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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ancalagon" data-source="post: 7198631" data-attributes="member: 23">Author's note: Here's session 2. A note first: Patrick's mother was a Cimbrian, and his father an Ionian, which explains 1) why he's traveling in this part of the world (his mother is from this area) and 2) why his first name is Patrick. SESSION 2 May 8th Today we took our leave of Mag Tara, and headed out under sunnier skies. We walked northwest along the muddy road, with the Leiban Forest on our right, and rolling hills on our left. There are many large boulders lying about, as if dropped randomly by some careless giant. I've been told that glaciers, huge sheets of moving ice, come through the area every few thousand years, carrying the large rocks with them. When they melt, the rocks are left behind. Fortunately, we could do all the sightseeing we wanted, as our day passed uneventfully. That night, however, during my watch, I heard voices on the road. I awoke the others, and we hid behind the large boulder on which I had been keeping my watch. Taelsyn's keen ears told us that they were orcs, and that set Blades' blood boiling. He apparently has a special hatred for orcs. However, since we were all tired, and reluctant to fight the orcs at night (when they would have an advantage over those of us without superior night vision), Blades acquiesced, and we agreed to investigate in the daylight. It is now the end of my shift on the watch, so I am off to bed. May 9th This day started well, but ended in terrible violence. I thank Prometheus for seeing me through the danger! Finis the druid awoke us by singing a "song to the sun". The roads are improving somewhat, and although slowed by the dwarves' pace, I made some basic calculations and determined that we could, if we wished, catch up with the orcs before the sun set. We followed their tracks quite easily. Around lunchtime we passed a pair of large statues. One was of a large winged reptile (I assume that it was a dragon), and the other of a warrior woman. There were no inscriptions or anything else to indicate why they were there. We ate lunch there, and went on our way. This evening we had our most terrifying encounter yet. We continued to follow the orc tracks until they led into the woods. We deduced that, since there was little daylight left, we should investigate before they resumed their march. Taelsyn volunteered to sneak into the woods and have a look around. Apparently his sneaking was not as successful as he had hoped, because we soon heard an orc cry out in surprise. He was answered by the cries of the other orcs, and we realized that Taelsyn was probably in trouble. Finis and I rushed ahead, while the dwarves did their best to keep up. We found Taelsyn under attack by a single orc, with somewhere between five and seven more charging towards him (we eventually determined that there were six, but we all swore that we had counted eight before the fight--did some escape without our notice?). Finis called to nature for assistance, and the very trees and grass shot up to entangle the orcs (and Taelsyn as well). Some evaded the branches, however, and a protracted battle ensued. Although I know that orcs are foul, evil beings, I still do not enjoy killing them. Blades and Torin, on the other hand, seem to revel in it; I must admit, they are very good at it. We overcame the orcs, although we suffered several injuries. We searched them, and found some money and a few small trinkets. Torin took one of their battle axes to replace his own, which was damaged when he accidentally hit Blades with it. After tending to our wounds, we lay down for the night. I am ending my watch now. Thank Prometheus for another day passed safely! May 10th What a wonderful day! We started off under slightly gray skies, but it did not rain. We had not seen any people since first spotting the orcs, but today we encountered some Ailechians tending their cattle herd. Finis and I asked them some questions about the area. They didn't seem to know much about the pair of statues, other than that one was a dragon, and one was named Brianna, although they weren't very clear about which one. They did tell us a little about local customs. They apparently value cattle above all else here, and use it as a money (both for exchange and as a measure of wealth). As the man said "If you don't want to make a man angry, don't mess with his cattle". They had heard of an increase in orc activity lately, but had not heard of the group we defeated. They seemed mostly interested in talking about cattle. I paid them for their trouble (with coin--not cattle!), and we took our leave. This afternoon we heard shouting from the hills to the left of the road. It sounded like men, and one cry sounded like a