The Getaway

But the dwarves apparently had wolves with them and the sound of their barking was heard closing quickly. The party sent the wagon ahead and set up to ambush the oncoming wolves. The creatures were almost upon them when they were able to use their bows against them. They let loose several flights of arrows wounding many of the beasts and dropping one at a distance. Jarella set her spear to defend against the onslaught as the archers continued firing.

But the worst was coming. As the wolves closed in the group heard a whistling sound from above. Through the trees came a flaming ballista bolt that exploded on impact showering all those near it with burning oil. Selith was the only one hurt with the first volley. And it was a good thing since the group was still handling the wolves and could not break and run to get out of range. Selith was only lightly wounded on this first round. Good news and skilled missile weapon use was abounding as Cade and Jeri dropped another wolf from extreme distance with their short bow and sling respectively. But then a second volley from a ballista rained down, this one missing the group entirely.

The party had now just about dispatched the 6 wolves that had charged in and decided to try and high tail it out. They broke for the wagon and started to run, but another volley from a ballista landed just then and this one was accurate scoring a direct hit on Furion, who was able to withstand the flames, but also hitting Selith who was already wounded, was unable to escape the fire this time and he fell to the ground in a fire heap. Oscar ran to check him and found that Selith was gone. The group fell back quickly, Furion ran for cover behind a nearby tree. Both he and Alydra kept their distance from the wagon as they tried to pace it without being too close.

The group made for the wagon as Sasha held it up waiting for all to jump on. It took longer than they would have liked to catch up to the cart and start jumping on and it gave the dwarves time to move in. More armour could be seen through the trees moving closer at a marching pace. And then they stopped. It was a good idea to stay away from the wagon as the dwarves had now reloaded their ballista and were ready to fire another volley, this time aiming for the escaping cart and the first bolt was right on target. This shot hit next to the wagon exploding flaming oil on everyone there. Jack fell dead and Oscar was knocked unconscious. Everyone was damaged by the oil.

Jarella bent down and picked up Jack, thowing him on to the cart and then slipping herself, having then to scramble back up in to the vehicle. As they ran along side, Alydra and Furion eventually angled towards the cart and jumped in as two more flaming bolts landed around the group but were not accurate enough to cause damage. With all the group now loaded in to the wagon, Sasha spurred on the horses and made good their escape. Garan cast a Cure Light Wounds on Jack to revive him and Willie used his Healing skill to bring Oscar back to consciousness. Selith was left behind.

They rode hard for an hour, then stopped to give the horses a rest, realign themselves and then rested for the night before pressing on the next day. Tyrade offered to say a prayed for the severed leg of Willie in order to attempt to keep it healthy until it could be reattached. He did so and told Willie that his leg would be kept fresh by his deity. They made the edge of the woods the next day and the main road. A decision was made to head for Zumbrota, a large city that was also on the way towards Al-Alin. On the road they saw many travellers and asked for news of what was ahead and behind. they gathered news of a military maneuver from the dwarves in Sudalon, but nothing more.

They made it to the city of Zumbrota on the 7th day of travel and made their way in to the residence area. They stopped at a Smith's to buy arrowheads, arrows and have the horses shoes cleaned. The smith shared some local knowledge about places they wanted to find and off they went. Garan, Oscar, Jeri and Willie went for the local Christian church. There they found an immaculately kept church grounds, many people tending to the manor like estate, all of whom seemed very friendly and helpful. They asked to see the high priest and were taken to the rectory where Father Mallory came to see them. Jeri tried to explain their situation and ask for assistance, but the priest, without explicitly saying it, made it known to the group that any prayers he had to help would come at a price. While not necessarily money, the grounds needed tending and the folks in the group could use their time and skills to improve the church property. Father Mallory was especially interested in having the dwarves Garan and Oscar fix the stonework fence and well. Garan was not quite thrilled by this idea and was reluctant to assist before seeing what work was needed. After an inspection of the job area, he agreed to the task.

Cade and Sasha headed for the other side of the city. They had been told by the Smith that there was a significant halfling population on that side of town. When they made it there it became obvious to them that not only were there halflings here but there was a recognizable number of their guild members present. They made contact to find out what they could. The guild members filled in several additional details.

The dwarves in Sudalon had burned down a quarter of the woods looking for the group. They marched all the way to the edge of the woods and the main road but could go no farther without knowing which way the group had gone. They brought back in to town the body of Selith. They used this body as an 'example' to all those breaking the law in Sudalon as they mutilated it for public viewing. They announced that the criminals had all been killed and the same fate awaited any others that tried such actions. Then the authorities in town secretly sent out several assassin squads to look for the party with explicit directions to hunt them down and kill them. With this news, Cade asked for some financial assistance to help them get away and the guild gladly did so. Sasha and Cade headed back with this news.

Meanwhile, Willie was taken to a hospital room on the grounds and Jeri was offered a room in the rectory to stay. Garan and Oscar went off to find the rest of the party that had made for a local inn. They gathered up the group and with the news from Sasha and Cade decided that staying at the church was perhaps the most unlikely hiding place they could use and agreed to ask if they could stay. Cade went to find Jeri who was now in his own luxurious room on the church grounds. Cade entered the room only to find Jeri having stripped down the human sized bed to its satin sheets, swimming naked around in the bedding. Cade, more than a little taken back, convinced Jeri that they needed to ask for permission to stay on the grounds.

Once again Father Mallory was glad to assist, but asked for some donation for the cause. He suggested that the church banquet in 3 days would need servers and the group members would do nicely. Jeri agreed without hesitation since he had already committed to perform the chef services for the event. Alydra was against serving people food and made it know that she would not agree to this task. But later that night in the private room set aside for the women in the group Jarella spoke with her about the situation. After informing Alydra of her full name, which Alydra recognized as human royalty, and that for the greater good of the group she would even consent to doing such menial tasks, Alydra agreed to the terms.

The church now had their services to fix the wall and the well by the hands of the dwarves and the assistance of the remainder of the group, some groundskeeping by Alydra and all hands to produce the banquet event. And the group got a hiding place for a few days. Willie, in turn, also got his leg back and a bed to recover in while all this other activity went on around him.

Next time ...

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