Chapter 13

As the fight began, I did something that normally, I would eschew in favor of mixing it up. I hung back and began a bardic performance since there were enough combatants around that I wasn't entirely needed on the front line. I unslung my Fochluchan Bandore and began to strum out a tune, it was an even more Bardcore Version of something that was already fairly hardcore.

"There will come a soldier who carries a mighty sword
He will tear your city down, Oh-lei, oh-lai, oh, Lord
Oh-lei, oh-lai, oh-lei, oh, Lord, he will tear your city down, Oh-lei, oh-lai, oh, Lord." I sang out the first verse of Soldier, Poet, King by the Oh, Hellos as I strummed my Bandore.

As the Magic of my song took hold, I channeled the leftover effects into a spell using Spellsong. My voice rose on the last part of the verse in such a way that only my target could hear as I cast Ear Piercing Scream on an Enemy Raider attempting to thrust a shortspear into Shavariel's back from her flank. As I did so, his ears began to bleed as I burst his eardrums, stumbling away and missing his thrust as the sudden loss of equilibrium and damage to his inner ear dazed him. That allowed Shavariel to dodge the incoming smash of Rognvaldr's Hammer without being impaled by the other Raider. An incoming slingstone from Janessa smashed into that Raider's head from the side, smashing open his skull and spattering his brains on the flagstones.

Meanwhile, Shavariel ducked under a second, powerful, swing from Rognvaldr's Maul and came back with a pair of lightning-fast jabs of her Trident. The Sea Baron's Judgement cracked into Rognvaldr's berserking form twice, though the second time, Rognvaldr pivoted at the last second, turning the blow into a graze. His return strike however smashed into Shavariel's Torso in a brutal blow, the studded Jack of the Electric Eel not absorbing enough of the damage to prevent her ribs from breaking under the force of the blow. Shavariel went down, gasping and fighting off shock from her broken ribs.

Thankfully, Salima and Captain Half-Tusk were on the ball. Captain Half-Tusk moved up and lashed out with his shortsword in a parry. The Blade Glowed as it sailed unerringly toward the haft of Rognvaldr's descending Maul as if mystically aided in the parry. I realized I was likely looking at a Defending Weapon, an odd choice for a Smuggler. You would have thought he'd have picked something more offensive. Regardless, Captain Half-Tusk managed to parry the descending blow of Rognvaldr's Maul away from Shavariel's Prone Form, allowing Salima to reach her and mutter a prayer to Deneir for healing. Divine light suffused Shavariel's ribs as the Spell of Cure Critical Wounds took hold, healing Shavariel.

Shavariel stood, shaking off the blow with divine aid, and plunged back into the Fray. To my right, Sslyth and Trirg fought off a quartet of enemies, Sslyth's Spear taking one through the armpit while Trirg's Morningstar came down on that Enemy's Skull, crushing it. Meanwhile, to my left, Umhra fought another pair, seemingly on his own until Rosh suddenly appeared out of the shadows to thrust a dagger deep into the kidney of one of the Raiders that her Half-Brother had previously wounded, stabbing deep into them and killing the Raider.

As a quartet of enemies moved to swamp Rosh and Umhra from the side, I kept my song going, strumming the chords harder than necessary as I belted out the second verse of Soldier, Poet, King.

"There will come a poet whose weapon is His word
He will slay you with His tongue, oh-lei, oh-lai, oh, Lord
Oh-lei, oh-lai, oh-lei, oh, Lord, he will slay you with His tongue, oh-lei, oh-lai, oh, Lord." I sang out, channeling the excess energy of the song into a Chord of Shards Spell with Spellsong.

The magic slashed out, music coalescing into glowing, crystalline, shards and peppering the group moving to strike Rosh from the side. The shards peppered them like buckshot, punching through weak points and gaps in armor, slowing down the group enough for Janessa to launch a Fireball into their midst. Three out of the four enemies were caught unable to so much as drop to the ground to avoid the blast because of my earlier spell. These immolated as Janessa's Fireball burned them to death with strangled cries of pain. The last one had turned his stumble from my razor-sharp shards into a shoulder roll, tumbling to avoid the worst of the flames. He still wasn't looking well, but he was alive. At least until Rosh stabbed him in the back of the neck with her Dagger. Then he too dropped to the floor, dead.

