Beneath Castle Everglory: LEVEL 1: Lair of the Cutnose Orcs

(1) Guardroom

This square room is 5 yards to a side with bare stone walls. There is a long wooden bench along each wall and scraps of old food all over the floor. A lever at the back of the room will drop an iron portcullis across the entrance or raise it up again. The portcullis has DR 9, HP 20, 500 lbs, ST 18 (see DF 2, p.18). The Orcs will drop it so as to divide the party if they can. Otherwise, they will drop it to trap the PCs inside the room with them.

Monsters

Then are ten Cutnose Orc Warriors in here on guard duty, They are presently having a screaming match over which of them can pull the most intimidating “war face”, leaving them at -8 to hear the PCs.

10 Cutnose Orc Warriors

ST: 12	HP: 13	Speed: 5
DX: 11	Will: 9	Move: 5
IQ: 9	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 13	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 9	Block: 9+2DB

Attacks: Orcish Broadsword-13 1d+2 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish

Treasure

The Orcs have a total of 115 copper pieces, along with 10 cheap Orcish broadswords ($50, 4 lbs each) and 12 cheap, medium Orcish shields ($20, 20 lbs each).

2. Orc Barracks

This 10 yard x 20 yard room is filled with 60 old wooden beds upon which have been heaped piles of stinking skins and dirty blankets.

Monsters

There are 12 Cutnose Orc Warriors here off-duty, having a screaming match about whether human beings are a species of Dire Pig (the Orcs will be at -8 to hear the PCs). One side points out that human beings look like pigs, while the other contends that human beings are much uglier. The Orcs have their swords sheathed and they have no shields.

12 Cutnose Orc Warriors

ST: 12	HP: 13	Speed: 5
DX: 11	Will: 9	Move: 5
IQ: 9	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 13	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 9	Block: 9+2DB

Attacks: Orcish Broadsword-13 1d+2 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish

Treasure

The Orcs have a total of 140 copper pieces along with 10 cheap Orcish broadswords ($50, 4 lbs each). If the players search the blankets, they will also find a large knife ($40, 1lb), a stale and moldy cheese, a copper ring ($1), a cow’s horn, a flattened straw hat with a large hole, a rag wrapped around 5 non-precious stones, a broken padlock and a torn pair of pink silk hose.

3. Bugbear Barracks

This 10 yard x 20 yard room is filled with 60 old wooden beds upon which have been heaped piles of stinking skins and dirty blankets.

Monsters

There are six Blood Axe Bugbears in here, sitting against the wall with their axes resting on the floor. They are having a deep, growling conversation in Bugbear about the fact that it is only natural for Bugbears to rule Orcs and that somebody really ought to put that jumped-up chieftain Skull Taker in his place.

6 Blood Axe Bugbears (Stink, Buzzard, Rock, Meataxe, Rock, Fuzzy)

ST: 20	HP: 24	Speed: 6
DX: 13	Will: 11	Move: 5
IQ: 8	Per: 12	SM: 1
HT: 13	FP: 20	DR: 4 (skull, torso, vitals, groin, limbs) or 0 (face, neck, hands, feet)
Dodge: 9	Parry: 11U	Block: N/A

Attacks: Great Axe-15 4d+1 (Must ready after parry or attack)

Traits: Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Infravision; Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speak Orcish and Bugbear. They ignore any orders they are given. Given a chance to fight, they will just charge into the fray, regardless of what the Orcish captain wants.

Treasure

The Bugbears have 92 silver pieces ($368) between them. They also have 6 suits of heavy Bugbear mail ($40, 200 lbs each) and 6 Bugbear great axes ($30, 16 lbs each). Fuzzy has a telescope tucked under his armor ($500, 6 lbs, DF 1 p.26), his favorite toy and a prized status symbol.

4. Orc Hall

This 10 yard by 40 yard is dominated by a long, battered wooden table running down the length of the room. Smashed and broken wooden chairs have been shoved under the table and into the corner. The walls prominently display the emblem of a mailed fist holding a battle axe, repeated 18 times across their surface all the way around the room. The workmanship is too fine for the Orcs to have painted it, but the Orcs have made their own crude additions in red and brown, so that the Axes are now held by caricatures of raging Cutnose Orcs.

