"There are 45 kids here Andar."

He looked at Yngvar as the man was foolishly agreeing to an impossible plan.

"That's why we had to take so many gods forsaken wagons in the first place. This caravan is the fastest option we have at the moment."

"Fillup the ferry and leave the wagons and horses.  They will all fit without the wagons."

Andar moves to his horse and unties it from the back of the wagon.

"I'll try to buy some time if they keep coming."

“You won’t alone, Ander” Godrli answered, taking his sling and siding with him. “Where’s Timis, by the way? Has he fallen too? I ahvn’t seen him since we left the town….”

"Nor have I, I begin to worry about him. Last I saw, he was putting out fires." he added.

Seeing Godril ready his sling, Enkidu fumbled to do the same.  He shook his head.  They were going to throw stones at the onrushing horde and hoped that worked?

The heavy footmen took up a formation around the wagons offering two ranks of shields and spears with a further rank of halberdiers. The officer stood off to one side, in the back of a wagon for vantage, and shielded his eyes from the sun as he peered in the direction the wagons had come. Moments stretched and time passed. The ferry, laden with more soldiers, was nearly back across the river to them.

"Aha, they return!" the officer called out from his vantage point.

In the distance the knights rounded the bend at fast walk. Their horses panted lightly and the knights rode with their helmet visors up. One of the knights favored an arm held into his chest while another returned draped over a saddle. The knights had grizzly trophies hanging from their saddles, even the dead man, of Orc and giant wolf skulls. Nine of the first and seven of the latter.

A knight held up a hand and a cheer of 'hurrah!' went up among the troops.

Their was sudden rustle of motion as Xaltos pulled free of Godril's grasp and bolted for the nearest shadows. With blink of the eye he was gone, vanished into the shadow. It was quite disconcerting to witness.

"They have fled." The lead knight called out as they approached. "We need to send forth a scouting party to Shrewsberry. The town may be in danger if Ocrs are raiding the valley again."

In reply to Brother Timis (msg # 134):

Timis came throught the forest and emerged onto a trail he wasn't familiar with, in a forest wasn't familiar with, and facing Elves that he wasn't familiar with. He sighed, genuinely hoping for a bit of luck.

"Hello, young man." An elderly Elf in the lead of four others said pleasantly. It wasn't lost on Timis that these Elves wore armor, bore sword and mace, carried shields and spears, had slung bows, and seemed generally ready for a fight. "I am Qataro. Elder among the Elves, cousin to Lord Othirion, and advisor to the king."

Timis forced his breathing and heart rate to slow, his ears to focus on other sounds, and his face to remain placid. He had no idea who any of these Elves were but gathered that at least two of them were of some importance in the Shadow Lands.

Judging by the blank reply and face on the young man Qataro tried a new line of thought, "Are you from Shrewsberry? What is the calamity there? Why were the signal fires lit? How can we help?"

An Elf spurred his force forward. He had the look of youth on his handsome face. He spoke with a young but educated voice in common, "My lord, I saw this man in Shrewberry before I returned to the village to retrieve my bow for this afternoon's competition. He was speaking to Godril. I believe him to be a friend to those in the town."

The elder Elf began casting a spell with a few words and a flourish of his hands. It took mere moments, and the old Elf turned his face back to Timis.

"Young monk, it appears that you have much to tell but lack time, place, and lungs full of air." The old man said. And, as if on some bizarre queue, a horse suddenly appeared, trotting out of the very shadows.

Samuel raised his voice at the statement.

"Shrewsberry is in the hands of a traitor with an army of orcs and the entire population of the town as hostages..."

He gestured at the wagons.

"...but for the children we were able to spirit away."

In reply to The GM (msg # 145):

Timis looked at the Elves for a moment, ordering his thoughts.  It was important to remain as calm as one could be after being chased through the woods by orcs on wolves, to top off the other excitements of the day.  He also wanted to make sure that he stuck to the facts but also warned about the possibilities.

"My parents and earlier ancestors are from Shrewsberry but I am a recent arrival who grew up far to the East.  The man Prophero, a revered elder of the town, had all of the townspeople except myself and half-a-dozen or so other young men drink a wine he referred to as Dirkito wine from far off Manopur and recite an incantation," here the young man showed the words he had scrawled.  "It caused all who did as he bid to fall into an altered state of semi-consciousness.  He then said that we were to acquire something for him as the agent of the Blue Death and that the townsfolk would die if not cured within the year.  The others headed South toward Trent with the children who did not drink and the King's daughter, who did.  I remained behind to gather what information I could."  He then described the numbers and armament of those he saw enter the village, the strange book, and the line of sand.

