2. New day to start

With conflicted feelings Davros sits behind one of the tables in the inn slowly eating some porridge with apples and a piece of bread. From moment to moment his brow nervously twitches, giving away that he's lost in thought. On one hand, the half elf is concerned about the lack of interest in herbs, on another, he's glad that he didn't have anything to sell in the first place. Trying not to concentrate on it his eyes begin to scan the room. Stopping for a fleeting moment on a group of unknown sleepy patrons, the equally sleepy barman, and the joyfully running children behind the widely open door, that lets the morning air inside of the hall. Davros has always been lucky in this case, he sleeps way less than the rest, it often gives him the time to think, analyze and contemplate within himself, resulting in his calm attitude.

The situation got him thinking about his health and the more than likely probability that this village does not house a doctor... Not to mention an Alchemist. They usually have a ready list with needed herbs... On the other hand, he can probably earn some income if he gathers the herbs and remembers the recipes himself ...I guess that the nun at the orphanage was right... I really should have practiced more diligently. he sigh's as he looks at his packed bags, ready for the outing. Hmm... What should I bring as the offering to the forest mother...

Selbi had an uneventful night yesterday and a quickly finished breakfast this morning. The gnome now has her nose buried in a book, elbows propped on the table.

She mumbles to herself as she reads, oblivious to the rest of the room. "...forty feet away... with the right side... a loud shout..."

Having spent the rest of yesterday walking around town and getting his bearings, Spraint enjoys his first "civilized" breakfast in quite a while. He eats quickly (as is his habit) and alone, as he doesn't know, and therefore trust, the others. Not yet, anyway. Thank the gods they appear capable, not like the last group.

With all his gear ready and prepped for battle, Garrosh enjoys a hearty breakfast that will give him the energy for a nice day full of killing and plundering raiders.

When the party assembles after breakfast, Spraint says "Let’s follow the caravan route. May Arvoreen watch over us."

Davros happy that someone is up to taking charge in the situation nods Alright, ill try to keep a lookout. in case we wander across an ambush, or worse - boars. he visibly shudders before he begins to looks around. Picking up some greens along the way as he walks.

Garrosh just grunts and nods, still chewing on a piece of jerky.

Selbi keeps to the center of the group as they move, wand in hand as she swivels her head around to watch the surroundings. The wand is intricately carved, made from some sort of long-dead hardwood and a small chip of amber embedded in the bottom end.

"Boars, worse than an ambushing from those bandits?"

The ranger nods while putting a plant in his pocket, it looks like a purple three leaf clover. Yes, Bandits, for one fear for their own lives and only really want our belongings.... the boar... well.. they lack the concept of money and see you as a threat, especially if they're with piglets. Usually boar are pretty headstrong about protecting their territory and young. Its almost as bad as meeting a moose up close.

Nora walks over and says as she sees the party is nearly done with breakfast, "Will that be all."

"Thanks, but I think we're good. Say, do you know of any caravans headed out this morning? We don't want to be in their way, or worse yet, stuck behind a bunch of slow-moving wagons."

rpgventurer. Never considered the point. But any such tipping per say is covered under your life style as long as it doesn't have other purposes.

Nora says as she walks away, "I really have no idea. Guess you need to head out there to find out.

Takes a big stretch at the table after eating her fill

"Sounds good to me! Can't wait to see what these raiders are like! Gonna get changed before we go."

She hops up excitedly before jogging off, lightly shadow boxing as she heads back to her room. She makes it an point and effort to rejoin the group as quickly as she can.

"Following the trail seems to be the best way to find the bandits. I wish I had more information about those cultists. Knowing your enemy is important to defeating them."

Well it will rob you of the ability to get the jump, and I don't want to be the first one to be stabbed... I am a forester not a road patrol or a guardsman, I don't know how to fight in an open field or road, especially when the enemy I aware of my intentions... The half-elf laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"We gotta take the road though or we risk missing the spot of the last attack, don't we? Or ye think we'd able to find it even if we take a path near the road instead of on it instead?" Asks Garrosh

"Getting stabbed aint the worst thing! You can hide behind me if ya want, would love to get a good look at'em before we run them down"

"Do the bandits and cultists know someone's going after them? Could pose as regular travellers, ripe targets for robbery. Comply for a few seconds to get up close before surprising them." The gnome frowns. "Then again, with how people have gone missing..."

