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Luckily, the orc dancing about in pain gave Brenna the few precious moments she needed to get her feet fully back under her. Just in time too. As he swung his weapon at her, she was able to jump back just out of range of his attack.

She knew she was in a bad spot though. With only her daggers and having blown her initial chance to catch the orc by surprise, she'd lost any advantage she might have had in this fight. But she was in it now, for better or worse. And she'd better try her damnedest to win it quickly. Otherwise, it would be for naught if the orcs got away with Caitlin.

And... she was just now realizing... Macey hadn't even come out to try to get his daughter himself. Maybe it was smarter to wait on the soldiers, but she had a hard time imagining her own father, when he'd been alive, waiting around for someone else to take action if it had been her that orcs were dragging away.

"You won't be in charge long if they kill her, Peter!" she yelled, hoping to appeal to the man's desire for the position of leadership to get him to at least send a few men out to aid them. If he lost multiple civilians under his protection, that surely wouldn't look good.

But she didn't wait for an answer before dancing to the left and slashing at the orc again.

Pint’s stats

Str: 16
Dex: 14
Con:14
Int: 10
Wis: 14
Char: 8

AC: 19

Hp: 12, current: 7

Best I can do in my current circumstances

Pint goes on the defensive as Big Gunter rains blows on him. Pint is parrying well, he feels he has the measure of the orc.

Brenna never gets to land her blow. As she disengaes from the orc, he turns tail and runs away.

((The moderators have told me that RPRepository orcs are not allowed to swear. So you've just got use a bit of imagination and supply a liberal sprinkling of words beginning with f and c))

"She's got me in the thigh. I'm dying, I'm dying" he screams, as he runs towards the wood.

The two orcs dragging Caitlin away lift her up, and start carrying her. She struggles,but they are too strong for her. her lantern falls to the ground but doesn't go out. It continue to shed a little light on the scene, as they make for the woods.

Lieutenant Peter seems unsure what to do at Brenna's taunt. "Come back to safety" he calls to Brenna, "We've got the gate secured".
"You've got to save my little girl" shouts Macey.
"I've got to save everybody" retorts Lieutenant Peter.

Big Gunter has his back to Brenna, and is presenting a tempting target. But the orcs carrying Caitlin away will soon be gone from sight. And she doesn't have a light.

Big Gunter gets an attack in on Pint.

Pint slaps the orc’s attacks away with deft blows of his Urgrosh and keeps up taunting him, making sure his focus is on him. “Pftt!! Not even close, mate!” As he does that he notices Brenna about and gives her a meaningful look to come sneak attack Big Gunter.

As much as her heart sank to see Caitlin being carried away, Brenna knew she was no match to take on two orcs by herself. If Peter was just going to stand there and wait, the best hope seemed to be aiding Pint.

She didn't bother answering Peter, not wanting to alert Big Gunter that she was moving toward his exposed back.

Gripping her now bloodied knife, she plunges it toward the large orc as he's focused on Pint.


((Edit: that makes up a bit for that fumble last time!!))

The one on one between Pint and Big Gunter goes to and forth, with the dwarf deftly parrying the blows.

Brenna sprints over to the duelling pair, as stealthily as she is able, and drives her knife as hard as she can into Big Gunter's back.
Aaaawk! The knife hits home. It isn't enough to kill him, but it has obviously done significant damage. Big Gunter almost
falls down, the saves himself. He's in a sort of crouched position.
He suddenly realises he has no support, and you can see the fear in his eyes.

"Charge" shouts Lieutenant Peter.

Pint grins as he sees the opening Brenna gave him and swings at the orc with the axe head of his Urgrosh.

Phew! With Big Gunter injured, Pint ready to destroy him, and the soldiers finally coming forth, maybe there was some hope for Caitlin.

Almost belatedly, Brenna recalled the dark figure she thought she'd seen slip past her when she'd been trying to clear a path for Macey to get his daughter. Gaaahhh!

