The Prince brought us to Tuallen, where we were to start our mission. We arived to find the city in ruins. Half of it was burned to the ground, and the other half was infested with Plauge. The Duke had died just days before we arived, and the head healer had taken over in his stead.
He told us that the Dukes son had been captured, taken with several other hostages by orcs and other monsters. Gailin decided then and there that we would retrive the boy at all costs. I personally agreed with him. Orcs are almost as bad as gnolls when it comes to brutality, and no one should be left to them to die.
We made camp just outside the city walls, and I took Green with me to patrol in case the orcs that destroyed the city decided to come back. We met rangers out beyond the destroyed half of the city, and they greeted us kindly and thanked us for our help.
Gailin and Raen did what they could for the wounded in the makeshift hospital, and, after a few hours of rest for all of us, we set off into the mountians to hunt some orcs.
Tracking the beasts wasn't dificult. Only an army could have left the trail they left. Still, I learned a fair bit about tracking in the days we spent going after them.
After two days we came upon a battle scene. Orc bodies every where, and far fewere Rangers. It was grim satisfaction that the Rangers had killed so many before they fell.
Then all hell broke loose as a carrion monster erupted from a pile of bodies. We killed it quickly, but not before it injected Gailin with it's paralyzing toxin. He came around shortly, but it was a tense few minutes for all of us.
The next day we found the orc outpost we'd been looking for. A single guard was short work for Green, but my stupidity almost cost us our lives. 'Tossing an axe down a hill will rouse an oger.' I'll remember that little phrase next time I need the men in one of my merc units to be quite.
We moved forward with some torches, into the inky blackness of the cave... |