Spraint offers to trade places with Davros in the marching order. "It would not hurt to have someone moving partially hidden on our left or right flank. Your exact position is up to you."

Estelle exaggeratedly wobbles back and forth as she shouts in a monotone voice

"OH NOOOO, I HOPE NOBODY COMES TO TAKE ALL OF THESE.... VALUABLES THAT I HAVE... IT SURE WOULD BE A CRIME IF I LOST ALL OF MY FANCY JEWELRY AND FOOD"

She looks around and waits a moment before shrugging.

Davros sighs and nods in thanks Thank you, Estelle. I definitely appreciate it that a more experienced fighter takes the lead. he scratches the back of his head a bit embarrassed of his words, even though the ranger knows well that between the two of them the gladiator is definitely more experienced in a close range... heck... combat in general, when he thinks about it.

"Well if that's settled, let's go raid some raiders."

Estelle nods to Davros before excitedly shouting, "NOW YOUR SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE!!" lightly and playfully jabbing at Garrosh.

Garrosh just rolls his eyes.

Nora waves goodbye as you all leave.

Anyone need to drop off at the Joe's General Store for goods before hitting the road? If so, just post what you get.

Party begins heading down the road looking trouble or signs there has been some. From what you understand there hasn't been much action on it for a week. Surely there is want.

The ranger freezes in place as he looks at the figure. Not really wanting to get closer while on the road, he gets 20ft into the woods and crouches down, listening if there is any unnatural movement up ahead. Yes, while the idea itself is quite naive, he knows that people who have been sitting In an ambush for a long while tend to forget to keep quiet, especially if they're expecting to raid a horse carriage, where the thundering steps of the hooves can be heard from far away.

"He alright over there?"

Estelle nods her head over towards Davros direction hoping to not be too obvious about the person skulking in the woods.

"I think he's looking for a trap or ambush? The figure on the road is very suspicious after all, we should be careful as we approach it." Garrosh switches out one of his axes for his shield and begins to carefully and slowly walk in the direction of the figure while looking out for ambushes/traps.

Selbi stops in the middle of her tracks and squints at the figure in the distance.

"Wouldn't think someone lying on the road so is fine, but..." The gnome glances from side to side, seemingly hesitant to walk further unless with the rest of the group.

She follows in Garrosh's steps.

The ranger returns spinning a couple of wild carrots in her hand before eating them in a couple of bites and returns back into his spot. Whelp, either there are no bandits on this side, or they're being pretty responsible with that ambushing task.

Spraint keeps pace with his companions, occasionally looking back to make sure no one is behind them.

Garrosh is going to continue moving up to the figure, shield raised on one hand hand axe in the other, look to see if there's any ambushes or traps, and then try tapping the figure with his foot to see if it moves and/or feels like a person.

Garrosh once again looks around with his shield up for any signs this might be part a trap or ambush, and upon finding nothing, moves to nudge the human with his foot to see if it responds.

"He seem alive down there?" Estelle asks, watching for any movement below. She takes a moment as she ready's her dagger looking to test if the man is breathing at all.

As Garrosh approaches the figure on the ground, Spraint starts to run clockwise from the back of the party to the section of road on the other side of the figure. He keeps a distance of 15 feet away from the figure (depending on terrain) while he moves.

Garrosh, seeing that the body is not moving, turns his shield towards it, and attempts to carefully flip it face up with his foot.

Garrosh, stows his ax and pulls out a large stick instead (quarterstaff), then uses it to drag the body on to the middle of road, take's one more look around, and assuming he find nothing, begins searching the body for any identification or anything else of interest.

