Two horsemen ride up to a tavern...

Erika spoke the words, released the rose petals, but found only the two wolves fell asleep. This was concerning. Usually she could put orcs to sleep, but these...these ones were different. They were more powerful? Maybe. The havoc they were wreaking on her allies was nothing short of concerning.

The orc wolf handler cries out in anguish as his wolves collapse into the water. He charges up. Unable to determine what happened to his wolves, he throws a javelin at Katrin, who just narrowly deflects the weapon with her shield. Katrin takes 7 points of piercing damage to vigor, reduced to 3 by DR. The orc that was on guard at the top of the small encampment rushes over to behind a rock, where he had apparently left a shortbow and a quiver of arrows. Knocking one, he sends it flying at Kaed. It grazes the barbarian's shoulder, barely even leaving a scratch.  Kaed takes 3 points of piercing damage to vigor, reduced to 0 by DR. Kaed's action.

Kaed sees the wolves drop around him, the magical sleep unnerving but useful. As the spell washes through the area his skin tinhles and the world seems darker again, then his eyes shift somehow and everything seems to be in a shade of grey. He blinks and it doesn't change, he blinks again and the world seems exactly the same as before, sunlight shining down on them, reflecting up from the river water, the change disorienting for a moment. He turns and lashes out with his shield at the armoured orc, the blow forcing his opponent to take a step back, his footwork is poor and although he dodges the clumsy swing he leaves himself wide open for the sabre slash, delivered with the technique of a warrior with years of practice and the fearlessness of youth. The armour lessens the impact somewhat but Kaed smiles grimly as he sees the orc wince and gasp as the sword bites home. 

The female shaman charges Kaed with physical spear and spiritual spear, but is unable to land a solid blow on the human. Kaed takes 3 points of force damage to vigor, reduced to 0 by DR. The male shaman continues his attack on Katrin and drives home two solid blows, shaking the cleric to her core, but not drawing blood. Katrin takes 10 points of piercing damage to vigor, reduced to 6 by DR; and 7 points of force damage to vigor, reduced to 3 by DR. The wolves continue their magically induced nap. Ascian's action.

Ascian is still from the foliage, his aim trained on the shaman doing its best to down Katrin. He thinks of the way the dwarven woman had come to his defense just hours ago with the lions, and looses an arrow. It finds flesh, but not as much as he had hoped; there’s a faint frown pinching his brow as he sinks back into the leaves. 

Seeing the Shaman lay into Katrin, Kou darts in hoping to take the Orc's focus off the Dwarf. He slashes high with his first blow but the Orc nimbly dodges aside, he whips his left hand jabbing at the orcs stomach and is able to cut into his opponents armor. He yells  in a calm but firm voice at the Orc  "If you are looking for a fight try me." Hoping to buy Katrin a respite to heal or catch her breath.

As the shroud around him fades, Cal channels the energy back inwards, closing his eyes for a moment of serenity as his vision fills not with the sights of battle - of Orcs savaging his newfound allies amid the raging stream of a rocky creek - but of a single bright star. A single, swirling-mass of energy and gas condensed into a ball bursting with potential and power. And from that star his vision recedes further to reveal another burning star, and another. Each placed at seemingly random intervals from each other. Three align here, another few arc away from each other there, and more yet appear. To the untrained eye, the pattern would not be lost in the vacuum of darkness. But for Cal, it glowed like the lights of the north did shine upon the myriad islands that dotted the icy seas. Trails of starlight illuminated a path weaved in cosmic thread until the shape became clear: a figure of poise, arms tucked firmly against the tightly coiled draw of an archer's bow. Opening his eyes, the world around him shone in an astral light that emanated from his very body. To those watching, Cal had become himself a figure of pure radiant light amidst a darkened void. At every joint and nook and cranny along his frame a blue-twinged ball of light spun slowly in silence. Cal took in a long breath through his nostrils and exhaled slowly, turning towards the battle raging below. He thought for a moment to simply draw his own arms back like the archer in his mind, but at that moment the sight of Katrin caught his attention, and the blow looked bad. She wasn't hurt - he was sure of it - but she wouldn't take another hit like that easily. Raising a hand from his side, he gestured it towards her, "Stars guide your path, Lady Katrin. The last embers of your fate will not burn today."