Half of the Raiders that Ironhand Rognvaldr had brought with him were now dead, but that didn't stop him from fighting, and the rest of his men were egged on by their Captain's fury, beginning to enter a battle rage of their own as they did so. Two of them charged me, while another two moved to aid the Raiders fighting Trirg and Sslyth, two moved to bolster the last Raider facing Rosh and Umhra, and one headed straight for Janessa. I barely had time to draw Aremeg's Fury and Aremeg's Wisdom, my Bardic Performance cutting out as I was forced to join the Fray properly.

I parried an incoming cut from a Raider's Longsword, only to take a blow from a Warhammer to the side. Aremeg's Pride held up, but the impact bruised my ribs from sheer force. A second blow from the Warhammer crashed into my Shoulder, bruising my shoulder blades in the process. In response, I summoned the power of Aremeg's Pride to breathe a thirty-foot cone of scalding steam. This caught both of my opponents, Janessa's Opponent, and two of the ones fighting Trirg and Sslyth, as well as Rognvaldr, who was pushed back into the cone by a blast of Telekinetic Force issuing from a Ring that Captain Half-Tusk was wearing that I now recognized as a Brute Ring. The steam badly wounded all of the targets, parboiling flesh, with only one of the ones on Trirg and Slyth managing to avoid the worst of the cone by dropping to the floor.

None died, though only barely. I was about to rectify that with Aremeg's Fury, pointing the blade in the direction of my two opponents and the one facing Janessa. Aremeg's Fury spit out another line of scalding steam, just barely short of the Raiders facing Sslyth and Trirg. However, it didn't matter, as all three Raiders were slain by the sudden resurgence of scalding steam. That allowed Janessa to cast a spell of Flaming Sphere, gesturing and chanting as a ball of roiling flames coalesced and slammed into one of the foes attacking Umhra and Rosh, the one that looked the most wounded, bleeding from a deep stab wound to the side from Rosh as well as a large gash from Umhra's Axe. He was still up and swinging at Rosh, right up until the Sphere crashed into him, boiling him alive in his Chain Shirt.

Rosh and Umhra then turned to the second-most wounded of their Opponents and began hacking and chopping him down. Meanwhile, Ssylth finished a Raider with his Spear while Trirg did the same with his Morningstar. That was it, the last of the Raiders that Rognvaldr had brought with him had gone down, leaving just Rognvaldr. Everyone had wounds to varying extents, even Janessa, though she was by far the least wounded, as her opponent had only managed to get off a Shield Bash that had broken her nose before my steam attacks had slain him. Unfortunately, Shavariel was the worst off.

Despite being healed by Selima and the intervention of Captain Half-Tusk, Shavariel was just barely managing to avoid unconsciousness. She'd been struck again by another crushing blow from Ironhand Rognvaldr that had rebroken the ribs that Selima had worked so hard to heal. Selima, meanwhile, had taken a blow of her own that had shattered her magic shield and broken her arm as she attempted to heal Shavariel again. Captain Half-Tusk was likewise looking bad. He was only moderately wounded, limping but still fighting, but it looked like he was running out of steam, no pun intended.

Fortunately, between the Steam Attacks and all the fighting he'd been doing, Ironhand Rognvaldr wasn't looking so hot either. The problem was, that he was currently in a Frenzy. Even if we dealt him a fatal wound right now, he was literally too angry to die. I wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up, but assuming we lasted a bit longer, we should be able to run out the clock on his rage. Once that happened, his wounds should catch up to him. To that end, I sang out once again, transforming the energies of the song into magic with Spellsong.

"You'll die as you lived, in a flash of the blade. In a corner forgotten by no one. You lived for the touch, for the feel of the steel. One man and his honor!" I sang out, turning the Chorus of Iron Maiden's Flash of the Blade into a Spell of Bladed Dash, lunging at Rognvaldr's side and lashing out with Aremeg's Fury. He grunted as my slash caught him in the back of the left knee, opening a gash and sending him down to one knee, steam hissing and cauterizing the wound even as the gash opened. That should have been enough to leave him dying on the ground after the extended battle plus the massive steam attacks from earlier. However, with his frenzy, he simply lashed out at me in a thrusting smash of his maul. The head of his maul collided with my chest and smashed me backward. I felt my own ribs crack at that and was forced to grit my teeth against the pain, barely dodging the second hammer-blow that would have killed me.

