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Grothnak does not budge from blocking the door. He holds the blade of Vadok between himself and the paladin. "I have already gone back on an oath by not collecting your head, paladin. I will hear from Hoom before I step aside. We cannot allow him to go off alone. You have heard the others. It is too much of a risk. Now either wait few seconds with me to hear Hoom's decision or kill me, if you can." He bares his teeth in what is definitely not a smile.

Hoom Feethos:

"I doesn't seem like you are giving me a choice Grothnak. Join you or lose my head. Is that just my fate or anyone else that goes against you?"

"All who have spoken said that you must not go off alone and that there is no reason for it. Will you comply, or will continue acting like our enemy?"

He looks again at Pelias and the others ready to leave, and grunts. "Fine. We go. We cannot force anyone to join us. But who leaves us now leaves forever. Make your choice, elf." He steps aside and follows the group out the door.

Hoom Feethos:

"I am not your enemy and not subject to your rule. I have told you what I'm going to do and my plans have not changed. Go ahead and cut me down half bred, like all the innocents of this town that have been slaughtered. What is one more soul taken at a the end of your halberd to you. You play the short game. You have no honor."

Hoom said the magic words. "Half breed" he has heard before. He expects as much from a poofy stuck-up elf. "You have no honor," however, cannot be forgiven.

"You issue the challenge!" says Grothnak, almost gleeful. "Good! Come at me, elf coward, and we will see who has no honor! Udautas vrasubatlat, lulgijak! " He raises Vadok and steps toward the elf, ready to strike as soon as Hoom is prepared to defend himself.

Hoom Feethos:

As Grothnak steps forward Hoom moves around him and out the door.

The Abandoned Windmill (NW of 24)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Eight. Early morning. Sunday, October 23nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, foggy





Grothnak Uthglukh laughs.



It is a horrible thing to behold.

Enraged words follow.

Mistrust blossoms. Tension builds.

Things are said that can never be taken back.

Events escalate. And then they spiral out of control.

Grothnak challenges Hoom to single combat and the elven rogue slips past him and out the door. Grothnak turns, charges outside and strikes Hoom down without hesitation. The flat of Vadok's blade hammers the back of Hoom's skull and the elf is beaten into unconsciousness.

Hoom crashes hard to the ground outside the windmill. Face down in the dirt at Grothnak's feet, he stops moving.

For a heartbeat, all goes silent as the villagers' eyes widen in terror.


Actions?!


Rolls and rulings (non-required reading)


PC Status:

• Avril Hollysword, Half-Elf Fighter/Cleric 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 7/10, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 5, HP 14/15, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 25/28
  Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 3, HP -6/12, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 9/16, Spells: 0/4 1st lvl and 3/3 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 3: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 16/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 1/1 3rd lvl
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(0), HP: 22/30, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 25/28
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 12", AC 6, HP 5/6, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.

PC Resources:

• Map of Briarsgate
  NPC List for Briarsgate
  The Story So Far (in words)
  The Story So Far (in pictures)

"You are lucky you are lulgijak" snarls Grothnak, his voice dripping with contempt for the inert form on the ground. "A man or Uruk with blood in his veins would have seen the other side of my blade for showing such cowardice after challenging my honor!"

Looking to the others, his tone softens as he attempts to explain. "To say an Uruk has no honor is a challenge to battle. No insult is more personal, more despicable. To challenge an Uruk to a duel and then flee..." the Uruk simply shakes his head. "Not even most elves would be so stupid."

"I regret if my demand for party unity has broken it apart. If you would leave me, I understand. If you will still have me, I would be honored. Whatever you decide, I suggest leaving Hoom here. When he wakes up, we—or you—should be far away. He will go his own way, but if he is an enemy agent, at least we will have a head start before he reports to his superiors."

He stands and awaits the verbal lashing that is sure to ensue.

"It requires no small measure of honor to ignore an insult. Are you really so easily manipulated?" chides Pelias.

"It would not be honorable to leave him here where he could be easily found." The paladin turns to the townsfolk, who must be taken aback by what just happened. "I'm afraid this is what happens when an orcish and elven blood are close for too long. I wonder if you would look after Hoom until you must depart for your farms. If you are to leave soon, we can hide him just inside the treeline."

"...and we waste more time."

Bo hides his frustration about the sudden attack from the onlookers. We have gone from heroes to fools in their eyes in mere seconds, he thinks to himself as he exits the building.

"I suppose we can sit here for another hour now while we decide on what to do with our unconscious elf? WE MUST GET MOVING HERE PEOPLE!!!"

"We must bring him with us," says Urdur. "If he is in league with the enemy,
then they will know our plans if we leave him here. If he is not, it would be a great evil to abandon him to these foul murderers.

"Either way, he comes with us."

Urdur tries to lift the elf, hoping one of the tall folk will intervene to help him.

Having created the party's current problem, Grothnak is hesitant to say anything. But he does.

"You are right, Pelias," he says quietly, looking at the floor. "I was weak to allow him to goad me. The taunts of a coward mean less than nothing. I should have remembered that."

"Hoom did not want to come with us," he tells Urdur. "I don't think he would like us dragging him along. My suggestion is to ask Ramne and the villagers if they will look after him until he wakes. When he does, I would bind him and gag him. But do as you wish. I am done enforcing my will on others."