He pockets the money, then shouts at the rest of the party so they can hear "Come on up guys, looks like it's just a dead traveler, although probably killed by the bandits!"

Davros walks up to the man, he pulls out one of his arrows and uses it to poke the man, inspecting the probable cause of his demise. Well for once I can tell you that these clearly weren't beasts. For one, his carcass is intact. then he grimaces at the smell.

Selbi glances left and right at the surrounding foliage, then scurries up to join the others. She stops a good 15 feet away, not wanting to get too close to the body.

"A corpse left out here like this? The bandits must really have the run of the area..."

Garrosh turns to the rest of the party and asks, "Any of you know how to check how long someone's been dead? If it ain't been long, we might still be able to find a trail we can use to find the bandits. , he then proceeds to search for just that.

Spraint waves the party together for a discussion. "Another soul to avenge. The bandits must be somewhere up ahead. Does anyone have any tree climbing skills to take a look from above?"

Garrosh looks around at the trees, then at the rest of the party, "Not sure about climbing, but I could always toss someone up there"

"Welp I think that's as helpful is the body is gonna be. I'm thinking we should at least bury him, what say you?" Garrosh asks the rest of the party

"Why spend the time? We need to worry about the bandits. He’s not in our way if we need to retreat."

"Besides, we can bring him back with us later if we’re successful. Maybe he’s from the town."

"Fair enough I supposed, let's keep moving then, I think we're getting close to the bandits", Garrosh leaves the body and continues to walk on the road

Sure

Upon hearing Garrosh's suggestion that they may be getting close to the bandits, Selbi scuttles back and follows the others from a distance.

Garrosh, first looks around for any signs that this might be a trap or ambush, then if he finds nothing he switches one of his axes to a shield and starts slowly approaching the wagon, pointing his shield toward in case something is hiding inside.

Davros Will be ready to have Garrosh's back Incase he gets jumped at. The half elf readies an arrow to release Incase someone decides to jump the half-orc.

When Selbi sees Garrosh draw closer to the wagon without issue, she starts following, only keeping 15' behind to hopefully get a better look at the overturned vehicle.

Garrosh continues to approach the wagon. Once within reach of it, he takes one more look around, and begins to, while still pointing his shield toward the carriage, cut into it with his ax in attempt to see what is inside.

Garrosh stays calm and continues on his task of cutting through the wagon to get a better view, but making sure not to cut the arm. If it is a child, dead or alive he's likely been here for hours if not days already, a few seconds will not make a difference. If it's something else, well better safe than sorry.

While keeping up the distance Davros approaches 50ft closer towards Garrosh. The forester keeps looking around searching for signs of unwanted attention.

"Hey, looks like there's someones stuck under here! I'm gonna try to move the wagon.", Garrosh shouts at the rest of party. then attempts to move/flip the wagon.

Selbi slowly gets closer, then jumps when she sees the arm. "Ah! Is that..."

The small gnome puts her wand away and rushes next to Garrosh, in order to try and give what support she could in flipping the wagon.

Between Garrosh and Selbi with a lot of huff and puff, they manage tip the wagon up to its side exposing what was hidden. There they see the young teenage girl who looks to have been hidden in a large broken wooden box before the wagon was tipped over. Obviously, she tried to get out but was wedged in. She is alive but unconscious. She shows obvious signs of thirst and probably not far from death. A good guess that perhaps you know her father. Davors sees this at his distance as well.

Wagon has suffered too much damage to be usable without repairs. Goods wise his wagon was looted before it was turned upside down. Considering the about of spewed cloth about, it would be good guess that was what was being transported. Resent rain shower here have fairly much ruined whatever was left. There are signs of a battle and party finds a broken discarded spear. It is Orcian made. You guess, due to the teen being in the large wooden crate, the Orcs never found her unlike her father. Perhaps he hid her there never imaging they would turn over the wagon and trap her.


Tracy

Move over closer, "Is she alive?"

Steps close to the wagon, "Bet that was her dad back there."

