Return to the Ruins of Adventure - Session 19: Hulk Smash!

Picking up where we left off the party is exploring a chamber in the tomb of the ogre king far beneath the ruins of Phlan when orcs and ogres in archaic armor and dress materialize out of thin air and begin attacking.

Three ogres and three orcs appear in the room and rush the party. Scattered throughout the room the team is vulnerable and things look pretty dangerous. Two ogres charge the fighter, while another engages Mikal who is all by his lonesome at the other end of the room. The orcs move in to support their brethren  and combat breaks out all over.

The orcs go down fairly quickly but the ogres are much tougher customers and the fight goes on for some time. gradually the newcomers are beaten down and slain but it's not an easy fight. After pausing to bind their wounds, the party opens the inner door and moves down a hallway of worked stone.

Emerging into a new chamber the party sees a huge ogre berserker and two ogre spearmen, apparently laying in wait for them and a fight breaks out before the team can even enter the room. The big ogre blocks the doorway, pounding on Kordan and Uthal, while his allies throw javelins really hard at the rest of the party. The fighter manages to knock the huge beast down at one point but it recovers and then in a devastating whirlwind attack with its flail knocks almost the entire party down, severely injuring some of them. Things appear grim as the rampaging brute continues to assail Kordan but mighty magics are unleashed and the party recovers, pushing back into the room and blasting the ogres into oblivion.

This new chamber features a huge skull mosaic inlaid into the floor, the symbol of an ancient ogre god, long ago devoured by Bane. Two huge braziers of everburning flame light the room and a passage leads out into unknown darkness.

DM notes: There was less setup this time and more straight-up combat. Both fights went for 8 rounds and were very exciting (ogre warhulks in confined spaces are fun) but there's not a whole lot else to tell. There is a trap and a curse in the room but they did not have a huge effect on the fight. It's still only 2 encounters but maybe next time we will make it to 3.