A Cold Day's March

As we made our way down the rolling hills today the weather closed in.  It began to rain and it was cold once again.  It wasn't the sharp frosty cold that we've had overnight a few times recently.  This was a cool chill, carried partly by the water that leaves you chilled to the core and aching in the fingertips.

It has been an uneventful walk too.  We'd expected to see Gurgam or Ogruks around here but there has been none.  With the heavy cloud we've not been able to see all that far across the rolling hills of this valley, though - it could be they're out there and we've just missed it because of the rain.

Everything seems to dull and grey in this weather.  We can see maybe a mile or into the distance, and its starting to fray a few tempers.  The rain picked up to a downpour just before lunch, and we had no shelter.  We were soaked.  Even the cold meat we ate at lunchtime tasted grey and rain-sodden.

We reached a copse of trees mid afternoon, this gave us some shelter from the rain, and as we walked further through the woodland the rain continued to abate.  The trees gave out and then there were more of them.  By early evening the rain was down to just a fine drizzle, and there were bright patches of sunshine breaking through the cloud as the sun marched westward.  This seemed to lift the spirits of the Hznaman considerably.  I must admit that I'd missed Barr's dry sense of humour during the say, and it returned as everyone cheered up.  Or perhaps everyone cheered up because it returned.

We found yet another copse of trees by early evening sat over a small stream.  We found a place to camp in a low section of the stream bank, with a natural cutting forming something of an arc away from the river.  With everything so damp I thought there would be no fire, but Mullory had a small blaze going in no time at all.  I think the others had some dry kindling and tinder, I immediately went and collected some of the older fallen wood nearby which might dry out enough to keep the fire going later on.  There was still some meat left and we finished that off between us.  Barr gave a little sigh as I handed him the last of it.  He doesn't seem to be in the mood for hunting right now, he mentioned how he hated setting up camp in damp underwear - it usually, he said, interferes with his nights sleep.  And it chafes.

As we'd approached this camp site I'd had the growing feeling that this place is familiar.  With every step I've taken here, it has seemed more like the wider view I had from Marrekt and Birgelth.  I think we're on the right track to reach the lands of the Gnaeblin.  We cannot be far away now - but if we're that close why haven't we seen any Gurgam?

Overnight Skirmishes

I did the first stint of my watch alone, and called Kenner to join me for the second half.  He wasn't really asleep, but had just been relaxing.  The fire had been kept lit, but it was now quite low, I'd been sitting with my back to it watching.  As a creature of the under-land I could see far better than these Hznaman in the starlight, and the fire really didn't help my night vision.

A couple of hours after dark we both heard the sounds of movement away in the darkness.  We weren't sure at first what it was but I stepped further from the fire to see better.  I could then see them, crouched in the bushes where we'd been this morning as we closed in on the lair; there must have been half a dozen Gurgam trying to be hidden.  I reported to Kenner, and he woke the others while I kept a close eye on the invaders.

They were shuffling closer, trying to remain out of sight, but doing it really badly.  We must have been outlined against the fire, but I was suddenly aware of Barr and Elenhugh beside me.  They were squinting into the darkness - they couldn't see what I could see.  Elenhugh said we'd need some light over there, so Barr scratched around on the ground for a stone, he grabbed one about half the size of his fist.  I heard Elenhugh mutter some incantation and the stone burst out with light; Barr threw it right into the middle of the bushes.  Suddenly the Gurgam were illuminated.

The next thing I knew Kenner was charging into the middle of them and Barr was firing his short-bow at them.  I joined in the shooting, but I'm nowhere near as good as Barr.  He seems as deadly with that as he is with his dagger.  The Gurgam stood and started firing arrows back at us, a couple clattered off Kenner's large metal shield and then he was in among them.  Daran was close behind him and the two together soon cleared up the ones that Barr had been unable to pick off with arrows.  There were only six of them - there had been twelve in the hunting party that went after me.  Mullory suggested that some may have gone for more help.

He wan't wrong.  After this fight the others went back to resting while Kenner and I continued to watch.  The light on the rock that Barr had thrown faded after half an hour or so and my night vision didn't return properly while I was on watch.  Eventually I handed over to Barr and went to get some sleep myself.

It didn't seem that I'd been asleep long when I was woken from slumber by Daran.  He and Elenhugh were on watch, and the others were just preparing for a fight.  The fire had gone out and I could see clearly across the land around the lair.  I had no armour to buckle on, and I was ready in seconds.  I could see off towards the woodland that some creatures were heading our way.  The others had heard them but didn't know what it was.  I told them what I could see - eight Ogruks, and two others I couldn't make out very well, but were probably Gurgam.  As they closed to us that was confirmed, Barr threw another light-stone at them when they were in his range, then disappeared.  The fighters went off to do battle, Mullory went with them while Elenhugh threw more of his magic into the fray now he could see them.

The others had left me behind a little, and I struggled to catch up.  When I reached the skirmish the fighting was in full swing.  They clustered around us, but I saw Barr behind them, taking them out one at a time then slipping off into the shadows again.  The Gurgam hadn't survived the first seconds of the fight but the Ogruks were a different story.  The fight ebbed and flowed a little in the odd artificial light of the stone.  I ended up fighting one on my own, he hit me on my left leg, tearing at the muscle and cutting deep.  But the pain didn't have the effect it would have only a few weeks ago, I didn't crumple or fall.  I stood firm and swung my sword at him.  I hit him three times before he fell, while his blows upon my shield took chunks out of it.

Eventually they were all slain.   The last two were injured and had tried to flee, but Barr caught one by surprise as he turned, and the other fell victim to a perfectly thrown knife which stuck in the back of his neck.  We took an assessment of where we were.  The wound on my leg appeared to be the worst we had suffered, although both Daran and Kenner had been hit in the fighting.  Barr joked that he'd hurt himself when he caught his shirt on a bramble as he returned to the camp site at the lair entrance.  My leg was healed, this time with a different prayer from Mullory which seemed more potent than the ones he'd used before.  The others were patched up in a similar way, and we returned to our rest.

That was the last of the night's fighting.  In the morning as we ate cold pork and bear, we again discussed the night's events.  The others hadn't appreciated just how good my sight was in the dark, and they'd found that quite useful.  Again we talked over the whole story, making sure that no event was missed from the 'official' version.

We're just beginning to break out camp up now, and we'll be off in a few moments.  We're late leaving, but its no surprise that the others want to take it easy too, we've all had a disturbed night's sleep.  We've chosen to head off down into the valley, not following the river, though - we're going to take the route pretty much due west of here.  The land of the Gnaeblin is in on a flat plain, and Mullory thinks this is the most likely location of it.

A Clear-Out

The fight at the door was interesting.  Barr took out the two door guards on his own, but Kenner was not far away.  We'd all moved up into the scrubby undergrowth not far from the door and we kept out of sight.  When Barr left this even in the daylight, he seemed to melt into the shadows at the bottom of this low cliff.

The Gurgam door guards didn't see him at all until it was too late.  He swept up behind one, stabbing it through the neck with his dagger.  As the other Gurgam began to react, he'd tugged the dagger out and threw it.  It hit square in the chest, and both Gurgam were dead.  Neither had made any sound that I could hear.

We moved up to the main entrance as a group and Mullory lit his lantern.  Then we pressed inside.  The caves were just natural caverns on the outside, but there were brick facings and flat, level corridors the further inside we went.

The first few rooms were empty, we sneaked around in here until we came to a room containing five of them - these looked like guards for the lair, they were tooled up but relaxing.  We hit them with surprise, but this was our stealth over.  They didn't last long - Kenner and Daran waded in, there was a noisy fight but it was all over in quick time, I never even had the chance to get involved, Elenhugh and I entered the room as the last one fell, beheaded by Daran's sword.  The two warriors shot past us out into the corridor once again, to hold it in defence while Barr collected their 'trophies'.  I followed them.  It only took a few seconds, but by the time he'd finished, there'd been action in the corridor.

Several young Gurgam ran out of another room, took a look at us and began screaming - the next thing that happened is a bit of a blur.  Several Gurgam came at us from down the corridor, and shortly afterwards the two Ogruks appeared.  They charged at us, and Kenner and Daran stepped forward to meet them.  At the same time Elenhugh's magical blast came from behind me and piled into one of the Ogruks, he took all the force himself, was rocked back but kept coming.

The hand-to hand fighting commenced - the first two rows of Gurgam fell instantly, and we moved forwards again.  I couldn't really get involved, there was barely enough room for the two men to fight side by side in this tight lair.  The fighting continued, more Gurgam fell, Elenhugh's magic flew again, this time it split between the Ogruks, the one who had been hit before fell.  It turned into a bit of a rout, the Gurgam were trying to back off and retreat, but the Ogruk behind them was blocking their way.  They put up a spirited fight, somewhere in the midst of it both Kenner and Daran were hit with glancing blows, but kept going.

We pushed them back, the other Ogruk fell, but more Gurgam appeared down the corridor and charged towards us.  We moved up to them past a room on the side - this had three other Gurgam in it, and Kenner and Daran were both involved in the main fight, so I went in to face them.  A red mist descended upon me, and I laid into them.  All the pent up frustration of my time as a captive here came out through my sword.  I killed one with my first blow, while my shield caught another blow, then I parried another attack with my sword.  I swung it fiercely and cut deep into the flank of one of my opponents.  He stopped trying to fight and tried to keep is innards in with his hands.  I turned my attention to the last one, his blow missed my defences and went into my shoulder, the pain that rose was now more familiar, and it didn't stop me.  I dropped my shield and swung my sword again and again at him using both hands.  He crumpled and tried to fend my blows off with his hand, but I kept swinging.  Eventually I hear Barr behind me, chuckling and telling me he was dead.  "They must have really treated you bad in their prison" is what I recall him saying.

I stopped and wiped my sword on my fallen enemy.  I felt strangely satisfied.

