I’m traveling once again with this band of adventurers. They seem to wander this continent like lost souls. First north then south, now I hear they wish to travel south again. Perhaps we are brethren in spirit at least. I suppose I too am damned to wander, my home torched by my very neighbors and my parents left within.

We left Cu Roi’s house to travel east toward the road. It seems slaying the band of marauding ogres wasn’t enough. They now recall a group they saw several weeks ago on the way here and they wish to take care of them. I might as well go along. Ceridwen isn’t supposed to be back for several weeks…it may be longer if the weather turns. I wish she wouldn’t have sent me so far ahead of her. There was a danger building in Lynn….not sure what. I think she could sense it too.

She was probably right to send me back. My potions were running low and my ability to hide among the humans along with it. Of course, I lack her flair for subtlety as well. No patience for that skulking and sneaking. If it will buy me time to run my sword through my enemies heart, so be it. But completely living a life in the shadows….no. I left a life of darkness behind in a farmhouse in Steairn’s lands.

So I’ll kill some time, and some ogres if me sword is fast enough.

Dawn broke and we headed east. I fit right in with this group. They don’t ask questions so I don’t have to answer. I like it that way. When they do speak though, they seem to invite challenges. They’d shake their fists at the gods I imagine. Dangerous, but I’ve lived one life too many anyway.

The female with the axe is crude. Bebe. Her speech is a lure to those thirsty for blood. Cinn Oir is quiet. I can appreciate that. She keeps her thoughts to herself and is hard to read. I’ve never met a druid before aside from the few down south that call themselves such…the Brehons (DM’s Note: They handle legal matters among the clans mostly and deal with traditional druid duties on a lesser basis.) This one rarely passes judgment or opinion.

The cleric, Liam, at least I suppose it is the same. Cu Roi tells me the man is now a Nixie, water faye or something of the sort. Some sort of ancient druidic ritual. The same that turned the spellcaster into a talking bird. They agreed to this so that they may wander the realm of the living once more. When my time has come, I will go home.

The sorceress, Dierdre, is the most beautiful of the lot and most uncomfortable. I can see it plainly written on her face that she hates this life on the run. She among of all of them openly longs for a home. A place of comfort, a place she has yet to find but knows every square inch of. Perhaps like me, she may only be satisfied in the life that is yet to come.

A warrior has joined us from the south. He’s seen the ogre beasts and has traveled here seeking proof to return to his people with. Superstitious imbeciles will need more than the ogre head he has been lugging around with him since our last encounter. He’ll be lucky if they don’t put him to the torch.

The druid had a desire to collect some more pets today. As if the snake and the grotesquely large weasel weren’t enough. She led us to a brown bear’s lair and I ended up chasing the horse down which I borrowed from the cleric. While we were rounding up the horse, we hear a signal whistle blowing in the woods. Apparently her and Cian, the eagle that speaks, cornered a pack of wolves. I don’t imagine they took kindly to it. Wolves were gone by the time Liam, Bebe and I showed up. Apparently Lance, gave the signal while leading half the pack off on a chase while Cian and Cinn Oir managed to fend off the rest.

We continue on toward the ancient road.

By noon we reached the ancient road. A large area of trees have been cut down all along the western side and at the very northern edge of the woods. I’ve never seen a tree felled in these woods and have avoided it myself on advice from Cu Roi. Ogres aren’t that concerned I imagine.

Deep furrows mark where the trees were dragged off, probably by cart. Cinn Oir wants to stay behind and take a look at the trees. Dierdre offers to stay with her. The rest of us are going to follow the tracks to see where the logs were taken. Cian spotted something that looke like a structure north along the road. As if it isn’t enough he is a talking eagle, he has the vision of one too.

I’ve lived another day, a miracle it seems. Late afternoon by the time we made it here. Appears the ogres had plans for the trees they felled. A very sturdy frontier fort here along the Old King’s Road. Our eagle told us that it was lightly manned; five ogres in all. The group decided to approach straight up the main road as if we were invited. I rode along. If it was my day to die, so be it.

They shut the gate at our approach. Took nearly three of the brutes to do it. We stopped at some trenches dug quite a distance from the walls of the frontier. Outside of spear range and at a slightly difficult bow range. The weight of the door, the near thirty foot walls, the range of the front trenches…I suspect this place was built for something larger.

Bebe wanted a fight though. She and the cleric began taunting the ogres who stood on the walls. They set into the trenches, tearing down the barricades and cursing the ogres as they did so. Wasn’t long before the gates opened again and out came the ogres. Four of them and a leader clad in chain mail.