"Any of you any good with medicine, or better yet healing magic? She obviously needs help, and I doubt I'm the person for the job", Garrosh asks the rest of the party

Spraint offers, "I have a healer's kit but I'm not any better with it than anyone else."

Selbi kneels down to clear away any debris around the child, and checks for any visible injuries before lightly shaking her. "Hey! Are you alright?"

The gnome shakes her head. "Magic yes, but none that heals a person. Use the kit?" She looks up at Spraint as she fumbles for her waterskin.

The half-elf slowly approaches the cart and takes a good look at the woman now not buried by rubble. Well, im not a medic, but I was taught some skills back at the orphanage, as you know certified doctors are expensive.

With some water and TLC, Tracy eyes open as she coughs and gags from the water. She is in an instant panic but that passes fairly fast. She can't speak right away she needs time for her throat to catch up with her eyes. She is very weak and even her attempts to move while panic wasn't much of anything. You know there is no way she can walk. Tracy looks to be a 17-year-old human female.

So my muscled friend, are we bringing her back or continuing on our way?

As I see it, we should probably bring her back. After all she still is a child.

The ranger looks at the Garrosh, knowing well that both of them are probably the only ones who could carry the girl, given that if that would have been done by the rest of the group parts of her body would probably drag on the ground.

Selbi, Spraint, what do you think?

Spraint replies, "I'm fairly strong but that is a lot girl to carry for my stature. I do think we need to get her to town."

"We should probably bring her back, but that's if she even wants to go to Duker. Although, I supposed if she was heading elsewhere, it'd still be better to take her to Duker while we clear out the bandits.", responds Garrosh

Selbi nods as she withdraws her waterskin. "Duker is closer than the other villages, and safer than out here." She glances out at the road. Whoever was out there could hopefully wait while they brought the girl back.

As Selbi gets ready for the trip back, she grabs a bit of ruined cloth if there's a piece small enough to hold in her hand.

Davros stows his bow and quickly checks on his rapier, before deciding to pick the girl up if the others show no initiative to carry her back to Duker.

In the time the party spend deciding and getting ready to go, Tracy feels somewhat better and can choke out words. You learn her name is Tracy. You realize she was traveling with her parents when they were being chased by Orcs. Her mother put her in that crate to hopefully protect her. She doesn't know what all happened, but she is sure the wagon wrecker or something. When she tried to get out, she couldn't. She screamed for help, but no one answered. She got so thirsty she couldn't stay awake. "Were are my parents?"

When the girl mentions thirst Davros facepalms and offers her his waterskin.

Heh, sorry, didn't think about it. Here's water.... And about your parents... Well... How should I put it... They put everything on the line to keep you safe... he lightly tugs on his hair trying to put together words that don't strike the poor girls psyche too hard.

Garrosh snorts, "What he means is that your dad's dead. We saw his body a while back, kind of impressive he made it so far with his injuries. Your mother on the other hand we do not know, but seeing as we've not found her body, she's most likely still alive." he explains. No point in sugar coating it after-all.

Garrosh. No body of mother is found. Orc bait?

Tracy breaks down into a wailing of tears for her "Mum" and "Pop" as she calls them. She lays where she is as she really can't move much.

Davros sends Garrosh a stinkeye while pulling him slightly away from the girl so she doesn't hear. As he whispers Well I hope you're proud of yourself, now we not only have a injured child on our hands but a crying bandit attractor, a wailing trouble signal. What I mean is, you could have waited until we reached the settlement. the half-elf rubs his temples in frustration, having lived two decades of his life in an orphanage crying children were quite a frequent phenomenon, one that never gets less annoying for a kid who's origin has always been a blank slate.

Garrosh rolls his eyes, "She was either going to find out now or when she saw his body on the way back. As for attracting trouble, that would just make our job easier."

Selbi frowns slightly at Garrosh's words, then says in a more hushed tone, "Trouble, like the orcs that did this? Not while bringing the girl back!"

