The Urze was slain, but rest was not yet earned by our heroes. Due to the rain, an ogre was looking for shelter and food. He saw the cave and
Kalamor and gave a disease-filled toothy grin. The ogre tossed aside the corpse of the goblin guard he'd found and went after a fresher meal. He was so outclassed.
While
Kalamor dove for weapon and shield,
Frug threw his cooking stick aside and charged the giant. To everyone's shock, the diminutive gnome altered form into that of a great brown bear, easily matching size with the ogre and stopping it cold in the entrance of the cave. Darius annd
Ngithol moved to flank while
Kalamor blessed his allies. The ogre never stood a chance.
Sleep came quickly after that, with the regular watch assignments. In the early morning, before everyone was awake, both
Kalamor and Darius were focusing on their morning prayers;
Kalamor down by the creek, and Darius at the mouth of the cave. It was that momentary distraction that allowed the elves to sneak up on the servant of the
swift sword.
Three elves in total, all looking battle-weary, wanted to know why a group of adventurers had entered their territory, and with a kobold, no less!
Kalamor and Darius explained their situation while
Ngithol's flippant attitude did little to help. Their leader,
Laer-Thuil, a female wood elf bearing the markings of both a ranger and the
Golden Arrows, accepted their tale before requesting their aid. Her party was tracking a group of Orc through the
Fyban. It had been years since any Orc dared enter the forest, and not in the numbers reported by scouts. The elves were ambushed and barely escaped with their lives. Even worse,
Laer-Thuil all but confirmed the leader of these Orc was the lost
Tanarukk, a demon-blooded Orc born in the blood of Orcus worshippers. He had evaded the destruction of his kin, and appears to be amassing a horde.
Darius was quick to accept the quest, and the others were but a breath behind him. Orcs are no friend of the good races.
Malvus offered to earn Drhyff and finish business with the Kobolds. He would meet up with them afterward. After mending some wounds, the heroes broke camp and made haste to Rurr, a small logging outpost in the middle of the forest. It would likely be their first target. There the orcs could gain much needed weapons and food. With the elves as guides and scouts, travel was only hampered by their overall speed, and not much of that, even. Before long, the heroes encountered a group of orcs on an advance scouting mission. The very same that ambushed and killed
Laer-thuil's brethren. It was only fair that they return the favor.
What a bloodbath it was. Darius and
Kalamor took the advance charge, while the elves laid out suppressive fire.
Laer-thuil loosed arrows from her bow that froze in mid-air before sinking deep into her targets. It was an impressive show of force. The Orc archers were routed by A shapeshifted
Frug, and
Ngithol kept anything from getting clean shots at both
Kalamor and the elves.
With the orcs dispatched,
Laer-Thuil interrogated a survivor and confirmed her suspicions about the
Tanarukk and the orcs target of Rurr. Wounds forced the party to rest, but they knew their small group would still make better time than the warband. It would only be a few more hours before they reached the outpost. The people were warned and began evacuation while the party resupplied and set out to delay the warband.
