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<blockquote data-quote="Chimera" data-source="post: 2303323" data-attributes="member: 2002"><p>Talent’s Journal</p><p></p><p>23rd Greening</p><p></p><p>Artemis arrived in Fairhill late the night before. We spent an hour or two updating him with the situation. Kind of looked like he wanted to head back to the widow in Sunden.</p><p></p><p>This morning, Leothan and I worked together to create a scroll of healing. A most interesting experience. I provided the funds and the scribing, he provided the spell. In return, he gave me a potion of healing that he had purchased. A good exchange! This will allow me to heal myself in the midst of combat if I need it (would have been very useful in that last fight!) or to heal Leothan or Nok in a pinch.</p><p></p><p>I started to feel guilty the other day about holding on to so much of the magic that we’ve picked up. But then I realized that it is not like I’m keeping it for myself or, in some cases, like others can use it. I’m the only one that can use the scrolls we took off of Vortigren. The Invisibility dust….well, I think it’d have been used for nothing if another was holding on to it. That’s something we need to keep for an emergency.</p><p></p><p>Mid-afternoon, we set forth with Lannet for the Keep, which is located about five miles from Fairhill. After about an hour, there was some ruckus ahead of us. Lex and Nok took off running. The rest of us followed as best we could, passing the body of an Orc with Lex’s arrow sticking out of it’s back. I muttered under my breath about Lex and her penchant for charging into battle. Leothan swore out loud that she was going to get herself killed one day.</p><p></p><p>We caught up to Lex and Nok as they were taking cover, Lex climbing a tree. Well so much for hiding, as the rest of us came crashing through the brush! Just then, four Orcs came charging at us. As we prepared to meet them, they began screaming in terror and begging us for mercy. I don’t think any of us was prepared for that. They threw themselves at our feet, crying and pleading. Disgusted, we shooed them off to the side and prepared for bigger things - the Ogre and Orc cleric following behind them!</p><p></p><p>A short battle followed, as we blew down the Orc and Ogre with arrows and crossbow bolts. Xilo took one swipe with her sword and cut the injured Ogre in two! During the battle, Lannet snuck up to the cowering Orcs and killed two of them. The others began running for their lives. One of those got away but we stopped the other one before he got too far.</p><p></p><p>The prisoner was a Sea Snake Clan Orc named Genndu. Leothan and I played “Good Cop, Bad Cop” very effectively and the Orc spilled his guts. This Orc was part of the crew of the Venom, a Sea Snake slaver vessel, intending to beat Vortigren to his prize. They arrived at the keep several days ago, but couldn’t find anything of value. Knowing that the Black Skull Orcs would be coming, they set several patrols to watch. Unfortunately for them, they never returned. I’m thinking that one of those was the group that ambushed us north of Fairhill. The Black Skulls arrived without warning and were able to enslave the remaining Sea Snakes, including this group. They treated them very badly, as we could see. </p><p></p><p>Genndu tells us that the Black Skulls are a ”deviant” clan of Orcs led by a Half-Orc priest named Tavik, the follower of a demon-god. The Sea Snakes had been considering an alliance with them, as the Black Skulls offer a higher price for slaves than their usual markets. He tells us that besides Tavik and his war chief, there are 17 Orc warriors at the Keep. This is a bit more than we can handle.</p><p></p><p>Genndu further tells us that Tavik tried to get past some magic wards in the Keep but something stopped him. He learned from his god that it was something in Fairhill that did this and so he had dispatched this group to scout the village’s defenses. My heart sank listening to this. This half-Orc can dispel magic wards and contact his god. This too is well above our abilities. This task gets more dangerous by the moment!</p><p></p><p>We asked Genndu where they sold their slaves, as slavery is highly illegal. He told us that they sell them either at Southkeep (an old abandoned Mitlanyuli outpost) or to Khypris the Mage at his tower near Margan’s Folly. We vow to deliver this information to the Wardenry at the first opportunity.</p><p></p><p>We stripped the Orc of his weapons and gear and turned him loose, extracting a promise to leave the area immediately. We promised to hunt him down if we heard a single word of him harassing anyone in this region.