Against the Ogre Horde: Lore

A note on sources: the quest book sketches this story only briefly, so this page mixes the official names with fan elaboration, and the elaborated parts are marked as such.

Mentor's Warning

The pack opens, like every HeroQuest campaign, with a message from Mentor. The runes of the Loretome have shifted to warn of trouble in the lands of the ogres, and at the center of it Mentor senses a familiar presence: Zargon. His new plot is aimed at the Dirgrusht horde, a powerful and secretive community of ogres far to the north. Zargon means to corrupt the lord of the Dirgrusht clan and turn their fighting strength to his own ends.

Mentor can't divine where the Dirgrusht fortress lies, but the Loretome names someone who might know: the reigning Master of Battle at the World's End Tournament. The heroes' path is set out plainly: prove themselves in the tournament, get inside the Dirgrusht hold, and break Zargon's new alliance.

The Dirgrusht Ogres

The quest book includes a short note, drawn from the records in Mentor's library, about the clan the heroes are about to meet. The official picture is more sympathetic than the usual "savage horde":

• The Dirgrusht are a sizable community settled near the World's End mountains, a harsh land where crops wither, the days are scorching and the nights are freezing.
• They value strength above every other virtue, and in their society the strong lead the weak.
• They are not evil. In their own militaristic way they believe the strong have a duty to care for the weak. Some of their past leaders ruled cruelly, others protected the weakest members of the clan.
• They are deeply secretive. No traveler is known to have found where they live, and any who did have not come back to say so.
• Ogres who leave the clan are often hired as mercenaries and battle advisors, because they are trained to fight from a young age.

The note ends on the point that drives the whole pack: wherever there are people there is both good and evil, and Zargon is reaching for whatever evil lies in the Dirgrusht horde.

The World's End Tournament

The tournament is held on the ancient ruins of Alvakryn, "where one does not wander by accident", and draws warriors from far and wide in search of glory and riches. The heroes have to name their team and beat three teams of competitors before they can face the reigning champions: the Wolves of World's End, led by a ferocious ogre pit fighter called Doralf.

Their victory brings slow applause from behind them. The Master of Battle is an ogre named Gruzbella Hammerhand. When she hears what the heroes plan, she turns serious. She has "no great love" for Ekur, the arrogant leader of the Dirgrusht, but didn't think him capable of siding with Zargon, and she agrees to guide the heroes to the fortress. Her price is a fight: it has been ages since she met opponents worth her full strength. The heroes win, she shakes each of their hands, pays them a champion's purse, and vows to be better prepared next time.

Gruzbella stays on the heroes' side after that. The supply crates they find inside the fortress are her gifts, smuggled in to help them, and the ogre mercenaries they can hire are her friends and sparring partners.

Inside the Fortress

Gruzbella's directions lead through wild country to a network of earthen tunnels around the fortress's hidden iron gate, guarded by a magical effigy. Beyond it the heroes strike at the war room where the ogres plan their raids, then slip through the lair that houses the might of the horde, where an Ogre Commander named Tograk keeps his chamber.

Deeper in, the presence of Dread sorcerers confirms Mentor's fears. Nexrael, an apprentice Dread Sorcerer, lurks in the lair. Festral, a Dread Sorcerer, guards the Pit of Dread, a wellspring of Dread power that consumes anyone who lingers in it. The heroes must find Festral's Ring of Power and hurl it into the pit to destroy it. Festral's assistant, Xenloth the Dread Mage, waits near the end.

At the heart of the fortress sits Ekur, the Ogre Lord, with his general and his finest warriors. Mentor's message is clear that Ekur has been "completely corrupted by the lure of Zargon", but that there is still hope for the ogre people under him. Defeating Ekur breaks the unity of the horde. Then the alarm is raised, and the last quest is a running escape to the surface.

Zargon's side and the heroes' side as the quests present them. The arrows show who works for or with whom; the book doesn't print a formal chain of command.

How It Ends

After the escape, the King's auxiliary forces meet the heroes and Gruzbella and defeat the last of Ekur's most stubborn followers. Gruzbella and her warriors stay with the rest of the Dirgrusht clan to help them choose their next leader, so that the next lord will not be so open to Dread temptation. Many ogre clans are still private and isolated, but Mentor calls this a first step toward a possible alliance between the ogres and the realm. Even as they rest at the edge of World's End, though, Mentor senses "a foreboding darkness on the horizon".

Fan Elaboration: Using the Story at Your Table

• Gruzbella as a recurring rival. She promises to be better prepared next time. A rematch in the arena, using the pack's stand-alone tournament rules, makes a good one-evening session between longer quests.
• The succession. The book leaves the next Dirgrusht leader open. A custom quest could have the heroes escort a candidate Gruzbella favors, or stop one of Ekur's loyalists from claiming the throne.
• Ogres as people. Because the book says the Dirgrusht are not evil, an ogre that surrenders or flees is a story opportunity rather than just a missed kill. Let the heroes spare one and have it turn up later as a mercenary.
• Festral's other rings. Nothing says the Ring of Power was unique. A Dread Sorcerer with a second ring is an easy hook for a follow-up quest.

The Classic Pack

Where Next

• Jungles of Delthrak: the next quest pack, set among the dwarven refugees of Kellar's Keep.
• Lore: The Dark Forces: more on Zargon and his servants.
• Against the Ogre Horde: the rules side of this pack.