Here's the OOC thread for the game!<br/><br/>Game Thread (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=153038)<br/><br/>IC Thread<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>tactical situation:</strong><br/><br/><br/>The orcs are gathered in an old Arena from the Namorian era, older even than Delver.  Most of the complex is underground, where the gladiatorial school and chambers used to be, and the orcs have greatly expanded the tunnels under the arena.  Being orcs, their leader, the Khan, is cautious about assassination attempts, and keeps his quarters on the surface, where he can keep an eye on the horde.  The map the group is looking for will likely be in possession of the Khan, but the lift that controls access to the lower levels should be disabled, to keep the orcs from deploying their full reinforcements.<br/><br/>The Arena itself is basically a circle with a diameter of 150 feet, surrounded by a wooden wall reinforced by a layer of stone over the outer surface.  The outer edge of the arena is surrounded by a 10 foot wide rampart, on which sentries patrol to warn of incoming dangers.  Two spotlight towers contain powerful lights that were used to illuminate night battles, but are now kept trained on the entrances to the Khan's quarters at almost all times to dazzle and weaken any orc trying to enter them.  Beneath the outer rampart is approximately 30 feet worth of disused arena seating, which counts as difficult terrain, but can be used to grant cover.  At the edge of the arena seating, it's a 20 foot drop to the arena proper, which is a sandpit lined with spikes to keep gladiators from climbing the walls.  The orcs use the arena floor as a staging ground and a slaughter field for captured livestock, and there are typically several cows in various states of disrepair in the arena at any given time.<br/><br/>The doors to the Khan's quarters are kept locked, and he typically carries out a shouting conversation with anyone knocking on the door before opening them.  Inside his quarters, it is a scene of absolute disarray, though his sitting room in which he sleeps between shifts is cleaner.  The Khan spends much of his day writing letters to various feudal lords and village mayors demanding tribute and threatening raids, and the politicking is considered the most unpleasant full time job an orc could possibly do.  That the Khan has the patience to engage in it at all makes his followers frightened of his obvious insanity.  The map the group needs will most likely be found in the Khan's map room, which is kept locked.<br/><br/>The stables used to be a vomitorium which admitted the spectators to the arena, but most of it was taken apart to provide the stone walls around the arena.  What remains is one side of the arena, and the stables also have the best maintained lift down to the underground levels.  The lift itself requires a wheel to be turned to open a trap door, and operate a complex series of mechanisms to alert the orcs in the lower levels that they're wanted on the surface.  There are also a number of mechanisms to open up a very large cage door in the main stables, enabling a large monster to escape into the arena.  The stables themselves have a number of levers that can open and close the various cages, which mostly contain mounts for the orcs, and more of their food supply.<br/><br/>(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/thumb/f/f5/Arena.png/800px-Arena.png)<br/><br/><br/>The orcs themselves are better trained and equipped than typical orcs, if not extensively battle hardened.  They lack organization, but still deploy sentries to alert the horde if intruders arrive.  At any given time, eight sentries typically patrol the area, though their patterns have been observed to be disturbingly orderly, and they never ever speak, suggesting that something is deeply wrong with the horde.