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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mahiro Satsu" data-source="post: 304678" data-attributes="member: 4970">Episode IV Tummarlin's Wake part 4From the Woodland Journal of Van Dykson:21 EleisiasStaying on the east side of the river just as Mellomir’s party had done, we began our trek up the Starwater Gorge. When we arrived opposite the cleft in the cliffs that were the halls, I shivered, remembering the final words of the ghost that had driven us from that place before. I discovered the old tracks of a party that we had been following before. We continued up the gorge.24 EleisiasWe encountered the Company of the Scarlet Flame today. I admit that I nearly let my worst instincts get the better of me. When I first spotted them, I immediately thought the worst. Among their party was a large, unnatural creature that was the mirror of the Bugbear that Velm had brought down during the attack on town. I wanted to immediately attack it. I realize that not all unnatural creatures like that are dangerous, but I have not always been thinking so clearly. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and Daziel was able to interact with them and prevent a fight. Still, as I passed by this company, I stared at them with the distrust that I feel I am beginning to have for anything I don’t understand.26 EleisiasWe found the Stonetooth. As it was in the late afternoon, we made camp about 100 yards from the path we had been following. In the mountains, a little stream of smoke could be seen.Right before dawn I was awoken by Corwyn. He pointed back to the path. As I got up and grabbed two arrows, notching one on my bow, I heard Bronn cursing, then Daziel’s prayer to Selune. Among the trees, I could see two orcs light up with the power of the moon. I instantly let an arrow find its way to strike down one of the unnatural things, while the others take off, running up the path, with the entire company giving chase. The elf caught up with the three of them immediately knocking one unconscious, killing another, but in turn being knocked out by the third. Daziel, following shortly behind, also gets hit before I am able to get close enough to drop the final one with another well placed arrow. We are lucky we dropped this patrol here--if they had been able to warn their fellows, we could have been in severe trouble.We gathered our things together and climbed the path into the mountains. The smoke turned out to be a constructed chimney--Saeita was able to find this out, although she fell hard off the rocks when she returned from her investigation.We discovered two orcs guarding the path, and I was able to drop them both before they could raise the alarm. The arrow slits in the cliff around the path indicated that we needed a better plan than simply to continue strolling up the path. Bronn, the dwarven spellcaster, decided to try a subterfuge. He altered his appearance magically so that he looked like an orc. Then he ran up the path, screaming “Help! Elves below. Attacking!” in orcish, or at least that’s what Saeita said he was screaming. It just sounded like grunts to me. We couldn’t hear what happened next, and spent an anxious ten to fifteen minutes trying to decide what to do. Saeita taught me how to scream. “Help! Come quick!” in orcish, but when I did so, the orcs behind the arrow slits simply laughed and said, “we are not so easily fooled.”Velm pulled out a potion that he had been given by Bronn. He claimed that it would enable someone to climb walls like a spider. Quickly, we formed our plan, feared for what might have befallen Bronn. I removed my boots and gloves as instructed by Velm, and drank the potion, gagging slightly at the little spider contained in the bottom of the vial. Then I took the four vials of alchemist’s fire. Daziel jumped out into the path and taunted the orcs, running across the path to get next to the cliff, out of sight and danger from arrows. At the same time, I rushed across the path, leaped up on the wall and climbed above the arrow slit, throwing one of the alchemist’s fires inside the narrow opening. It broke on the outside and I singed my hair, but I also heard the satisfying screams of a burning orc. The rest of the company rushed to join Daziel as I moved to the next two arrow slits, given each orc his own particular taste of cleansing fire.Around the next corner, an additional two arrow slits protected the double doors leading to the mountain fortress. Corwyn was trying to force the doors, but having difficulty. I used my last alchemists fire in one arrow slit, then dropped to the ground and attempted to place an arrow through the slit on the opposite side. The others screamed at me to help them force the door, so I put the bow back on my back and threw my weight at the door. On the second try, with all five of us pushing, the metal bands holding the door secure snapped and a dimly lit interior revealed a wide gorge spanned by a rope bridge. Velm rushed onto the bridge, but was slowed by how it was so unstable. I rushed across the wall, as I could still move like a spider, and dropped to the other side, next to one of the six orcs stationed there to guard this entrance. One of the orcs suddenly went up in flames, then Corwyn hit one with an arrow (as I said, he needed no help from me on learning how to use a bow), then Daziel summoned a celestial badger that instantly killed the orc that Corwyn had wounded. I was able to quickly dispatch the orc in front of me with my longsword. One orc tried to rush the rope bridge and cut the tie to the posts on this side, but he was dropped by a well-placed crossbow bolt by Daziel. As I rushed the last orc, it put up its hands and screamed, “It’s Bronn!” From behind me, I heard, “’ware the badger.” I glanced down to see the badger ready itself to leap on Bronn’s throat, and I swung my sword to intercept it. Even though I knew it was but a construct, it sickened me to feel the thud of sword on flesh as I killed the brave thing, it not understanding that this orc was not a foe.On this side of the gorge were another set of double doors. Bronn warned us that he had been interrogated by a Bane priest and that there was also a Bane wizard beyond. I faded back to a stone pillar to provide cover, while the rest of the party readied themselves. Bronn, as an orc, took hold of Corwyn’s jerkin and grunted something at the doors (“Master Victory! Open up!”). When the doors opened, my heart fell. I did not fear that two orcs that opened the doors to either side, nor the four soldiers in black-lacquered platemail armor, but the ten-foot tall monstrosity holding two large wolves by chains made me slightly weak in the knees. When he chortled and welcomed Bronn with a “The Great Ulfe welcomes victory!” I nearly feared that we had made a terrible mistake. But it was too late to wonder, because Daziel immediately shot and killed one of the orcs with a crossbow bolt, Bronn let Corwyn go and cast two magic missiles at one of the soldiers. As Velm, Corwyn and Saeita rushed into the fray, I tried to save my arrows for where they could do the most good. The Great Ulfe attacked Velm, causing blood to fly, so I concentrated my first flights on him. One of the wolves tried to rush past Velm, but Velm immediately slashed down with his war axe, cleaving the wolf in half. Corwyn dropped one of the soldiers, while one of the others ran away, to likely spread an alarm. Bronn said some magical words and moved up to confront the Great Ulfe. Bronn looked like he was trying to grab the large creature, but The Great Ulfe instead met him with a great waraxe.Screaming “Traitor,” Ulfe slashed down at Bronn, very nearly splitting him in half as Velm had done to the wolf only seconds before. During this, Saeita had tumbled back out of conflict, with a wolf on her heels that I was able to drop with an arrow before it could attack her again. Corwyn had dropped another one of the soldiers. Saeita gets back to her feet and returned to kill the final orc. Velm, seeing that his cousin had been slaughtered, screams and has his vengenance on the Great Ulfe, while Daziel finished the final soldier. In the silence that followed, Velm dropped his axe and dropped to his knees before his cousin, who had returned to his dwarven form after his death. We listened for rushing footsteps, fearing reinforcements, quickly taking advantage of the lull to use the magical healing that Daziel had traded for from the temple in Evenstar.[journal excerpt ends here]</blockquote>

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