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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James McMurray" data-source="post: 1527610" data-attributes="member: 743">Meanwhile, back in town, Laris has begun to grow worried about his money. Casting about town through ther many mercenaries to be found, he settles upon Tor, a Maenad who specializes in Thri-Kreen weaponry. His history is unknown, but a few inquiries (both magical and mundane) point to his being a trustworthy man. Tor is called in to track the party down, and he heads off. He meets with Mr. Springs, and learns of the party's new assignment. Thus he begins the day and a half trek to the Caves of Chaos.---------The party has reached the caves and they find the entrance to the Ur-Gurlock caverns. IT is 15 feet up the side of a cliff wall, with a rough-hewn ladder leading up to it. The entrance is surrounded by humanoid skulls, bleached from the sun.Nadeem sidles up to the entrance and climbs up. As he pokes his head over the ledge he sees a short corridor leading up to a grizzly trophy collection of heads and skulls. He fails to notice one Ur-Gurlock head in the bunch slip away, as the gaurd on duty moves to warn his tribesmen.Nadeem waves the party forward and slips up to the corner. Looking right he sees 4 Ur-Gurlock gaurds playing cards at a table. They have not noticed him and he takes the first shot. It fails to drop his foe, and the beastmen charge his way as the remainder of the group scramble up the ladder. A battle breaks out, and although the party rapidly gains the upper hand, the gaurds who were warned show up shortly, the newest 4 replacing the 4 that are beaten down. The sound also reaches the common room, alerting almost the entirety of the tribe. Soon the group finds themselves surrounded, with hordes of Ur-Gurlock in front of them and a cliff ledge behind.Although Ur-Gurlock are killed left and right, the press is too much for the party, and they fall one by one beneath the flails of the dogmen. The Duerf is the last one left standing, and he makes a frantic leap to the ground to escape. He twists his ankle as he lands, and Ur-Gurlock pour out after him.All looks lost, as the Ur-Gurlock block The Duerf's route to the horses, but at that moment Tor comes over the rise and into the battle. He charges forward and drops the last of the Ur-Gurlock, but not before they manage to drop The Duerf to the ground, unconcious but stable. So strong is the boodlust in the Ur-Gurlock that many jump straight down after The Duerf, injuring and even knocking themselves out in the fall. Tor moves the Duerf onto a horse and heads into the caves to find the remainder of the group.He works his way deeper into the caves, the magical light from his Githka leading the way. He sees many Ur-Gurlock bodies, but no sign of the party except for several bloody trails which lead deeper into the darkness. Following them, he rounds  acorner and finds two massive oaken doors. From behind the door comes the counds of grunting and growling: an order is being given. Tor steps back around the corner as the door opens, and two female Ur-Gurlock come out, dragging the fallen behind them. Tor strikes as they approach, and one of them is killed immediately. The other shouts for help and the largest Ur-Gurlock in the caves comes to answer the call. The chieftain and his last surviving tribe member batter the half-giant with blows. Tor drops the female and then concentrates on the leader, but cannot find any holes in the defenses. The tower shield blocks almost all of his blows, and those that get past almost invariably bounce off the beast's breastplate. Tor's defenses are not as strong, and he finds himself inexorably pressed back towards the entrance to the cave. With a throaty laugh, the Ur-Gurlock chieftain bull rushes Tor off the cliff edge and leaps down after him. The Duerf, who had been merely acting unconcious, joins the fray with several energy rays. Tor reaches deep down into his heritage and calls fortha  scream of rage which riups and tears at the Ur-Gurlock. The anger in his soul fuels his swings, and the two remaining men slowly but surely whittle the great beast down.They finish the job on the unconcious dogman and move back into the cave to recover the fallen. All of the party are still alive, so Tor and The Duerf haul them back to the horses and into the wilderness. The Duerf's expert care gets his friends back on their feet the next morning, and they trek back into the forest, where the mad hermit greets them. He is displeased to hear that they do not know if the tribe is dead, and in his haste to see them all slaughtered he offers up to the party 4 magical tattoos. These tattoos heal people, and although they are still sore and weary, they slog back to the caves one final time. A search reveals no more Ur-Gurlock, but the party does find a coupld hidden caches, one of which is gaurded by two large centipedes (which they quickly kill). They take their spoils back into the forest and again meet with Mr. Springs, who gives them the Dorje, after rifling through Lord Tahm's mind to ensure the veracity of their claims.Tired and weary, they return to the keep to claim their 100 gold piece reward and see about learning more of the bandits that ambushed them twice. Laris pays them, and asks the Duerf if he has seen Alphonse, the Duerf's friend and fellow acolyte. Alphonse is farther along the road of the paintakers, being able to actually heal others by taking their hurts upon himself, a feat that the Duerf has not yet managed to duplicate. He has not been seen in two days, and Laris is concerned.Inquiries about town regarding Rock glean some useful information. He was outcast from the town for engaging in "business activities" within its walls. Since then he has become a sometime leader of other outcasts and mercenaries. They ply their trade on incoming caravans, but hit fast and run faster. It is unknown where they are hiding, but there is a bounty on their heads. 100gp for the head of the Rock, and 3gp per left ear of his fellows. It is believed that they hide out in the northern forest, but have never been followed to its edge soon enough to find their trail.</blockquote>

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