Intimidate: 2 ranks
Jump: 4 ranks
Survival: 2 ranks
Listen: 2 ranks

Equipment: Dragonsword
Chain Shirt
GP:6
SP:128
CP:508

Feat: Power Attack, Improved Bullrush

Note: Replaced fast movement with pounce as per page 46 of complete champion.

Krunc Orc Dragon Shaman 2

Krunc originally revered the green dragon like a god. So much so that Gruumsh would probably wipe his blasphemous dragon worshiping face across the planes of existence. That all changed when the dragon betrayed the tribe. Krunc now reveres Gruumsh, but also has adopted many of a dragon's more charming personality traits. Krunc wants power, now and in the afterlife. What better way then by gaining enough power to defeat an immortal dragon, and thus getting back in on good terms with Gruumsh securing a place in the afterlife.

Krunc's Feeling Book

The story of Krunc is a long and detailed one, full of whimsical fancies and....ah who am I kidding he was a damned Orc, he liked to smash stuff and have possess lots of girl orcs! Actually besides those two facts not that much is known about Krunc. He did happen to keep many notes about his "feelings", why an Orc would do such a thing is beyond me! He risked getting smashed by his fellow Orcs for writing his "feelings" down, but he did it anyways. So here is the long lost journal of Krunc, the dates of these entries are not known and it is not known if the entries are even linear in their progression. They are were found at the site of the smoldering ruins.

Excerpts form Krunc's "feeling book":

Excerpt

"Dear feeling book,

I have been training none stop! Today I was able to hold the aura around me for a couple of hours. It is just like the elders said, 'do not try too hard or think to hard', that seems to always be the advice that elder orcs give...but it worked. I was pretty cool. I noticed that Rollza was checking me out while I trained. She wants me. She is so hott, her skin so pasty green, that greecy hair, I swear I can smell the rotten flesh all over her! Today was a good day!"

Excerpt

"Dear feeling book,

Today I met the green dragon! He was sure mighty, he was taking a break from teaching his necromancer students...I mean student...for some reason most of them have disappeared...anyways, it was invigorating to meet him. Such power that dragon has, so mighty! He could bend anyone to his will, he could destroy so many elves! I hate elves! I want that power! I also met his student, this strikingly handsome fellow named Zuk. I'm not a orcosexual or anything, but he was way better looking then most of the ugly brown orcs that are around this town. All I can see in my mind is that ugly Gorm Barbarian. Those red eyes....wow! Zuk and I are going to talk tomorrow. He thinks we are going to talk about Necromancy, but I'm just going to get info about the Green Dragon from him! Good thing I can lie to anyone and get away with it!"

Exceprt

"Dear feeling book,

This hunger I have is getting worse...Elder Joid tells me that all Shamen encounter it at some point...he told me it is best to ignore it and find a way to control it so that I can become a master of myself...but I just can't seem to control it. I find it overwhelms me...I do not know what it even is. I just find myself envious of those around me who are more powerful then me, and angry at them for knowing more then me. THEIR POWER SHOULD BE MINE! There it goes again! I can't control it... I have confided in Zuk about it, he says it is a fear of dying...he seems more consumed with the fear of dying then I am. We were meeting secretly today to discuss the state of the tribe. We both agree that the old ways are no longer worth it and that holding back our potiential for killing elves and humans. He has become my ally...dare I say friend in the war against the old ways of the tribe. The only thing we don't agree on is Gruumsh, he seems to think that Gruumsh might not even exist! I do not argue with him, he is a skilled wordsmith and can defeat my arguments for existance of Gruumsh. Hopuflly Gruumsh will send some elves for us to kill, then Zuk will believe again. Zuk always points out that crazy orc who talks to Gruumsh all day long, and Zuk says 'You don't want to be like him now do you!' In our conversation today Zuk said that he has a solution to my problem, somthing that will make me more powerful then I have ever been. We are meeting to discuss about it...i'm not sure what I will have to do to get this power he speaks of, but what ever is I will do it. I want to be more powerful and will pay any cost to get it!"

Excerpt

"Dear feeling book,

Tomorrow I will be traveling with several of the so called young leaders of the Tribe to discuss who will take power. I should just slaughter them now and take the power, but I am afraid that the Gorm fellow is too powerful right now, he would certainly crush my skull in with his great axe. Zuk says that we could team up and kill him, but I do not entirely trust Zuk in this matter, he could easily betray me after we kill Gorm. Anyways, it won't matter, I am certanly the most popular of the young leaders in the tribe right now, becoming leader will just be a matter of convincing the others that I am the only one who could lead. I tried to get the Green Dragon to settle matters...but he hasn't been around recently, he is up to something. This makes me angry, I have tried to emulate him in every way, I have even given up studying with Joid because Joid says that I have become increasingly detacted...ever since Zuk gave me my power I have felt less pity towards the orcs in this town and even my old teacher and his weakling ways. Joid once told me that life is more then power, that is a fools saying! I called him a elf lover and left.

