Bern
The sailors wanted no part of any plan that involved fighting, Once he heard there were a dozen crookhorns on the bridge. We had the captain drop us off on the east bank and proceed upriver in his barge. The new plan was to find the path back to the crookhorn camp and set up an ambush for the leader when he returned. While traveling back to his camp, he would presumably leave some of his guards by the bridge, and be more vulnerable. I was able to find their trail and set the group up in a safe spot to await the targets while I hid along the trail.
When I spotted the leader with only two guards, I returned to our camp so Ignas could bless the endeavor. She did, but as usual, Zul answered her prayers with a twist. As soon as she finished the blessing, she began to glow brightly, as if from a campfire. I quickly returned to my spot in the woods, and waited for the leader to pass by, but he never did. After a few minutes. I headed back up the trail, trying to find where they went. After a search I was able to find their trail and catch up to them as they traveled. The crookhorns had bypassed our ambush thanks to Ignas’ glowing light. They were clearly wise in the way of the woods, and wary of opposition.
Even so, I was able to approach stealthily. The rest of the group was over 100 yards away, but I figured I could last long enough for them to arrive and help, at least with missile weapons and divine invocations. My dogs could close the distance even faster, moving on four legs instead of two, and without armor to weigh them down. I got close enough to attack, but the darkness spoiled my aim, and I inflicted only a minor wound upon one of his guards. In response, the leader blew his horn, while his guards attacked. Their teeth bounced harmlessly off my shield. My next sword swing missed, but I followed up with a shield bash that bloodied the first guard. The blow cost me, however. The leader’s giant ax slammed into me, forcing me back several steps, and leaving me bleeding from a wound.
My next attack killed one of the crookhorn guards, but winged creatures descended into the trees nearby, summoned by the blow of the horn. Their strange crooning song was magically compelling and everything seemed to fade away. With no control over my own movements, one of the birds led me back to their camp. A few minutes later, I was dimly aware of the rest of the group following. They took our equipment and led us into a tent containing a large four poster bed with a female prisoner chained to it. Whatever spell the harpies were weaving was still affecting me, but Snarkscorn wanted to monologue once everyone was there to listen.
It seems the leader was eager to hire us as mercenaries for some sort of bloody work, possibly related to Lady Harroth who lived nearby. I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly, but I would agree to anything that would get me out of this situation alive. Whether I followed up on it later would be a very different question.
