IDROTF C1E7: A Boy and his Human Report

General Summary

The party was taken aback by Kadgrith 's reckless charge. They were badly outnumbered so, while the Half-orc charged up the middle the rest spread out.   Saryeras kept to the western side of the battlefield, trying to pick off targets at range; but many of his Firebolts went wild.   Zinlis Arosath headed towards the eastern side of the battlefield, finding a remnant of a wall from some long forgotten building that he could use for cover.   Andove Littlefoot centered himself on the battlefield, hoping to be able to quickly get close enough to offer healing to anyone that became injured. He also cast Heroism on Kadgrith in hopes it would help him stay alive.   Kadgrith became the target for many an orc's javelin as the Many-Arrows party closed the distance. He then found himself quite quickly surrounded. Firebolts from Saryeras and arrows from Zinlis Arosath peppered his adversaries and he swung mighty attacks with his greatsword. While the javelins had done little damage, the orcs' greataxes bit deep. Fueled by his rage, Kadgrith was able to shrug off much of the damage, but he was still in trouble; and the Half-ogre was closing the distance now too.   Andove Littlefoot needed to get closer to Kadgrith , who was bleeding profusely whether he tried to ignore it or not. The bard managed to restore some of Kadgrith 's vitality while casting Vicious Mockery at one of his assailants; though he cause minimal damage he did successfully distract his target - and drew the attention of the Half-ogre onto himself as well.   The rest of the party concentrated on the orc caster and the Half-ogre. Kadgrith managed to down two of the orcs, and when a third was dropped by one of Zinlis Arosath's arrows the ranger noted that the warchief and caster exchanged glances and began surveying the field. With some space cleared around him, Kadgrith charged past the remaining orcs and engaged with the warchief; the two exchanging both insults and blows. While this battle raged on, and the caster began a retreat to the east, Andove Littlefoot needed to put himself in the line of danger in order to heal Kadgrith again and now found himself surrounded by orcs and the Half-ogre. Thankfully, his diminutive size and his innate Halfling luck meant that the Half-ogre could not land a blow. Saryeras was able to get some shots in against the Half-ogre while Zinlis Arosath fired arrow after arrow into the remaining orcs.   Eventually, Andove Littlefoot was standing free again and Kadgrith had gained the upper hand on the Many-Arrows warchief. Saryeras and Zinlis Arosath tried to chase down the caster, but he escaped just as Kadgrith landed the kiling blow on the warchief.   "Kadgrith , WHAT THE HELL?!" were the unanimous first words from the party as the fight concluded. Kadgrith responded, a scowl on his face and the rage slowly draining from his body, "Those were of the Many-Arrows tribe. It was they who slaughtered my own tribe, who had imprisoned me for those years, and from whom you rescued me Zinlis Arosath and Saryeras ." To a man (and Halfling) they tightened their grips on their weapons, "You want us to chase that last one down then?" they asked. Kadgrith grunted. "One day. But there is no glory in abandoning our quest to swat a fly."   And so the party rested for the remainder of the night and set out once more for Kelvin’s Cairn in the morning. They arrived at their destination part way through the second day after the fight with the orcs. Boy led them directly to a base camp, where they found the remains of a sled, provisions, and the rest of the sled dogs. Freeing the dogs, who were near starving, the party received licks and nuzzles before the animals bolted in the direction of Termalaine. Helping themselves to some of the remaining supplies, the party was soon being led by Boy up the mountain.   After travelling for some time, the party came upon four mountain goats standing on an outcropping of rock some distance above them. They contemplated the creatures for a time, before deciding to continue their way up the switchback they had been following.   Hundreds of feet up the mountain, they came to a glistening white expanse of packed snow. As they reached about the midpoint, a loud crack came from further up the mountain; followed by a rumbling noise as the ground began to shake. All eyes swept up the mountain in response - "AVALANCHE!" someone cried and they began madly to race across the remainder of the exposed area to safety. Andove Littlefoot had been trailing behind a ways, writing in his journal apparently. When the mad dash began he was smack dab in the path of the avalanche, while the rest of the party was much closer to the safety afforded by overhanging rock further ahead. Saryeras , Zinlis Arosath and Kadgrith quickly cleared the path of the avalanche; but when they turned back to see Andove Littlefoot they saw the mass of snow and ice had closed over half the distance to the little Halfling and he'd barely moved 20 feet. A rope, hastily tied to a hunter's trap, was thrown to Andove Littlefoot so he could fasten it around himself; the rest of the party grabbed hold and prepared to try to yank Andove Littlefoot clear.   He had managed another 20 feet or so, aided as he was by his friends, when the avalanche hit him. Andove Littlefoot had never experienced anything like it. He was hit full on with the force of hundreds, maybe thousands, of pounds of snow and ice. He was buried, encompassed, encapsulated in moments. He swept to the limit of the 50 foot rope in seconds. The rope went taught, and unbeknownst to his friends it nearly cut him in half at the waist as the snow continued to push him down the mountain. Zinlis Arosath failed to get a strong enough hold on the rope and it was ripped from his hands before he had a grip on it. Saryeras and Kadgrith held the rope firmly as it went taught. Neither was prepared for the force that pulled against it. Saryeras did not react quickly enough to the realization that he could never hold the rope against the force of the avalanche, and he was still gripping it with all his might as it slipped and tore through the skin of his palms. Kadgrith at least had the chance to realize the situation was hopeless and he let go of the rope before the same fate could befall him.   Andove Littlefoot was tossed, tumbled, and battered over the course of another 1000 feet down the mountain. At one point he was smashed into a tree, cracking ribs and losing what little breath he had managed to hold. Then a boulder twice his size rushed past him from behind, clipping his shoulder and skull and he nearly lost consciousness then. Finally, no more than 300 feet from the bottom of the mountain, something (he never knew what) hit him full on the head and he was unconscious.   Andove Littlefoot had no sense of how much time had passed. He opened his eyes and saw darkness. He breathed in and got a mouth and nose full of snow. Panic set in. He was buried alive! Saying a prayer to Tymora and closing his eyes and mouth as tightly as he could he began to kick, claw, scramble and dig his way ... up? down? He couldn't tell. Then, as quickly as it began, he burst free of the snowy tomb and lay broken and bleeding atop it - staining it crimson. Calling on his healing magics, Andove Littlefoot healed the worst of his wounds as best he could. Able to stand and see now, he looked around. He was at the foot of the mountain again, too far below to see or be seen by his companions. "What do I do? What do I do?" he thought to himself. Then he had a bright idea! He pulled out a sling stone from the pouch on his belt. He cast the Light cantrip on it and then place it in his sling. He swung the sling around and around his head and then launched it as far upwards as he could...but he timed it poorly and it didn't go far before ricocheting off the mountainside. He tried a second time, and this time sent the stone on a high arc.   1000 feet above, the party had quickly abandoned any hope that the Halfling could have survived the avalanche. "No one could," they said. And, as they were turning to continue their journey up the mountain, Zinlis Arosath caught sight of a sudden flash of light down below. "Did you guys see that?" he asked. "I thought I saw a point of light arcing against the darkness below." Saryeras came over and the two saw a second arcing light. Saryeras answered with a Firebolt cast down the mountainside. "He's alive!!"   The party began to make their way back down the mountainside, while Andove Littlefoot made his way back up it at the same time. They met up once again just about where the four mountain goats had been seen before...

Character(s) interacted with

A hunting party from the Many-Arrows orc tribe. The Eye of Gruumsh was able to escape, but the party slaughtered the remainder.

Notes

Kadgrith  revealed that it was the Many-Arrows tribe that had slaughtered his own tribe and taken him prisoner.