The Ogre King Campaign

[Aerin, the half-elf priestess]

Our main group consists of 4 characters. Iris is a female were-cat (half human, half cat) who fights unarmed, uses archery, and plays bardic music. Captain Barnes is the human leader of the Loudwater city guard who fights with a shield and casts healing magic. Flint Stone is a dwarf sword and shield warrior known for stunning his opponents. Sagoon is a halfling who fights by hiding and throwing light hammers.

Our campaign takes place in the world of Faerun and begins in the city of Loudwater, a small city in the snow covered mountains near the High Forest. It began with Iris who was running through the mountains trying to escape orcs. She was with a hunting group who thought they could take on a band of orcs, but additional orcs appeared during battle and wiped out everyone except Iris who barely escaped. As she ventured toward the city of Loudwater, she spotted an army of goblins. She ran ahead of them and warned the city. The goblins used gunpowder to blow up a city wall, but the city guards were ready and successfully fought off the goblins.

Apparently, the goblins were seeking a magical dagger to perform an unknown ritual. A storekeeper in Loudwater had it and gave it to Captain Barnes for safe keeping in case the goblins attacked again.
This is how she met Captain Barnes, and eventually, the rest of the group members who were in Loudwater for different reasons.

They decided to band together and complete a few odd jobs for the city. One job was finding lost horses in the High Forest, where they encountered dangerous creatures and found clues about arcane tombs. Other jobs included hunting for rare animal hides, protecting caravans, and capturing bandits. At one point, they accidentally stumbled upon a slave smuggling ring within Loudwater and seeked extra help to put an end to it. Karl the pirate and Finley the healer were NPCs who helped throughout these endeavors.

With the ending of slavery, the group gained a reputation and was asked by the city leaders to enter the goblin caves, outside the city, and exterminate the problem. They found a secret entrance, fought their way through many goblins, and found the goblin leader. He was a powerful shaman who wanted to revive the legendary Ogre King! We did not believe this tale, but the shaman felt the magical dagger in Captain Barnes' bag and magically summoned the object to his hand. He began muttering incantations and waving the dagger around, so we all attacked him. The battle was fierce, but we eventually overcame the shaman and killed him.

Unfortunately, he delayed us long enough to complete his ritual. A tomb opened and the Ogre King began to rise up. Iris and Flint charged over and tried to kill the Ogre King while he was still vulnerable, but his skin was hard as steel and they couldn't harm him. He rose up and the group ran away knowing they could not defeat him. Karl used gunpowder to blow up and seal the entrance of the cave.

[Aerin, the half-elf priestess]

Iris figured out that it was Karl who sold gunpowder to the goblins. The goblins were able to blow up a whole in the city walls using Karl's gunpowder! She immediately began chasing after Karl, but he ran away. We returned to Loudwater and told the city leaders about what happened at the goblin caves. They were very happy that we killed the goblins and didn't seem too worried about the Ogre King. They figured either we or others would be able to hunt down and kill the Ogre King. The city decided to celebrate our victory by having a fancy ballroom dance party with food and drinks for everyone.

Flint accidentally ran into the mayor of the city (Lady Moonfire, a half-elf sorceress). They became “close” friends and she offered him money to venture into the High Forest to find arcane tombs. She also wanted to tag along to see the High Forest and be with Flint.

On the night of the ballroom dance, most of the group was celebrating their victory against the goblins while Captain Barnes was on patrol for the city guard. Iris met a half-bear/human merchant who danced and walked outside with her. They heard voices and found Captain Barnes all bloody amongst several orc and lizardfolk corpses. Finley and a black elf were both unconscious. Everyone was taken to the healing ward and we spoke to the black elf the next day. His name is Derek, a fire sorcerer. His clan was attacked by orcs and lizardfolk in the High Forest. He barely made it to our city alive and he told us that the Ogre King and his minions destroyed their homes and captured/killed many elves. Since we needed to go to the High Forest anyway, we offered to help.

We ventured to the High Forest and found bands of orcs and lizardfolk. We tried to avoid as many as possible, but we ran into a few and took them out. Eventually, we discovered a large group of elves captured and being held hostage. There were lizardfolk archers hiding in trees and orcs waiting to charge us. Luckily we thwarted their plans, took them all out, and rescued the hostages. Many of them were injured and told horror stories about the Ogre King destroying their village and people. They also said the Ogre King went searching for the ancient arcane tombs. We helped escort them away from danger and took a short rest.

During our travels with the elves, Derek became reunited with his three siblings. They each train heavily with a different element. Derek is a fire mage, his sister is a water mage, his brother is an earth warrior, and his last sister is an air warrior. They together constantly train to protect the High Forest and the elven race.

After our rest period, we went straight to the caverns where the arcane tombs are located. We saw orcs and lizardfolk around the caverns, but the Ogre King was not around. We tried to stay hidden, but alarmed a few by accident and fought them off. Then many more came and we had no choice but to escape into the caverns. They were large, vast, and dark (thankfully). The darkness allowed us to hide away from dangerous monsters such as giant vermin and undead. We sometimes had to fight a few, but avoided most of them.

We were unpleasantly surprised by three baby dragons. We barely defeated them and continued forward. Thank goodness Captain Barnes has healing magic. We finally reached the arcane tombs and heard the loud voice of an adult dragon! We felt death creeping our way until Iris began speaking Draconic, the language of dragons. She struck a deal with the dragon and we paid 3,000gp in exchange for the ancient arcane scrolls.

We exited the cavern, excited and ready to return home, when the Ogre King suddenly appeared in front of us. He swung a giant tree at us, blasted fireballs, and defeated all of us within seconds. The Ogre King was about to kill us until a small demon appeared. He used magic to transport us elsewhere. We all reappeared in another dimension. There was fire, lava, and powerful demons walking freely. The small demon who saved us is named Tongual. He took us to a large demon sitting upon a throne. He was the king of this realm and he wanted our arcane tombs. We refused to give them up and instead offered our service as payment for saving our lives. He wanted us to kill Karl the pirate, but he wouldn't tell us why...

[Aerin, the half-elf priestess]

The Ogre King campaign is now moving 5-10 years into the future. The previous heroes failed to defeat the Ogre King. He gained many allies and great power, which allowed him to dominate the world. He killed off all known heroes except a select few that he now controls and uses to further his goals. He also has armies of ogres, giants, lizardfolk, orcs, demons, psionic beings, and other creatures under his command.

The High Forest is now the only safe place in the world. This is where the future Ogre King campaign begins. Our players will be posting plot summaries, character diaries, and other material throughout the campaign. Enjoy!