The Rescue continues, and things are looking up.

Where were we? Oh, yeah:
 
Things are looking grim for us. Maybe I'll be seeing Solomon, Dergal and Elspeth soon after all...
 
One of these creatures seems to finally be dead. Enough fire seems to prevent whatever regenerative powers they have. However, the other has just staggered back to its feet to swing at Dash and Oz. They promptly hack it back to pieces, but it begins struggling to its feet again.
 
I realize I'm mad. I'm mad at myself for letting Solomon, Dergal and Elspeth get taken, and probably killed. I'm at at these creatures for wasting valuable time. So without thinking about it, I summon a ball of fire and hurl it at the creature. Before I know it, I've hurled a second, and the creature is blasted to burning bits.
 
I should feel better about successfully managing the spell, but all I can really think about is why the hell didn't I use this spell the night the creatures attacked us.
 
Baric takes some time to heal the Dwarves, and attend to some lingering medical issues apparently related to diseased vermin they had encountered.
 
Afterwards, we cautiously entered the cave and searched it. It is tall and quite deep; the troll lair was 200' back in the cave. A decision was made to spend the night in the apparent safety of the cave.
 
All seemed well until the night was shattered by a screaming dwarvish voice. I jerk awake. Footsteps are heard in the cave: a fast patter of small feet, which must be Oz, and a steady thump thump of something much larger. Oz is screaming bloody murder.
 
It seems we are about to get into another fight. This seems an appropriate time for my harden skin spell, which may be of some use to Dash, who seems to attract a lot of damage. Even in this dire situation, there is some jocularity regarding the spells name, which will henceforth be called 'pebbleskin'.
 
As it turns out, Dash barely had time to close with the creature before it was slain.
 
In the morning, we set out to hike back to the camp. Tuath went ahead, sliding through the forest like a ghost, with the rest of us tramping a hopefully discreet distance behind. Our plan was based on the evidence we found yesterday morning: the smoldering remains of a campfire, and a heavily used wagon track. We planned to rise early and try and intercept any traffic through the camp, but we found it empty. Either we missed the morning traffic, or they do not run on a daily schedule. Once again, we backtracked to a spot on the cliff that seemed easier to ascend, and far enough from the camp not to alert anyone on the cliff above while we are ascending.
 
All this damn walking. Might be time to invest in some horses.
 
At the top of the cliff we find a forrested shelf. At the back of the shelf, the mountains continue their rise to the sky. While the rest of us wait at the edge, Tuath disappeared into the woods to scout. He reported back that there was ice, possibly a glacier, hanging over the shelf to the north, and a cave to the south. Wary now of caves, and not wanting to leave our flank or rear exposed to the unknown, and specifically trolls, we decide to proceed carefully along the cliff to the cave. Tuath went in first, and surprised a strange creature that was nesting there. We rushed in to the attack, and a second creature rushed at us.
 
Despite Tuath and Baric being out of order at the front, we managed to slay the creatures without the near death of half the party. I'd call that progress.
 
The creatures were an improbable hybrid of owls and bears, which really makes one wonder. How do these things come to be? Is this the result of some mad god having a joke at our expense? Or did these creatures escape from some crazed wizards menagerie? For that matter, how does one hybridize owls and bears? I mean, bears are mammals, and owls lay eggs, right? It just doesn't seem possible. And yet, there they lie. Hmmm.
 
In the nests, we found a sizeable amount of silver, some 400 pieces in all once we'd raked it all out. We also found some gemstones, a very nice chest full of some powered metal, and a silver wand tipped with a claw. Baric cast a ritual detect magic, and declared it non-magic, although perhaps the wand had the faintest hint of magical residue.