</p><p></p><p>During this interrogation, Lannet managed to slip away unnoticed. Little bastard, I don’t trust him for spit. Just as we sent Lex and Nok ahead to scout, he returned, saying that he had scouted up to the Keep and the path looked safe. I still do not trust him.</p><p></p><p>We arrive at the Keep minutes later and take some time for discussion. We decide to scout out the Keep a little and try to draw out a patrol or two, to see if we can cut down their numbers by ambush. Lex and Lannet go ahead, entering in through a side door. A few minutes later, they come running out to the ambush site, with no apparent pursuit. They tell us that the guards were so lax that they managed to kill three of them before the alarm was raised. Leothan and I simply looked at each other. Lannet and Lex…the irresponsible twins. A minute later, two armored Orcs come strolling down the path, looking wary but not particularly bright. We surround them and deal with them rather quickly.</p><p></p><p>At this point, we argued about whether it was time to retreat to Fairhill or not. Having roughly an hour left on my magical armor, I argued for staying, waiting a half-hour for the commotion to die down, then repeating the process. </p><p></p><p>My tactic nearly got us all killed.</p><p></p><p>A half hour later, Lex snuck up to the back door again, only to find it in the process of being spiked shut. Not good. She resorted to taunting the Orcs, which led to them sallying in force over the nearby palisade. As Lex retreated to the ambush site, that idiot Lannet sprang up and ruined the trap, attacking the first Orcs before they reached the kill zone. Damn, we were in trouble! Because just behind those four Orcs were the remaining Ogre, the Orc war chief and two more Orcs!</p><p></p><p>I pulled out a scroll and used Benign Transposition to switch Lannet and Xilo, who instantly grew to her impressive size and waded into battle. Lex swung around and began engaging the Orcs as the rest of us filled the skies with missiles and spells. Unfortunately, we had little luck and the battle began turning against us. Leothan rushed forward to aid Xilo, who was taking some heavy hits. Nok produced handfuls of flame and was flinging them at the Ogre. Lex, hidden from our view by some brush, took a couple of arrows and had to retreat to drink her healing potion. Things did not look well and I started signaling for a retreat.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, no one listened to me for vital seconds. I could see that I was going to have to resort to more drastic measures here to keep my friends alive. Pulling out one of the black magic scrolls I’d taken off Vortigren, I summoned three skeletons to a position right behind the lead Orcs, hoping that this would distract them sufficiently for my friends to escape. The fools kept right on fighting.</p><p></p><p>The Orc war chief challenged Xilo and then started working himself up into a frothing rage. Artemis at least began to listen to me, scattering caltrops in his wake as he turned and retreated. Finally, Leothan cast another healing spell on Xilo and called for the retreat. We began pulling back as best as we could, and I prepared to burn my valuable scroll to call up mists to cover our retreat.</p><p>With half the party bebehind me, I cast my spell, bringing up mists in front of me. Unfortunately, as I was casting, we could see Lannet jump into battle against the raging war chief. Fool. Moments later, Xilo came running out of the mist and passed me going down the trail. Now the only one we were missing was Lex. She came running around the side of the mist, only to take an Orc arrow in the back, dropping her. As Artemis and I covered him, Nok rode his dog over to where she had fallen and healed her. They retreated past us and we all headed down the path at top speed. No Orcs followed us and we made our escape.</p><p></p><p>Licking our wounds down the path, we heard from Nok that Lannet had fallen. The last thing he saw before he turned and ran was one of the Orcs picking up Lannet’s body and carrying him toward the keep. Just our luck and they’ll be able to heal up that thrice damned halfling and make him sing like a canary! Nok also saw the Orc war chief keel over, but we aren’t convinced that he’s dead, especially not if his master can help it.</p><p></p><p>Sadly, I’m not sure that we managed to kill even one Orc in that last battle. I burned up three scrolls and we consumed several potions, with nothing to show for it. </p><p>A bit demoralized, we went back to where we had stashed some goods, picked up our stuff and headed back to Fairhill to tell them the bad news.