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Issi grins as she uncovers the buckler, although the symbol on it means nothing to her. Leaving Doumane to explain the situation to the survivors she hurtles through the shop, bagging everything useful as quickly as possible while Tyrek watches over the dying hobgoblin.
Once the shop is thoroughly ransacked. Issi hands the backpacks to the strongest looking refugees and glances across at her companion. "I don't think we're going to find many more survivors - straight for the bridge and hope Oreald is there to meet us?"
Assuming no objections Issi leads the way, skirting around the edge of town towards the bridge.
Doumane quickly explains to the survivors about the attack and the gathering of rescued people. His gruff manner is quite different then Issi's more upbeat attitude, the contrast probably confusing.
"Issi, I think you are right but maybe send Tyrek aloft to see if there is something we are missing? He can scout as we retreat."
As you are heading towards the bridge, you run into another small group of villagers down a narrow back alley, led by Lirosa and Taidel, the half elf twins, who seem overjoyed to see that Issi and Doumane are both alive and relatively unharmed.
"You found a group of townies to protect as well, eh?" Lirosa asks Issi in elven. "Patrols are getting thicker, where are you heading?
[b]"Yeah, it's getting harder to avoid them with all these clodfeet around needing mothering. Think you could take in our guys while we go back and pick off a few more Hobs? Lirosa's a couple of points up on me, so we really can't stop now."[b] Taidel adds, with a hearty dose of false bravado.
You notice that Lirosa's and Taidel's quivers are over half empty.
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"We need to get out of here." Issi responds, her tone urgent. "Aubrin is nearly dead and the town has been overrun. They've got Kining too. We saved Jet and some of the others but we need everyone we can get." She pauses, looking the twins in the eye. "We're headed for the Fangwood, anyone who can track and find food is needed. We promised we'd protect this town - we can't kill enough of the hobs to matter. We're scouts, not warriors, we have to run, save those that we can and start again." She slips Lirosa's amulet off her neck and presses it into her friends hand. "Father Nolan is dead, but we recovered this from the shrine. We all need the Huntsman's blessing now."
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"Issi, I think you are right but maybe send Tyrek aloft to see if there is something we are missing? He can scout as we retreat."
"I have a mind of my own you know!" Tyrek grumbles, although the Hunter doesn't seem to understand what he's saying.
Despite his exasperation Tyrek has to admit that the Hunter has a good point so he clambers up the side of a building and makes his way along the roof-tops, watching for dangers ahead and behind.
"Issi is right, brother" Lirosa agrees, fastening the amulet around her neck, "We can always hunt another day. I can't believe Father Noelan is gone, he always seemed like he would last forever. May his judging be swift and sure as Deadeye's arrows."
With Lirosa and Taidel's group adding to their ranks, the group has to be exceedingly careful in order to avoid attracting any unwanted attention, and there are a couple of close calls, but with Tyrek's guidance the group is able to make it to the bridge without running into any trouble.
Colourful gobs of lichen and moss dapple the ancient, basalt bridge here at the Marideth's narrowest point. The ravine below drops twenty feet into raging whitewater and jagged,exposed boulders. To the northwest stands a ramshackle shed and a weathered but sturdy looking wooden crane. Twenty-some bloody and motionless bodies litter the ground, and above them flap banners painted with an ominous, fanged red shield. To the north, three hundred feet past the bridge, a wall of trees and ferns marks the edge of the Fangwood. Between you and the safety of the forest is a heavily armoured hobgoblin and a massive wolf, standing guard in the middle of the bridge.
Slightly downriver of the crossing there is a dense thicket of bushes, where Jet, watching for your approach, gestures for your attention.
Making your way slowly and carefully over to the bushes you see that all the people you directed towards the woods seem to have hidden in the thicket. Rhynna was as good as her word and is surrounded by a small group of children, between 6 and 12 years old.
