DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games LMP: Lost Mines of Phandelver N-3.1.1 The Old Owl Well

DM
It takes some residual healing magic and a full night of rest to get the wounded members of the party back to full health and strength. The weather has taken a turn for the worse and an overcast sky forcasts a gloomy day. You head onward towards your goal and reach it at about the middle of the day after the wolf attack. As you crest a low ridge, you spy the crumbling ruins of an old watchtower standing amid the rugged hills. The place is so old that the walls are only mounds of rubble enclosing a courtyard of sorts, adjacent to the broken stump of an old tower. A colorful tent has been set up in the middle of the courtyard, but no one is in sight.

Chandan

He wraps his yellow silk scarf around his lower face, and pulls up the hood of his threadbare robes.

Rain always dampens Chandan's mood for drinking, and the woebegotten look of the ruins doesn't alleviate that. At least the gaudy pavilion teases a warm welcome.

Staying low and using the rugged terrain, he scurries from cover to cover, forwards for a closer look, keeping at least 90 feet of distance from the ruins and tent.

With the many remarkable abilities in the party, the monk is certain someone more stealthy than he can reconnoitre within the crumbled walls.

Sidling up to his nearest companion(s), he whispers.

"Tent out in open for all to see. No sentries. Occupant is unafraid. Maybe they know something we do not."

Davroar

He turns around to when Chandan catches up to their position and replies in a quiet voice, "I was told that the prospectors where chased out of here. Could be their tent left behind?"

Turning his attention back to the front of their group, he waits to see if Jaliera might send Whisper up to give them a birds eye view of the area.

Chandan

He ponders Davroar's suggestion. It's possible...

"Hmm. If local prospectors used such bright tent, small wonder someone see them and chase them off." Is his comment.

[I was imagining the tent as more of a brightly-coloured Mediaeval-style pavilion, rather than a camping tent/bivouac. Any cues, Nep? ]

Kriv

He coldly appraised the scene, taking in the architecture of the watchtower to try and establish by whom it was raised. Quietly, he instructed,

"Jaliera, the tent suggests occupation. Could you awaken your owl and see if it can give us some perspective?"

History roll?

Kallista

"Or the tent of the one who chased them off." She relies to Chandan and Davroar. She glances towards Jaliera to see if she wants to send her new friend to take a closer look.

Jaliera

She is already waking her owl and whispering instructions. Once Whisper is ready, she holds her aloft so she can take over and scout over the area looking for any signs of life.

DM
Whisper flies over the area but heads back quickly. Something bothers her. She communicates that it is a bad smell.

Kriv

He glances at Chandan briefly.

Chandan

While Jaliera's owl makes it pass of the ruins, the old monk twizzles his grey hair, looking around with narrow eyes, and paying most attention to the direction the owl isn't in. Behind, for example.

The gaudy pavilion is too incongruous, too much of a curio, it feels like a lure, which would make the scene before them a trap.

Jaliera

She questions Whisper further, asking if the smell is like that of rotting dead, knowing that the animal will have come across that before. If not, making she can compare it to something else she knows.

DM

Whisper agrees with Jaliera's description. It is rotting flesh - at least from the owl's perspective.

Jaliera

She shares this news with her companions.

Chandan

At that he scowls. Rotting flesh? The dead. He knows that smell better than, well, almost anyone, given his background.

The old monk turns to the rest of the party.

"Maybe I go, tip-toe up to tent? You wait. If I am attacked, you come to the rescue." He says this last with a grateful smile.

Kriv

He nodded his assent, his reptilian features not betraying if that was at face value or with ulterior motive.

"Give us a signal if you need us to advance."

Davroar

"Careful Chandan. Rumours I heard it was undead around here."

Jaliera

She sends Whisper aloft again to watch the area for any movement so that she can watch Chadan's back. She picks up her bow and nocks an arrow, ready to help.

"Be careful" she murmurs softly.

DM
Chandan cautiously moves forward. Although it's already been three days since that bath, the smell of soap and cleanliness has not yet been overpowered by the stench of not having bathed. So he smells somewhat fresh and that must be what triggers the events that follow. A number of men - they really look like dead men, start shambling out of the tower. The grey, hollow look in their eyes indicate that they are not alive.

Chandan has not yet made it over to the tent and doesn't know who or what is inside. He can ascertain that he'll not make it to the tent before the zombies catch up to him.

