Prologue: Troubles at Red Larch.

Yohna leaves a length of rope off the bandit's ties, as a sort of lead to make sure she doesn't scarper on their way back to town. Wrapping it around her own wrist, she jerks her head in a motion for their prisoner to stand. "Come on." She says to the others. "Let's see what the others have gotten up to." She hands Falka the rope on the way past, trusting the dwarf to be a harder force to resist than herself.

The cleric heads up to the northern chamber, stopping at the body of Grum with an approving nod and then stepping over it. "Anything of note?" She asks, finding herself on the receiving end of a rather ominous dictation of a letter. "That sounds... Troublesome. Perhaps we ought to look into it... Though for today, the lot of you seem a little ragged. I, for one, could kill for a bath. We managed to catch one alive." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, regardless of whether or not Falka was there with the captive. "So perhaps we should head back to Red Larch and rest."

"Ever heard of thisss perssson Holger? Contactsss in Red Larch meansss sssomeone isss not who they sssay they are? Maybe we find out about new people arriving? Or known people acting ssstrange?"

Since he does not want to waste a use of his Healing Light, Breezy approaches Falka. The elemental energy flows through him and his eyes begin to glow the familiar blue-white, as his fingers intertwine in an intricate pattern. With a flourish, he waves his hands toward the knight, a glowing ball of plasma striking her solidly. The energy encompasses her wounds, bringing with it a stinging cold that eventually hardens, shatters and falls away. Beneath, her wounds show signs of near-complete healing.

"So we haven't gotten them all yet? There are more bandits hiding out in town? How will we find them? I don't remember meeting anyone named Holger. It's probably a code name, huh?"

Yohna glances a few times at the seal, turning it this way and that to see if anything comes to mind, but ends up stowing it and making a mental note to study it later to see if she can identify the seal.

"'Bandits', probably not, Lady Midnight. But someone is definitely there. After all, what bandit uses a wax seal, and a signet ring at that, by the looks of things." Putting her concerns aside for the moment, she approaches the body of Grum and gives a slight chuckle as she kneels by it, spying the arrow hole through his eye. "Quite the shot, Master Vardo. I imagine that wiped the smug grin off his face." She smiles at the rogue briefly, then stands back up.

"Now... Shall we go and collect our payment?"

The caves investigated and the last bandit in custody, Breezy examines the area one last time. Seeing the bandit leader's finely kept battle axe, he grimaces slightly as he picks it up.

"At the very leassst we can salvage thisss for more coin. It looksss well-made." Looking at the rest of the group for any objection, Breezy hefts the thing to his back and then gets ready to head back to Red Larch. Helping the captive bandit to her feet, he says "The lord of ice and air granted you a reprieve today. You ssshould hope that the conssstable doesss the sssame tomorrow."

Yohna sighs and shakes her head. "Yes, yes, bluster all you want. But the fact is that bandits prey on the weak and undeserving, those who just want to go about their lives. A bounty hunter is pointed in the direction of a specific enemy, usually of your kind, and eliminates them. While the payoff is the same, the objective is different." She gives the bandit a condescending pat on the shoulder as she breezes past. "More or less, don't lump me in with vagrants like you. I can't speak for my comrades, but I for one am happy to see an end to your terrorizing. The gold is a bonus."

"Agreed Yohna, helping people is the more important part for me.
Having seen real conflict, war, I know how fragile we all are, how vulnerable civilisation is.
I will not let trash who prey on the weak go unchallenged."

Keavan moves to one side of the chest, ready to lift it.

"Anyone want to help me with this?"

Breezy immediately steps away, looking around as if he heard nothing of the request, whistling softly to himself as they begin the trek back.

"I would help you Keavan, but I'm too small to carry something that big. I've heard of spells that can help... I've been looking for a book or teacher to learn it from. Maybe there's..." She looks around as if searching for a something that can help with the chest. She sees Breezy walking the other direction with the axe. "Breezy, you should help!" she hustles over behind the tall blue man and taps him gently on his side to get his attention. "Hey... can you help Keavan carry that chest? It looks pretty heavy. I can carry that axe for you."

Vardo chuckles and steps to the other side of the chest. "I don't feed myself by being able to lift heavy objects, but I can help carry it at least part way." He helps Keavan lift the chest and begin carrying it back out of the cave system.

When they reach the first corner he yells, "Pivot...pivot!" and then laughs to himself before continuing with their task.

Looking confusedly at Midnight, Breezy looks toward Keavan and the box. before he says anything, he is saved by Vardo's offer to help. With a nod of thanks to the elf, he retains his grip on the axe and replies "If the time comesss where I mussst help, I ssshall try to do ssso. Then you may have the axe. Until then, I ssshall remain on rear guard with the thief."