The Caravan

Narissa wanders along with the caravan humming to herself and keeping an eye on the forest to the sides. Unlike the woods around Jinglepot which were open and airy there was a claustrophobic feel about this place as everything seemed to press in and down upon them.

Auras is quite pleased with how the trip been even helped get supplies for the caravan. Though some thing seem off to her about this place and she hated it as she did her best to keep her eyes peeled for trouble. (Will add more in a bit for the past posts.)

As the group cautiously entered the forest, the feeling of danger that Arphaxad felt before elevated to a point where he volunteered to be the rear guard for the caravan. In these strange storied woods, one can never be too careful. The dragonborn drew his weapons and proceeded to scan the forest at the rear of the group for any danger or strange things.

Taz fought the urge to feel nervous about the darkening forest by focusing on trying to put everyone else at ease. She pulled out her lute, and while moving alongside the caravan, she strummed out a light-hearted and gentle little ditty. Her aim was to be just enough to soothe those who were nervous without being so loud that she caused a huge disturbance while moving through the woods. Just background comfort, she hoped.

While doing so, she kept her bearing relaxed and a soft smile on her lips. Her gaze, however, swept routinely over the woods around them as the group moved.

Father Belathor feels alive in the forest, he feels all the life around him very intensely. Although he has tried to have a seat as much as possible on the trip so far, he makes a point of walking here, taking it all in.

Auras curses "we got company! Prepare to defend yourselves!" as she readies an attack spell as she gets ready to defend the caravan from the first enemy she sees That tries to attack.

"watch your flanks and form a circle with the wagons!" she commands.

The bard's singing certainly helped to ease off some tension felt around the caravan and despite himself, Arphaxad began to relax for a little bit. That small respite was interrupted suddenly however when he heard the human Auras shout out in alarm. At first, he was confused at what the white-eyed woman was shouting at then he saw it: multiple silhouettes emerging from the shadow of the forest trees. They look vaguely human-like and don't look to be friendly made evident by how quickly they moved towards the center of the caravan. Arphaxad cursed himself for not seeing the approaching figures which have now circled and surrounded the whole group.

The stories and legends have now taken shape.

The Dragonborn interposed himself between the dark woods and the middle of the caravaneers and raised his shield and readied his weapon while uttering a dwarven warcry:

Vennag Mahal de-do amuriz!
Vennag de-do amuriz uz!
Kaglem shmek um greu!
Un horlem demz luzdh!

Belathor stands close to Arphaxad, pulling a small piece of cloth and muttering a prayer,

"Lathander, protect this one with your everlasting light"

and he gently touches Arphaxad on the shoulder.

Narissa looks around, Bandits? Damn it. She'd really been enjoying the forest too, creepy though it was.

The half demon woman hefted her spear and quickly twisted the fingers of her right hand just so before touching her left arm. The gem in her choker glowed like a fireplace ember for a moment as a faint blue energy encircled her before fading quickly from view.

She positions herself between the forest and the caravan, pulling energy in so that she can cast frostbite on the first enemy to reveal themselves.

Belathor has his hand on the haft of his mace ready to draw it but waits to see what happens next. Perhaps this is a cousin or friend of Mork?

Taz gently swung her lute to her back, freeing her hands for her rapier in case the need arose. She neared Milly as she watched the orc approach, and took a quick inventory of the bearings of Mork, the bandits, and the caravan members. The grin on the orc's face didn't bode well for the caravan, though Taz didn't miss how he carefully took in the presence of more armed travelers than he was likely expecting.

"Hi!" she chirped, sliding from Milly's side to Mork's. She touched a hand to the half-orc's shoulder, attempting to wordlessly reassure him while she addressed the large fellow standing in their path. She knew the chance of talking their way out of this was a slim one, but even if she couldn't manage it, perhaps she could provide her companions some extra time to prepare themselves to defend the caravan.