The others had carried on the fight in the corridor while I was in here, the corridor was strewn with them.  One of them was the much bigger leader Gurgam I'd seen on my way out.  I'd recovered my shield, and my shoulder didn't feel that bad, so we took a few seconds to get our breath back (well, for me to get my breath back, anyway) before pressing on.

The rest of the lair was filled with more domestic creatures - some were young, some were probably females (but it's quite hard to tell) but none were spared.  I felt somewhat torn with the way the young were dispatched by the efficient blades of my companions, it felt very wrong to be killing youngsters.  I couldn't bring myself to do it, but I knew it had to be done so I didn't object to the others taking care of them.

When we came to the cells, I had my first proper look at them from the outside.  They seemed like nothing special, there were two of them, Elenhugh commented on how unusual it was to see this kind of place in a Gurgam nest.  Neither were locked, they both stood open and empty.  The others went into the cell I'd been kept in before me.  At first I couldn't bring myself to step inside, but I did.  The place filled me with revulsion, and the rats were worse than ever.  I didn't want to stay.

All the fighting and exploring had taken us into mid afternoon.  We went outside and after a short discussion decided it'd be better to sleep inside the caves for tonight.  We lit a fire outside and cooked what meat we had left, there was still some bear meat, and pork.  We cooked it all, and what isn't eaten tonight we'll have for breakfast.  Mullory took care of all the wounds again - a small prayer was followed by that healing sensation.  I have a new scar to my collection.

The large fire and lack of guards outside could raise the attention of more Gurgam or Ogruk warriors, and we don't know how many of them are out on any kind of patrol.  This seemed to be what Kenner and Barr were hoping for, they could see more profit if such an attack were to occur.  We were to have double-watch again tonight, and I've volunteered for first watch again - I don't feel tired, I'm still quite excited by the accomplishments of the last couple of days.

As we sat and ate our supper the discussion roamed over the days fight, it was like they were replaying it all to learn as much as they could of it.  They also sorted out the story, I had the impression that they were getting the events into an order that would help with the retelling of the story later.  My part was related by Barr, and met with pleasure by the others; I don't think they realised before that I could be a match for them in combat.  I must admit, with no armour and no axe I'd doubted it myself, but I think today I've earned myself a reputation as more than just a passenger and a guide to this lair.

We discussed where we'd be heading next.  I told them that I need to get back to the lands of the Gnaeblin, and that there'd probably be plenty of Gurgam on the way.  They didn't know where Gnaeblin lands are, but they knew the way to the ornamental entrance to Gora.  They joked about me being a 'tough little bugger' and how the thought of me getting my hands on a Dzarraf axe and some chain-mail was a frightening prospect.  I was quite proud of myself.

The consensus was that they'd go along with me back to the Gnaeblin lands, pick up any Gurgam groups they could find along the way, and help me be reunited with my people.  What happened after that was something they called 'future planning', too far away to make decisions on with the information they had at the moment.  They mentioned several possibilities, such as hanging around and fighting alongside the Dzarraf or Gnaeblin units, or just going further up into the mountains hunting on their own.  Barr's eyes lit up at the thought of several hundred Gurgam being slain by a couple of hundred Dzarraf, who would just leave the bodies to rot where they'd fallen.

Preparations for Assault

Mullory woke us up this morning, he and Daran were on the last watch together.  The night was receding but it was far from light.  Perhaps if there were not mountains in the east the sun would have been peeking over the horizon.

I'd spent some time during my watch cleaning and sharpening my sword, I'd borrowed Kenner's stone to do this. I had it looking like a proper weapon now and it is much sharper, although the handle still rattles.  Barr gave me some leather strips which I'd used to try and tie it in place, and these help, but they're not a cure.  My shield was looking better too after I gave that a good clean.

We ate breakfast, more trail rations - dried beef and something resembling Gimmet Bread but saltier rather than sweet, and not as firm - and sat while Mullory read a pre-battle prayer.  I was familiar with this, although I'd not heard it said in the common tongue before.  The last time I heard it in the Dzarraf tongue of Gora was on the morning before I was captured by the Gurgam.  I really hope history doesn't repeat itself.

We made our way out of the camp site and back towards the lair.  The plan was to observe the place for an hour or so, note any special tactics we might need, and then attack.  Again we wanted surprise - Barr was going to lead the attack, but not by charging.  We'd seen the guards on the entrance last night, and he was certain that he could remove both of them without making any sound.  I'm quite looking forward to seeing that.

It took us less than an hour to get back here to the entrance, we're a couple of hundred yards away on the edge of the woodland.  We're going to make our way through the undergrowth shortly, probably following the route I used when I escaped in the dark.  But for now we're watching.

We've already seen two Ogruks turn up and go inside.  They seemed filled with their own importance, they're much taller and stronger than the Gurgam, and make our job much harder if there are more than a couple of them in there.  Daran was concerned that this might be just the visible face of a larger Ogruk force.  Kenner didn't seem to care - he is so keen to just dive in and cut them all to pieces.  He thinks the insides will be a little tight for fighting, and so two Ogruks or ten will be little different.  Daran is probably right to be more careful, though.  If it were just Gurgam, we'd probably be safe to stride boldly in and keep attacking until they were all dead, but now we'll have to be much more cautious.

I briefed them on what I'd seen when I escaped too - that there was one tougher leader in there, but the others were no different to the Gurgam we'd already run into.  It didn't seem to concern them that there were young or females inside either.  They were pretty blunt - the Gurgam were never bothered about the women or the young Gnaeblin when they attacked their homes.  They would be quite happy to extend that same courtesy.  Mullory is going to lead another prayer in a few minutes, then we're moving in.

Following a Column

When we awoke this morning our clothes were again dusted with frost, but towards dawn some high grey and white cloud has rolled in from the west, bringing with it some warmer air.  The others were telling me that the weather isn't normally this changeable, it's because we're high in the mountains that the air moves quickly and can bring cloud in as rapidly as it moves it on again.

Alas the snares were both empty this morning.  I gathered them up before we moved on; we can probably try those again tonight.  Perhaps they'd be better out on the plain rather than in the woodlands.

Although we rose just as dawn arrived, we found that we'd missed the departure of the column.  It had moved on by a couple of miles by the time we set off from our camp site.  We still expect to be catching them up by the end of the day, but we're not sure if there is enough leeway to reach them before they run into the civilised lands of the Gnaeblin.  We can only try.

I gathered up a few handfuls of these blackberries while the others unpicked the waxed sheets we're using for a lean-to shelter, and I also found a wiry apple tree that still had plenty of small fruit on it.  I put a couple of dozen of those in my sack too.  When I got back to the camp site all was set so we headed out.

We finished eating breakfast on the way.  The apples have come in handy too - they're very sweet and firm but really good to eat as we move quickly along.  The berries and apples are a good supplement to the dried meat and bread of lunchtime.

Despite the weather being poorer, we can still see the column ahead of us through the grey air, and we still cannot say with certainty whether it's Gurgam or not.  But we are, once again, closing them down.  Now it's important that we don't give our presence away, so we're being even more careful about our route through the hills.  Its hard to say if they're looking out for people following them or not but we will not take any chances now.

A Gurgam Fight

The journey through the woods was a little disorienting.  I remembered travelling over bits of this route, and Barr had some problems with my trail as it's quite old, and it looks like Gurgam had been along here.  It seems it was a good thing I moved on when I did.

Mid-morning, as we were tracking my route and trying to keep quiet, we heard sounds ahead of us.  The others were behind us, and we could barely see them.  Barr signalled to me to be quiet, and he whispered "wait here, and don't move".  I was could barely breathe, I was so keen to keep quiet.  He slipped off back down the trail so quietly that I could hear nothing.  The reputation for Hznaman people among the Dzarraf is that they're clumsy and noisy.  Not Barr.

The noises ahead were becoming louder, like there were several people heading through the woodland, but well out of sight.  Before I knew it Barr was back.  He whispered again that the others were moving up - he thought there were  Gurgam up ahead, and they were preparing for a fight.  Within a few seconds I was aware that the others were moving closer, I could hear them - although they were keeping it down.  When I looked back Barr had moved off into the undergrowth, I hadn't heard him leave.

The rest of us gathered together and Mullory lead a whispered discussion.  They talked of a fight with some Gurgam, this time, if we timed it right, we'd have complete surprise over them.  The plan seemed to be that the warriors (Kenner, Daran and Mullory) would burst upon them with their weapons drawn and make the most of their surprise, while Elenhugh would hang back - Barr, who returned at this point, would just out-sneak them and take any stragglers out from behind.  This seems to be a standard tactic in this kind of environment.  Barr reported that there were a dozen Gurgam ahead, heading more-or-less this way, but they had a wolf with them that was tracking.  He couldn't tell if it had our scent, but he thought it was tracking my trail from a few days ago.

I asked what my place in the fight might be, they just looked at each other - it was as if they had forgotten I was there, they were so focussed on attacking their enemy.  Daran suggested that I join in behind the main fighters, that I stay out of sight until the fight picked up and then join in as I could - but he was concerned that I had no armour, so insisted that there was no point in taking risks.  The others agreed with this, weapons were drawn silently, and we turned to face the noise.  Barr had disappeared again.  The three warriors stepped forward, and Elenhugh suggested that I keep reasonably close to him at first - but not get in the way, as he had something special he wanted to throw at them.  We waited until the others were five yards ahead of us then pressed forward.

I could see ahead of us as the warriors kept as hidden as possible until, as one, they stepped out behind the front two Gurgam, and catching their second rank by surprise.  The first two fell instantly, sliced pretty much in two, Mullory stepped around to the next rank and knocked one off his feet with a well place blow with his mace at the side of the enemy's head.  The next thing up looked like utter confusion.  The Gurgam tried to organise themselves, and moved up to attack Kenner and Mullory, who were now at the front, as they did this I noticed a Gurgam at the back fall in a heap, silently, and at the same time a blue magic leapt from Elenhugh's fingers, it broke apart and ploughed into three of the Gurgam in the middle of the pack.

