13. The Ambush
As we took our rest
in the barn, we examined the items we had taken from the bodies of the slain
orcs. In addition to a small sum of
coin, Erim found that one orc wore a finely crafted pendant, which Rock
determined was made of white gold. The
pendant carried a symbol of two clawed white hands with thumbs
interlocked. Those who know more of
Faerun’s religions than I identified this as the emblem of Yurtrus, an orcish
deity of disease and death. The amulet
is magical according to our mages, but they did not have time to determine the
nature of the magic. Nekaya avers that
the amulet is not evil.
We formulated a plan
for our encounter with the giant Hillfang.
Sandrue wisely suggested that we eliminate his giant dogs first so that
they would not make battling Hillfang more difficult. We agreed that I would act as a decoy to lead
the dogs away from their master and into an ambush prepared by my companions. At about midmorning we set out in the
direction the orcs had indicated the giant was traveling. The weather had cleared and the snow glared
brilliantly in the sunlight. Near midday
Billy Turner returned from scouting to tell us that he had found something we
should all see. From a ridge we looked
down to see the giant and his companions some distance off. Their path would lead them to cross a wagon
road leading from Camber. We decided to
prepare our ambush by having me wait on the wagon road.
While the others set
up their position some distance off, Aratan and I waited on the road. I could hear the giant chuckling in a deep
rumbling tone as he neared, and a good deal of crashing. Then a large tree limb hurtled past me. The two giant dogs, which resembled wolves
more than dogs to my eyes, burst from the forest in pursuit of the tree
branch. One of the large canines
observed me at once but the other appeared more interested in the tree branch
until it noticed what its companion was looking at. The first beast lunged at Aratan and I
spurred him to the fastest gallop he could achieve in the deep snow. The chase was on.
Aratan was as swift
as the wind despite the snow. We
maintained a satisfactory lead on the two canines, enough to prevent them from
catching us but not so far ahead that they might lose interest in the
chase. When we came to the location that
my companions had chosen they began to fire upon the dogs with crossbows. As I turned Aratan to join the fight, Liadan
emerged from her hiding place and one of the dogs sprang upon her. It bore her to the ground, but she was able
to rise again before I could reach her.
I could not see much of what happened with the rest of my friends,
though I caught a glimpse of Rock facing the second dog. The first animal knocked Liadan off her feet
again. A few well-placed blows
eliminated him. The second dog was also
quickly dispatched. Liadan was somewhat
injured but not seriously. We employed
potions to heal those who were hurt so they could be at their best to face the
giant.
We decided to remain
in position and wait for the giant to come seeking his dogs. We buried the dogs in snowdrifts and swept
away some of the evidence of the fight, but not before Rock asked me to cut off
the head of one of the dogs. Then we all
assumed positions under cover. We could
hear the giant speaking with his two orc companions as he drew near our hiding
place. As they approached it seemed that
they grew suspicious, for the two orcs turned off the path and moved among the
trees. Rock then flung the severed dog’s
head out into the giant’s view and stepped out to face our largest foe. Though I would have liked to ride straight at
the giant to aid my friend, I chose to attack the orc that was nearest to my
position.
My arrows did not
much trouble the orc. As I steered
Aratan closer to my enemy I could hear Rock bellowing at Hillfang, and
whistling sounds that I think were Erim’s magical missiles being flung at the
giant. But the trees blocked my view of
much of the combat. The orc I faced
moved away to aid the giant against Rock, so I turned my attention to the
giant, though I could not find the proper angle to make my bowshots strike
true. It seemed that the spells Sandrue,
Erim and Phaele had carefully prepared were most effective, however, for the
giant suddenly toppled into the snow. I
made certain that he would not rise again.
His two orcish compatriots were also slain. To our great satisfaction, we had succeeded
in defeating the giant with relatively little harm to ourselves.
Neither the giant nor
the two orcs carried any missives or maps containing useful information. We found a wounded fox in a sack slung over
the giant’s back. Liadan put it out of
its misery. Among the detritus the giant
carried Rock found a silver tankard set with jade. It was damaged but he intends to repair
it. Though it was difficult, we removed
the giant’s head, both to serve as evidence of our success and to display for
the benefit of the giant’s orcish comrades.
Before departing from the battle site we uncovered the corpses of the
giant canines for the orc army to discover.
We were greeted with
enthusiasm on our return to Camber.
Though we learned that Hillfang’s head is not the only giant skull
within the walls of the town, we are nonetheless proud of our
accomplishment. The severed head makes
an impressive sight above the main gate.
No doubt my Erendis would be amused by my pride, for she has certainly
encountered much more impressive foes. I
look forward to hearing her tale of her experience with the abyssal dragon when
next I see her.
14. The Siege
We did not have much
time to bask in the pleasure of our accomplishment. Reports from the scouts indicated that the
army was very near. After a few hours of
rest we prepared ourselves for battle.