"I'm Taz," she said, with a bright, friendly smile. "And that is a seriously impressive ax you've got there! Holy smokes, you must be a sight to see when you're fired up. I hope you're still here when our hunters catch up--they love impressive weapons. You should see the size of their blades! They'll be along any minute now. You wanna hang around for a bit and meet them?"

Yes, it was lying out of her ass. But she didn't see many nonviolent ways out of this moment, and she hoped that the orc would lose his thirst for a fight if he thought another several blades would soon be joining the already well-armed party.

Auras was not happy with anything at all. the situation was delicate, one wrong move could have a bloodbath on their hands. then taz had to go and bullshit the ork causing auras to slap her face internally. now what? Auras was thinking she was hoping to save her attack spell for the fight, but now she needed to rethink a strategy still holding to her attack spell she said trying to salvage the situation "good sirs you are blocking the road it would be good for us all if you lets us through unharmed. I would hate for any side to get hurt if it can be avoided."

Narissa lets out a sigh and Taz's painfully awful lie.

"They're bandits, they're unlikely to let us go without a fight or a sizable bribe." She grins showing off a mouthful of sharp teeth, "Of course the problem is they're holding up a bunch of penniless dirt farmers and equally penniless travelers so other than a very fine collection of pots and pans there really isn't much worth stealing here."

She shrugs wandering up next to Auras, "Certainly nothing worth anyone losing their life over that's for sure."

Arphaxad was bristling at seeing the exchange between his travelling companions and the band of bandits in front of them. Why are they bandying with them? There's nothing far worse than a horde of goblins, and kobolds than an orc. And a thieving one at that. granted he was travelling with an orc (or half an orc as it were) and he should be more tolerant of them but seeing a full blooded one having the gall to ask for a ''small toll'' when it's certainly a robbery removed any semblance of civility he had. It was compounded even more by seeing a dwarven woman among the bandits. Why would a noble dwarf cast their lot with this rabble? it doesn't make sense! Then having had enough, the warrior purposefully started to walk in front of the orc bandit with murder in his eyes. He was about to utter his war cry and lop off the orc's head when he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye.

The half-elven child was clinging tightly around his mother's body. The lad was shaking something fierce with all the fear permeating in the current situation. The boy didn't have a say in anything that is happening now. Seeing the hapless child deflated the anger Arphaxad was close to unlashing. The boiling kettle needs to be removed on the flame. Taking a few calming breaths, he tried to think of something to diffuse the situation to stop any bloodshed. But by Moradin's beard he won't be paying these scoundrels a scrap of copper. Trying to talk the party out of there was a foregone conclusion as made evident by Taz's failure and much to the masterful persuasion of Auras the bandits are still there demanding a toll. No he would try to resolve this in the only way he knows: by strength.

Noticing a boulder tucked between the bushes that the brigands came out of, an idea took root in his mind. It was the same size as the dwarven thug. His plan will have to work or there will be bloodshed. ''Oi ye buggers! I reckon ye need a little more convincing! why don't I show you that we're nae an easy mark that ye think of us!

Taz took a slow look around at her traveling companions, both the armed and the unarmed. While part of her knew this wasn't her call to make, she couldn't help but feel like a few of her armed associates were ready to respond emphatically to the orc's demands. It was scary to think of starting a fight so near to the rest of the caravan, where many of the travelers seemed close to defenseless. But the sight of the cowering half-elf kid sealed the matter for her.

If you don't stand up to bullies, bullies will always stand in your way.

"Unless you've got a crown shoved somewhere impolite, you're not a royal tax collector. You're just a bully, looking for an easy score. But there's not gonna be anything easy about this, unless you and your buddies take a hint and keep moving. If we have to really stop our travel and spend time teaching you folks some manners, you'll regret it."

Bolstered by the half-even Bard's words, Arphaxad strode over to the boulder that he was eyeing earlier on with more confidence. He flexed his arms for a bit making sure the brigands take a good look at his muscles. ''Oi Orc! See this boulder here? Imagine if this is your head...'' without preamble, the dragonborn fighter lifted his right arm, clenched his fist and quick as an arrow brought his hammer fist down on the rock's surface.