"Thank goodness you made it" Jet whispers breathlessly as you enter the bushes. "We were beginning to worry"
"There was a patrol of ten hobgoblins guarding the bridge, so we decided the best course of action was to wait here and see what happened." Aubrin explains, "Most of them got called away a short time ago, leaving just the one on the bridge and we think two in the shed. Some people suggested we rush them while we had the chance but that could raise the alarm and lead to more guards being posted. If we're going to do something about the bridge we'll need to act fast after we deal with the guards."
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Issi turns to Doumane and Aubrin. "Could we try and lure the hob to the side of the bridge and then rush it? Tyrek is pretty strong, he could probably barge them right over the edge - with that armour I imagine it will sink quickly. A gunshot or some sort of strange noise to lure it? I have no skills in such things..."
Doumane ponders, then suggest, "Perhaps I use some powder and start a small fire near the bridge? That might bring it over to the side. Even if only one comes, I can shoot at the other at a long range."
A pause then, 'Maybe someone else should start the fire so I can shoot at a distance?"
It pains the hunter to put someone else in danger.
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"If we can deal with the big one quietly we might even be able to get the drop on the others. The fire is good. Hang on!" She whispers, struck by an idea. "Let me try this. Tyrek, if that thing moves get ready to charge!"
Turning back to the group she whispers. "I'm going to try and send it a message, voices from the air sort of thing, hopefully I can get it to move either closer or towards the edge. Everyone be ready to move!"
Issi points a finger at the hobgoblin on the bridge and whispers a few words. The group hold their collective breath in anticipation as the hobgoblin solider slowly approaches the edge of the bridge to look over the side. At that moment Tyrek strikes, barreling into the hobgoblin and knocking them over the low wall at the edge of the bridge. The hobgoblin tries and fails to grab hold of the edge of the bridge and plummets into the water down below.
The large wolf, angry at the loss of its master, charges towards Tyrek but is unable to find an opening to strike.
No hobgoblins emerge from the shed.
Tyrek lands a single blow against the wolf with his claw, cutting a gash from ear to muzzle.
Lirosa and Taidel have also left the cover of the bushes with Issi and Doumane and following Issi's suggestion fire at the wolf.
Both seem over-cautious about hitting Tyrek by accident, with Taidel's arrow going wide, and Lirosa's only scratching against the wolf's side.
The ground near the shed is covered in lots of small stones, forming a scree slope down to the river. As Issi approaches the shed she momentarily losses her footing on the loose stones, causing stones to knock into each other and setting off a very small rock slide into the river. She pauses, hoping nobody heard the noise, but the sudden sounds of cursing and frantic scrambling inside the shed suggest otherwise.
Doumane watches the hobgoblin fall off the bridge and nods. It had been a good plan. Finally, something going right. It did mean the time for stealth was over.
Raising his musket, he points it past Tyrek and at the wolf.
Doumane's shot hits the wolf straight between its eyes, killing it instantly.
A pair of very disheveled looking hobgoblins rush out of the shed, the first one running straight into Issi's sword.
The pair fumble with their swords and swing wildly at their sudden assailant, but the attacks are easily avoided.
Doumane gives a rare grin as he kills the hobgoblin in one shoot. After so many misses, it is good to see one bullet strike home. The smile quickly vanishes though as more hobgoblin's appear.
Still, it seemed a good ambush.
Lowering his gun, he fires again, making sure to avoid Issi.
The bullet goes wide and his mood sours again.
Tyrek charges into the melee outside the shed but due to the relatively tight quarters fails to land an attack. The two hobgoblins continue to flail ineffectively with their swords, so far posing no real risk to anyone.
Lirosa and Taidel fire into the group, with one arrow narrowly missing Issi and the other hitting the foot of one of the hobgoblins.
The first hobgoblin goes down under Tyrek's teeth and claws. The second hobgoblin, seeing his companion fall and unnerved by the sudden attack by what appears to be superior numbers, shoulders past Issi and attempts to run for help.
The second hobgoblin also goes down, the pair clearly being fairly raw recruits, rather than hardened veterans. Inside the shed are masonary tools and replacement parts for the crane beside the bridge, as well as a small table and a pair of chairs. Two packs, presumably belonging to the hobgoblins are slung in one corner and on the table are technical drawings of the bridge, a scroll of stone shape and a mostly empty bottle of some strong spirit. The packs each contain a bedroll and 2 portions worth of provisions.