The strike from the shaman left Katrin breathless, and she could feel the telltale aches of exhaustion in her arms and legs. Almost like a dream, Cal's words drift into her periphery, and she's struck by a surge of adrenaline. But she knew that if she didn't back away, there was a very real chance she could die, and there was no way she was going to deal with that inconvenience. Katrin swings out with her sword, and she can see the blade slice into leather, but the orc is unharmed. With her shield arm, she grabs hold of her holy symbol, keeping her eyes locked on the orc so as to see an incoming attack. A soft glow encompasses her entire body, and then vanishes. She can feel the protection of Tempus surrounding her, and she takes her first step back. The attack came as expected, the orc lunging forward with the spear, towards her leg. Almost without thinking, she brings her sword down, sweeping the spear back. Fire in her eyes, she yells out as she brings her sword in, cutting into the orc for the first time. Not enough to truly wound, but enough to cause him to stagger back a step, giving Katrin the opening she needs to get out of range.   

Thrandimir shields his eyes as Callahan erupts in brilliant radiance. Unexpected, to say the least. Digging deep into his remaining reserves of arcane power, the old wizard changes tactics, eschewing his usual illusions in favour of evocation. Reaching out to the elemental energies of the water that the orcs are standing in, Thrandimir freezes it around the legs of the nearest shaman, holding it in place. For a moment it looks like the Orc will break free, but then a single drop of blood runs from the wizard's nose and the ice hardens with a resounding crunch .

Erika had to shield her eyes as Callahan became the brightest star in the world. Such incandescence! Such power! She had to learn more about it. But now was not the time for learning. She saw Thrandimir freeze the waters around one of the shaman's legs, and she tried to do the same to the other. She gathered the frost on her right hand, clenching it into a fist and trying to get the frost to take but...but the other shaman had some kind of protection? She had to freeze this shaman, she just had to. Frost coated her left hand, and she clenched it too, but... Nothing. The spell failed. The frost dissipated from Erika's now freezing cold hands. She wanted to scream, but barely managed to stifle it.

The wolf handler reaches one of his pups and shakes it awake, speaking to it in orcish and scratching it behind the ears. The bow-wielding orc takes another shot at Kaed, but he handily deflects it with his shield. Kaed's action.

Kaed blinks as an arrow slams into his shield, the impact hard enough for the inside of the shield to suddenly be decorated by a nasty looking arrowhead. Drawing form his well of rage Kaed moves back into combat with the male shaman, the shallow water threatens their footing and the orc nearly over balances, Kaed pounces on the opportunity. The orc rights himself just in time to see the shield smash into his nose, an explosion of pain distracting him from the follow up attack. The sabre slashes out catching the wrist holding the spear,  and tearing through until it lodges in bone. The creature roars in pain, and Kaed smoothly passes the sword to his shield hand reaching over with his newly empty hand and twisting at the nearly severed hand and wrenching it clean off. Another howl, more a scream from the shaman and Kaed waves it in front of the shaman as he says " Need a hand, you murdering bastard?" As the orc pales and looks all but beaten Kaed turns his head back around towards Cal and Thrandimir, catching eyes with  Cal and holding up the hand, offering a wave with it. Dropping it into the water, he prepares for retaliation.

The wounded orc grasps his stump and pushes Kaed, disengaging from the fight and running up the hill, where he collapses in the loose, sandy earth near the bank of the stream. As he runs, he waves his good hand and sends his magical spear at Kaed, who slams it out of the way with his shield. The other shaman, covering his retreat, attempts to land a blow with her spear, but in a whirl of motion, the barbarian bats away the spear as well. She's able to get a glancing blow in with her spear, but it barely draws blood. The risen wolf charges Kou, but the monk simply places a foot atop the wolf's head and drives the animal back. The other sleeps peacefully.

