Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

[etherial]

The Journal of Jik'escala, T'Skrang Swordswoman Extraordinaire

17 Gahmil, 1424 T.H.
Sergeant Brandel Corey of the Arm of Throal sent out word of a party of Orks from a nearby civilization in quarrantine that need dealing with. I summoned Fredi and my Obsidicompatriots to speak with him and the encounter was most...disappointing. He seemed rather upset at the idea that the Orks might wish to engage in commerce with Throal, and he hinted that he would prefer we slew them all. Clearly Throal's Military has been sitting idle too long, they've been developing strange ideas.

17 Gahmil (continued)
We met with the leader of the Ork merchants, one Krothu, who explained that his people had had dealings with Sosonopa and they had grown concerned about the possiblity that we were all Dopplers. Beyond the customary Artisan Check, he insisted we all remove our armor and bare our chests for him. Avalan and Quis'Tan and I had no problem with this, but Fredi seemed a tad lost for words. After some back and forth, we discovered there was some sort of strange Mammal Modesty Ritual that she was trying to follow and an alternate arrangement was made.

We inspected the Orks and their wares, and Avalan treated them to some Heated Food. Finding no cause for suspicion, we cleared them to enter Throal, but an armed party of Dwarves turned us away even after I explained that we had been charged with this task by Sergeant Corey. It seems the Throalic Military was demanding we go all the way back to their town to inspect the entire populace, as if this was somehow efficient or effective. Resolved to extoll upon them the virtues of trading with the T'Skrang, we set a course through the mountains back to the village of Dormu where there the Orks had built their settlement, intent on carrying out the Dwarfs' entirely unreasonable demands to ensure we at least would keep up our end of bargains.

22 Gahmil
Our arrival at Dormu was greeted, as has become the usual, with suspicion. They summoned their Champion to fight one of us to determine if we would earn the right to enter. After discussing our options, we concluded that I would be the best choice to serve as Champion. My blades are as shart as Quis'Tan's axe, but my tail serves as a good club for thumping someone on the upside of the head, allowing us to capture, or in this case appease, them. He got in a good shot on the first round when I was still warming up, but once I deployed my Patent-Pending Web of Steel(TM) Aggressive Tail Attack Combo, it was nowhere but downhill for poor Rugorim. Each round, I gave better than I got, and it was only a matter of time before he yielded consciousness and thus the fight.

27 Gahmil
After several days of trade discussion and cartographic consultation, the Orks have agreed to explore commercial opportunitues with my own Niall of P'Tlomais (by way of Syrtis and V'Strimon) as well as overland to Throal. The Orks report that their numbers dwindled over the course of the Scourge, which I found unusual. I tried to speak to their females to see if they were having troubles in the Rookery, but they would not speak of such things with me. We'll have to explore their Kaer to see if there's some lingering trouble within.

27 Gahmil (Continued)
To celebrate our new trade agreements, the Orks are organizing a hunting expedition. Whoever brings back the most dangerous prey earns the respect of the town, so we set our sights on something spectacular and boy did we succeed. We found an escarpment where some giant centipedes and a tasty-looking iguana were basking in the sun on the far side near some ratscorpions. The rest of the party, fearful of being harmed, drank Antidote Potions while I sauntered forth to engage. Quis'Tan and Fredi charged the ratscorpions, which proved no match for them, but the iguana moved into combat and began shooting frickin' lasers out of its eyes, dropping Fredi and nearly killing Quis'Tan in the process.

I initially engaged one of the Centipedes, but when things began to turn sour for my friends, I brought the thunder to the Laser-Iguana so that Avalan could clear the remaining creatures from the battle unhindered. Still, things did not look up for us and I began to contemplate retreat when we heard the familiar roar of Callisto, Fenrir's Ursine Companion. The two of them joined the battle and Fenrir Imbued me with the Spirit of the Boar, allowing me to wreck the house as our foes began to dwindle in number. When we returned to the town, we had the most impressive kill by far and there was much rejoicing.

PCs:
Avalandohamagannahnieventhallailmar, Obsidiman Elementalist
Fredi Dram, female Dwarf Cavalyrwoman
Fenrir, male Windling Shaman
Jik'escala, female T'Skrang Swordmaster
Quis'Tan, Obsidiman Spirit Rider

NPCs:
Sergeant Brandel Corey, Dwarf Supremacist
Krothu, Ork Merchant
Rugorim, Ork Warrior, Champion of Dormu
Callisto, a Bear
Su, a Troajin