Fortunately, I wasn't fighting alone. Sslyth and Trirg rushed forth next to me as I waded into the fray once again, even as Janessa cast an acid arrow at Rognvaldr, striking him but doing seemingly nothing to him. Selima moved to try healing Shavariel once again, even as Captain Half-Tusk popped the cork on a Potion of Cure Serious Wounds and downed the contents, the magic within fixing his battered, limping, leg. Rosh meanwhile, slunk off to flank Rognvaldr, while Umhra moved in from the flank in a charge.

The next few exchanges were brutal. A flurry of weapons strikes, bellows of rage, and blood. All sustained further wounds, though in my case, I got by with the one healing spell I know, which was all that allowed me to avoid death after Rognvaldr slammed the head of his maul into my collarbone. At the same time, we all opened further, terrible wounds, on Rognvaldr, with the most potent coming from me as I lopped off Rognvaldr's left arm at the elbow with Aremeg's Fury. It was the closest I had come to death so far, but in the end, Rognvaldr ran out of time.

Breathing heavily, suffering from multiple fatal wounds, Ironhand Rognvaldr let out a single, angered, bellow of rage, flecks of bloody spittle flying from his mouth and staining his beard red, before collapsing to the floor, dead. His wounds finally caught up with him as his frenzy was spent. I huffed and puffed, before raising Aremeg's Fury, preparing to strike Ironhand Rognvaldr's head off. He had a bounty, after all. Two thousand Amnian Danter for his head from the Council of Five in Athkatla for the Theft of the Hammerdown, Murder, Rape, Arson, and Crimes Against the Amnian State and People. They wanted his head and I planned to deliver, cutting it off and storing it in my Bag of Holding.

My group also went to collect the loot, as we'd been promised. We came up with a dozen Magical pieces of equipment, half of which were from Rognvaldr himself, and even more Masterwork pieces of equipment. Rognvaldr had on him a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Power, a Mithral Acid Immune Breastplate of Light Fortification Plus Three, which explained why Janessa's Acid Arrow did nothing to him. His Boots were a pair of Boots of the Battle Charger, which allowed him to make easier charge attacks, he had a Ring of Protection Plus Three, an Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Three, and his Maul.

The Maul actually took using a Spell to Identify it, when I did cast that, it turned out that it was a Maul called the Mallet of Hodeskalleknuser. It was an Impact Maul of Berserk Collision Plus Three. Apparently, it had once belonged to a Firbolg Warrior of the South Jotunhammer Mountains of Norland who took the name Hodeskalleknuser, or Skullcrusher, based on his penchant for using his Maul to crush the skulls of the enemies of his Clan. This was over a century ago, and the Maul had passed through a number of hands since.

Apparently, Hodeskalleknuser had been slain by a Northlander Warrior named Bjorn Bearskin, who was, in turn, named for his enchanted Bearskin Cloak. That happened around a century ago, and when Bjorn was slain during an ill-fated raid on Luskan the Hammer passed into the hands of a group of Adventurers that had helped the City fight off the raid. That group carried the Maul into battle against the Legion of the Chimaera in Thirteen-Twelve. Once that band of adventurers retired shortly after the defeat of the Legion of the Chimaera, they sold it to a passing merchant caravan who in turn was attacked by Uthgardt Tribesmen over a deal gone wrong.

From there it eventually fell into the hands of a Wandering Warrior of the Uthgardt Barbarians named Aek Mightyblows carried it into battle against the White Dragon Thlaaklauthimir the Freezefire, who slew him and added the Maul to his hoard. When the Heroes of Ascore slew Thlaaklauthimir in thirteen-fifty-eight, they took it with them to Waterdeep, gifting it to a Captain of the Waterdhavian Anti-Piracy Fleet named Amagarath Tarm, the younger son of the Patriarch of the Tarm Family of Waterdeep. Apparently, Rognvaldr took it from Captain Amagarath in a battle after Amgarath sighted the Hammerdown off the coast between Waterdeep and Daggerford and decided to give battle. Now it was ours.

Unfortunately, as none of us had the ability to enter a Berserker Rage, it would never be completely useful, as the Berserker Property only worked for those who could enter a Berserker Rage. It went into the bag of holding along with the other stuff for sale, but Shavariel grabbed the Breastplate and Boots, I grabbed the Gauntlets of Ogre Strength as well as the Ring of Protection Plus Three, and Salima grabbed my Old Ring of Protection, along with the Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Three. Then we moved on to identifying the magic items we got from the various raiders.

