Angus: the only woman you can see is Pontia, who is 'moderately attractive'.
The dead men have swords and armour.
Daxius and Hyngrot: You charge forward and immediately find yourself in a tangled knot of woodland.
The moss grows on this side (knowledge nature DC10)
Follow th egame trail (survivial DC10)
Pick one and try the check to pass safely through the area.
If you want to go super-fast, you can try two checks in one round but htat is harder. You must declare this before attempting it and I will tell you the next check you stumble across.
Daxius grunts in frustration as he gets tangled up in the underbrush. He tries to keep his quarry in sight and heads for the trail.
Hyngrot follows behind the inquisitor, trying to keep pace at first. Realizing this would drag out, Hyngrot decides to risk a shortcut.
The wizard casts detect magic and starts looking over the dead and dying bandits, then moves on to the house.
Snapping out of his battle-daze, Nicolai looks about. "Can anyone spare a poultice?" he calls out a bit meekly.
As they move onward, he looks toward Angus, and asks, "Forgive me...but illegal use of tankard?"
Angus grins at Nicolai as he recounts that particular crime.
"Heh, Oh that was a great one. A stupid noble decided to try and run me through with a toothpick. It got caught in the mug I had just finished off and next thing he knows, it's flying through the air and the tankard is connecting with his head."
He frowns as he swishes an empty bottle around and chunks it over his shoulder into the trees.
"Damn bandits, drank all the booze."
Daxius skips along the game trails after the bandits, Hyngrot begins to accelerate away
Either
Smoke them out: Survival DC 10 (if you have access to fire/smoke)
or
They're just bees!: Fortitue DC15
Angus thinks he has found his punch dagger, but it turns out to be a broken shovel handle.
Pontia's magical sight finds nothing arcane or divine on the bandits.
The surviving bandits duck forward through the undergrowth.
Daxius plunges forward, through a small clearing dominated by a huge beehive.
Either
Smoke them out: Survival DC 10 (if you have access to fire/smoke)
or
They're just bees!: Fortitue DC15
Again, let me know if you want to go faster.
Pontia will gather up the leader's sword, along with any other pieces of equipment that look particularly good. "Mr. Alehammer, once you get your goods you can be on your way. Don't tell us where you're going; we won't shop you to the Hellknights, but right now the less we know the less we can tell you if they catch us." She quirks one corner of her mouth in something like a half-smile, though it turns into a wince at the pain of her wounds. "You're not the only one they're after here. Don't even think about trying to shop us to them, either."
Looking somewaht speechless at Angus, "Well I guess trying to kill someone while they're drinking is rather bad form."
Nicolai will head up the rear, pulling out a vial with a strange, ochre substance. Upon drinking it, he heaves a bit...and then begins to grow taller and slender, his moves seeming more dexterous. Also, his skins seems to toughen, with random hairs sprouting.
His voice somewhat thicker; "Let's get this over with!"
A booming laugh rings out of the clearing as Pontia finishes her schpeil.
"Lass, I do not know if ye noticed, but I'm likely to wind up with me head on a pike if I show up anywhere near one o' 'em tin-plated devil-kissers. If yer tryin' to hide from 'em, I'd muzzle the loud one that acts like he's inna soddin' fairy tale." The smile disappears when he sees her wincing, "Oi, mind if I take a look at that?"
He responds to Nicolai's comment with a chuckle.
"For a Caydenite, interrupting a drink is one step removed from heresy."
He turns to look at the alchemist, just in time to see him run off.
"OI! Where're ye goin'?!" *sigh* "Why're they all goin' after the crazy woman who blast fire from her fingertips? Least stayin' here's less dangerous."
Angus turns back to Pontia and finally gets a good look at her face.
"Well, at least the cute one stayed." He says with a grin.
Your guardian bees will not dissuade me, miscreants!
Angus finds a long-necked bottle of dark ale at the back of a tent.
Hyngrot and Daxius are both racing after the bandits. The bandits are ahead but Hyngrot has narrowed the gap and is ahead of Daxius
Nicolai's mutagen takes affect as Pontia starts stripping the corpses
Daxius and Hyngot next face a patch of ground which brushes the water table, the bandits ahead are slogging through the mud
Either
Look For The Dry Spots: perception DC10
or
Power Through: strength check DC15
You stumble upon a bear wandering through the woods... it may have a sore head.
You Don't Scare Me: Handle Animal DC20
What Do Bears Eat, Other Than Me?: Knowledge Nature DC15
After binding Pontia's wounds, Angus resumes his search.
"Ah HA!"
he takes a small swig and swirls it around in his mouth. Sampling the flavors and quality.
Angus mistakenly believes the beer to be cask-conditioned and swallows a mouthful of sediment from the bottle-conditioned brew
Pontia finds little of use or interest beyond the obvious swords and armour of the gang.