</p><p></p><p><End session 4></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Chimera, post: 2303323, member: 2002"] Talent’s Journal 23rd Greening Artemis arrived in Fairhill late the night before. We spent an hour or two updating him with the situation. Kind of looked like he wanted to head back to the widow in Sunden. This morning, Leothan and I worked together to create a scroll of healing. A most interesting experience. I provided the funds and the scribing, he provided the spell. In return, he gave me a potion of healing that he had purchased. A good exchange! This will allow me to heal myself in the midst of combat if I need it (would have been very useful in that last fight!) or to heal Leothan or Nok in a pinch. I started to feel guilty the other day about holding on to so much of the magic that we’ve picked up. But then I realized that it is not like I’m keeping it for myself or, in some cases, like others can use it. I’m the only one that can use the scrolls we took off of Vortigren. The Invisibility dust….well, I think it’d have been used for nothing if another was holding on to it. That’s something we need to keep for an emergency. Mid-afternoon, we set forth with Lannet for the Keep, which is located about five miles from Fairhill. After about an hour, there was some ruckus ahead of us. Lex and Nok took off running. The rest of us followed as best we could, passing the body of an Orc with Lex’s arrow sticking out of it’s back. I muttered under my breath about Lex and her penchant for charging into battle. Leothan swore out loud that she was going to get herself killed one day. We caught up to Lex and Nok as they were taking cover, Lex climbing a tree. Well so much for hiding, as the rest of us came crashing through the brush! Just then, four Orcs came charging at us. As we prepared to meet them, they began screaming in terror and begging us for mercy. I don’t think any of us was prepared for that. They threw themselves at our feet, crying and pleading. Disgusted, we shooed them off to the side and prepared for bigger things - the Ogre and Orc cleric following behind them! A short battle followed, as we blew down the Orc and Ogre with arrows and crossbow bolts. Xilo took one swipe with her sword and cut the injured Ogre in two! During the battle, Lannet snuck up to the cowering Orcs and killed two of them. The others began running for their lives. One of those got away but we stopped the other one before he got too far. The prisoner was a Sea Snake Clan Orc named Genndu. Leothan and I played “Good Cop, Bad Cop” very effectively and the Orc spilled his guts. This Orc was part of the crew of the Venom, a Sea Snake slaver vessel, intending to beat Vortigren to his prize. They arrived at the keep several days ago, but couldn’t find anything of value. Knowing that the Black Skull Orcs would be coming, they set several patrols to watch. Unfortunately for them, they never returned. I’m thinking that one of those was the group that ambushed us north of Fairhill. The Black Skulls arrived without warning and were able to enslave the remaining Sea Snakes, including this group. They treated them very badly, as we could see. Genndu tells us that the Black Skulls are a ”deviant” clan of Orcs led by a Half-Orc priest named Tavik, the follower of a demon-god. The Sea Snakes had been considering an alliance with them, as the Black Skulls offer a higher price for slaves than their usual markets. He tells us that besides Tavik and his war chief, there are 17 Orc warriors at the Keep. This is a bit more than we can handle. Genndu further tells us that Tavik tried to get past some magic wards in the Keep but something stopped him. He learned from his god that it was something in Fairhill that did this and so he had dispatched this group to scout the village’s defenses. My heart sank listening to this. This half-Orc can dispel magic wards and contact his god. This too is well above our abilities. This task gets more dangerous by the moment! We asked Genndu where they sold their slaves, as slavery is highly illegal. He told us that they sell them either at Southkeep (an old abandoned Mitlanyuli outpost) or to Khypris the Mage at his tower near Margan’s Folly. We vow to deliver this information to the Wardenry at the first opportunity. We stripped the Orc of his weapons and gear and turned him loose, extracting a promise to leave the area immediately. We promised to hunt him down if we heard a single word of