Sotocus then makes Groin invisible, and the old dwarf happily explores the rest of the keep. He encounters no further threats. What he does find is an abandoned alchemy shop, and loots a bunch of potions, spell reagents, a journal detailing cures for various diseases, and a handful of Beladona.
The party retreats from the keep for a long rest outside. They study the journal and discover how to cure the dwarven plague. They also take the cure for lycanthropy, except for Solid, who fakes taking it.
The adventurers then travel back towards the sick dwarves' camp. They find the camp destroyed, and one of the dwarves cut to pieces. At this point, they decide that it's more important to cure the plague, and so they head towards the dwarf hold. There, they are greeted as heroes. Groin delivers the recipe for the cure to the local alchemist (they also exchange moonshine recipes). The dwarf king thanks them personally, and gives them free drinks. The adventurers stick around for a couple of days to trade and recuperate, and they secure the aid of the dwarves.
Tari finally trusts Sotocus enough to ask him to interpret some drawings she carries around[1]. About time, since she showed to practically every priest and sage they encountered so far.
The party arrives back to Achna, where they left the old sage with his wagon. The sage is having an argument with a gipsy woman offering to trade goods and potions of suspicious quality. The adventurers chase her away.[2]
The party decides to stop in Beverna on their way towards the elves' supposed place, but they are intercepted by messengers sent ahead, carrying word of two new missions. Apparently, Lord Bersk has a new adviser, an expert in monsters, who recommends killing the chieftains of the local orc and goblin tribe. Unsatisfied, the party goes to see his new adviser, who turns out to be none other than Zyn. Apparently his people keep orcs and goblins as slaves or something, and he knows how to deal with them[3]. The quests are swiftly accepted, and the party departs again.
The first order of business is to assassinate the orc chieftain, and so the adventurers approach the approximate location of the orc camp. They intercept a large party of orcs (about 40 of them) heading towards Beverna. They notice that the orcs are in a pretty bad shape: broken weapons, shoddy armor, wounds and so on. They draw the attention of the orcs, who immediately surround the party and engage in talks. Apparently, fighting such a small group is beneath them, as they desire death in glorious combat. They are keepers of the old ways, which did not sit well with the current orc chief, who is influenced by demons.
Well, that raised a few question marks.
The notes don't detail how and why, but in the end, Solid challenged the leader of the orc band to single combat. The orc obliged, and was defeated after a grueling duel. The leaderless orcs now looked to Solid for things to do. The adventurers struck a deal with the group's shaman, who looked to be older and wiser than your average orc, and agreed to help depose the traitor chief. Who, by the way, became leader by killing the old chief (who was the father of the dude Solid just defeated) and stealing his boar.
The journey took a couple of days, during which the adventurers concocted all sorts of schemes for assassination. The most complicated one (but which seemed the most reasonable) was to use Sotocus' familiar to deliver poison into the orc's mouth. Ireth had some evergreen poison ivy-type plant woven into her hair, and they decided to use that. But in the end, they did not, because, and here I quote the notes:
"We don't do the plan, because Ireth."
[1] Long story. Perhaps one day, I'll get to publish info about the characters we're playing.
[2] At the end of the session: "Hey DM, what about that shady vendor I asked for?" "..."
[3] Dark elf lore is the best.
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