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Issi waves everyone over to the shed. "Aubrin, Rhyna, get the children going - we need everyone over the bridge as soon as possible. Liri, Taidel - can you keep watch? Oreld - the stump remover, how do we use it? We have to bring down the bridge if we can..."
She hands the packs off to passing refugees and pockets the scroll, recognising the intent of the magic if not its exact purpose. Once the bridge is clear and the refugees have made good distance she turns to Doumane and Oreld. "So - how do we do this?"
Doumane shrugs, and turns to Oreld, "I've never blown anything like this up before. I can wing it but let's see what the expert says first. Does it matter where we place the explosive? I'd assume the center of the bridge?"
The group quickly follows Issi's instructions and Oreld looks carefully over the technical drawings of the bridge and at the bridge itself before replying.
"Looks like we're lucky that Kining never got round to finishing those repairs. There should be a weak point were the scaffolding is. Once that goes, the whole bridge should come down. How much time do I have? Ideally I'd like 6 minutes or so to set everything up properly and guarantee the bridge goes down like it should but if we're in a rush I might be able to get the stump remover ready to blow in less than thirty seconds. Might not take the bridge out completely though. So what's the call?
Oreld gets to work setting up the explosives, while Tyrek keeps watch.
Every moment you expect a group of hobgoblins to appear, but fortunately none do. Eventually, after a painstaking six minutes the explosives are set and Oreld, after double checking that everyone is across, lights the fuse. 30 seconds later a loud splits the air and the bridge lists heavily to one side before collapsing.
You run for the treeline of the Fangwood Forest, glancing back for a final glimpse of Phaendar before you enter the trees. A ceiling of smoke hangs over the city reflecting the orange glow from burning houses. Ash drifts in the air like falling snow. The screams of townsfolk have died away, leaving an eerie silence broken now and then by the howling of wolves. Bodies lie in the streets, sprawled in pools of blood where they fell. Apart from the invanders, only the dead or imprisoned remain. Phaendar has fallen.
But not all hope is lost. Under the shelter of the trees a group of 40 people, the people you helped to rescue, watch anxiously. They may be exhausted and scared, but they are alive and free.
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Issi looks back cross the river and the now destroyed bridge to her home. She stares for a few moments, a tear or two cutting a line through the smoke grime left on her face before turning to her fellow scouts and moving into a small huddle. Phrases such as "Game trails... get as deep as we can... Aubrin won't manage that route..." float out of the conversation before a consensus is apparently reached.
"Everyone!" Issi calls, waiting until the children quieten down. "We need to get deeper into the woods, away from whoever these people are that have come to destroy our home. Lirosa and Taidel are going to lead you. Mister Doumane and I will bring up the rear with Tyrek - make sure we aren't followed. We will be safe as long as we stick together and trust each other! We Foxclaws know every inch of these woods - they'll never be able to find us."
After the group starts moving Issi darts off into the woods, catching up a few minutes later with a large backpack and a second bow, ornately carved, slung across her back. "Couldn't just leave my cache behind." She whispers, falling into place at the back of the convoy with Doumane.
Doumane nods, and mutters, "You are becoming a regular leader Issi." He doesn't smile or grin but Issi can tell the battered old gunslinger is pleased.
He eyes the group ahead of them, "Not bad, but I wonder how long our supplies will hold out. Looks like we'll be doing some hunting tonight. A group this big...won't be easy."
Doumane recalls a small glade with a tiny stream running through it a short distance away. It's two exposed to serve as a long term camp, being too near to Phaendar to avoid detection from patrols, but it would do perfectly for tonight. There are a number of possible longer term sites that you know of between you, including an abandoned farm house and a redoubt that is sometimes manned by Chernasado Rangers, but these are all several days travel away for a large group such as this.
