Chapter 7 - Over the River and Through the Woods
Days 13-15
Trykaar and the sorely wounded Neela fled from the Genasi hunters and soon found their way back to the camp. After they brought the rest of the party up to date, it was decided that they should stay in the ruins of the ancient tower for another night while they regained their strength. The guide looked to finally be regaining consciousness, so they could make for his boat in the morning.
But the afternoon would not prove very restful. Standing the afternoon guard along with Sebestyrn, Trykaar was surprised by the sudden appearance of a burning cloud that descended through the trees, resolving into the separate forms of an air elemental and a fire elemental that immediately attacked him. Their sudden attack drove Trykaar back to the tower, where a powerful blow from the air elemental drove him to the ground unconscious. Jrak quickly exacted revenge, with blow from his mighty maul sundering the elemental from its bonds with the material plane.
Meanwhile, the fire elemental set after Sybestern, who had wounded it with a bolt from his crossbow. The rest of the party pursued, and were soon joined by three of the peasants. Despite the odds being in their favour, Jrak, Sybestern, and one of the humans lay burned and bleeding on the ground before a final arrow from Blixhaven's bow split the head of the otherworldly being and it dissipated into the air.
Now even more bruised and battered, the party settled in for the night, setting a close guard around their injured companions in the tower. Their rest was soon interrupted though, when a peasant on guard duty alerted the rest to the fact that he had a jagged dagger held to his neck. As the guards turned to face this new threat, the face of a leering goblin emerged from the darkness behind him.
The goblin was the same one who had visited two nights previous, but this time he had graver news to tell. The warg riders' successful raiding had come to an end with an attack by the Genasi, using elementals that had not previously been active in the region. Eight of the twenty riders had been lost and the remaining dozen were attempting a return to the safety of Empire territory. Most who remained had been injured from the air elemental ambush that had felled their colleagues. They warned that air elementals patrolled the sky while Genasi troops were combing the ground. The goblins warned that the party should depart swiftly and under cover of the night.
Leaving the wagons behind, the unconscious peasants and party members were bound to the horses and with the warg riders screening them in the surrounding woods, the party members and peasants made their way southeast along rough forest paths towards the river. Several times they saw evidence of the passage of troops or elementals, several of the latter obviously of a size larger than the pair that had accosted the camp. But with luck, they did not encounter any directly.
Reaching the river, the group was led to the guide's small boat, hidden in dense undergrowth. Several trips were required, but the last boatload was on its way by the time they were spotted by a Genasi patrol that fired crossbow bolts at the retreating boat. One caught Blixhaven, knocking the scout to the bottom of the boat where he lay bleeding as the rowers picked up the pace for the far bank.
Regrouping on the south bank of the Huladek River, the party was finally back in what was nominally Empire territory, but far from safe. Realizing that Genasi pursuers might still be close behind, they traveled through the remainder of the night until spotting a remote cottage in which they could hide during the day. Genasi patrols were seen in the distance during the day, but none approached closely.
The next night saw the group continue their slow progress. As they had since joining the group, the warg riders scouted ahead of the group, eventually coming across the camp of what appeared to be Genasi supply wagons, together with about 20 troops. Not having recovered from their most recent combats, the party decided that discretion was the proper course of action and continued on. Later in the night, the sound of a non-native bird call alerted Blixhaven to a foreign presence. His attempt to return the call was amateurish at best, but enough to encourage a ranger to emerge from his hiding spot in nearby brush. Introducing himself as Geza Karman, he warned that there were many Genasi nearby, but told of a secluded vale where the group might rest safely during the next day. Hearing of the Genasi supply wagons, he left to make mischief.
Leaving the vale the next evening, the group soon came upon a razed village. A road ran south from the village and the adventurers decided to make up time by risking travel through the clear lands bordering the road. Travel did proceed more swiftly at first, but they soon came upon a campfire at the edge of the road. The group stopped and Blixhaven and Neela went stealthily forward to investigate. Approaching closely, Blixhaven spied a large group of about 50 humanoids and a large wagon. When a slight figure stepped outward from the fire, apparently alerted to his presence, Blixhaven strode forward and announced his presence. Up close, the figure revealed itself to be an elf dressed in fine robes over elven chain mail, and his companions turned out to be a group of at least 50 human women and children. The elf introduced himself as Gimilzor Tarminvatur. He told of a mission to take the women and children from the to safety in lands near the elven feywilds, away from the present war between the Genasi and the Empire. Gimilzor had happened upon their village days after their menfolk had been conscripted into the local militia, and the subsequent arrival of the pillaging Genasi.
Suspicious of this elf who claimed to be of the same house as their captive Elros, Blixhaven took his leave and returned later with the warg riders and Neela to confront the elf. Blixhaven demanded Gimilzor surrender, but the elf would only agree to give his word of honour that he would accompany the women and children to safety, and refused to surrender his rapier, while reluctantly bowing to the party's threats and allowing his wards to be marched southward toward the Empire, in the opposite direction to their intended path. The women and children were clearly terrified by these armed strangers who were forcing them to journey back towards the warring armies.
The party, now nearly 90 in number, finally continuing their journey along the road, but the warg riders soon alerted them of a Genasi-occupied town ahead. They diverted west along a less-traveled road, but soon came upon a valley where the new road passed through another occupied settlement. Leaving the wagon, they headed southward along this new valley, much slowed by the children who would now have to walk. After a short while, the fatigue of the young ones forced a stop.
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