His attention trains on first the fleeing orc before with an abrupt twist his focus shifts back to the thick of the fray. He waits a breath, watching with a faint grin as Kaed drops the hand to the river. Not far off the wolf snapping at Kou makes it’s presence known and Ascian’s aim steadies on the beast instead. I did warn you, Callahan. The sharp string snarls from his fingers and he barely waits to see the outcome before he’s obscured by leaves again, lingering just long enough to see the arrow catch right where he’d promised it would at the start of this - under the thick pelt of a wolf. 

Kou assess the situation the wolves and the other orc are dangerous but the shaman is the true threat. Kou runs past the wounded orc keeping his guard up incase the beast attacks but it seems to weary attack. He gets inclose with the priest and gives brutal upper cut cutting deeply into the orc and leaving a wound that will be sure to leave a scar if the shaman managed to escape. He tries to follow up with a left hand jab but the shaman is able to stumble out of his reach.

With Lady Katrin looking a lot better off for the time being, Callahan felt comfortable turning his attention to the battle at hand. After retreating for some cover from the enemy archer, he found himself looking downhill towards the still-large mass of attackers clashing with Kou and Kaed at the water's edge. One of the shaman's seemingly was gone by the time he looked back, but the other loomed near his allies, and they'd already proven they could be quite the threat. With the stars guiding him, Cal felt detached in a way. Like he wasn't entirely present, but more an observer and conduit for the will of the cosmos themselves. It made considering things like right and wrong and peace and violence all the more banal, compared to what simply what should and what shouldn't be . Thus, he found it a simple matter to turn his glowing gaze to the remaining shaman and raise both hands up towards the orc. Pressing the base of his palms together, his arms fully extended in front of him, he allowed the energy radiating off of him to coalesce around his arms. It rocketed forward from his hands, shooting out in a swirling meteor of energy that exploded upon impact. Without even a moment's hesitation to see how the orc reacted, he quickly drew one hand back sliding a finger along the inside of his wrist and down the length of his left arm as if drawing a string from a bow. His aim was quick but precise, and as he released his 'grip' on the bowstring a luminous arrow of pure light shot forth, piercing the orc in the point the previous blast had struck, and exploding in bright light around the enemy shaman. Cal neither smiled nor concerned himself with it. He simply turned and walked back along the hill to allow the starlight to gather for another shot.

Katrin gathers her strength, taking a deep breath, and sets her sights on the orc behind the sleeping wolf. She rushes forward, sidestepping the dreaming wolf, raising her blade to strike the orc. At the last second, she changes angles, bringing it slashing upwards, instead of down. And at the last second, the orc leans back slightly, and the tip of her blade barely scrapes armor, finding no purchase. She screams in frustration, eyes going icy cold as she prepares for retaliation.  

"Erika! The shaman!" Thrandimir calls out to the Elf when he spots her wielding the same frost magic as he is using. "Together!" The wizard yells, pointing at their target and gathering elemental energies to him as he steps out into the open to join forces, once more reaching out towards the flow of the brook around the Orc's ankles.

Thrandimir's voice caught Erika's attention, causing her to look over as he stepped out of cover. 'Together?' Her mind raced, and she realized that Thrandimir wanted to her to help amplify his magic. She moved with incredible speed from the bush she was by, stopping next to Thrandimir with her hands already covered in frost. 'I've never done this before, I really hope I don't screw this up...'

Thrandimir chants the cantrip's incantation, his hands sweeping in flowing motions as he manipulates the water of the brook. He can feel Erika's arcane energies alongside him as he does so, harmonising with his own until they fall into sync. Their powers combined, the waters swirl around the feet of the Orc Shaman, rushing up and solidifying to ice around his legs.

The bow orc aims at Kou, but the monk simply dodges the arrow with no trouble. The wolf handler hefts his axe and swings at Katrin, but the weapon bounces off a shimmering barrier of holy magic and impacts the dirt, sparks flying as it scrapes against the shield of faith. Kaed's action.