The front two Gurgam had turned, one had the wolf which was moving to attack Daran, but he calmly parried them both away.  This seemed to be my cue, I stepped forward and ran my rusty sword into the kidneys of the closest Gurgam, the other of the front two, the one without the wolf.  He fell noisily to the floor as I pulled my sword out.  When I looked up I was quite shocked - the other Gurgam had been utterly decimated.  Kenner had stepped forward and killed two, from what I could tell it was with one blow.  Mullory had killed another while parrying blows from two more, and Daran had killed one and was swinging his sword through a second, and I was sure two Gurgam who had been at the back were not there any more.

There were only four left, and they were surrounded (although they didn't actually know that, Barr was out of sight behind them).  The wolf handler let his wolf continue attacking Daran and aimed his own blow at me, I missed the parry and it hit me on the upper left arm, cutting my skin and I'm sure I felt the bone give way.  I was mid-way through my own stroke though, and I ignored the pain while I sliced upwards from his belly up into his chest.  He fell towards me, and I backed off a few paces.  The wolf was beheaded by a skilful blow from Daran, and as I was watching that, I missed seeing the others being dealt with.

"Anyone hurt?" came a cry from Mullory - it was only me that answered, so he came over and took a look at my arm.  The others seemed content with their handiwork, and were full of praise for me too.  I felt quite pleased with myself - I'd done two of them, and the pain in my arm was more than worth it.  Mullory had other ideas, though.  He said a short prayer and passed his hand over the wound.  I felt the muscles pull together and the bone straighten out.  I looked down at it; the pain was gone.  There was a small white scar where I'd been hit but nothing else.

Kenner had been scratching around the bodies, but they'd nothing that was of use to us, with one exception.  He handed me a small round shield, telling me it might come in useful.  He said he couldn't see any weapons that were better than the one I had.  I wouldn't usually use a shield, when I was trained to fight we used axes in two hands and we wore chain mail.  I have to make do with what is available, though.  We moved beyond the trail of the Gurgam - their trail was much easier to spot than mine had been, and Barr thought it would probably be the quickest route back to their lair.  Elenhugh had collected the top half of each Gurgam's left ear - these, he told me, were for their bounty claim.  He stowed them in a sack.

We stopped for an early lunch a couple of hundred yards along the trail.  The others talked through the fight, and were pleased that I had taken part and helped them cut the enemy down so quickly.  There was a genuine glow at the speed at which it had been done, I think they'd impressed themselves.  Daran passed a critical eye over my fighting style - I told him I was not used to fighting with sword, and that by choice I'd use an axe every time.  This was greeted with a string of nods, an acknowledgement of my race's reputation.  He then spent half an hour talking through some defensive sword techniques that could be useful pretty soon.

We moved on, and by mid afternoon we reached the camp-site I'd used on that first night.  Gurgam had been here, and they'd had the wolf with them - even I could make out those tracks.  I wasn't surprised one bit that they'd tailed me to here, the only surprise for me was that it had taken them this long.  I'm glad now that I'd kept on moving.  We checked over the site just in case, but they'd left nothing behind.

It took us a two or three hours more to move back along the trail to the lair entrance.  We sat and watched it for a few minutes, we could see the Gurgam guards outside.  There was no call to attack the place this evening, it was starting to get dark at this point.  Elenhugh said that we should attack in broad daylight, as that's when they're weakest - and we'll be freshest and strongest.  We moved away from the site again, but not along the trail the Gurgam had used to track me - we went off into the woodland, and walked for the best part of an hour before we made a 'cold camp', this was their term.  What it means is that there will be no fire this evening, and we'll be having a double-watch.  We dine on trail rations tonight, the cold weather should keep the pork legs in my sack fresh.

Another Disturbed Night

Mullory woke us as the night was drawing to an end.  He seems to spend some of his time on watch in prayer, and his small shrine was still set up.  He'd heard some noises off in the woodland, and had woken Kenner to keep watch while he went to take a look.  He was only gone a few minutes when he came back reporting Gurgam out in the woods.  It was then that they woke us all.

We prepared our weapons but the threat receded as the disgusting creatures moved on.  I have no problem fighting them, but it's better to do it in the daylight and with everyone fully awake.

There was no great call from the others to go and hunt them down in the dark, either.  After about half an hour everyone was encouraged to try and get some more sleep.  I dozed waking often with the image of a gaoler beating me with a wooden club.  The dreams were so vivid that I could almost feel the bruises after I woke up.

Like me, the others were restless, and the morning fire was lit early.  We enjoyed bacon and mushrooms for breakfast, and we still have plenty of raw pig to cook for this evenings meal.

As breakfast was early, we broke camp early.  The others see this as a good thing.  The next camp site we're headed to is the first one I ended up at when I fled, and I'm not sure I can find my way back to the Gurgam lair from there - I ran blindly when I escaped.  Barr is an experienced tracker though, and Elenhugh thinks we'll have little problem finding the way between us.  I do not think it is all that far from here, though - I didn't travel a great distance on my first full day of freedom.

Long Trek

Today's march has been very tiring.  I'm glad I'm now eating better, it'll help me keep up with the others.

As we moved on today I talked some more with Elenhugh and Mullory.  I'd assumed they were adventurers, but it seems their work is more formal than that, they're mercenaries.  They're on this mission because they're being paid for each Gurgam they kill, the Gnaeblin and Dzarraf are paying a bounty.  We discussed their approach and their tactics, and for the first time in my dealings with them I felt I was on safe ground - I was able to contribute rather than just rely on them for food and shelter.

Mid-morning we passed through the camp-site I'd used a couple of nights ago.  I showed them where the mushrooms are growing, and I told them about the badger I'd caught.  I don't think Hznaman eat badger very often, they seemed quite unimpressed about the fact that I'd cooked it and eaten it.  It's a good job I've not told them about the rats yet.

I was beginning to get along very well with these folk.  I was much happier being clean and warm.  Mullory even set up a shrine when we stopped for lunch and held prayers which I joined in with.

In the afternoon we talked more about the mercenary arrangements.  If I'm joining in, they argued, then I was entitled to a share of the money they're paid for doing this work.  The reward is only a few silver coins for each kill, but they intend to take care of dozens of them.  I told them that I was not short of money, not that I had any with me, but that I didn't need to be rewarded.  I was quite happy to kill Gurgam for no reward.  I was quite looking forward to watching Daran and Kenner in action.  I insisted that I needed no payment, perhaps it's a good job that the reward isn't gold coin, as I might not have been able to say no.  They eventually accepted my plea, it's the least I can do for the hospitality they've shown me.  I hope we get hundreds of the buggers.

By the time dusk arrived we had reached the next of my camp-sites, the one from three nights ago.  We went past the place where I'd had the run-in with the boar, and I related the story.  They laughed and laughed, especially Barr.  I did all the actions too - perhaps that was something of a mistake, but we gathered more mushrooms.

We stopped in the same clearing I'd used for my camp, and tonight the rains came again.  I vaguely remember it raining last time I was here.  Barr is really starting to impress me, though.  As we started to get the camp organised, he disappeared.  Within an hour, and before it was fully dark, he returned to the camp carrying a wild boar over his shoulder.  I was amazed at first, but that amazement faded somewhat when I realised it didn't have an arrow wound in its rear leg - and it looks so much smaller than the one that I had a run in with.  This one had an arrow hole in the middle of its chest.  We roasted both the hind legs for supper this evening.  They went really well with the apples and mushrooms Kenner and I collected while it cooked.  And we'll be having bacon for breakfast!

Tonight I'm joining in the watch duty for the first time.  Despite my aching legs, I'm not feeling all that sleepy yet.  I think this is down to the quality of the food, but I've volunteered for first watch - I'd be up and watching anyway even if I'm not on formal duty.

Disturbed overnight

I was awoken late in the night by cries from Daran, who had seen a bear close by.  The animal seemed attracted to our fire, which was still burning.  We all leaped from the beds, but I had no weapon.  Kenner threw me a long dagger, and told me to use it only for defence, that they'd be dealing with the danger.

The bear charged when it saw the Daran against the firelight - that seemed to be their cue to collectively jump into action.  There was a flash of light from Elenhugh and magic sprang into the air.  I've not seen this kind of thing often, its not popular in the delve.  The bear took the full brunt of it but kept running at Daran.  Then Kenner and Daran together sprang at the animal hacking chunks off it.  It fell before it could swing one of its heavy paws.  They left the animal there and went back to bed.

I handed Kenner his knife back and went back to my own bed.  I think I was out asleep again as soon as my head was down on the leaves.

In the morning I was awoken by the sound and smell of cooking meat.  We were having huge thick bear stakes for breakfast.  Barr was cooking them on a larger than normal fire.  I have no idea where he got the firewood from.

Over breakfast Kenner gave me my sword and bow back.  He said he'd spoken to the others and they felt they could trust me a little more now.

We're now packing out the camp, and heading uphill.  I've been given a large sack to carry, from the smell of things it contains raw meat.

A Camp with Company

The sun is now setting on the most fortunate of days.  I'll tell how I fared with these travellers.

As I was hunkered underneath a bush, I heard the voices going past, well out of sight.  They were much closer to the river than I, but I heard them stop.  They were talking about food, and their talk was somewhat subdued.  I could hear them, but not make out what they were saying.  I just listened for a few moments - there seemed to be at least four different voices.  Then it went much quieter.  I thought to myself "they're eating, now's my chance", so I rose from my hiding place and quietly walked over.

