Day
40
Cullen,
scowling, watched Xin search the dead hobgoblin's body. After several
moments, the half-Elf pulled out a leather scroll and a piece of
parchment wrapped around what turned out to be a large ruby. After
studying the leather scroll for a few moments, he read the parchment.
“Here,”
said Xin softly, holding the scroll and parchment out to Ashrem,
“You'll want to see this.”
Ashrem
took them and began to read, his face turning pale. “Those
bastards...”, he muttered, face taut as he handed the parchment to
Cullen.
Cullen
read:
My
troopers carry this gift to show our intentions. Together we can tear
our enemies to pieces, their arms ripped from their living bodies,
and their heads screaming as we wrest them from their necks. We've
slaughtered or enslaved all in the human town save for a few weak
stragglers now lost in the woods. We can hunt them down as one, or we
will be done with your claims to this region.
Scarvinious
“Arrogant
bastards!” shouted Cullen. Drawing his sword, he strode over to the
body of the hobgoblin. Pushing Xin aside, he brought his sword
down...severing the hobgoblin's head. “Headless and food for the
crows!” he said, picking the head up and looking at it for a moment
before tossing it aside.
After
wiping his sword clean on the body, he returned to Ashrem's side.
“We'll find your family,” he said softly, gripping his old friend
by the shoulders.
“There's
this, too,” said Ashrem, handing Cullen the leather scroll, “Looks
like the location of an Ironfang outpost...where that bastard came
from, maybe.”
Cullen
took the map, studying it. “It's only a couple of days away,” he
said, eyes blazing, “We need to investigate...might be a chance for
some payback!”
“Maybe
some of those they...enslaved...are kept there,” said Ashrem,
hopefully.
Makoa
joined them and, after reading the letter and studying the map,
agreed that they needed to scout out the enemy camp.
“But
first we need to let Aubrin know....” said the half-Orc. “And
before that...I have an idea!”
Makoa
took out the Tree Feather Token that they had found on one of the
Troglodytes and, kissing it, he placed it on top of the bodies of the
hobgoblin and wolf...stepping quickly back.
Almost
immediately a sapling sprang forth from the token, quickly growing
until it had become a huge forty-foot Oak tree. The tree screened the
entrance to the caves perfectly, making it impossible to see unless
one should be standing right in front of it.
“That's
changed the look of the land a bit,” he said, grinning as the
others looked on in wonder, “Make it harder for anyone who knew
where the caves where to find them again.”
The
companions then headed back into the caves to tell the others and
ready themselves for the journey to the enemy camp.
Day
44
The
journey had been a long and arduous one. The forest was particularly
dense, rising and falling over hill and valley, making it hard to
find anything. In the end, it took four days rather than two. And it
was Ashrem who, scouting ahead, finally discovered the enemy camp.
Hidden
in a deep ravine and protected by steep cliffs on three sides, the
enemy camp was well protected. A wooden palisade covered the only
approach, with one locked gate allowing entry. Furthermore, the land
about had been cleared of trees, giving the defenders a clear line of
sight to anyone approaching. At the far end of the ravine, stairs
rose up the cliff-face to a watchtower standing atop the highest part
of the cliff.
“They've
done a good job,” said Cullen, begrudgingly, “Very hard to get
close without being seen. And the long grass in front of the palisade
probably hides all sorts of nasties...”
“Those
brambles might offer a way to observe them...” mused Makoa, nodding
in the direction of a dense thicket that ran up the left-hand side of
the ravine, perhaps fifty foot wide.
“Maybe...”
said Cullen, frowning, “But those thorns would rip you to shreds.”
“Worth
a try,” replied Makoa. “Can't see any other way of getting a
better look.”
The
companions agreed that Makoa would carefully follow the brambles to
the top of the ravine and crawl into the thicket near the top, giving
him a good view over the camp. He'd stay there a full day, observing
and gathering whatever intelligence he could. The others would wait
half a mile or so back, hidden deep in the woods away from any
trails. If Makoa wasn't back by the end of the following day then
they were to assume he was dead or captured.
Day
45
The
sun was beginning to drop in the sky, when the sound of someone
approaching had the three anxious companions reaching for their
weapons.
“It's
me,” said Makoa, coming out of the undergrowth. Clothes torn and
face bloodied, the half-Orc looked downcast.
“There
are a lot of them!” he said, dropping to the ground, exhausted. “I
counted twelve Hobgoblins, five Bugbears, a Warg and dog. There might
be more.”
“Shit!”
said Cullen, angrily, reluctant to give up on the idea of attacking.
“A
patrol goes out in the morning and returns at dusk,” continued the
half-Orc, wearily, “One Bugbear and two Hobgoblins. They follow a
strange and particular path through the tall grass...”
“Traps!
I knew it. Clever bastards!” spat Cullen, frowning. “But we can
whittle them down. Ambush the patrol. Kill them. Wait till they send
out another patrol to look for them. Kill them, too. That'll leave
ten or so in the camp. Better odds.”
“Yes.
And if that doesn't work we can create a distraction,” said Ashrem,
nodding, “Lure some of them out. Deal with them a few at a time
rather than all at once on their own ground.”
“Maybe,”
replied Makoa, looking a little more animated, “And there are
always a few of them sleeping...at one point half a dozen of them.
Take them a while to get their armour on.”
“So
we're doing this then?” asked Xin, looking at his companions,
“Right. So once we've whittled down their numbers...what then?”
For a slightly easier read, a PDF of the write-up on Google Drive here.
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