Chapter 4.2: The Dim Journey to Orlane

That's the end of round four. If not pacified, Fern is at least temporarily disarmed and cowed, and with Ene asleep, the fight is over.

Each PC gains 35 XP, and we are out of initiative and rounds.

Dell releases the tension on the bow, slides the arrow back in the quiver, and shoulders the bow. Moving quickly to Sora's side, he stoops and efficiently uses 10' of his rope to tie up Ene without waking her. Just as he's finishing, she wakes up (the spell wears off) and starts yelling.
Pulling against Berthold's tight grip, Fern shouts at her: "STOP IT, ENE! I'M RIGHT HERE!"
"THEY'VE GOT ME TIED UP!"
"You're not dead, Ene!" Fern is red in the face. "Everyone else is!"
Ene gasps, and in the momentary silence, Fern adds: "I know you're scared. Screaming isn't going to help. There's no good men around to hear it, and it might just make these mad enough to kill you for it."

Dell gathers up the six swords of the bandits outside and tosses them in the wagon, and then sets the three light crossbows that are still in operable condition (there was one more, but it broke when dropped) in the bed next to the swords. Gathering them all together, Dell counts 30 handmade bolts for the ranged weapons, which he puts in two quivers in the bed as well. The bandits carried no money; whether pickings were slim or because they weren't out robbing, they had returned with nothing to add to the loot sack that Berthold found earlier in the house.

None of the corpses bear jewelry, scars, or any other marking of a spiral. The two captive women glare fearfully; they do not appear to have any such adornments, either.

Just to recap:
- It is mid-morning of Day 28. The party set out from Hochoch to join the other Dungeon Busters in Orlane, to help investigate the cult in Orlane and rescue captured guild members.
- The party is a day's journey west of that village at the Jarl family farm, which bandits had discovered empty and were using as a hideout.
- The party has killed ten bandits and captured two others, Ene and Fern.
- There is no sign that these bandits are connected to the cult in Orlane, but they admitted that they were part of Black's gang.
- Some of the other Dungeon Busters (NPCs) have been investigating Bandit Black in the region in parallel with the cult investigation in Orlane.

While Dell methodically strips the sprawled corpses of their belongings, Kazzak yells at Fern. Her arm still held tightly in Berthold's grip, Fern turns her head to look at Kazzak shouting at her. She doesn't say anything about how the Dungeon Busters were the ones that snuck into their home and laid in wait for them, how they surprise-attacked her friends, murdering them with no attempt at conversation. She doesn't have to; if he lives to 200, he won't forget the look of scathing contempt she gives for (what she sees as) his hypocritical accusation.

"Why..." Ene is gasping for breath between sobs as Sora talks to her, saying that the Dungeon Busters want some answers. "Why didn't you just ask??" When Dell states his intent to gag her if she screams, Ene's eyes bug out in fury. Cords standing out in her neck, she rolls around on the ground, bound hand and foot, splashing in the mud formed of her companions' blood, clearly on the edge of screaming in rage at this promise of further abuse. As it is, she grunts with inarticulate anger, unable to decide on any one set of imprecations to invite all the gods to throw at him.

As Amnestria looks on impassively and Antonius drags bloody corpses across the yard, Sora waves Dell away and looks down at Ene writhing on the ground. A few paces away, Berthold keeps a tight grip on Fern's elbow, and the white-lipped bandit frowns but stays silent as the monk pumps her helpless friend for answers. "Are you part of Black's gang, and what do you know about what is going on in Orlane?" Her writhing has brought her face down, so Ene's voice is muffled and she spits mud as she responds. "Yes, I am - was - part of Black's gang. There's just Fern and me now; not much of a gang. Dunno when Black will show up." With a painful undulation of her body, she manages to heave herself up and over onto her side so she can breathe more easily. "Orlane? All I know is that most trade has stopped. One of the last groups we held up said that people were disappearing, and they didn't mean just leaving. Supposedly they're vanishing in the night. There's been talk of these people being eaten, too, by a giant multi-headed monster, but I dunno about that. I figure it's a gang war, more likely."

Sora asks: "What happened to the owners of this farm?" Ene rolls her eyes: "How should I know? Maybe they got eaten, or got scared and ran off? There wasn't anybody here when we found the place, but it looks like whoever was here left in a hurry: some of their livestock were wandering loose. Made for good eating."

Fern replies, as Berthold is grappling her. "Yeah, he shows up, or one of his representatives: one of those little lizards."