TTB: C2E23 - Through the woods and over the river Part 3 Report

General Summary

As they stepped into the clearing, thinking that they must be close to the sentry lines once more by now, two, three, then a fourth figure stepped into it from the opposite end. For a heartbeat, everyone stood frozen, then time caught up to them all once more and each of them burst into action.   Two of the sentries drew short swords and daggers, closing to the center of the clearing and standing at the ready; an unspoken challenge in their eyes. The other two unslung longbows from their shoulders and stood side-by-side at the treeline, taking aim at The Bound. For their part, our heroes also readied themselves and leapt into battle. DIGE and Katrina Runesong strode forward to stand toe-to-toe with the bandits. Ceasar Andit hexed one of the archers and then launched an eldritch blast that found its mark easily. As it did so, however, he felt the magic ... echo? recoil? rebound? ... slightly and suddenly felt he had a better understanding of the world around him. Chance remembered all too well their previous encounters with archers, and skirted the edge of the clearing, staying just close enough to cast an enlarge spell on DIGE and Katrina and then ducking behind a tree for cover.   The melee in the center of the clearing quickly turned in favour of our heroes, given the size advantage that Chance had just granted them. In her enlarged form, Katrina's halberd could reach an enemy from 15 feet away, and did! The archers were frustrated by DIGE's adamantine body, and quickly chose easier targets. Ceasar launched another eldritch blast their way, striking true once more. This time he saw, rather than felt, the magic echo somewhat. It was like a shadow of the bolt of eldritch energy hung in the air for a moment as its twin scorched the chest of the archer; and then that shadow coalesced and formed a shadow spear that Ceasar found he could control as a spiritual weapon.   Before long, one bandit lay dead, one archer bore multiple wounds, and the leader of the group of sentries was calling for the archers to fall back and alert others that they were under attack. The archers launched one last volley of arrows and slipped into the heavy woods on the far side of the clearing. Ceasar, Chance, and DIGE gave chase as best they could, but they quickly lost sight of their quarry. Katrina fell back to finish the remaining bandit. Eventually, the party managed to converge on the archers once more and picked them off easily.   The battle had been won, but it had drained them so soon after their previous encounter. The group collectively acknowledged that they needed shelter, and a good, long rest before attempting to execute their plan to ambush the orcs. They all agreed that they likely had time on their side. The auction was unlikely to occur for at least another day, if not two. They were also now successfully behind the sentry lines and unlikely to encounter further resistance until the camp itself; unless they were unlucky enough to stumble into a hunting party. So it was that they scouted out a defensable camp, augmented it with a bit of a trench that Ceasar dug, and then slept through the remainder of the day and night; taking turns at watch.   In the morning they made their way towards the river. DIGE had spent time while resting to fashion a hand drill and auger bit, as well as ensure that he had a crowbar handy. When they hit the river several hours later they turned downriver and followed its southern bank for some distance. Eventually, they caught the slight scent of wood smoke, and unwashed bodies. Nearing a bend in the river, DIGE waded silently out into it, his head sinking below the water not far from the bank. The rest of the party stayed behind, not wanting to reveal themselves by coming around the bend.   DIGE came across the hulls of three keel boats not too much further downriver from where he entered. They were maybe 10 feet wide and 16 feet long. He move to the one furthest downriver and began his work. Grabbing his drill he jabbed the end of the bit up into the wood of the hull. He'd expected the boat to be heavier, but it was surprisingly light and his jab sent it rocking lightly side to side. Muffled though the sound was underwater, he could hear grunts of alarm from above and moments later the boat rocked again, and dropped lower into the water, as the weight of lookouts who had come to investigate the cause for the rocking boat was added to it.   DIGE moved carefully to the middle boat, and took care to much more gently place his drill to it. He was able to drill the required holes slowly, causing just the faintest ripple to develop in the water from the otherwise imperceptable rocking of the boat as he drilled. He repeated this with the final boat (the one closest to his friends) and then pulled out his crowbar, preparing to pry the boards of the hull away.