OOC: I guess this is as good a time as any to roll initiative. There'll be no "tactical map" for this encounter. It'll all be theater of the mind. BTW, that's what the module encourages as it's a training module.

Kriv

The dragonborn noble watched the monk creep forward impassively, awaiting a signal or retreat.

Kriv initiative
AJ rolled 1d20+1 and got 5

Kallista

She too watched as Chandan moved ahead, ready to retaliate if any foes appeared.

Kallista Initiative
Zeim rolled d20+2 and got 5

Davroar

Seeing the men shamble out, he readies his sling.

Davroar Initiative
Dugan rolled 1d20 and got 17

Chandan

For someone who's spent much of his life disposing of the dead, Chandan is remarkably unsettled by the undead. Perhaps it's like a carpenter, suddenly attacked by man-eating furniture, not only is it against the natural order, it's also a professional indignity.

The smell, the dead eyes and the rotting flesh don't bother the monk, it's that it's animated and is bent on harm that vexes him.

Should he fall back, fleet-footed and join the ranks of his comrades? Tactically sound, yes, but what if there are innocent travellers in the tent?

Whilst highly unlikely, Chandan can't take that risk. The zombies have to be stopped.

Scrambling for the right words, the old monks yells in the direction of the tent.

"ZOMBIES ON YOUR LAWN!"

He would give 'the signal', but he can't recall what it is. So he spins the spear above his head and prepares for work.

[Initiative, rolled 17+3=20.]

DM
Chandan calls out a warning towards the tent as the zombies shamble out of the tower and a moment later the flap on the tent flies open and a stout, red-robed figure with sallow skin, a shaved scalp and a black tatoo on his forehead steps out of the tent and calls out
"What is the meaning of all this?"

Jaliera

Her bow is readied so as soon as she can target the lead zombie, she lets fly.


Jaliera Initiative
Gypsy rolled 1d20+3 and got 12

Jaliera Arrow
Gypsy rolled 1d20+5,1d6+3 and got 18, 6


[OOC 'Zombies on your lawn!' ]

(OOC - Nep - Do the zombies stop when the man speaks, or do we not have time to pause for a conversation here?)

[ooc: It all depends on what your designated negotiator - Chandan does. I'll leave it at that.]

Chandan

He catches a glimpse of the tent's occupant. Wizardly in appearance and perhaps able to defend himself, provided the zombies were kept at bay.

The old monk rushes to interpose himself between the bald, tattooed man and the undead.

"Stay behind me! You under attack from undead!" Chandan blurts.

Wizard

"Ahhh! No need."

He waves his hands and before Jaliera even has a chance to fire off an arrow, the zombies turn about and go back into the tower.

"Now that my guards have been dispatched, what are you doing here?"

Chandan

He shrugs and drops the butt of his spear to the ground. Zombies seem like terrible guards to him. They can't shout to raise the alarm, and if you ask them to rouse you personally, they're so slow an attacker will have been and gone by the time they've found you.

You don't have to pay them though. Coins. Merely pieces of plain metal that have been smacked with a fancy hammer. The lives of the wealthy are ruled by them (that's why they're wealthy).

"We heard rumours of someone moving in to ruins." He says, "We come to meet them."

Chandan steps back to allow his more articulate companions to carry forward the conversation.

Kriv

He looked on with dawning horror as he realised Chandan was having a conversation with someone, as the shambling corpses withdrew. This could go horribly, horribly awry, with no way of telling what the erratic human might do. The Dragonborn noble advanced to see if there was anything left to salvage.

Kallista

She is back with the others so she can't hear the exchange between Chandan and the newcomer, but his control of the Zombies is clearly demonstrated as he dismisses them.

Anyone who uses Zombies as guards, or even consorts with them, is someone to be wary of and someone whose motives need to be questioned, so as Kriv moves ahead to join Chandan she joins him.

Jaliera

She stays back and to one side where she has a clear shot of either the man or his less that wholesome companions.

Wizard

"That would be me. Now you met me. Now you should leave. I'm busy and I don't want interruptions," he says in a dismissive tone.

Zeim asked this in the OOC thread: "Nep - From the description you gave for the human we just met by the Old Owl Well, do we recognize who he might be or where he might come from? Or are none of us familiar?"

Answer: I would need an Intelligence (History) roll for that.

DM

As Kriv moves closer and looks at the wizard, he remembers hearing about a far away nation called Thay where many people dressed wore red robes like the one that this wizard wore. He also recalls that it is a nation run by powerful wizards and that those wizards commonly wore intricate tattoos on their foreheads. They are called the Red Wizards of Thay.

