The orc spits blood, then turns to Newton. "We were set to camp here and ambush any ironskin patrol that followed the tracks. The Chieftain sent a warband east to attack the ironskins in an attempt to draw patrols out into our ambush. The rest of my kin are in our village, that way." The orc points to the west.
As the other adventurers secure the perimeter and see to the wounded mercenaries Newto extracts more information from the captured orc. He belongs to the Shattered Tusk clan, the bulk of which dwells a day's walk to the west in a tree-shadowed hollow. His Chieftain, Ahpruk the Angry, owes fealty to a greater power further to the west, one only referred to as "Death on the Wind". Ahpruk received an emissary from his master nearly two months ago, ordering his clan to begin raids on the Ironskin community. The most recent raid was an attempt to draw forces out from the settlement and ambush them; the orcs had clearly not been prepared to face such a large and well-trained contingent of troops.
It becomes clear to Zellar and Ribar, both of whom have medical training, that the mercenaries who were nursed back to life from the brink of death will be incapable of strenous travel, and indeed should be taken back to civilization as quickly as possible. "I could take them back," says Valru, "provided I had an escort of perhaps a half-dozen armed men, or you could send them back with a trusted lieutenant."
"To lose such a number of our spears might risk our entire expedition if we were to continue further. Perhaps we should return to Draea before we follow up the trail of these beastkin.
"To lose such a number of our spears might risk our entire expedition if we were to continue further. Perhaps we should return to Draea before we follow up the trail of these beastkin.
"Drakesbane, what news from the orc?:
You can assume that Newton fills everyone in as to what the orc said.
shaidar wrote:Newton will try and get an idea of size of the tribe from the orc.
It's hard to tell. The orc clearly is not interested in providing an accurate picture to Newton, nor does it seem to have much of a concept of numbers higher than a dozen or so. It says that it was heading a single band, and that there are at least a score, if not more, similarly-sized bands in the village.
"Is this Death on the Wind an orc? Or some sort of legendary beast?"
The orc shrugs. "It's not an orc, I don't think. Some kind of creature. I've never met it, and I'm not sure the Chief has either, although he has been to its lair."
"To lose such a number of our spears might risk our entire expedition if we were to continue further. Perhaps we should return to Draea before we follow up the trail of these beastkin.
"Drakesbane, what news from the orc?:
Feargus
"I hate to lose the initiative here...but without Telemachus' magic and a thinned out mercenary group...Then again, these men and women won't be ready to fight for sometime yet...I would propose that we scout out the location and size of this enemy village and re-assess if we have the strength to route the enemy...Again I find myself wishing Goshawk was here. His polearm is always a welcome spot at my back."
"Agreed, if the orc is telling the truth we don't have a big enough force to take on that many. A scouting party makes sense, to find out the truth of their camp. We should consider sending all the mercenaries back to Drea with the wounded, as that many horses is not going to make sneaking up easy"
"To lose such a number of our spears might risk our entire expedition if we were to continue further. Perhaps we should return to Draea before we follow up the trail of these beastkin.
"Drakesbane, what news from the orc?:
Feargus
"I hate to lose the initiative here...but without Telemachus' magic and a thinned out mercenary group...Then again, these men and women won't be ready to fight for sometime yet...I would propose that we scout out the location and size of this enemy village and re-assess if we have the strength to route the enemy...Again I find myself wishing Goshawk was here. His polearm is always a welcome spot at my back."
shaidar wrote:Newton
"Agreed, if the orc is telling the truth we don't have a big enough force to take on that many. A scouting party makes sense, to find out the truth of their camp. We should consider sending all the mercenaries back to Drea with the wounded, as that many horses is not going to make sneaking up easy"
sulldawga wrote:Casfrea
"I'd be in favor of heading back and getting my boss to come with us. A couple of Fireballs can't hurt in these situations.
Can't hurt us, I mean..."
Looks like there are two votes to go out and scout first, I think, and one to head back and get Telemachus?
While the group discusses things, Gardo is off to one side with Mariusz. It becomes apparent that Mariusz is doing most of the talking while Gardo tries to step away. Frustration finally wins out and Gardo pulls himself away, his voice finally being loud enough for others to hear.
"Yeah, yeah, I know that. You have always been the smarter one, that's why'z we a good team. You don't tell me the wrong things... except for that time a few years back with the barmaid. You thought she was my type but I figured out he really wasn't. We still need to talk about that one day."
He rejoins the group and continues on. "Umm... so, me and Mariusz was discussing things.... more like he was talking and I was having to listen. But, I agree with most of what he said. It would be better to take the mercs back now, not later. Gives them the best chance to heal up. Better for everyone."
"After that, we should do some scouting. Those orcs seem more organized than what I have ever heard of. They were setting a nice trap here. Too bad for them we were here."
"Now, this is where I'm having a hard time with Mariusz here. He thinks there is something smart directing those orcs and such. Remember that the Baron said his grandmother fought some dragon? Don't dragons fly? They are smart enough to make lesser creatures do things for them, yeah? Mariusz thinks this 'Death on the Wind' leader thing is that dragon and is organizing things. It is probably still messed up from a long time ago which is why it is getting the orcs and such to do what it wants."
"My vote is to take the mercs back, bring this orc back as a prisoner and make sure he is kept out in the full sun during the daytime. We figure out if the mage is ready to go. If not, we scout things out. If he is, we go blast things. We better make sure we are at full strength."
It's hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally.
"I was thinking dragon too, but I hadn't made the connection to the baron's grandmother yet. I've changed my mind, I think we should return to Draea and let the baron know what we've found out, and then decide what to do next depending on whether Telemachus is available. As for the orc, I'm not bothered if he doesn't make it back to the Barony."
The adventurers decide to return to Draea and inform the Baron of what they have learned, and what they suspect. Ensuring their prisoner is tied and under guard, they make camp for the evening. Around midnight the sound of wolves howling nearby causes those on watch to whip their heads around; the prisoner takes advantage of this and attempts to escape, struggling to its feet and attempting to dash into the trees, but the adventurers are alert, and it doesn't get far before being brought down with the flats of the mercenaries' blades.
I'm going to make another morale check for the orc; success means the orc tries to escape: https://orokos.com/roll/787374: 2d6+25 Yup, and that's low enough that it will do so repeatedly, Let me make a surprise check. It surprises on a 1. https://orokos.com/roll/787375: 1d65 I'm going to say there's a 1-3 in 6 chance the prisoner succeeds in escaping into death: https://orokos.com/roll/787376: 1d65
I also need to make an encounter check: Encounter on 1-2:: 1d63
Fifthmonth, Eighthday
Hex 233.133
The new day dawns, and the adventurers rise, break camp, and set off. With the prisoner along, as well as the injured mercenaries, it will likely take all day for them to return to Draea, assuming they don't have to force march for a bit.
Let me know if there's anything special you guys want to do. If not I'll go ahead and roll out the day's travel.
Telemachus continues reading. It seems as though ley lines are rivers of magic so vast, and so subtle, that mortal Man is unable to harvest the energy directly. The bulk of his reading details several theoretical means of creating vast edifices and structures designed to capture and concentrate the energy from ley lines, in a form that can be manipulated by Man.
It's going to take, as stated earlier, a total of 16 hours to read the book. He's already done 2.5, and gets in another 8 hours.
"I propose you all take a day of rest, and get the wounded mercs settled. That will give me enough time to finish studying this book and then I can accompany you the following day."