During our rest period Erim and Sandrue examined a black iron rod found
among the giant’s possessions. It had a
sort of button at one end which they presumed was intended to activate some
magical feature of the rod. As a precaution
Rock took the rod outside before pressing the button. Once the button was depressed the rod became
immobile in midair. Rock and Sandrue
found this quite exciting and began proposing various uses for the rod as a
weapon or aid to combat. Rock even
suggested sitting upon the rod to rest during battle!
The orc army arrived
during darkness, naturally. They did not
show much evidence of good tactics, surging against the walls in small groups
as they reached the town. Though their
attacks were poorly planned they were effective in that the defenders had no
time to rest between waves. I could not
see much of what befell my companions, being too occupied with defending my own
section of the wall. The palisade around
Camber is little more than three times my height and made of logs, and the orc
corpses piling at the foot of the wall soon began to provide a means for their
fellows to climb up and try to pass over the wall. The other giants among Micah’s forces also
caused considerable difficulty, as they were able to reach up to the top of the
wall and snatch down unwary defenders.
I heard reports that
the wall was breached in several places as the night wore on. At one point not far from my position, the
wall fell to a giant. Rock leapt down
from the wall and faced the creature. I
fired as many arrows at it as I could to aid my friend. Fortunately the wizard Master Sonnohm was
able to repair the broken section of wall with a spell. Rock was barely able to get back inside
before the new stone section appeared.
At one point in the
night I heard that Erim had fallen, but it seems that he was saved from death
by the intervention of Liadan or the priestess of Chauntea. I am relieved that I need not mourn a fallen
companion yet, particularly one of my own people who is so young and full of
promise. To my knowledge none other of
my friends has been so near to the end of life, though all of us were hurt in
the battle. Rock has been able to
withstand numerous wounds that would have been grievous to one not of dwarvenkind. So many arrows pierced his armor
that he resembled a hedgehog.
When full light came
the orcs retreated from their assault.
Much to our surprise, they vanished entirely from the immediate area of
the town. We could only presume that
they had gone to forage for food. We had
observed during the fight that many of them seemed in poor condition, which may
have accounted for their reckless behavior in attacking the walls. My companions and I rejoined one another and
formed a plan to make an attack upon Micah.
As we had seen in previous encounter, he kept a bodyguard of ogres, but
we hoped that a stealthy attack might give us an advantage. There was no guarantee that the orcs would be
greatly troubled by his death, but based upon their behavior during the night
we suspected that the loss of their leader would send them into confusion.
In the evening we
disguised ourselves in orcish garb taken from the bodies of the slain, and
crept out through one of the breaches in the wall. Much to our disappointment – particularly
Sandrue, who took it almost as a betrayal – Rock elected not to accompany
us. I hope that he has some plan he has
not had the opportunity to share with us.
We worked our way around the town to the south side where the gate lies
and hid among the trees. But before we
could begin making our way toward the orc camp where we believed Micah could be
found, a group of orcs and ogres approached the gate, bearing a flag of truce. We observed a Man walking among the
ogres. We watched in confusion from our
hiding place as the Man spoke with the mayor of the town for a short while,
then he and his company of orcs and ogres were admitted to Camber.
The all-clear signal
we had agreed upon went up at once, but we were reluctant to simply stroll back
inside through the gate, though we could see that it had been left ajar. As we made our way back to the place where we
had exited the wall, we carried on a hushed discussion of what our next actions
should be. I had been rereading my journal
entries during our rest the night before, and it had brought to my attention
the fact that Covenant sought a single gauntlet. I thought it odd that another solo gauntlet
should appear so near to where Covenant sought his goal, and I mentioned this
to my companions. Sandrue thinks it
unlikely that there is any relationship between Micah’s blue gauntlet and the
Gauntlet of Dawn that Covenant seeks to acquire, and I agree with him for the
most part. I wish that we knew what
power Micah’s gauntlet possesses.
15. The Gauntlet
After we reentered
the town we were told that negotiations were taking place at the First Gate
Inn. We made our way there as quickly as
we could. We were able to observe Micah's
party ahead of us and see how many orcs and ogres were in his company. At least two of the orcs appeared to be
magic-wielders. There were three ogres
with him. We had heard that his gauntlet
gave him great strength, which caused me to wonder why he had need of the
ogres.
By the time we made
certain that the gate had been closed and approached the inn, Micah's party had
already been within for a short while. A
guard at the door told us no one was else was to be admitted on the mayor's
orders, but Sandrue cleverly persuaded him to permit us entry. As we set foot inside it appeared that Micah
had already stated his demands, but he called out to us that he wished no
spellcasting to occur. Though Erim had
feared we would not be welcome, the mayor seemed relieved by our
appearance. We spread ourselves out and
Rock began to converse with Sandrue in a low voice, telling him what had
occurred before our arrival. Micah was
evidently curious about our presence. He
recognized Phaele and Sandrue as natives of Halruua, and spoke in the tones of
an educated man. I cannot imagine what
his purpose was in commanding the orcs.