"Grim Hazel is apparently the leader of the orcs.  A large red demoness named Ulilia is allied with Prophero and they said her demons have already infiltrated the King's Court.  Ulilia and Prophero claim to have some secret plan apart from acquiring this relic.  Much of what has happened does not make immediate sense, so I fear that there is far more going on and any part of this could be a trap or distraction," he concluded.

Yngvar continued to nervously await the arrival of Timis. He prayed his new friend would make it to Trent, then they would prepare to find a solution to all of their problems. He wondered what they, as novices, could possibly do to remedy the situation when so many others with so much more experience were about..

In reply to Samuel Longstrider (msg # 146):

"By the Gods!" A sergeant exclaimed as he turned to face Samuel.

The Officer in charge of the detachment did the same and spoke urgently, "An army of Orcs? Do you know their numbers? And hostages, how many townsfolk are imprisoned?"

The look on the man's face changed from 'this signal better be real; this time' to a look of bewildered 'damn! the Orcs have invaded the bleeding valley' gaze fixed on Samuel's face. He turned to look over the children, the dead cleric, and the sweat-soaked horse drawing the wagons.

"Sergeant take these men forward and scout the town, but do not come to blows with the enemy." The officer turned away from Samuel, drawing the sergeant in his wake. "We will require a thorough accounting of the enemy's disposition, strength, and preparation in Shrewsberry."

As the mounted knights approached the officer turned to face their leader, "Hail, Sir Vincent, these children are refugees from an Orc incursion that has taken Shrewsberry and imprisoned the townsfolk as hostages. I am sending an experienced sergeant and these troops forward to reconnoiter the town. Will you and your knights escort these people to the king. They have the only first hand account of the action."

In reply to Brother Timis (msg # 147):

"I see. You are lucky to be alive." The old Elf stated, in a rather pride smashing tone.

Timis looked on as the Elves talked among themselves in a sort of short-hand speech. Battle-tongue! Timis waited for several moments before the old ELf looked back at him and spoke, "We shall take you to catch up to the others that got away. Godril came to the village earlier and has gone on to meet the others as well. Come, Xaltos."

Qataro dismounted the horse he rode, walked over to Timis and handed him the animal's reins, and then mount the horse that emerged from the shadows. It was almost as if the horse was somehow linked to the elder.

Once mounted he asked Timis but one question, "My dear lad, do you fear magic?"

In reply to The GM (msg # 150):

"We are all lucky to be alive.  Every day is a blessing," Brother Timis replied.

He did not take the reins, instead shaking his head and saying, "I do not subjugate animals to my will anymore than I would any other parent or sibling.  As to the others, they headed South toward Trent, while my path is to the North."

"Fear magic?" he asked, "there is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires.  Magic is simply knowledge unlearned.  To seek wisdom, one must step constantly into the unknown," he said.

“I may have some info for you, Sargent, if I’m allowed” Godrli said, somewhat awed before the veteran soldiers. “The orcs seemed numerous and quite well organized, and their leader, aside from Porphero, seems to be a horned woman. I’ve never seen a Thiefling, but it matches the descriptions I’ve read of them. There was also a great Orc with a Battleaxe who seemed to hold some leadership”

He paused to see his reaction to this news. “As per recon, I’d advise you to send someone to the Elven village. They have also seen the lights, and Lord Othirion and Qataro have sent a scouting force. I advised them not to attack, both because they are in inferior numbers and for the safety of the hostages, but surely they are inspecting the situation.

Don’t take it as undervaluing your scouts, who sure are veteran and good in the trade, but those elves know better the zone well and are quite good in stealthy moving through the forest, and being already there they may be a good adding to your scouting…”

In reply to Brother Timis (msg # 151):

"I see. My boy be careful." Qataro looked a touch put out. The elder Elf led his horse towards a group of nearby shadows. "Ziede, I shall got to find the others. Take Norbran and Silver Moon, oh and that horse, er, what's it's name, and head towards Shrewsberry and see what you can. Avoid conflict, detection, and distraction. Report to me on sunrise three days hence."

The central of the three remaining Elves nodded, saluted, and spoke to the others in Battle Tongue again. In moments everyone was turning away from Timis with new purpose. At the last moment one of the Elf warriors rode to Timis and held out a haversack.

