05.03.2016

The Tartalo Mines Part 2
The group continued to try to track down the cultists and eventually found a caved-in section of the mine. There was a dead cultist laying on the ground looking as if it had been crushed by a rock falling from the ceiling. While trying to figure out where to go next, the sound of bugbears was heard coming from some mined out veins to the north. Sneaking along the corridor until a pair of them could be seen resting at a fire, it was decided that the larger bugbear was too intimidating to engage, so the party retreated. While backtracking and re-exploring some areas, Ama found a chunk of mithril ore before Blif ran up to the party warning them of imperial troops. Blif started telling the party the various ways of escape, per Camillas request, but Rinne sent him back to the entrance to send any imperial soldiers into the bugbear lair.

The party decided to try to find the back exit that Blif briefly mentioned. Thinking they found the right spot, Camilla stopped just before running into a wall of cobwebs. After burning away the web with her almost empty headlamp, Rinne charged into an alcove to search for treasure. The large spider dropping onto her head was brutal in its attack. Rinne quickly found herself poisoned and on death's doorstep. After Rinne collapsed, Ama and Camilla managed to slay the spider and stabilize Rinne. Once she was back on her feet, the group decided not to proceed down the passage. Coming out of it, they encountered two imperial recruits with master fencing skills. Camilla attempted to befriend them, but they had obviously come from fighting the bugbears and didn't seem happy about it. While not easy, the imperials were eventually overcome. Hearing the sounds of more searching soldiers, the group staged a fight between the two dead soldiers and the previously killed spider, then went to hide.

After the sound of the search had died down some, the group left their hiding spot. They found a group of 3 imperials standing by a pool of water and decided to attack them. Camilla, letting lose two arrows from the dark, hit two of them and quickly pulled back. While one of them wasn't armored, she was obviously using some sort of magic to heal herself and her companions. Shortly after the fight began, Rinne was knocked unconscious again. Ama managed to sneak up behind the healer and kill her, but the remaining shield-man and recruit managed to knock Camilla unconscious. Ama took the opportunity to disengage and run to a small cove that the armored pursuers would find hard to enter. Unfortunately, the shield-man pulled out a spear and started stabbing it after her. Not wanting to die without a fight, Ama climbed out the rear of the cove and engaged the recruit who had come around to the other side. After a brief exchange, Ama collapsed to the floor to join her companions.