The Battle of Duke's Road Keep

 

Image by Doug Chaffee (source)

A terrible disaster has been narrowly averted! Just a few days ago Duke's Road Keep, in northern Karameikos, close to the border with Darokin, was assaulted by a powerful force of orcs and ogres. In several places the curtain wall was breached though thankfully the inner keep held. The garrison of Karameikan soldiers and various allies held out until the chaotic humanoids gave up and slunk back to their caves.  

What is Officially Said about Duke's Road Keep 

From Gaz1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos:

Duke's Road Keep: This fort lies in the mountain pass on the Duke's Road, right at the border between Karameikos and Darokin. Though also mountainous and cold, this is a more cheerful place because of the constant traffic passing through from Selenica to points south. This fort is garrisoned by the Fourth Division, Duke's Road Battalion (nicknamed "The Goblin-Crushers" for their successful military operations carried out against the mountain goblins).

My ideas about what has happened:

A band of 30 dwarf prospectors were the first to spot the orc and ogre horde advancing from the east through the mountain valleys. The dwarves hurried to the keep on their ponies, both for their own protection and also to warn the humans. However, they in turn were spotted by the orcs, and there were several running skirmishes with worg-riding orc scouts trying to stop them. 12 dwarves made it back to the keep, raising the alarm and allowing an hour to organise the defences - this was only possible because 8 other dwarves decided to make a heroic last stand in a narrow gorge, blocking the worgs and their orcish riders for as long as they could before they were overwhelmed. 

The garrison sent riders in each direction of the Duke's Road, warning travellers and caravans of the impending attack. Two caravans made the decision it was safer to stay in the keep than be caught out on the open road by the savage raiders. One caravan heading north to Darokin tried to outrun the orcs but their burnt and bloodied remains were found a few days later. 

Estimates from survivors in the keep put the enemy forces at about 2000 orcs, and at least 120 ogres. About 2/3rds of the orcs were just regular infantry, with spears, axes and shields, but there were companies of orcs with crossbows and shortbows, as well as 100 surviving worg-riders. They came well-prepared for an assault, with many orcs carrying siege ladders to scale the walls, and goblin slaves hauling carts carrying ballistae, catapults and their respective ammunitions. Some of the goblins were carrying shovels, pick-axes and other mining equipment. 

The Dukes Road Keep defenders were 244 soldiers of the Karameikan Army, 4th Division, Duke's Road Battalion ("The Goblin-Crushers"), plus 120 resident civilians (of whom 33 could pick up weapons and fight), 43 caravan guards from the two caravans sheltering in the keep, the 12 surviving dwarf prospectors who first spotted the attacking orcs, the resident chaplain Theodocius (human male 6th level cleric, Lawful) and his 3 adepts (2nd level clerics, Lawful) and a band of adventurers who were on their way to Castellan Keep, looking for fortune and glory.

The battle was brutal and bloody, and went on from the initial attacks at dusk through the night until dawn. Siege ladders were put against battlements and the human defenders desperately tried to kill or knock the orc assailants off the ladders before they could get a firm foothold on the parapets.Toppling a siege ladder over (often with orcs still climbing it) would rouse a cheer from the humans.  Arrows , quarrels and ballista bolts were exchanged by both sides. The orcs were very exposed and were usually not organised enough to form a shield wall against the incoming arrows. 

The gatehouse came under attack from ogres wielding a tree trunk as an improvised battering ram, and the portcullis and gate were eventually smashed down, but before the orcs and ogres could charge in the mage from the visiting adventuring party, Vericonia (human female, 6th level MU, Neutral) used her prized possession, a Wand of Webs, which held the attackers in its sticky webs as they tried to get through the gatehouse, leaving them immobile and vulnerable to counterattack by the defenders. Despite the orcs and ogres hacking or burning some of the webs, Vericonia kept using her wand, making the gatehouse main entrance impassable with multiple web spells. 

As was previously stated, the orcs and ogres managed to overrun the outer walls in three places, mainly thanks to the siege ladders. This forced the defenders back to the central keep. However, the orcs did not get their siege equipment over the walls and so the siege artillery could not aim at the keep. At one point the orcs tried to swarm over the keep like angry ants but this was when the defenders used the flaming oil, poured over from the inner keep's ramparts and scorching anything near the base of the keep's walls. Over a hundred orcs and a dozen ogres were burnt within that minute, and it was at that point that some orcs began to retreat, despite the exhortations and threats of their commanders and chiefs. 