I observed that
Micah's gauntlet was indeed blue as we had been told. It appeared to be made of a blue metal rather
than painted or enameled. On the back of
the hand was a white symbol resembling a horseshoe. According to those with more knowledge of
history than I, this was the symbol of some great general of the past who
gained infamy for betraying his own army.
We had wondered if this might be Micah's intention as well. But that will not persuade us to forgive him
for the death and destruction he has caused.
One of the orcs with
Micah spoke up and made threats at the townsfolk. Micah chastised him. Then to my surprise Micah shouted out,
"Kill him!", seeming to direct this command not at the orcs but at
us. The orcs did not react well to
this. One of the ogres nearest to Micah
moved to attack him. My attention was
caught by another ogre moving on one of the town militiamen. Liadan and I stepped forward to oppose the
ogre, as there were also wounded townsfolk in nearby alcoves.
The ogre proved a
difficult opponent. He badly wounded
Liadan and myself and was difficult for me to harm. I had little awareness of what went on around
me. I heard Commander Puffleweis whistle
at one point, and caught a glimpse of the power of the gauntlet when Micah used
it to fling some magic at someone behind me.
When at last Liadan slew the ogre I turned to oppose an orc who was
already engaged against Nekaya, Rock and Commander Puffleweis. Rock brought down this foe. Once all the orcs and ogres in the common
room had fallen, Phaele and I volunteered to go out to check the gate. We feared that some of Micah's party might have
fled to open the way for the army.
As we departed the
inn I caught sight of Micah fleeing. I
gave chase, fearing that if he reached the gate he might admit his compatriots,
or return to the army and command them to attack at once. Despite the snow he was able to outpace
me. At one point I struck at him with my
longsword and he deflected the blow with his gauntlet. It left a terrible gouge in my blade. When we reached the top of the wall Micah
simply flung himself off into the snow.
I drew my bow and fired on him, as did several of the archers on the
wall. We struck him, but he was not
injured enough to fall. He vanished into
the darkness.
Much to our relief
the orcs did not return to swarm the walls.
One of their shamans had escaped from the town, reportedly by
transforming herself into a crow. By all
appearances she must have warned the other orcs of Micah's betrayal. Within a few days the orc army appeared to
have dissipated as the starving orcs either fought with one another or left the
area to seek food.
Though we have
succeeded in preserving Camber, it is not by our own strength of arms. Sandrue seems despondent over the turn of
affairs and takes little pleasure in the survival of the townsfolk. Rock has moved his sleeping quarters to the
town militia barracks and speaks to no one.
I am uncertain why my friends are so disturbed. Perhaps it is because the preparations for
battle took our minds off our concerns for our absent companions. I dearly desire to be with my beloved Erendis
again and hear her thoughts on such matters.
16. Interlude
As the snows of
winter fade from this land, I begin to think of Evereska, wishing for the grand
trees and gentle lights of my home. But I know that I would not feel at
home there without my Erendis by my side. Now that I have tasted some
small measure of what her life in the world beyond Evereska is like, I am not
certain I could ever be content there.
My heart is dark with
foreboding now. Perhaps the dour moods of my friends are to blame.
I have spoken with Rock, but he is not yet willing to share his thoughts with me.
Liaden called upon
all of us to meet with her at the South Gate Inn a few days ago. She
asked us to make a pact with her to seek out our absent companions wherever
they may be. She is still convinced that Covenant is no more. I was
at once willing to join her in this venture, but some of the others were not so
eager. I had forgotten that Sandrue and Phaele had only traveled with
Havin Wayfinder for a short time before meeting the rest of our group, and
hence do not have the depth of feeling for him that Liaden has for
Covenant. Erim, too, has no great attachment to Jastra Moondown, and
would likely be just as pleased to return to Evermeet and his studies there,
though he did not say as much.
Rock would make no
commitment, announcing that he would give his answer in three days time.
Liaden was much disappointed by this response, I think. Sandrue and
Phaele have indicated that they may wish to travel to Arrabar and possibly from
there seek passage back to their native land of Halruua. Sandrue is
having great difficulty adjusting to the ways of people other than his
own. Before I parted from them to speak with Rock, I remarked to Sandrue
that if he is so unhappy in the company of those who do not know Halruuan ways,
then it is unlikely he will ever be happy anywhere other than his
homeland. I hope he did not take this as an insult. I too find the
ways of the people I have met strange, even Erim's ways and he is of my own
kindred, but I will seek a way to live among them despite their strangeness.
Rock and I have
spoken regarding his troubles. It seems that he sees the affairs
surrounding Micah's entry into the town much differently than the rest of our
companions. He is convinced that the orcs did not return for a concerted
assault because Micah somehow persuaded them not to do so. The rest of
our friends - myself included - had assumed that Micah merely fled, and that
when the orc shamaness advised her folk of his betrayal the orcs became divided
amongst themselves and lost their will to fight. I still do not believe
that treating with Micah would have been wise, but perhaps if affairs had
followed a different path we might have been able to eliminate the orcs of this
region altogether, and spare Camber from future depredations. I do not regret
what might have been. Rock takes a different view.
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