Ice from Thrandimir and Erika, beautiful, deadly magic from Cal, it all crackled around Kaed, making his teeth tingle. He had never experienced so much arcane and divine force especially so close to him, the darkness came again, his vision shifting into this new monochrome sight, this time there seemed to be a murmur in the back of his mind, but he couldnt understand what was being said. But this time it wouldn't pass, the darkness intensified and he turned to the orc, disorientated for a moment, unsure in himself. But the wild places of his homeland didn't suffer the weak to live long, with a deliberate effort he pushed the trickery away and pushed against the shaman with his shield.  In a desperate attempt the orc reached his arm over the top, trying to grab the tribesman but Kaed slammed the blade down almost sawing through another limb, seeing the opportunity to end this foe he swung both his arms around in a large circle the blade cutting through even more flesh until with a truly wrenching howl from the orc the hand flew off to land almost next to the other creatures' missing appendage. Kaed stepped, and roared in the Shaman's face,  taking a good bit of satisfaction as the blood loss and the accumulated wounds took their toll, finally and the creature slid down unconscious, bleeding profusely.

The wolf, wounded and scared of the battle, turns tail and runs, scampering as far as its paws can go. Ascian's action.

The shaman falls and Ascian's attention drifts away from the carnage, his bow aiming for the only other archer on the field; the orc's misses are giving his ilk a bad name. Eyes narrowed to bring the distance into sharper focus, he holds his breath for a beat, gauging for wind, before the arrow sails across the river and glances against orcish flesh. Not the fourth shot to the throat he'd been aiming for, but it's something, and he keeps watch for retaliation as he pulls back into shadow.

Full in tune with the stars now, Cal barely has to aim before firing another starrow from his hands, the radiant beam of light cutting through the steel air before piercing the side of the orc that had just struck Kou.

Kou effortlessly dodges the orc's arrow, looking up he examines the archer he can tell in his stance the being is going to run. Normally he wouldn't attack a fleeing man but with how little they know of the orc's presence in the area. His escape could endanger not only his companions but the village as well. He yells to his companions "Their escape could spell trouble, we need to keep them here."  Confident that his allies could handle the orc in the water he turns to chase the archer. The orc seeing a gap in his defenses lashes out with his blade. Kou is barely able to intercept the weapon with his gauntlets but the act severely drained his stamina. He then quietly mumbles a prayer to Tempest channeling the beings divine fury. As he does so he body beings to glow emitting a blue aura, as he does so the sky crackles and a lightning bolt falls from the heavens striking the orc who attacked him. He then runs towards the archer and manipulates the energy from his aura forming it into a bolt of lightning and hurling it at the archer. The bolt connects and he sees the orc's skin bubble and turn a deep shade of purple. He then takes a low fighting stance and recites the healing words, using the divine energy to help regain his fighting spirit.

Katrin is practically seething in holy rage, the glow of the spiritual shield surrounding her intensifying. She lets out a laugh as the orc's axe slams into the ground. She uses the opportunity and brings her blade in a sweeping chop across the orc's chest, spinning the blade with practiced ease. Gotcha that time, you bastard.  She can see the blood seeping through the orc's armor, and it shimmers in the light on her blade. "Bring it, you bitch." She goads the orc, settling herself in a grounded and steady stance.    

Thrandimir maintains his spellcasting as the Orcs begin to fall, arcing the wave of ice back across the brook towards the warrior facing Katrin. "Come on, girl," he growls at Erika as he concentrates on channelling the arcane, "stay with me."

Erika winced and shivered, the frost on her hands unceasing as Thrandimir pushed her to keep on channeling arcane cold, this time at the orc facing Katrin. She almost lost the thread, the connection with Thrandimir. "Everything is getting so cold..." She almost lost her concentration, almost. She shook it off, shunting another burst of arcane magic into Thrandimir's spell.

The wolf handler, in a last act of desperation, reaches down to awaken his remaining hound, then turns to flee. Katrin uses his momentary distraction to send her blade slicing through the orc's arm. The red of the blood is swept away by the current as the orc collapses into the stream. The wolf awakens and snarls at Katrin, but shrinks back as it realizes its packmate is fleeing the fight.  The bow orc flees into the woods. Kaed's action.

