Halbarad nods. He may be young, but there is a measure of wisdom in him-and steel will.
"I guess it was only a matter of time...
Stromgand is a fool, as you say-but he has a way with words. Many of them follow him, because they do not know have any better alternative.
I fear he will no doubt use the opportunity to treat as enemies in the future. If only because we have defied him. He and his men will not hesitate to take advantage of us in the fortress if we chance to meet again."
Halbarad straps a long blade into his back sheath, and puts his box like helmet on.
"I'll get word to as many of our friends as possible, and make swift our escape. Hopefully we can bypass the majority of the Orcs, in small groups...I suggest you gather your friends and sneak past the Orc encampments in the Hills. Ironically, the main attack will no doubt draw many Orcish reinforcements from their outposts..."
Halbarad motions to a map on South wall of his tent-it's quite old, frayed around the edges-it shows a roughly hexagonal walled fortress, which can be guessed to be the outer layout of the Fortress of Blood.
He points to a spot off to one side-a light blue "X' indicating a good spot for campsite-under the shelter of the Northern Cliffs that ring the Fortress.
"This is where we will gather, assuming any of us make it through-and that this map is not a complete fraud. From here..."
He traces a line with his finger-from the shelter in a straight line through the wall (Feleris can see a page from an even older journal, with a citation 'Section of Outer Wall Missing? Dwarf Miners said they saw a chasm within the Fortress boundries. Those who explored didn't come out...')
"...to here, is where I intend to begin my search. If the walls are guarded-and I'm assuming they are-we should be able to bypass them...after that, it gets tricky. We'll save that for later...if there is one."
He claps a hand on Feleris shoulder. and smiles.
"You must go now, my friend. If none of us make it to the rendevous, don't feel bad going on ahead. I'd rather someone like you get the Source than the others..."
At that, he turns back to his gear-strapping on a bandoleer of alchemic potions across his chest in conical steel sheaths. He grings, and digs in pack one more time, and tosses Feleris a sort of cold yellow rod-not quite metal, though-it's almost like wax. It's slightly warm right now.
"A suitable parting gift, my friend! It's called a Sunrod, my own invention. It absorbs energy from sunlight, and shines like a torch when you speak the command word 'Solara'.."
As soon as he says it, the torch does flare into a brilliant glow, forcing Feleris to squint, as his sensitive Elven eyes are stung. You both laugh easily
"As you can see, it's quite bright! To turn it off, just say 'Lunara'. Don't worry-it will only respond to your voice after you've held it for awhile, like I've done with that one. Useful in the dark places where we are going...it has some advantages over a torch, mostly being it can stay lit in any conditions-and creatures that hate light...really hate this. They don't even want to come close to it."
Gained: +1 Sunrod/Provides as many hours of bright illumination during the night, as it absorbs during the day. Command words are "Solara" to activate, and "Lunara" to deactivate. Doesn't burn or produce smoke, and can only be extinguished through magical means. Damages and stuns light averse creatures.
...
As for the reference to the Demon...
"I've seen the Demon, wandering around camp with that sad looking girl. I don't want to even imagine what he'll do with the Source...lets both hope the Fortress takes care of him."