Early in the day, the winged woman spotted a grove of enormous mushrooms from the sky. We approached to investigate, and saw that they were very slowly moving about on root-like tendrils. The guardsman thought our suggestion very strange that these could be dangerous, but he nevertheless agreed to avoid them.
Later, the woman saw a wisp of smoke rising from the entrance of a tooth-shaped mountain. This was an important discovery, as the tooth-shape related somehow to the clan we sought. I do not recall the exact connection.
Long before the sun rose, four or five enormous spiders surrounded our camp, similar to the one we had seen in the temple basement. Before we could stand, the Infiltrator and I were bitten, and an intense weakness almost overwhelmed us. I found I had to struggle even to lift myself to my elbows, and there was little chance I could keep the beast at bay while I struggled to my feet. Then a surprising event occurred. The winged woman rushed to me, and grabbed my arms. I considered struggling, but found I was too weak. Then she dragged me to safety, let go, and waded into battle. Not having enough time to consider this, I struggled to my feet, leaving my staff and even my precious spellbook on the ground, and made liberal use of magic until the battle was won. My head was spinning by the end, but I thanked the woman before I collapsed. For the remainder of the day, we rested, the priest tending to our wounds, and doing what he could about the Infiltrator's loss of strength and my own.
Before we slept, the guardsman and the Infiltrator argued about the order of the watch. The guardsman thought it unjust that he be given the middle watch every night, that he deserved a good night's rest on occasion. The Infiltrator, far more pragmatic, said each watch required one person with sharp eyes. Despite the insult, the guardsman backed down and took the middle watch.
Again, an enemy approached before dawn. This time, they made a good deal of noise, so we had time to prepare. When the winged woman, scouting ahead, announced that forty orcs approached, many with blood-stained axes, our first thought was how to flee most efficiently. At that, however, we were at a disadvantage, for though the woman could fly, and the Infiltrator and the Empty Hand were extraordinarily fast runners, and although I could cast a spell to accelerate my own movement, the guardsman and the priest would be left behind. Although I feel no great attachment to either, our situation was not dire enough to abandon them yet, especially since we all owed our lives many times over to the priest's magic. We considered our options, and decided to try one desperate attack before we resorted to running. Shamefully, I could think of nothing until the Empty Hand reminded me of my scroll. I had failed to learn the spell, but I still had the scroll. Holding it out in front of me, I recited the mystical words and within moments, the entire army was covered in sticky strands of spider-silk.
Those of us who had bows took advantage of the enemy's weakness to hit them from afar, and the winged woman swooped to and fro, firing from above. Then we lost all chance of running, as the Empty Hand rushed in and attacked with bare hands. Although he is a capable fighter, rushing in unarmed to take on forty orcs with battle axes seemed foolish even to him in retrospect. He must learn that there are times when he must keep his distance, to hold back and let the enemy come to him.
The Empty Hand took down several orcs in his mad rush, but soon was on the ground. I was astonished when the winged woman swooped down on top of him, and carried him away, ignoring the hoard of creatures surrounding her and assaulting her from all sides. I hurried forward to help, and saw immediately what poor condition the Empty Hand was in. His right arm was split open to the bone, and I could hardly see his face for the blood that was streaming from the gash in his forehead. When the priest finally got to him, he was at the brink of death.
I do not know what to make of the winged woman now. Her unusual arrival and improbable story are still suspicious, yet without her, the Empty Hand would be dead, and there would be only six to carry on a mission of eight. I am indebted to her.
I admit that I spent a moment on these thoughts even during the battle, but I quickly blocked them out and focused my mind. The woman was carrying the Empty Hand to safety, and the others were occupied in their own fights. It was up to me to keep a killing blow from striking the Empty Hand. I held my ground against the orcs' charge, and as they raised their axes in the air to attack, I spread my hands and burned four of them to cinders. I did the same against the next charge, and then I used a third spell to increase my resistance to their attacks. This gave the woman enough time to carry the Empty Hand to safety. When I was finally struck to unconsciousness, most of the orcs had escaped from the web, but only a third of their number remained alive.
When the priest's magic woke me, the battle had been won.
We spent the morning following their tracks, but found no more sign of them. The sky never brightened that day, for before the sun rose, great storm clouds gathered and covered its ascent. We decided it was time to return to the town, and before long, the rain started. This surely has been the least comfortable journey to which I was ever subjected. I am not one to allow such things to bother me, but combined with the effects of the spider's poison, there were times I could barely walk through the intense winds and rain. The priest's magic made it somewhat more bearable, allowing us to endure the chill and to walk more easily through the muddy marshes, but it only lasted so long.
