Rollplay Episode 35

Recap
This week begins after the battle with the riders from the Army of Voraci in the woods to the west of Hammer Lake and south of Valthog.

The Road North
They continue avoiding the roads as they travel north through the woods. Azril resumes resting and eating in response to Vincent having voiced the party's concerns for his health. They cross the road between Valthog and Harrowdale safely and continue through the woods until they reach the outskirts of Cherindar. Viewing the city from a distance, they observe black banners with a white 'V' as they had seen on the riders.

Into the Mountains
The party decide to push on straight into the High Vale Mountain Range. During the first night, Vincent hears a group of people moving through the woods. Waking up Horus and Abigael, they go and investigate. The party spot an archer crouched down, after observing him for a while Vincent gets bored and decides to head straight towards him. Bregor kills him and three fighters come out of the brush, charging Vincent. Vincent attempts to parley with them thinking they are not his enemies, but as soon as he turns his back they attack him. Proclaiming that the Army of Voraci will never be defeated.

After killing most of them, they charge and capture the last fleeing archer. Interrogating him they find out that Voraci are recruiting soldiers and that the bulk of the army is currently in the east sieging Highpond. As Horus makes contact with the weapon Blood Singer, he apologizes to Abigael as he thought she was crazy at first and they decide between them that Horus should keep him as Blood Singer deems him worthy. The party continue on into the High Vale Mountains.

The White Dragon
While travelling further into the mountains, Azril is trapped under a sudden avalanche that the rest of the party narrowly escapes. The source, a White Dragon, is fired upon by Horus and responds with his frosty breath. This attack nearly kills Horus, who had been healing slowly from the party's previous encounters. Unsure how to engage, the party hides, all but Vincent who taunts it down with the use Harbinger. Though taking heavy damage, the duo of Vincent and Harbinger make short work of the beast.

The Slaughter of Orcs
Heading further up the mountain, the party comes upon a roughly constructed watchtower sitting atop a mound of large rocks. They approach the tower undetected and Abigael dispatches the sole guard in his sleep. From their vantage point they spot a camp with a force of orcs and ogres about 30 strong. They collapse the tower onto the camp and slaughter the surviving foot-soldiers easily as they scramble up the hill. Upon investigating the camp they find three female prisoners who were taken from pleasure houses in Cherindar who they set free.

Azril Renounces Quantarius a Second Time
While violently defeating the force of orcs and ogres with the party, Azril becomes emboldened by the thrill of battle and vulgarly renounces Quantarius and his powers aloud. This prompts a slap from Vincent who then emplores that he mend his relationship with his god. Azril expresses his belief that Quantarius was to blame for what happened to Bregor and that he will find a new god. When Azril implies that he may consider even Voraci over Quantarius, Vincent cautions him to be careful with his words and forbids him to even speak of worshiping Voraci. This also prompts a private conversation between Azril and Krawlfort, which he does not discuss with the party. Later that night he builds a shrine to Krawlfort and begins praying to the hammer for unknown reasons.