Monsters

There are three Cutnose Orc warriors standing on the table with weapons drawn, having a screaming argument over who just farted. They do not have shields.

3 Cutnose Orc Warriors

ST: 12	HP: 13	Speed: 5
DX: 11	Will: 9	Move: 5
IQ: 9	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 13	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 9	Block: N/A

Attacks: Orcish Broadsword-13 1d+2 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish

Treasure

The Orcs have 34 copper pieces between them. Their 3 cheap Orcish broadswords are each $50, 4 lbs.

5. Corpse Storage

This 7 yard by 7 yard room contains three wooden beds, a padded wooden table, a smashed wooden cabinet and 9 dead, naked Orcs, stinking from decomposition. The room buzzes with flies and is crawling with rats.

6. Smashed Furniture Storage

This 7 yard by 7 yard room is lined with rows of empty, heavy, wooden shelves. The Orcs have used the room to store wooden furniture that they have smashed up – chairs, desks, cabinets and such. There is a small hill of such furniture in the middle of the room.

7. Garbage Room and Orc Toilet

This stinking 3 yard by 3 yard room is where the Orcs throw their trash and is the room they use as a toilet. The floor is sinking at the far end of the room and a hole has opened in the stonework, which allows accumulated filth to eventually fall down to the level below (Level 2, Room 10 to be exact). There are wooden cabinets with books at the far end of the room, two still upright and one toppled, spilling books into the filth. A character crossing the room to the shelves must make a DX check or slide into the hole and down into Level 2.

Treasure

Anyone brave enough examine the books will find that they seem to be inventories, written in Common in a number of different hands. Most of the entries are for food of various kinds, particularly basic items like bread, oats, cheese and meat. Other entries keep track of wood, iron, blankets and tools for carpentry and blacksmithing. While the goods are dealt with in bulk quantities, the lack of dates for the various entries makes it difficult to tell how many people were being fed and supplied. There is no descriptive text explaining who was keeping the inventories and why. The books have no value on the open market.

8. Kennels

This 20 yard diameter round room has walls of engraved white stone and is dominated by a 10’ marble statue of a human woman in robes, holding up a sword. Thanks to the Orcs, the woman has had her nose smashed off and has had her skin painted green and hair painted red, like a Cutnose. The engravings on the walls show humans (now painted to be Cutnose Orcs) fighting with melee weapons. The armor looks about three-hundred years out of date and there are no clear sides – just a great deal of combat.

Despite the desecrations of the Cutnose Orcs, the room is an area of High Sanctity for those who follow gods of War. Furthermore, clerics of a War god will cast their spells at +4 here, clerics of a Death god at +2, clerics of a god of Good or Evil at -2, and clerics of a god of Love and Fertility at -4.

Monsters

The room also contains 8 ferocious Hell Boars on chains just long enough to prevent them from leaving the kennels, and three heavily scarred Orcish keepers.

3 Cutnose Orc Warriors

ST: 12	HP: 13	Speed: 5
DX: 11	Will: 9	Move: 5
IQ: 9	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 13	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 9	Block: N/A

Attacks: Orcish Broadsword-13 1d+2 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish. All three of the Orcs are heavily scared with bite marks.

8 Hell Boars

Hell Boars are black, pony-sized mammals that look like a cross between a great pig, a wolf, and a rat. They have short hair, long hairless tails, and a mouth full of gleaming sharp teeth. They are hunters by nature and are extremely vicious and bad tempered. Their eyes blaze and foam drips from their teeth when they are angry, which is most of the time. They can eat almost anything and always feel hungry.

ST: 14	HP: 14	Speed: 6
DX: 12	Will: 11	Move: 8
IQ: 5	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 20	DR: 1
Dodge: 10	Parry: N/A	Block: N/A

Attacks: Bite-15 2d Cut

Traits: Discriminatory Smell; Night Vision 2; Quadruped; Wild Animal.

