Smashit knew that at some point they were going to have to find their way off the island. Losing the tanker had been a major blow because even if they found another modern-day ship on the island somewhere they wouldn’t have the fuel to power it. They were either going to have to use an older technology like wind or perhaps they could find a way to magically power the boat.

Deathberry had been investigating the latter possibility with his research and had asked the rest of the Misfits to come check out a nearby cave system that the gnome villagers had mentioned to him. Apparently, several of the villager’s children had disappeared there. No one had thought it was anything except for marauding monsters until about a month ago; one child had reappeared in the village. The boy’s name was Seth and he’d come back with a fantastic tale. When Deathberry had questioned him, he’d been regaled with a story about orcs, skittering creatures with tails for legs, and a magical portal. The boy didn’t know where the portal went and hadn’t had a chance to investigate further since he was in the middle of escaping when he’d seen it.

He’d been captured by orcs who had taken him and the other children to one part of the cave system. However, there were more than just orcs in the cave – there were the skittering ones as he called them. He hadn’t seen the entire creature but from what he could see, it was a massive monster with four prehensile legs and a giant armored body. Seth told him about how he and the other children had been caged by the orcs and were being eaten day by day. It was a horrific experience and there were several parts of the tale that Seth was not able to relate to him fully. However, as he was being led to another chamber, ostensibly to be eaten, one of these skittering ones had attacked the orc party he was with.

At the sight of the creature, the orcs had dumped Seth on the ground and run. Apparently, they believed that the skittering one would give up the chase and eat him. However, Seth had lain very still and surprisingly the creature had not eaten him but had continued off into the darkness of the cave chasing the orcs. Seth wasn’t sure why he had lived but he hadn’t stayed idle for long. Fortunately, he was able to recover a torch from where one of the orcs had dropped it. He knew that wandering in that cave would be a death sentence if he couldn’t see where he was going.

Soon he was lost and he continued walking for hours through tunnels and into open chambers. The cave was massive. Eventually, he made his way to an open portion of the cave and there he saw four blue lights about ten gnomes in height. He wasn’t sure what they were and was just examining them when he heard one of the skittering ones coming back. Although he’d survived the first encounter with the creature, Seth wasn’t going to take any chances.

When he turned around to flee, he almost bumped into another skittering one. This time he was truly terrified looking upon its horrific visage. It had a face like a praying mantis and was armored all over its body. It loomed over him and clicked in an alien tongue. Not taking any time to hesitate he turned back to the strange blue lights and prayed that they were a doorway that would let him escape.

The next thing Seth knew he was standing in the jungle on the southern portion of the island. It was nearly a half-day’s walk away from the caves and there was no sign of the strange blue light that had taken him there.

After hearing the boy’s story Deathberry had approached Smashit with the information and shared the quest that Seth had given him to rescue the other village children. It definitely sounded like these portals could be used to move around the island – Seth’s tale proved that to be the case. The bigger question was whether it would help them get off the island. Deathberry thought it was possible that some of the unexplored portal doors might lead to other destinations. At a minimum, he might be able to glean some information about how these portals were created. Smashit agreed that it was worth investigating and asked the rest of the guild to join them the next day.

The Misfits stood at the ready outside the cave. Outside, in the lush jungle surrounding them it was warm and wet but as they approached a cold power rushed over them that made Smashit’s hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

He looked over at Deathberry who was carefully studying the cave. “Looks like this is the right place,” he said.

“Yes, there is definitely something here that is powerful. We should proceed cautiously,” Deathberry said. His friend was excited and worried by whatever was in that cave.

Cheezus took point and scouted ahead while the Misfits entered the cave. It wasn’t long before the group smelled the foul and strong odor of orc. They must be headed in the right direction.

The Misfits wandered through the caves for several hours. Deathberry took detailed notes and mapped their route to make sure they could go back the way they came and to ensure they didn’t miss any cave passages that might lead them to either the mysterious portal room or the missing villagers. Suddenly, Cheezus sent a warning to the raid to dim their light sources and be silent. There was an orc patrol passing by. The group dimmed their torches and stood quietly as the orcs passed. The one thing they hadn’t accounted for was the creature’s keen sense of smell. All of a sudden one of the creatures cried out in alarm. Cheezus quickly silenced the creature, but the damage was done.

Linca threw down a magical light spell which temporarily blinded the creatures. Smashit could see now that there were a dozen of them and they are well armed. One of the orcs indicates for the group to fall into formation and they line up in an orderly manner, quickly recovering from their temporary disadvantage. Assessing them carefully, Smashit can see that they are all capable warriors of level 50 except for the leader who is level 55. Smashit is still level 43 and the rest of the Misfits are in the high 40s – this is going to be a difficult fight. Cheezus indicates that he’s assessed the enemy using his Detect Enemy Weakness and there are two casters in the group. Upon further review, Smashit can see the casters are wearing lighter armor and they are already beginning to move their hands in a strange fashion.

Smashit knew they were going to have to break their ranks and stop those casters from blasting the raid apart. Perhaps, they could try something a bit old-school and see if any of the creatures could be crowd controlled. Whispering to the raid, he called out for Thag and Cheezus to alternate stuns on the leader, Seona to use woodland charm on the left mage, while he and Deathberry would burn down the right one.

As soon as everyone had their orders, the groups surged forward attacking. Thag and Cheezus began their cycle of stuns on the leader which was a good strategy since a couple of his attacks had snuck through earlier and done massive damage to Thag. She was still holding with about half of her health. Smashit AOE pulled the rest of the mobs to him and dropped his first tanking cooldown to take some pressure of Linca so she could heal Thag. The mage on the left was charmed by Seona and Deathberry had been blasting the remaining mage who was already down to 50%.

Suddenly Smashit felt a blade entering his gut:

-750 piercing damage

The leader of the orcs had broken free from Thag and Cheezus and charged in to hit him. That monster hit like a truck and he knew he wouldn’t survive a few more hits from him in addition to the damage of the rest of the orcs. Thag AOE’d the remaining orcs to her to take some pressure off and Smashit hit the lead orc with a stun. No effect. Damn, this guy was tough. He hit the creature with his shield bash when it came off cooldown and put the creature on the floor. Linca was dropping enhanced healing lights on to him so fast he looked like a Christmas tree being lit up and still Smashit was down to about half health.

As Smashit and the leader locked blades, he could see the creature’s cunning face lit up with glee. He tripped Smashit and tried to bury a wicked looking serrated sword into his chest but fortunately he was able to get his shield up just in time. The two of them rolled on the ground and Smashit lost track of the rest of the fight. The blood rushed to his face as they grappled and soon the orc was starting to overpower him. He lost his sword in the melee but was able to keep the creature from gutting him by intervening with his shield. Eventually, Smashit was able to get out from under the monster and step a few feet away. The orc came quickly to his feet and charged. Smashit set his shield low and set to receive the charge. At the last second as the orc swung its serrated blade at his head, he pushed his shield up, spun and backhanded the creature with his mailed fist, stepping past its reach. He was about to recover his sword when a dagger erupted out of the orc’s back.

Cheezus pushed the creature to the ground and said, “Sorry, we don’t fight fair.”