Two of them were light steel shields plus two, which both Salima and Shavariel grabbed to replace their sundered Tortoiseshell Light Shields. There was also a Ring of Evasion, a Pair of Boots of Sidestepping, and a Pair of Bracers of Accuracy that Janessa Took, along with a Healing Belt, which I took. There were a few other magic items, weapons, armor, and the like, but we weren't allowed to take those, as Captain Half-Tusk reserved those to sell to pay his crew. The rest of the loot we were allowed to take came out to seven Masterwork Chain Shirts, Seven, Masterwork, Light Steel Shields, and Seven Masterwork Weapons ranging from shortspears to battleaxes to hammers. That all went in the bag of holding for later sale.

All told, we wound up profiting at least seven thousand Danter worth of Masterwork Equipment, though I doubted we'd find a buyer for the Mallet of Hodeskalleknuser, at least not in Jannathstaad. Even if we never found a buyer for that, between the sale of Masterwork Equipment and the Bounty on Rognvaldr, we'd profit at least nine thousand Danter from tonight, not including the various equipment upgrades we'd gained.

The night wasn't over yet, either. As we took some time to heal, Captain Half-Tusk came up to me, nodding as he approached. In his hand was a rolled-up piece of parchment. Meanwhile, his crew were busy piling up the various pieces of loot that they had gained for themselves onto a cart, not having bags of holding to expedite the process.

"Captain." I greeted him.

"You have my gratitude. I have no doubt that without your aid, my Crew and I would not have survived the treachery of Ironhand Rognvaldr." Nodded Captain Half-Tusk.

"Indeed. It was a hard-fought battle." Agreed Shavariel.

"What do you have there, though?" Questioned Janessa.

"This, you mean?" Queried Captain Half-Tusk, holding up the parchment.

"Indeed." Nodded Selima.

"I may be a smuggler, but that doesn't mean I don't keep my word. This is a map of Tearheim Island. I have marked out one of Ironhand Rognvaldr's caches on it for you, as agreed." Answered Captain Half-Tusk.

He handed over the parchment and I unrolled it to find that there was a marking on a stretch of beach between the Saueklipper Heights and the Grønnskogg Forest called the Ødestrand. There were instructions written in the margins of the map to look for the Big Rock in the middle of the beach and dig down under that to find the cache. it all looked to be in order here.

"What will you do now?" Asked Captain Half-Tusk.

"First? We'll visit the Ødestrand and dig up this cache. Then, we'll attack the rest of Rognvaldr's Crew to seize control of the Hammerdown." I responded.

"They'll be leaving not too long after dawn. Maybe an hour after when it becomes clear that their Captain is no longer around." Cautioned Captain Half-Tusk.

"That's why we'll hit them at dawn. It gives us time to dig up the Cache and heal up before going into battle again." I nodded.

"The walk to the Ødestrand is three hours." Warned Captain Half-Tusk.

"And it's half-past eight bells now." Mused Selima.

"Perhaps an hour to dig, plus three to return." Frowned Shavariel.

"That gives us two hours or thereabouts of grace time before Dawn." Pointed out Janessa.

"We'll make it. We can sleep once the deed is done." I insisted.

"If you say so. I wish you all the best of luck." Offered Captain Half-Tusk.

Then he turned back to his crew and began relaying orders to organize their looting efforts. For our part, we started walking, following the map, and healing along the way. It was a fairly simple task, as there was a dirt track most of the way there, cutting along the fields toward the Saueklipper Heights, where various sheep were raised along the grassy hills there. The dirt track eventually turned further away from the coast toward the small Hamlet of Ullborg, where the sheep were herded for shearing. We didn't want to go to Ullborg, so we made our way along the coast off the track. Thankfully, we were at no risk of tripping on a stone and breaking our necks thanks to my casting Dancing Lights.

Eventually, we made our way down toward a desolate-looking beach right where we were supposed to be, with the Saueklipper Heights on one side and the Grønnskogg Forest on the other. There was even a large rock sitting in the middle of the beach, right where the map said we should look for one to dig under.

"This is the Ødestrand?" Questioned Shavariel.

"Seems like." I nodded.

"And that is the rock, right?" Queried Janessa.

"It would have to be." Shrugged Selima.

"Let's start digging." I insisted.

"With what?" Asked Shavariel.

"A salient point. I do not believe any of us have a shovel." Intoned Selima.

"With magic, of course!" Chirped Janessa.

"Exactly." I grinned.

