Tavern Tales 5

Orcs have sacked Casty's Rest. A few days ago a large band of marauding orcs come down out of the mountains and attacked the fishing village on the shores of lake Seiber. The populace fought bravely, but were ill equipped to deal with a such a threat. A handful of women and children managed to escape on the fishing boats, thanks to the sacrifice of their menfolk, but all who remained were torn to pieces and the buildings razed to the ground. Mill home would have been next, but for the intervention of the steel guard. A contingent of these trained warriors were in Serrice helping to uphold their Lords bargain with the village. Upon receiving word of this deadly threat they immediately rode out to meet it, under the command of their Captain Tamrin. Joining with another contingent that had been patrolling for sign of ankhegs or elves, they fell upon the orcs in the late morning. I do not have the voice to extol the prowess of each man in turn; suffice to say that many of the orcs were slain, several captured, and the rest driven back, humbled by the might of men. But let us not forget that this victory did not come without sacrifice. Wilm of Mill home, Hur of Edge and Okur Belson all lost their lives in this battle. Though it will not ease their grief, Lord Drak will provide a gold to each of their families to honour their noble sacrifice. As for the orcs that were captured, they were delivered into the care of the priests of Hextor. Using their unearthly powers the priests were able to learn that this was not a random raid, driven by the orcs usual desire for chaos and destructions. No, these orcs were hunting a group of elves. Elves that had taken refuge somewhere in our lands. And it appears that these are the very same elves that had been driven out of Mikel's town not that long ago. Unwilling to face us in open and honourable battle, these conniving creatures had lured the orcs down from the mountains sand set them against us. On learning of this Lord Drak ran out of patience has decreed that all elves are outlaws. A 20gp bounty for each left elf ear turned in. Anyone found to be helping the elves will be counted a traitor and subject to execution. Within a matter of weeks, a force will be dispatched to eliminate the nearby elven settlement once and for all.