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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rhael" data-source="post: 481781" data-attributes="member: 5269">Player's Perspective (016)Monsters have interrupted your rest. *It was in the middle of the night when Shadow and Warramayl were on watch that we were awoken.  “Guys!”  came the terse whisper breaking our fitful slumber.  “Guys!”Generally, you don’t need to be told twice, Taklinn appeared to have not heard the alarm.  I sprang to my feet, which were now hidden in a thick fog that had appeared, apparently from nowhere.  I was immediately reminded of the villager's tale of the rising mist prior to being attacked.Shadow was pointing to the south.  “Over there.“  He was squinting, trying to make something out in the dappled moonlight.A voice boomed out, rousing even Taklinn.“Be you from Lord Thomast?!”Being the unthinking honesty-bound automaton that I am I yelled back almost immediately.“No!”  I found out moments later that that may have been a grave error.  A small number of horns blared from the darkness and were drowned out by shouting as orcs and goblins charged us from the forest, some of the orcs mounted on huge lizard-like creatures.  There appeared to be a huge number of them, and I was feeling quite exposed not wearing my armour.  Time stood still.  My options were to get out of here or stay and fight a battle with an unknown number of the enemy in circumstances that suited them far more than us.  Further, we were out in the open and could be easily surrounded.  Weighing up the various factors the conclusion was obvious, I grabbed my pack and the sack I kept my armour in and ran to my horse yelling “Retreat!  Follow me!”Whether they all heard me or not was not apparent.  What was obvious was that the little chat we had a couple of days ago about battlefield leadership had been forgotten.  Taklinn had been woken by the yellings and was scrambling to his feet to follow me.  Mareth also, appeared to be moving in my direction.  The others appeared to have their own little plan.  I should have known that Hejkan and Warramayl would never voluntarily remove themselves from combat and Shadow tended to stick with Hejkan, so he wasn’t going anywhere.  Terjon’s typically slow decision making meant that it didn’t really matter whether he heard me or not.  Orcs and goblins were streaming out of the forest, led by five orcs mounted on the huge lizard-like creatures – I have no idea how any of them there were.  It took me a few seconds to remove the hobbles from my horse and begin to lead him away.  Mareth also began this task.  Mareth attempted to leap onto his horse to save time but the horse moved slightly as an arrow hit the tree next to it and the elf fell heavily to the ground.  Taklinn didn’t make it to me until my horse was unfettered and decided to leave his behind. Taklinn and I ran, slowed by the equipment we had picked up before we left.  After a few seconds I realised that the other guys had not followed my lead.  Looking over my shoulder I could see Taklinn behind me and three of the mounted orcs not far behind him – quickly gaining on us.  Taklinn was attacked, I stopped and turned, only to be almost run down by a pair of the mounted orcs as they bore down on me.  I could tell that the rest of our group had stayed in the clearing to fight.  I could see through the forest that Mareth’s latest attempt to mount his horse ended badly, he managed to mount his horse, but was quickly accosted by a mounted orc and the elf’s horse was disembowelled by the raking claws of the lizard-creature.  The elf once again fell heavily to the ground, rising only to be confronted by the slavering lizard-creature.Dropping my sack and drew my sword and shield to meet the attack.  Taklinn had his hands full with the one and I had two orcs and two lizards attacking me.  I was able to manoeuvre so that I could attack the orc rider, having a theory that perhaps, unguided the lizard creatures may not attack us anymore.  I took down the rider and waited to see if the lizard pressed the attack.  The lunge of the second lizard hit my shield with full force, almost knocking me from my feet and jarring my arm.  The rider-less lizard appeared disinterested and began to wander off but then spotted my horse and attacked it.  The animal put up a reasonable resistance but stood no chance and was quickly felled.  I was disappointed and saddened that I had been unable to protect the mount.  The lizard stopped and began to feed on the carcass of my horse.My moment’s distraction almost proved fatal as I was slow in sidestepping an attack from the other lizard and was close to being bitten in two.  The jaws snapped shut on the spot I had been only moments ago, but I was not so lucky when it pressed the attack with it’s claws, both caught me mid twist and tore a huge gash on the left side of my torso and my right leg respectively.  Ignoring the excruciating pain for the moment I twisted one last time to stand beside the lizard and thrust my sword through the rider’s chest.  The orc gasped and fell to the ground.  The same tactic had worked on the other one, so I stopped briefly and waited for the lizard to move away.  I exhaled, relieved when it appeared to lose interest in food it had to fight for and began munching on the comatose orc that had just fallen off it’s back.  I cast a spell of healing on myself to close my wounds and began to head towards Taklinn.“Kill the rider!”  I yelled at the dwarf, who had been previously concentrating on the lizard, without much success.  He must have heard me for his next attack was directed at the orc, his sword cutting the orc’s arm off at the bicep.  It fell, screaming to the ground where its former mount stepped on it stricken creature’s head.“Hold still!”  