"I'll check on Mr. Swathmore!" she called out to Pint, abandoning the battle as fast as she'd joined it to rush back toward the Inn.

Pint lands a huge hit on the crouching Big Gunter, and knocks him into a prone position. Brenna runs wide to avoid the soldiers, charging with torches held aloft, and makes her way back into the gate.
The soldiers soon arrive and surround the dying Big Gunter, poking and stabbing at him with their swords. He expires.

"We've saved you" says Lieutenant Peter, to Pint, "But I see you are wounded, sir. You'd better make it back into the safety of the Inn."

Brenna make her way back into the Inn, past Rosalind who is still standing in the doorway, peering out. The others are gathered inside, anxiously waiting for news. Dalin is standing by Mistress Weather, his hand on his battleaxe. The cat Catherine is also there. All three maids are behind the bar. Lady Helena is scowling, but the Petulan ambassador seem unperturbed. Alfonce has left the kitchen and is standing in the Inn, still in his chef's apron, with a big meat cleaver in his hand. Mr Swathmore is sitting on the table, where you left him, some way from the others.

"Did you find the girl?" he asks, "Very foolish, running out like that."

Brenna, breathing hard from the struggle and then running, knife still in her hand covered in orc blood, and mud on her side from where she'd fallen, paused inside to take stock that everyone seemed fine, including Mr. Swathmore. Okay, good.

But where was Fr Geoffrey? Had he gone out with the soldiers?

"No, the orcs have her..." she answered quickly and matter-of-factly, but felt a wave of guilt wash over her at the same time. It was her fault that they'd gotten away with Caitlin, all because she'd slipped on a stupid rock! She had little confidence that Lieutenant Peter would push out into the forest to rescue the girl.

"One might have slipped into the compound." Out of everyone, Dalin seemed the most trustworthy and her gaze landed upon him. "Keep an eye on the door, just in case." Then her eyes went to Alfonce with that meat cleaver in his hands. "Best keep an eye on the kitchen door too. Are those the only two ways in here?"

She still wasn't sure that it was an orc she'd actually seen. But better to assume the worst and cause a bit of unnecessary worry than let them be caught off guard. Her own plan, if the door situation seemed mostly under control, was to slip back outside and ensure none of the creatures were sneaking around the Inn or the stable.


((This Peter fellow... is appropriately named. ))

“Oi! Bloody kill stealers!” Pint didn’t look thrilled about the guards rushing in to finish off Big Gunter, and he looked even less pleased when Peter had the gall of saying they had rescued him. “Ye wot!!??!” He said indignantly before moving off, not bothering to argue with them.

As long as Brenna and Dalin were safe he was still getting paid so he ran back to the inn to check on them.

((Sorry for the delay. I have an eye infection. ))

Pint and Brenna return to the Inn. The atmosphere is tense. Lieutenant Peter posts guard back to the rooftop tower.

"one person has been murdered, and one person has been kidnapped by orcs." says the lieutenant. "This situation is serious. We don't know how many orcs are ouut there, but they have lost a chieftain, and will be anxious to avenge him. I believe the murderer must be working with the orcs, otherwise why attack at this time, after so many months of quiet?"

"You must rescue my daughter" says Macey.
"She chose to go out of her own free will" says Lieutenant Peter, "I cannot keep everybody safe unless everybody obeys instructions. We don't know what the orcs want with her".
"She'll make a nice slave for them" says Mistress Weather, "fetch a fair price in the markets of the Black lands".
"She's certainly worth more money to them alive than dead" says the petulan ambassador, "But how will they get her all the way back to the Black mountains? She won't be able to stand the pace of the journey. I fear they must have other plans for her".
"Fear" says Macey, "This is my daughter you are talking about. Henry Fitzroy promised her that he would marry her. Now it turns out that he is engaged to someone else. All her hopes were dashed. That was why she rushed out, the pain and humiliation were too much to bear".
"The King would never allow his son to marry a merchant's daughter, no matter how much money her father had" says Lady Helena, "She should have realised that. I should have told her".
"The good King Dunstan has no legitimate children, and the Queen is past the age of bearing." says the Petulan ambassador, "So the throne goes to his cousin, the King of Petula. He will refuse it, as he cannot rule two realms, and bestow it on his second son. Henry Fitzroy is a potential threat to that plan, as the people may see him as the natural ruler, a native rather than a Petulan. So King Dunstan plans to bestow on him lands in Petula, which he will hold off the King of Petula. This will be achieved via the marriage to Lady Helena. These are all matters of state, Mistress Caitlin never had a chance."
"Then how shall the King's daughter be Queen?" asks Dalin, "For so Mistress Weather's cards said, and the cards, like dwarves, never lie".