Chandan

Although the greybearded monk feels it best if someone else strikes up a dialogue with the wizard, he can't help but warn the wizard about his apparent plan and use of zombies as guards.

"Hey, zombies too slow to protect you when orc raiders ride in here, in dead of night and burn your tent down, mister."

Chandan looks to others for affirmation, but continues.

"You know you camping only few hills away from orc raiders' hideout?"

Kriv

Armed with a little more understanding, the noble scion upped his diplomatic obsequiousness in a matter befitting the expectations those far-off mages were reputed to have.

"Forgive the disruption, esteemed Thayvian. If you will but forbear for a moment, it is possible that our interests coincide, and we may be able to do you a service. We have heard tell of prospectors in this area, which likely disturbed you at your labours, and were duly driven off.

As you well know, such tales have a way of attracting the nosy and the curious, and what was but a single incident of no consequence may become a cavalcade of would-be interferers trying to set right what they believe to be wrong, or even just attacking your guards because they find their postmortem nature offensive."

He paused, his stance conciliatory.

"Here is where we can be of use to you. We seek the identity of these prospectors, and if possible, their present whereabouts. In exchange, we can stem the potential tide of those annoyingly concerned with your private business at source, so that you can proceed with a great deal fewer interruptions and less wear and tear on your security entourage. Would such a mutually beneficial outcome be of sufficient value to you?"

When Chandan, as feared, speaks, he keeps his feelings under iron control, locked within. He resists the temptation to offer the monk as another undead minion candidate. Just.

Davroar

He moves forward trailing after Kallista to hear the last bit of what Kriv said.

Davroar struggles to keep his mouth shut, as his views on necromancy is completely against his upbringing and beliefs. Stopping short, he pulls his fur hood up and looks slightly away to hide his disgust and anger towards the red robed man. Davroar does not want to repeat his mistake in front of Kriv again, when he dealt with the skeletons in the cellar of the manor.

Davroar silently hopes Kriv can get what information they need peacefully, and then perhaps later when this wizard has left the area Davroar can see about making this area go back to its natural ways.

Jaliera

She listens as Kriv speaks, thinking that it was as good a way forward as any.

Jaliera History
Gypsy rolled 1d20+4 and got 10

[OOC Bit late anyway so you can ignore roll ]

[ooc: Since it's a knowledge check, we can say that Jaliera recognized the same things as Kriv about the wizard.

also, Dugan, it was a brief blurb but there was a specific objective to this encounter as requested by Daren Eldermath in the N- News, Quests, Rumours, Leads, Persons & Items of Interest thread. ]

Davraor

He starts walking around, but keeps within hearing distance. His agitation might unknowingly show in his gait as he remembers Daran Eldermath's warnings about the possibility of some Netheril magics buried here, as he looks for any small animal that might make its home here. There is the possibility to use his spell to talk with animals, perhaps a rodent or other small animal, that might be able to give some insight as to how long this man has been here and what sort of activities has happened.

[ooc: Thanks Neptune for the reminder. Even though Davroar is young and sometimes impatient, I still think Kriv's admonishment over the skeletons is still fresh in his mind and will not interrupt. ]

(OOC - Nep - Do we all know what Daran told Davroar? If so the natural question would be to ask the Thayvian what he is looking for, as disturbing ancient and dangerous magics that have lain dormant for centuries is dangerous for everyone.)

[ooc: If Dugan says so, then Davroar shared it]

Chandan

The shambling monk looks over his shoulder, passed the shambling zombies, at the shambolic ruins.

He scratches his head, turning back to the Thayan wizard.

"You searching that place? Wow, what a waste of time! I hear more adventurers been in and out of there than the bawdy house.

"Probably not even one copper left in there." Chandan says.

"You want to come to Wyvern Tor instead, beat up some orc raiders?"

Wizard

Clearly annoyed, the wizard says, "Well, if that's all you have to say, let me continue my "waste of time, as it's my time to waste, and be off."

Kriv

"Ignore him, he serves much the same purpose as your own bodyguards except noisier. Chandan, kindly cease talking and be off as the wizard requested."

If needed, Kriv would reiterate his offer.

Chandan

He smiles amiably at Kriv's suggestion, bowing to the wizard.

"Good idea!" The old monk says, shuffling off around the ruins.

