Against the Cult: The Next Day (1.2)

Durren, Quest, and Xana are soon sprinting together down Cecily's Road. Meanwhile, not much further east, at the wagon:
Round One

Rather than attempting to escape, Jonbon is pulling a dagger on Ogbar as they wrestle on the wagon. The wood creaks and groans as their weight shifts.

Round one, continued

Unable to see his assailant, Jonbon nevertheless pulls a dagger, but Ogbar is faster. His hatchet slashes down into Jonbon's shoulder with a crunch. The man's grunt turns into a whimper, and his wild eyes stare at the only person he can see - Aanbo, standing next to the placid ox - and the minstrel weakly attempts to stab back at the barbarian holding him. Ogbar easily fends off the stabbing dagger with his axe.

Round One, continued

Aanbo, assured that the ox is content to go nowhere, leaves the mortal combatants struggling at the front of the wagon, the wildly swinging lantern casting vast swinging shadows across the road. In the back of the wagon, he steps up into the bed and removes the tarp. Underneath, laid out like a pile of scrolls back at the monastery, is the Jarl family: Elista, Abella, Emiless, Torren, and Wenderly, all of whom were active when the dwarf last saw them a few hours ago. Now, they're piled atop one another, all oriented in the same direction with their feet toward the tail gate, nestled in between two kegs in the bed.Result: Even in the crazily-swinging light and struggling figures of the two combatants casting dancing shadows over the back of the wagon, Aanbo's darkvision is acute enough to see that Wenderly and Torren (stacked atop the others) are still breathing. They seem asleep...a deep, sound sleep, but nothing like the deathly sleep that Devek exhibited.

Round two

Ogbar hacks into the singer's back this time. Jonbon's struggling becomes more desperate, and he bites down hard on the barbarian's hand over his mouth as he tries to drop and roll out of his grasp.

Round two, continued

Jonbon is unable to break Ogbar's hold, though he's grinding his teeth on the barbarian's fingers.

Aanbo is relieved to see at first glance that the smallest kids (Wenderly and Torren, stacked on top of the others) are alive, but deeply asleep. He steps up and shifts the bodies carefully to confirm that everyone there is still breathing, though strangely they do not wake when he shifts them.

Managing her breathing a bit better, Xana passes Quest and Durren as they have to pause to catch their wind. So she is the first to see the humanoid shape in the road, holding a lantern.

Round three

Ogbar chops a new gash in Jonbon's back and Jonbon attempts another weak series of jabs at his attacker, but he remains unable to hit behind himself hard enough to do any serious damage. Ogbar has only nicks and shallow cuts from the wildly waving blade, and he can tell that the fight is going out of the minstrel.

Aanbo shakes Elista to no effect. He reluctantly slaps her, and she groans, her eyes flutter, and then close again. This is not natural sleep; she's been drugged or bespelled somehow. He calls out encouragement to Ogbar.

Ogbar is struggling with Jonbon in the front of the wagon (attack submitted for turn four).
Xana is approaching a figure holding a lantern in the road.
Quest and Durren are gasping for breath, trying to catch up to the little gnome warlock. They can just see the light of the lantern ahead.

End of round three