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[JoeBlank]

Sgt. Darius quickly grabbed his hammer and told me to follow him. We left the safety of the Outpost, with instructions for the archers to be ready to cover us. A short distance into the trees, I spotted Igor high in the branches, crouched down as if hiding. I loaded my crossbow and looked for the cause of his fear.

We were only a few hundred feet from the Outpost and there they were, orcs with dark green skin, carrying an array of weapons and outfitted as if ready for battle. They all had the image of skull on their chest. By the time we saw them we were nearly among them, their number over two dozen. Sgt. Darius called out to them, suggesting that they unite with us against the giant. We stopped, about 100 feet away from them, my crossbow at the ready.

“What say you?” shouted Darius. The answer came in the form of arrows, three of them bouncing off of his shield. I fired my crossbow, hitting an orc's shield. We began to backpedal, heading for the safety of the Outpost. It appeared that they had not seen Igor, so the man we had come to rescue was in a better position than we. Together Darius and I shouted a warning of “Orcs!”

More arrows flew our way, none of them connecting. We came into the clearing with the orcs close behind, when I heard a guttural voice that seemed to come from the Outpost walls, shouting “Halt!” in the orcish language. I turned to get off another shot before backing into the open gates, just behind Darius, and the doors were closed behind me.

This time I was certain the voice came from the walls above me, continuing to shout to the orcs in their language, instructing them to split up, that we had gone in opposite directions around the Outpost and into the woods. They followed these instructions and scattered into the woods. Later, Dram told me the voice had come from Kayla. She is a user of magic, but I know not whether she had used some sort of spell or if this was simply quick thinking and a bold wit. Either way, it saved us from a potential battle.

Igor soon hobbled back in, telling us he had climbed the tree to gain a better view of the area. He learned that the giant lived in a nearby hill, but the more immediate concern was the orcs. Sgt. Darius called off the mule caravan that was preparing to leave. After a period of calm, he sent Igor back out to scout. He returned with an orc's arrow in his leg. Darius instructed Kayla to shout again, in an attempt to shame the orcs into the open.

“Only elves hide in trees!”

There was no answer. Another period of calm, and then the watch spotted smoke from the woods. Something large was coming towards us, and it was on fire.

Again I tell you of the barely believable, but we all saw it. A large tree, walking and moving of it's own accord, came out of the woods. It seemed to be the victim of a battle, quite likely with the orcs, and was beyond our help. It collapsed before it reached the tree line, and lay there until it was consumed by the fire. Kayla knew of this sort of creature, a living tree, and said that they were peaceful beings. It was a sorrow to see such a thing die.

In the discussions of what we should do next we began to investigate the knowledge of Cpl. Chervac, by far the most veteran of us. He explained that there were twenty-six outposts, and that Outpost Yung was only about a half mile to our north. Although there was no road, a short trek to Outpost Y seemed the safer alternative over the half day's journey to the Keep, to our west.


Although some of the men suggested abandoning Outpost Xavier and moving our entire operation to Yung, Chervac said this would leave a weak link, an opening for orcs, the giant, and other foes to have an easy route to the Keep.