Kou's lightning sizzles into the orc and the flash of corresponding movement from the clifftop tells Ascian what he's been waiting for - the orc is going to run. Raising his bow ever so slightly to compensate for the renewed distance, his field of vision narrows and he aims, holding back the tension of the bowstring for a heartbeat longer than might be advised. When it releases, his breath goes with it and he can just make out the spray of blood from the orc's neck as the arrowhead cleanly skewers its throat, watching the archer stagger and then topple between the trees. Slowly, he climbs to his feet. He's almost smiling.

The sounds of combat fade, replaced by the noisy trickle of the stream and the quickly fading sound of a wolf fleeing through the underbrush. The horse, skittish throughout the fight, whinnies and stamps the ground nervously. As Ascian stands up from his hiding place, he can clearly see a few dozen bags of grain sitting upright in the wagon the horse is hitched to.  Those close to them can hear a few of the orcs continue to breath with ragged, gurgle sounds as they breathe through their own blood.

Katrin gazes down at the dying orc lying at her feet. A voice whispered in the back of her head. He could be useful. Not his time to die. Yet. She bends down and places a hand on the orc's forehead, and whispers a short prayer. The orc gasps. Alive. For now. 

Callahan, still in a luminous state, approaches Katrin and the downed orc, resting a hand on her shoulder as he looks down to her, "Are you alright Lady Katrin? Several of those strikes seemed to be rather close calls. I trust you are not too worse for wear? If need be I can patch any wounds you may have suffered." He looks down at the orc at her feet and takes a deep breath. "Thank you for sparing this one. We have won the fight and now we can speak to them, learn why it is they did what they did and what they meant when they claimed this is their  land." Regarding the orc before him, arm severed at the elbow, he winces slightly before continuing.  "I would very much like to question one."

Blood dripping from a few shallows cuts, his battle rage subsided, Kaed feels drained, he looks over the battlefield, proud of their accomplishments, they had met their enemies in battle and defeated them. None of his company were even really hurt. He looked down at the sword in his hand, bending and letting it be washed clean in the water, before drying it on his cloth he kept at his belt for this. The others would be debating what to do with the survivors but Kaed knew what he was going to do, there was a camp ahead and potentially coin and weapons too. He set off moving out of the water, seeing the body of one of the shaman. It was the first one he had removed a hand from, he had staggered away to die on the riverbank, no wait, Kaed detected the slight rise and fall of breathing and cursed to himself how hardy these orcs had been. In a moment he made his choice, the magic users were too dangerous, they may have had healing magics and certainly had other spells which could put them all at risk Kneeling down next to him Kaed's long fingers tilt the head back slightly so their eyes meet, he could see a spark of life remain and the sign of recognition. He sighed, as his hand reached down to his boot top and the stiletto that was sheathed there. "You were strong, I will give you that, and you commanded mighty magics. But for that reason I cannot let you live. May your gods take you to them." The young man's whispers are meant for the orc alone and the final words joined with the razor sharp point of the stiletto pushing deep into the orc's heart, blood leaks from his mouth for a second and the breathing ends. Kaed closes the dead shamans eyes with one hand,wipes another blade clean and stands slowly, before moving off to the camp.

Ascian drifts down from his position on the hillside, crossing down the slope to join the others in the water. His steps are purposeful as he heads towards the orc he'd first trained on, facedown and unmoving in the stream. His boot braces against the warrior's back and a pale hand wraps around the arrow, dragging it out of the warrior's throat and watching the new bubble of blood the force brings simmer to the surface and then dilute. He looks from it to Kaed, swiping near-white hair from his eyes with the back of a dirty hand still holding his bow as he follows the barbarian towards the camp, remarking listlessly,  "They don't have gods."

Katrin kicks at the arm, sending it splashing a few feet away. "I'm fine, though I appreciate the concern. Help me get this piece of shit out of the water." Katrin grabs the orc under the shoulder of the arm that she had so delicately removed, having noticed Cal's reaction to it as he had approached.  

