At once Tallis ordered Seradeen, Holinn, and the dark mage down the river while she spoke with the rest. It was difficult to decide which was more important, but once everyone realized (much to my astonishment) that the mage had slipped away the choice was obvious. As the the rest traveled south, Tallis lead her soldier assistant, the maniac, the gypsy, the orc warrior, and the stone man a little north...Perhaps just out of ear shot of the rest.
They walked for perhaps half a mile when suddenly Tallis drew her weapons and sliced into the gypsy. Hearing the surprise from the gypsy, the orc spun around with his axe and laid into her attacker with a sturdy blow, felling Tallis with one swing. The stone man sprinted up to the orc and, reaching out, grabbed him by the throat cutting off his air. The orc scrambled to free himself, however his axe was pinned between himself and his attacker, while the shear weight was too much to overcome. The warrior clenched down, pushed against the orc, and pulled his windpipe through his neck. The orc's body went limp and collapsed to the ground. The stone warrior reached down and pulled the axe from it's former owner's hands and slung it onto his back. He pointed to the hobgoblin and told her to pick up Tallis, while he began to drag the corpse of the orc south, back to the rest of them.
Once the group was back together, the stone warrior dropped the orc, then pointed to Seradeen telling her to heal Tallis. After saying a cantrip and giving her a shake, Tallis rose to her feet. She looked around and gathered her bearings, then made a beeline for the gypsy. Again, she cut through her shedding blood. Flashes of light came from the dancer's hands, though with no affect. Tallis again swung, but her blows went through the gypsy and as her image faded, she appeared several feet away. The stone warrior charged up to the maniac, most likely to make sure that he did not interfere, however all he did was stumble backwards, planting his own sword into the mud and dirt. Tallis charged ahead and drove one last blow into her, and as the body fell she sliced her throat. The warrior drew his sword and buried it half way through the coward, ending his journey as well.
Their bodies were left where they fell, along with the orc, and (what remains of) the party continued on their path as if nothing had append. When the sun began to set, Seradeen put up a hut and welcomed everyone in, however Tallis and the warrior unraveled their bedrolls while Holinn and the soldier disappeared into the woods. When they awoke to the sun, the group was down to just the four of us. The soldier has traveled on ahead while Holinn has chosen to travel along a similar path though without the company of the party.
The sheer cruelty of Tallis came when we came across an elderly woman who had been left to her death in the woods. She simply walked up to her, kicked the branch that she had been leaning against out from under her, then reached down and took it for her own. She explained that she was a furture teller and that she saw love in the future of the bard, only loneliness for the Drow, while she saw death and destruction for the Prince. After the group continued on their way, Holinn went over to the woman and helped her to her feet. He asked her what else she saw in his future; the walls of a city being torn down while a silver crown turns black. Holinn walked away to find the woman another cane, however when he returned she was gone (I do not think he suspected the truth of the situation, sadly). He rejoined the group just in time for us to reach the edge of the woods and the threshold of the grasslands.
