Spending a long night in the wilderness after tracking orcs and
who-knows-what-else for two days isn't anyone's idea of a good time. The
party's nerves were still a little frayed after what they had experienced in
Oakhaven. They had no clue about the size of the force they were following,
nor what other horrible creatures could make up its numbers. Still, the
party hunkered down and rested as best they could. Each one of them had
experienced the feeling of being in unknown hostile territory before, and
they were all able to get a good amount of sleep while trusting their
comrades to watch their backs.

In the morning, Shadow meditated while Adoemos quietly sat in prayer to
Pelor. Rheanna, Ragath, and Aetius broke camp and packed things up. When
everyone was finally ready to go, the party discussed their situation and
how to proceed.

It was agreed that Rheanna should lead the party while searching for traps
or an ambush. But how should they go about that? Should she use the trail?
Should she scout ahead where she could run into trouble? After much
discussion, everyone settled on Rheanna using the trail while the party
followed closely. With this decided, they all set off for The Stone Tooth
with Rheanna carefully ensuring that the trail ahead was safe.

A quarter mile from the foot of The Stone Tooth, the party came upon a large
stone monolith covered with orcish symbols which were painted in a
rust-brown "paint". Very weathered dwarvish runes were also evident, but all
Ragath was able to tell was the runes directed passers-by to somewhere. The
monolith must have stood there since it had been placed by the dwarves of
Durgeddin's clan two centuries ago.

The party reached the foot of The Stone Tooth in good time. Due to scrub and
trees up the steep slope from their position, the small stream of smoke they
had seen up on its southern slope was not evident. It was obvious that
dwarves had built the path up the slopes of the small mountain. Even now,
it's careful engineering was clearly apparent to the observer. The path
looked like it was originally meant to be concealed, with columns of rock
every fifty feet or so that looked like they were meant to hold up a roof of
sorts. Nothing remained of what was on top of those columns.

Rheanna scouted ahead while everyone else stayed near the bottom. As she
went up one steep switchback, she walked out of view. The party waited
anxiously while she navigated another switchback and found potential trouble
ahead.

The path climbed up one last switchback toward a bare shoulder of rock. The
hillside climbed steeply on her right and dropped away precipitously on her
left. Debris and rubbish lay scattered over the last hundred yards or so of
the path - discarded waterskins, bits of charred bone, and splintered casks
were strewn carelessly from the path. Up ahead, the path opened up onto a
wide ledge and then doubled back sharply into the mountainside.

Two orcs in scale armor, their colored armbands displaying the same colors
as those before, stood on the ledge a ways away. They appeared to be
sentries, but looked tired and bored of their duty. Had they been paying any
attention, she might have been in trouble... but in their current state she
was in no danger where she was.

Rheanna returned and told the party what she saw. It was decided that
everyone would go up to the final switchback before the orcs, then Adoemos
would bless those with missile weapons, who would then move forward and deal
with the orcs.

After Adoemos gave Pelor's blessings to the party, he and Shadow stayed
back - waiting for any sign of trouble. Aetius and Rheanna moved cautiously
forward.

The orcs were still there, and still inattentive as ever. Rheanna shot first
but missed - her bolt flying wide. Ragath loosed a shot from his sling and
winged one orc. Aetius loosed two quick shots, one arrow catching  the orc
Ragath hit in the throat. The other orc turned in panic and began to run
away, but it crumpled to the ground as Rheanna hit it with a perfect shot to
the chest... the bolt finding its way between the metal scales and piercing
its chest - stopping its heart.

With the sentries quietly dealt with, the party regrouped and went up to the
ledge. Up one last switchback the party saw an entrance into the mountain,
with a flight of stairs leading upwards into darkness. There was also an
arrow slit 15' up on the north wall facing the ledge.

Quickly, everyone moved below the arrow slit. Ragath, being the only member
of the party with darkvision, moved quietly up the stairs. He noticed two
more arrow slits and another fight of stairs further in. As he moved up, he
heard something behind the arrow slit above him say, "Uhhg?!" He had been
heard! He sat quietly and listened... but heard nothing more.

