A new travelling companion

It looked like Bloodrush was not going to be able to fend off all those gnolls by himself, and to make matters worse, a bunch of orcs, trolls, ogres, goblins, wolves, and so on all joined the fray--so we rushed in to help. Early in the battle I managed to land a smashing blow on one of the gnolls, and he didn't last too much longer after that. Some of the ogres were attacking any visible target, while the goblins and trolls seemed to take on the side of the gnolls. All of the orcs, including some warden brethren, seemed to be fighting as our allies. Blows were being traded every which way, and people were dropping all over the battlefield. There must've been close to 50 creatures taking part in the battle, including one gnoll mage that was raining serious damage on Bloodrush and I found that he easily avoided most of the blows we tried to return. For a moment, things also looked bad for Clangor, Elaira, and Horadric, but they retreated a bit to safety and just as things were starting to turn in our favor, five creatures with snake hair came upon the battlefield. I heard some of the other creatures murmuring about "the medusae," and as they removed their blindfolds and gazed upon the crowd, some creatures became slowed, and others turned to stone. Clearly a serious threat, as the battlefield quickly cleared as many began running away. Our party tried to regroup, but an ogre was impeding Horadric's path to the rest of us. I used my weapon to urge him along, which he didn't take kindly to, as he started deliberately attacking my allies, which raised my ire. In his haste to attack my allies, he was sloppy, giving me several opportunities to freely attack him, and I brought him down just as he was going after (already-bloodied) Horadric in earnest. Horadric looked somewhat relieved.

I do have to say here that my esteem of Clangor rose dramatically during this battle. I wasn't really certain of his competence from the things he'd told us on the lightning rail, but now that I have seen him in action, I think I will be glad to fight alongside him. Although he is not a warden, he showed himself to be an honorable sort who risked his own life to protect his allies in battle, and I have high respect for individuals of that character. His priorities seem kindred to my own, and I think we will make a good team of allies together.

The ogre was the last combatant on the battlefield, and after he fell and we continued to vacate the area, the medusae must have perceived that the threats were gone, and they re-covered their eyes and started to go away. I was following Cyrus, who doubled back around to the challenge circle where it had all started, and there we found Bloodrush and Clangor looting the bodies. Cyrus greeted Bloodrush and re-introduced himself, as Bloodrush wasn't expecting Cyrus to be in the form of a dog.

What happened next was a really uncomfortable situation for me, in which we were pooling the gold (5 Platinum, 1000 gold, and 300 silver) and Bloodrush said he'd found 200 gold, but Clangor reported that he'd seen Bloodrush pick up more than that by about another 8 platinum. The atmosphere became somewhat tense, as Elaira and Cyrus suggested that we all share the loot equally, while Bloodrush resisted claiming that it was his due for winning in the challenge circle. It was pointed out to him that he likely wouldn't have won in the challenge circle without our help, and that his bookie (who I guess is the one who holds the bets? I don't really know much about the process) had fled with the money that was part of the challenge. Cyrus offered to Bloodrush to hire him to join our party and take an even share of the loot as he adventured with us, terms to which Bloodrush somewhat reluctantly agreed now that he was hired. I found myself quiet and really tense throughout the whole discussion, as conflict over material possessions is entirely alien to me. In my village, we all worked hard and shared equally, all to the benefit of the village, as without everyone's full investment, we all would have fallen in those conditions. But I see through experiences like these that this is an area that is really different culturally in the world outside. I doubt I'll ever be as comfortable as Elaira seems to be resolving conflicts in this type of situation, so in these kinds of situations I tend to defer to her judgment to negotiate what's best for the party. In any event, hopefully the matter is settled for good.

Anyhow, once that was resolved, I was able to look around the city properly as we walked, noting how vast the buildings were in Graywall, presumably to accommodate the ogres and trolls. Bloodrush suggested that we go either to the Bloody Tooth, a tavern of monstrous humanoids in which we wouldn't be welcomed, but nor would we be harmed; or to the Broken Sword, a mercenary tavern of primarily humans, in which we'd be likely to learn less, but would fit in better. It was agreed that we would go first to the Bloody Tooth, where the rest of us would try to look unobtrusive as Bloodrush asked around.

In the tavern, Bloodrush was talking to a hobgoblin named Barth. I was sitting near enough that their conversation was easy to overhear, and I was somewhat surprised that they were speaking the language of my people. I hadn't heard it spoken since I left the village. Barth told Bloodrush that he'd heard of Nym, and that he hangs out with the minotaurs in The Labyrinth, an underground hotel-type area that specializes in harboring fugitives.

Then, as he turned to leave, Bloodrush turned back and asked about where he could find that gnoll mage (I think he called him "Liver oil"?) from the group that had rushed him in the challenge circle. Barth nodded knowingly and said that that one was called "Fangrin," and that he would be found with the mercenaries in a church on the Street of Shadows. He said Bloodrush should check there if he wanted to find him, but warned that most of them were gnolls and would be unfriendly especially given the events that had just transpired. He said they were mostly all from the same particular town, but I didn't quite catch the name--probably because I'm not from the local parts, so it didn't ring a bell.

Afterwards we separated for a bit, with plans to rejoin each other later. If Bloodrush really starts travelling with our party, then I am looking forward to the opportunity to speak with him in the language of my people. I found a street vendor, where I was able to learn a ritual to create a trap, and gather the necessary nature components. Maybe it'll come in handy as we go along our way.