Chapter 2: The Crucible of Freya

Kariantha moves with the group through the forest, her heart beating hard in her chest as they give chase to the marauding orcs. She is nearly breathless when they catch up to the nasty creatures, and listens as a plan of attack comes together. She shakes her head at the burly dwarves who decide to guard the rear as she takes up a position with the archers, intending to throw her darts and support as best as she can from afar.

To that group, she voices a concern after weaving a spell of shielding around herself.

"Can we trust them?" she asks, gesturing to the dwarves with her dark eyes. "It seems strange for them not to want to rush to the fore."

"Their kind could never be in league with orcs. It would be a twisted dwarf that aligns themselves with orc bandits."

She turns to look at them a second, before turning back to the others:

"I just wouldn’t part with any silver or gold for their services." she says with a shrug.

With the plan set, the party takes motion! Warriors leap out on both sides of the orc thieves; Galdar and Ryenne stand as shieldbearers, while Faionn and Nebbleshuven are right behind them with spear and javelin. Archers stand to the side and begin unleashing arrows and darts upon the unsuspecting creatures. Monaghan finds himself... somewhere; the path the Orcs are on is tight, but the dwarf is a skilled warrior and manages to slip into the fray.

Seven orcs stand in a line ready to be picked off. Most have ring mail and short swords, but the orc in the lead wears chainmail and holds a battleaxe; he also has a sack tied to his belt with a hefty weight inside, likely the Crucible of Freya.

Measuring the distance, taking aim as best she can without exposing or drawing undue attention to herself, Kariantha not one, not two, but *three* darts at the line of orcs, targeting the big one!

Nebbleshuven feels a rush of adrenaline at being given an opportunity to slay some orcs, but it also carries an undercurrent of childhood fear. He lunges forward with his javelin... and misses. :/

Datura fires at one of the orcs nearest to her and then fires again...

"Unhand the Crucible and we’ll let you crawl back to your hole!" Ryenne barks, as she whips out with a mace from behind her shield.

Filled with the excitement, the fury of battle, Faionn releases a primal war cry. She swings her spear around in a wide arc, point slicing through the air to land home in orc flesh.

The warriors finding themselves in melee all fail to land meaningful blows on the orcs, but they do provide wonderful distractions. Ryenne batters at Kren forcing the lead orc to defend himself as Lauriel lines up some arrows and sticks him with one. Monaghan crashes through the brush with both swords circling in vicious strikes, but his target was already alerted by the arrows and manages to defend itself. Several orcs are slain instantly as arrows crash into their bodies, dropping to the ground. The remaining orcs quickly realize what is happening and mount a defense.Round One of Combat
Combat Order
Orcs
Party

The head orc himself, Kren, bears down on Ryenne with powerful blows from its large battleaxe. While she is able to parry some blows, the strength behind them begin to weaken the warrior-priestess and her guard slips for one fatal moment. The edge cuts deep into her chest and she watches as the world around her turns to black. Meanwhile, a stray arrow find its way into Kariantha's arm, turning the witch sideways but not slaying her. Arrows fly back and forth and blows are traded, but no other hero is killed.

"Whoa!" Kariantha exclaims when an arrow suddenly skitters off the magical shield she put in place just moments before, its impact sparking with blue, eldritch light. The young mage also sees Ryenne go down and knows that this battle is suddenly desperate. They’d had the drop on the creatures, but that doesn’t seem to have mattered!

Fumbling with the bandolier that holds her final three darts, she pulls them out one at a time and fires them at the orc leader, one-two-three!

Upon seeing Ryenne fall, Nebbleshuven yells, "No!" He drops his javelin and strikes at the closest orc with his sword.

Damage roll.

Datura fires again into the melee of advancing orcs...