As the group approaches the raiders, they are asked a few more times to drop their arms and armor. Landis begins to communicate with the raiders, and the Seven Snakes almost seem like they can come to some sort of agreement with the party; however, as Pyro begins to discuss the Phoenix with one of the underlings, they become aggressive once there’s mention of setting people on fire to “ease their pain”.
The group has a good fight: Pyro goes down but is brought back up by Landis after first being stabilized by Arianna. Arianna took the commander, Xolkin, out of the fight after seeing him quaff down a potion and seemingly not get as hurt as he should, with a nicely placed Command, telling him to flee. Good tactics from Mordai and Theiafi, and Pyro picking people off while Landis and Arianna held the line along with the guards. After downing a few of their men, Kella Darkhope surrenders, and after stabilized the wounded raiders, the Seven Snakes leave town.
The guards convince the party that they will be no good to the villagers after the fight, and so they rest for the evening, electing to leave at first light. In the morning, Arianna wakes up early to treat everyone to her Uncle Corrin’s world famous cinnamon rolls! Sadly, she finds out after burning them, that she also forgot butter.
In the chaos of breakfast, the adventurers don’t immediately notice the hoard of orcs approach from the Ardeep Forest to the north. Their leader is wounded and bleeding from what appear to be arrow wounds, and is demanding they let the drawbridge down. The adventurers are extremely wary, especially considering there are what looks like 20 or more orcs bearing down on the city.
Naturally, the group refuses to let the orcs in, so the commander has his orcs attempt to climb the palisade, so they can kill the adventurers and lower the drawbridge. The orcs, to their chagrin, find themselves unable to climb the palisade, despite their strength, and so they start to circle the village in the hopes of finding a way in.
After a bit more discussion with the orc commander, combat ensues. The party fights from atop the guard towers, hurling down javelins and spears, while mostly dodging the same from the orcs. Eventually, the commander is slain, and the 2nd in command agrees to leave the town in peace, and continue fleeing south. However, a smaller group of orcs was out of ear shot, and found the one way into the city. The guards managed to hold them off until the group got to the bridge where the orcs managed to find a way in. Sadly, two guards died in the fighting, but the rest of the orcs were routed in short order. The group decides to head straight for the caves instead of waiting around for yet another attack on the city to happen.