"Why does he keep coming back? He HAS to know we're just mocking him at this point."
"Well...maybe he doesn't. He seems rather dumb. Honestly, I don't even think he understands what we're saying right now."
But he did. Lort understood everything they said. Every hurtful phrase, every insult to his cooking skills, every sound of disgust at the taste of his cooking. All he ever wanted was to cook for people. To see their smiles. But everybody laughed at him instead.
Well, no one's laughing now.
Overview
Lort is a little bit of a goofier encounter, but that's a-ok! As a chef, he knows how to cook things up, only this time it's trouble. Players must break away from the festivities of the Great Rasteneus Cook Off and deal with the looming threat of this outraged ogre and his animated food.
Fight Synopsis
Lort fights by using the food he animates as his main source of damage. He himself does some decent damage, but if the players don't take care of the food, it will quickly overwhelm them.
Summoning the food in key spots will allow you to force the players to divert their attention to the food as well - the longer Lort can keep them off of him, the better.
As a short aside, you can add some extra fun to this encounter as well. Instead of miniatures, you can use actual candies for the reanimated food, and allow your players to eat any they destroy!
Personality
Lort was a simple ogre, for the longest time he wanted nothing else than to cook his food. Nowadays, however, he just wants to get even. Those that stand in his way he will crush. He might show some hesitation on those that clearly have not wronged him in the past, but ultimately they're in the way of his goal.
That all being said, have some fun with him! Throw in some food puns as often as possible to make your players laugh. Or groan. Or both.
Brief Lore
Lort's lore is fairly simple - he's repeatedly attempted to join and win the Cook Off, but has been repeatedly laughed off of the stage. An ogre can only take so much of that, and this year he decided to get revenge. Maybe this goes bigger than Lort though. Maybe he didn't know how to animate food, until another contestant showed him how. Maybe the plot thickens, and the players have to investigate the breadcrumbs to find the real culprit. Or, maybe it's as simple as it appears. The choice is fully up to you.
Music
The right music helps set the tone amazingly. For this encounter, a track that is a little more all over the place, but still sounds a little absurd hits the mark well. Wine Wars from The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion does this job pretty damn well, keeping the intense fight sound while also adding some levity.
If you like this encounter, consider buying an encounter package here!