Chapter 3.2 - Return to the Golden Grain Inn

The party waits out the day in the Dim Forest. The day is hot and humid despite the shade. The wait is long and tedious.The hours creep by. In the distance, you hear the roar of a large predator, but there is no answering challenge and nothing dangerous appears.

Finally, the light begins to fade as the sun descends to the horizon. Chase leads the way to a place to ford the Realstream, and the party makes it across before true night has fallen. The night is warm and the forest thick with the sound of twilight creatures as the heroes proceed through the undergrowth to Cecily's Road. They then proceed east in the darkness.

Chase slows, and the group confers: how will they proceed? Do they produce light for the ranger and the others who cannot see, or does Aanbo, Morton, and Theran lead the rest of them by the hands down the dark road to the outskirts of Orlane? The moon will rise in a couple more hours, and once it does, the party will be able to navigate the village at night as long as they are out of the Dim Forest where the moonlight does not penetrate.

Despite their expectations of resistance, the party meets no gate or blockade as they descend Cecily's Road from the top of the rise overlooking the village of Orlane. It is still dark, though a faint glimmer on the distant forest horizon suggests that it won't be long before the moon rises.

Leading them confidently in front, sharpest-eared Theran hears a group of people talking just as the heroes draw even with the first buildings along the road. He taps Aanbo on the shoulder, and then the dwarf hears it, too. Seconds afterward, the party sees a glow in the distance, a light approaching from the lake's shore to the east. As the light advances, the party makes out a group of eight or ten people with lanterns ambling west toward the party along Cecily's Road. They don't seem particularly alert, and have not noticed the party yet. Each is armed with at least some kind of pole arm: a staff, a spear, a glaive...it's hard to tell with the swinging lanterns.

Each of you sees this, and can decide for yourselves (unless you have a silent way of communicating in the dark) whether you are going to Hide behind the closest structure, run ahead for the Golden Grain Inn, or do something else.
If you opt to Hide, roll a Stealth check.
If you opt to run, roll an Athletics check.

A picture is worth more words than I can effectively use to describe the two groups' locations.


The party's current location is marked with the STAR.
The other group's current location is marked with a spear-toting guard token.
Reminder: private establishments are PURPLE, public businesses are GREEN, and outbuildings are BROWN.
On this close-up:
1 is the Golden Grain Inn.
2 is the bridge across the Realstream River.
3 is the Weaver's shop.
4 is the Jeweler's shop.
5 is the Slumbering Serpent Inn.
8 is the Mill.

The several buildings that are not labeled are blank because the party has not investigated them and does not know who or what lives/works there.