Session 21: Notes and Offroading

The morning started off well enough. Our friend Ice let us know that he had definitely not been kidnapped and we collected his things from his room for safe keeping until we meet back up in Sharn.
 
We stopped by a food stand so the flesh bags could get sustenance. While we were their Toox had a run in with her young friends again and they had really pissed her off this time. I located where the pigeon they had shot had come from and talked with the other pigeons. I informed them that the young students hide bird seed in their collars. I wish I could see the chaos that's sure to follow.
 
We finally got back on the road and left the town.
*sigh*
This trip has reminded me why I hate being in towns. The constant pained cries from Romanesco and the others is always worse in places like that. Now that we've left their screaming has dropped to a mere grumble. It's so pleasant.
 
Then we encountered "the thing". I can't say if it was a pit fiend or not but I felt the aura of dread that is know to accompany such creatures. The evil in this place will likely need to be destroyed. But only once I'm ready to tackle such a terrible creature. I don't know if the reckoning will kill such a beast and the last thing I want are things like this taking over once civilization has crumbled to dust. I guess even after everyone's dead, I'll need to scour the world of such threats before I can begin the re-seeding. In any case I've marked this location for additional future research.
 
Then we encountered the crossroads. There was an obvious bandit sign re-directing travelers to take a detour around a portion of the main road. We of course were not to be deceived by such an obvious ruse and continued along the main road. Unfortunately, other dangers lurked upon the path. We were beset upon by a mad wizard that was astride a tamed wyvern. He conjured storms of wind and ice in our path. It was so frightful that our driver went mad as well and Celosia was forced to take control of the carriage. She did her best but ultimately lost control of the vehicle. The rest of us tried to fend off the wizard with arrows. Thankfully, Toox is a crack shot with a bow and was able to put him down with a few volleys.
 
We were able to right the wagon and make repairs to before it.....exploded??!!
 
This trip just keeps getting worse and worse. I'm staring to wonder if house Orien isn't trying to assassinate Terryn (our driver) by sending him on this trip and we are merely acceptable collateral damage.
 
I think it's starting to sink in to everyone just how expendable house Orien sees us. As a warforged I'm used to people just treating me as a thing. I get the impression however that others in my group are not used to such attitudes. For example, I saw Celosia break down in tears after being unable to sleep. So, she indulged in a bit of light research in order to collect her thoughts and regain her composure.
 
But, it makes little sense to abandon our commission at this point. We've made it this far, we should do what we can to finish it while not dying in the process. But I think any further work with house Orien will need to be taken under serious consideration as their jobs seem to invite danger.