She kneels down to try and comfort the crying teen. "Staying in that crate for so long must have been scary. Our group has come to deal with the... orcs, so we can look for your mother. You're safe now, but let's get back to Duker before sundown first, how does that sound?" The gnome reaches into her backpack for her spellbook, and flips a few pages. "Going to make something Tracy can rest on. It'll take a short while."

Selbi words calm her down and stop the wailing cries. Words that you will get her mother brighten her. She doesn't want to leave without her mother, but she does see the sense in it. "Who will take care of me in Duker? I have no coins."

Garrosh thinks for a second at that, then grabs a piece small piece cloth if he can find it, before wrapping out around the money he found on her father's body. "We found some coin your dad's body. As his daughter it belongs to you.", he then hands her the makeshift pouch.

She sadly accepts it. You can tell she is a mess. All she wants now is her "mum". She curls in a ball on the disk.

Florina surveys the scene, it looks a bit suspicious, but the group do look to the ones they're looking for, "Hello!?" she calls out. "Can we be of assistance?"

With a sigh, Garrosh starts to head back the way they came, back to town to so the girl is safe while they kill the bandits.

Florina keeps looking around for anything going on, but the road had long since got a little boring, and her mouth has started to run "So, have either of you met any of this group we're looking for? I wonder if they've run into any serious trouble yet? Perhaps they'll be in the middle of a fight when we find them and we can rush in to their aid, all dramatic like?"

Danika smiles at the idea of them rushing in to save the day.

"Us charhing in, swords drawn. Dawn's first light in our back. Yes. That would be glorious. But we should not hope for such. I better hope everyone is safe."

Danika marches on fiercely.

"I do not know these people, besides the vague descriptions the Burgermeister has given us. They should be easy enough to recognize, I trust."

"I mean, yes. That's why we're heading out isn't it, give them some backup - stronger together and all that."
Taking a breath and catching up to Danika's renewed pace.
"I wonder if any of them are attractive? Davros maybe - tall, dark and woodsy, probably a brooding, mysterious type... not that I'm looking for anything y'know, but... out in the wilds for weeks on end, can pull people together - We had a few guests in the tavern who were clearly more than just adventuring companions, so it's not uncommon."

Davros will pick up Tracy (if she still is unable to walk properly, if she can, he will try to support her) and place her on the disk, sighing at the lack of help from the half-orc. And follows the group carrying her back.

While Tracy in her current state is an unmistakable hindrance it is against his moral compass and teachings to leave a child like that.

"Attractive?" Danika shakes her head a little as she listens to Florina. "You'd better focus on the task at hand, instead of the looks of you potential future companions. Don't let yourself be distracted from duty. How pleasant slme distractions might even be." Danika says, feeling a little guilty from having herself be distracted by a bit to much wine last night.

"Yes. I am focussed, but contrary to some people's opinions, my mind has space to think of more than one thing at once. And it's not like I'm going to be any less professional if they all turn out to be old men or trullish Neanderthals." Florina's tone is teasing, but she does drop her tone lower at the suggestion they might be getting close.

Davros braces himself with enduring the renowned crying from Tracy once they will put the dead man's body on the disk for transportation.

At the same time the forester does his best to keep an eye out for any unwanted attention from the surrounding woods and the road.

Tracy steels herself with the sight of her father ahead. She looks to Garrosh, "Could you carry me so my father has a place?" as she knows there is no way for her to walk. She doesn't want to be on the disk with her father's corpse. She has fallen to her knees just siding off the disk.

With the afternoon day still looking good, short monk gladiator Estelle looks on and says, "Would be best if her father did get something right."

Little barbarian warrior Spraint adds, "We aren't that far from Durker either." The body is only going to get worse with yet another day outside here. Neither Estelle or Spraint look to have bags or really any extra gear.

Garrosh just sighs and picks up Tracy, "Personally, I think it'd be better to just bury the body here instead of carrying it back to town, but it's not really my decision."

"Would rather not spend more time out here than necessary..."

Selbi stops in her tracks when Tracy slides off so the disk stops as well, then continues walking forward as Garrosh picks the girl up. "A more comfortable final resting place than the side of the road would be nice as well."