Ihon scratches the scars on his neck as he looks into the distance. People, he says, almost wearily.
Phaedra speaks quietly. "Well, those people are probably better to run into than more demons or their summoners. Best to be obvious, we don't want them to think we are trying to hide and there may be more of them."
Phaedra will wave towards the men as they continue to walk up to them. "Greetings fellow travelers, how are the roads looking today?"
Andre waves, and tugs at the cord to make sure his own holy symbol is plainly visible.
One of the pair speaks, hand on the hilt of a sheathed longsword. We saw a bright flash and heard a crash. What happened? They both seem wary, but do not draw their weapons at the moment.
"Oh, yes. We ran into a demon and it attacked us. So we had to kill it. At least no one else needs to worry about running into that thing anymore."
Sazu, a bit nervous as usual, just glances around to make sure there's no ambush waiting for them.
There doesn't appear to be anyone waiting in ambush for you that you can see.
The pair moves their hands into a more relaxed position after Phaedra speaks to them, seeming to be a bit less guarded.
A demon...did all of this? Well what about the cultists? Did you deal with their blight?
After they speak a being pops out of nowhere behind you, the same imp that you spoke with before.
Yeah, did you end the threat?! It speaks with a quick and almost impatient tone, but it is clearly a bit bored, flying up and down as if to entertain itself. The appearance of the imp causes the pair of humans you were talking to to draw their weapons, though they don't actually attack it for now.
Ihon tilts his head as he looks between the two humans and the imp. His face looks impassive as he stands there in silence.
"Well, we certainly killed a lot of cultists and their demon. I can't say for certain if we have gotten them all yet."
One of the humans narrows their eyes, This is no place for you, devil. They hold their weapons at the ready. The imp seems to pay them basically no attention and just responds to Phadera.
Well...did you get the threat are you going to go back and report in? I mean I guess you can stay if you want to kill every single cultist you find...
"Killing cultists was on the to-do list," Sazu mutters.
"We've cleared out this portion for now, it seems."
"Indeed," Andre says, glaring at the imp. "We're done for now."
The humans bark out, Begone, devil. The imp just sighs, shaking its head. Don't you know where you are? Shoo, it says, waving dismissively. That clearly incenses the humans and it looks like a conflict might be brewing if none of your group intercedes.
Get back to the city if you're done. At least that's what they say. The imp says as it flies in a lazy loop.
Phaedra looks over at the followers of Erastil. "I will admit that the imp is annoying, but he is currently serving as a messenger for the Crown, so please, do not attack him."
"As for you imp. You may go inform them that we are on our way back to town."
"Indeed," Andre says. "We'll be back soon."
Ihon scratches the scars on his neck as he continues to look between the imp and the followers of Erastil.
Sazu plays a small marching tune as they make their way back to civilization.
The imp just hisses at the humans and then turns invisible. The humans, for their part, seem a bit perturbed, but don't stop you if you turn to leave.
It will be difficult, but possible, to bring the chests all the way back to the city to report in, but you should be able to haul them back to the trading post if you want to.
"I think these chests will be a pain in the arse to haul all the way back to the city. How about we just drag them to the trading post and see if we can find some equipment there to open them up with?
If we rest, I can...fix...them. He scratches his neck as he looks out into the woods. Maybe.
Amideo says, "I would like to take it easy on Mahouf. He's not the burliest of horses. I think we should get to the trading post, open them up, and sell what we don't need. We can take any items of note with us."
Finding a clearing to set up camp is easy enough and you are able to get to rest without interference.
Ihon takes the last watch, as usual.
Andre offers to take an early shift, since he has to wake up early to pray in any case.
Amideo offers to take the first watch, finding it easier to stay awake late then wake up early.
Sazu is sleeping away like a log, his wooden armor placed on the side of his bedroll. At times he tosses and turns, before resuming the stillness of deep rest.
The night passes without any incident. In the morning the trip back to the trading post is uneventful, but as soon as you arrive the people there are bustling with questions. Almost everyone stops you to ask about the flash of light and the sound and it is clear that at least some of what happened was visible and audible from here. People are not in a panic or running for the hills, but the incident has clearly occupied local gossip.
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Ihon casts dispel magic on the boxes to dismiss the magical traps before opening them.
He'll check for traps with detect magic and if they appear to be gone, he will say. You can open them now.
Sazu excitedly opens a box and quite literally leans so far that half his body is inside as he pulls out what was once locked within.
Total there is the following in the chests:
97 gp, 365 sp, 975 cp
Black Pearl (600 gp)
Coral (100 gp)
Lapis Lazuli (8 gp)
Onyx (45 gp)
Peridot (40 gp)
Peridot (50 gp)
Rhodochrosite (9 gp)
Sardonyx (50 gp)
Turquoise (7 gp)
Turquoise (11 gp)
Masterwork Handaxe (306 gp)
Masterwork Light Crossbow (335 gp)
Oil of Magic Stone
Scroll of Calm Animals
Scroll of Silent Image
Wand of Read Magic
Ihon sorts through the material, looking at it with detect magic. As they sort the gear away he picks up the magical bracers that they retrieved before, examines those as well, then puts them on. Useful.
"Hmm, a good bit of gems and coins here. Wonder where they got all of this stuff from."
"Wonder if this town is big enough to exchange all of those gems for coins or if we'll have to wait till we hit a bigger city."
The current trading post is enough to exchange the gems you just received for cash if you'd like to sell them, but the gems themselves are obviously lighter in terms of carrying weight.
In addition to trading with you all, people are clearly interested in a report of what has been happening. While no one is threatening, there are numerous people willing to buy any one of you a drink for information.
Ihon will arrange to sell the gear, holding on to the gems are part of his share (unless anyone objects). Tallying out a share of 2868gp and 9cp to each other member of the party.
With a recount of the total gold earned for the excursion, Sazu is the first to suggest,
"We should find more caves like this."
Amideo smiles and says to Sazu, "I certainly agree. Less demons would be nice though."
The trip down to the large city of Kintargo is largely uneventful. It is quite long, however, but you are able to find a passing trade caravan that you can travel in the wake of. Doing so keeps away most of the bandit attacks and prevents any small bothers from accosting you.
When you arrive Kintargo is as bustling as always and it clearly hasn't heard of any demons or flashes of light in the nearby forest. Everything is business as usual.
"So....what do you think should be the first order of business?" Sazu directs towards Ihon. Having traveled with the caster for a few days now, Sazu had grown a bit more accustomed to the silence the man seemed to carry with him. But he wa always reliable when he needed to say something, and when he said it, it was usually useful.
"Or anyone really. Restocking and resupplying might be in order, but then we should improve our gear, eh?"