Chapter 8 - Now With Less Peasants
Day 16
Stopping for the remainder of the night, the party found it had become a reasonably-sized village, with about 90 peasants, goblins, and their horses and wargs spread out around multiple cookfires. The night passed peacefully, but the adventurers began to worry about how they would get the mass of peasants, and an uncooperative elf, through to Wasteward Keep without attracting the attention of the Genasi army.
Late morning brought another worry. A warg rider returned from scouting to report that he had seen a group of about 20 Genasi gathered around the wagon that they had abandoned on the road the night before, only a little over a mile behind them to the north. Setting out to look for herself, Neela made it only half way there before spotting a group of 10 Genasi on horseback off to the east, riding on a southerly course that would bring them perilously close to the camp. Quickly returning to the camp, she gathered up the remainder of the adventurers and goblins and moved to intercept.
Coming to the edge of the trees that sheltered them, the party spied the horsemen, who had halted in the open, about 100 yards across the field. One of the horsemen was standing in his stirrups and appeared to be signaling to some unseen counterpart out of sight to the west, around the other side of the trees. Fearing a second party of Genasi, Blixhaven dashed through the trees to find a party of ten Genasi crossbowmen spreading out in preparation of searching the woods.
Seeing a need for quick action, Blixhaven returned to alert his companions. The goblins gladly volunteered to attack the horsemen, and the party members left to deal with the crossbowmen. Hiding in some bushes, they allowed a half dozen Genasi to approach in the hopes of springing a surprise attack. Unfortunately, they were spotted and a flurry of crossbow bolts were soon launched at them. More surprisingly, many of the Genasi levitated up into the tree canopy, to rain more bolts down from above. Their proficiency with their weapons was evident by the speed with which they reloaded. As the party moved to attack, they heard more Genasi approaching from either side.
The fight was a bitter one. The adventurers were outnumbered initially by a ratio of three to two, and by the time Sebestyrn had dashed from the camp to their aid, another four Genasi were appearing from the woods. Blixhaven, not yet recovered from his last battle, fell early. The remaining three split up, Jrak and Trykaar moving to intercept the flankers while Neela took on the central group with the help of Sebestyrn. Jrak felled two of the enemy with devastating blows from his maul, but then fell to the ground himself with a bolt in his chest. Neela was not so fortunate - Sebestyrn soon fell near Blixhaven, felled by the same skilled crossbowman. Distracted by a rain of bolts from two of the enemy, Neela was run through by a third opponent's longspear. Trykaar had more success, nimbly moving through the woods while weilding his greatsword with an ease that belied its size.
All was not looking well for the party until the unexpected appearance of Gimilzor. Appearing at the side of the injured half-ogre, he nonchalantly bound Jrak's wounds despite the presence of a Genasi not ten feet away. When the warrior turned his crossbow on the elf, the elf didn't even look up as his arm moved in a blur to snatch the bolt from the air and toss it aside. Rising and turning to face his assailant, his robes flared in an unseen wind and arcane energies seemed to leap from his eyes as he shouted, "Begone! Leave this place!" A terrifed Genasi was soon crashing through the woods, running as fast as he could. A second Genasi soon followed as the intimidating elf strode through the battlefield. A final opponent had to be chased off, and Trykaar could hear the sound of crackling energies as he tended to his fallen comrades.
Carrying his comrades back to the campsite, Trykaar found that the goblins had fared better. All had returned intact and they reported that the horsemen were disposed of. However, that still left two escaped crossbowmen and Trykaar decided that quick action was required. Knowing that rapid movement would not be possible while burdened with the crowd of peasants, he made the decision to leave them and the unconscious Sebestyrn with Gimilzor, extracting a promise from the elf that he would take them to the ranger Geza Karmen's vale and wait there two weeks for the return of someone from the Keep. If none returned, he would be free to resume his interrupted journey to elven lands.
Hurrying southward with the goblins and his unconscious companions, Trykaar came across an abandoned village later in the day. Deciding that it would be a good place to rest, the desperate swordsage decided that he would see if the healing salve looted from the Genasi supply wagon several days before might help his companions' healing. Smearing half the jar on the wounds of the gravely-injured Jrak, he was astounded as the wounds rapidly closed, leaving not even the faintest trace of a scar. The half-ogre bounded to his feet, fully healed. Trykaar quickly moved to apply smaller amounts of the salve to his other companions and both were momentarily revived and on their feet.
The party remained the rest of the day in the village, and evening brought a report from a goblin sentry of an approaching group of wagons with an infantry escort, coming down the road to the village from the west. Sensing an opportunity to disrupt the Genasi supplies and exact revenge for their earlier encounter, the adventurers set up to ambush the wagons as they moved through the town. The goblins hid in the buildings, ready to provide covering fire from their bows. The Genasi did not suspect a thing and were caught flatfooted as the trap sprung. On a shouted command from Trykaar, the windows and doors of the buildings flew open and a hail of goblin arrows picked the drivers from the wagons and wounded the soldiers. The party charged out, Jrak and Trykaar wielding their mighty weapons to reap the souls of the surprised Genasi. The scene was not so glorious for Blixhaven and Neela. For the second time that day, a heavy crossbow bolt cut Blixhaven down, while a failed attempt to jump on a wagon left Neela on her backside in the middle of a bush.
All the Genasi were soon taken care of, though not before two axemen made it into houses sheltering the goblin snipers. By the time they fell, one warg rider lay dead and another had been knocked senseless.
Searching the wagons for useful plunder, Trykaar found only food, but one of the drivers carried a map of the surrounding area with several useful notations.
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