I did well to move so quietly, I was almost into their camp before I blew it.  They'd stopped by the edge of the river, and were eating cold trail rations, and I'd caught a couple of glimpses of them through the bushes before they heard me.  There was a fuss ahead of me, one of them shouted with a food-filled mouth 'What was that!'.  It was followed by the immediate, sphincter loosening sound of people standing and swords being drawn.  I made a split second decision - I could have run, I could have buried myself back in the undergrowth.  But I didn't.  Perhaps I was sick of the constant cold, or the lack of company, or maybe I could smell the dried meat they were eating.  I stood up to my full height and walked boldly into their camp.

I was confronted with a sight I will not forget for any time soon.  Ahead of me were five Hznaman, the two closest to me were tall men, one in chain mail and the other in a kind of scale mail that I'd not seen before.  They had swords drawn.

Behind them was another man wearing a breastplate over what appeared to be a chain mail shirt.  Alongside him was a shorter, more wiry man in leather armour, and right at the back, still getting up, was another man.  He was dressed in finery, perhaps, I thought, he was some kind of noble.

When I started to march forward I had every intention of greeting them loudly and clearly and offering my hand of friendship, but when I saw this sight I just raised my hands above my head and I said 'I surrender'; the sound of my voice is something I'd not heard for days, and it was dry and crackly.  I was done - I didn't realise just how tired and cold I was, but at that moment I was ready to give up everything.  I was exhausted.

To make matters worse the noble at the back started to laugh then immediately clamped down on it, forcing himself to be silent.  The wiry man looked me up and down, "We have been caught up by a vagrant.", he said.  "What a disgusting odour."

One of the warriors with the swords asked who I was, where I was from and what I was doing out here in the wilderness.  It didn't occur to me to even try to deceive them with any falsehood, I just told them the truth - I gave my name and I was from Gora, and I told them that I escaped the capture of Gurgam only a few days ago.

They took my sword and bow and invited me to into their camp.  None sat too close; I think I may have carry some of the stench of the Gurgam still in my clothes.  As I sat down, the warriors sat either side of me, and the man with the breastplate was the one who seemed to be doing the talking.  Before I spoke I noticed the symbols upon the clothing of the breast-plated man.  He seemed to be a priest of some kind, his symbols were familiar to me - he is with the Hznaman church of Danethrae, closely allied with our own religion of Czakzan-Annar (they call it Tyard-Annar).

I related a little of my story, how I'd been instructed to help the Gnaeblin, how fighting had broken out with the Gurgam, how I'd been swept up in it all, and how I'd been captured.  They didn't seem to understand what Gurgam were at first, but I explained.  They use a different name for these pests, they called them 'Gubbalins'.  They found it hard to believe how I had been kept alive by them, normally Gurgam kill their enemy.  They concluded that I must have some special status or value to them, that I was a prize.

They told me something of themselves.  The two warriors have been through more than a few scrapes together, and have been friends for many years, even since they were children.  They are both from a city far to the north called 'Keal', but they'd moved to Fornan Bay about five or more years ago.  This is a city we know of in Gora, it is a port where some of our exported minerals go.  The chain mailed warrior is named Kenner, and he has an almost Dzarraf sense of humour.  His friend in the scales is Daran, who is far more jovial and laughs easily.

The man in the breast plate is, indeed, a priest of the Church of Danethrae, his name is Mullory.  The other two are much quieter than these, but the noble is named Elenhugh and he seems to be the organiser and planner of the group, while the wiry man who hardly said a word while we were sat there goes by the name of Barr.  All these other three are from the city of Fornan Bay (and its surrounding districts, Elenhugh was keen to stress).  They've been working with the warriors for three years, they said, but Mullory joked that it seemed far longer.

As the stories went on, they became more relaxed and so did I.  We discussed what I did in the delve, how I'm a keeper of the peace and a finder of the truth.  This they identified with, I found it hard to keep anything from them - and I had no reason to.  I know of the Danethrae church and, if they are followers, then they can probably be trusted.  Mullory is a skilled interrogator, he wound me back over my story for different points of view time and again; I think he was looking for any deception that I might be pulling, but I remained truthful as far as I could.

They told me they are up in the hills because they'd heard talk of the Gurgam 'getting uppity' (Daran's words).  A Gnaeblin contingent had brought news of the problems a month ago, and they'd been on the road from Scourt Hills, on the other side of the mountains, for over a week.  When I told them that I could probably find my way back to a whole lair full of the disgusting creatures, they became very keen to invite me along.  Provided, they said, I wash the Gurgam smell out of my clothes.  Apparently Elenhugh has soap, but I think the others secretly disapprove.

We spent a couple of hours in that camp, they shared some food with me, but they did not let me have my weapons back.  They did tell me they'd consider it later if I were travelling with them, but for now I was to consider myself their 'guest'.  They said that if I really wanted them I could take my weapons back, but then they'd insist that I left their group - and I'd rather stay for the company.  And the opportunity to see some Gurgam getting hurt.

We left the camp, it was late afternoon.  I'd estimate we'd been there for three hours, the sun had certainly moved on.  We headed back up to the camp-site I'd used last night, and kept pressing on.  They selected somewhere to stop, they had tents but I did not.  We were right down by the river, and I was forced to take a wash.  While I was in the water they lit a small fire.  I though it a little smoky as I came out of the water.  I'd scrubbed my under-clothes as I'd washed but they were burning my outer woollens!

I was horrified.  I needn't have been though.  Barr took me to one side and handed me a spare pair of his trousers.  These are cloth, not wool, but have a lace-up front.  While he is taller an thinner than me, I pulled them on with little problem, turning up the legs at the bottom.  Elenhugh handed me a long thick woollen jumper that I believe had belonged to Kenner, they cut the sleeves short and it covered me nicely.  Despite being something of a patchwork, I felt comfortable for the first time in weeks.

Later in the evening we ate fresh rabbits that Barr had caught while the others prepared camp.  I didn't ask him how he did it, but I am intrigued.  I think their pace back up into the mountains will be much better than the easy pace in which I came down them.  They do not seem to want to be hanging about here for any length of time.

We're turning in very shortly - there is to be a watch and a long night's rest.  I still have my Gurgam cloak, and it's been washed out.  It's drying by the fire, so I may be a little cold tonight.  I've shown them how to hide their fire better so it's not seen from a huge distance away any more, and story-telling has begun.

Meeting A Hunting Group

As I made my way down along the river, I kept my eyes open for signs of Ogruks.  I assumed that they'd probably be following the river, and that if they were Ogruks, there would be a good chance they were heading to the lands of the Gurgam, which were in the hills behind me.


It all felt a little odd - if I'd seen their fire all that way off in the distance, then they will surely have seen mine?  If they're hostile then they cannot have seen it, otherwise they would have been hunting me down.  This thought lifted my spirits slightly - either they're not hostile or they've not seen me.


I crossed the mile or so of open ground as quickly as I could, trying to stay out of sight, using the rolling land to keep me hidden, but always keeping in sight of the river.  Occasionally I'd catch a glimpse of movement.  Whatever they are, they seem to be coming in my direction.

Moving like this meant I made slow progress.  After maybe an hour of walking, the undergrowth along the bank of the river here became thick - there were no trees, but many scrubby bushes  (and more berries, which I ate as I sneaked along).  Moving through this was even slower, but it gave me plenty of cover, and I moved more directly towards where I thought they'd be.  I've already said I'm not the most graceful and silent of movers, so I knew I'd have to take care not to be spotted before I was ready.  But I am out here alone, which works to my advantage if I do not wish to be seen.

Then I heard the voices.  They seemed off in the distance, but in my mind they were right upon me.  They were not Gurgam voices, they were speaking the common tongue.  If anything they sounded Hznaman, that was a relief - they weren't instant enemies.  I started to shake, I'm not sure if I were scared or excited.  I've not spoken to any of the free races for such a long time.  I stopped moving forwards, and found a suitably sized bush to hide under.

I've tucked myself under the bush and I've been straining to see out.  I want to know how many of them there are and what their demeanour is before I try to speak to them.

Spotted a Camp Fire

It was a cold night once more last night.  I slept well, but there was the lightest touch of frost over the ground away from my camp and away from this overhanging cliff.  I kept my fire well hidden, but I clearly saw a few miles away down in the plains the pin-light of a camp fire just after night fall.  I was concerned when I first saw it, but it flickered, and it disappeared.  I thought at first that I'd imagined it, but over the next hour it popped up again a couple of times.  There was somebody out there, far away in the darkness.  It must be a couple of miles at least, but I was really guessing.

It's off down in the valley, and as the sun rose this morning I could take a guess at where it was.  It was hard to pinpoint the location, but I'm sure I could just make out the whisp of smoke rising this morning.  Whoever it was, I don't think it was Gurgam - they surely wouldn't need a fire at night - they'd be marching in the darkness and then camp away from the light during the day.  The problem is that it could be anyone, or anything.  Its likely to be Ogruks, as I wouldn't expect Hznaman or Welfen up here, and Dzarraf would surely be in a big group and have a much bigger fire.  Whoever lit it was trying to keep it from being seen.

I'll take the chance, though.  I need to know who it is - if it's somebody friendly I might be able to scrounge some supplies, and I might find out exactly where I am.  They might also be able to spare a blanket.  I'll be careful though.  If it's an enemy, I want to remain completely out of sight.

I've broken camp, and I'll be off in a few minutes when I've finished eating.

Badger

Last night was another warmer night, and there was no rain to keep me awake, so I slept soundly.  I had a big surprise this morning when I awoke.  I went to check on my snare and I'd caught a badger.  It'd struggled to try and break free, and was clearly weary from its efforts, but it wasn't dead.  I clubbed it with the flat of my sword until it stopped wriggling, then I cut its head off.  I took it over to a tree and hung it by its back legs,  Tonight's evening meal will be sublime.

I left my camp for a while to gather some more firewood.  I also stopped off to pick up some more mushrooms, there seem to be plenty of these in the shaded areas under the trees.  I wrapped these in the cloak and set off back to camp.

