Tales of the Wanderlust Company - Loss

 After hearing of the Wanderlust Company's victory over the ogre, representatives from the town guard (a sergeant and a guard) came to find the company at the Crimson Tree, the inn they were staying at.  The sergeant sat down and explained that the guard was having issues keeping the peace and patrolling and would like the company to help to patrol.  The company agreed with little discussion, needing the bit of gold they would get for this.

And so, the following day, after picking up the Glasha's repaired armour (it had damage after the ogre battle) the company headed out on patrol.  For most of the patrol, it was uneventful.  They met some travellers and farmers but no one else.  But as they were nearing the end of the patrol area on the road, the company saw a group of what looked to be soldiers on the road ahead.  They approached, calling out to them.  But the group suddenly pulled their weapons and without a word prepared for battle.  They were disciplined and it showed in how quickly and smoothly they prepared and positioned themselves.

Hector looked at this sudden deployment and shouted out hurried commands to the company and they themselves deployed in groups of two.  The area around them was lightly wooded and both Hector and Theron were worried of ambush so Tobias was asked to scout the woods while the rest of the company moved to engage these soldiers.

Tobias quickly moved off the road into the woods while his friends deployed behind him.  He was worried...worried for their safety and for what he might find in these woods.  The woods themselves were light and bright, having been logged and quick growing beech and birch replaced the older, larger trees.  He made his way through quickly and found nothing, until further in he came across a clearing with tents set up in it.  A camp...possibly the camp of those soldiers on the road.  He carefully started to creep slowly towards the tents to see who or what may be in the camp.

Meanwhile, the company advanced on the enemy.  The enemy soldiers also advanced quickly and in good order, with their two archers taking shots at them but missing.  Ren stopped and took careful aim at one of the approaching soldiers and shot his crossbow.  The bolt flew true and struck the soldier in the chest, causing him to stop and clutch at the wound as the arrow penetrated his armour.

The two groups came together and engaged.  Theron went straight for the wounded soldier, and quickly slew the man.  The remaining two melee soldiers attacked, one going after Theron and the other after Hector.  Theron and the soldier skillfully engaged and the clanging of swords brought no advantage as they struggled to find an opening.  The soldier on Hector missed his first attack, while Hector countered and struck him with his spear.  But the man's armour held and the two men moved to look for openings.

Ren attempted to attack one of the archers but missed his shot, the arrow whizzing by Hargoldra as the dwarf moved as fast as her stubby legs could carry her towards battle.  On the left, Glasha moved in on the soldier engaged with Hector and with a single blow from the side took the man down.

But the enemy archers take their turn, one missing the dwarf Hargoldra as she moved forward.  The other struck Glasha, but it was unable to penetrate her armour.  The fight with Theron and the soldier moved on with a clash of weapons again.  But this time, the enemy soldier skillfully got through Theron's guard and struck.  Theron went down, bleeding profusely from a wound to the gut as the blow had penetrated his light armour.

Glasha with a cry of rage moves forward and slays the soldier that had taken town Theron in one powerful blow.  Esta meanwhile moved in on the soldier fighting Hector and took the man down easily.  The enemy archers seeing all this had enough and they turned and ran, the company unable to catch them.

Tobias snuck into the camp but heard some noise and hid.  He saw a group of soldiers moving towards the sound of battle on the road.  One of them was obviously an officer, with three other soldiers moving quickly with her.  Tobias moved back into the woods quietly and then began shouting with all his might to warn his companions.  The enemies, startled by the sudden cries on their flank moved with disciplined ease.  The officer waved one of his men to go after the halfling while the rest continued at a rapid pace towards the road.

The fight at the road had finished but the company heard the cries of Tobias coming from the woods.  "Damn, more of them!" Hector shouted.  The company wanted to go help Theron but the risk of attack on the flank was too great and Hector ordered them to move into the woods.  Esta, Glasha and Hector moved rapidly.  While poor Hargoldra, huffing and puffing struggled to keep up.  Ren easily caught up and passed her.  They moved into a lighter, more open area and saw the three enemies moving towards them.  Esta, Glasha and Hector moved to engage while Ren moved onto a small knoll and prepared to shoot his crossbow.  Meanwhile Tobias moved quickly through the woods towards where he thought the company was with the enemy soldier pursuing him.  Tobias kept running, the enemy soldier almost catching him when he saw the company ahead.  Tobias turned and quickly engaged the pursuing soldier now that he had support close at hand and surprising him, knocking him off guard.

Ren took a shot at the officer but missed the rapidly moving soldier.  Esta moved forward and using her Elven agility got through the officer's guard and a gap in his armour with her rapier and wounds her.  The officer grunted in pain but quickly countered and their weapons clanged as they struggled.  One of the other soldiers moved beside his officer and engaged Esta as well but she blocked and caused him to pull back a bit.  Glasha rushed in and attacked the soldier pushing him back further.  And poor Hargoldra...still moving as fast as she could on her short legs.  Dwarves were just not built for speed, but she was almost there and readied herself for engaging the enemy.

Hector meanwhile was wounded by the third soldier, but he gets past the pain and attacks back, managing to take the soldier down.  Tobias used his halfling speed and agility and darts in on the pursuing soldier, quickly landing blows that take the man down bleeding profusely.  The officer and one other soldier are all that remains but the officer is not deterred and neither is his remaining subordinate.  The officer moves in and takes down Esta.  Glasha roars in anger and attacks the officer, who parries her blow then takes her down in one hit.  Hector moved in and wounds him again, causing the officer to collapse.  But the remaining soldier moves in and strikes Hector down.  Ren tries to shoot the solider but misses.  But Hargoldra...she finally arrives and screaming a dwarven warcry and strikes the man down.

The battle was over.  Tobias, Ren and Hargoldra move to look to their wounded.  As it turns out though, Hector was knocked out, saved by his helmet.  Esta was seriously wounded while Grisha was lightly wounded.  Both still had painful wounds but they managed, stopping the bleeding as best as they could.  Once Hector came around, he asked Tobias to go back to the road and check on Theron.  Tobias ran off but came back shortly, his head hanging low.  "He's dead!  Theron's dead!"  Tobias said sadly to the group.  Through her pain, Glasha cursed in Orcish while Esta put her head in her hands.  Hargoldra shouted in rage, slicing at a nearby tree to vent her feelings.

The company went through the dead soldiers and their camp.  They found some weapons, some good, some damaged.  They took the livery off the dead officer as they didn't know who these soldiers were to inquire back at town.  They then took part of one of the tents in the camp and used it to wrap up Theron's body.  Tobias said a quick prayer to the Sun Sovereign and Hargoldra slung Theron's body over her wide shoulder and the company returned to town, not cheered by their victory but saddened at the death of their comrade.