He surveyed what was at the top of the second set of stairs. A broad
entrance had been carved into the stone. Marble steps cracked with age and
veined with green moss led east up to a strong double door of carved stone,
8 feet wide and almost 10 feet tall. Yet another arrow slit high up on the
north wall commanded the area. He silently moved back down to the party and
told them what he'd found.

They were all in a tight spot now. If they moved back down to the ledge,
they might be seen. If they went up, they might be heard. They decided to
move as quietly as possible into the mountain. Upon getting to the second
set of stairs, they heard a gutteral voice raise an alarm, and many other
voices talking in the arrow slit above them. They had been found out!

With their cover blown, the party rushed up the last set of stairs and into
the entrance. As arrows flashed past, they ran up the wide marble stairs and
up a shorter flight of stairs to the massive stone doors, which were still
open. They went through, and found mayhem.

The great door opened into a large hall. The party stood on a narrow ledge
overlooking a deep, dark crevasse that cut the room in two - obstructing
passage to the other side. A dangerous looking rope-and-board bridge, the
ropes frayed and thin, spanned the gap. Water gurgled and rushed somewhere
far below. Two copper braziers burned brightly on either side of the door,
illuminating the party's half of the room. Other than Ragath, the party
could just make out the edge of the ledge on the other side of the chasm.

Ragath saw three porcine humanoids (orcs) in the shadows of the natural rock
on the far side. They appeared to be standing watch before a second stone
door. Upon seeing the party, they snarled a challenge, revealing yellowed
tusks, and raised their bows to fire.

As arrows zipped across the chasm from the other side, more orcs with bows
seemed to pour forth from the walls to the north and south of the party. No
one wasted time looking for where they were coming from... the party was now
in danger from all sides. Adoemos quickly cast a light spell on his helm to
illuminate the area better.

Two orcs appeared from the north, shooting arrows as soon as they saw the
party. Rheanna loosed a bolt into the forehead of one of them, while Shadow
hit another with his whip. Ragath whipped his staff across, shattering the
ribs of the orc Shadow injured and bringing it down.

As orcs appeared from the south, Aetius killed one with a shot to the
throat. Another orc from the south shot an arrow that pierced Adoemos' leg.
Rheanna quickly turned to the south and shot it in the gut with her
crossbow. The orc fell to the floor writing and bleeding profusely.

Aetius shot twice in quick succession across the chasm. One arrow
dispatching an orc while the other arrow injured another. Rheanna sent a
bolt flying into the midsection of another orc to the south, injuring it.
Shadow and Ragath together took out the last remaining orc to the party's
north.

Adoemos bravely charged across the bridge to confront the orcs on the other
side. The two remaining orcs each dropped their bows and readied their
massive axes. One moved forward to meet Adoemos while the other orc chopped
at one of the guide ropes on the bridge... cutting it in two. Quickly
realizing his peril, Adoemos bull rushed the orc in front of him, knocking
him sprawling backwards into the other orc behind him.

The party desperately tried to shoot the orcs as they lay on the ground.
Aetius was able to shoot one of them with an arrow, but it was not enough to
disable it. Helplessly they watched from across the chasm as Adoemos was hit
by a massive chop from one, and then again by the other. Adoemos went to his
knees and fell. He lay motionless on the ledge.

The party gave their all to dispatch the injured orcs that remained so they
could try to tend to their fallen comrade. When they finally crossed the
chasm and reached Adoemos it was obvious that nothing could be done. His
spirit now resided in the realm of Pelor. He had given up everything to
this, his last cause.

Exhausted and shocked by their ordeal, everyone tended to their injuries and
Aetius resupplied his quiver from those of the orcs. In the thick of the
battle, Shadow's wolf had been incapacitated, but with a healing spell he
was able to revive it. He only wished he could do the same for their good
cleric.

Adoemos' death only underlined why this cause was necessary. The courageous
party set themselves to move on into the unknown, none of them giving a
thought to turning back.