When I returned to camp, perhaps an hour or so after I'd left it, the badger was no longer dripping blood.  I considered lighting the fire and eating here, but I really need to move on.  I packed down my camp and hung the badger from my belt.

I set off once more to the west, following the river.  The woodland gave out to the plains by mid morning, and I kept along this southern bank, as close to the water as I could get.  I'd been walking away from the sunrise at first, but as the day passed and the sun moved around the south, and it stepped behind the peaks of mountains - those, I believe, are the peaks of the Gora delve, although I'm not used to seeing them from the outside.

The further I've travelled to the west along by the water, the more rocky and uneven the ground has become.  The river is getting wider too, and I've had to cross a couple of side streams too.  Immediately after crossing one of them, I stopped for some food.  The fresh water was wonderful alongside my meal of apples, berries and raw mushrooms.

As the sun headed westwards, it began shining upon my face as I walked, and I began looking for somewhere to set up my camp.  By late afternoon I'd reached a low outcrop of rock which overhangs the land underneath it a little.  At the bottom of this low cliff are some bushes and nettles, but there is also plenty of room for my camp.  There are more of these black coloured berries growing here, so I will not starve during the night.

It took me a little to get the fire going again.  While I have plenty of firewood I don't need a large fire, and it could attract unwanted Gurgam attention.  I put half of the badger on a wooden stake and raised it up over the fire to cook.  I cooked mushrooms to go along with my roasted badger on the blade of my sword again.

This is the most complete meal I've had since I escaped from the Gurgam lair.  It feels really good to be eating healthy meat once more.

Hunting

I set off hunting after setting up my shelter.  It was late in the afternoon when I headed off into the undergrowth.  I walked for perhaps half an hour before trying to pick up any sounds of living creatures.  I found it odd that the woodland should be so noisy; I began creeping as quietly as I could.

I should say that the skill of being quiet and the skill of remaining hidden are not ones I'm either familiar with or good at.  What happened next was something of a surprise looking back upon it.  I crept up to the edge of a small clearing where I'd heard some odd grunting noises, and across the other side of the little glade was what looked like a black pig.  I readied my bow, and took a step closer.  It was at this point that I reverted to the clumsy ham-fisted old Dzarraf that I'm used to being.  Whatever I stood on, and it was probably wood, broke with loud snapping noise.  The pig turned to look, and I could finally see its tusks.  It was a boar - and now it looked much bigger than it had only a few seconds before.

I let an arrow fly as the boar began to charge at me.  Once again time seemed to slow as the arrow went waywardly wide; I had a bowel-loosening moment as I flung the bow over my shoulder.  I know that boar hunting can be a rite of passage, a test of one's mettle.  But not here and now, not for me.  If you go seeking this kind of excitement, it's traditional to take a spear - and with good reason.  Not having any kind of spear, I took the only course of action I saw would be helpful.  I leaped up, grabbed a low branch, and climbed upwards as quickly as possible into the nearest tree.

I'm not really built for tree climbing, and I've no idea how I managed it - but I did.  I didn't need to climb too high, I stopped at about twice my height, and the boar just couldn't follow.  It didn't give up though, it stopped at the bottom of the tree staring up at me and looking very angry.

I took a moment to gather my breath, then reached back for the bow.  I positioned myself as well as I could, braced between two branches and lined up an arrow.  I took careful aim, trying to get the arrow right between it's eyes, and I let it fly.  It was more successful than my last shot, but it was still nowhere near where I'd aimed it.  It stuck in the hind quarters of the pig, piercing it at the top of its rear leg, just along its flank.  The pain bit into the boar, and its demeanour changed instantly.  It squealed and fled into the woods, at a surprising speed despite its limp.

I waited several moments, until the sound of retreating boar was gone, then climbed down the tree, dropping the last few feet onto the soft ground.  I looked back at the tree and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  The lowest branch looked awfully high.  I've no idea how I made it up that far in one bound.

I took a few moments to look around where the boar had been snuffling was another patch of mushrooms, so lots of those were then picked.  I didn't get any meat, but now I'd gathered enough food to last me until late tomorrow.  As my cloak was full, I headed back towards my camp - or, at least, I thought it was back to camp.  I moved quickly away from the area, but I didn't seem to get back to anywhere I recognised.

Eventually I realised I'd lost my way back, and I'd been wandering around the woodland.  I stopped chasing in circles and headed, as best as I could tell, north-east wards.  I reached the river with some relief, and then headed back up stream.  It had taken me a couple of hours, but I got back to the camp site as it approached early evening.  I was so tired but I needed a fire.  I spent many minutes trying to get one lit, I had two sticks and some dry leaves, and I built a small bow with another stick and some bark, but I couldn't get the thing hot enough to spark.  I was really tired, so I just lay down and dropped off immediately.

When I woke an hour or so later, it was dusk.  I went for a drink from the river and went back to lighting my fire.  This time I got it going.  Once it was burning nicely, I laid mushrooms along my sword and placed it over the fire.  It was my first cooked food for a long time, and I really enjoyed it.

Moving Camp

Last night was quite a bit warmer because of all the cloud.  But with the cloud came rain.  It rained pretty much all night long.  My shelter did a good job of keeping the rain off, I'd put more leaves over it and they'd done the trick.  The problem with leaves in the rain, though, is the continuous noise.  That, coupled with the occasional drip meant I've been awake for most of the night.

I felt pretty lousy when I climbed out of the shelter in the bright of the early morning.  I went down tot he river and washed myself awake.  I then went off and gathered some more mushrooms for my breakfast and checked my snare.  It was, unfortunately, empty.  I left it there while I ate my food, just on the off-chance that something might still take the bait.

I took it quite easy as the morning progressed.  I took it easy taking down the shelter, I tied up the frame poles that I'd cut and tied them with some strips of bark.  I was going to carry these, as they were the part of the lean-to that I'd spent any time on.  I gathered more of the mushrooms and fruit, and stowed them into the cloak, which I tied and suspended from the poles of the frame.  The last thing I did before leaving the camp was collect my (still empty) snare.

I moved off north-west again through the trees along the line of the stream.  As I moved through the trees I picked up small amounts of dry wood for a fire later.  In the mid morning I left the woodlands behind.  I came out onto a wide rolling plain that sloped downwards, through which the river wound its way curving (more or less) to the left as it meandered into the distance.

The river disappeared into another woodland further down the valley, and I reached that before lunchtime.  By mid-afternoon had found another small clearing which would make a good place to stop and set up camp.  Rather than spending the whole day travelling, I though it would be better to stop here and try to forage some more food.  Once again I set up my shelter, which has become something of a lean-to, and I covered it with some fresh, leafy branches.  I did a much better job this time, I think I'm getting the hang of it.  I'm off now to try and gather some food.

Fishing, Hunting and Freezing

As the morning drew on the bright sunshine was replaced with cloud that rolled in from the plains to the west.  The cloud cover brought in some warmer air, but slowly it became much darker.  I couldn't move quickly through the woodland at first, the undergrowth was heavy in places and I needed to conserve my energy as I'd still not eaten.

After a few hours of steady progress, I reached a clearing in the woods.  It was quite dark now, though, and as soon as I stepped out into it, a light rain began to fall.  I need to be dry, though, so I headed back into the cover of the trees and started cutting down some of the large-leafed lower branches and lashed them together.  The leaves are beginning to turn brown but they've not fallen yet.  I took some strong branches spent some time building a frame.  Once that was together, I had the shelter up in short order as the rain strengthened.  I hunkered under it, cold and hungry.

As the afternoon wore on the rains slowed to a fine drizzle.  Although I was damp once again, I placed the clothes that were frozen this morning under the shelter.  They're not as wet as I thought (despite the rain); that shelter has really helped.

I needed food, so I stripped naked and went down to the river in the drizzle, taking a couple of these Gurgam arrows with me.  I intended to catch some fish, so I waded out into the water.  It was still cold.  I could see a few fish in the water, but all were quite small.  I'm not the most graceful, especially in the water, and the only big fish I saw during the hour I spent up to my waist in water I couldn't get near to.  I gave up in the end - the cold water was really getting to me, my toes were turning blue.

As I returned to my camp, the rain had ceased, and the sun was breaking out.  That was most welcome.  I dried out quite easily, and I put my shorts and vest out in the sun in the clearing.  They had dried fully within an hour too.

In the meantime I scouted around the clearing. I was originally looking for berries or other fruit.  But I found something even better.  Mushrooms.  It was quite a large patch of them too, nestled just under the eaves of the woodland.  Unlike the dark grey under-land ones we have at home, these were white.  We've had similar in the delve before, but they're something of a speciality.  I ate them raw, but I didn't care.  They were delicious.

Eating and sitting in the sun lifted my spirits.  I was warm and dry, and I felt I should try and catch some smaller wild animals, squirrels or rodents.  I put my clothes back on and gathered some old fallen wood from the clearing, and hung it from some of the trees in the afternoon sum - I wanted it as dry as possible.  If I caught anything I wanted to cook it this time.

Then I set off, armed with the sword and this bow.  I chased several squirrels, but they move very quickly - and they climb trees much better than I do.  I saw little else that I could catch (most rodents are so small), but of course, squirrels eat nuts.  And nuts do not run away.

I felt quite fortunate - there were many of these.  Almonds and hazelnuts, and I also found some fruit - there were a couple of apple trees and a bush with small black berries.  Apples I can recognise, but these berries I did not.  It was clearly the end of their season - some were withered and dry, but many were not.  I picked one and tried it; it was sweet and bitter at the same time, but very pleasant.  I can only assume that if they taste nice, then I'm the target audience for eating these berries and spreading the seeds over a wide area.  I ate several, then turned to the apples.  These were much like the berries, at the end of their season, many were shrivelled and rotting on the floor, but some still clung to the trees.  I picked all I could find with no insect holes in them.  I've enough nuts, berries and apples for a meal tonight now.