Skills: Brawling-15; Tracking-14; Swimming-11.

Class: Giant Animal

Notes: None.

Treasure

The Orcs have 27 copper pieces between them. Their 3 cheap Orcish broadswords are each $50, 4 lbs each. One of the Hell Boards, underneath the folds of fat on its neck, is wearing a studded leather collar with the word “Angry” burned crudely into the leather in Orcish ($1, 0 lbs)

9. Orc Kitchens

This 7 yard by 7 yard room stinks with the unique aroma of an Orcish kitchen. All sorts of strange and revolting ingredients lie smeared over the deeply-scratched surface of what was once a fine rosewood desk. Dangling strings hanging from hooks in the ceiling keep other plants and animals in easy reach and at the far end of the room, clay bowls filled with yet other ingredients line the battered shelves of what was once a pair of fine rosewood cabinets. The floor is covered with moldering trash.

Monsters

4 Orcish cooks are having a screaming argument over whether it is best to gut rats, roasting the flesh and making soup from the guts, or whether it is best to eat them alive. They are jabbing at the air with iron knives in each other’s directions to make their point.

4 Cutnose Orc Cooks

ST: 11	HP: 11	Speed: 5
DX: 10	Will: 10	Move: 5
IQ: 10	Per: 13	SM: 0
HT: 10	FP: 10	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 8	Block: N/A

Attacks: Large Knife-13 1d-1 Im or 1d-1 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish.

Treasure

The Orcish “spices” held in simple clay cups are not labeled and are mostly worthless, but careful examination will reveal 4 ounces of salt ($60) and an ounce of Orcish Firegrain ($150, DF p. 11)

10. Workshop

This 3 yard x 5 yard room contains four scratched wooden tables, covered with crude iron tools. In the NE corner of the room, broken swords and arrows are piled up together.

Treasure

The tools include a cheap hatchet ($6, 2 lbs), and clumsy implements for blacksmithing and carpentry including chisels, hammers, planes, saws and tongs ($200, 80 lbs, -4 to skill).

11. Orc Breeding Pits

This huge 60 yard by 90 yard room is a natural cavern given a level wooden floor. These are the Orc breeding pits where the tribe’s females and juveniles live in squalor – 120 Orcs in all. Cutnose Orc culture relegates females and juveniles to the status of livestock and they keep them in the breeding pits. Here they live naked in filth amidst screaming and fighting, amusing themselves by bullying anyone smaller. Scarification is common, being the only form of decoration available. These Orcs will avoid combat with the PCs if possible, though the adult females will not abandon the juveniles even if the situation is hopeless. Given a chance to communicate, adult females will beg for their lives and the lives of the juveniles, promising that they have no treasure to take. If they are spared, they will not tell the Chief about the PCs – instead they will use the opportunity to run away. The PCs may encounter them sometime later as forest bandits, in which case, the Orcs will treat the PCs with contempt for being such merciful idiots.

Monsters

In combat, these Orcs will try to overwhelm foes with numbers, trying to outflank and looking for opportunities to slam or grapple. If they successfully capture a PC through mass grappling, they will stab the PC with knives.

29 Adult Cutnose Orc Breeders

ST: 10	HP: 12	Speed: 5.25
DX: 12	Will: 10	Move: 5
IQ: 10	Per: 13	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 10	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 8	Block: N/A

Attacks: Large Knife-12 1d-2 Im or 1d-2 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish.

18 Older Cutnose Orc Juveniles

ST: 9	HP: 11	Speed: 5
DX: 11	Will: 9	Move: 5
IQ: 9	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 10	FP: 11	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 7	Block: N/A

Attacks: Large Knife-11 1d-3 Im or 1d-3 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish.

22 Younger Cutnose Orc Juveniles

ST: 8	HP: 10	Speed: 5
DX: 10	Will: 8	Move: 5
IQ: 8	Per: 11	SM: 0
HT: 19	FP: 10	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 7	Block: N/A

Attacks: Large Knife-10 1d-3 Im or 1d-4 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish.

