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.