Combat Continues!
- Rook casts Wrathful Smite, hoping the big man is not all that wise. He slashes at Ludfrond but the Claw bangs off of the breastplate. Metras fires an arrow into Rook, who loses control of his Smite. Metras ducked back down to hide. Jenserel tries to execute a quick mount on her horse but does not quite make it. She begins to ride south down the road but turns back and casts a Hypnotic Pattern on the melee behind the wagon. While Rook shakes off the effect, Ludfrond, Rhyna, and Faelon find themselves incapacitated and unable to move. Askelon recognizes the spell right away and knows its effects. He rides forward and kicks Faelon gently to rouse him from the hypnosis and continues moving toward Jenserel. Weyliri, seeing from a distance that things are going south, especially with Hjalgrimm also still on the ground laughing, casts a Guiding Bolt at the Gnome Kalmin, nailing him hard. He still manages to maintain control of his spell over the Khuzdul cleric. Askelon unleashes a Necrotic Bolt into the fleeing Bard.
- Rook reaches into a bag on his belt, produces one of his recently purchased smoke grenades, and throws it onto the ground just behind the wagon. He then dashes underneath the wagon and spies an escape hatch in the bottom of the wagon floor. Metras pops up and fires an arrow at Faelon, but the monk catches the arrow and throws it at the Halfling, but misses. Metras hides again. Faelon moves up and tries to slash Kalmin with Dragon, but fails to connect. He then lands an unarmed strike using Flurry of Blows. Still, the stubborn Gnome retains control of his spell. Jenserel goes for another fancy distraction, this time leaning to the side of her horse and casting a spell that makes it appear that she has fallen off of her horse. From this vantage, only Askelon can see this, and he is skeptical - he sees through the ruse. With that casting, she has relinquished control of the Hypnotic Sphere, and those affected snap out of the hypnosis. Weyliri pulls out her crossbow and shoots a bolt into Kalmin, who is looking really bad again. Kalmin, in really bad shape, chugs a Potion of Healing.
- At this point, Ludfrond is enraged and decides to end this irritating Dwarf. He yells out something in Giantish and doubles in size. He pounds Hjalgrimm twice and the hapless Dwarf stops moving. He turns his attention to Rhyna and slams his maul into her as well. Askelon casts Wither an Bloom on the area, damaging the Gnome and the Halfling and providing a healthy amount of healing to Hjalgrimm. This time, Kalmin loses control of his Hideous Laughter spell. Seeing what this monster of a Drughu has done to Hjalgrimm, Rhyna winds up with her Zurinda Striker and lays solid blow into the giant man, hitting with a critical strike. She spins around and pounds the huge man again with her weapon. He drops to the ground and shrinks back to his normal size.
- Kalmin casts a spell that turns him into a green mist and he begins to float up into the air. Askelon recognizes Green Mist and tells everyone that the mist can be attacked. Faelon tries to slash the mist as it leaves his threatened space with Dragon but has no effect. Rook very carefully pulls himself up into the wagon and spies the hiding Metras. He surprises the Halfling and sinks his blue Claw into the Rogue. The Halfling drops his shortbow and draws a shortsword and dagger. He strikes at Rook but fails to connect.
- Weyliri decides that she cannot allow the Gnome mage to escape, so she fire another Guiding Bolt at the fleeing mist. The mist is shredded, and a reconstituted Gnome falls from the sky, slamming into the back gate of the wagon, quite dead. Faelon, hearing the melee inside the wagon, leaps up and slashes at the Halfling Rogue with Dragon, but misses again. However, he connects with Phoenix, wounding him badly. Hjalgrimm stands, and with grim determination, he places Arya's Bukrai Blade squarely on the chest of the fallen Drugu, who is still breathing. He declares "Morgath has decided that this shall not be the day I join the Void." He casts Thunderous Smite, and with all his might, he slams down on the greatsword, impaling the Drughu into the road. The Goliath breathes no more. Part of his essence flows into Hjalgrimm as Bukrai.
- Now the chase is one with Jenserel fleeing at top speed and Askelon giving chase. The Necromance connects with a lightning based Chromatic Orb, staggering the Bard. Back inside the wagon, Rook takes advantage of the distraction caused by Faelon's strike, places both claws on either side of the startled Halfling's neck, and severs the Rogue's head.
- Jenserel casts Vicious Mockery at Askelon, insulting him using his father's disappearance, and Askelon replies with a Necrotic Bolt. This scenario repeats three times before Jenserel loses control of her reins long enough for Askelon to catch up to her. He jumps down from his horse and touches the Sindarin Bard with Inflict Wounds, ending her existence on this plane. He feels the Bukrai flow into him.
- All of the opponents, except for the charmed bandit, are dead. The party regroups behind the wagon.
- The bandit that was captured remains completely devoted to Weyliri. She has declared that he is our newest convert of the Enslaver of Hearts and Loins, her goddess Halea. She has placed a Holy Symbol around his neck.
- After getting the three most wounded healed up the group stripped the dead bodies and searched the wagon. They smashed in the heads of the dead and dragged them a distance beyond the hedges to the east side of the road. They collected the following loot:
- Larethian's Lament
- Potion of Healing
- Potion
- Kalmin's Spellbook
- Spell Component Belt with pouches of material components
- Leather Armor x4
- Shield
- Rapier
- Short Sword
- Daggers x4
- Longbow x3
- Shortbow
- Quiver x4
- 60 arrows, 20 blunted arrows
- Maul
- Javelins x4
- 70GP
- Pony
- Percheron Riding Horse
- Esaldin's Theatrical Stage Wagon: A covered wagon that sleeps 4 and has a lot of storage containers. The middle of the floor has a trap door. The back panel or side panels can be opened to create a stage or a puppet theater. It is elaborately carved, embossed and painted. The name panel on the front reads "Company of Esaldin."
- Covered Wagon
- Draft Horses x2
- Disguise Kits x2
- Woodworkers Tool Kit
- Painter's Kit
- Miscellaneous stage props
- Rations x28
- The Drughu's chain mail is destroyed.
- Faelon combines his Painter's Toolkit and Calligrapher's Toolkit with the Painter's Toolkit from the wagon, and he, Rhyna, Weyliri reworked the decorations on the wagon. They transformed the circus- and theater-like theme into one of oriental motifs and elements of nature, with subtle erotic flavors and hidden plays on images. With the support of the rest of the team, they completed the transformation in one hour! Even Weyliri's new acolyte, who she calls "My Corathar," pitched in as she directed him.
- After getting the three most wounded healed up the group stripped the dead bodies and searched the wagon. They smashed in the heads of the dead and dragged them a distance beyond the hedges to the east side of the road. They collected the following loot:
- As the sun dips to the western horizon, the party crosses the bridge over the stream to enter Kobing. They can see the battle practice grounds in front of them, covered in black mud, and Caer Kobing on a hill ahead and to their right. Hjalgrimm reminds the group about what he learned while chilling with the Oselmarch soldiers at Oselbridge - there is an obnoxious Halfling blacksmith here name Briadoc, there is a brothel called Targ's Tawdries, there is an old Aenarin woman that most people think is rather odd who is an apothecary, and there are two inns. The Dragon and Damsel is popular with merchants and travelers, while the Road Warden's Inn is nicer and more expensive, and caters to soldiers mostly.