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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PHDungeon" data-source="post: 5000320" data-attributes="member: 86320">This is Bella's second journal, which nicely summarizes the details of our second game session.Victor,The hunt goes frustratingly slow and is mostly hindered by my companion’s altruism.  Flagg is now four days ahead of us and is traveling on foot.  I found this strange until I tried to procure some horses to cut his lead; there were none that anyone would sell.Flagg is making his way northwest and we followed his trail to Winterhaven, he’s been gathering people for some kind of exhibition.  Personally I would have preferred keeping after our quarry, however the people of Winterhaven were in dire need of assistance.  Orc tribes were gathering to overrun their town.  My “friends” decided to stay, and as I cannot continue the hunt alone my decision was made for me.Seeing as we were going to waste the day here I could not be idle.  The local blacksmith welcomed me into his shop and did not seem the least bit surprised that a woman knew her way around a forge.  It was refreshing.  My other contribution was no less rewarding.  I had some of the men dig a large pit outside the main gate, and I directed them in how to disguise it.  We may never know, but it may have been this simple trap that saved the day in the end.As we busily prepared for the night, great cheers went up in the afternoon as re-enforcements arrived in the form of Ragnar Thorgallson and six of his skanzi warriors.  On our way here we had a brief stop over at a barbarian homestead watched over by a man named Ragnar.  Derren had a pleasant surprise in seeing that the short sword that Ragnar carried bore his family crest.  Although I only had a brief glimpses of it (the boy covets it more than he does his sister) and it seems to be good work.  The chief of the barbarians told us that he had won it as a prize in a drinking contest between him and the hero Sigard Ironballs.  Darren, the young noble challenged Ragnar for the sword.  The chief did not seem eager to let it go, but could not deny the boy a chance for a piece of his heritage.  In truth I feel that the fact that the man felt more comfortable with the axe he had nearby than the sword at his side that made his decision.  As the young noble was already drunk (the boy cannot handle his drink) they decided to arm wrestle for it.  It was a fierce competition, and although in the beginning I thought Derren would surely lose, he came through and slammed the surprised chief’s hand upon the table.  With that the boy had not only won the sword but also the respect of these barbarians.  So when Winterhaven sent out a call for aid, these warriors came swiftly.  What they lacked in finesse and tactics they made up for in prowess and strength.  There was much excited talk in seeing the Androsax boy and although he is young, it was clear that the noble blood in his veins had a kind of intoxicating effect on them, where the man led, they would follow.As night descended it became clear how foolhardy this venture was.  I quietly cursed my soft hearted companions for ever getting me into this mess as I watched hundreds of orcs surround the walls.  With the disappearance of the last ray of the sun they made a mad rush to the walls, and I was able to kill many.  Most of the defenders lacked my skill with a bow or did not even possess such weapons, so it was my responsibility to ensure that they could not set off the trap by the front gate pre-maturely.The plan worked beautifully.  The orcs eventually charged up the road carrying a large ram and under a crude shelter of shields to protect them from our arrows.  We harassed them with several shots making them run recklessly forward and straight into the covered pit.  They became a tangled mess at the front gates.  With only a few exceptions the threat had been neutralized from the outside.Our group made good work of keeping the orcs from cresting the walls.  I have heard many men speak afterwards of how Bjorn and Derren grasped one of the ladders the orcs were using and pulled it away from them, taking a single soldier up.  After Bjorn let go of the ladder to fight the orc Derren (perhaps making a clumsy fall look like a daring maneuver) fell backwards and tumbled to the ground gaining his footing and quickly dispatching the dumbfounded enemy.Unfortunately the rest of our troops were not as resourceful.  Several enemy warriors were able to enter the fort and all of them had only one goal in mind; open the gate and allow the mass outside to rush in like a tide of death.  My position compromised, and seeing the enemy closing in on me I leapt down from the wall and quickly wrapped my injured body in a cloak of shadow.  From the darkness I brought death to any who merely thought they could open the gate.And finally it was over.From what we’ve been told the orcs have decided that Winterhaven is too much trouble for them and have moved on.  I am hopeful that we will be moving on as well before the trail grows too cold to follow.Lady Nightshade</blockquote>

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