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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 996378" data-attributes="member: 99">AftermathUncle Claudius had been killed in the first instant of the Banelar's fireball attack.  Tadius Silvanus had, fortunately, just begun heading for the slope of the hill and wasn't caught in the blast.  He was later able to send a couple of fireballs into a group of orcs working their way around to the undefended rear of the fort.Hrongar was standing very near to Uncle Claudius when the fireball hit.  He was badly burned and unconscious by the time the shamans arrived to aid him.  When they were struck by the silence, they tried to drag him free and heal him.  Urdrax realized that if the shamans didn't start entangling the battlefield that the orcs were going to arrive uncontested at the palisade and the battle would be over before it had begun.  He carried Hrongar out of the flames himself and sent the shamans to cast their entanglements.  By the time they got back to Hrongar, he was dead.  The fortress would henceforth be known as Hrongar's Hill.The barbarians had suffered nearly a third of their warriors killed, mostly in bitter fighting along the collapsing outer palisade.  Also lost were most of the Brigantes warriors that had comprised the other harrying force sent out to parallel the party, including three of their Totem Warriors.  When the orcs had retreated to aid their Banelar master, the Brigantes group was lurking in the woods looking for an opportunity to attack.  They saw that the entire northern side of the outer palisade was down and that nearly a hundred barbarian dead and wounded were staggering in this gap.  Fearing that the orcs may have decided to turn around for another go at the hill fort, the warriors had charged the retreating flank.  In the end, the six of them left another three score dead orcs on the field and solidified the orcish rout.The forces of Glynden fared somewhat better.  Serving in the capacity of archers and combat engineers, the guardsmen were out of the worst of the fighting.  They lost slightly less than a fifth of their number.  The dwarves who had accompanied them had been right up front among the barbarians but their heavy armor and natural skill at fighting orcs had served them well.  They lost only a handful of their number.In their absence from the fortress, word had gotten around about the party having discovered the Halls of Durgeddin within the Stone Tooth.  A group of dwarves approached the party to confirm these stories.  The dwarves indicated that as soon as they could summon their cousins from the Novantae Highlands, they would be going to take back the Stone Tooth from the "damned, accursed, sons of Orcs - The Duergar".Also killed in the fighting was Wamic, underchief of the Nervii.  He had thrust himself into the fighting on the first day and was wounded.  He had been among the leaders caught in the fireball but lived to return to the fighting and had died a warrior's death holding one of the many gaps in the palisade.Seshmarl, the young chieftain of the Allmani had distinguished himself in battle by proving to be a great leader of men.  He seemed to have an intuitive grasp of tactics and know precisely where the next orcish thrust would come from.  In the aftermath of the battle, the scouting by the Allmani to insure that the orcs were truly retreating all the way back into the Blackpeaks further elevated the status of Seshmarl.  He is one of the rising stars among the tribes of the Fodor.Relmar of the Suevi could not say the same.  He had made a rather fateful decision never to sign the pact the other tribes had made with Glynden.  He also didn't approve of the fortress being constructed in the lands of the Brigantes and had pulled many of his warriors from the site to construct fortifications of his own within the lands of the Suevi.  The fact that he had left more than half of his men to help defend the hill fort was largely overshadowed by his earlier decision to remain firmly outside the alliance on a personal level.  Although the warriors of the Suevi who were present at Hrongar's Hill fought bravely, the Suevi have suffered a stain on their honor at the hands of their rash young chief.  (As a side note, Relmar has wed himself to the Suevi shaman, Orthula.  She is now with child and Speaks With Stone is not sure whether he is the father.)Two days following the battle, Speaks adopted his eagle form and flew east across the Fodor to where the non-combatants were encamped.  Theirs was a sorry lot.  They had suffered a few attacks from the Gnolls that still roamed the Western Wilds and there were a few wounded.  But their main problem was a lack of shelter.  They had hastily constructed a large cluster of hide tents and primitive lean-tos to shelter the children and aged.  