Most importantly I have a bit of energy back.  I stripped some bark from a tree and cut it into thin strips.  I've now got enough for a small snare.  I'll set that tonight before I sleep - I can use dead rat as bait; I might be able to catch a rabbit or perhaps something bigger.

Out in the Big Cold World

I couldn't even get to sleep last night.  I thought at first the night was just cold - so I put my outer clothes back on, they were the driest, although the wool is quite a bit rougher than the fine weave on my shorts and vest.  They're also very worn and tatty from my time in the cell, and some of the holes are in the wrong place to keep me warm .  I ended up wrapping that Gurgam cloak tight around me.  And then I still couldn't relax or get properly warm.

So I spent half an hour scratching around in the dark gathering up many of the fallen leaves in this woodland as I could find -  I'd wanted to cut some branches and build a temporary shelter to keep me warmer, but it wasn't possible in the dark.  Even though I didn't have all that many of them, the leaves really helped.  I thought they would be wetter than they turned out to be, and with not much effort I soon had a nest in them.

But I still struggled to get to sleep.  I wasn't particularly cold any more, I hadn't done enough to be warm, and I could have really used a blanket.  I was hungry.  I think I was also on edge, listening too intently for the sound of Gurgam trackers.  Every little sound off in the darkness had me instantly wide awake and listening hard.

I was up for hours laying awake, I watched the stars drift slowly across the sky, they track with the moon.  I got out of the warmth of my nest a couple of times to investigate the sounds of movement nearby, and the cool air didn't help me relax when I returned.  Eventually I dropped off.  The sleep didn't help me much, though. I awoke abruptly, with a light layer of frost.  I was freezing cold, and I had a sore head from too little sleep.

I was hungry when I awoke, too.  I thought I was in real trouble - no warmth, no food, no shelter.  And my underclothes that I'd left hanging nearby were stiff with the frost.  They'd still not dried out - I need a way to keep some dry clothes somehow.  I had no breakfast.  The last two of my raw rats were frozen - I'd left them on the cold floor.  They're only useful as bait now.

I went down to the river and splashed some of the water on my face and took a deep drink.  I'm still amazed at how fresh and sharp this water is.  The cold was staggering, though.  As I sat there, I thought about my predicament.  I decided to move out from this place - I am still too close to the Gurgam caves.

To get back to the delve I probably need to head upwards into the mountains, but if the nights are going to be cold, and if I don't know where I am, then this could be dangerous.  Food will be more scarce the higher we go, and there is the risk of running into Gurgam patrols.  My best hope for surviving the cold is to move down into the valley.  It will be a longer journey, but if I could  get down the mountains and find their western edge, I can make my way round to the ornamental entrance of Gora.

I've gathered my things, my frozen clothes, my bait and my weapons.  I am planning to follow the river which, as far as I can tell, is flowing from the south-east to the north-west.  The sun is breaking out, it might get a little warmer later, but for now we're still in the shadow of the mountains to the south.

Flee to an unsafe camp

As I fled the Gurgam I didn't stop moving for two hours.  At times I passed through open spaces where I ran full-tilt as it was becoming dark, and back into woodland or scrubby undergrowth that slowed me down.  I passed another couple of streams, both were small but babbling and icy cold.  I could swear I saw fish in one of them in the starlight.  I crossed over more open lands more woodland, until I entered some pretty dense woodland, and by now it was fully dark.  I scurried through here as well as I could, but the trees are so dense above that little starlight is making it down into here.  I could not move quickly across this uneven land in the dark, and with every passing minute the undergrowth was becoming more dense and moving was becoming more treacherous.

Then I picked up the sound of water, which I slowly followed until the woodland ended at a wide, shallow stream.  The water is probably ten or so feet across, and in the starlight I can see that the trees continue on the opposite bank.  I've decided to camp here, just a tree or two's distance from the stream itself.  I took a close look at it, it's probably only three or four feet deep out in the middle, and that may be enough to hold larger fish.  Hunting is a job for tomorrow, though.  Tonight I dine on raw rat meat once again.  I hope it's the last time.

A few moments ago, as I sat wondering about how to start a fire, I realised that my clothes were still damp underneath, and I was hot from all the running.  It was slightly warmer under the trees, and I could see wisps of steam rising from my shoulders, so I stripped my clothes off.  My undergarments I took down to the water and washed more thoroughly, then I hung them on the low branch of a tree to dry out.  I have kept the Gurgam cloak wrapped around me for now, and I'm beginning to feel the cold.  I really wish I had my flint, then I could get a small fire going - but it seems to have gone missing along with most of my other possessions. It's probably for the best, though.  The Gurgam will be tracking me, and a fire right now would probably bring them right down upon me.

To occupy my hands and mind, I'm going to clean the rust from this sword.  I've pulled a couple of strips of bark from a tree, that should be oily enough to do the job.

A Small Fight and Flight

I'm a little out of breath, and my leg muscles are heavy and they ache from running.  But I think I've found somewhere safe for a while.  It's been a hectic day, I'll try to relate what happened as well as I can remember it.

I was listening intently, all geared up for the guards arrival.  After a couple of false alarms, I responded to footsteps and Gurgam voices outside getting closer.  I  grabbed one of the blankets, threw it over my shoulders and squatted down where I'd normally sleep.  I heard the door being opened and I prepared myself.

One guard came over to me with the club drawn, the other turned towards the wall by the door where the food was being placed.  Just as the guard by the door turned, the first blow landed on my back.  For the first time since I'd been in this cell, though, I was properly prepared.

The world seemed to drop into a slow motion as I sprang upwards, my spoon blade in my hand.  I extended my arm as I jumped and shoved my blade in through the left eye of the guard, it went in deeply - his eye popped and I felt some resistance to the blade but I just kept pushing as hard as I could.  Then green Gurgam blood burst out of the eye socket, I'd gone deep into his skull.  He just crumpled, gurgling quietly, and I managed to grab his club as he fell.

I was already looking over at the other guard, but he'd not realised what had happened until I sprang across the cell towards him.  He started to turn towards the door, and I think he was going to scream, but I was already there.  I swung the club as I ran, and it landed on the side of his head.  He flew across the room away from the door, and landed with a clatter on the floor.  My second blow with the club landed square on his face, I beat down with all the strength I could muster.  He was trying to get his arms up to protect himself, but the fierceness of my blow was too much.  His nose exploded in a shower of green blood, I think I caught him across both his nose and an eye.  I do not think I killed him - but he was, at the very least, out stone cold.

My senses continued to be on full alert as I peeked out of the cell.  Two more guards were there, one called into the room.  I couldn't wait for them to raise the alarm so I threw myself at them.  The first I hit hard on the forehead with the club and he fell, the other stood watching me as I threatened him.  For a few seconds he was caught between screaming for help and surrendering.  He surrendered quietly.

The guard at my feet had a rusty sword on his belt - without taking my gaze off the surrendering guard, I took the weapon and motioned with it for the guard to go into the cell.  He complied, keeping his head bowed.  I sent him to the back of the room while I gathered up the rats hanging on the back of the door and yanked my small blade out of the eye socket of the dead Gurgam (it was pretty tightly stuck, and he was still twitching as I put my foot on the Gurgam's skull and yanked the spoon blade free).  The cell keys were hanging on the belt of the guard outside, the one that I'd clubbed so, once I was in the room outside the cell, I locked the door behind me.

I quickly searched the guard and I removed his tatty cloak.  His helmet was bent beyond repair, but he had a small food knife tucked into his belt.  I took the knife and the belt (which also had a scabbard for the sword I'd taken).  I put these on - they could come in useful.

Next I made my way quietly and softly upwards through the Gurgam lair.  I found my way by seeking out the fresher, cooler air which would be coming into the caves from outside.  I sneaked past a room where several of them were gathered, discussing some military matter with a Gurgam who looked bigger and more powerful that the others who snivelled around him.  I kept to the shadows in the corridor outside that room, moving slowly and quietly, and they didn't see  me.  I passed several other Gurgam in other rooms too - few seemed to be warriors, some may have been females, and there were some younger ones.  But I remained careful.  I kept out of sight and followed the air until I reached the outdoors.

It was late evening, I could see from the light as I approached an entrance area that the sun was getting low.  The air was so sweet as I sneaked along the corridor towards the daylight.  But I could still smell the Gurgam who were guarding this entrance long before I could see them.  As I approached I kept to the darkness once more, the two guards were watching out over the low slope that ran away from the lair, down and westwards in the setting sun - they certainly weren't ready for me to appear from the entrance and attack them.  But this I did.

I caught them completely by surprise.  The first one was dead before he knew what was happening - his head removed from his body by the rusty sword that I'd recovered earlier.  The other one didn't know whether to fight or run, and he made his mind up too late.  As he reached for his sword and struggled to pull it out, I stuck my own sword into his guts.  His blood ran down my hand and he fell away from me, screaming.  He continued to scream - he wasn't dead but he was badly hurt.

Now I was in trouble, that scream I was sure would raised the alarm.  I'd done so well to keep out of everyone's attention, and now I had to get away quickly.  I paused briefly to glance at my enemies.  The headless guard had a short bow and some rubbishy looking arrows.  I stopped to gather them, I knew I could probably use them later, but that was all I took.  Then I ran for it.  There were some scrubby bushes and other undergrowth just to the right of the entrance, and I headed for the cover.  Despite the stinging nettles and brambles I kept moving through.  I couldn't run, it was just too overgrown, but I could keep going out of sight.  I made good progress.

As the land began to rise I tried to head to my right, there was some light woodland here.  I was trying to find a water source, but I couldn't hear anything for the sounds of shouting that were now rising away behind me towards the Gurgam lair.  They were tooling up by the sounds of it, so I had to keep going.

