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Our journey to the bridge has only just begun and already our skills are being severely tested. As we approached the river we were repeatedly attacked by orcs. One named 'Torak' would seem to be in charge here. He has repeatedly threatened us, only to flee behind the cover of his clan's bows. He is a brazen coward who refuses to stand and fight! His clan have constructed numerous ambushes along the shores of the river, hoping to catch us unaware and trap us. But we prevailed each time. Still, it was not easy, and I am still thankful for the warnings of Dereth and Sabrina.
The path we follow leads to a small village ahead of us. I wish I could see this as a chance to rest and prepare for the trials that lay before us, but I have an uneasy feeling about this place. I see no townspeople about, and it is strangely quiet for the middle of the day.
Alia Shield-Maiden, the Annals of Halgren
Be prepared: you are going to be ambushed by a fairly large group of Orcs as soon as you enter the area. Torak yet again orders the Broken Tusk Clan to fight you before vanishing. As the battle begins, a priestess named Emma Moonblade appears on the ridge above you, followed by a Troll (Vrek Vileclaw). The Troll mutters a few comments then flees eastward, and the battle begins in earnest. The battle is pretty tight - a couple of well placed areas affect spells (Hold Person, Sleep, Color Spray) can be very effective - and be careful of the archers that will be on the ridge above you (just below the house). Luckily, Emma is on your side and helps you fight off the Orcs.
Using the Wilderness Lore skill may reveal signs that humans had been chased by Orcs in this area, though strangely, no violence seems to have been done. You may also note trails left by some creature that is heavy, stooped, claw-footed and knuckle-dragging.
After the fight, go and speak with the priestess, Emma Moonblade, who is standing by a small house. She'll ask you if you saw a Troll during the battle, and if you noticed what direction the Troll fled after the battle. You can give her the information for free, or you can strike a deal with her for the information. If you ask for payment, she will offer you healing services for only 1 gp. Continue to talk with Emma and she will ask you to recover her sword- the Moonblade of Selune - which the Troll stole from her. It is possible to persuade her to continue to offer nearly-free healing services in exchange for recovering the sword. She will also give you some flasks of Flaming Oil to help you fight the Troll. And if you're feeling in need of some rest, Emma will watch over you to make sure no one jumps you. If you struck a bargain with her, the price of all healing-type spells (except Raise Dead and Resurrection) remains 1 gp. Otherwise, Emma charges the standard temple-service rate. Before you leave, take a look around the exterior of the house. You'll find some barrels that contain a few items of treasure.
One of the dialogue options when you meet Emma is to try to intimidate her. This course of action is not recommended: she will curse you and tell you that when meet you again she intends to "settle the score" - then she vanishes, and you'll need to trek all the way back to Dereth Springsong when you're in need of healing or a safe place to rest.
Take the path east, following the direction both Torak and Vrek fled during the battle. Near the ruins of two houses, you will be approached by a young woman named Kaitlin Silvertongue. Kaitlin carries a warning from the Orcs, telling you not to approach the Orc camp; Torak has threatened to kill all the peasants from her village if you do. If a Paladin speaks with Kaitlin, he/she immediately offers to help her. Otherwise, during the course of the dialogue, offer to help save her village; she will tell you to sneak into the Orc camp, unlock the mill gate, and then sneak back out again to slay the Orcs guarding the peasants within the mill. She will also tell you about a potion of invisibility that can be found in the ruins of an apothecary shop (one of the two houses just above you).
While Kaitlin's instructions on how to carry out the quest seem straightforward enough, stop and take a look around first. If you don't want to waste the potion of invisibility, send a rogue or Ranger with good stealth skills first. There are two parts to this area of the map: the enclosure where the villagers are kept, and the Orc camp. The villagers and their Orc guards are directly north of where you meet Kaitlin. The Orc camp is little further east. Before you can get in to free the villagers, you need to follow the road east and then up into the Orc camp - stealth (or the potion of invisibility) are a must! Go inside the camp and follow the wall to the crank that unlocks the gate. Click on it, and you'll see the mill gate to your left open up. You now have to leave the camp, and head over to the mill. Do not, under any circumstances attack or harm any of the Orcs in the camp yet! As soon as you do, or even if your invisibility fails where they can see you, Torak appears and tells the guards to kill the villagers. So once the gate is unlocked, sneak back out and go over quietly over to where the villagers are kept.
