Session 10: Retreat and Report

General Summary

As the party split up, Khorg and Picasso fled into the darkness above the camp. Looking back they saw that the cmap was now fully mobilised, many loud voices could be heard and burning torches were visible below.   The Giant and Citrus managed to evade any pursuers and climbed out of the chimney in the minotaur cave. They looked down upon the camp seeing the raiders streaming out of the western end of the canyon, not knowing that they were in hot pursuit of their companions.   Meanwhile, Khorg and Picasso attempted to make their way around the canyon edge towards The Giant and Citrus. It soon became clear that there were many raiders in the woods above the canyon and they quickly found themselves surrounded by sounds of movement and the shouts of the pursuers. They caught sight of movement in the bushes and a massive lizard burst out into their path. The size of a large dog, they remembered seeing something similar prowling amongst the streets of Greenest. As the lizard bounded towards them Khorg caught a glimpse of winged creatures above and rocks rained down from the sky. One rock dealt Khorg a fierce blow to the head and he staggered under the attack, blood streaming from a nasty head wound as the fearsome lizard neared them, but staying on his feet he gritted his teeth against the pain and prepared for the beast's arrival.  

  Khorg and Picasso managed to fight off the winged kobolds and Picasso finally landed the killing blow on the lizard as they heard many voices around them in the undergrowth, they quickly sprinted off into the trees and managed to avoid further patrols. Once the voices had died down they moved south to link up with the others.   The Giant and Citrus waited quietly in the undergrowth listening to sounds of pursuit and the hoots and howls of kobolds. Hearing a rustling nearby, they quickly drew their wepaons, but were relieved to see Khorg and Picasso step out from the undergrowth. Quickly and silently they headed off to the North-East, skirting around the rim of the canyon and then heading North. Again, they heard lots of noise from searchers but the party managed to avoid detection, but as they headed North away from the camp they saw winged figures hovering high above and heard pursuit from behind and as they increased their speed the pursuers seemed to stay with them. The Giant deduced that he could outrun the pursuit and aid his slower companions by transforming into his wulpine form. In this way they were able to move far more swiftly and the sounds of pursuit gradually died away, it seemed they were safely away and headed towards Greenest feeling a little less wary.   The party had taken a different route this time to their arrival at the camp and found themselves on a large, flat plain. There were strange piles of earth dotted throughout the landscape as though giant moles had been burrowing. As the companions slowly approached, the ground began to shake and two large, insect-like creatures burst from nearby earth mounds! It quickly became clear that they were not friendly and The Giant identified them as 'Ankhegs' using his knowledge of nature and the animal life of the Sword Coast. The party prepared to defend themselves as the Ankhegs dove back into the earth and began to borrow towards them!     As they burst from the earth the tough, chitinous hide of the Ankhegs resisted most weapons but had no effect against magic and the party managed to fight them off with few injuiries. They pushed on and around midday finally saw the welcoming site of Greenest from the top of a hill. They trudged wearily down towards the town and saw that already there was more life around the edges of Greeenst than on the previous visit. Some homes were being rebuilt, others stood burned out or were being dismantled, far beyond repair. They made their way to the Keep and were greeted warmly by Governor Nighthill, Leosin Erlanthar standing nearby.   The party settled down for a well-earned rest.....