Janessa and I immediately began casting. Both of us summoned ghostly hands to begin digging using Mage Hand. It was slow going trying to do it like this. Neither of us had the Stoneshape Spell or anything like that, so we went about fifteen minutes over our Time Budget of an hour to dig. Eventually, however, we unearthed a chest locked with an iron padlock. It was trapped with a fairly simple poison needle trap that I disarmed via the simple expedient of using a piece of driftwood to poke at the lock in such a way that it sprung the trap. The needle thudded harmlessly into the driftwood and I got to work picking the lock. Five minutes later, we opened the chest to find it full of gold and pearls.

"There must be thousands of Danter Worth of Gold and Pearls in here." Mused Selima.

"That's not all that's in here. Look." I pointed to one of the pearls that had twigged my Spellcraft Knowledge.

"It looks like all the other pearls to me." Mused Shavariel.

"That's not just any pearl. That's a Pearl of Power." Breathed Janessa.

"One of Third Circle, too." I concurred.

"What was something like that doing hidden in a cache?" Questioned Selima.

"Is that powerful? I am unfamiliar with the item." Queried Shavariel.

"Yes, it is powerful, and I suspect that it was in the cache because Rognvaldr didn't have a ship's mage and this is too niche of an item to sell quickly in Jannathstaad. There's only so many spellcasters in the world, after all." I theorized.

"Yeah, well, Dibs." Grinned Janessa.

"It's yours. Shavariel and I can't use it. I'm not powerful enough yet and Shavariel can't cast. Unless Selima wants it?" I asked.

"No, Pearls of Power do not work for Divine Spellcasting." Informed Selima.

"It sounds like it's yours, then." Added Shavariel.

Janessa grabbed the pearl and we stuck the rest of the chest into one of the Bags of Holding before making our way back to Jannathstaad. We arrived shortly before dawn, making our way to the docks and finding the Hammerdown just as Dawn began to break. The Amnian Sloop was docked at the end of a wooden pier, next to a Tavern called the Ivory Cross, whose sign bore a crossed pair of Walrus Tusks. Out on the docks, the remaining crewmembers were busily loading provisions under the direction of a tall, strong, Blonde, Northlander Man in Chainmail Armor Plus Two, with a Keen Longsword of Icy Burst Plus Two in one hand a Ring of Protection Plus Three, an Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Three, and a Magical Helm I couldn't identify.

"You aren't the captain." Frowned the Northlander.

"We're not." I affirmed.

"You bear his gauntlets." Pressed the Northlander.

"We took them off him after he tried to double-cross us. Now we're here to take the Hammerdown from you lot." Responded Janessa.

"You will not find that as easy as you imagine." Warned the Northlander.

"There are only eight of you, including yourself. We faced much higher odds fighting your captain. You should surrender." Insisted Shavariel.

"That may be so, however, the Captain took with him some of our weaker crewmen. I still have several of our strongest with me here. Enough to even the odds." Scowled the Northlander.

"And yet you are stalling for time." Pointed out Selima.

"Hey, you're right. I would have expected him to jump straight to combat to avenge his fallen Shield Brothers, but we're still talking. What are you hiding back there?" I blinked, realizing that Selima was right.

"It doesn't matter. My men and I will slay you regardless of whether or not our cargo is fully stowed away. Prepare yourself, you face Thorfinn the Tall! I shall avenge Captain Rognvaldr with your blood!" Spat the Northlander, Thorfinn.

Then, his crewmen jumped down off the deck of the Hammerdown and pushed up the long wooden pier towards us, brandishing weapons and shields. They formed up alongside Thorfinn and let out a war cry. Then the Raiders charged us.

And the battle began in earnest. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here's the next chapter. Rognvaldr wasn't an easy fight, he was a Barbarian Four/Fighter Two/Frenzied Berserker Four. That's a level ten opponent who can keep fighting regardless of lost HP until his frenzy runs out. With his build, the minimum damage on a hit from his Maul was seventeen. Max Damage was thirty-three, times three on a crit, which because of it being an impact weapon, has an Increased Threat Range.

There's a reason that he was a famous raider, after all. Robar actually ended that fight with literally a single HP left, and that was after burning an action to heal himself with Cure Light Wounds. Rognvaldr also led a mix of Level Four to Level Five Fighter/Barbarian Hybrids. Honestly, if not for Captain Half-Tusk and his crew helping to keep the minions busy, that would have been a TPK.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the fight against First Mate Thorfinn of the Hammerdown. You'll get to see what the secretive cargo he was trying to stow away was at the end of it as well.

Stay tuned. . .