Cian swooped in from above and unleashed what seemed a living rainbow from his claws. The light blinded several of the creatures, one falling into the dry spike filled moat. The leader seemed unaffected by this and rushed forward to swat Cian from the air with a heavy flail. The talking bird may have had chance to return as a talking squirrel that day if not for Liam riding forward to engage the leader.

It was a vicious fight. The barbarian fights like a blinded wolverine. No heed to their enormous clubs, she charges in toe to toe. I saw her use brute force to push one of the enormous brutes off into a spike laden moat around the fort. Relentlessly she took its head as it tried to clamber out.

Liam and the warrior named Lance ride well. Liam managed to make several strikes from horseback with a shortsword, all while avoiding being hit himself. Lance was less fortunate. The ogres were apparently trained to take on a horse and rider and two of them chose to concentrate on the horse. Lance managed to somehow turn aside most of the attacks but in the end the horse was nearly killed. He is fortunate that Epona travels with Liam else the animal would have died.

I suppose this group’s ferocity is infectious. I found myself going toe to toe with these giant beasts. I looked for the leader but strangely he had disappeared. I struck several solid hits and drew blood from the foul beasts, but the last clubbing I took brought me back to my senses. I took the blow in the side, cracking more than a few ribs, and rolled with it out of the fight.

The others were just as bloodied but it seemed the fight was going their way. That is until the leader reappeared. His flail aglow, he struck several horrible blows at Liam. I’m surprised the little green cleric managed to survive. Very surprised. (DM’s Note: The Ogre Cleric rolled one crit after another on Liam with that heavy flail. One attack was even augmented by Smite and the flail itself was enhanced slightly by Magic Weapon. After two attacks that dealth 25+ damage, Liam was just below zero hit points. He managed to cast a healing spell on himself-while on horseback and bleeding badly.)

It all ended with the leader and one of the ogre warriors surrendering to us. I was told later that divine prayer had hidden the leader from my sight as well as several others for a bit. (DM’s Note: The leader was a cleric. He cast Sanctuary during the fight and used the time to heal himself and his companions.)

Liam healed many of our wounds after the fight. The leader was disarmed but left armored. He refused to hand over his holy symbol which I found suspicious. No one was keen to wrestle him for it however. I’ll leave that decision to the cleric. Lance may have been able to pry it from the ogre’s grasp for it was mostly his horse that had been beaten. His odd code of honor he holds himself too may prevent that though….

In the fort itself there are several things of interest. A massive rock pit to my right. A large stone building near the center, heated to oven-like temperatures by some sort of underground fuel chamber. Then there is a large trunk of an oak tree with a cage hanging from it. Cian brought the cage down and Liam buried what was within. Being the eve before Samain, I hate to think what may have happened if he hadn’t. It Looked to be human, though the remains were bloated and weathered. I avoided closer inspection.

Cian flew south to gather up Cinn Oir and Dierdre. They returned a few hours after nightfall. Apparently they met one of the faye in the woods. She threatened them to leave the woods and never return. A bad omen so close to Samain. From the sky, Cian tells me he sees dozens, maybe hundreds of campfires all across these northern plains. I’m guessing this isn’t the only fortress. Bad omens indeed.

We had to kill the prisoners during the night. The leader did eventually put that holy symbol to use. Seems he pulled the same trick; praying for Sanctuary (as Liam called it) and healing his wounds from the day’s previous battle. Bebe was furious for being tricked again and took her axe to the other prisoner after beating him senseless. The leader almost got away through cover of a magical fog. Dierdre managed to get a fix on him in the dark as he fled through a gap in the unfinished fortress wall. She lit him up with magical bolts as Cian swooped in from above.

We’re to head back to Cu Roi’s today. The wanderlust has overtaken this group yet again. They spoke a bit about holding this fort…as I say, shaking their fist at the gods.

I expect Ceridwen will be back at Cu Roi’s soon so I mention I plan to head south. Lance is keen to report all this to his clan in the south as well. (I hope he doesn’t find himself victim of their superstitions.) This changes the group’s plans and they intend to head south as well. They wish to go back to a place called Dun Brees, it seems Cian and Liam have unfinished business there. It is fine with me. I mention to the group that I prefer to travel alone. They will hear nothing of it. As though I am safer in their presence.

The sorceress seems genuinely annoyed, moreso than usual at any rate. One of the few who wishes to find a place to settle her restless spirit. The barbarian is disappointed as it will mean a temporary end to her abuse of the ogres. There is the promise of battle at Dun Brees however. The cleric and the wizard are eager to exact some sort of revenge. The druid, I’m not sure of her motives but she seems to have some demons to deal with at Dun Brees as well.