The remaining 40 Orcs are too young to fight.

Treasure

While the Orcs have hoarded bits of rag, ordinary stones and small bones, none of it is of any monetary value.

12. Prison

This 7 yard by 7 yard room may once have been a smithy, judging by the old bellows and the large iron anvil. Now it is the Orc’s prison and torture chamber, thanks to the addition of three cells with doors held shut by crossbars. Sets of manacles are bolted into the walls of the room, beside a glowing brazier and a stack of sharp or pointed iron tools.

The troll in cell 3 is screaming to be let out, while the two Orcish guards are screaming at her to shut up. The other two cells contain an Orcish and a Dwarven prisoner. Thanks to the healing spells cast by the Orcish Shamans, the prisoners are all at full hit points right now, ready to be tortured again.

Monsters

Jailors

2 Cutnose Orc Jailors (Wet Pits and Little Hatchet)

ST: 14	HP: 16	Speed: 5
DX: 10	Will: 10	Move: 5
IQ: 8	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 14	DR: 2
Dodge: 8	Parry: 10	Block: N/A

Attacks: Orcish Broadsword-15 2d+2 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish

Prisoners

Rat Crab Spider (Cutnose Orc Prisoner)

Rat Crab Spider is a very thin Cutnose Orc with broken teeth and a scar running right down the middle of his face. He was been thrown into the dungeon because he laughed out loud when the chief, Skull Taker, began to use perfume. Rat Crab Spider has been terrified lately, but he is delighted to see the PCs, who he hopes will free him. He knows that he will never be welcome among the Cutnose Orcs again and he’s looking for a new gang to hang with – being with any outfit would be better than being alone. He will immediately try to ingratiate himself with the PCs, speaking to them in broken Common. He will tell them that if they spare his life, he would make a very useful guide and that he hates the Cutnose more than the PCs do. As it happens, the Orc really does know the layout of the entire level, really has no plans to betray the PCs, and will be a loyal minion if offered the chance. If allowed to accompany the party, Rat Crab Spider will try to attach himself to whoever seems most sympathetic towards him, performing services and offering flattery. If nobody is particularly sympathetic, he’ll attach himself to the biggest, strongest character. He will put up with a lot of bullying, but may eventually respond to cruelty by stealing valuables and fleeing. Rat Crab Spider will do his best to be obedient, but his instincts are animalistic and hateful. When forbidden to engage in a cruel act against an outsider, Rat Crab Spider will be unable to prevent himself from weeping loudly and possibly rolling on the ground. He just cannot stop himself from crying, even if it puts the entire party in danger. He also has a tendency to laugh inappropriately.

ST: 11	HP: 9	Speed: 6
DX: 13	Will: 11	Move: 6
IQ: 11	Per: 14	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 13	DR: 0
Dodge: 10	Parry: 11 (Brawling)	Block: N/A

Attacks: Punch-14 1d-1 Cr

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Combat Reflexes; Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: Brawling-14; Broadsword–13; Climbing-13; Knife-12; Stealth-13; Survival (Forest)-12 Survival (Underground)-13; Tracking-11.

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Broken Common and Orcish.

Snori Hillstout (Dwarf Prisoner)

Snori is a thin but muscular dwarf dressed in ragged woolen trousers and a torn linen shirt. His long black hair and brown beard are unkempt and bristle wildly in all directions.

Snori will be very grateful if released. He is more than ready to take his revenge on the Orcs and he feels honorbound to save the life of one of at least one party member. However, if he accompanies the party, he will want an equal share of the treasure. If given an equal share after defeating the Orcs, he will agree to accompany the players to lower levels. Snori hates Orcs and will never trust Rat Crab Spider.

ST: 14	HP: 12	Speed: 5
DX: 11	Will: 9	Move: 5
IQ: 10	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 12	FP: 14	DR: 0
Dodge: 9	Parry: 11 (Brawling)	Block: N/A

Attacks: Punch-14 1d Cr

Traits: Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Infravision.