"This is some dried meats, fruits, and vegetables; enough for three days. There are bandages and suave for injuries. And a map of the valley. It is in Elvish, but you should be able to understand most of it through geography and icons."

The officer looked back to the leader of the knights as the plate mail clad knight stepped from the saddle. The two men shared a look.

"Green Hazel." they said in unison.

The knight chuckled as the officer turned to face Godril, then the others.

"Green Hazel. Don't let the name fool you." The man said. "His name is Hazel. The green part, well that should be obvious to anyone who understands that Orcs have green skin. He is old, but a dangerous as they come."

OOC: think of a boy named sue or jane cobb.......but an orc!

The Knight stepped up and it became clear in an instant. The knight and the officer of the footmen were brothers. The family resemblance was undeniable. He walked over to one wagon and checked on the children then nodded in silent appreciation to Benedict.

"I will send a knight with you, to take you directly to the king." He spoke solemnly and without arrogance. "The others will escort the children to Trent and arrange safe lodging for them with a temple that is friendly to our order. The Princess will be placed in a wagon in a travel bed, I will drive it myself."

The knight walked over to the wagon where she lay and looked up her longingly.

"My uncle, her father will need to know of this as soon we can travel to Deephome." The knight turned back to the group. "With the beacons lit, there will be many that will focus on learning what had happened. That is good for us. With luck, we will encounter one of the mage-courriers. They have special travel privileges."

In reply to The GM (msg # 153):

Timis gratefully accepted the haversack, "may the moon and stars ever guide your way," he said.

The dried food will be an excellent companion to my trail rations and mixing the two will make them last longer, Timis thought to himself.

He headed north, looking for the King's Road, which would take him to other habitations where he might find what he sought.

Enkidu swallowed nervously. "So... we're going to see the king," he said in a low tone to his comrades.  How had it come to this?  He was just a Druid Aspirant, young and inexperienced.  Everything had turned into a nightmare.  He felt - and looked - over his head.

"It looks that way Enki, I'm not looking forward to it either." Yngvar replies to his friend.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm kind've looking forward to it."

"It's not looking good for Timis. I don't think he made it." he says to his friends."When do we set out for Deephome?" he asks the officer.

"When the ferry arrives." The knight replied. He turned to the other knights and gave several quick orders that were followed without question or hesitation.

"You shall be departing for the King's court in short order." The officer said as he walked over to a wagon and pointed. Moments later troops were piling haversacks of food, gourds of water, a number of wineskins, a handful of bedrolls, several folded oilskins, and bundle of torches. "The knights will stop only to rest the horses, make camp, or deal with anyone trying to stop you. If it comes to it, please see to it that the Princess is delivered safely."

The troops gathered talking among themselves, several offering condolences to those from Shrewsberry, as they were organized into squads and platoons to scout Shrewberry and set up checkpoints on the roads and trails. Soon enough the band of of children, knights, and soldiers was organized and heading for Trent while the group from Shrewsberry along with the Princess and the knights took the King's Road north for Deephome.

By sundown the pair of wagons had rolled into a lowland plain of tall gresses, rolling hills, small farms, and a warm evening rain. The Knights had selected a place to camp for the night; a grove of elms surrounding a small glade with a roadside prayer stone under an awning. It was frequented by many travelers. This night, there was a troupe of Halfling troubadours gathered around a campfire roaring under a cauldron of bubbling stew.

Yngvar set his bedroll under the front wagon, then wrapped his cloak around himself against the rain. He went to the knight in charge and asked him, "Have you questioned the halfling troupe yet about the road ahead Sir Knight? Will we be allowed to greet them, or not?"

“Are you afraid of this?” Godril asked Enkidu. “I don’t see anything bad on it, even if I would have tried to have a better outfit if I’d knew it…” he said, trying to comfort his comrade.

“We have nothing to be blamed about, I think, and so I guess the King will agree on it, but I understand he wants to hear first handed what has happened and what kind of mess is falling upon the kingdom, if he has to act on it…”

Having left his horse at the elven village, GOdril rode a cart and took a look on the book Qataro had given to him while they were moving along the road.

"I am sure the King will be pleased we saved his Daughter from what ever is going on in town.  What we need to be focused on is how we are going to finish this. We must follow the request.  If we get what he asked for then at lease he doesnt get it and maybe it can be used against him.  Damn, who would have thought a Druid would poison a town that has supported him for years."

Andar looks off into the country side.  Plotting his revenge.

"We need to handle this first then deal with the enemy."