Pelias turns to the men of the town. "The evil present in this town has taken its toll on us, too. It does not excuse our behavior.
If you will look after Hoom, we shall leave him here. But I doubt you wish to cast this burden atop your heap of troubles. If you are willing to look after him, we will depart without him. If not, we will take him."

The paladin will follow the wishes of the brave townfolk.

The Abandoned Windmill (NW of 24)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Eight. Early morning. Sunday, October 23nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, foggy





The sickly sun crawls higher.



The sound of the brutal beating stops.

But things continue to come apart.

One terrified villager panics and bolts. "I have to get home now!" he mutters as he flees south through the corn rows.

Outside the windmill, over the bludgeoned form of Hoom, Grothnak calls back into the windmill. A conversation ensues.

In horror, Mouser watches the callous ease with which the party accepts a savage attack upon one of their own.



It could only happen to a thief, Mouser thinks. Worried about his partner in crime, he holds his tongue nonetheless, knowing the only way to keep his own skin safe is not to stick his neck out. For now.

The old hermit hangs his head and holds his weary face in his worn, cracked hands.

Avril's ears sting from Grothnak's blistering vilification of her heritage. The elf-blooded angel of mercy runs outside the windmill and kneels beside Hoom to make sure he still draws breath. Then she looks up at the half-orc warrior and says, icily: "Well done, 'honorable Grothnak'." Avril will help Urdur carry their battered friend.

Urdur would bring Hoom with them. Grothnak would gag and bind Hoom. Pelias would leave Hoom under the villagers' care, if they will acquiesce.
Frightened, stunned and confused, the three remaining villagers are mute. Then one finally replies to Pelias' request, "W-w-we will help in whatever way we may, sir." Another gets the rope. A third ascends to the lookout window.

Seething, Long Bo exits the windmill and yells: "WE MUST GET MOVING HERE, PEOPLE!!!"

"Someone's on the road!" reports the townsman at the window in an urgent whisper. From his vantage, he can see over the seven foot tall unharvested corn that surrounds the abandoned windmill. "I can't tell who. But they're not moving. Maybe they've heard us."


Actions?!


Map:

1 marks Hoom, Grothnak, Avril and Urdur.
The villagers, the hermit and the other heroes are in or near the windmill at X.
2 is the villager who fled south. 3 is the unknown figure on the road, reported by the lookout.





PC Status:

• Avril Hollysword, Half-Elf Fighter/Cleric 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 7/10, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 5, HP 14/15, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 25/28
  Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 3, HP -5/12, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 9/16, Spells: 0/4 1st lvl and 3/3 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 3: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 16/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 1/1 3rd lvl
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(0), HP: 22/30, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 25/28
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 12", AC 6, HP 5/6, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.

PC Resources:

• Map of Briarsgate
  NPC List for Briarsgate
  The Story So Far (in words)
  The Story So Far (in pictures)

Ingrid Esthof

Displeased with the recent events, the cleric of Trithereon glares maces at the half-orc warrior. You speak of honor, yet few acts are less honorable than striking down an unarmed man from behind! We have pretty much exhausted all our healing abilities, the last thing we need is for one of our party to cause injury to another, however you may feel about them. I fear your temper and inability to let an insult slide like water from a goose's back may endanger the party and our mission here to help the villagers. As it is,the few remaining villagers who we felt we could trust are now terrified of us, and we don't really know how they may react to us in the future. For all we know, the villager who ran may be off to inform the cultists. Better the devil you know than a bunch of untrustworthy strangers with the ability to slaughter a group of untrained, poorly equipped farmers, perhaps? Either way, we must leave quickly, and now we have an approaching stranger to deal with, as well as a decision on what to do with poor Hoom. As Ingrid begins to turn away from Grothnak, she stops. Now that I too have impugned your honor, will you strike me down as I walk away as well, great fighter for justice? With that, she goes to tend to the unconscious elf.

At the sound of someone from the road, Grothnak quietly but abruptly shushes Ingrid. Whatever the others think of what he did, this is no time for speeches. He listens for any sounds from the direction of the road.

Telkis blinks, glancing from the inert form of Hoom to Grothnak and back. His face betrays no emotion. "We must take him with us. He'll be a danger to these villagers otherwise." As soon as word is spoken of a stranger on the road, he draws his bow and moves behind any cover he can find to cover the approach unseen.

Seeing this new predicament with the stranger now watching, Bo gets even more mad at the current idiotic situation.

He looks at the righteous half-orc with disdain and speaks quietly enough so the watcher wont hear."Why don't you just agree to carry the elf along with us until he comes around? You know, as a punishment for your..............short fuse?"

The lanky druid pulls his bird friend from his hood and whispers something into its ear before letting it take off towards the "watcher". He wants Sephus to go take a closer look at this stranger.

"If we are already being watched now, it might be wise to take the long way around and backtrack to this trail we seek. Lets get our shit together for a change and get moving towards the Northwest. Once we've put some distance between us and this town, we can swing back around to the south to find our path."

Urdur simply nods. This group needs to get going, with Hoom on tow. He won't abandon the elf to the cages again.

Urdur curses himself for not studying some of the more intricate illusion spells, back when he was an apprentice. Some of them could really help his crew out of this jam.

Urdur asks Thompson or any of the other mice if they know who the stranger on the road is. He also makes ready his Audible Glamer spell, in case they need a distraction.