The Drunken three made significant travel headway north, once more under the open sky. And once more, Cog began to ponder whether the caverns or the overworld were the worst of two evils. The sun was falling in the western skies and something was following them. They bolted to the nearest Dwarven hillock and barged right into the drinking hall, closing the doors shut behind them. Whatever it was outside, it did not like the prospect of walking into a bar full of angry dwarves during drinking time. If that was the case, it was probably not a horrendous abomination in possession of multiple venomous appendages, and more likely just a large predator.
...Or a scout. A worrying thought, one to be solved with wine and spirit.
To pass the time Cog began inquiring the locals for directions and information on the surroundings. Someone who kept being mentioned in conversation was the Dwarf called Domas Boardbored, who presumably began their adventures to kill boredom. I never could find Boardbored, leading me to suspect Domas was already on a travel, or Cog had walked right pass Boardbored unnoticed.
Failing to find the traveler Dwarf, the drunks prepared for a night in the drinking hall, safe from whatever waited outside.
Cog awoke with the sun still in the Western sky, still set in dusk with dawn yet to come. He could also smell something strong: Smoke.
Startled, Cog began investigating the surroundings, barging into Hillocks with his warhammer drawn, smelling the rooms for any signs of smoke. One particularly good suspect was this fella:
Unfortunately the magma crab did not smell particularly of smoke. It was also a tame one, as it had not set Cog on fire and freely roamed one of the Hillocks full of Dwarves. Nor did it mind Cog smelling it. Getting especially worried by mysterious sources of smoke, Cog decided it would be prudent to set off at once. The risk of a nighttime encounter was preferable to a nighttime inferno, and at the very least the night itself would merely be a benefit to Cog in a battle.
Cog made it past one street before he was blocked by an especially imposing brute.
The assailant was faster than the three Dwarves, charging into them with furious frenzy. They stood their ground, meeting the Blind Cave Ogre's challenge head on.
The Dwarves were having none of its shit. They had put up with enough in the caverns. They were leaving the Hillock. This ogre would not keep them here.
Asen screamed out in agony as the ogre crashed into him, sending him tumbling. Cog soon stopped caring however, as the Ogre turned its attention to him.
It began strangling him, striking him and biting him. Cog tore free desperately, running while the blood flowed from his body, catching his breath before it left him. Several paces away the sound of a fight raged on and Cog chose not to run away, charging back into the fray.
This was a battle of endurance the Ogre lost. Cog and Onget punched, kicked and bit like cornered honey badgers, with Cog even resorting to beating the blind cave ogre with a sack full of plump helmets when his warhammer wasn't showing any significant progress.
They broke everything in the Ogre, yet it still fought on.
Eventually the battle would come to an end when Cog began strangling it to death, using his right forearm to close the ogre's windpipe with a chokehold.
Cog the blind Drunk had just killed Winesieges the blind cave ogre.
It was a messy, arduous ordeal that nearly killed him as well, leaving Onget with a broken toe and bruises all over and Cog with a broken finger, damage to his lungs, liver and guts in addition to obligatory bruises and major lacerations to his upper body.
Cog called out to Onget, rejoicing in this victory and recoiling against the tiresome dread when he realized that one Dwarf in their company had stopped calling back. That Dwarf had stopped crying out in pain.
That Dwarf was dead.
There was little time to mourn the fallen comrade of drinking and traveling; the smell of burning only increased as the Hillock was attacked. The sound of fighting could be heard in the drinking mound, and Cog did not believe it was a mere bar fight.
Asen was given a quick burial, and Cog and Onget fled into the night.
The invasion had begun and there was no way they could take on so many soldiers while their injuries were so severe.
They made it to the hills to rest, chased by scouts all the way.
In the night the scouts walked right over the mound where the Dwarves were encamped. They swarmed over the forest, the swamp and the Hillock... Few other Dwarves would have escaped into the night to safety. There were no other towns nearby.
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Topic: Cog the Blind Drunk (Read 49353 times)