Both the hunters and their quarry continue to overcome the obstacles nature has put in their way.
Until the bandits are pulled up short. They are caught, nervous and dithering, and after a few moments Daxius and Hyngrot draw closer and see why: between the bandits and escape stands a large brown bear!
Angus spits the sediment out and coughs from almost choking.
"Bleh! Who in tha nine hells lets their ale age in a bottle?!"
Daxius staggers to a halt. There was only one interpretation of this odd turn of events. He calls out, The Inheritor has judged you as common criminals. Prepare to accept your punishment from her agent on this physical plane!
Daxius delays, expecting Iomedae's bear to messily dispatch the two thugs.
Hyngrot stops as he sees the bear. Having had his share of large mammals for the day, he only stops himself from running as Daxius decides instead to command the bandits. He whispers to him "I sure hope you have one helluva plan in case that bear decides it doesn't like us next."
We don't have to outrun the bear, we just have to outrun those poor bastards.
Angus corks the bottle again and resumes his search for his equipment and more booze. As he does, he remembers that Pontia never introduced herself.
"Hey. I don't believe I ever got your name."
Not really looking up from what she's doing, Pontia replies, "Scholar."
The bear bares its teeth but does not leap to attack anyone. The three bandits look nervously back and forth
In one of the tents, Angus finds a small, finely-crafted box containing a pipe with a ram's head design and a decent supply of tobacco. He also finds his own set of thieves' tools.
Pontia finds two silvery-pink potions in the swordsman's pouches, alongside three bottles of alchemists fire.
Daxius observes the situation intensely, standing his ground.
Though his head feels foggy from his mutagen, Nicolai decides to stay in the camp, in case the bandits doubled back. Stopping short, he puts his hand over his forehead, "Ugh. Guess I'd slow em down if I get dropped again."
Walking back, he'd try some searching of his own.
Perception
"Ah, Cayden must've bribed Lady luck because I think I found the tools for one of my trades, and a gift!"
Hmmm, might want to see if I can find someone who knows more about these things to look at it. Looks expensive.
Angus looks for a rag to carefully wrap the box and then looks for a sack to start putting loot in. He also continues his search for the rest of his gear.
Pontia cannot discern the effect of the potions.
Nicolai begins to look through the items on the tables outside the shack.
Angus keeps searching.
[ooc]Daxius delays to see what'll happen vis-a-vis the bear and the bandits.[ooc]
Pontia calls over to Nicolai, "Look for fancy clothes and noble's badges, Master Craftsman. I don't know if these are more of the same lot that looted the scrolls."
ETA: The tall scholar stops, then turns to Angus. "Did you hear any of their names while they had you caged?"
Seeing the scene before him, Hyngrot feels compelled to offer them a chance. "That bear, he's not gonna give you a chance. Run and he's liable to chase ya. Slowly come back to us, surrender, maybe you get out of this with a few lumps. Yer choice."
Heeding Pontia, he shakes his head, "Dont see much here...I'll look for some sacks."
Nico will check around their bedrolls in the tents.
Perceptions
The lead bandit slowly lowers his weapon and the other follow suit. They slowly back away from the bear, toward Hyngrot and Daxius.
Pontia: these bodies are dressed in battered woodsmans clothes and bear no obvious insignia.
Nicolai finds some rucksacks which aren't in great shape, one of which contains some strange glasswork
Angus grabs a burlap sack and a snake darts out and tries to bite his hand:
"Um, lessee. The prick that lead these teetotalers was called Vincenzo, and the woman who threatened to make me a eunuch was SelvehniaAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! DAMMIT!"
Angus stumbles back and begins wishing he had his sword to cut the snake in half with.
"WHO THA 'ELL KEEPS A SNAKE IN A SACK?!"
Pontia drops what she's doing and quickly casts a cantrip. A brilliant spark of light appears in front of the snake, and as quickly as it appeared is gone again.
Daxius had been avoiding offering the bandits the opportunity to surrender, as he had no idea to whom they might be turned over. He sighed, knowing they couldn't kill the men, nor allow them to escape once they accept the surrender. This would end very poorly if not handled carefully.
Good choice. Daxius offers, beginning to back away as well, keeping his distance from the bandits and allowing them to follow as they move slowly back toward the camp.
At the sound of Angus' mishap, Nicolai turns about and heads over to him, light mace raised.
Angus resists the poison but the snake's fangs leave a nasty gash in his arm.
The snake resists Pontia's magic.
The bandits step nervously through the woods, following your directions.
One of the bandits subtly works a ring off his finger and drops it into some long grass.
Inish
Daxius notes the action, but gives no indication that he had done so.
"Just keep moving, nice and quiet. Hopefully the bear won't follow us."