I still feel the hunger but am better at controlling it and have even been able to use it to my advantage to turn the people away from the old ways. I don't really care about the people, but they can help me become leader, which is all I need...the power that it would give me would be amazing. It also would help me score some orc chicks! Zuk has taught me all his many ways of getting orc chicks, and for that matter any type of chick, he sure is a master of girls!"

statistics

Krunc Level 3 Neutral Evil Dragon Shaman
Strength: 19
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 17
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 7
Charisma: 14
HP:23
F5/R-2/W1

Bluff: 6 Ranks
Knowledge (Nature): 6 Ranks

Feat: Tomb Tainted, Skill Focus (Bluff), Improved Initiative

Auras: Vigor, Senses, Presence

Equipment: Studded Leather, Morning star
CP:500
SP:132
GP:161

Zuk Corpsecrafter Orc Dread Necromancer 3

Personality

A natural leader, with his keen intellect and persuasive personality the other orcs tended to heed his words. However he knows himself to be almost completely unaware of the nuances of social interactions and has a complete inability to read people. Because of this he often times relies on Krunc and Gorm to assist him. Has a general dislike for Grutt as his abilities stem from an unknown source and Zuk is reluctant to admit that Gruumsh actually speaks to Grutt. However he knows that for the mission to be successful that each one of them will play a vital role. If one should fall in battle there are ways of bringing someone back to life. Usually an orc views the life of allies as an expendable resource, however with only four of them left each one of them is vital to the mission at hand. Death will only be a minor setback; nothing will stop their mission. Zuk knows that for them to continue following him, he must project the illusion that his goals are aligned with the goals of the other three. His obsession with avoiding the afterlife is paramount to everything he does.

Background

Zuk was born from common birth in the tribe. An unknown warrior bred with one of the ugliest orcs in the tribe. Six month's later Zuk was born. At an early age it was noticed that he was more personable and attractive than most orcs and when the tribes powerful and evil dread necromancer died, seven were selected from the males in the tribe to become apprentices to the green dragon. None wanted this role as it was well known that 6 of the 7 would be consumed well before the 12th birthday.

Life was tough in the cave; those who could not muster the innate power required to master the necromantic arts were eaten. Four were eaten the first year, one the second, and since there could only be one, to determine which one would live a battle to the death was conducted with the dragon eating the loser. Zuk won handily due to the poison he slipped into the orc's food earlier that day. Sure Zuk believes he could have won easily fairly but since when do orcs act fairly? The Green Dragon was a fanatic about the afterlife and was on the verge of achieving immortality while Zuk was there. The Dragon rarely actually taught them anything, instead he expected them to learn themselves by reading tomes. Occasionally when the dragon was feeling in a good mood he would aid their learing and inspire them to greatness. The best way to harness the powers of the undead was to become undead he would often say. The path is slow, and because of your orcish handicap probably impossible. At the dragon's request he forced them all to become proficient with a scythe, he would often tell them that it is a fitting weapon for a necromancer. No one has any idea why he thought it was a fitting weapon, but none of them ever dared ask.

He had irregular contact with his tribe while growing up. As most wizards he rarely exercises and is quite weak physically. However he is naturally strong which is due to his mother's father who was an exceptionally strong warrior. Most in the tribe feared him, not knowing what he was capable of. The previous necromancer was capable of killing people with a mere touch and summoning undead to do his bidding. Even the tribe's leader feared him. Zuk believed that he was a more capable leader and it was time that the one with the true power run the tribe. Unfortunately the night that he believed he would assume the role of tribal leader the green dragon decimated the tribe killing all before flying off to his cave.

In the two years after Zuk's tribe was destroyed has allowed him to contemplate. He knows that by himself he is a single weak orc. He also knows that his desire to be the tribes leader was foolish and shortsighted. What he really desires is to raise a massive undead army, achieve immortality, and wage war against anyone he wants for all eternity. Ruling a tribe of orcs is dangerous and unpredictable. Ruling over the undead was simple. He follows his comrades to seek revenge merely to gain power and understanding of what it means to become undead. He will run if things turn bad, but will easily charge into battle; it is in his blood. However he has noticed in the past year or so that when the four of them do battle that they have developed an unusually powerful synergy. He truly believes that if anyone will be able to kill a dracolich, it is the four of them. Even though he does not care about revenge, he does have one reason to meet the dragon...a question: Why is a scythe a fitting weapon for a necromancer?

Statistics

Zuk Level 3 Neutral Evil Dread Necromancer
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 9
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 4
Charisma: 15

HP: 11
Saves: F0/R1/W0

Skill Ranks:
Concentration: 4 ranks
Disguise: 2 ranks
Knowledge (Arcana): 4 ranks
Knowledge (Religion): 5 ranks
Knowledge (Local): 1 rank
Use Magic Device: 3 ranks
Spellcraft: 1 rank

Feat: Tomb Tainted, Martial Study (Stone Bones)
Class Abilities:
Martial Weapon Selected: Scythe
Charnel Touch
Rebuke Undead
Lich Body DR 2/Bludgeoning and Magic
Negative Energy Burst 1/day

Equipment of Note: Master Work Scythe, Studded Leather