Chandan doesn't break line of sight with his companions, but he has learned what he needed to learn about the wizard.

Jaliera

She is thinking whilst she stands guard. Thinking about the smell of death. She wonders if zombies always smell that bad or whether it is that they are in fact the prospectors. She doesn't think it likely that the wizard would have travelled with his entourage.

She recalls the sight of the zombies, trying to see if she remembers any details that might support or deny her theory.

[Iirc the reports of Old Owl Well came from the prospectors themselves, who'd been chased away by the zombies.]

[OOC Thanks! ]

Wizard

He looked over at the dragonborn and answered,
"I see."

Then he added, "At least you come with a reasonable request for information and a legitimate trade offer. Of course, that is nothing I have any need for."

ooc: I can tell that you think that it's about you gaining important information about the dwarves here but it's not the mission. You might gain information as a by-product but the objective is to return to Phandelin with answer to the Daran Eldermath's questions:

Quote:

If you would visit the ruins and find out who's there and what they are up to, it would be greatly appreciated."

Davroar

It seems there is no small animals about to query and when the wizard declines Kriv's offer, Davroar will approach closer to bluntly ask in a even tone, "I'm Davroar, a druid. What's your name, sir, and ah, how long you planning to be here?"

Wizard

"Hmmmm. I suppose that you are curious and I can appreciate curiosity. My business is my business. I will be here a while. It's only fair that we exchange names first. That would be proper, wouldn't it? My name is Kost and I would be open to a barter with you. Would you be willing to do some some favors for me in return for the information? "

Davroar

He looks to Kriv first to make sure he is not going to get angry at him for jumping into the conversation like this as he replies with a hint of distaste in his voice, "Sir Kost, I'm not likely to do any favors for someone that controls dead bodies, unless my companions can convince me otherwise..."

Davroar will look to Kriv and wait to see what he has to says about doing favors for the wizard.

Kriv

It would be too much to ask, given Davroar's proclivities, but a third option presented itself. The Dragonborn counter-offered,

"Kriv Norixius. Whilst I may well be willing, it would be an uphill struggle to convince my colleagues. Not impossible, I'll grant you, but let us see what else may be done. I'm certain we can come to an arrangement one way or the other. Can I interest you in the location of a strongly rumoured powerful source of magic dating back to old Netheril, in exchange for information as to your intentions here?"

Kallista

Wizards dealing with Undead do not bother her as much as Davroar, and if dealing with this one will gain them more than fighting him, she has no objections. However killing him and taking everything he has doesn't really bother her either so she waits and listens, making sure to put a little bit of distance between her and the others. No reason for them to all clump up together and make a tempting target for a spell.

She does chime in in reply, "My name is Kallista. Interesting choice of companions you have."

She pauses, then adds, "I don't speak for the others, but it seems to me that doing favors in exchange for the answer to a simple question is a bit of a lopsided exchange."

Jaliera

The tone of the exchange seems to be changing. He does seem very secretive, not very cooperative. This could all go very wrong, very quickly.

She has already hung back from the others. She knows that wizards can be dangerous. Certainly the one they had to deal with recently was quite a handful. But a well aimed arrow could disrupt a spell. She prepares subtly.. just in case.

Chandan

Scouting around the ruins across from the pavilion, companions in sight, Chandan stops midstride, squatting suddenly and narrowly eyeing the stone.

He sniffs it, then leans forwards and licks it.

Chandan nods and stands back up.

"Stone." He says and continues, making his way over to Jaliera.

He plants his spear and leans on the haft.

"Wizard cannot tell us anything useful. He new around here. Either he not know about orcs at Wyvern Tor, or he too proud to admit they a threat.

"If he had enough gold to pay them off -- they orcs -- they just storm in here, kill him, take it anyway. Zombies not threat to band of orcs.

"If he powerful enough to chase them off, he easily chase us off too. Instead he halt zombie attack to talk." The old monk says to the girl conversationally.

"I think he secretive scholar type from foreign land, with high opinion of himself."

Jaliera

She glances at Chandan, a brief smile in his direction but her attention immediately returns to the topic of Chandan's conversation.

"Yes, could be. And I agree, likely to be dangerous. Stay ready."

Kost

The wizard listens to Kalista while watching the monk and his antics. A positive for the group is that wizard shakes his head, realizing that Chandan is insane and that he was obviously took on the role of spokesperson because he was the most expendable member of the group.