The slow smirk of victory spreads across Thrandimir's face as he sees the last orc fall in the distance. " Good   shot , Ascian!" The wizard declares, with a low whistle of admiration. A lesser marksman would not have struck true at such a distance. Striding on down to the brook, Thrandimir quickly assesses the situation. The orcs were dead and dying and the survivors had to be secured for interrogation. "Not so fast, Callahan," he interrupts before the Firbolg can wake the one-armed orc. "You're absolutely right - it is vital that we determine what is behind this series of attacks and we must not waste this opportunity. Let us bring the survivors up from the brook to the tents. Ash, help me bind them before we wake them and we will speak with them one at a time , out of sight of each other, so that we can catch any lies in their stories. Inside the tent would be best, I expect." His plan in place, the wizard turns to their good-natured friend to emphasise the reality of the situation. "Make no mistake, Callahan. They will not willingly betray their kin. They will not tell us what we need to know without being manipulated into doing so. For the sake of the good people of Fireblade, it is our duty and responsibility to go about this intelligently and efficiently."

" They might, something gives them the ability to cast those spells." Kaed replies to Ascian, as they head to the tent, his eyes dart around searching for signs of danger and also opportunity. "I was greatly impressed with you skill at archery. The first shot you took was masterful, and from what I saw you finished more than half of our foe." He laughs, head tilted back, the tension of the conflict washed away as he remembers something. "I could have done with knowing you a few weeks ago, that bow would have come in really handy. Still, I survived and now let us see what the orcs have to compensate us for our efforts. "

The starry aura radiating from Callahan swirls and intensifies as Thrandimir speaks, until Callahan finally turns to acknowledge the man,  “Your concern is welcome if almost certainly disingenuous, wizard. I have observed you much in just a short time. Your words are only ever as real as your illusions, and your motives more often self-serving than not.” Callahan’s voice is neither harsh nor soothing, it simply is , as it rings with an almost unearthly vibratto.  “For that reason, and as the heavens will it, I will be in those tents questioning these men. I know full-well the importance of acquiring information from them, as it was I  who stated as much in the first place.” The swirling of lights and miniature cosmic clouds slows to a gentle drifting as he exhales through his nose. “Let us get started. They may lie if they like but it will not serve them. The stars always shine brightest on the truth.” With that he turns back to the orc, and looks off to the tents as Ash and Kaed approach the camp in the distance.

As he sees Ascian's arrow fly out and down the archer, Kou takes a look around the battlefield and sees that the other orcs are either dead or dying. He loosens his stance and takes moment to slow his breath. As he focuses on his breath he takes stock of himself, while tired he had fortunately avoided any major wounds. Though it looks like the orc's blade made a mess of his shirt. Pausing for a second, he concentrates his will, building the divine energy within himself until he sees the threads of his shirt begin to re-stitch itself and after a moment you would never have known the shirt was damaged.  He then heads off towards the tents and begins searching the area for any clues that may give more information on the orc and their plans for the area.

Kou moves into the main tent. In the muted lighting straining through the tent's heavy canopy, he can see a section of ground covered in furs -- likely a bed. There is a small chest on the ground next to a table with what looks to be a jewelry box on it. In the chest, he finds two small potions of healing, a small pile of coins, and what looks to be a large emerald.  Opening the small jewelry box, he finds a single smooth white stone resting on a small silk pillow. It is by far the nicest fabric in the tent, without a contest. A symbol in the shape of a stylized eye has been engraved and stained in the stone.

"Thanks. It's easier to shoot when you have someone taking the hits for you." He pulls rope from his pack to begin doing as Thrandimir instructed as they walked by, kneeling down in the water to begin tying the fallen orc closest to the tent. Dirt and leaves that had clung to him from his hiding place slough from him into the stream and swirl downriver. "I couldn't fight like you with that shield even if I could lift one."  His fingers are swift and automatic in making an unnecessarily complicated knot around the orc's wrists before he squints up at through the sun at Kaed, standing and motioning for the barbarian to help him drag the orc to the encampment. "Where were you a few weeks ago."

