Orcs in the Elf Woods

From: Fulhoff of Clan Balderk
To: Helja and Adrik of Clan Balderk

Mother & Father,

I cannot even begin to express my exasperation at the impatience of your nephew. While I was carefully pouring over old tomes in dusty libraries and private collections looking for information on the old kingdom of the giants, Thorin decided to take Lady Awful to Nightstone… The humans went with him. When I discovered that he went off on his own, I went and found Journey and we followed them, taking with us a small Halfling named Lidda.

We arrived at Nightstone without incident, but found that we had just missed as assault upon the village by a troop of orcs. Thorin and co, with the help of a dragon, won the day. Great Digger forgive me, but I think I need to pay more attention to Thorin and his impulsive ways.

Once we were all back together, we all shared what we knew, and decided the next stop should be Goldstone… which meant either turning around and going back through Waterdeep, or cutting through the elven woods. As the town was depressingly understaffed, the fine innkeep was considering allying with the Black Network to help them keep the town safe. We talked him out of that terrible idea with the promise to go see about getting the elves to help out. Taking some of the orc heads, we set off.

I will not bore you with the details, but it seems the elves were willing to speak with us thanks to my limited knowledge of the traditional elven word for friend. They were insufferably haughty but agreed to both speak with the villagers and to allow us passage. They also claimed that no orc encampments were within the woods. I have my doubts…Especially as we were set upon by over a dozen of the brutes while passing through the woods.

The battle was fierce. I found myself defending the left flank while Thorin and Rin took the center, and Bran the right. The elves remained hidden, occasionally sending a volley of arrows into the orc line. Journey and Lidda kept to the rear, sending flame and arrows into the orcs to best support those of us in battle as the fight shifted.

I took on one brute early in the fight who was more ferocious than I’d expected. His weapon came in under my guard as I hit him with a frost bolt. His attack slammed me in the gut, and he followed up with a swing at my neck as I bent over in pain. Only my bedroll saved my head. My hammer dispatched him, but 2 more were close behind. One was a shaman who summoned a demon blade to attack Thorin. I cursed at the orc to draw his attention away, and it worked, he came for me!



Lidda, her bow twanging, felled the grunt, while Journey blasted the shaman with a bolt of flame. I overcharged the Witchbolt, something I’ve not tried before, and slammed my hammer into the shaman, sending him flying back wreathed in the blinding energy. When I looked around the last of the orcs was being felled.

The elves, remaining mostly in the trees, were… restrained in their thanks for our assistance in slaying the roving bands of orcs in their woods. We took a few minutes to rest after the battle, and the elves shared some of their “food” with is. Thorin and I stuck with our trail rations, though Journey seemed to enjoy their food, as much as she denied it.