"You are so ready to dismiss my requests, without hearing them. That is either a negotiating tactic or an outright dismissal of what I want. Information is more valuable than gold. I do not give it away freely. I am going to give you the benefit of doubt and assume that you were just negotiating."

"As for my companions, they are not friends. They came to kill me. I just don't like waste. They now serve a purpose, even in death."

Kriv

He nodded in understanding: Efficient resource management was a logical solution, and turning attackers into guards had a useful deterrent factor both in being and in execution.

"I would not say we were overly dismissive: There is a clear will to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement here. As you say, information holds great value, thus an offer of the one for the other seemed the most equitable of all, a like for like exchange. I am something of a scholar myself, so I am aware full well how precious hard-won information can be. I would not think to devalue yours, nor would I expect our own to be undercosted. By all means, expound upon your offer as you would wish, provided that in doing so there is no offence taken if the negotiations lead to alternate paths, nor a dismissal of said alternatives outright. It behooves us all to keep our options open at this stage."

Kost

"Ah. That is all that I ask. You have not come to me with a threatening attitude like they did," he says glancing towards the tower and the zombies, "so I am willing to work with you."

"There are two things. First, I keep getting interrupted by the orcs. Your baffoon was correct in his assessment, they are a nuisance and I am too busy at the moment to perform the necessary cleansing. It seems you were going to undertake that effort regardless of whether I asked for it or not, but I am asking now. I gave you my name already, for free. Having and knowing a name is, in itself, a powerful tool."

"The second thing I ask for is simply an exchange of information for information. You are unlikely to have the answer I seek now but I know where you may obtain it."

"I need to learn the name of the wizard that built this tower. As I said, there is power in knowing a name. There is only one that has the answer and her name is Agatha. She is a woeful creature that refuses to pass from this world. She knows this answer and it is what I need. I simply ask you to ask it of her and give it to me."

Davroar

He is slightly relieved that Kost does not seem to be a true necromancer of the sort that actually animated the dead bodies, but rather just turned them to his own use.

Some of the bigger words spoken between Kriv and Kost are lost on him, but understands that a deal is still possible, so he asks the obvious question, "Who and what is Agatha? Is she nearby?"

Jaliera

She listens intently from her over-watch position. Good ploy by Davroar pretending to know nothing of Agatha. They were asked to look into a banshee called Agatha.. probably one and the same.

She stays alert, her recent experiences of wizards making her very cautious.

Kriv

"Correct me if I am wrong, but your exact phrase was 'It is only fair that we exchange names first', rather than doing so freely. Indeed, we repaid you in kind, you have my name and that of my colleague here,"

He indicated Kallista with a magnanimous sweep, then dismissively jerked a taloned thumb over his shoulder back at Chandan,

"And that one's name was also spoken in your presence. I fully accept and appreciate that names have great value and power, but a three for one exchange is already an excellent trade on your side, is it not? As you have surmised, it is likely that we will engage in pest control in a mutually beneficial manner from which your gains will be pleasantly incidental, but given the establishment of the value of our names earlier, it would clutter up the metaphorical ledger to assign it a new value here. Rest assured that the matter in question will be resolved to both our benefit, but we recognise your name has greater value than the relatively inconsequential happy convergence of our interests, a value already matched on an equitable like for like basis."

He paused, and considered Davroar's question, although the coincidence of names with their prior assignment may well point in the same direction.

"I concur with my colleague on the necessity of knowing with whom and what we will be dealing with. Trading with a shopkeep named Agatha would require a different preparation to wresting the knowledge from a dragon named Agatha, thus for the successful completion of this request, which otherwise seems entirely reasonable and amenable, that information would seem a prerequisite."

Jaliera

**Kriv does like to talk.. but probably a good job someone does!**

Kallista

She listens intently. Kriv and Davroar's questions are valid, although she does have an idea of who or what Agatha is from the general description Kost had already provided. Still that description covers a lot of ground.

Kost

"So far you have been forthright and fair to deal with. If you are asking about Agatha's nature, that I will share with you. I did not elaborate on her nature because I was not sure that you would understand. But you ask and since it could help you obtain the information that I desire, it behooves me to pass on what I know about her - to help you succeed in obtaining said information. That information is very important to me and I hope to establish a verbal contract with you for it and hope that you do."

