Of Scouting and Orcs and Scouting and Bears and Scouting and Giants and Scouting and Hobgoblins and Scouting and Goats and Scouting and Chimneys and Exploring and Spiders

Given the activity we saw of the scouting Hobgoblins when we first approached Axeholm, we decided to hike out a bit, find a protected dell or glen, and do a quick, simple scout of the entrance to Axeholm to assess relative orc activity there before going in. Turns out, that quick reconnaissance errand kept us busy, with Bears, Giants, Hobgoblin Patrols, a party of Orcs, and a giant goat. Clearly I did a poor job of finding a protected area.
 
We managed to avoid conflict with all but the dozen orcs -- which we dispatched. It felt good to finally let fly the arrows and mow down the orcs, and, at our best, this party is pretty fucking dangerous. This insistence on burying the dead afterwards, however... there's a couple hours of ill-spent labor. Honestly, I wish Baric would just sprinkle them with holy dirt or something, mutter some prayers for their souls and call it good.
 
Despite failing at a simple reconnaissance, we did, at least, assess that the entrance to the keep seemed unused and away from the orc trails -- which is a relief. Given our inability to stay hidden, we decided to not spend the planned third day scouting and instead re-approached the keep. We searched the area carefully, found nothing, and then spent a few hours banging our heads against a portcullis. Seemingly at an impasse, someone finally noticed that there were chimneys above the keep, so we climbed up to explore. At least the others did. Despite growing up in the mountains, I was the one who slipped off the slope and landed badly. Really badly. Noticing this, the party apparently went off to look at the chimneys for a while before Baric decided to come back and toss me a rope. Fuckers.
 
Anyway. Two of the chimneys seemed to be wide enough to climb down, while the other two had fallen in and were impassable. We decided to tie off a rope and belay folks down to a room on the second floor. Dash picked up a cool shield in the first room, and as we entered the second room which stands above the portcullis, Ozzie came across some spiders (or vice-versa) and the party was beset by at least six giant arachnids. Dash was definitely dash-y, Ozzie was apparently unfazed by the milky goo, Baric did the holy sword/gong of doom thing, and despite a few misses on my first try, I managed to bury a few arrows and helped fell the spiders despite being stuck to the floor for most of the battle. I collected some spider bits for my growing collection to bring back to Attabrah.
 
The room featured three giant cauldrons, a couple fireplaces, and floor slots, through which, presumably, one would pour boiling oil on the enemies caught in the kill zone leading to the portcullis. This place is really defensible. Really, really defensible. And it is a terrific location from which one could lead raids against the growing orc hordes. I'm no dwarf -- because I'm taller, smarter, better looking, less smelly, and of a generally finer disposition -- but I am having visions of what it would take to return this dwarven fortress to its previous glory.