From the journal of Bloodclaw's leiutenant...
The journey south to the elven capitol will begin in a number of days now, however our advance squads will be leaving with the next day. We escorted the boy and the elemental from their cell today in order to prepare them for the troubles ahead. They managed to find protection and weaponry for themselves easily enough and they were given over to their new commander. The Drow was waiting along with the rest of the mercenaries who had been assigned to her, along with one of my elite, Urida, and the impressive arcanist Irendia.
I decided that their task was not worth sacrificing the bravest warriors to this, so along with the slaves and my two choice warriors she was given a cocky human who had come running for protection, an orc deity worshiper who was only joining the ranks to fight the elves, and a gypsy who had been taken hostage and had simply not had time for the proper sacrificing. The Drow had also requested the company of our singer to bolster the group's moral; we no longer need her skills so it was of no loss to us.
The slaves were introduced to their new master and the keys to their shackles handed over to her. She managed to silence the gibbering human, at least for a short while. As my troupes and I were making our way back to finalize our plans, a small group of ogres confronted the squad, apparently angry that they were not included in this foray to the plains. It appeared, however, that the ogres were caught off guard by the readiness of the Drow to fight. Through the darkness an explosion came, knocking down most of the ogres, and causing their mage leader to retreat.
I am wondering now whether or not I should have recruited the orc for my own forces, seeing how he took down two of the ogres with seeming ease. Urida was equally impressive, fighting toe-to-toe with one ogre until he managed to send him to the ground with more blood in the dirt than in his veins.
The Drow was quick to reprimand those who had disobeyed her (she may make a good leader after-all), then quickly gathering up her troupes and beginning their travel to the river they would be following for the next several days. Tomorrow the gnolls will be embarking on their journey back home, with my own warriors following them in two days time. With hope they will not garner too much attention, though enough to allow us to make our way west, eventually laying camp on the northern point of Silverwind.