Otherwise, they were forced to keep large bonfires burning at all times to stave off the northlands winter.Speaks informed them of the victory against the orcs and proceeded to stay for a few more days to heal the sick and wounded and provide some assistance in getting them moving toward the Fodor so that they could begin to move back into their villages.  He provided some relief from the worst of their hunger using his Goodberries spell.Before the warriors from the various tribes dispersed from Hrongar's Hill to return to their homes, a celebration was in order.  In the absence of the unifying figure of Hrongar, Urdrax was the obvious leader of the ceremonies.  Never one for pretty speeches, he confined his words to a short but inspirational memorial to the fallen and the exhortation to the living to drink deeply of the ale stores.  It would save some weight on their return home.Of course, no celebration would have been complete without the honoring of those who had played such a pivotal role in the acquisition of the Orc-Slaying weapons, the scouting and harrying of the orcish army and the ultimate slaying of the Wyrm-leader of the horde (whose skull now adorned the standard of the Corritani).  Many accolades were heaped upon the party members including Ilrath.  Their cooperation was held up as an example of the prosperity that could be achieved through the new peace with the people of Glynden.  Ilrath was hailed as the champion of the Corritani.  Gifts were commissioned for Rhys, Krase and Speaks.Speaks was given a spear, hand made by Wulfrax of the Brigantes.  It was made in honor of his fallen friend and given the name The Fang of Arc (masterwork longspear).  Privately, the tribal shamans gave him some more potion ingredients.  Krase was also gifted with a finely crafted weapon: A magnificent bow dubbed Hawk's Wrath fashioned by a boyer of the Allmani (masterwork mighty composite short bow +1).  Somewhat at a loss for what to give the sorcerer who has everything, Rhys was awarded with an item that was purchased from Tadius Silvanus.  It was a magical scroll case imbued with the power to instantly bring forth any scroll stored inside with but a word.  According to the elf, it was know as Salrokk's Splendid Scrollcase, after it's creator.With the end of the celebrations, the various tribesmen departed to rejoin their friends and families and to rebuild from the damage left in the wake of the orcish horde.  Their stores of food were lower than they would like and it would take a lot of hunting to feed the tribes through the rest of the winter, but they would make it.  They had survived an enormous army who had threatened to consume (literally) their whole way of life.  For now, that was enough.Speaks settled in to spend the majority of his winter among the tribes of the Fodor.  He had to make good on his promise to teach more of his ways to the tribal shamans and he also wanted to spend some time studying the languages of some of the creatures he could summon.  The ability to Comprehend Languages that the shamans had taught him, only worked within the lands of the Fodor.  He also needed some private time to mourn the loss of Arc.The lads from Glynden were loathe to depart from their friend, Speaks.  But they had been long away from their homes and families.  They promised to reunite with the druid when he returned to Glynden before spring.  They also said a fond farewell to their friend Ilrath.  Although they had been distrustful of one another at the start, they had come to rely on the strong arm and stout constitution of the steadfast barbarian.  He told them as they left that he had been advised of the need to form an expedition to the Blackpeaks.  As the champion of the Corritani, he would lead a group to determine if the orcs were massing for another attack and to locate the City of Endless Summer from whence they originated.  He would be happy to have his old friends by his side.Krase and Rhys both said that they would be back to aid the expedition if they could get matters settled at home (Krase had been chomping at the bit to smite some Gnolls - They are his favored enemy and it pained him mightily to abandon the fight against them in favor of dealing with the orcs, especially with the coin of the Iron Auxilia still in their posession).  With smiles, they parted ways and made the journey back to Glynden.At home, they were celebrated at least as much as they were in the lands across the Fodor.  They were also gifted with an unexpected prize:  In recognition for their efforts during the war and for getting the agreements from the barbarians to stay on their side of the river, each of them (including Speaks, but not Ilrath) would receive one percent of the annual profits from the mines of Aquae Sulis as soon as they could be reopened.  The future looked prosperous indeed.NEXT:  Old Enemies, New Challenges</blockquote>

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