After the land rose for a couple of hundred yards, it began to fall away again, and quite steeply in one place which nearly caught me by surprise.  This slope was down to the the bed of a stream, and it was quite a relief to reach it.  With hindsight it was a bad idea as the sun was setting and a coolness was arriving in the air, but I jumped into it and let the water run down and through my clothes.  And I drank the fresh water too.  Over the years I have drunk the finest fermented beers, ciders, and distilled spirits produced by experts whose mastery spanned a hundred years and more.  But I can honestly say this drink was the most beautiful, most cleansing, most refreshing, and sweetest I can ever remember.  I let the water wash through through my beard and hair, it felt so good.  But I knew I couldn't stop for more than a couple of minutes; I have to press on.

A Bumper Crop

Overnight I had a bumper crop of rats.  I seem to be getting more and more of them appearing through the run in the cell, despite my attempts to eat them all.  Part of the trick, I think, was to allow their blood to land on the floor near to the holes on the run.  It seemed to attract them.  I must have eaten eight or nine of them overnight while I sat waiting for more, and still I had over a dozen hanging on the back of the door this morning before the guards appeared.

I must have nodded off during the night, too.  It seemed to have passed very quickly, and I hardly spent any time sharpening my spoon-blade.  Cutting the skin off these rats did blunt the edge a little, and it took time to get the sharpness back.

As a result of this mucking about overnight, I wasn't ready at breakfast time to try and make an escape bid.  I'd curled up on the bedding only an hour or so before they'd be appearing and I fell asleep again.  The guards came in, in what is now the normal way, and hurriedly beat me while dropping off their poor excuse for food and some water.  Then they left.  I went back to sleep in the darkness of the cell.

I knew I couldn't sleep for very long though.  I needed to sharpen my blade, and sitting hunched up overnight left me feeling a little stiff in the knees.  I hauled myself out of the bedding and paced up and down the room while I ate some of the rats I'd caught yesterday.  I needed the energy, but I'm starting to get sick of raw rat-meat.  I've made my decision to try and escape anyway, and I began polishing my blade to get an extra keen edge on it.

As the day has drawn on I've begun listening at the door for signs of the guards.  I need to know when they are on their way.

Grinding

I did some more scratching around the cell this afternoon, after I gave up on catching rats until tonight.  It was quite a fruitful activity, despite the dirt that ended up on me hands and arms.  I found the remains, I think, of some kind of cover for the latrine.  It was mostly pebble sized chunks of stone, but one piece was a fist sized chunk.  All these were buried in the detritus and mould at the back of the cell.  The stone is an inch or so thick, but the important part is the flat base.  I cannot use it to increase the sharpness of my spoon-tool because it's not big enough, but I have been using it all afternoon to grind away at one of the floor slabs to make a smoother surface for sharpening on.  It's smoothing that tile out nicely.

I curled up to try and sleep after spending a few hours trying to catch a few rats and grinding down the floor.  I didn't feel tired, but I didn't want to be moving about when the guards came in, and I need to be up during the night when the rats are more active, so this is a good time to rest.

I must have been more sleepy than I thought, as I was awoken by the beating.  I think the guard kicked me before hitting me with the club.  Perhaps he thought I'd finally died.  I didn't even get the chance to look out of the door, by the time I'd properly woken up they'd finished.  They were gone as quickly once more, so now I have lots of time until morning – hopefully I can use this time to get my spoon-blade really sharp.

More Rats

This morning was no different to yesterday.  Two guards brought in water and oatmeal gruel, and again they seemed in a hurry.  The beating was down to just a few swipes with the club – they left promptly once the food and water were placed down.  I grunted to try and show that they'd broken my spirits.  They seemed to be chuckling in their disgusting Gurgam way as they left.  I tried to look past them and into the area beyond the door.  I could see very little, it's some sort of corridor or room, but the floor was a couple of steps higher than in here, and it looked dry.  It was hard to see because I was laying on the cell floor wrapped in the disgusting bedding.

Fortunately for me the guards didn't look too hard around them in the room.  I've caught several rats during the night (this is when they seem to be most active), and I was running out of space to hang them.  I need them to dry out before I can eat them, so I can't put them on the floor, even if it would attract more rats.  This place is infested, there must be hundreds of the little critters.

I picked the edge off one of the smelly rotten blankets and undid some of its woollen thread.  I used this to string the headless rats by their back feet to the back of the door where we have a couple of loose nails.  There are six rats hanging there now, and I've already eaten three others.

I've been feeling much better since my diet improved over these last couple of days.  I've been dropping the carcasses into the latrine, which is several feet deep and has a pool of water at the bottom.  With the lack of food I'd hardly been using it for its intended purpose.

Making Escape Plans

This spoon is made of an iron composite of some sort.  It's pretty tough – and it took some effort to squash the spoon part flat enough to make it comfortable to hold.  I've been trying to cut an edge along the end of what used to be the handle while I wait for the rats.  That has gone well, despite taking some time – but I have plenty of that.  I've been gently grinding it down on the rough damp flagstones on the floor of my cell and it's sharp now.  I used it to slice open and skin the rats I caught today (there were half a dozen of them).  It works quite nicely, but it is not sharp enough yet.  I could really do with a smoother stone, I'll have a scratch around the cell later.  I'll keep sharpening it where I am for now, as I'm right by the rat-run, and I need to catch more food.

I'm a little stiff from sitting on the floor next to this rat run. The hours in here seem to drag on and on.  I've been sat leaning against the wall while gently rubbing this spoon against the flag stone of the floor since they brought food an hour or so ago.  I can hear them coming - they make plenty of noise as they approach the cell.  But just sitting here is so mind-numbing, so dull, I hope it doesn't send me mad.

I also think the beatings have been stepped down a little.  The pain isn't nearly as bad and this morning and, although there were two Gurgam again, only one was wielding the club.  I also got the impression that they were in more of a hurry to get out of the cell.  It was the same this evening, too.  I'm not sure if eating the rats is helping to strengthen me, or if its my body becoming more resilient, or if the guards are being pressurised for time, or if they're just getting bored with the whole process and only going through the motions.

I'm now more concerned that whatever is happening outside this prison could be distracting them.  If the thing they're struggling with becomes worse for them, then they may stop bringing water altogether.  Perhaps tomorrow the chance will come to have a go at  the guards.  I am going to take the first opportunity to try and escape.

An Odd Find

Today the routine continued, I'm pretty sure now this was the morning. Some more of the thin gruel and some more rancid meat was dispensed, and more clubs and more pain were brought in.  I'm getting quite sick of this, but I need to get my strength up.  I tried the meat – it was truly gruesome, oily and dry and incredibly chewy.  It also stunk like it'd been hung in an Ogruk lair.  I couldn't face any more of it, despite my hunger.

Instead of just laying down after they'd left, I knew I'd probably have several hours before they returned, so I took a look around the room.  I was surprised to discover rat droppings around the outside of the room, along the wall behind the door, in the corner opposite the bedding, and the wall to the right of that corner.  Some further investigation showed the small holes rats had been using to move around here.  This was some good news at last; where I come from rats are an important source of protein.  I hatched a plan.

I took the rest of that meat and put it near to the run, then I moved a couple of the disgusting blankets out to the other end of the room and put them on the floor next to the run too so I could sit on them rather than the damp floor.  I'd got little else to do, so I just stayed there, trying to rest.

I was rewarded.  Before very long a big fat rat turned up and started sniffing round the meat.  Once it was in reach, when it started paying attention to the bait, I pounced on it.  I must really stink, because normally they can tell when you're near – but this one couldn't smell me.  It was struggling a little, scratching and trying to bite, so I quickly ripped its head off and hung it on a rusty hook in the wall.  It was dry in a couple of hours, and despite being uncooked it was considerably more nutritious than the food they've been leaving me.  The blood stain it left on the floor seems to have attracted others to investigate too.  Over the next couple of hours several more of them appeared, and I caught another two in the same way.  I hung them on the same hook.

As another plus, I sorted the other blankets out.  I didn't want to move the other blankets from my rat-trap, so I just shook the bedding out, and underneath I found a metal spoon in amongst the rotting food and other debris at the edge of the room.  I washed it off in the drinking water, and I have a useful tool, now what do I make of it?

On top of my other luck of the day, there were only two Gurgam guards this evening delivering the food and beating.  I'm not sure where the others have gone, but this is starting to look like an opportunity.  I need to think on this.

Gurgam Gaolers

I managed to grab some sleep last night (I think it was the night, I've lost track), I even ate the stale bread that had been left.  I'd not mustered enough courage to eat that horrible piece of meat, perhaps if this carries on I'll have no choice.  The water jug was filled up again while I slept.  My leg seems to be healing, I think I did it some good yesterday when I washed it over with some of that drinking water.

I had a visit from the guards this morning (it was probably morning).  The main task they seem to have been given is to drop in food and water - which they did.  They left another clay jug and some oat-based gruel.

There were four Gurgam coming into the cell to do this, and at first I thought that a little odd.  They roused me from my nap by loudly slamming the door wide open.  Two of them were armed with clubs and they crossed the room to where I was curled up, while the other two dropped off the gruel and the jug of water.  The armed Gurgam then began beating me with the clubs.  They pulled no punches, but it didn't go on for long.  They left me covered in bruises, and with a cut on my head.  The pain was terrible, and the blood ran into my eyes until I stemmed its flow.  The next thing they did was to leave the cell – slamming the door noisily once again.  I think they're the welcoming committee.

I curled up in the corner once more, but the silence and the cold seem to magnify the pain.  The injuries are pretty superficial, and it takes more than a few bruises to hurt a Dzarraf.  I don't think they wanted to inflict extremes of harm - I guess this is going to become something of a regular occurrence, a way to keep the guards safe from me while they deliver the food.  The four of them returned several hours later, which could well have been late afternoon, with more food (dry bread and disgusting cured pork) and some more water.  And another beating.

