The date is Friday, 8th September
It was snowing as we headed off in the direction of
Skol. It took a week of uneventful travel and we arrived in the village of Skol once again.
The date is Thursday, 14th September
The time is 10:00 AM
Ahead of you to the north, smoke rises against the crisp blue sky, but this is more than just the thin grey plume one would expect to see from the cooking fires of Skol.
Sellis turned into a giant eagle and allowed
Tinnan to see through her eyes and say what he could see. His report was grim:
Goblins swarm around Skol. Smoke rises from the town as the defenders put out blazes caused by goblin fire arrows. The farmsteads to the northeast of the town are destroyed. Goblins throw themselves recklessly at the barricades, the river runs red with their blood and the odd body washes downstream. The goblin captains watch the battle from a nearby hill, their grim banners flapping in the breeze.
We charged in to attack the captains on the hill but...
Whilst watching the desperate scene, a shadow passes over you and a shrill barking call can be heard from a monstrous bird that flies overhead. The goblins on the nearby hilltop look over, orders are given and a mass of frenzied goblins charge you.
The goblins were easily obliterated but then the goblin leaders rolled burning bails of hay down at us. There were a lot of them. The field was lit up. So were many of us.
Chi and
Sellis caught on fire. The rolling flame balls were followed by another wave of goblins, but these were bigger and meaner.
Seeing that you are worthy foes, bands of larger, more heavily armed goblins charge down the hill, banners raised as they yell their battle cries.
Fireballs flew and axes swung. Suddenly, where once stood
Sellis, now was a huge woolly mammoth! The orcs definitely had not planned for that eventuality.
As you hack and slay the frenzied goblins and their bodies litter the hill, the sky above begins to darken as thick clouds gather and slowly circle. A brisk wind picks up and a sliver of lightning briefly brightens the cloud as it arcs across the bottom causing an ominous boom of thunder.
After witnessing the goblin bands being destroyed, a small group of particularly large and evil-looking goblins flex their muscles and roar out their battle cries. These chieftains clearly seek the glory of separating your head from your body!
Suddenly
Fyren surprised us all by throwing up a spiral of blinding, distracting lights. Two of the chiefs and a giant white wolf were mesmerized by the effect and stopped attacking us. It turned the battle on its head. So the shaman dropped a lightning bolt onto Fyren in payback and pounded
Sellis and
Chi with a storm of ice. Things looked on a knife edge.
Then
Sellis called upon the wrath of nature and the very ground and trees rose up against the orc chieftains.
Fez, the leader of all the orcs, was pulled to the ground and wrapped in vines and branches. Whilst held down
Fyren lit him up with a fireball and scorched him.
Tinnan finished off the great orc leader and then we moved on to the others who were still hypnotised. They were still two great orc leaders and no pushovers, however.
A very close melee ended with the heroes just dispatching the last of the goblin leaders. Rockfist was not killed but was instead captured.
Seeing their chieftains cut down, the goblin horde rout and flee to the east, presumably from whence they came. The defenders behind the town barricades cheer mightily.
We took the booty and bodies of
Fez and Rockfist and headed into town. A discussion ensued about whether the goblin leader, Fez should be raised from the dead and interrogated.
The townsfolk line the streets, cheering and waving their weapons aloft as you pass by. As you reach the crossroads in the centre of town, Varis Nightbreeze himself is there to greet each of you with a warm embrace. He calls for Johan the innkeeper to let the ale flow, the clear up can begin tomorrow.