Skills: Brawling-14; Broadsword-15 (2d cut); First Aid-10; Shield-15; Mining-15; Survival (Underground)-12.

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Common and Dwarvish.

Waaarg (Troll Prisoner)

Waaarg is a ten foot naked humanoid reduced to skin and bones with hunger. Her leathery, grey skin is covered with scabs and there are patches of matted black hair on her scalp. Her wide mouth bristles with teeth like needles and her red eyes blaze with rage. Waaarg claws at the door to her cell, screaming like a wounded animal. She has gone insane with rage and suffering and now all the Troll cares about is killing. Although she wants to escape from her cell, she is too crazy to hide her desire to rend the PCs limb from limb. As long as the PCs do not open the door to her cell, she is no danger to them but if they let her out, she will try to kill them.

ST: 30	HP: 40	Speed: 5
DX: 12	Will: 14	Move: 6
IQ: 8	Per: 14	SM: 1
HT: 14	FP: 20	DR: 4
Dodge: 11	Parry: 12 (Brawling)	Block: N/A

Attacks: Claws-15 3d Cu or Bite-15 3d Imp

Traits: Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Infravision; Near Instant Regeneration (2 hp per second).

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Trollish.

Treasure

The brazier is not of Orcish design ($120, 6 lbs) but the torture implements are just scrap iron twisted into strange shapes ($20, 20 lbs)

13. Temple

This twelve yard by fifteen yard room has empty wooden weapon-racks lined along the walls which are engraved with neat stick figures in combat poses. At the far end of the room is a stone altar, carved with crude leering Orcish faces. On the alter is the blood-dripping head of a ram on a spike. As long as the head remains upright, the temple is an area of High Sanctity for clerics of Evil gods, including the Orcish Shamans. Furthermore, Clerics of a god of Death, Evil or War will cast spells at +4, of a god of Earth, Fire or of The Hunt at +2, of a God of Agriculture at -2, and of a God of the City, Good, the Sea, or the Sun at -4. The Orcish shamans will cast at +4.

Monsters

7 Cutnose Orc Warriors, lead by 4 Cutnose Orc Shamans wearing tiger-hide robes and carrying staves, are chanting at the altar. The warriors have their backs turned to the entrance, but the Shamans are standing behind the altar with a clear view.

Old Snaggle (Head Shaman)

Old Snaggle’s long hair has turned completely white and his spine is so bent that he can hardly hold his head up. His nose also seems to have grown with age, now hanging down almost six inches from his face. He wears nothing but heavy leather leggings and a patchwork rat-fur cloak. His chest is covered in a brightly colored and skillfully rendered tattoo depicting a giant squid fighting with a dragon. Old Snaggle’s engraved staff is topped with a jewel that is glowing with a soft yellow light.

Old Snaggle has great authority and the other Orcs will do whatever Old Snaggle orders them to, short of turning against the Chieftain, Skull Taker. Old Snaggle will fight bravely, but if forced to choose between death and cooperating with the party, he will definitely cooperate. He will do anything to stay alive.

In combat, the first thing Old Snaggle will do is cast Invisibility on himself, then use his Staff of Ranger’s Tread to cast Mage-Stealth on himself, then look for an opportunity to drop an Explosive Fireball on the enemy without doing too much collateral damage to the Orcs. He is fond of Dispel Magic, Fireball and Daze and may cast Minor Healing or Major Healing on himself or another shaman. If forced into single combat, he is likely to cast Paralyze Limb.

ST: 12	HP: 20	Speed: 6
DX: 12	Will: 15	Move: 6
IQ: 13	Per: 15	SM: 0
HT: 13	FP: 16	DR: 2 (legs) or 0 (anywhere else)
Dodge: 9	Parry: 13	Block: N/A

Attacks: Quarterstaff-15 1d+4 Cr

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); High Pain Threshold; Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage).

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Bugbear, Common, Dwarven, Goblin and Orcish.

Spells: Old Snaggle knows the following spells, all at level 18: Armor, Cure Disease, Darkness, Daze, Detect Magic, Dispel Magic, Explosive Fireball, Fireball, Invisibility, Mage Sight, Major Healing, Mass Daze, Mass Sleep, Minor Healing, Paralyze Limb, Shatter, Sleep, Staff, Strike Blind, Touch.