Conversation goes on like this for a while, and Brenna and Pint lose interest. Using her stealth, Brenna sneaks out, whilst Pint remains in the Inn, talking with the disguised King.
"That rascally ambassador" says the King, under his breath, "I just want a decent marriage for my son".
Brenna is surprised to note Catherine the cat coming into the front door, just as she goes out.

((Brenna roll Perception, and Stealth))

"Poor Caitlin" says Kitty the maid, coming to serve Pint and the King. "She would have made such a pretty bride for Heny Fitzroy. I can see why he wanted to marry her. I'm sure that if he were here, he would be the first to ride off into the forest and try to rescue her. You mustn't think only bad things of Henry Fitzroy, you know."
"She's made her choice" says the disguised King, "Don't you be putting yourself at risk to save her."
Pint gets a strange, funny feeling about Kitty he can't quite place.

((Yikes, hope you're feeling better!))

Everyone seemed more worried about politics than the fact that she'd just told them an orc might have slipped in through the gate and Brenna set her mouth in frustration. Though, she wasn't even remotely sure that was what she'd seen.

"I'm going to check on the horses," Brenna told Pint, then headed toward the door.

"You best stay here," she whispered to the cat, still suspecting it could understand her perfectly. "Those dogs start barking, they'll give me away."

But most likely, if the cat still insisted on slipping through, she wouldn't physically try to stop it.

So she slipped outside, then off to the side of the porch out of the torchlight where she stood for several long moments, letting her eyes readjust to the darkness and simply listening...

(Oof, yeah, hope you feel better, m8)

Why Pint nearly went cross eyed when everyone started talking politics and who should marry who and what not. It was impossible for him to keep up. Although there was a particular point of interest for him that he focused on.

“Wait wot?? That big orc was a chieftain??” The dwarf held his head. “Aaggh!! And I didn’t scalp him!! That woulda meant big money with my clan!!” As usual, Pint was solely interested in gold.

He barely heard Brenna saying she was checking on the horses as he hit his head on a table repeatedly. Eventually he stopped though and shook his head while rubbing his head. As much as he would have wanted to rescue the lass, he was not going to venture without a platoon of -competent- soldiers, and these guys thus far had failed to impress him.

As Kitty arrived, Pint frowned profusely as he got a weird feeling from her. A very weird feeling indeed.

Kitty... cat. It was a long shot but Pint was completely out of ideas by now.

So he pulled a string out of his pocket and dangled in front of Kitty looking on to see how she reacted. It was clear he suspected this might be the cat in disguise.

"Miaow!" says Catherine the cat, and sidles into the Inn. Brenna is sure that it understands what she is saying.

She goes out into the darkened courtyard, and listens intently. The pigs from the pig sty are awake, and grunting. An owl swoops overhead, giving a distinctive call.
She is surprised by Samuel, the stablehand. For a moment she gasps, assuming him to be the orc, but his approach is friendly.
"Is that you, Brenna? Are you coming to see me? You won't be hiding from any orcs like that - you've still got the smell of orc bloood right over you. See how all the pigs are excited? They know orcs are near. The orc is such as what a wizard crossed a man with a pig, folks say."