I was still twenty feet away.Taklinn obeyed and the lizard began to wander off.I ran up beside the dwarf.“Let’s get back and help the others!”  I took note of the spot where we left our gear and ran back to the others.  The sight that greeted us was one like I had never seen before.Shadow was in the branches of a tree, frantically shooting arrows at the goblins who tried to climb up after him as we entered the clearing I saw him put an arrow through a goblin’s head from point blank range and send it crashing to the ground taking two of it’s companions with it.  Mareth and Terjon were standing at the base of Shadow’s tree, fighting for their respective lives against orcs and the last mounted orc which threatened to surround them.  Hejkan was locked in mortal combat with an enraged orc with a gigantic battle axe.  Behind that orc stood another, carrying a staff with a skull atop.  It appeared to be casting a spell.  Warramayl was just beyond the barbarian in the midst the bodies of dead goblins, he looked a bit the worse for wear but was grinning and was just heading towards Mareth and Terjon’s position.  Slightly less than half of the horses we had remained, the orcs and goblins had killed several of our pack-horses and some of our warhorses, meaning that at least on of us would have to walk.“Go help Mareth and Terj!”  I said to Taklinn as I ran off to help Hejkan who looked to be on his last legs.  The dwarf nodded and ran off.I charged at the orc with the staff which had just hit the barbarian with several magical missiles, it only barely had a chance to see me coming before I plunged my sword through it’s throat, the words of a spell dying on its lips.  I turned to see the orc knock Hejkan to the ground and turn to me.  I noticed that Hejkan was not quite unconscious and appeared to be casting a spell of healing (at least that was my best guess).  The orc didn’t notice and the barbarian climbed to his feet behind the orc and wearily thrust his greatsword through the orc’s head as I dodged a hefty swing with it’s axe.I smiled grimly at the barbarian as we turned our attention to the combat at the base of the tree.  Several goblins and orcs lay dead and Shadow had just put an arrow through the lizard-rider’s head and I yelled for them to leave the lizard alone, but from what I could tell, my words were lost in the cacophony of battle.  Taklinn was now attacking the orcs that surrounded our companions from behind and we began heading in that direction.  The lizard began to wander off, but found Warramayl in it’s way and attacked, striking the monk with it’s powerful claws, knocking him to the ground.  I looked at Hejkan, worried that the lizard may decide to stop for a snack.  The barbarian nodded once before running around the battle to assist the monk.  Luckily the lizard appeared contented that the immediate threat was over and had begun to wander off by the time Hejkan had made it to his side to administer the required healing spell.I waded into the remaining orcs surrounding Mareth and Terjon.  With most of their efforts directed towards not dying, the elf and the paladin had not managed to kill many of their attackers, but now that we were all together again, they pressed the attack and the rest of our assailants were dispatched with very little fuss, several ran into the forest during the dying stages and were not pursued.Like at the beginning of the battle, time once again seemed to stand still as I surveyed the battlefield.  The eerie glow of the moon robbing everything of it’s colour, making the scene look like a charcoal sketch, albeit a detailed one.  There were bodies everywhere and we were all covered in blood, our own intermingled with our attackers’.  I have no idea how many attacked us, and I have no idea how many ran away, but there had to be at least twenty goblins and probably thirty orcs, not including the mounted ones and the mage.Mareth and Terjon had a great many wounds, Hejkan was leaning against a tree, catching his breath, Warramayl sat near his feet, bleeding from many places.  Taklinn and I had several injuries from our meeting with the lizard-riders.  Shadow was lying down in the branches of his tree, exhausted, his arms and legs draped either side of his chosen perch.Once we had caught our breath, Terjon, Hekjan and I exhausted our magical energies on healing the group, so that we could travel - the idea being to get away from this area as soon as possible, just in case their were more.  Shadow broke some small but sturdy looking branches off the tree before he climbed down, saying that it was his lucky tree and maybe Hejkan could make a wand of healing out of one of these sticks.  Hejkan smiled.While the rest of us gathered up our gear and I headed back into the forest to pick up the stuff I left behind, Shadow went through his obligatory looting of the corpses.  The haul was relatively meagre, the only item of real interest being the skull-staff the orc mage had.  The rest of the booty was made up of a couple of handfuls of coins and the battleaxe the big fighter was wearing.Weary from the combat and lack of rest, we put on our armour, strapped on our weapons, mounted the horses that remained, Warramayl opting to walk (he could outpace the horses anyway), and headed back to the road.Hard to do good when the bad guys are doing wellOnce back on the road and heading north we came across another path cut through the forest, very similar to the other one.  Once again there were tracks everywhere, and these appeared to be relatively fresh.  We cautiously followed the path, Shadow out in front silently stalking along.  After short distance of no more than fifty yards the path opened out into a clearing, very similar in dimensions to the last one we found, but in this case, filled with tents.  This was the current base of operations for the band – and it appeared deserted.  