As the priest's last spell wore off, we were attacked by the largest spider I had seen. It was easily nine feet long, and taller than a man., though it did not give us overly much trouble. It had markings similar to those of the spiders we had killed the day before, so I consider it fortunate that none of us were bitten by this one.
We marched into the night, and slept in the rain. The priest used the orc tracker's bandolier to produce a rowboat, under which two of us could sleep. I am grateful that the others sacrificed their own sleep to allow myself and the priest shelter, where we could rest and prepare our spells. Still, sleep did not come easily, and I woke several times short of breath, and had to move the boat to another spot, or dig tunnels through the mud to allow air to continue to flow.
We continued our march in the morning. Once the priest's spells ran out, our progress slowed tremendously as we forced our way through ever deepening mud. At one point, we came upon a burrow full of large badger-like creatures who attacked us on sight, hoping for a meal. When we had finished with them, the Infiltrator crawled into their burrow and emerged to report nothing but a nest of young. Then the woman squeezed herself inside, wings and all, and came out covered with them. Even as they bit her and clawed at her skin, she said she would keep them safe and raise them herself. Fortunately, the Empty Hand convinced her to leave them behind, and told her of the priest in the previous town who might be able to help them.
In the evening, we made it back to town. The other party, we discovered, had been nearly wiped out by orcs, and those who remained were unconscious. The priest healed the wounded, and the sheriff, who had led the party, told us that there had been about eighty orcs, and they had killed twenty. That meant that twenty more were still marauding, but I did not think this significant. With such diminished numbers, they would not cause much damage. What was somewhat more disconcerting, if only because it was reminiscent of the last town, was that twenty of the town guard – fully half their number – had been killed. I can only hope we do not have to risk our lives defending this place, with similar results as before.
The new vampire had been busy. Besides that the sheriff thought the orcs knew they were coming (which could have any number of reasons, a fast-traveling informer inside the town only one), we learned that the largest ship, that belonging to the most powerful baron, had been destroyed, likely through the use of the explosive smoke powder. Despite the known existence of the vampire, the thieves guild were blamed, and it was thought that, after an upcoming town meeting, they would become a prime target for the town guard. This struck me as absurd. The thieves had operated silently and successfully for years. They would never intentionally provoke such a fight. They had also been framed for one crime already that had been committed by a vampire. And the guild was enormous. Assuming they had shown me their full membership, I guessed they outnumbered the now-reduced town guard at least four to one. Must everyone we encounter in this world, except our enemies, belong to bands of fools?
In preparation, the priest asked the sheriff about underground places in the town. The last vampire had resided underground to keep out of the sun, so the new one was likely doing the same. The sheriff knew little, but he directed us to some books that would help. Knowing that there had been at least two vampires already, the Infiltrator asked the priest how they reproduced. In response, the priest described a most unusual method. A vampire can not procreate normally. It must bite the neck of a living person, and drink all of that person's blood through the vein. That person will die but remain preserved, and after some time, will rise as a vampire.
In private, the Empty Hand asked if I still wanted to explore the island. I may be projecting my own feelings on him, but he seemed to have a personal curiosity about it as well. I told him I had been waiting for a better time to bring it up. I now know that the Empty Hand was not nearly so concerned about my dealings with thieves as was the Infiltrator, though this does not change my opinion of the situation. I respect the Infiltrator enough that even had the Empty Hand not been involved at all, or had he openly come out in my favor, I know the penalty would have been reasonable and just.
I spent the remainder of the day in the town shops, learning all I could about the system of commerce in this World of Man. I learned for certain something I had begun to expect, that currency was organized such that a valuable coin could be exchanged for ten less valuable coins, and that the exchange worked equally well in reverse. Copper, silver, gold and platinum could each be traded for each other in ten-to-one, hundred-to-one and thousand-to-one exchanges, though I was not able to discover what dictated those particular rates. I wonder what would happen if one of these metals became more rare or more common, and people began to hoard it. No doubt some law prevented that.
Looking at various objects for sale, I could not find any reason to their prices. Perhaps cost had something to do with the amount of work required to create an object, but not everything supported that. Ink, as I had noted earlier, was worth two and a half times its weight in gold, or two hundred fifty times its weight in copper. In the monastery, I made my own ink, and, though it takes time, it is not overly difficult, particularly when made in large amounts. Paper, on the other hand, which requires quite a bit of both labor and time to make, is relatively inexpensive. Eventually, the shop keeper became annoyed at me for asking the costs of so many items without making a purchase, so I picked up a set of simple carving tools, which may help to perfecting the pitch of my new flute. These, incidentally, cost less than an ounce of ink.