22 Wajenio, foothills near Grydykar
Today we finally found what we were looking for. We were riding around
searching the foothills just as we'd been doing for the past too many days, when
Alanna spotted smoke coming from behind the tips of one of the hills. We rode to
the source and discovered two buildings at the top of a tall hill -- each was
flat against a cliff wall, so that the only reasonable way to approach them was
by the dirt path we were following.
We approached the smaller of the two buildings, which turned out to be a
stable. After stealing two of their animals, we left our horses behind the
stables, so they wouldn't be visible from the building. Then we quietly sneaked
over to the door of the main building.
Unfortunately, I couldn't pick the lock, so Thibor and Demetrius had to bust it
down. So much for subtlety.
Oddly enough, when we burst into the room it was empty, and no one came
immediately to attack us. We were in some sort of dining hall, with a long
wooden table surrounded by benches and one very large chair -- it looked like we
might be dealing with a giant here. And we couldn't help noticing that the
ceiling was very tall.
But we didn't have much time to admire the decor as a group of orcs rushed into
the room, followed by two men with swords. One of the men was big, though hardly
giant-sized, and wielded a two-handed sword.
Well, the orcs were easy pickings for tough adventurers like us. Thibor
quickly cast a spell that shot huge, sticky webs at the orcs, trapping most of
them in the corner. The remaining few we dispatched easily. While Alanna cast
some sort of illusion to make herself invisible so that she wouldn't get attacked
and could cast spells freely (something about making the wall look like it was
somewhere else, I don't know -- sometimes Alanna talks over all our heads),
Demetrius and Thibor attacked the big guy with the two-handed sword.
Seeing that the smaller guy was heading right for Alanna (apparently he'd seen
through her illusion), I intercepted him. I think I slashed at him once before
he cut into me with his sword. I screamed in pain and suddenly I was airborne,
flying over the table and into the wall behind Demetrius and Thibor. The last
thing I remember was the looks of surprise on their faces as the guy who'd hit me
turned his attention to them.
By the time I woke up (glad to see that we were all still alive), we were
camped with our horses in a clearing far away from that place. Thibor healed us
(again) and the others filled me in on what happened while I was out cold.
As soon as I went down Alanna dragged me out of there, screaming at the others
to retreat. The guy with the two-handed sword might not have been as strong as
the brute who took me out, but he was no pushover, and Demetrius and Thibor were
pretty beat up already. And now they had another opponent to deal with.
Well, Thibor, and even Demetrius might get caught up in the spirit of battle
sometimes, but they're not stupid or suicidal. They saw right away that we
didn't stand a chance against these guys. Not now, not in the condition we were
in (especially me). And so the two of them started backing up slowly, keeping
their eyes on the enemy. Even as our party retreated, Thibor threatened the two
fighters. He informed them coldly that no one had ever taken one of us down and
lived to tell about it, that we'd be back, and he'd see them all burn in Hell.
Then, having reached the door, they turned tail and bolted for the horses.
As soon as they reached them they mounted up and took off at breakneck speed.
When they'd put some distance between us and the enemy, they paused only long
enough for Thibor to heal me. I'd barely opened my eyes before some giant
spiders came at us. We ran from those, too. Geez, what a day.
We've decided to rest here for the night, since we're so beat up. And we've
also decided to head for the village of Grydykar in the morning. It's painfully
obvious that we can't handle these guys without a little more muscle on our side.
Since we've got money, we're going to head to the village and hire ourselves
some thugs.
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