Journal, 235th Entry: Dourhands and Hendrovail

Dear Mother and Father, It is done. Othrikar is safe from attacks by the dwarven renegades. The encampment is no more. Let me just say it was a terrible experience. I don't think I will ever forget the cries of the dying dwarves. From captives we discovered that they are Dourhand dwarves. Their leader was Falconer Brúni, a notorious Dourhand, famous for breeding Hendrovail. Rua spit on the ground when he heard the name. But the leader is now dead, taken down by a mighty blow from one of the dwarves with us. We arrived at the encampment in the early afternoon, with the sun behind us and in the guards eyes. The guards did not see us until we attacked. We killed them before they could sound any alarm. Then we crept into the stronghold itself where there were about ten dwarves lounging about and seven of the hendrovail. Hendrovail are vicious birds, bred for fighting. The battle was strenuous and the birds made things worse because they are trained to attack the head. At least one dwarf lost an eye to them. We did kill them all in the end, though we lost two of our own dwarves. Rua received a bad leg injury and several others received diverse wounds. I received a few cuts on my arms and about the head. Most wounds from birds were shallow and easily tended to. Brúni himself was a very good fighter though three of his companions proved not to be of such strong mettle and surrendered quite quickly. I do not know what will happen to the three we captured. The Othrikan dwarves mean to take them with them to Othrikar, but after that... Rua will not say, only commenting that 'Dwarven justice will do for 'em' whatever that might mean. We will stay at the renegade camp until the injured are healed enough to move. At least now the way to the gold vein is free. There is gold there, we discovered that after the fight. The Othrikan dwarves generously offered us free access to it, as thanks for routing out the renegades. When the others return to Othrikar, Rua and I will stay here and work the vein, though I will probably be doing most of the work in the beginning, considering his injuries. I feel a little battered still myself. He stumps around saying he is fine, but I see that his wounds pain him when he walks. Mind you, Dwarves are extremely durable, I'm sure he will be fine in a few days. Your loving Zara