3 Cutnose Orc Shamans (Gut Biter, Axe Stone and Bad Dreams)

The Shamans wear robes made of tiger hides and carry staffs in their hands that are engraved with images of battle. They are smaller than most Cutnose Orcs and their spines have become increasingly bent with age. All of them have streaks of white through the red of their hair.

In combat, the shamans favor Mass Sleep and Sleep spells. They exploit opportunities to cast Dispel Magic and may cast Minor Healing or Major Healing on another Shaman. If Forced into Single Combat, they are likely to cast Daze to give them an opportunity to flee.

ST: 10	HP: 12	Speed: 5.5
DX: 12	Will: 13	Move: 5
IQ: 12	Per: 14	SM: 0
HT: 12	FP: 14 + 4 (Quarterstaff Power Item)	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 12	Block: N/A

Attacks: Quarterstaff-15 1d+2 Cr

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); High Pain Threshold; Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage).

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Bugbear, Goblin and Orcish.

Spells: The shamans know the following spells, all at level 15: Armor, Cure Disease, Darkness, Daze, Detect Magic, Dispel Magic, Major Healing, Mass Daze, Mass Sleep, Minor Healing, Paralyze Limb, Sleep, Staff, Strike Blind, Touch.

7 Cutnose Orc Warriors

In combat, the first priority of the warriors will be to protect the shamans.

ST: 12	HP: 13	Speed: 5
DX: 11	Will: 9	Move: 5
IQ: 9	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 13	DR: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: 9	Block: N/A

Attacks: Orcish Broadsword-13 1d+2 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish

Treasure

The 7 Orcish Warriors have 55 copper pieces between them. They also have 7 cheap Orcish broadswords ($50, 4 lbs each) and 7 cheap, medium Orcish shields ($20, 20 lbs each)

The 3 shamans wear tiger-skin robes, which are not well made, but the hide is genuine enough and is in good condition ($200, 5 lbs). Their oak staffs (their power items) are carved with stylized images of Orcs in battle ($300, 4 lbs).

Snaggle Tooth’s leather leggings are stitched to fit his twisted limbs and are without value in the open market. Despite the work that went into making a cloak out of rat-hides, the garment is likewise without value back in civilization. Old Snaggle’s weapon looks like an ordinary alder staff carved with leaves and vines, but is a Staff of Ranger’s Tread ($10,500, Mage-Stealth, 4 lbs, users of Divine magic only).

14. Chieftain’s Hall

This 15 yard by 20 yard chamber has a stage at the far end, on which Skull Taker, the chieftain, has set his wooden throne. The stage is hung with moldy and tattered red curtains and the walls are stamped all around with the repeated emblem of the battle axe in a mailed fist. The emblem shows fine workmanship and the battle-axe looks like a human design rather than an Orcish one. Distributed all about the room are twenty free-standing iron spikes five feet tall, each topped with a severed head, some Orcish, some human. The heads are in various stages of decomposition, ranging from barely cold to mere skulls. Behind the throne sit three large wooden chests, bound with iron.

Monsters

Skull Taker sits on his throne attended by a full retinue armored in iron plate. Three Blood Axe Bugbears stands guard beside the throne, while ten Orcish warriors (some of them particularly large) stand below the stage, paying him compliments.

Skull Taker

Skull Taker is a huge, muscled Orc, though stooped with age. His long red hair, streaked with white, is bound into many plaits with leather thongs. The Chief wears a gleaming suit of polished plate mail built to fit his frame, although if he isn’t expecting trouble, the hawk-plumed helmet will be sitting beside his throne. Skull Taker smells strongly of sweet lilac perfume, an affectation he has only recently acquired. His odor is unusual, but is much more pleasant than that of the average Orc.

