Characters Present
Ugg, Ankhan, Markus, Ladian, Kihn, Oramis
Our heroes found themselves drawn to the city of Ostwin on the shores of the Sea of Armagh. They came for their own reasons, for knowledge, for faith, for money, or revenge. Unfortunately the stolid city of Ostwin is not the best place for rowdy men who make danger their profession and soon enough all of them found themselves on the wrong side of an iron cell.
Each of them were shackled and thrown unceremoniously into the back of a prison wagon. This took them out of the city proper and into a fine manor house about five miles outside the city proper. Once they were dragged out of the wagon the city guards departed without a backward glance and a small man dressed as a servant ordered their chains struck off and led them into the back of the manse into the servants quarters.
Here a man named Praster introduced himself and told them that he was a criminal kingpin and that he had identified them as capable individuals who could be of use to him for a specific job. Praster intimated that he was going into the antiques trade and he had been made aware of a lead on how to obtain a valuable relic of the old empire.
He had been told that an unknown mage had been seen doing extensive research on the location of various magical artifacts. After a few weeks of daily study, he had suddenly departed into the wilderness alone, stopping only long enough to visit the city market and purchase some survival gear and traveling rations.
Praster indicated that he wanted them to track down the mage and obtain the relic, which he described to them IN GREAT DETAIL. At this point they were given back all of their possessions and allowed to leave after questioning Praster's informant about their target's activities. Including a clue in the form of a map copied out of an ancient manuscript that pinpointed two possible destinations; one to the northwest in hilly wild lands plagued by marauding orcs, and another to the south in a more settled lowland area.
Reasoning that if the relic where located in an area that still had regular traffic, it would have most likely been found already, our heroes set off towards the hills to the northwest. Markus' navigational skills and tracking and proved invaluable as he led the party through the increasingly difficult terrain leading into the Focari mountains. Their trek proved relatively uneventful until the morning of the second day.
It was approaching midday when the party was navigating through a narrow defile surrounded on both sides by a gentle rocky slope when trouble was spotted. Kihn was the first to notice the shadowy figures slinking around above them. He shouted a warning to his new compatriots and readied his massive blade for an ambush.
The sight that met their eyes as they lifted them to the heights chilled their hearts and would have set lesser men scurrying for escape. An entire warband of orcs and goblins rushed down upon them, the orcs slavering in anticipation at the battle to come. Spotting a large well-armored orc on the left flank, Kihn moved quickly to intercept them. Meanwhile Ugg, feeling the battle lust bubbling just beneath the surface strode out to the right. His fearsome visage was such that every opponent who moved to attack him lost their nerve at the last moment. Markus readied his bow to begin dealing death to the onrushing orcs and Oramis glided charged the nearest enemies, his blades whispering out of their custom leather sheaths and laid low the first goblin that came within his grasp. This terrified the late goblins broodmates and they broke and ran for their lives. The stoic dwarf holy warrior Ladian had grimly unlimbered his shield and hammer and moved out to place himself between his most vulnerable companions and the horde of wild creatures.
After whetting his blades in the thin blood of the goblins, Oramis dashed across the field to find a worthier foe. He found this in the form of a handful of orc warriors armed with rusty weapons surely looted from dead men. Markus, having drawn his bow and put shaft to string, loosed it in one smooth, practiced motion and buried it to the flights in the hide of an orc, who thrashed in pain and dropped to the ground, dead in seconds. Kihn found himself alone and surrounded on the left side of the field and did well merely to hold his own against his raving opponents. Ladian stepped forward with unstoppable intent and raised his mighty hammer to brain an orc who had tried to get past him to his allies. On the right flank, the orcs and goblins had finally overcome their terror of the great beast facing them and danced around him, darting in with spears and arrows to bloody the giant. This served merely to enrage Ugg and something inside him snapped and he roared with murderous fury and laid about him with his massive stone-headed maul, leaving broken bodies in his wake.
Up the hill, the orcs captive realized that, for the moment, the orc camp where he had been held prisoner was deserted. Wasting no time he promptly extricated himself from his bindings and collected his belongings. His curiosity got the better of him and instead of fleeing into the hills he moved cautiously down the rise to investigate the cause of his sudden opportunity. When he spied the melee below he knew that his best chance of escape lay in supporting these strangers and driving the orcs off. To this end he crouched down behind a low slung boulder and began to concentrate. He reached out with his will to the dark corners of the universe and began to marshal the phenomenal power needed to alter creation.
Down below, Kihn had struck a telling blow on the orc chieftain and enraged him. With a bellow he ordered his minions back and pointed with his huge cudgel at the injured clansman. He rushed forward with the unstoppable rage of a charging bull, Kihn barely managed to lunge to the side and avoid being trampled. The combatants danced around each other for long tense minutes, the orc chopping away at the smaller man whose defense became increasingly desperate. Finally, with one great sweep the orc connected solidly and swept Kihn from his feet and into blackness. As he raised his club to finish off the insensate human, the orc standing in front of him was struck by an arrow and killed. Looking out across the field for the first time in many minutes, the chieftain saw his warriors locked in combat, he saw the nearest cohort of his band chasing a wildly laughing shadow elf and being cut down in great numbers. Forgetting the prostrate foe at his feet he lumbered off towards the rest of the battle for more things to kill.
