Over the next few hours, the dwarf regains consciousness. He’s a bit loopy from being struck on the head so hard, but eventually the adventurers learn his name is Traubon Brawnanvil. Through tears he tells them what happened. The orcs broke into the house demanding money, but they didn’t want only money. They wanted blood. In a matter of minutes, they murdered Traubon’s father and left Traubon for dead. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the house being set on fire. He thanks the adventurers for saving his life.

Shortly after the tale, Lilvari stands from the fire and heads over to the bound orc. She motions the others over with a jerk of her head. Perhaps Traubon’s story had something to do with it or perhaps not, but she takes a consensus with the other party members: Should they keep it alive and use it to find Wyvern Tor more easily or just kill it and find the camp themselves. They debate the question while standing over the concerned orc. They decide the latter, and from the dreaded look in his eyes he understood every word. The orc barely gets a chance to beg for his life before Lilvari plunges Curse Bringer through its throat.

The party settles in for a much deserved rest. Lilvari takes first watch. She’s not long into her duty when she hears heavy footsteps coming from the opposite side of the burned up house. She slowly walks towards the sound. It’s an owlbear. Quickly she wakes the party. In the time she does, the owlbear has already begun feasting on orc flesh on the far side of the farm. As the party is deciding what to do, Dare peers around the corner of the house for a closer look. At the worst possible instant, his ass erupts. The fart he unleashes can be easily be heard by all… including the owlbear. Its head snaps up, and it eyes focus on Dare. It’s a little more than angry at having its meal interrupted. It charges him. He manages to get off a quick shot with his crossbow, but the bolt misses its mark.

The party has it outnumbered, but it doesn’t care. It jumps at Dare claws raised. He fends off the vicious attack but leaves himself open for another. The owlbear lunges for his throat and pecks him hard with its beak. The others comes to his aid. Lilvari does a bit of damage with her Eldritch Blast. Mystic unleashes Guiding Bolt which severely stuns the owlbear. Dare gets several good swings in with his sword, Mercarri conjures up her brown, spiritual mace and Lilvari finishes it off with her mighty magic. 

Trek to Wyvern Tor

After the owlbear attack, the party heads back to the fire and tries to get some sleep. After a time, they manage to do so. The rest of the night is uneventful. They awake in the morning and pack up camp. Traubon asks to come with them. He says he has nothing left here. He also tells him about his dreams of becoming a blacksmith. With his life as a farmer destroyed, he might as well try moving on. Before they set out, the party helps him bury his father. They then continue on towards Wyvern Tor. 

The third day of their travels is a wet one. More than once they curse the rain, especially when they leave the Triboar Trail and head through the hilly grassland South towards Wyvern Tor. The rain soaks them through to the bone. Their feet, at times, sink into the mud. It’s not until later that day, miles into their journey does the rain slow, then stop. It’s about this time that they notice a strange glow coming from their right. It almost looks like a pair of glowing eyes staring at them from bushes that line the ridge. Upon investigating, they realize that among the line of bushes, this one has on it two glowing berries. They argue about how to proceed. Should they pick them? If they pick them, should they eat them? During the back and forth Dare pops one in his mouth. All conversations cease as they look at him with a mix of surprise and horror. He just shrugs.

“Sometimes you have to eat things to find out what the do,” he says. No sooner does he say this than he disappears. Dare, overly excited, rushes off. They can see and hear his footsteps splash away against the wet ground. When they ask him what he’s doing he yells back that he’s off to take a shit. He needs to see if its invisible. It turns out that it is. 

Once Dare returns, the party continues their search for the orc’s camp. They see some very large footprints in the distance — too large for orcs —  and decide against going in that direction. The berry’s effect wears off after about an hour, and Dare is again fully visible. They spend that night in the hills and find the camp the next morning. Mystic notices the scent of smoke first. It leads them to a ravine. At the bottom is a cave. Keeping watch out front is a lone orc. They make a plan to sneak up on it. 

Sneaking, apparently, is not a skill owned by all. While Lilvari and Dare (despite his heavy armor) manage to sneak down without much noise, Mystic and Mercarri seem to kick every stone and trip over every root. Mercarri even manages to take a bad step and slip down the side of the ravine. Thankfully the orc was too far away to hear. They continue to creep up on it, using the nearby boulders and brush for cover when Mystic accidentally kicks a stone that skitters almost in front of the orc.

The orc immediately jumps up and heads towards the sound, asking who’s there in Orc. Dare devises a quick plan. He decides to confront the orc while the others sneak around the back.

“Hold brother, it’s me,” he replies, stepping out from the brush. He tells the orc that he’s lost his party and is looking for them. The orc eyes him suspiciously. Dare continues talking while the others make their way closer. The orc seems agitated, but he’s not attacking. He commands Dare to be on his way. As they argue back and forth, Mercarri nears the edge of the brush, to a spot closer to where Mystic is hiding. Not paying attention to where she’s stepping, she trips over Mystic’s feet. She startles and falls forward, catching herself at the last minute. She’s relieved not to have fallen, but she looks over and realizes that both Dare and the Orc are staring at her. Apparently she’d stumbled out into plain sight. She sees Dare roll his eyes. She smiles, even offers a little wave. It’s all the orc needs. It dashes for the cave, calling out the name Brughor as it does.

Cover blown, the party closes in, trying to stop the orc before it can warn the others. Lilvari wallops it with Agonizing Blast. Mystic and Dare attempt to bring it down with magic and crossbow bolts, though both sail wide when it falls to the ground, still reeling from Lilvari’s attack. It’s Mercarri that ends the orc when she summons her spiritual mace from a cloud of brown mist and brings the weapon down on its head. The orc is dead, just shy of reaching the cave.