Honorbound: Episode 21

__NOTOC__
==Recap==
Intro artwork by Diego, Video by Travis Gillaspie
=== East Haven Brook ===
The party travel to the Wandering Woods atop the Griffons. They stop for the first night in a small ruined keep, but find nothing of value. They continue past several cities that were under the control of Valis on the way to east. They reach East Haven Brook and stop to rest the Griffons. The party goes to a tavern for some rest and relaxation. The guards ask the party to keep the Griffons out of the city, and the party tells the guards they are welcome to ask them to leave. They stop at the tavern and have a meal with some drinks. Bowen tries to pay in platinum, but Thimble stops him and pays in gold. Bowen goes and talks to a group of elves in the corner. He learns that the war in the east is not going well. The elves are being pushed back, and the orcs have allied with goblins, kobolds, and human bandits. They learn that the king of Rastagar has holed up in his castle and won't support the elves in their fight. Bowen learns that the orcs are sitting at Fort Roke, and all the cities around the Wandering Woods have been raided or razed. The party discusses plans for dealing with the Orcs, which mostly involve fireballing Orcs from Griffon back. 
=== Woods west of Lofting ===
The party remounts their Griffons the next day and wings their way east towards the Well of Lost Souls. The first day of travel they see many caravans of refugees beneath them, moving southwest. The party lands and checks on the status of the refugees, finding that they are starving. Bowen checks with the refugees, finding that Rak'Gorp still holds against the Orcs. There is a small band of Elves still defending the city. The other towns have all evacuated. They tell Bowen that the Orcs number in the thousands, and are interested in territory. They allowed cities that evacuated ahead of their armies to leave without slaughter. Thimble performs for the children in the caravan. Bowen uses his magic to heal any injured members of the caravan.
=== Lofting ===
The party takes off the next morning and lands in the city of Lofting. The city is heavily reinforced by a large contingent of Elves, and full of human refugees that seem lightly armed. Bowen casts Thaumaturgy to make his voice boom while asking to see the leaders of the Elves. A female Elf steps forward with a large scar around her left eye, and she has a symbol of a paw on her tunic. Martur identifies himself as the hammer wielder, and the Elf identifies herself as Elissandra Windwhisper. Bowen recognizes many similarities in her features to Therin. She informs them that her father is in diplomatic talks with the Orcs, and things aren't going well. She says she wants to fight. Bowen tells her that their purpose here is to end this petty conflict to focus on the greater dangers to the land. Elissandra is offended by this, and declares that the war against the Orcs is important and that it matters to all of those who have died. The party argues with her for a while until Martur mentions Therin, which greatly angers her. She orders them out of the tent and Bowen starts to chant a spell. Thimble attempts to stab her and misses, while Elissandra screams for the guards as she slashes Thimble three times with her longswords and pushes Thimble 15 feet away. Six Elven guards enter the room and three each surround Martur and Bowen. Martur casts Invisibility as three attacks rain down on the area where he used to be. Bowen casts Spirit Guardians but immediately loses concentration as a guard hits him. Thimble shoots Elissandra and then tries to nonchalantly walk to the Griffons. She sees several guards moving towards her as they unsheathe their weapons. Elissandra tells them to lay down their arms. Bowen casts Prayer of Healing as several attacks hit him. He heals himself and Elissandra with his spell in an attempt to stop the conflict. Thimble throws her bow away and ducks under a tent. She finds a bed with a sleeping guard on it, and she crawls under the bed and hides. Elissandra orders her guards to lower their weapons and tells Martur to come out. Martur stays invisible and apologizes to Elissandra. Bowen declares that he wants an apology or he is leaving, and Elissandra refuses. Bowen tries to leave the tent and a guard stops him. Elissandra asks for information about Therin and informs the party that he was her brother. Bowen refuses and shoves his way out of the tent. The guards escort him out as Bowen leaves the camp and walks east on the road. Martur sends his zombies to protect Bowen. Martur looks for Thimble, and cannot find him. He goes to the party's Griffons and they fly out of the camp. 
Thimble draws her rapier and stabs into the bed above her, killing the sleeping guard on the bed. She loots him to find a small copper necklace, a letter, and some coins. Thimble observes the camp from inside the tent for a few minutes, seeing many guards running around looking for something. She sneaks into the next tent and repeats her process. She moves again to the next tent and finds a guard ransacking the tent. Thimble stabs him twice and he dies. She searches the guard to find only copper, and stuffs the guard under a bed. Thimble then sees a line of guards at the edge of the camp watching to make sure no one leaves. She moves to a basket inside the tent, pulls out the wedge of cheese inside, and hides in the basket. Thimble munches on the cheese while she waits for nighttime. 
Martur lands the Griffons near Bowen, who is sharing his grievances with the zombies. Bowen and Martur decide not to wait for Thimble and that they should move on to face the Orcs. Bowen contemplates what he knows about the Well of the Lost Souls, and remembers that it the place where souls that have not moved on remain under it is their time. They make camp for the night to rest the Griffons.  
Thimble sneaks a look outside her cheese basket and sees a pair of booted feet pointed at her. She waits to see if they move, and the boots stay there. Thimble bursts out of the basket and sees a circle of four guards surrounding the tent beyond her. She runs west through the camp towards the edge of the city. Thimble sees the wall and climbs up and over it. She swims across the river and moves into the woods, with Thimblina following above her. Thimble moves west and heads towards Valis. Thimblina heads with her, and the party never hears from them again..... 
Martur and Bowen rest the night with the Griffons and then continue on to Rak'Gorp. They reach the edge of the forest and see smoke on the horizon. The city is surrounded by Orc forces. 
=== Orc Encampment ===
Martur and Bowen scout the Orc encampment. Martur casts Invisibility on himself and a Griffon, and flies around to get an idea of the forces. He estimates that there are around 2000 Orcs, 1000 Bugbears, and 500 Hobgoblins. The Hobgoblin tents are in well ordered rows, while the Bugbears are spread out in disarray. The Orcs seem to be organized by clans, and Martur counts 6 different groups. Martur picks his targets, and then decides to return at night. Martur and Bowen use their glamered armor to make them look like the sky. Martur casts Invisibility on the Griffon and Bowen casts Shield of Faith on Martur. They approach the city stealthily and Martur casts Fireball on the first group of Orcs, dealing massive damage. Martur and Bowen continue flying through the camp, throwing Fireball spells and Fireballs from Martur's Staff of Fire. Several volleys of arrows fly up at them, but all miss wildly as the Orcs fire in the dark. 101 Orcs die to Fireballs as Martur and Bowen move on to the Hobgoblin camp. An arrow that shines of light passes by the party, and they see multiple arrows that are alight fly in the air around them. Bowen casts Shield of Faith on the Griffon. Multiple arrows fly up aimed at the party that hit the Griffon. The next Fireball decimates a group of Hobgoblin tents as Bowen casts Healing Word on the Griffon. Two more arrows of light pass by them, and then three Fireballs from the Hobgoblin forces fly up from the ground. The Griffon takes damage from the fireballs and plummets to the ground, and an unconscious Martur and Bowen die on impact.
Category:Honorbound Episodes