"Yeah!  You run for it!"  Solara shouts out as the archers flee, waving her shield and lance threateningly in their direction, doing her best to stifle her wince at the arrow sticking out of her leg

Oh that was going to scar...  Did people care about leg scars?

Tarlin glanced back and forth between the woodline and the captives--he had seen the streaks of the magic spell fly from the woods, and several well-placed arrows. Accordingly, he turned to the captives and rushed to untie them with Ocelot, dropping his hopec staff on the ground before reaching the first of the captives he came to (C2).

“Begone bloody goblins!!” Alfred yells while swinging his sword.

Tarlin and Ocelot set to freeing the prisoners. While Solara holds the road.

But a battle still rages in the wood line. The warrior-mage hacks into one of the goblins arms deeply (G10). The goblin screeches in pain and drops its weapon. The goblin, screams and turns to flee. The warrior-mage hacks it down brutally. The other two goblins break and run.

The goblins quickly disappear down the road.

Alfred and Iralios recover their weapons dropped in the wood line and join the others on the road. It had been five years since they had all been together. This was not what they had planned. A quiet meal at the Inn of the Last Home would have to wait.

The captives are quickly freed.

The prisoners turn out to be the tradesman who was running his goods from Solace to Haven. They were just preparing to camp for the evening when the goblins attacked. The others are the drovers and guards of the caravan. One of the prisoners turns out to be an elf.

With long strides he approached the strangers that have joined the battle against the goblins. It took him more time to recognise them than he liked to admit. They have all been changed by their adventures and their quest to find the gods, the gods that have abandoned them.
His smile was wide and gentle as his eyes, one green, one silver grey, fell on each of them. "My friends, I have missed you."

He turns to the captives. "Are you wounded? Can you walk? Can you travel?"

"I can. We can." He looks over the other members of his group.

"We thank  you for the rescue. They over took us so quickly. We killed many but it was not enough." The caravan drovers shake the hands of the rescuers. But, quickly begin moving to bodies of their fallen comrades. One of the men lays crying at the mutilated corpse of his love.

"When they attacked they claimed that they were about the business of their lord and that we must turn over to them a blue crystal staff or some such." He looks over the slaughtered horses and burned carts.

"What are they doing here. These roads have been safe for years. They have destroyed me. They have....dest...." He shakes the hand of the mounted woman and moves to comfort his friend.

Only the elf remains standing before them.

Seeing his friend Iralios--his dear friend, Iralios!--Tarlin threw his arms up and gripped him around the waist with a hug. He looked about--there was Solara, Ocelot, Iralios, but might it be too much to hope that there is someone else? "Iralios, it's you! Who would ever expect it, us meeting here?"

The kender had indeed changed--hair cut short for some reason, nose bent from a break--but there was a certain determination and optimism that rose to the surface in the kender's features.

Afterwards, he turned to the captives, listening to their explanation. He took particular note of the mentioned blue crystal staff, and turned to the elf. He just asked: "How are you? Are you harmed?"

OOC: I've put a description of Tarlin Steepfeet from earlier in my character description.

Torendil strikes a tall lithe figure standing before the rescuers, his features chiselled into his face and no look of relief, just a cold stare as he weighs up the measure of the rescuers.

He is dressed in quality clothes, though ones made for the comfort and utility of a trip away from civilization. His complexion is pale and he wears his long hair down, letting it hang forward to cover to some extent the red scar that runs from the left side of his chin, up across his cheek and brow to end somewhere under his fringe.

As he moves to the pile of loot that the goblins had made he confirms the human caravan members contention "A blue crystal staff in particular. It in particular is important to them for some reason, no doubt to do with the purpose of the army that they are amassing."

"I know where they are headed, they were not careful with their secrets for they did not expect any to survive." He limps slightly as he walks, and as he turns his back on the humans there is a matt of blooded hair at the back of his head.

Torendil gathers up an sword that he hangs at his hip, a dagger and a bow, then picks one of the backpacks from the pile, checks it and then swings it onto his shoulders. Finally he picks up a staff and leans on it as he walks.

Tarlin's embrace truly surprised the shy warrior-wizard. He has grown quite aloof in his tumultuous travels and far reaching adventures. Nevertheless, Tarlin's attitude always made him smile. He put his fingers in the kender's hair and made a mess of them. "Tarlin I have missed you, it has been a while!" And then of course his eyes fell on Solara, she looked even more beautiful in armor. He gave a shy smile and his voice barely a whisper. "Solara...Solara is that you? Are, are you hurt?"