In a final attempt to break the defenders, the great ogre chief Wolfripper started smashing at the inner keep's door with his huge axe, and to the defenders' consternation he was successfully chopping his way in.  At this point the battalion commander Tyllion of Kelvin (human male, 7th level fighter, Lawful) opened what was left of the door and took on the ogre chief in single combat. It was a closely fought battle, with both inflicting terrible wounds on each other. Wolfripper let out a terrible roar that chilled the blood of all the defenders, but although some flinched or were rooted to the spot in fear, the commander was unfazed and landed the final blow, slicing Wolfripper's neck open. Weak from his wounds and exhaustion, he collapsed in the broken doorway. As a dozen ogres charged at the doorway, a lightning bolt shot out from the keep, over the prone body of  Tyllion and blasted half of the ogres into ashes. "I've been waiting for the right opportunity to use that spell" said Vericonia, the mage of the adventuring party. At this point the remaining ogres turned and fled. Seeing their bigger, stronger allies falling back and knowing the defenders had powerful magic the orcs decided to follow in kind. 

It has been 3 days since the battle. Clerics have been healing the wounded, administered last rites to the dead and dying and praying for guidance. Many graves have been dug. Of the defenders, 86 soldiers, 16 caravan guards, 4 dwarfs and 101 civilians have survived. Tyllion the commander has also survived though he is still recuperating from his duel with the ogre chief and now bears some impressive scars. Repairs are being made to the curtain walls and other stonework damaged by catapults and the like. Outside the Keep, on the other side of the Duke's Road, a horrible pile of nearly a thousand orc and ogre corpses now festers. 

If the PCs arrive at Duke's Road Keep, they may have missed the main battle but there are plenty of tasks and missions. 

• Surviving orcs and ogres have regressed back to petty banditry, waylaying travellers on the Duke's Road. They need to be dealt with in an uncompromising way. 
• Theodocius the Chaplain is convinced that the orcs and ogres would not have come up with this attack by themselves. They are opportunistic, dull and selfish, usually content with attacking farmsteads and caravans. Theodocius wants adventurers to go after an ogre or orc chief and find out who organised this attack. The strategic importance of Duke's Road Keep cannot be ignored. 
• Tyllion the commander wants emissaries to travel to Highforge where a renowned dwarf architect and military engineer Darreldor Steelhammer (male Dw 5, neutral) is employed by the gnomes. Tyllion wants him to come over to Duke's Road Keep to advise on improving the defences. 
• Fenrir Bronzehelm (male Dw4, lawful) is one of the few surviving dwarves. He wants the PCs to retrieve the bodies of his fallen comrades, especially those who made a last stand in the narrow gorge. They deserve a decent dwarven burial. 
• The ogre chief Wolfripper, slain at the climax of the battle, regularly paid fealty and food to the frost giants of the Tomb of the Frost Shamans. When he does not deliver in a month's time, they will send a squad of 3 frost giants to investigate. Is it possible to deal with these frost giants peacefully? Can they be deceived or deterred? 
• Orc corpses have gone missing from the pile on the other side of the Duke's Road. This is compounded by reports of orcish zombies stumbling west into the Black Peaks. Clearly some necromancy is at work but who and why? Is this necromacer in alliance with the orcs or do they have their own agenda?
• Surviving ogres of Wolfripper's own personal band were seen retreating northwest and are believed to be holed up in a natural limestone cave. They are led by Spinestomper, an ogre leader and Wolfripper's right-hand brute. Tyllion wants the ogre threat to be finished off. 
• Tyllion cannot be sure that another attack is not being prepared and wants the defences to be strengthened as quickly as possible. Although he has sent messengers to the Duke in Specularum for reinforcements, he also wants adventurers to escort his treasurer to Selenica to negotiate a deal with the Mercenaries' Guild. The good news is that some merchants who use the Dukes Road regularly could be persuaded to contribute to the costs of the mercenary soldiers.
• Plorbios the Plump, (human male 2nd level fighter/3rd level merchant, neutral) was the leader of one of the caravans that sheltered in the keep during the battle, and he found himself fighting for his life along side the caravan guards and soldiers. He survived but his merchandise was lost and now he fears bankruptcy. He was moving 20 rolls of fine Pearl Island silk from Specularum to Selenica, but the silk was seized and taken by some enterprising orcs. At a value of 2000gp per roll he is willing to pay a 50% finders fee (1000gp per roll) to anyone who can retrieve his silk and save his business. 
• A silver and ivory necklace around one of the slain orc chiefs' neck has been identified by Plorbios the Plump as being the same design as the orcs in the Orclands north of Selenica and Hobart Keep. Could orcs be travelling from the Orclands in northeast Darokin to Karameikos? If so, how? How many of the 2000 orcs were from there, instead of local tribes in the Altan Tepes?
• Theodocius and his sole surviving adept are very overworked. He would like adventurers to travel to the Reclusium of Serenity in the northwest of Karameikos to ask if they can spare any clerics to help with the healing. 
• The oil that proved so crucial when the inner keep was under attack has been used up, and new supplies need to be found. The best oil is found in the Emirates of Ylaruam, particularly the city of Sulba. But who would be prepared to travel all that way and bring the oil back?
• What happened to the gang of goblin sappers, seen at the start of the battle? Although they may have simply fled, it is also possible that they are mining away somewhere near the keep, possibly tunnelling under it. Tyllion would like this matter investigated. 

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