man in pain. As quickly as we could, we charged forward to lend our assistance if it was necessary. We arrived in time to see a giant insect kill a man with a spray of vile acid, and another insect started to burrow out of the ground behind them! I shouted a warning to them. Finis and I ran to cover their rear, while Taelsyn started filling the insects with arrows, and the dwarves waddled towards the fight. Finis and I did little to hurt them, but when the dwarves got there, the insects did not last long. They carved them up easily, and although the local men had lost two of their number, they were ecstatic and very thankful. Their leader, Erik, told us that they were the Ath Emain, and that the creatures we had been fighting were called Lomcor. The Lomcor prey on the cattle this time of year, and the men go out to kill as many as possible. They would have been in serious trouble had we not come along, so they made us their guests of honor at a feast. We retired to their fortified dwelling, and ate a splendid meal of roasted hog. The tales of our valor grew more and more exaggerated, but the dwarves did not seem to mind. Several of us noted that there were no women present--not even serving or cooking the food! In fact, we had not seen women anywhere for many, many days. We asked the Ath Emain about this, and they told us that the women were in a separate dwelling not far away. I could not tell if they have strict segregation of the sexes, or if it was only for tonight's celebration. They seemed somewhat confused by our questions. We did not wish to offend them, so we did not inquire further. They did, however, volunteer the information that the town of Bennan was just two days journey up the road. This happy evening passed far too quickly, and we lay down for what is sure to be a peaceful sleep. May 11th Today was the best kind of traveling day: uneventful. After restocking our provisions from the supplies of the Ath Emain, we resumed our journey. The terrain and weather remain unchanged. Our travel is slowed somewhat by Torin, who must stop frequently to empty his bladder. I'm ending my shift on the watch. I hope the rest of our journey to Duma Faifni is this dull. May 11 Today's travel was again safe, although I feared a fight when a group of well-dressed men on horseback passed us by. They did not return our greetings, or even look at us. Is there any excuse for such rudeness? Their armor bears a symbol: an anvil and a sword. We reached Bennan that night. Civilization, at last! Bennan is big enough to have a halfling district (called Binghamton), wealthy enough to have cobblestone streets, and important enough to have a castle! We took a brief tour, looking for an Inn. We noticed we were being followed, but soon discovered that the man following us sought our assistance. His name was Vlad Silverpool, and he had a letter that was written in Elvish. He wanted Taelsyn to translate. We went into a tavern (unarmed--they took our weapons at the door), and stood at a quiet section of the bar. Taelsyn translated the letter (and was careful not to set it alight with his "pipe-weed sticks"), which was apparently intercepted by Vladamir's men. It was a letter from an assassin to his employer, promising that the Baroness Emain (of Dun Coba) would not complete her journey successfully. Vladamir was most distressed. He asked if we would help, and travel with him to warn the Baroness. I volunteered, of course, but the others would not help without some kind of recompense. After some brief haggling, Vladamir went to get horses and a wagon (he was quite irritated that the dwarves and I couldn't ride). While we were waiting for his return, some local ruffians picked a fight with the dwarves. It was a long, rough, pointless fight (one I eventually chose to avoid, through Prometheus' provision of a sanctuary), which the dwarves won. We finally set out for Dun Coba, but we were soon stopped by a mighty Ogre and his orc companions! Vladamir pulled out a sword that burned with a magical fire, and we were very impressed. Then the Ogre quite handily threw him thirty feet through the air, and we weren't so impressed any more. The dwarves managed to take down the Ogre, and most of the orcs, with the rest of us pitching in as we could. We discovered that Taelsyn is not just a "scout"; he is also a magician. He cast a spell that allowed him to jump far away from the battle and fire his arrows from safety. I was grievously injured by an orc, but Prometheus quickly and completely healed my wounds--All Praise! After defeating these terrible creatures, we have stopped to recover our wits and tend our wounds. We will set out again soon, and because it is nearly midnight, this is all I will write for today. We are fortunate to be alive.</blockquote>

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