"Are you teasing me because of my name?" says Kitty, as Pint dangles the string. She makes a sudden, cat-like swpie for it, and Pint sees the flash of gold of her ring. "I've got the same name as poor Caitlin."
"It's a form of Catherine" says Mr Swathmore, "from Hecate, the triple godd.."
There's a sudden hush as jaws drop.
"Virgin, whore, and witch" says Lady Helena.

As her heart rate subsided a bit from the momentary thought that the orc was coming toward her, Brenna nodded toward Samuel. "I was just coming out to check on you and the horses. I thought I saw something slip through the gate. Just after Caitlin slipped out." She looked troubled, her failure to stop the abduction weighing heavy on her.

"I was in too much of a hurry then to stop and go check. So it could have been nothing more than a shadow. But I'm worried it was an orc slipping in. Are the dogs in the stable?" she asked. Maybe they'd raise the alarm if there really was an orc about. If it managed to kill their horses, they'd really be in trouble tomorrow if they could not make Fort Middlesburgh in the short amount of daylight winter provided.

Wellp, that was bust, but no one could blame Pint for not giving a shot.

“Uh.. aye! Just a wee bit o teasing, me lass. Ye know, since everyone’s so tense after the orc attack and all that rot, heh.” Pint tried to play it off as teasing, looking only mildly disappointed that Kitty the maid hadn’t transformed into a cat.

His eyes caught the flash of gold from her ring, but before he could ask if she was married Lady Helena waltzed to explain some pagan goddess or some such.

“Huh? I canna tell if being named after this goddess is good or bad..”

Pint was a very agnostic dwarf, on occasion he’d used Moradin’s name to curse, but overall the only religious he followed was gold.

"I'll get the dogs" says Samuel, "I don't know exactly where they are, but they'll be about. They'll soon sniff out that orc, if he's got into the gate".

"Rex, Lupus", he calls. The two huge animals come running.
Brenna accompanies Samuel as they circle the Inn. It looks all strange in the light of Samuel's lantern, but it is the nucleus of a little, almost self-sufficient compound. There are chickens for meat and eggs, pigs, and a cow for milk. The privies are opposite the kitchen entrance. Samuel opens the door and gets the dogs to check inside.
You find nothing on the circumambulation of the Inn, and make for the stable.
"Orcs eat oss meat", he says, "So there's a risk of them killing our osses. They don't ride osses themselves. The oss has more sense than to have anything to do with them."

"Who do you think killed Captain Baring?" he asks.

"How many girls are named Catherine?" says the Petulan ambassador. "They're all named after Hecate. She's the goddess of witchcraft. But Mistress Weather would tell you more about her than I can".
"Beyond good and evil" says Mistress Weather. "Hecate has a triple aspect. Virgin, whore and witch. Sometimes she is shown as three women, standing back to back. But the witch is her main aspect, the virgin and whore show that she is simulataneously pure and defiled. The natural world is all about balance, you see. This is her symbol."
She draws out a symbol.

"See the waxing and waning moon, together with the full moon?"
"Why that is similar to the symbol carried by the orcs" says Martha, the bar maid. She draws it in chalk.


"And it's the same as in your moon card" says Lady Helena.



"The horns have become two towers, on either side of the full moon."
"What does all this mean?" The Lady wonders, "Virgin, whore, and witch. Kitty is clearly a virgin ..."

Having dogs to scout ahead was a huge comfort. Maybe she should consider getting herself a puppy when this was all said and done. In all likelihood, Seth would not appreciate one as large as either Rex or Lupus living in his shop, but perhaps he'd permit her a smaller one.

Considerations for later.

"I still don't know for sure." she answered Samuel. Her mind had changed numerous times over the course of the last hour and she wasn't sure it was done changing yet. "A rich woman is the culprit, if Mistress Weather and her cat are to believed.

"But I cannot put together why any of the women here would want him dead. Does that make any sense to you?"

As they came close to the stable, she drew her blade just in case the dogs flushed out an orc...