The Shackled City, Day 1 (2006-09-08, 6:30 PM) Chapter 0: Swearing in Orcish

Players (Characters):
Scott (Rain)
Catherine (Amber)
DM: Tom (Garlen Fartravel)

We begin at the Happy Monkey Tavern, about 20 miles west of Cauldron (not to be confused with the Lucky Monkey Inn, a fair distance beyond.) To call the Happy Monkey a "wide spot in the road" would be to give it too much credit. The bartender and a few bored patrons sat idly by. Amber, a halfling cleric of Ehlonna, approached the bar and introduced herself to Rain, an Elven Rogue, who offered her an ale. She politely declined, much to his amusement; he drank the ale on his own and they continued to chat. Both had plans to head to Cauldron in the morning.

A few minutes later, a halfling poked his head in the door and excitedly yelled out "there are some goblins approaching through the forest. Anyone want to help me kill them?" Amber invoked Ehlonna's blessing on all present and then approached the door as fast as she could manage in her heavy armor. Garlen, the halfling ranger, engaged one of the goblins in melee combat, killing it with a few solid stabs of his rapier. Rain moved outside and quickly fired an arrow at the other goblin, yelling out an Orcish insult as the arrow struck. The goblin closed to melee and swung wildly at Amber. Rain, still yelling in Orcish, drew his longsword and stabbed the goblin in the back, killing it instantly with a critical blow. Rain spotted another goblin approaching the side of the tavern, while Garlen spotted two more in the woods. Amber continued to gawk at the dead goblin in front of her until Garlen's shouts drew her attention and she moved to assist him. She and Garlen surrounded and easily dispatched the two goblins. The goblin by the tavern broke a window and turned to attack Rain, dealing him a significant blow. Garlen finished off the goblin while Amber tended to Rain. The group made a small donation to replace the broken window, and spent the night at the Happy Monkey before setting off for Cauldron.

Just before reaching the edge of the forest, the group was approached by a dwarf, who yelled "run away! Orcs!" and ran past them. A hundred feet behind was a group of four Orcs. Rain fired a pair of arrows at Zubdub, the lead Orc, killing him while insulting the others in their native tongue. Amber stood valiantly in the middle of the road, while Garlen failed miserably at his attempt to hide behind a small bush. The dwarf, encouraged by the party's initial success, turned around and stood combat-ready next to Amber. The next two Orcs were surrounded and quickly fell, but the final one dropped Garlen as he tried to get behind it. The dwarf slew the Orc with a mighty blow, and Amber revived Garlen by the power of Ehlonna. The dwarf continued on his way to the West with hardly any thanks, while Amber, Rain, and Garlen made their way into Cauldron, where they spent the night at the Drunken Morkoth Inn.