The Bagpipe Hunt

General Summary

Two weeks of rest. Philine started work on a better armor. Luvon followed along. Rafaella played in different places, failed a single night by playing the wrong ballads. Spent the remaining time at the local inn with several jugs of wine. Until she was met by a halfling magician, Malfunctio the magnificent. There was something about missing the bagpipe, Malfunctio had seen the mentioned bagpipe with a group of bandits. Rafaella immediately took action, wanted to leave immediately but Philine and the others talked her down and she agreed to to wait for the next day. Rafaella stayed awake all night waiting only for the morning light to show up. Balbus talked to the local girls, bought new clothes and otherwise entertained Rafaella with his homemade bag and pipe.

Morning, Rafaella forces the others in the group up early, now they have to leave! The trip takes a few days, they hired a wagon with 2 horses to get there faster. They reached a forest in the wild, Luvon and Malfunctio went on "discovery" to look for tracks. They found nothing but soem bandits found them. Luvon blocked the first shot from a lookout post, then ran back to the others, crying out that they found someone in the forest. Philine led the the group into the woods. In a clearing, the group hit the bandit group. The fight took some time, but the group managed to chase them off. One of the thieves was beaten unconscious and questioned after he woke up. There they got information about where this bagpipe was. The thieves had sold it to an old trader, Bernard. The bandit told them about the route to Bernard, the group immediately left after a minor rest. The group chose to travel around the forest to find this merchant's house. They found a cabin, burnt and with signs of battle. No visible trace of exactly what happened just that it was some time ago. Luvon found a small box hidden behind a loose stone at the fireplace.

They left the charred ruins following the tracks towards a forest leading up to a mountain side. Once again, they had to leave our wagon and horse behind so that they might continue on foot through the forest. Tracks were getting harder to find and they seemed to disappear completely at a river that ran from the mountain and down through the forest. The sound of wolves howling caught their attention and Philine readied her spear to meet whatever was coming. Malfunctio, Balbus and Rafaela managed to hide in the bushes. Shortly after three large direwolves with orc riders on their backs charged from the tree line ahead of them. One of the orcs fell from his wolf and laughed uncontrollably on the ground but the wolf continued. Shortly after the fighting began. One orc was left alive for questioning and 2 wolves ran away. The newest member Malfunction managed to get some directions out of the orc and the group soon after continued towards their hideout at the mountain side. Balbus and Luvon scouted the entrance to the hideout. Two orcs were on guard but they were quickly dealt with.

The group entered the caves. The tunnel was dark as night and Philine ignited a torch as a source of light. Balbus sneaked ahead and found a cave with orcs sitting around a campfire. Balbus surprised a one-eyed orcs with a quick arrow. Before the orcs realized what’s happening, Luvon rushed in and finished another with a combo of strikes. The rest of the group joined in. The one-eyed orc conjured a magical spear that chased after Rafaela.

Further into the tunnel-system Balbus scouted a larger cave with more orcs, some of them were cooking a meal. 2 Larger orcs, one in plate with a greataxe, and another in chainmail carrying a shield and sword, attacked us. We dealt with the smaller orcs first, dodging javelins thrown by the plated orc. Eventually the plated orc charged Philine with his greataxe. The other orc was raging in the far end of the cave, yelling and growling. We finished him last. The last room contained two giant bats and two orc bat-riders. We almost managed to take care of them, but then they masked themselves in magical darkness and escaped on their bats through a large crack in the roof.