To the right, Ladian found himself overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of opponents, for every one he engaged, two more slipped around behind him. His hammer worked unceasingly, up and down and his arm burned with the effort of stoving in thick orcish skulls, but never did it slow in his steady, machine-like motions. Over and over again the dwarfs sheer stubbornness defeated his enemies as they pressed in on him from all sides, raining blow after blow that were wasted on shield and armor. Those that slipped past though, made for Markus, who was forced to abandon his bow and draw his shortsword and buckler.
Out in front, Ugg and Oramis continued to slaughter all those who came within their reach. The few remaining goblins finally realized that they feared these killers far more than their cruel orc overlords and slipped away in the confusion. The orcs were doughty fighters and used to the hardships of battle, but their skill was simply no match for the virtuosity of the elf or the sheer brute power of the wildman. They traversed the battlefield at will and left nothing but slain enemies in their wake.
Markus found himself locked in a fight for his life as more and more orcs got through to him. relying on his superior mobility, Markus dodged back and forth, leaping across rocky gaps and ducking behind boulders as the orcs chased after him. He struck blows as he was able, but more and more of the foul creatures closed in and he knew that it was only a matter of time until his foot slipped or an orc landed a telling blow. Then, inspiration struck in the form of a watermelon-sized stone tied to a tree branch. Ugg, having finished killing everything on his side of the battlefield, had wandered back over to the center. His pelt was sticky with blood, both his and his enemies and his killing lust had left him drained and somewhat lethargic. This was not to say that he was not still enthusiastic about smashing orcs, he just went about it in a more sedate manner than previously.
Ladian gathered himself and pushed forward into the horde opposing him, he laid about with his hammer and forced the tired orcs back a step, and then two. Crying his dwarvish warcry he positioned himself in the center of a chokepoint and set his feet, eyeing the orcs over the rim of his shield and daring them to try him. This became a non-issue as, strangely enough, a huge tiger leapt down from the rocks above and tore into the hapless orcs. Showing not a bit of the surprise he felt, he simply turned away in search of new foes and left the screaming orcs to their fate.
Oramis let out a shout of triumph as he deftly removed an orcs head with his razor sharp blade and watched grinning as it spun through the air. He tracked the arc of the head until it crashed into the ground at the feet of a massive orc with a bloody iron maul. The two combatants eyed each other for a brief moment and then, looking past Oramis to survey the battlefield, the orc turned and fled. He had been so intent on confronting the murderous elf that he did not notice the rest of his warband being slaughtered and now, finding himself alone, his orcish courage deserted him and he though only of living to see another day.
Unfortunately for the chieftain and any plans he might have had, the elf was far faster than he and in no mood to see the architect of the attack escape. He ran down the orc after a brief foot chase and, deftly avoiding the orcs uncoordinated efforts, removed his head with almost surgical precision.
Ankhan was uncertain of what might happen next, the travelers had helped rescue him, in a manner of speaking, but in these dark times that meant less than nothing so he called his conjured tiger back and ordered him to confront the great mass of fur and muscle that approached. The wildman and the great cat eyed one another for a brief moment, then Ugg extended his hand and the cat sniffed it and licked it. Just like that the tension was gone and Ankhan decided that whatever happened next, he did not believe these strangers meant him harm.
"Hello, my thanks for your help with the orcs." Ankhan said, watching the others as they gathered around him.
"Greetings, by the look of ye, ye've had a rough time of it." intoned Ladian.
"Indeed I have, but it is all in the service of a good cause."
"And what cause would that be, that would cause a man alone to be found in this dangerous place?" Asked Oramis as he eyed the new arrival with suspicion.
"My quest is my own, you need only know that I am a wizard of no small power. I am grateful for your intervention but I would take a dim view of any further inquiries into business I consider my own."
"Ak-ook, oo mag eye!" Rumbled the wildman, pointing at Ankhan and gesturing excitedly.
"by the gods, it speaks!" he cried, taken aback.
"Uchu nota Maagak!"
Ladian looked back and forth between the lumbering brute and the young mage, "Tell me, master wizard, would you happen to be searching for a silver rod, a silver rod with some connection to the old empire?"
Despite his best efforts Ankhan could not keep the shock from his face. "Who sent you?" He asked with noticable menace in his voice.
Ladian stepped forward and answered; "We were hired by a local....dignitary, to find you and see you safely to your destination. Our employer has an interest in ancient relics as well as wanted us to ensure that this scepter did not fall into the wrong hands."
Oramis looked confused, "That's not right, he said we were gonna sell oof!" he exhaled sharply as Markus elbowed him in the ribs.
Ankhan listened to this exchange, but in his head he was pndering this new turn of events. It seemed that his time in Ostwin had not been as discrete as he had hoped. It seemed that a local criminal element had learned enough of his purpose to smell an opportunity for illicit profits and had sent these pawns out to steal the scepter as soon as he found it. Well, that was a knife that cut both ways, he would make use of them to reach his destination, and once he had want he needed, there were ways he could evade his erstwhile companions that they could not possibly counteract.
He was a wizard after all.
...to be continued. Next time; storming the walls of the Arsis Lacerium, an ancient center of magical learning in the old empire.
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