Wherein a Swamp is Crossed and an Ambush is Sprung…

From Defiant, the small team of adventurers press north, hot on the trail of the orcs led by the dwarf, Bulgaren. Despite their best efforts, though, by dusk it is clear that these orcs are making much better time. Rather than push on into the night, Finn decides they should camp and strike out at dawn. It is a difficult, tense and very uncomfortable night, but is thankfully uneventful.

Around mid-morning on the second day, they encounter a campsite that, to their surprise, contains four orcish corpses. A quick investigation transpires and Arn is able to deduce that these orcs were ritually sacrificed for some sort of necromantic reason, though the purpose behind such deaths eludes him. Even more troublesome is that these orcs do not appear to have been restrained in any way; as far as Arn can tell, they willingly allowed themselves to be murdered! It is a disconcerting discovery but, with their avenues of investigation exhausted, Finn orders them to strike out once more.

Again, the day passes with no sign that the orcs are slowing. In fact, it appears that the adventurers are falling behind somewhat as Bulgaren’s group appear to be making excellent time. Near midday, the adventurers reach the Acid Swamps of Solfor where they debate their next course of action as the trail clearly goes through; as going around the swamp would add more than half a day to travel and there is no indication that the orcs destination isn’t in the swamp, it is decided that they will pursue. Thankfully, Finn recalls a story of a similar situation from the Huallapan Crusade so they spend time seeking out plants native to this swamp to wrap around their feet.

The trek through the acid swamp is frustrating and disgusting, with the adventurers struggling to keep their footing and to avoid the more dangerous spots. Midway through this crossing, a vicious caustigus attempts to snatch Ilanna and drag her into a dank pool, but she springs back out of the way and Zistral rams his spear deeply into the beast, forcing it to retreat. Rather than delay on an unnecessary encounter, the adventurers press on … though Arn does hurl a fireball at the creature when it pokes its head back out of the pool.

Once out of the swamp, the adventurers continue following the orc trail until dusk when they opt to make camp and rest to recover from the trek. When dawn arrives, they once more set out and reach a massive encampment in the mid-afternoon. There are far too many orcs present for them to simply charge forward so they spend some hours maneuvering to avoid patrols while conduction visual recon. This observation allows them to estimate that there are at least two hundred warriors present, an overwhelming number that the score of Defiant defenders would be hard-pressed to hold against. Finn, who has the most strategic mind, notes that the orcs have not even started preparing for a march which he takes to mean they are likely to simply send a large raiding party instead of the full force.

While relocating to avoid an orc patrol, Haruki accidentally knocks down a rotten tree while trying to hide but that is not what draws the orcs’ attention; instead, they discover Finn’s notes on the encampment which have unluckily fallen from his pack when they relocated. Upon seeing the patrol commander apparently issue instructions to send word back to the encampment, Finn orders an assault: they cannot allow these orcs to survive and alert the others! Zistral charges forward, being the swiftest, intent on bringing down the scouts sent back, while Ilanna and Thorondil loose arrows at the rest and Arn hurls a small fireball. Finn, Haruki and Yusuf race forward on foot (though Finn quickly falls behind his faster companions) to engage the orcs. The skirmish is over in a matter of seconds with none of the adventurers taking injury.

After concealing the bodies of the orcs and searching them for intel, the party relocates once more in an attempt to get a better look at the encampment, with Thorondil especially eager to sneak forward in order to determine whether Erandil is imprisoned within. As night sets in, they can see the dwarf, Bulgaren, conversing with an orc before heading north with a party of thirty or so; the orc then gives an apparently rousing speech which none of the adventurers can understand (or really hear due to their distance away) which results in much cheering. A large number of the orcs then begin to gather arms and gear; it seems clear that the raiding party is finally assembling.

Time is running out.

Player Notes:

• Arn was present after all so we sent Ser Toby Kname to elves instead.
• The Players are (logically) presuming that the sacrificed orcs led to the Dementor things in the stinger for the previous session that claimed Ser Dane’s life, but the characters are ignorant of that and have no real knowledge of necromancy so this remains an ominous mystery to them.
• The orc ambush on our part kicked off a debate regarding the nature of Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) that was never actually settled.
• Two players will definitely be out next week so … I actually don’t know what we’re doing. Gigermann (Thorondil) wants to conduct a stealth operation into the encampment to possibly rescue Erandil which we may handle?