him harassing anyone in this region. During this interrogation, Lannet managed to slip away unnoticed. Little bastard, I don’t trust him for spit. Just as we sent Lex and Nok ahead to scout, he returned, saying that he had scouted up to the Keep and the path looked safe. I still do not trust him. We arrive at the Keep minutes later and take some time for discussion. We decide to scout out the Keep a little and try to draw out a patrol or two, to see if we can cut down their numbers by ambush. Lex and Lannet go ahead, entering in through a side door. A few minutes later, they come running out to the ambush site, with no apparent pursuit. They tell us that the guards were so lax that they managed to kill three of them before the alarm was raised. Leothan and I simply looked at each other. Lannet and Lex…the irresponsible twins. A minute later, two armored Orcs come strolling down the path, looking wary but not particularly bright. We surround them and deal with them rather quickly. At this point, we argued about whether it was time to retreat to Fairhill or not. Having roughly an hour left on my magical armor, I argued for staying, waiting a half-hour for the commotion to die down, then repeating the process. My tactic nearly got us all killed. A half hour later, Lex snuck up to the back door again, only to find it in the process of being spiked shut. Not good. She resorted to taunting the Orcs, which led to them sallying in force over the nearby palisade. As Lex retreated to the ambush site, that idiot Lannet sprang up and ruined the trap, attacking the first Orcs before they reached the kill zone. Damn, we were in trouble! Because just behind those four Orcs were the remaining Ogre, the Orc war chief and two more Orcs! I pulled out a scroll and used Benign Transposition to switch Lannet and Xilo, who instantly grew to her impressive size and waded into battle. Lex swung around and began engaging the Orcs as the rest of us filled the skies with missiles and spells. Unfortunately, we had little luck and the battle began turning against us. Leothan rushed forward to aid Xilo, who was taking some heavy hits. Nok produced handfuls of flame and was flinging them at the Ogre. Lex, hidden from our view by some brush, took a couple of arrows and had to retreat to drink her healing potion. Things did not look well and I started signaling for a retreat. Unfortunately, no one listened to me for vital seconds. I could see that I was going to have to resort to more drastic measures here to keep my friends alive. Pulling out one of the black magic scrolls I’d taken off Vortigren, I summoned three skeletons to a position right behind the lead Orcs, hoping that this would distract them sufficiently for my friends to escape. The fools kept right on fighting. The Orc war chief challenged Xilo and then started working himself up into a frothing rage. Artemis at least began to listen to me, scattering caltrops in his wake as he turned and retreated. Finally, Leothan cast another healing spell on Xilo and called for the retreat. We began pulling back as best as we could, and I prepared to burn my valuable scroll to call up mists to cover our retreat. With half the party bebehind me, I cast my spell, bringing up mists in front of me. Unfortunately, as I was casting, we could see Lannet jump into battle against the raging war chief. Fool. Moments later, Xilo came running out of the mist and passed me going down the trail. Now the only one we were missing was Lex. She came running around the side of the mist, only to take an Orc arrow in the back, dropping her. As Artemis and I covered him, Nok rode his dog over to where she had fallen and healed her. They retreated past us and we all headed down the path at top speed. No Orcs followed us and we made our escape. Licking our wounds down the path, we heard from Nok that Lannet had fallen. The last thing he saw before he turned and ran was one of the Orcs picking up Lannet’s body and carrying him toward the keep. Just our luck and they’ll be able to heal up that thrice damned halfling and make him sing like a canary! Nok also saw the Orc war chief keel over, but we aren’t convinced that he’s dead, especially not if his master can help it. Sadly, I’m not sure that we managed to kill even one Orc in that last battle. I burned up three scrolls and we consumed several potions, with nothing to show for it. A bit demoralized, we went back to where we had stashed some goods, picked up our stuff and headed back to Fairhill to tell them the bad news. <End session 4> [/QUOTE]
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