High Elves Down

16 July 2008-

Well, after a little rest and relaxation in town, our group decided to continue on toward the reported area of the latest Banestorm, looking for trouble. We found it (the trouble, that is) only a few nights out of town, in the form of a serious rainstorm, which got suddenly and dramatically worse when we decided to tuck in for the night.

Then, off in the distance, Khavi (the centaur) spotted fire raining from the sky into the forest. The fire seemed to come from a circling aerial object, and was directed down into the trees. Having heard rumors of a high elven sky ship in the region, we thought that it might be them, but they were way too far away for us to either help or hinder them. After several minutes, the aerial fire stopped, although we could see what appeared to be ground fires in the area where the action had taken place. We decided to leave investigation until the morning.

The next morning was much dryer, and we set out for the thin column of smoke visible by daylight. Craig and eBill's wood elves scouted ahead, and as we approached, they could see the damage from the previous night's battle, with many trees scorched and some clipped off at their tops. There was more, as well, with figures in the trees which turned out to be look-outs. Craig approached them, and was told to get lost by the nearest one- a ghoul. A fight soon broke out, and we discovered that the ghoul was not alone, but had some back-up. eMike and Bill quickly took out the other ghouls (eBill's elf made an absolutely amazing brain shot from about 125 yards, and eMike Stone Missiled his), and Craig finished the first one. This allowed us to approach the main site, where we discovered the remains of a fight, evidently involving a giant, a group of orcs, and the high elf sky ship, which had been brought to ground by a large grapnel and chain. Crawling over the remains of the ship (and the combatants) were a clan of ghouls, evidently intent on a feast. We may have to crash this party.

"Your Mother was a Hamster..."

9 July 2008-

After our long hiatus, we were back in the saddle again this week, wrapping up Craig's adventure. We returned the children and the livestock we had rescued last session to their respective guardians, and thus earned the friendship of the locals, who helped us get the rest of the way through the fens to the small city on the other side. Once there, we met up with Jeff's PC's uncle, who was a man of substance in the region, and who happily welcomed our band of refugees.

We commiserated with the uncle for a day or so, but were then informed that the enemy leader who had started this whole thing in an effort to force Jeff's cousin to marry him had just arrived in town with a small armed force and a large group of slaves for the local slave market. Figuring (rightly, it turned out) that these were our folks captured in the raid, we suited up and headed into town for an old-fashioned showdown. It seems that in this part of the world, it is acceptable to call out one's opponents in public, and Brian's bard issued the challenge in a way sure to insult and enrage our foes. They charged, and eBill and eMike started shooting them while the rest of us closed the distance. Highlights included eBill's critical hit to a soldier's eye in the first round, and Craig's fillet of face of another- and Bruce chased down the "dirty stinking traitor" that had helped betray his own people and beat him to death. End result?: Us: Eight, Them: None- and the enemy Duke is now a head shorter. We get one clearly in the "win" column, and Jeff's cousin gets left alone.