Of the Marvels of Ironpeak: Chapter 8

Our travel, which according to other travelers we've met on the way has been extraordinarily safe, quite and uneventful, has taken a sharp and unexpected turn. This morning, in the town tavern of Uisge, where we've arrived last day in the afternoon, we've made two new acquaintances. Almost by accident, and certainly not hampered by Knivs outspokenness, we started a conversation with a bard called Orin Highsong and a mage called Zephyras Nadrasin. Zephyras seems to be his... companion? friend? fellow traveler? I couldn't quite understand their relationship is. Seemingly they have also haven't known each other for a long time. Orin has just lost his whole orchestra in a bloody attack somewhere south of here, with him and Zephyras being the only survivors. Zephyras seems to be afflicted by some condition, he has an almost ethereal appearance and seems to be able to phase in and out of our physical world at will. He himself has amnesia and does neither remember who he was before nor has he an idea on how to get him back to normal. I suggested searching for an arcane wielder or a cleric in a bigger settlement, and I'd love to do some research on the subject when I get to a decent library.
 
Our breakfast however was interrupted by a most unexpected attack on the village by some religious war pack of warriors. Initially we wanted to flee or hide, but it was soon becoming obvious that couldn't be the solution to the threat we were faced with. The town of Uisge doesn't have any warriors, and surrendered their fortifications without a fight. The leader of the warriors accused the village of stealing some artifact of theirs, and demanded to solve the confrontation by their customs - a fight to the death between five of their warriors and those of the village. At this point it was clear to us that we could not stay hidden any longer. While I'd like to claim that we did this because of heroism, truly we just felt that our chance of survival was even smaller should they encounter us as hidden stow-aways in some cellar instead.
 
So, we fought with five of their warriors, and thinking about the combat still makes me shiver. In this combat I observed that Orin, but also especially Zephyras seem to be very capable in combat, with Zephyras performing some necromantic witchcraft not even Master Lankas would dare to document in his collection! With Zephyras' magic and the combined efforts of us five, we were victorious without much harm coming to us. Speaking of witchcraft, it seems that Bean, the elderly lady we've met almost two weeks ago and insisted on following us on our travels, also possesses way more magical capabilities than I originally expected. To be fully honest her intentions still elude me. I've witnessed and learned so many things along this journey already -but my sense for people and their intentions still seems to be as weak as ever...
 
After the fight was won, we were awarded some of their war loot as reward for our victory, and soon afterwards we met with a trader who is seeking retirement and offered his whole stash of goods for ensuring his safe passage to Diobri, the city we were already heading to. Some of his goods looked very promising, but I'll have to take a better look tomorrow if there is anything potentially interesting for a new project. We decided to accept the offer and make for the city tomorrow. Zephyras and Orin joined our ranks, as also for them the only way to search for answers on is the road southwards. For now, all goals seem to converge on the city.