The Caravan

While Arphaxad's display of strength doesn't really seem to impress the orc, he does realize that he's not getting what he wants without a fight - a fight he doesn't appear willing to risk. He glances between all of you one more time, then turns to Mork. "Alright then, nobody here wants this to turn ugly. We'll take a nice and small sum of fifteen gold and then you can all be on your way again. Nobody needs to get hurt, eh?"

Mork considers for a moment and glances you all as well. Quietly, he asks: "That's... that's not a bad deal, right?"

The orc growls in disapproval. He clearly wasn't planning on being hired on for pay rather than to just get some quick money. But, as you realize, he and his crew must really need the money and they don't want to fight you, so he actually considers the suggestion.
After a moment, he says: "Lambor's Hold is two days journey away from here. We're not going to accompany you that far. But if it makes you feel better about this transaction, we will come with you until nightfall and guard you through the night in exchange for the gold." He shrugs and coughs out a dry laugh. "If you really want to trust us guarding you."

The orc turns his head to Narissa and chuckles. "You're welcome to try, devil-girl," he grunts. Then he turns to Arphaxad. "It's not our business to see if you make it all the way to Lambor's Hold. Fifteen gold and we make sure all of you survive the night."

There is general mistrust between caravanners and bandits but Mork enthusiastically agrees to the proposal and the bandits seem too dumbfounded by the idea to really protest.
And thus, the journey continues, now with an even larger group. The bandits, a total of eight men and women of different races, mostly stay amongst themselves. If you approach them and ask them questions, they answer briefly but without giving much about themselves away.
When one of you asks them about Lambor's Hold, the leader of the group, the orc named Mosh, says: "I heard about it. Oldest settlement in the forest, I believe. Never been there myself and, if the rumors are to be believed, not the best place to be these days." He laughs dryly but refuses to elaborate on it. When pressed he just mutters something about 'fey' and 'witches' but can't tell you more than that.

The remainder of the day passes without incident and the caravan does manage to reach the abandoned copper mine that Mork mentioned as the ideal spot for a night rest. The caravan pulls inside and builds up camp there while the bandits put up a small camp just outside and guard the entrance. They share your food, contributing some dry bread and mushrooms, and then you all settle in for the night. Milly puts guards up with the bandits throughout the night and while you are welcome to join the watch, she doesn't ask you to tonight.

There is a bit of commotion just before dawn as the bandits fight and scare off a pack of small catlike animals but other than that, the night is quiet and peaceful. When the sun rises again, Mork orders the camp to be taken down again and the caravan readies itself to depart. If everything goes well, it will reach Lambor's Hold late this day.

Before the caravan departs, Mork heads over to Mosh and hands him a small pouch. "Fifteen gold, as agreed," he says. "I can't say I like your methods, brother orc, but you do seem to be a good lot. Next time we pass through here, maybe we can come to an agreement with less trouble."

Milly watches the exchange from some distance with all of you. She scoffs and says: "More likely, next time he travels here without all of you, they won't agree to compromise and take twice as much to make up for this time. My company might normally be able to fight them off, but not if we have to protect civilians at the same time."

Once the business with Mosh and his company has been taken care off, the bandits take off towards the edge of the forest again while the caravan continues journeying deeper.
Most of the caravanners appear relieved by the fact that the bandits are no longer guarding them. While hiring them on had been a solution that worked out in the end, nobody had felt quite safe with them around.

The last day of the journey to Lambor's Hold starts out gloomy, heavy clouds covering the sun and allowing even less light to penetrate the canopy than usual.
It's cold and dreary and the morale of the travelers is getting lower and lower all day, hitting its low-point when, in the mid-afternoon, the clouds start opening up and heavy rain begins to fall, soaking not just the earthen ground and turning it into thick mud, but also the clothes of the travelers. Thunder cracks overhead and even Mork seems to be getting slightly nervous. "We shouldn't be traveling in a thunderstorm. Lightning might strike anywhere around here and fell a tree - or worse, light it on fire," he says.

"I'm not aware of any more shelter nearby," Milly replies. "Not until we reach the town. I don't like it any more than you do, but I think we have to just keep going."

The caravan continues to push forward. Mork tries to help out the general mood by giving out blankets or empty jute bags as many as he can spare so people can protect themselves from the rain but the fact that even he seems worried about the weather means most of the caravanners are looking scared and upset as well by thi spoint. The half-elf child is sitting on one of the carts now, completely hidden inside a large bag while his mother and father walk next to him.

"Another two or three hours, I'd estimate," Milly shouts over the rain and thunder in response to Narissa. "Unless we run into an obstacle, which in this weather is very possible."

"If we were to find some shelter, we could wait out the storm," Mork says. "But then we probably wouldn't make it to Lambor's Hold before nightfall."

"I don't like the idea of travelling after dark in this forest," Milly says. "But it's no worse than traveling in this storm." She turns to your group as you have proven very helpful so far on this trip. "Any thoughts on the matter? We could spread out and try and look for a cave to hide out in. Or brave the rain and thunder and keep going.