Emerald manages to sing as the three wagons advance up the road, and her song is inspiring.
A nasty orc emerges next to Amelia with a falchion, and his swing would have it, but the elevation difference causes a problem thanks to Plumbum.
As the orcs take control of the first wagon and drive it along the road, Emerald shouts "Full turn about--we lose that lead wagon"
Malin uses brute force to take the second wagon and turn it around.
The scout tries to grapple the swordsman and fails. Three javelins target Amelia and one hits
PARTY UP
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The teamster's head is still loosely attached to his body, and it appears he is dead.
From behind the safety of Érme's back, Fiona chants and points the tips of her fingers at the orc collapsing on the party.
The cat steps next to Amelia and begins discussing what he remembered about how to fight Bloody Claw Orcs, providing his Naturalist bonus to all allies w/i 30'.
Amelia nods as she listens to Drektan's advice. She doesn't have a good way to get free, so she watches the orc, going fully on the defensive while trying to nudge Plumbum away from the brigand.
Tacitus urges Maff into a charge against the Orc directly in front of him,
Before wiggling his fingers at the fire shouting"PUT IT OUT PUT IT OUT!" seemingly at himself.
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Érme nods her thanks to Fiona's divine bolster. As a javelin finds its mark on her sister, she drops her crossbow and draws her Longspear before moving forward to aid Amelia
"Sister! Pull back, you make yourself a target!"
By the Vault, let these brutes make a target of me instead
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Jasper grabs the largest of two yellow beads from a bracelet on his wrist and throws it forward of the lead wagon, and a twenty foot radius fireball engulfs many orcs, four horses, and half of the wagon after the last of the fire was just extinguished by Tacitus. The orcs writhe in pain and after the fireball dies down, one of the orc archers has a vial explode again, damaging him and his allies. All the orcs affected try to retreat down the road as the forest and brush erupt in flame. The body of the teamster also catches fire too. He cries "They are not getting away."
Four orcs surround the skunk and swing deadly falchions at the skunk, remarkably, the skunk dodges all four swings.
Erme, Tacitus, and his loyal skunk feel a wash of slumber.
The scout tries to grapple the swordsmand again
Party not sleeping is up
Tacitus barely has time to notice the Fool throw the bead before he felt the rush of hot air from the explosion and the whiff of something almost cutting his hair as Maff dodged the Orc onslaught when he felt a strange twinge of sleepiness he tried desperately to fight off....
Tacitus manages to fight off the effect but looks down and sees the skunk has dropped to his belly fast asleep! Oh no... he thinks as he tries to quickly jump out his saddle,
but at the last second his boot is not able to free itself in time and he lands prone next to Maff.
scrambling, he sees a blaze to the north and 4 orcs surounding his sleeping Skunk!
"GET UP YOU STINKY THING!!! THIS IS NO TIME TO FALL ASLEEP!!!" he yells as he tries to quickly rise to his feet if he's still standing after that risky maneuver, he'll step back into a horse, realizing he's trapped, and then swing the clubbed end of his sling staff in a swing at Orc directly above Maff on the map.
"On that we're agreed," Amelia says as she maneuvers Plumbum away from the melee and closer to the budding inferno. Desperately wanting to heal herself, but seeing that any delay in dousing the flames would endanger all of them, she begins another prayer for water.
"Chaotic fire burns the work of craftsmen and farmers. Let this affront be doused by your will, Abadar, like a candle snuffed by your golden fist," she chants as she holds out a hand towards the closest part of the flames. Compared to the raging fire, the water that appears over it is pathetic in comparison.
"If you can't fight, get that fire under control," she shouts to the survivors of the caravan not engaged in combat.
The force blast from Fiona had unerringly hit an orc, but these orcs seem to be ferocious. Able to fight when other would be unconscious while still bleeding out.
Érme shakes off the effect of the Sleep spell with n'er a yawn.
She shifts backward, giving herself room to engage with her Longspear and to cover her sisters retreat;
"For my sister a debt of blood is owed, one I most assuredly collect."
She stabs at the nearest orc;
Drektan continues his discussion about how to best fight these opponents, while trying to apply that wisdom himself.
Fiona casts Magic Missile on the orc closest to her, but not the one she previously attacked.
Two orcs stagger out of the blaze that continues to consume the forest, no weapons in hand and bleeding. They are dead on their feet or very close to it. The drums seem to be moving towards the dead orc scout and the victorious swordsman.
The battle seems almost won, but where did those orcs go?
Party UP
Tacitus breathes heavily as he sees the orcs beginning to flee and and will begin shaking Maff awake "wake up you stinky beast, the fight is over!