"Agatha is a banshee, a spiteful creature formed from the spirit of a female elf. You will recognize her as a luminous, wispy form that vaguely recalls her mortal features from long ago. She was once beautiful, but in life she did not use her beauty to bring joy to the world. Instead, she used her gift to corrupt and control others. She was therefore cursed and is no longer can experience joy or gladness. Her mind and body decayed over time until she became what she is today, a creature that is dead but still lives. She is bound to the place where she perished, while she can move around the area, it is limited. Each day she recalls every moment of her life with perfect recall but her corruption is so complete that she cannot see or accept responsibilities for anything that she did."

"Agatha is very vain and that is important to know. Flattery will stay her hand and bribery might win her over. She covets beautiful objects but be careful not to let her see her own reflection which will send her into a rage. She despises what she has become and that would surely make her wail. If you've ever heard about banshees before today, chances are that all you know about them is that if you hear a banshee wail, it is the last sound you will hear alive."

"I hope that is sufficient information to help you succeed in your task. If you agree to do this for me, I will reciprocate with the answer to you question about what I am doing here. Are the terms agreeable?"

Kriv

So, it was the same target. Another two birds with one stone opportunity, another step closer to fulfilling their obligations, and hopefully drawing closer to Gundren.

"I am happy to proceed, unless my colleagues wish to give voice to an objection..?"

Davorar

Not wanting to muddle up what Kriv has accomplished with what appears to be a good working relationship with Kost, Davroar will simply nod and say, "No, I'm okay with this..."

The trick will be to find something that a banshee wants. So far to Davroar, it seems like they are going one step forward and then two back.

Chandan

He watches the exchange, though most of his attention is on the surround. Chandan's happy for the others to take the lead. Frankly he's unused to either leadning or following.

Jaliera

So it seems they have a diversion to undertake. It sounds interesting but probably dangerous. They should try to find out more from other sources.

DM

Kost looks from person to person in the group and with random nods he declares "Then it seems we have a deal. Now, let me get back to my studies and work. I'll be here when you return."

With little else to accomplish here, the group needs to decide on a next move. They now have two separate request for them to visit Agatha. There's also Thundertree to investigate.

Jaliera

Business concluded for now, she checks around and confers with Whisper that all seems safe for the moment. Then she stows her bow and takes out their map, spreading it out for the others to see once they rejoin her and Chandan.

"So where do you think we should head first?" she asks as the others wander over.

Kriv

Once the wizard had gone back to his work, and once Kriv's face couldn't be read from his direction, he dropped the mask of civility into a scowl.It was clear that there was something on his mind about this. Nonetheless, in the same diplomatic tone,

"Proximity should be our primary guide, but if that is even, let's say Agatha."

Chandan

He peers over the map. Wonderful things, though he's noticed that they're only really useful for a road traveller.

It must be very handy being a druid like Davroar, who could just stop and ask a goose for directions if he got lost in the wilderness.

Chandan glances up and cocks his head. He hasn't known the dragonborn long, but in that time Kriv has not been a great emoter. So his scowl seems unusual to the monk.

"What irks you, Kriv Norixius?" He asks.

The monk also considers their next move.

"Wyvern Tor is closest. That is next step in rescuing Rockcutter too."

Davroar

With no sign or word from Reidoth here yet, he says ,"Whatever is closest."

Davroar wishes that they could wait around a bit longer just in case Reidoth did manage to get his message he sent yesterday. It does not seem that will happen, but hopefully if they stick fairly close Reidoth could possible pick up on their trail.

Jaliera

"Wyvern Tor is closest.." she confirms, rolling up the map and placing it carefully in her pack.

"Remind me.. that is where a band of orcs live.. orcs that caused the town some problems and lately this wizard.. and where we hope to find the location of Cragmaw castle so we can rescue Gundren.. yes?"

"Means we need to capture a talkative orc? Anyone speak the language?"

Kallista

"Goblin. We might find an Orc who speaks Goblin I guess."

Chandan

He shakes his head.

The monk can speak to rocks more than he can speak orcish. The level of conversation with rocks is probably higher too.

Davroar

He shrugs his shoulders and adds, "I only know Dwarven."
An orc might know the language being somewhat related to the underground races, but still probably a low chance to find one that does.

[ooc: I won't get to it until tonight, but I'll be putting up a new thread that gets you to Wyvern Tor to deal with orcs. You have until then to change direction or do anything else here.]

[Who's to say all orcs speak orc anyway? I have Gujarati and Punjabi friends who can barely string a sentence together in their heriditary languages. Not to mention the number of people I know who don't speak Welsh or Gaelic when D&D suggests they should.]