Today, I set out with a small group of adventurer’s to begin my exploration of this strange land. Our group departed from the Black Footpad Inn, into the forest to the west. Before long we spotted a young woman fleeing through the woods to the south and we quickly determined that she was seeking assistance in the defense of a small outpost against a rapidly approaching group of gnolls. We followed her, apprehensive at first, but then we saw the children holed up in the small outpost and quickly set up defenses against the coming assault. Then they came at us. The first wave of about two dozen gnolls fell upon us from the north and south. Kylgore, Barendd, and Nying held the north side of the encampment, while Sixer, Eyesack and myself held the south.
Were it not for the strange magics of Nying, Sixer and Eyesack we might have been overrun, but we quickly fell into a defensive formation. Barendd held the front line, with Nying’s Flaming Sphere and other magics culling their numbers as they pushed the assault. Sixer and Eyesack teamed to hold and destroy those that made their way into our defenses. Kylgore picked off isolated targets at range, and I stood as the last line of defense, dispatching those that were able to approach the outpost and threaten the civilians within. The waves kept coming, and a few straggling civilians had to be protected as they made their way back to the outpost, with Gnolls nipping at their heels. At the end of the day we stood victorious, with not a single innocent lost to the assault. As we spoke with them and arranged to escort them back to the inn, we spotted a couple dwarven cultists off on a ridge to the west, overseeing the failed assault, before they disappeared like mist. My companions referred to them as “Talos Cultists,” but I don’t as of yet know what this means.
I’ll have to ask around when I get back to White Moon Cove. In the meantime I suppose I’ll continue to work on my smithing, I feel like I’m close to being able to imbue this axe with magic as I have been taught.
~An Excerpt from Ulfden’s Journal