You eventually reach the clearing in about double the time it would have taken for Doumane and Issi to travel alone, and night has long since fallen. Most of the group collapse almost immediately, although a few seem prepared to at least put up a pretense of making some sort of rough camp. Rhynna is fussing over the children again, while Jet is checking over the provisions gathered from the town.
"I suppose us Foxclaws will be on watch tonight?" Lirosa asks with a slightly forced smile.
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"Tyrek and I can watch first." Issi replies. "If you and Taidel do some fishing with Mr Doumane and then get some rest I'll try and sort everyone else out."
'Sorting everyone out' ends up being encouraging people to do exactly what they are already good at. Jet, the food; Rhynna, first aid; Oreld and Sammi get asked to inventory the items rescued from Phaendar. Issi does her best to deal with everything with a smile and positivity, only letting her smile drop when she collapses next to Aubrin. "How are we doing Aubrin? You're the only one of us that has any real experience of stuff like this."
"I think we're not doing too bad so far." Aubrin replied, "People are still in shock at this moment, and that's to be expected, but just remind them what they are capable of and that's half the battle won already. You did a good job tonight in that regard. The key to good leadership is always looking like you know what you're doing and you've managed that nicely so far. Couldn't managed better myself I reckon" she adds with a small smile.
Tyrek manages to track down and kill a small tusked deer and Lirosa, Taidel and Doumane manage to catch a couple of trout in the small stream, providing enough food for the four of you to eat some dinner without dipping into the provisions.
The night passes without major incident, although a number of disconcerting noises are occasionally heard from the direction of the town.
The next morning an impromptu meeting forms around Doumane's and Issi's fire as people gradually drift over.
First to arrive is Rhyna, who despite her apparently cheerful demeanor and greeting, has noticeably red-rimmed eyes. "Beautiful morning, isn't it?" she remarks, "Did you both sleep well?" Without really waiting for much of a response she plows onto the question she clearly really wanted to ask, "Do you think that they are treating Father Noelan properly? He's not with us so he must have been captured, right? They surely must be, but he gets so stubborn at times and what if he upset one of them? No. He surely must be alright, right? Rhyna finishes in a desperate rush, her butterfly flapping agitatedly around her head.
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Issi moves around the camp fire to wrap Rhyna in a hug before she answers. "Father Noelan didn't make it Rhyna. I'm sorry but we were too late to help him. He tried to defend you and the children. Erastil will welcome him as a true defender of hearth and home." Her voice dropping the next words come out as a whisper. "I miss him too..."
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Seeing Litte-Flame upset Tyrek shifts slightly, a growl rising in his throat until he recognises the gesture between Little-Flame and Shiny-Butterfly as a 'hug', something Little-Flame keep trying to give him when she's happy. Strange people...
As more and more people make their way to the camp fire Tyrek clears his throat and, for the first time, speaks in the human tongue. "You have many small-humans here. That is good. But place is not safe. Grey-skins will come for blood-vengeance. We must move deeper into the great-green-dark-forest and find safe-place-home for small-ones. Who knows of good places?"
He looks particularly at the Hunter and the Male/Female-Fowxclaw-Friends to see what they know.
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Pulled from her hug with Rhyna by Tyrek's practicality Issi dashes her tears away on her sleeve and steps in.
"For those of you who haven't been introduced, this is Tyrek - he's my friend. He's wise too, and he's right. We can't stay here. The goblins will come and they're going to want our heads - especially after the trick with the bridge. Hopefully that bought us time but we need to use it well, get into the woods proper, find a defensive place and establish ourselves. Once we've done that we may be able to turn to offence, but we must be safe first." She looks around, unaware of how she is mirroring her dragon with the motion.
"I know of some caves in the area which would give us shelter for a night or two, but nothing big enough for 40... anyone else?"
Rhyna wobbles slightly upon hearing the news and doubtless would have sunk to the ground without the support from Issi's hug. As she notices that they are drawing the attention of others she manages to pull herself together a bit though, "At least they can't hurt him now, right?" she manages to say with a weak smile as Issi pulls away.