Move up the trail to the gates - at first you may only see a couple of Orc guards, but they'll soon be joined by several others. If you stay outside of the gates, or move just inside them, you should be able to clog up the path - keep your tough fighters up front, and support them from behind with distance fighters and spell casters. Once the area inside the gates is clear, move west along the path. There should only be a few more guards. Keep going west on the path and you'll see a circle of kegs, inside which are the villagers. With the Orcs all gone, break a few of the barrels to let the peasants out. They'll thank you, but the real reward waits with Kaitlin. There are also two containers here that hold goodies. One is to the south east, and the other is at the north edge of the kegs near where the peasants were held. Inside you'll find a pretty good mace (Clenched Fist Mace).
Report back to Kaitlin for 750 xp; after thanking you for freeing the peasants, she will send you to kill Torak at the Orc camp. One of the peasants you freed, Arte, will linger to the east of Kaitlin, just south of the Orc camp. He sells mainly ammunition, as well as a limited selection of weapons and armour, and will also identify items for you. (Note: Arte appears only after you have freed the villagers.)
As soon as you are within view of the camp guards, you will find yourself under attack. Torak is waiting for you just inside the camp gates. He's not very happy that you've killed his guards and freed the villagers, so he's one of the first to attack you. This fight is pretty straightforward - take out Torak first, then begin clearing out the rest of the camp. Kill him for 450 xp, and pick up his battleaxe +1, leather armour +1, and the Highland Gate key. When you tell Kaitlin you killed him, you'll get another 750 xp, plus she'll tell you how to get to the Shaengarne Ford (375 xp) and give you some information about a dam the Orcs are building (375 xp). Take a careful look around the Orc camp - behind one of the tents is a container with a set of good throwing daggers (Final Word).
Make your way through Torak's camp; you may encounter a few Orcs that didn't join the earlier battle. At the far end of the camp you'll find the entrance to a cave (Vrek Vileclaw's Cave).
You will encounter a variety of nasty cave dwellers, including various Slimes and Jellies, several Slime Zombies, and Carrion Crawlers. Most of these aren't very tough, although they all possess at least some damage resistance - the Slime Zombies in particular are immune to bludgeoning damage, and have damage resistance to slashing and piercing weapons. Spend a few moments scouting out the cave, just to make sure you don't get caught by too many of the critters at once. There is also some decent loot to be found on some of the corpses in this cave, including the Haft Over Head, an unusual throwing axe that can be found in the east end of the northern most tunnel. The cave is also relatively safe place to rest if necessary.
In the south-east area of the caves, you'll find two Orc guards. They aren't interested in attacking you at the moment, but they will tell you about the Troll, Vrek Vileclaw. As it turns out, Vrek is the one who is really in charge around here. The Orcs are definitely afraid of Vrek, and send you on to speak with him.
You'll find Vrek Vileclaw guarded by a number of Orcs, Orc Archers, and an Orc Shaman. Vrek will speak with you for a few moments, and you can ask him what his plans are 375 xp. Vrek doesn't plan on letting you live, however, and he attacks you the moment the conversation is over. This is a tough fight - and don't forget about the two Orc guards behind you. Vrek can take and dish out a considerable amount of damage - plus, as a Troll, he can only be killed by fire or acid damage (take him down to Almost Dead, then throw a flask of flaming oil on him). The two main problems are Vrek and the Shaman - he'll cast various spells including sleep and hold person. A couple of good strong tanks should be enough to outlast Vrek, but they will undoubtedly go through a few healing potions. The archers and Orc warriors are quite susceptible to sleep, hold and color spray spells, so try to have something like that on hand. Kill him for up to 900 xp. Before you head back outside to the Logging Village, don't forget the pick up Emma's Moonblade from the chest.
After leaving the cave, return to Emma Moonblade to tell her you have recovered her sword. If you accept a reward, you will get 750 xp and 2000 gold. If you decline the reward, she insists you keep the sword (Selune Moonblade) for your fight against evil, and you get up to 1050 experience points. (Note that a Paladin or Monk will automatically decline the reward, stating it's against their 'faith'. In this case, you get 750 xp and neither the gold nor the sword.) The best option is to decline the reward, get the higher xp and be allowed to keep the blade. If you don't want to use it, you can sell it to Arte for 2500 gp. No matter what you do, if you already made a deal for healing with Emma, she will continue to offer cheap healing services.
Go back into the mill area and head to the north wall. Open the gate with the Highland Gate key you found on Torak's. Just past the gate you'll be attacked by a Highland Cat. Once you have slain the Highland Cat, continue north and exit to the Shaengarne Ford.