How I ache.  I've got to get a plan to get out of here before the pain becomes much worse.  I need more food and I could really do with getting some better sleep.

Waking in the Dark

Oh my poor head.  What did I do?

It's dark here.  My Dzarraf eyes are struggling to make out shapes in this hole.  I'm alone and cold, and I'm hurt.  I took a blow to the head and I'd been cut on the outside of my thigh in the fighting.  Hold on a moment, I'll just take a breath – and I'll try to recall what happened to me.

I can remember the second charge of the Gurgam and Ogruks, but my part in that fight was short – I'm not a seasoned warrior like many of those I marched with.  The Gurgam broke upon us and drove through; they separated the Dzarraf forces, succeeding as easily as that first wave.  I ended up in a small pocket of us, surrounded by both Gurgam and Ogruks.  The Ogruks turned and charged back at the front half of our force, while the Gurgam set about us.  I hacked at a couple, they fall too easily, but one caught my leg.  I was briefly knocked from my feet, but only through surprise – there was little pain.  But then was hit from behind, I think.

I have no idea why I'm here.  I was not dressed in armour like many of my comrades - perhaps the finery of my clothes made me look like a leader in Ogruk eyes.  I can smell them upon me, they must have brought me here - wherever 'here' is.  And the finest of my clothes have gone, I carried extra woollens, and I was wearing some.  The ones that I have left on seem to have dirt ground into them and they're ripped and stretched.

It may be dark in this place, but my eyes are not so old that they cannot cut through the gloom.  I can see there is stout wooden door, and on the opposite wall a small hole in the floor, which stinks like a latrine.  That's probably what it is.  Over by the door I can make out a jug which seems to contain liquid, it doesn't smell at all so it's probably water.  Ah there's a small package next to it.  Hang on, I'll go investigate it.

That's odd.  Its a filthy animal skin wrapped around some bread and some old fatty meat, probably cured pork belly by the smell of it, it's still got hairs on it.  And yes, that's water in the clay jug.  Someone doesn't want me dead (at least not yet) so that's a promising sign.  I wonder who left that here?

By the smell of the animal skin, they're probably Gurgam – but the smell of Ogruk is so strong in this room that I cannot be sure.  There are some filthy woollen blankets in the corner, I think they're meant to be a rough bed.  I could do with the sleep, but I have no idea what else will be crawling around in the wool.  The floor is damp, cold and very hard, though, so I've probably got no choice.  I'll get some rest – hopefully the throbbing in my head and leg will die down with sleep.

Our Column Ambushed

We set off at first light this morning, and for an hour or so we made good progress down the slopes.  Gallanarre and I marched two-thirds of the way towards the back of the column, where we'd be well protected if anything went wrong.  And it was true – we were.  After stopping for breakfast, we were closing to the point where we'd be parting company from the soldiers and heading down to one of the villages when a surprise Gurgam attack hit.

We ought to have seen it, but the scouts ahead has reported nothing.  Suddenly there were a couple of hundred Gurgam that appeared to our right, they rose out of the undergrowth and bushes and attacked.  Their tactic at first was to drive into the middle of our column and split it in two – this they achieved with some ease as they caught us on the back foot.  This put many of their soldiers directly in front of Gallanarre, myself, and our two guards.  We drew our weapons, and were ready to fight when the Dzarraf behind us formed a line and charged right at the Gurgam.  This line swept past us and hand-to-hand fighting broke out in earnest.

Several Dzarraf were injured before the fight started to turn our way.  The Gurgam that had pressed through our ranks were assaulted from both sides, and many of them fell.  The ground here was becoming a disgusting mix of their green blood and the brown dirt.  The enemy eventually backed off, and they left the battlefield scattered with their injured and dead.  We'd kept out of the fighting for now but Gallanarre could restrain himself no longer; he joined in with some of the Dzarraf who went through the injured Gurgam and ended their suffering.  Our scouts had already been over to where the Gurgam had appeared from and reported that the enemy had been partially buried in a series of low trenches, and covered with rags and cut sections of the undergrowth.  This ambush is the sort of thing that would take time to prepare, but I'll know more about that when I cast my eye over it when it's safe.  Perhaps the Gurgam here were lucky in where they placed their ambush, perhaps they'd guessed that we, or another column of Dzarraf or Gnaeblin, were coming this way.  Or perhaps they'd been tipped off.  Our plans to make this journey were made last night before Hushmaz left.  I hope to get the chance to investigate in detail; this is the kind of thing I do for a living – and I don't like the thought that there may be traitors among my colleagues.

The Dzarraf were just regrouping when a second wave of Gurgam appeared, this time from down the slope, but still on the eastern side.  Among these we can clearly see some Ogruks, they're much taller, and they seem to be the ones barking out the orders and cracking whips.  These are much stronger than the Gurgam, and will prove to be more of a challenge on the battlefield, but their presence should inspire our warriors on to greater feats of bravery.

The Gurgam are coming up the slopes now.  Gallanarre and I may even have to be involved in the proper fighting this time.

Hushmaz Drops In

Hushmaz and his nearby forces has joined us in the village late on yesterday, they arrived just before the Gnaeblin priests as we were recovering from the battle.  I was still suffering from my wound but Hushmaz, who was surprised to see that I'd been in the fighting, was genuinely pleased that I'd been involved.  He sat down with Gallanarre and me, and we swapped the tales of our battles.

The Dzarraf troops had been moving quietly through the valley in the cover of darkness four nights ago.  They'd heard reports of some Gurgam column in that region, and their scouts found the enemy camp long after midnight.  The Dzarraf forces moved up and stormed the camp with surprise – they caught the enemy on the back foot, overwhelmed the guards quickly and brought the fight right into the heart of the camp.  The Gurgam eventually rallied, and they fought a pitched battle in the early dawn before sunrise, and the fighting continued into the day.  It would have been over far sooner if the command centre of the camp had not contained Ogruks; there were twelve of them.  Their presence was not wholly surprising, but did create a tougher obstacle in the fight to defeat the camp.

Hushmaz had only committed two-thirds of his force to the surprise attack, the rest he posted on the perimeter because he knew the Gurgam would eventually try to flee.  When they broke and ran, the waiting guards caught them and slaughtered them.  It was a pretty grim conclusion, but militarily the objective was achieved as a huge success.  They think they've taken out a group of some five hundred Gurgam and their Ogruk commanders, with the loss of only nine Dzarraf.  After the fighting, the Dzarraf scouts reported back to him, another column of Gurgam had been spotted heading in the general direction of these villages where we now met.  Hushmaz's forces were still recovering, so he sent a message to the villages to warn them – and to ask for a few more troops to help wipe out this other column.

After a few hours rest during the afternoon, Hushmaz set fire to the Gurgam camp and moved his forces uphill back towards the villages.  He sent a small and lightweight greeting force to meet the villagers, and together they raised some havoc with swift surprise attacks against the column during the evening, and after each they would flee into the wilderness.  This really upset the Gurgam, but not as much as the sight of the main Dzarraf force in the area, which presented itself just as night was falling.  Hushmaz organised his troops and hid them in small groups down the rise, and then used the front line of his force to lure the Gurgam away.  They fought with crossbows in the dusk from the distance, the Gurgam predictably tried to close to engage.  The backed off and backed off, pulling the Gurgam forces towards the defending Dzarraf forces.  As the Gurgam closed, they suffered volley after volley of crossbow fire – so much of it that the Dzarraf began to run out of ammunition.  Eventually, after the Gurgam had moved far up the slope,  the Dzarraf charged the front line of the Gurgam, attacking from all angles, and at the same time the small Gnaeblin force, which had been waiting for the signal, attacked them at their rear.  The Gurgam didn't even fight – they just tried to flee, and were cut to pieces by Hushmaz's experienced troops.

Hushmaz's soldiers moved back down the slope a little and set up camp.  Here they rested until the first light of day whereupon their scouts went out to gather as many crossbow bolts as they could find.  After the troops ate, they headed straight for this village, and arrived by late afternoon.
Many Dzarraf soldiers have joined us now, and they helped tend our wounded (including me – my shoulder now feels as good as new), and they've been greeted as heroes by the villagers.  It is so good to be surrounded by my own folk again again, but Hushmaz laughed loudly when he saw my injury.  Now he says he can truly look upon me as a warrior, and went on to show me some of his scars.

The villagers prepared a hearty meal for the soldiers – the locals seem well stocked in food.  During the meal Hushmaz talked to me away from the ears of Gallanarre, not to keep things secret, but to allow him to give me a candid report; he made it absolutely clear that he expected me to brief the Gnaeblin general later.   He told me that the Gnaeblin and the Dzarraf have utterly routed every group of Gurgam they've found.  The Gnaeblin forces had worked down the settlements from the west, while his Dzarraf moved in from the east.  Hushmaz's troops have been working in two groups, and he has been jumping between the two camps where it's been possible.

It is estimated that the Gurgam have suffered ridiculously heavy losses so far, with hardly a loss among the Dzarraf, less than one in twenty have died.  The Gnaeblin have suffered slightly more casualties – perhaps 1 in 10 of their warriors.  Hushmaz had two hundred warriors in each of his forces at the start, their losses overnight were the most they'd suffered in a single assault (although they'd not fought more than a couple of hundred Gurgam all at once before today).

As the village is well stocked the local mayor (his name is Bunnerth) has invited the soldiers to rest here overnight.  While the troops will stay, Hushmaz is off to meet his other column this evening.  He's had just a couple of hours rest in the last day, and he's still fired up for more fighting.  The warriors who are staying here will be heading off at first light, and Gallanarre and I shall journey with them – we're heading down hill into the valley for the last stage of our mission, and that is the direction that Hushmaz's troops will be taking too.

Right now we're in the middle of a tale-telling evening, and the Dzarraf warriors are relating various stories of their fights so far, and with plenty of humour.  From what they're telling us, it's clear that the Gurgam have had a right kicking.