ST: 21	HP: 25	Speed: 6.25
DX: 13	Will: 13	Move: 4
IQ: 13	Per: 15	SM: 0
HT: 13	FP: 16	DR: 6
Dodge: 9	Parry: 13	Block: 11+2DB

Attacks: Fine Broadsword of Seeking-17 4d+1 Cu or 2d+3 Imp

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage).

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish

4 Cutnose Orc Bodyguards (Blood Boar, Leg Breaker, Foul Breath, Face Rip)

There are four particularly strong and vicious Cutnose warriors, picked to personally serve and protect the chief. Their black iron mail is of Orcish production. Though it looks clumsy and ugly, it is practical and highly effective.

ST: 15	HP: 17	Speed: 5
DX: 12	Will: 10	Move: 5
IQ: 9	Per: 14	SM: 0
HT: 12	FP: 14	DR: 4 (everywhere but hands and feet) or 0 (hands or feet)
Dodge: 9	Parry: 11	Block: 11+2DB

Attacks: Orcish Broadsword-15 2d+2 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage).

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish

3 Blood Axe Bugbears (Bull, Wide-Oak, Guts)

ST: 20	HP: 24	Speed: 6
DX: 13	Will: 11	Move: 5
IQ: 8	Per: 12	SM: 1
HT: 13	FP: 20	DR: 4 (skull, torso, vitals, groin, limbs) or 0 (face, neck, hands, feet)
Dodge: 9	Parry: 11U	Block: N/A

Attacks: Great Axe-15 4d+1 (Must ready after parry or attack)

Traits: Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Infravision; Social Stigma (Savage)

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speak Orcish and Bugbear. They ignore any orders they are given. Given a chance to fight, they will just charge into the fray, regardless of what the Orcish captain wants.

7 Cutnose Orc Warriors

ST: 12	HP: 13	Speed: 5
DX: 11	Will: 9	Move: 5
IQ: 9	Per: 12	SM: 0
HT: 11	FP: 13	DR: 4 (everywhere but hands and feet) or 0 (hands or feet)
Dodge: 9	Parry: 11	Block: 11+2DB

Attacks: Orcish Broadsword-15 1d+3 Cu

Traits: Appearance (Ugly); Bully (12); Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Infravision; Rapid Healing; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3); Social Stigma (Savage).

Skills: None

Class: Mundane

Notes: Speaks Orcish

Treasure

The 7 Orcish Warriors have 70 silver pieces between them. Their 4 suits of Orcish mail are the wrong shape for anyone without a hunched spine, but would be worth something to an armorer for salvage ($20, 80 lbs each). They also have 7 cheap Orcish broadswords ($50, 4 lbs each) and 7 cheap, medium Orcish shields ($20, 20 lbs each).

The 3 Blood Axe Bugbears have 95 silver pieces between them. They also have 3 suits of heavy Bugbear mail ($40, 200 lbs each) and 3 oversized great axes ($30, 16 lbs each).

The 4 Orcish Bodyguards have 132 silver pieces between them. They also have 4 suits of decorative Orcish mail ($100, 80 lbs each), 4 cheap Orcish broadswords ($50, 4 lbs each), and 4 cheap, medium Orcish shields ($20, 20 lbs each).

Skull Taker has 100 silver pieces ($400) on his person. His mail is more elaborate than that of the other Orcs, but that only makes it uglier ($100, 80 lbs). His medium shield is fine quality human work, decorated with a red griffon ($600, 12 lbs). He wields a fine enchanted Broadsword of Seeking (enchanted with Accuracy +1, $7,000, 3 lbs).

The chests are all DR 2, HP 14. $200, 40 lbs. They are locked and only Skull Taker knows where the key is hidden. Each can be opened with a straight Lockpicking roll and there are no traps.

Chest 1 contains 200 square feet of wolf fur ($1,000, 150 lbs)

Chest 2 contains 2,108 copper pieces.

Chest 3 contains 1,091 silver pieces.

15. The Stairs Down

A short corridor terminates in a stone stairway, spiraling downwards. Characters walking down the stairs will descend 10 yards until they arrive at the open doorway into level 2, room 1.

Table of Contents

LEVEL 2: Vault of the Scribes