Session 13 — The Impostor

The party made camp in the woods outside the orc stronghold. Feeling like they were no longer in immediate danger, they turned their attention to Hugo, who had twice recently assaulted his allies when he was woken from a fitful sleep. He was very reluctant to discuss the matter, but the group insisted that he provide some explanation since it seemed he would likely put them in danger nightly. To assuage their fears, Hugo dropped his fake accent and revealed himself to be Charlie Oakes, the only surviving member of a noble house from the town of La’Riccia.

Charlie recounted how 15 years earlier, at the age of 4, most of his family was betrayed and killed for political gain under the order of the A’Darling family, another noble house. He and his mother survived the initial attacks and fled La’Riccia, but mercenaries hired by the A’Darling family caught up with them a few days later. The trauma he experienced as he watched his mother brutalized triggered something in him, and his innate magical powers were violently unleashed. Although he could not save his mother, Charlie escaped alive and was raised by a pair of bards that found the child in the woods. Charlie has been impersonating Hugo A’Darling–the true son of those who murdered his family, who is of approximately the same age as Charlie and coincidentally possesses similar powers–both to protect his identity and to damage the A’Darling family’s reputation, however he can, through unsavory acts.

The trauma of that day still haunts his dreams and is the source of the night terrors that trigger his unintentional attacks whenever his sleep is interrupted. Although some in the party were understanding and supportive, Argora took an uncompromising stance against what he saw as the potential for a fatal betrayal within his group. Argora promised that he would not hesitate to ostracize or even kill Charlie if his uncontrolled powers seriously jeopardized them again.

That night during first watch, a goat wandered into camp. Overreacting, Charlie blasted it with a spell, killing it on the spot. Keeva devoured the haunches before returning to sleep, and the rest ate the leftovers for breakfast.

Feeling refreshed, the party returned to the tunnel leading into the caverns beneath Khundrukai with the intent to ascend into the stronghold and take the orcs by surprise. They left behind Kavagal, who was still in a deep sleep, knowing he would catch up to them when he was ready. [Aaron was absent this session.]

Within minutes of entering the tunnel, the party was attacked by a trio of troglodytes. Qeew was so overpowered by their stench that she misfired her crossbow, striking Keeva and knocking her out. Zin healed Keeva, restoring her to the battle. Using his shield emblazoned with the holy symbol of Pholtus for the first time in defense of Blumf, Argora felt a strange pulse of power emanate from the shield as he deflected a blow. A (non-basement) bear appeared with a shackle and chain around its neck–apparently a captive of the troglodytes–but as Argora slashed at it with his long sword, he missed and struck Keeva, who again fell under friendly fire. The remaining attackers were soon dispatched.

After some healing and a brief discussion about the responsible use of weapons around friends, Zin lead the party onward to the chasm through which she and Kavagal had descended from the upper stronghold two days earlier. Stepping over the orcs charred by the fire trap, the party explored the room more carefully until Zin and Argora spotted a secret door. Upon opening it and seeing three orc females dressed for fighting, Argora drew his sword and shouted his battle cry: “Hello ladies–sup bitches!”

Acting quickly after she saw Charlie magically commanded to halt by Burdeg, a female orc shaman, Qeew created a sphere of silence in the small room to prevent any more spell casting. The fighting during the next few minutes took place in perfect silence, with neither side capable of casting offensive or healing spells. Blumf was pinned to a wall with a spear; Keeva was once again knocked out repeatedly, this time by enemies instead of friends. Just as the battle was nearing its end, Qeew and Charlie, who were positioned in the hall outside the sphere of silence, heard footsteps coming their way. Unable to verbally communicate to the rest of the party inside the sphere, they rushed through the door and shut it behind them. A pair of orcs burst through the door, and in moments Blumf, Charlie, and Qeew were all knocked out. With Qeew’s sphere of silence dispelled, Zin, Argora, and Kerath were able to revive their fallen allies and together they defeated the remaining orcs.

The party took a short rest to patch their wounds and inspect their enemies’ belongings. Among these, they found that the spear Blumf recovered from his chest bore Durgeddin’s mark and would likely fetch a good price in Blassingdell.