Prompted by Issi's question the suggestions come flying in thick and fast.
"How about the Great Oak? You know the one I mean." calls out Taidel. "You could shelter from the rain beneath the roots and hide from danger up in the branches."
"Until the Hobs find us and burn the whole thing down." scoffs Lirosa. "The caves to the north are a much safer bet, we just need to find one of the larger ones and then we can barricade up the entrance."
"If they find us." stresses Taidel. "If. Besides I didn't know that you were on such good terms with the trogdolyte tribes, or did you forget about them?
"All-Eyes Redoubt is easily defensible and if we're lucky there may be a supply cache left by the Chernasdo Rangers still there. If we're really lucky there may even be a couple of Rangers" adds Aubrin. "Course, we'll probably get eaten alive by bugs and there ain't much good for human consumption round there. An' then there's actually getting through the swamp to get to it.."
"The loggers of Gristledown might be able to help" suggests Vane Oreld. "I'd hate for us to bring trouble down on their heads too though. Why, I reckon there's probably still more than twice as many of us as there are of them!"
"Now I don't know much about these woods, but I do know that we've only got enough food for one, maybe two days if I really stretch it out. After that people are going to get hungry and footsore and everything will get a whole lot harder." Jet buts in, "Wherever we end up heading, it better be somewhere we can find sufficient supplies of food"
Doumane ponders this. At the mention of Father Noelan he shakes his head sadly and adds, his voice deep and gravelly, "For now, we must assume everyone on the town is beyond our aid at best. Hobgoblins are not kind to captives, even when they bother to take them." The gunslinger knows this is harsh but false hope would be dangerous.
Doumane adds at the end, 'A place to get more bullets would be helpful for me."
"I might just be able to help you out with the bullets" says Oreld. "I learnt the recipe for powder from an old dwarf years back and though I'm no smith, I reckon I can melt some lead down and cast it"
Gristledown is a small logging Thorpe containing about 15 to 20 people. They rely on trade with Phaendar for most of their supplies. There is a track that leads to it not far from here but it might be safer to stay off the tracks.
The Great Oak is an enormous oak tree deep in the forest. It's far from any paths or tracks and there is good foraging near by. Shelter might be hard to come by however unless you made lean-tos or something similar around the base. It is also roughly equidistant between the Hills to the north, the swamp to the south, and Phaendar.
All you know about All Eyes Redoubt is that it is located somewhere in the swamps to the south of here and that the Chernasdo Rangers maintain a periodic watchlist there.
The hills to the north are riddled with a network of caves but they are populated by a tribe of trogdolytes who have been known to attack small groups of travellers who got too close.
All of the locations would take at least 2 days to reach as a group, although a few scouts sent ahead who knew the area well could make the journey much faster.
Doumane considers this and says, "I like the sounds of the Redoubt. Finding some allies and perhaps a defensible position is good. I do think we need to warn Grisledown though. I'd to see them attacked by the hobgoblins too."
The gunslinger pauses and then taps the log he is sitting on, "Caves can be good but getting stuck between trogs and hobgoblins isn't my idea of a fun time."
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"Let's head for the redoubt then." Issi agrees. "If we can get help from the Rangers then all the better. Taidal, Lirosa - can you act as the advance guard, make sure we don't run into anything horrible. Jet, Rhyna - you need to keep everyone organised and moving, if we can forage along the way then so much the better."
She looks around to check that everyone understands what they are doing. "Tyrek, Mr Doumane and I will go to Grisledown. We can make better time as a small group than with the rest of you. If we leave soon we should catch you before sunset."
Once the rest of the group has dispersed to begin moving on Issi turns to Doumane. "What happens if we can't use the redoubt? The way those hobgoblins appeared makes me think this must have planned - what if they took out the Rangers too?"
Doumane, unlike Issi, isn't keen on sending the others on alone.
"You don't know the woods like I do, Issi. There are plenty of dangers here, even apart from roving bands of hobgoblins. They might run into trouble and if anything happens to them, it'll be our fault." the gunslinger turns around and looks in the opposite direction.