Drow and Orc attack in the Crossroads and Fox Ridge, a kidnap

Vale walked into Shadowdale and looked for the Captain.

He reported that Adar and later himself had found two bodies set on poles at the start of the path up the crossroads to Natalya. The bodies were tied with hands behind their backs and had been tortured. Both were elves.

On their faces were masks. In the pocket of one was a long lock of brown hair which clearly didn't belong to the dark-haired pair who had been killed.

Two more elves came by, a woman Lia and a ranger who had never given his name. They had taken down the dead bodies and laid them by the crossroads with a cloak over them. Vale hoped that the Shadowdale guards would retrieve the bodies and give them a decent burial.

The four of them had headed off up into Fox Ridge, following the trail. Disturbed groups of gnolls attacked, but they had fought them off and in the end made it to the Ranger camp. There they had fought the Orcs. A halfling, Torri, had translated the drow inscriptions on the masks; as far as he understood it, the gist was that Drow called the Jaelre, led by one called Steel Mask, had made a claim to the area. The ranger had questioned a captive orc but he himself wasn't sure what had transpired, not understanding orc.

The location of the prisoner was still unknown, they were held by the drow.

They had checked the Crossroads and Natalya was still at the caravan. Lia and the halfling Torri and the ranger had gone to the Plains to see if they could discover more information.

Summary:
Jaelre Drow attack, the Orcs were their catspaws. Two Elves tortured and killed, a claim to the area made by "Steel Mask". The orcs were killed. Five adventurers had been involved,: Adar, Lia, the ranger, Torri and Vale. The Ranger might know more from the orcs. The prisoner (perhaps a female as the hair was long?) was being held by the drow in an unknown place.

///many thanks ADM Revenant for the event

Upon news of these events reaching Shadowdale, particularly calls for further investigation, Gwemmegil's eyes would darken and she would absently touch the fading cut on her cheek.

"I have rendered service to this bloody town once already in this matter, and come away with nothing for it but work for the local healer. I am not a charity; if you want my sword again, this time I expect to be paid for it."

If this information is public Kanna would frown and ask what are the authorities of Shadowdale going to do.

"Sit on their bloody asses and do nothing," Gwem would say. "We brought them a captured Drow who led a force of Orogs setting ambushes on the road -- one I might add whom the Drow took great effort to reclaim, and we had to fight our way through to Shadowdale to deliver -- and they refused to take him as a prisoner, despite what knowledge he might have had."

Vale writes a note on the Noticeboard warning travellers that the roads are not particularly safe from Drow and Orc attacks.

"They refused to take a drow prisoner? What kind of corrupted town is this?" Kanna states angered by the information, raising her voice so everyone can hear her "You wretched corrupted cowards, you cut ties with Myth Drannor and the Ironhouses and now you allow the drow to reign freely on your roads? You have no mind of your own that you follow a senile fossil of elder and its petty delusional dreams rather than look out for your own kin? All of you who still have a soul be gone from this foul illusion of a town! Buildings and farms can be rebuilt but your lifes are forfeit if you follow this course of action." she claims before leaving the town for good.

".....Madame, they refused to take it prisoner because they demanded it's death. I fail to see how in that instance anything was corrupt. The drow was not given free reign, it was executed. I advise getting the facts before making assumptions." Jerrek would say before watching her leave.

Kanna walks away, if he's ignoring the man or not hearing him its unknown, the only thing clear is that she's disgusted about Shadowdale