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Message: <blockquote data-quote="StalkingBlue" data-source="post: 1649572" data-attributes="member: 645">Pallas's account, by Pallas's player: We talked that night. I did as well. I was letting the others see me more. They were more resilient than other people I had known. We were facing an important battle. For the first time, we were going to have allies. If they weren’t dead. I took Katrin to one side, asked here to put several questions to people. Tom was able to tell us about Atta’s Camp and its capacity. Inna told us about the position of the escape tunnel. The gnomes told us that they had been upriver to the Keep of the Cataracts. Twice. They were willing to tell us more when they were “safe.” During the night several things happened. Horgred turned up. His men were hurt and exhausted. They had suffered fighting spiders and spider keepers. He did have some though. Ortemia also came. She had more men; they were fresher. Keeran and two other scouts came by. They reported tracks of a large body of orcs moving in a direction from the camp. Then they left. Finally, Saric arrived. A large Dorn, hairy, with a big axe and leather armour. He didn’t say a lot but he knew Zana and she knew him. Besides that, neither said a great deal. We had our force. We made a plan. Horgred’s men had to rest the first day. We would take Tom and five of his archers with us as missile troops. We would march close to the camp the first day. Apari would scout it; to make sure it had not changed. Then we would go to the place where the tunnel was. We would all enter the tunnel and get inside. Then we would slaughter the orcs. Our total forces were: 10 veterans, 24 youngsters, Ortemia, Horgred and Jez’s Band. Tom and five of his archers. No one knew what we were going to face. I had some ideas. After resting, we moved. We skirted the spider-infested part of the forest. We arrived within a few miles of the camp. Apari went off scouting. Some time later he came back. He reported a large square building with a flat roof. It had an inner courtyard. Ladders were placed in this courtyard to access the roof. There was a palisade about 15 foot high on the outside of the building.. There was a large gate in one corner of the palisade. It had rubble piled next to it. This matched what Tom had said. The Forest had been cleared 60’ around the camp. There were five guards on top of the roof. Two wargs and their goblin riders moved in the courtyard. We rested. The next day, we moved on. Apari had recovered his magic. We arrived at the section of yellow oak, which hid the tunnel entrance. As we moved, Apari froze and came back. He said he could hear chopping. This was the orc road crew. They were making a path to the river. Or so they thought. We moved on and crossed their path. It was very wide. Then the scouts started searching for the tunnel. It took them time but they found it. Or a section of it. We moved in. It was ten foot wide. Again, it was what had been described. All of us moved in. Apari created some light. Some time later the tunnel came to an end and led to a trapdoor. Zana carefully opened it and was shoved up. She found herself in an underground opening. Inside the opening were two humans. They looked dead. They probably were. Zana checked them. They swore they weren’t. She agreed. They said that there had been an orc cohort in the camp but that many had left. The channeler was small and wore a cloak. Probably a goblin. The orc in charge was a Sleepless. He commanded a hundred orcs and had an eye tattooed on his forehead. A powerful foe. Above us was trap door that led to a store room and next to it was another room that had an orc in it. A Hound. Zana moved to the trapdoor and cautiously opened it. As indicated, the room above was a store room. We all climbed in. Then she opened the door and saw the sleeping orc. She crept forward as well as she could and killed him. Then we moved in as many people as we could into the space of both rooms. We got ready to open the door. It would lead to the courtyard. Time to die. Apari had made us fast. As soon as we opened the door, we saw a warg and his goblin at the far end of the courtyard. Zana charged. I followed her. So did everyone else. There were two orc guards by the large gate. They were killed quickly. So was the warg and his rider. One orc on the roof set off the alarm. The orcs on the roof pulled up the courtyard ladders. Their tactics were quickly apparent. Get to the high point. Deny roof access to us. Use the height advantage and hurl javelins. Set up on the roof. There was bellowing from one of the windows. The commander. He had to die. Ortemia’s and Horgred’s men were also pouring out into the courtyard. They secured a ladder. Tom and his men started sniping at the orcs on the roof. Then we started clearing the building. In one room, we found some sleeping orcs and one on guard. Zana, Saric and Katrin dealt with them. I waited for support to tackle the orc commander. Katrin came out to help me. She shouted that someone had attacked her with magic. Apari produced a magical choking cloud in the building where the bellows had originated. I couldn’t go in. Katrin charged a window. Her room was empty. I ran to a door. It was barred. I hit it. It splintered. Inside I saw several orcs. One had an eye tattooed on his forehead. They were scrambling up a ladder inside the room. It led to the roof. Katrin and I caught a few. The Sleepless was too quick. We killed the orcs on the ground. Katrin was hurt. I thought to go up to the ladder. Looked up. Too dangerous. I would be cut to ribbons. Went out. Saw Zana lying prone on the roof. Attacked by orcs. Saric was next to her. She and Saric were on their own. The orcs hurt her. Some of our orcmen joined her a little later. The orcs were forming ranks on the roof. Zana and Saric took the lead of the orcmen and made ready. Then one of the orcs grew. He became larger. So did his vardatch. The channeler again. The large orc charged towards Zana. So did two other orcs. Zana, Saric and the orcmen killed them but they were hurt. Then the Sleepless was made large. Katrin had been healed. Apari made us fast. We moved as quickly as we could. The Sleepless was faster. He charged. He missed. Zana hit him. We moved. The other orcs helped the Sleepless. Katrin and I moved up the ladder. Saric moved back. The Sleepless hit Zana twice. She went limp. Katrin screamed. I knew. I had seen it before. She was dead. Horgred, Ortemia and an orcman moved forward. They fought the Sleepless. Killed him. Then killed the last orc. The orcmen whooped. There was no more enemy to fight. They had won. They had only two dead. So far. They would learn. Katrin moved forward. Looked at Zana. Then she decapitated her. She took Zana’s sword. We still had to find the channeler. No sign of him. We thought he was moving unseen the same way as Apari could. The orcmen swept the roof. They didn’t find anything. Then Apari told everyone to be quiet. A little later he led us to a room. As we approached we could hear it. A sobbing, quiet keening. Apari opened the door. We peered inside. Saw a little girl. She was holding her leg. It was laying at an impossible angle and swollen. Apari was taken aback. Katrin moved in, looked at her. I looked at her. Recognised the signs. She was trying to make sure we didn’t see her. I knew what she was doing. I had done the same for years. Katrin tried to react. She was too slow. I moved in and hit the channeler with my vardatch. She slumped. Apari looked at me, shocked. I looked at them. Saw their comprehension. A little girl in an orc cohort. Katrin shook her head. Moved out of the room. Apari moved forward and slit the chaneller’s throat. We moved out of the room. We had a lot to do.</blockquote>

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