We checked every tent, and found no-one and it wasn’t until we looked in the larger tent in the centre of the encampment that we found anything of interest.  Aside from a small chest full of gold coins and a couple of small gems, we found a map of the area with the villages in the area circled.  Three of them had crosses through them.This smelled, and not just of unwashed orc body.“I was right!”  Shadow stated, triumphantly.  “Protection racket!”“It would appear so.”  I responded, thoughtfully.  It did seem that he was correct in his assertion, but what could we do?“This Lord was taking money from his people and burning their villages if they didn’t pay?”  Hejkan asked?“Yup!”  Shadow replied.  Hands on hips.“But he didn’t do it.”  I pointed out.  “He got some orcs to do it for him, thereby removing his connection.”“That is wrong.”  The big barbarian said pointedly.  “It is, my friend.”“We should report this Lord to the authorities in Taureth and warn the people of the remaining village.”  Hejkan was quite angry about the situation.  As was I, but a bit more rational.“It wouldn’t make any difference.”“But - !”“Think it through, Hejkan.  We go back to Taureth and tell the government that one of the Lords of the Dallarn Freeholds is paying orcs to run a protection racket against the villages in his area and we present them with this map and the coins and our opinion of his general demeanour.”“And he is arrested and hanged for treason.”  The barbarian finished.“No!”  I was a little angry that he couldn’t see my point – that was unfair, of course as Hejkan knew an entirely different justice than those meted out by ‘civilised’ governments.  I made an effort to be calm.  “We would be accusing a Lord of criminal activities with no real evidence – ““But we have the map.”“The map means nothing!  The map is just a map.  There is nothing on the map that points to Lord Thomast – we might know what it means, but to the authorities, it would be just a map.”  I paused.  “You can’t go around accusing Lords of things, you have to have proof!  Do you know what would happen after we laid this accusation?”“No.”“Lord Thomast would dispute the claim, pointing at the lack of evidence and the absurdity of the claim and call for us all to be hanged for accusing one of our betters of criminal activities.  The authorities would have no choice but to do so, even if we were able to convince them that we were right.”“Oh.”“I support you completely in your outrage and your desire to do the right thing, Hejkan, but this is one of those situations when discretion is the better part of valour – there is nothing more we can do.  We are required to report back to Lord Thomast that the orc band is dead, then return to Taureth to collect our payment.”  I looked sadly at the big man’s face, trying to convey that I was dreadfully sorry for the situation.  “I’m sorry, my friend, but there is nothing more we can do.”Hejkan thought for a few moments.“We should warn the remaining village.”“And tell them what?  That their lord is planning to exhort money from them or he’ll burn their village to the ground?”“Yes.”“Hejkan, I counsel you against this course of action.  I think it’s a bad idea, however I will not stop you if you really want to do this.”“We must show strength in the face of this evil.”  He replied, defiantly.  “Kord would want me to do this, at least.”I looked at the other guys.“What do you guys think of all this?  Does anyone disagree with my thinking on this matter?”All responded that they agreed with my take on the situation, and agreed to go along with Hejkan’s desire to warn the remaining village.“Very well.  We will head to the last village.  Only two of us will go in, however.  I don’t think an armed band would help our case, Terjon, you should go with Hejkan.  Just stand there and look Paladin-like.”  Terj nodded in response. We travelled through the rest of the night and neared the village by mid morning.  The rest of us waited by the road a half-mile out of town while Terjon and Hejkan headed in to town.When they returned they had a sad tale to tell.  Hejkan had been unsuccessful in convincing the leader of the townsfolk that they meant no harm and only came to warn them and obviously believed that they were merely trying to warn them of their lord’s unscrupulous nature.  After a short period of trying to win her over, the barbarian admitted defeat and left, angry and sad at the same time.  Terjon vouched that he managed to keep his cool remarkably well through the exhange.“I’m sorry, Hejkan.  You did your best.  That is all you can do.”He just looked at me, sadly.“Come on, guys.  Let’s get out of here.”It took us a couple of days to get back to Lord Thomast’s keep, and I wrote my report during the evenings, careful to leave out anything about protection rackets, I reported the facts as they would appear to anyone else.  As I suspected, he was not particularly interested in our report, dismissive, even – although I got the feeling that his unconcerned demeanour was a bit of an act.  I took my leave of him as soon as I could politely do so and lead the group back to Taureth.  On the way, Mareth reminded me that we were due back at the Loremasters to retrieve the report we paid for all those months ago.We reported back to the commissions office to hand in my report and receive our bounty and the standard of the Obsidian Hammers, with it’s freshly embroidered point (five points making a star) in the top left hand corner.  It looked kind of pathetic, there on it’s own, but I felt a sense of pride, nonetheless.Mareth and I decided we would return to the Loremasters the next day to see if they had finished our report as yet.* This heading is a throwback to the message that appeared in the old gold box AD&D games.  Long live Poolrad.</blockquote>

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