Orc Cave.
Red, observing that Mia's spell was wearing off, slipped back into the front rank to Paris' left. Brillig moved behind her and took a moment to note to himself that moving the battle line back closer to the doorway of the guard room might give opportunity for 3 fighters to face 2 orcs on the front line. He called out, "Back up to the door." The others pulled back but Paris, seeing that Red still remained rock solid in place, held her ground. She glanced up at the younger man. Her "Red, we should move back," was lost in Brillig's authoritative shouts, "Stop!" and "Calais! Get out here!" when the others reached the doorway. Red looked baffled and Paris tried again. "Move back. I'll move when you do." The simple giant looked worried. "Back? How?"
Calais poked his head around the corner and grasped the situation. The orcs were advancing on the two lonely fighters. "Hey, you two! Paris! Red! Back up! Come back here. On the count! One, two, three!" Paris moved in time and, to her relief, Red came with her. As the first orcs plowed forward, Calais crowded Red's hex to strike with his spear; while Brillig did the same behind Paris. Impatiently Anton prepared his flash spell but, as the fighters continued to cut down orcs, he held off casting -- and then held off again, watching for when plenty of the enemy would be within range.
The growing pile of dead and injured orcs made the orc's footing slippery and gave considerable advantage to the human line.
Finally Anton's chance came and he placed his spell perfectly, blinding a group of the orcs, just as the big orcs behind were shouting. Calais recognized their words. "Get the bodies out of our way or we'll kill you!" The blinded ones tried to obey which made them targets for Mia and Claire's missiles.
Again the orcs shouted orders and Calais prepared: the big orcs and the small ones intended to rush the humans... while one large orc retreated down the corridor deeper into the mountain. Again Anton shot off his spell. This time, both Red and Paris felt their eyes burn and water in the mist of the spell, but they kept on fighting. Finally, the battle ended.
Brillig leaped the pile of bodies to dispatch a small orc who was crawling away. Paris and Red, their strength nearly gone, staggered as the rest of the Party hurried down the corridor after the one big orc. The fighters stopped. Paris called out, "Was anyone hurt?" Someone called back, "Just you and Red" and kept on going, Brillig and Calais in the lead.
Paris bit her tongue and shook her head. Either they could handle one lone orc or -- if they found more, they would all be running back this way. Either way, neither she nor Red would be of any use without some rest. Paris moved over to the big youth. "I did not know you were injured," she murmured softly and touched him, closing her eyes and intoning the words from her dream. Light washed over her hand and disappeared into the other's body. Her blue eyes opened to meet a worried look in the other's face. "You - you can't do that very often, can you?" he asked. "Yes," she said softly. "Only four times a day. But that is enough. Do not worry." Then she slumped down, back against the wall, to watch for orcs coming from either direction. Red carefully kept watch over the bodies littering the hall for any sign that one might not be as dead as it appeared. They sat in silence.
Meanwhile the Party found that the corridor dead-ended with another door off to one side shortly before the wall of earth. Carefully Calais peered in. He and then Brillig saw the missing orc with his arms full of stuff, lots of smaller, agile creatures building a fire, and a back wall that rippled and seemed to move. "Burn them all, they mustn't get them," the orc seemed to be instructing the lesser creatures.
The Party stepped in and, despite the quick moves of the lesser creatures -- kobolds, someone suggested -- managed to take out the orc. Calais took a blow to the head that made his ears ring but caused no real damage.
Back up the long corridor, Paris felt the pound of a headache and clenched her teeth. Red leaned over, "Are you worried about your brother?" Paris nodded but could not bring herself to insist that he get up and help her aid the others. They were both too exhausted. She would know if Calais really needed help, she thought tiredly. He would not appreciate her mother-henning him. Something caught in her throat. She hoped. The others had actually taken out most of these orcs themselves. She and Red had mostly been the shield the others needed to fight behind. They'd really done very little orc-bashing themselves. She sighed and bit her lip.
Two of the kobolds fired arrows and managed to strike Brillig while two attempted to burn the orc's scraps and scrolls. Mia noticed a 5th kobold atop the moving wall and realized he was riding it: the wall was really a great slug who seemed able to slowly carve through earth and stone. This was the source for the strange sticky substance on the walls of the corridor. She loosed her arrow and killed the giant slug rider. The other kobolds died as easily.
Working quickly, the Party managed to rescue the scrolls and some parchment, partially burnt. Calais noted that he had found another scroll back in the first room he'd rifled, bringing the total to 6 scrolls. One of which was badly burnt. A full examination of the orc lair brought forth a small box that Calais noted was trapped but which opened to a key he'd found on one of the early orc bodies. The box contained 50 pieces of copper.
They brought their finds back to the fighters. Brillig and Anton made sure that all the orc bodies were dead, while the others described the slug and the kobolds. As they brought out their finds, Red muttered, "It's a tool of evil. I can't let it live to be used by evil again." Paris watched him slip away, knowing that he would kill the slug the others had left alive and guide-less.
The mages examined the scrolls. A pink rose petal dropped out of the first one Calais had found. The scroll itself seemed to deal with first level Water magics. Mia's eyes lit up. The next scroll dealt with Arcane magics; the third, with Fire magics. The fourth dealt with [Sheryl can't read her scrawl, sorry]. The fifth Claire handed to Paris, claiming that it seemed to be fighter stuff, strategy, tactics, or some such. Paris' felt her heart leap. Perhaps the Duke could use this -- and, just perhaps, he would know someone she could train with. It might be possible. She pulled her thoughts away from the commanding image of that poor man trapped in his wonderful armor and realized that Calais was again pealing armor off orcs. Calais found 14 more of the blank silver cards that Genelle and Kivan had considered important. Could those also help the duke, Paris wondered.
Paris started searching for other things, signs that the foresters had been captured by the orcs. Or, perhaps, the alleged mage with the books. Were these scrolls, perhaps, the books mentioned? But she found no fingers, no bones indicative that the orcs had feasted on anything greater than rabbit in this lair. No bits of clothing or metal buckles or human weaponry. Not that those things had been in evidence in the caves of the Font of Chaos; but this was smaller in area. She found nothing but Red and the slug. The slug had been peppered with arrows, each one dissolving in the acidic flesh of the monster. Red seemed somewhat bemused at the loss of his weapons, but Paris had a rapid vision of just how many weapons would have been lost had all the Party decided to help kill the giant slug. For a moment Paris wondered if the slug had also dissolved any trace of the 2 foresters or the mage -- and pushed the thought away. There would be nothing she could do or say to help that.
Anton checked the new found treasures with what he called "magic sight" or some such. Then he swept through the rooms. In the first room, Anton pointed. There's a circle here. It seems to be some sort of transportation magic. Not big enough to move an orc. Maybe a scroll."
Calais pulled out the burnt pieces of parchment and started translating from the Fell language they were written in. Something about going to The Place and preparing there for something -- some battle? -- and not letting these messages fall into the wrong hands. Paris shook her head, still tired. She'd have to get Calais to read it again when she could think about it more carefully.
At last all were ready to head back out into sunlight. As the first of them stepped through the cavern entrance, there came a whistle and a shout. "Run this way! We'll cover you!" The others stopped for a moment but Paris, suspecting that Georges and Kivan might have found them, followed the directions. The others followed. Indeed, all four rangers were waiting, expecting to provide rescue for the young adventurers who had gone into the orcish den.
EPs: 14 cards
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