"Has anyone seen Kunala? When I left him it looked like he was just about to finish off the scout." He says with a slight hint of worry in his voice.
"Sorry, I have not," Amelia answers as she gathers up the energy for another spell. A chanted phrase and a gesture later, another two gallons of water douse the flames.
The drums seem to be moving towards the dead orc scout and the victorious swordsman.
The battle seems almost won, but where did those orcs go?
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The half-elf chases after the fleeing orcs. She directs her hands and chants, sending another Magic Missile barreling at the closest orc! "No survivors!"
Jasper and FIona move into the woods and find a trail cut through the brush to make travel within the woods easier.
Jasper looks to Fiona. "We running ahead of everyone??"
"Ms. Coin! Creat the water along the edge of the fire, a few gallons in the middle will be steam before it does any good, we aint savin the center of the is conflagration but we may hope to save the forest!" Tacitus roars, hoping to soak the perimeter of the flames to prevent them from spreading.
Érme advances to support both her sister and Master Freeling. Spear levelled, she imposes herself between them and the two wounded orcs as she hails them in their own tongue;
"Leave now. Fight again. Or die here. I care not."
"You were, yes." the cat answers Jasper. "Sounds like they are heading towards the swordsman, though, so I think we should move to support. Let's go!"
The cat moves out into the cleared trail.
Fiona stays near her beefier companions, eager to give chase but not willing to proceed without backup. "I'm useless putting out fires; better to kill," the half-elf pants out as she pumps her arms in a run.
The chase down the trail leads to a crafty deadfall trap that trigger a series of alarm bells. Good news is it convinces the retreating orcs to keep running. Bad news is Jasper and Drektan uncover a 30 foot deep pit the hard way.
Jasper
Jasper nimbly dodges aside, Drektan tries the same.
The scout had a potion, two sets of caltrops, a signal whistle, nasty rations, javelins and a falchion.
His leather armor and soft leather boots are in good shape.
Combat is over except for pit trap
The other orcs besides the scout are searched and many suits of leather armor, many falchions, many javelins, four sets of caltrops, and many pairs of soft leather boots are found. One orc has a drawing of Malin, Jasper, and Emerald in order with bounties by them. 400, 200, and 100 respectively. Emerald scoffs "I am worth less than anyone it seems."
The fire rages out of control and the caravan prepares to mount up. Jasper, Malin and Emerald continue the funeral. Jasper tears up as Malin is laid to rest with Jasper's twin.
"What do we do with these orcs??"
Mangled, burnt corpses of the orc raiders litter the roadway. The surrendered orcs say "The priests of Hanspur promised us rich rewards to raid this caravan. Two more bands are looking for you."
Malin also comments on the irony that one of the previous caravan merchants was also called Malin and looked nothing like him. ”It isn’t a common name.”
Seeing that they have no chance of containing the blaze, and that the orcs seem to be retreating and the battle is over, Tacitus will wake Maff and head down to Check on Kunala.
"We need to be underway, what do we do with these two?"
"The same thing House Lebeda always does with bandits.... uh... well I guess this is the first time I've actually encountered them. What does House Lebeda do to bandits?" Tacitus asks Kunala as him and Maff walk up to the young man and catfolk.
tacitus will take 2 sets of caltrop is no one else seems to care.
"this is nicer gear than I would have thought from roving Orc raiders... will it cover the loss of the other cart?" he asks with concern for the caravaners wellbeing. "And what's a Hanspur?"
And one hand axe.
Érme (having retrieved her crossbow) keeps it levelled towards the orc prisoners. She shrugs at Tacitus' question;
"I am unfamiliar with House Lebeda's laws on such matters. Punished they must be, but the punishment must fit the crime."
"I am unfamiliar with House Lebeda's laws on such matters. Punished they must be, but the punishment must fit the crime."
"theres one punishment I can think of fit for attempted murder. Same thing he planned to do to us." Tacitus says grimly, staring at the prisoner.
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Seeing the cause is hopeless, Amelia retreats from the fire and nearly topples from Plumbum as a twinge of white-hot pain reminds her that she's running on adrenaline and grit at this point.
Golden light spills from the wound as it seals up and leaves behind smooth, pink skin.
"Is anyone else injured," she calls out.
"True, but maybe they'd be willing to offer knowledge for clemency," Amelia says to Tacitus after he answers Emre.
She turns to the orc prisoners, and smiles.
"As you can see, my good fellows, my companions are eager to see justice done. I, however, think you could be of great help to us. You wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you?"
As the trap pit opens under his feet, the cat manages to leap to the left even as Jasper leaps to the right, both staying on solid ground above the hole. He looks over to Jasper. "I think the phrase is 'Better lucky than good,' isn't it?"
