Varthlokkur has been training with the other Troll Slayer.
Day 617 (the next day)
We go back to Halfor asking for more work. He gives us the task of gathering the rare Lombus flower that grows up in the peaks of the Southern Gray Mountains. Nivak and Varthlokkur laugh and don’t believe that we’re going to pick flowers. They stop laughing when they hear how much gold we’re getting for the job (250 Gold per ¼ bag). Ilmarian’s entertaining has gotten much better! He’s earned us 8 Gold in the past 2 weeks – a huge improvement from the coppers he used to bring in! Nivak’s spent the past 2 weeks training. After all that training, we didn’t have near enough money to purchase food for our month-long journey to and from the mountains. So, Caradryan negotiates an advance from Halfor (who holds our horses and cart as collateral). That gets us just about all the food we need and Nadon and Caradryan figure they can hunt and forage for the rest. Now we still have the problem that we do not have any climbing gear or winter clothing, so Ilmarian generously offers up his new magical sword that he got from our last adventure in the goblin cave as a trade-in for a plain, old regular one. (He hasn’t even had the chance to use it yet!) This gives us enough gold to purchase the necessary equipment.
Day 618 (the next day)
We head out for the Southern Gray Mountains.
Day 621 (3 days later)
We see some strange movement up ahead, so Nivak goes to investigate. He comes running back with the news that there are goblins, ogres, and orcs as far as the eye can see. He’s sure that they didn’t see him, but they are definitely heading in our direction and most likely heading towards Goldum. They are far too large in number to take on ourselves and there is absolutely no way of going around them, so we turn around and make haste back to Goldum to warn the town watch.
Day 624 (3 days later)
Arrive back in Goldum. We haven’t slept much since the past few nights – wanted to stay as much ahead of the enemy as possible. The town watch doesn’t seem too impressed with our news, so they send out some scouts to check it out and give us lodgings in the barracks for the meantime.
Day 625 (the next day)
The scouts came back today and the enemy army is only a day or so out from town. Captain Morgansen of the town watch enlists our services for the upcoming siege at 10 Gold each per day. Caradryan and Nadon decline the gold. Jezeg wants his pay to go directly to the Myrmydia temple. Nivak asks for the company of a few “ladies of the night” and Varthlokkur asks for alcohol instead of the gold. Ilmarian says he’ll negotiate his pay after the battle. (I guess he wants to see if the town’s still standing first.) I take my 10 Gold per day. Yes, that’s right, I’m greedy.
Day 626 (the next day)
The town prepares for a siege and we rest up as much as we can.
Day 627 (the next day)
4:30am: Captain Morgansen puts us into position on the town wall. I can see the enemy’s numbers must range in the several thousands and they have catapults and stone-throwers ready for the attack. It’s a long and bloody battle. Nivak narrowly escapes death with a fantastic jump to safety when his section of the wall is hit and begins to crumble beneath him. With the overwhelming numbers of enemy flooding through the breaches in the wall, it’s difficult to keep track of all of our party. We lose Varthlokkur at one point. Two sections of the wall have been overrun with goblins, orcs, and ogres, so Morgansen sounds the retreat relative safety of the town itself. We continue fighting our way through the streets and re-group near the center of town. Varthlokkur finds his way back to us just in time to make a break for a nearby house as 20 orc boar-riders come bearing down on us. They charge past our impromptu hiding place and I thank Myrmydia. Morgansen stations Caradryan, Jezeg, and some other injured soldiers in the house and takes the rest of us through the streets as a clean-up crew. It’s not too long before the enemy retreats back outside the town gates. From our vantage point atop the wall, we can see that they are merely re-grouping for a second attack. Morgansen enlists our party and two others to sneak out to the enemy’s supply lines and set fire to them.
Battle Records: Caradryan = 3 kills (all 3 with 1 “Sleep” spell), 2 assists, stopped the doctor’s bleeding. Nadon = 20 kills, First Blood, shot Ilmarian for 13 damage, took no enemy wounds (only took wounds from shrapnel). Lillay = 17 kills (including 1 orc). Ilmarian = 4 kills, 1 assist (orc), shatters his sword. Nivak = 5 kills, lost 1 fate point. Jezeg = 5 kills, highest damage kill at 28 points. Varthlokkur = 19 kills (including 2 orcs & 1 ogre), 1 kill with his fists, lost 1 fate point, rolled 100 (x3) trying to kill an orc.
Notable Quotes: (OOG) Scott to whoever happened to be watching him bite into an empty Tic-Tac container: “I didn’t swallow!”