[h2]Sir Tyaethe Radistirin[/h2]

"By rushing in when there's trolls around like you can take on an army," was the paladin's blunt summary, undoing the fastenings for the wounded knights armour with remarkable deftness given that she was still caked in blood. It was sticky enough already and starting to dry... maybe she should go find Tiral; the mage might know a spell to create some water. If she could learn it enough to copy or at least enough to fail [i]explosively[/i], she could just blast it all right off. Much easier than having somebody try to come along and scrape it off later.

[hr]

[h2]Lilianna Belwiss[/h2]

With the threat nullified, the duellist slowly picked her way across the battlefield towards Fanilly. Watching from the outskirts, it was easier to work out that something had been very [i]off[/i] about the whole situation--magic that orcs had no business throwing around was only the start of it. From beginning to end, the fight was wrong in the first place... not so much the outcome or their opposition's lack of tactics, nor the number of trolls. No, for orc bands this was all a fairly standard approach. What became clear when you had time to think about it was much more insidious than that--

"Captain, if I might speak? Although we have not had time to ascertain the details in full due to the suddenness of this battle, it seems beyond the pale for such a large band to gather with trolls and yet attract no attention. Travellers and the like are all known to report such things before they make their way to major settlements, and as such a defence can be mounted in time. Orcs simply [i]cannot[/i] reach so close to the capital so quietly without assistance."