Chapter 9 - Crossing the Lines
Days 17-18
While their goblin allies tended to their injured and dead, the party disposed of the remains of the wagons and guards. Food from the wagon was dumped down the village well, the wagons themselves were smashed to tinder by Jrak, and the bodies were hidden in the houses of the hamlet. Taking the horses for riding and carrying supplies, they then traveled an hour south into a less inhabited area and made camp for the night under treecover.
When the party awoke the next morning, it was with a renewed vigour. The adventurers all felt as if they were learning and growing with their experiences. Blixhaven was still in poor shape, but Trykaar and Neela carefully tended to his bandages. Jrak cautiously took some practice swings with his maul, and uncertainty clouded his features. His weapons, which had served him well in recent years, was beginning to feel awkward in his large, meaty hands. He had known that some day soon he would likely outgrow the weapon, and in appeared that day had come. Striding off into the trees, he was able to find a large branch in some deadfall, which he fashioned into a large club, proportional to his size. As Jrak practiced with his improvised weapon, the party rested the next day to regain their strength for the final stage of their journey back to Wasteward.
When the party set out to continue their journey on the second day following the ambush in the village, their spirits were slightly dampened by light rains which would grow to a steady downpour during the day. Consulting with the map that they had discovered on the wagon driver, they decided to head to the southeast and circle around to approach Wasteward from the south.
Near midday, their travels brought them to a mid-sized village that, unlike most of the previous villages they had seen, appeared to be inhabited. In the poor visibility caused by the rain, the party could not make out whether the distant humanoid figures were villagers or Genasi. Erring on the side of caution, the adventurers kept a safe distance as they circled around the town and continued their journey.
As the party journeyed, warg riders were riding in advance and scouting the flanks. As they made their way through a lightly wooded area in the late afternoon, one of the pair of riders who had been roaming in advance of the party suddenly appeared unexpectedly out of the mist, shouting an alarm. Following swiftly behind him was a man-sized fire elemental, followed by a squad of Genasi warriors. The elemental outdistanced his escort and was quickly slain by the party before his escort could arrive to influence the battle. The adventurers and their goblin allies were more numerous than the Genasi, and quickly fanned out to make use of their missile weapons. When an opening was spotted, a goblin would charge for a mightly blow with his lance. When the final Genasi broke and run, the warg riders quickly followed and finished him off. The Genasi corpses were looted, yielding a small amount of gold coins, a ring inscribed with a fire motif, a small bottle of some unknown type of oil, and a violet gem. The second advance rider was found a short distance ahead, slain by the fire elemental.
The rest of the day passed with nothing to note as the party made its way south. Shortly after the fight, they came upon what appeared to be the main trade road running west from Wasteward. There was little traffic in the rain, but they did spot a Genasi wagon moving along the road with an escort of soldiers. Deciding to err on the side of caution, they allowed it to pass and then made their way across the well-traveled road without being spotted and continued their travels along winding country paths.
In the late evening, after crossing another major road, the party stopped for the night to camp alongside a secluded pond (after first checking the water for any small, frog-like humanoids). Trykaar and Blixhaven volunteered for first watch as the others bedded down for the night. The sun had not yet set when Trykaar spotted movement in some bushes near the camp. Cautiously moving to a better vantage point, he espied a small humanoid shape hiding in the bushes. Acting quickly, he sprinted to catch the figure before it knew it was spotted. What he found was an unarmed and very startled halfling. The poor creature was obviously quite scared of the armed human, but came along willingly when he heard mention of food being available in the camp. Once settled in, he revealed that curiosity had drawn him to the camp from his nearby community. He was able to tell Trykaar enough about the surrounding villages that their exact position could now be pinpointed on the map. He also revealed that the Genasi had appeared in the area about 10 days before, and had been active in looting food and valuables from the surrounding area. While he had heard stories of battles, none had occurred in his small corner of the world.
The next morning, the party awoke to discover that the rain had given way to a thick fog. As they planned the day's route of travel, their goblin allies revealed that they would only be accompanying the party for part of the day's travels, and that they then intended to part company and angle northward towards the likely location of the Legion, west of Wasteward. After so many days away, they were eager to rejoin the fight. The united party set off eastward, making slow progress due to the poor visibility.
After a few hours' travel, the travelers came across the muddy signs that a large number of creatures had recently (since the rain began) beaten a path that crossed theirs. Choosing to continue their course, they soon came across more earth that had been churned to mud. But this time, there were also signs of battle. Bodies, weapons, and various bits of equipment were scattered on the soggy ground in all directions. Evidence pointed to a battle between Legion and Genasi forces.
Proceeding cautiously, the party soon heard muffled voices ahead. Unable to distinguish the language being spoken, Blixhaven cautiously crept forward on hands and knees through the fog. Soon, he could see figures, but their infrequent mutterings to each other were still indistinguishable. Creeping further forward, he finally distinguished that they were Genasi, but all too late - he had been spotted! As he leapt to his feet to flee back to the remainder of the party, he found that he made slow progress in the treacherous footing of the mud, and the Genasi were hard on his heels.
When the others saw Blixhaven emerge from the fog, shouting a warning of approaching Genasi, they readied their weapons. The goblins, unable to charge their wargs over the muddy ground, spread out to provide cover from their shortbows. Jrak moved forward to greet the approaching Genasi, flanked by Neela and Trykaar. The Genasi attack was uncoordinated, but surpisingly effective. Skirmish troops wielding battle axes attacked the party, shielded from the covering fire of the goblin archers by the swirling fog. Behind them came a magic wielder who conjured volleys of stone that fell from the sky. Neela was beaten back by repeated axe blows, but Jrak commanded the centre of the battlefield, his mighty club reaching out to pummel the Genasi into the mud as they attempted to close within striking distance.
When all was done, nine skirmishers and the mage lay dead in the mud. Gold and silver was found on the bodies, much of it likely looted from the battlefield. Moving forward, the party found that the Genasi had been engaged in loading up a cart with scavenged weapons and armour. Rummaging through the cart, the party found the weapons to be mundane in appearance, with the exception of a finely crafted light mace that showed evidence of superior craftsmanship. Near the bottom of the cart, they found a heavy steel shield in the hoplon style. Its circular face was worked with gold and silver in the image of a stylized sun which Neela identified as a symbol of Isten of Napsut, the god of light. In fact, the finely wrought pattern of precious metals seemed to catch and reflect the faint sunlight, lending the shield a soft glow. Once pointed out, the rest of the party recognized the symbol as being nearly identical to the one emblazoned on that god's temple, located on the main square of Wasteward.
As the party prepared to resume their journey, Sergeant Ajani announced that he and his riders would be taking their leave and seeking to rejoin the Legion, as the fresh battlefield indicated that at least some troops were likely nearby.
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