Session begins midday on 15 Frostivus 1232
The party arrives at the main encampment of the Nightclaw tribe. Grumgor and Skarbad take the party to the main tent where Dench the chieftain resides. After being introduced Dench proceeds to question the members of the party as to their intentions. Vratislav'zedaar gifts a longsword to the chief who accepts the offering. The plan is explained, Dench discusses the silliness of elven reproduction and the fact that Taulius is in his 80's but doesn't have a family or any children. After much discussion the chief agrees to allow the party through his lands. He warns them of Shurkol's undead creations that are wandering the borders of the land between the Nightclaw and Stormcloud lands, and tells how Vorka is a strange chief, consuming the hearts of creatures in an attempt to gain their power. Dench then provides a tent for the party (kicking out the normal inhabitants), and informs them that he is going hunting in the morning so he probably won't see them when they leave.
The party spends some time observing a series of violent wrestling matches, and Mara decides to take part. She challenges an orc who gladly accepts her offer of combat. After taking an initial beating from the orc, Mara manages to even the odds, the fight coming down to a single blow. But she is unable to best her opponent who lands a heavy hit, dazing her, and then pushing her into the mud. Following the fight, some of the party returns to the tent, while Vratislav'zedaar spends time around a campfire attempting to interact with other members of the tribe.
That night Ky and Taulius hear the sounds of shouting and metal upon metal. The sounds of a battle. Grimm flies off to investigate and sees four humans fighting orcs near the chief's tent. The party dons their gear and tries to make out more of the sounds, but by the time they make it over to the tent its clear that the fight is over. A crowd of orcs has gathered in a large circle, and on the ground are several orc bodies, and the corpses of two humans in armor. Two more humans are kneeling in the mud with Dench pacing angrily in front of them. Mara notices, much to her dismay, that the two humans are familiar to her. Their names are Michal and Jonas, and they are members of the Kirkwall Free Company. They wear tabards emblazoned with the symbol of the company, the same type of tabard that Mara has. Mara attempts to keep out of view of Michal and Jonas, but she is bumped into the circle by the throng of orcs attempting to get a look at the humans. She and Michal make eye contact, and he seems to recognize her, his eyes going wide with surprise.
Dench is shouting questions at them in orcish and getting no response. He orders Taulius to come over and start translating for him. He then proceeds to question the humans about what happened, who hired them, and if there are more of them out in the woods. Dench is clearly upset that these humans attacked him in the middle of the night while was in bed, rather than fighting him bravely. Vratislav'zedaar reassures the chief that the party had nothing to do with this attack, and that he would harm anyone who would mean the chieftain harm, brandishing his hammer. Alaric has Taulius try and convince Dench to allow him to conduct a divination ritual to discover more information, but the chief is not interested in "elven magic". Eventually, Dench has no more questions and tires of the human's deceptions. He seizes a pole from his tent and orders the humans to be brought to the edge of camp. Vratislav'zedaar tells Mara to go back to their tent, and she complies.
The humans are led to the edge of the woods, where Dench proceeds to sharpen the pole, staring menacingly at the humans the whole time. Michal loses his composure as he realizes he is about to die, weeping and praying to the saints and the Heavenly Family. Jonas remains stoic, staring ahead seemingly accepting his fate. Dench goes over to Michal, lifts him above his head and impales him on the sharpened pole. Michal lingers for a little while before succumbing to the gruesome execution. Dench then turns to Jonas and orders him to reach his hand out on the ground before indicating to Vratislav'zedaar to smash the hand with his hammer. Vratislav'zedaar does so without hesitation and prepares to strike Jonas in the head, but Dench stops him. The chief bends down and orders for Jonas to go back to his leader and tell him that Dench is waiting for him to come and fight him like a man. And then points at Michal's body and says to tell him this is what happens to assassins who sneak in at night and attack someone as they sleep. Dench picks up Jonas by the scruff of his neck and throws him towards the woods. Vratislav'zedaar tells the chief that he will speed the human on his way, and follows Jonas into the woods. He intimidates Jonas into leading him to the mercenary's horses. There he kills Jonas, ties the body to a horse and sends it on its way.
Returning to camp, Vratislav'zedaar tells the chief that the message had been speedily sent. He also offers Dench healing, but the orc refuses saying that they should save their healing for the journey ahead and that he will recover quickly from the wound. The party returns to the tent and sleeps, some trying to blot the memory of the night from their minds. The next morning they leave word for the chief and then begin heading northwest toward the river and the Frostwolf lands beyond. Later that day another blizzard blows in from the north, but determined to make further progress the party journeys on. The going is very tough, and many of the party begin to feel the effects of traveling through the extreme cold. But they manage to push through til nightfall where they make camp, best as they can, and huddle around a small fire, waiting to see what this night will hold for them.
Session ends evening of 16 Frostivus 1232