Taking No Chances
Carnac, Norgrim's dog starts to bark as Thindra and Amos release their crossbow bolts at the unsuspecting Orcs resting under a tree ahead. Farfordda takes cover behind a boulder, relinquishing first shot to the dwarves only as he pauses for thought - could they parlay rather than fight? Magdalena sends their horses back the way they came and Norgrim marches forwards with Carnac at his side.
Two of the Orcs return fire with bows as the others charge.
Soon Norgrim and Carnac are engaged in melee with the great axe wielding leader and another with a cleaver. Carnac wrests the shield from one and Magdalena charges in before Norgrim lands his first blow, disarming the hulking leader with a critical to the arm.
The party soon have the upper hand. The first orc to fall (taken down by Amos and Thindra) shockingly coughs his way back to life and makes a run for it but is chased down to the riverbank and dispatched by Magdalena. The other Orc archer was the first to make a break for it, getting on a fierce sprint he would likely have escaped had not Farfordda cast Entangle all too well, and brought the Orc down in an eruption of roots, though he paid the price in the form of further tainting from Corruption. The confused Orc pleads for mercy as Farfordda races up and delivers the killing blow.
It was all over in minutes.
Norgrim and Amos sustained injuries which Magdalena attended to before chasing after their horses. They dumped the Orc bodies in the river and considered next steps.
Farfordda employed Etelka Herzen's wand to cast Lie of the Land, searching for some spot where they could make a secure camp. The only cave he sees is nearly 5 miles north, just over a mile west of the ford in a high valley behind the ridge on the west bank of the Taub. They cannot make it before dark, and not with the horses, so they elect to retrace their steps and make camp in another valley half way back towards where they started out this morning.
It is well into night by the time they pitch up, digging a pit for their fire in the hopes of minimizing their visibility - they need its heat to dry their clothes and gear.
The following morning they decide to release the horses, ditch what they cannot carry and make for the cave. They split the rope between Thindra and Norgrim and dig a pit to bury their tents and the barrel of gunpowder. They send the horse and mules off packing in the direction of Dunfurter and return to the river, getting back on the trail a little after 10am on the heavily overcast morning of Nachgeheim 18th ...