Ocelot gathers his horse and joins the group. He looks older and just as shaggy. Perhaps a few grey hairs in his beard. Still pining Tarlin? he says with a little chuckle and a shoulder grasp.

"Want some too?" Iralios turns to his old friend and smiles warmly. "This is not the homecoming I have been expecting..." He turn to the madness around him.

"Yeah, just a bit"   Solara winces as her mount ambles around.  "Little creatures took a shot at the horse and got an arrow in my leg--seriously, who aims for the legs!  I was more worried about all the ones aiming for my head!"

She takes her helmet off, and uses her remaining free hand to unlace her chin-strap and push her hood down, hair sweaty after the short but intense combat.  "So if someone can do something about that?  Get a bandage or something and help get this stupid thing out without nicking something important?  That'd be swell, really"

She pauses then, and adds.  "That aside!  It's good to see you all!  I was worried for a bit it would just be the three of us here and that would have gotten spicy, glad to have the extra help!"

"It's been far too long, Iralios! But we should get Solara some help, before we get to reminiscing too much." He added on, with a turn to Solara, followed by a perplexingly ironic and yet heavily concerned chuckle: "Spicy is right, Solara...we'd all probably be dead."

Turning again to the elf they'd just met: "Well, friend elf, you're free to ride with me and my friends into town! Or, I assume so, at least. Since you're taking those arms, I expect you're the courageous type? What do your fellow tall folk call you?" He said but little about the valuable information they had discovered, about this staff.

Tarlin tried not to be taken in by the grief-stricken mood.

He nodded emphatically at Solara. "Yes of course. I think I will be able to help with my magic but I will need some minutes to work on it." Despite his offer a sigh leaves his parted lips.

Lets see if there is a more conventional healer here.  Not that we do not trust your magic Iralios. He says with a grin.  He leans in and speaks with a hushed voice. " You do look a bit nervous."

Ocelot calls out to the recovering caravan folk.  "Any Priests or Physicians here to help a brave knight?" gesturing to Solara.

"I have a man here who can help." the caravan leader says. "See to their wounds." He says turning to his man.

Immediately, the drover moves to help the injured. He has recovered his healers bag from the pile of loot and offers to assist the badly injured Solara first.

The healer sees to Solaras injuries. He is a clearly a skilled surgeon.

He then moves on to helping other injured humans but ignores the injured elf.

Feeling thankful that his arcane skill is not required he joins the strange elf in searching the remnants of the caravan. After a while he addresses him. "You seem to know a lot about these goblins. I am Iralios Tvar, will you share it with me and my friends?" His voice is sombre and he gazes directly at the elf waiting for a reply.

"Thanks!" Solara waved the healer off as he collected his things, climbing to her feet and putting a little weight on her injured leg.  All better now!

Well, she still had a bump on her head from that one arrow that bounced off, and her ribs sore from that arrow that was largely blocked by her mail, but those would be better in no time on their own!

"Feeling better already, Solara?" Tarlin asked hopefully, making sure all his things were where they were meant to be. "Let's help these folks, and we can chatter about the staff as we come into town with them." Tarlin looked over the surviving group to see where his short stature might come in handy.

Torendil considers the strange a moment and then speaks "There were several of us travelling. We were sent by the King, to investigate northward. There have been rumours that the creatures are amassing an army."

He nodded compassionately to the elf. "I am sorry for your loss. How did you end up with the caravan?"

"These are dangerous times are they not? We joined the caravan for safety in numbers, but as is evident, not safe enough. At least I killed many before the knocked me on the head."

He nodded once more. "They are indeed. With their leader fleeing I am afraid we might have not seen the last of them. We need to find out if the caravan indeed carried what they sought and be on our way. Will you travel with us sir...?"

"Yeah, it seems pretty likely they'll take another poke if they really think this spot has what they want?"  Solara observes as she joins in the discussion.  "We'll have something of an advantage in being more coordinated, but if they bring too many more, we're liable to be hard pressed.  I think it might be wiser to get this caravan back on the move as soon as we can, and get to safety--or something a bit better than an open road with cover on all sides"