Where did all those Orcs go?

Once the adventurers had seen to the preservation of their new allies, their attention returned to the column of corrupted orcs that had overran them on the plans four days previously. The column was clearly headed south, and the town of Kelish, in its already weakened state would certainly not last under any sort of attack. Thus, the party travelled south through the forest, hoping to gain time on their enemies and reach the town first. However, the party underestimated the stamina of the corrupted orcs, and as they left the forest and neared the town, they say columns of smoke on the horizon.

The party approached the town slowly, and were stopped by a well-camoflaged Keith, who was concealed in the tall grasses. He berated the group for their lack of caution, as there were patrols about. Keith had been formulating a plan of attack, and made room for the party in it. Based on his observations, the orcs had stationed siginficant guard posts at each of the three roadways into town, and that the surviving townspeople had been corralled into one of the wharf warehouses in the southeast corner. The party was to approach from the north as he and Ted made a distraction at the western end of town. The party agreed, and moved again towards the town.

As they neared the town, a pair of axe-wielding corrupted orc berserkers approached from their flank. As they prepared to do battle, a pair of panicy peasants sprang from their hiding places before the orcs stepped to close for their liking. The peasants ran as fast as they could towards the adventurers, and were fortunately able to get to them before the orcs could run them down. The orcs were killed before they could inflict any serious harm, and the peasants were instructed on how to reach the relative safety of Keith's cabin.

Finally reaching town, once they heard Ted's roaring, the adventures first attacked the guards at the north entrance, and were able to eliminate them before they could raise an alarm. They moved onto the eastern guard post, and had a tougher time with the guards there as they used the cover of a nearby building to shield themselves from Syllinea's arrows. The adventurers were still successful, and notced that a large winged monstrosity occupied the centre square of town, directing his minions against the large dire bear that had appeared in their midst. The party snuck through town to the warehouse, quietly dispatched the two guards, and saw that a large group of townspeople huddled inside. The party then made for the centre of town to assist Keith and Ted, but noticed that the noise of fighting and roaring had subsided. Suddenly, from atop a roof, the winged figure appeared, and threw unholy evil at the party, taunting them all the while. It appeared as though it may have been human at once time, but like the corrupted orcs his features had been twisted and changed to resemble those of a fiend. The adventures were already wounded from their previous skirmishes, and were clearly outmatched by their evil opponent. Luckily, Keith appeared from the west. Bloodied, he managed to help the adventurers bring down the fiend, with Oskar laying the final blow.

Kelish had been laid waste, and the handful of remaining townsfolk had no desire to remain and wait for the next attack. They travelled with the adventurers towards Kell, the next nearest village, and hoped to find refuge there. For their part, the party felt that they were undergeared for taking on the source of the evil, and thus opted to return to Welca in hopes of exchanging the unholy weapons that they had recovered for more useful fare.