After dragging the armless orc to the shore, she stands up and takes a deep breath. Thanks for the help, she thinks with some bitterness. Towards who, she wasn't sure. Maybe Cal. Maybe the wizard. But it's not something she wants to unpack at the moment. She looks pointedly at the group standing on the other side of the river. "Look, this shitbag is a lot heavier than you would think. You want him in the tent? Then help me get him to the tent." 

"Of course, Lady Katrin. I was just about to. Here." He approaches her and the orc and leans down to leverage some of the weight, rather easily lifting the orc up and over his shoulder before looking to the tents. "Will you be joining?" He says, looking down at her.

Katrin laughs a little, both amused and impressed by the Firbolg's strength, her bitterness fading. "I've got a lot at stake with this mission. You bet I'm coming." She turns, and starts walking towards the tents with Cal.

As Kaed helps Ascian drag the orc up to the tents he chuckles to himself. " Fair enough, we each have our own strengths. But I have fired a bow before, in fact it would make sense to have the one that last orc you shot was carrying. He wont be needing it anymore." As they reach the tent, Kaed rests the body down, just outside the latent as Kou searches inside. " Come on show me where he was when you got him." The tribesman walks off after checking Ascian is following. "A few weeks ago I was in a small town to the north, cant remember the name right now. Was playing dice with a bunch of folk travelling around just like me. And one local fellow, didnt like him one bit, dice seemed to though, at least until I caught him switching them out for a loaded set. All hell broke loose, he had quite a few friends in the tavern and fists were flying everywhere, he pulled a dagger at one point so I broke his wrist and put him through the window. " The tall man looks down at Ascian with mischief in his eyes "I'd forgotten we were playing on the upper floor. I'm pretty sure he broke both his legs in the fall. Turned out he was the son of the mayor or alderman or whatever they had there, and I had to make a quick exit. Lost a good horse due to that, but.. "  he strokes the hilt of his sabre, tracing the ornate carving on the pommel with a finger "I did end up with this, and although it was a good horse I think I've come out of it for the better. But I think your sharp eyes would have spotted his cheating earlier and you certainly would have been handy in the brawl. Ah, there he is!"   Kaed squats down and checks the orc is completely dead, and satisfied this I'd thd case rifles through the clothing of the orc. Emptying a pouch yields no coins, just some mud and a claw of some sort, so he has to settle for a short bow and quiver of arrows. Strapping the latter across a broad shoulder he smiles and claps Ascian on the shoulder "My thanks, even if I only use it for hunting it will be good to have it. Shall we go back to the camp? And next time we hear a story from you, I hope."  He begins the walk back towards the others.

Kou moves around the tent looking for any signs of what the Orcs were doing here. His gaze keeps getting drawn to the stone with the stylized eye. The orcs clearly prized this stone above all of their other possessions. He examines the stone but has no knowledge of what the eye represents or the purpose of the stone. He grabs the small chest and brings it out to his companions.  Looking to Thrandimir hoping the wizards studies may help to provide clarity to the issue, holding the stone up to the wizard. "Have you encountered this symbol before? The orcs held this stone in great esteem even more than the riches they held. I think this may hold some significance into their endeavor."

Ascian reaches down to the fallen orc and unceremoniously yanks the arrow through the back of its throat, wiping the blood that coats the tip on his pants. “Sounds like I might have been better off being elsewhere. I would’ve fought you for the sabre, and I generally prefer my legs with the bones inside them.” He pauses. “Where are you headed after this. If catching tavern cheaters is a pastime, I have skills you might appreciate.”   He leads the way back down towards the camp, sliding the recovered arrow back into one of the quivers across his back as the tents come back into view. “I’m not much of one for stories. Can tell you why you're wrong about the orcs' gods, at least."

Erika had finally managed to warm her hands back up now that she wasn't channeling arcane cold through them, and had crossed the river to look through the camp. The only part her allies didn't seem to have covered was the horse and cart, which she approached to investigate. However, upon getting closer, she realized the horse was nervous, on edge. And she recalled the many times at home where animals had just attacked her for no good reason, so she took a step back. "Uhm...could someone good with horses come calm this one down? I feel like it's going to kick me if I get closer."