As the discussion begins about what to do with the orcs, Drektan looks confused, really. "Bandits, if convenient enough, might be taken to a settlement for formal judgement. If not, they normally find frontier justice less forgiving than they might hope. These orcs? Interrogate them if we have time, but their lives are forfeit. At least, that's how I remember the policy."
As the initial conversation is happening, the half-elf assists Kunala in gathering the various weapons and armor, dumping them on one of the caravans.
Tossing the scouts gear in the back of one of the wagons, Kunala raises an eyebrow as he realizes the other had 'taken' prisoners. Hearing that there were two more bands looking for them Kunala frowns, gesturing towards the road then the two 'prisoners.' "We need to be underway, what do we do with these two?"
"Theres one punishment I can think of fit for attempted murder. Same thing he planned to do to us." Tacitus says grimly, staring at the prisoner.
"True, but maybe they'd be willing to offer knowledge for clemency," Amelia says to Tacitus after he answers Emre.
She turns to the orc prisoners, and smiles.
"As you can see, my good fellows, my companions are eager to see justice done. I, however, think you could be of great help to us. You wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you?"
Fiona clicks her tongue and crosses her arms over her chest, staring at Amelia. "Don't give them false hope! We should slit their throats now before they do worse in our sleep!"
What?! Is this chick an idiot or just ignorant? Like they think we'll spare them after we got attacked, ha!
"Do you have a way to speak with the dead," Amelia asks, a bit of anger sharpening her tone. "You may be fine with stumbling about in the dark, blind and dumb. I like to be a bit smarter than that. "
They're probably dead either way, but wooden coins! This girl's going to ruin any chance we might have to learn more.
The orc withers under the intimidating group as the Jasper, Drektan, and Fiona return after their narrow miss with a pit trap. The orc offers"If you heal me and let me go, I'll tell you who is leading the hunt for you."
Emerald explains: ”We can execute these bandits using our merchant charter. Making them go away is better for everyone involved. Our lost wagon team puts space at a premium.”
With the loss of four horses, a driver, and the equipment to pull a wagon, the teamsters will be stashing a wagon to recover later.
Those who served under the Swan and Abadar know the penalty for banditry is typically death.
Tacitus was silent while the taller folk discussed the finer points of frontier justice. Justice would hanging them from the trees along the path as a warning... but Kunala's suggestion is the most advantageous me thinks.
Seeing the boy struggle to be convincingly menacing towards the Orc he adds, "If you give us the same name, I might even be willing to let you go without a spray from the Skunk, if you give us different names.... well, smelling bad as you die will be the least of your concerns, savvy?"
but threats from a 3 foot tall halfling riding a drowsy skunk just arent...threatening; Tacitus realizes too late and scowls at the orc hoping he doesn't laugh at him.
Érme listens to the others, and her sister engage with the orcs.
She remains impassive, only reacting at the mention of frontier justice.
"These lands may not be civilised, but we are. Our foes may not be, but we are. That is a cost I'll not pay. "
The inquisitor's jaw hardens and she nods at Emerald's words;
"We have not the capacity for prisoners. These brutes are marauders who would turn on us again if they had to... something we can ill afford."
She turns to her sister with regret in her voice;
"I am sorry Sister. Be they orc, human or elf. The penalty for banditry is death. They'll see no clemency, but their deaths should be without ceremony or cruelty. I fear hanging them as warning will not cow their kin, merely fire the flames of hate."
Malin allows the decision of the prisoners to be deferred a single day as by then you will be in a fort..
The orcs are secured as the caravan prepares to move out. The forest will probably burn a while, and Jasper blames the orcs for making him set the forest ablaze. Remis leads an attempt to create a firebreak, but the caravan does not seem to want to stay and risk being cut off by the fire or attacked by more orcs. Tibold IDs the potion as a cure light wounds potion.
A careful watch is set that night as Malin explains they are going to push hard to make the fort by the next day. Luckily the night is uneventful and the path begins to head towards the Sellen River. The single gate to the fort is opened as your wagons enter an outpost with the a set of coins engraved on what appears to be a large lake. This appears to be a somewhat unofficial symbol with a link to both the church of Abadar and House Lebeda. This outpost of about thirty men under arms seems to be at an extremely high alert.
A large man wearing a helmet with a large white swan on it approaches your group as the wagons are secured and the horses are stabled.
"Orcs surround us and constantly harass us. You must stay inside the gates."
You realize you left two weeks ago, and Pharast is almost over. The nights are still chilly, but not uncomfortably so.