"Every time someone tells me they're a city boy they're a master woodsman. That you even know to say that is proof enough. Bed down and talk to me when you're willing to tell the truth. One thing though, these people are under our protection. So whatever truths you're hiding, think about them carefully. Otherwise, welcome to our little patch of hell in a jungle."
Lissa seems supremely unconcerned about Taldan intrigue.
Jie lets Benedict and the others question the man only adding.
"Damn straight, we're going to fight them."
If the party is okay with bringing Edran back to the camp, Benedict will show him to a temporary shelter and ask the adepts to watch over him and Aubrin while everyone else is doing their tasks.
Quietly to Rhyna and Aubrin:
"Don't let him leave. Take his boots to be mended, that should deter him; Rhyna, your Sleep spell if he still tries to run. Avoid answering any questions about our strength.
He is hiding something. Maybe he is not who he says he is, or the hobgoblins have some hold over him. Let him rest for now, but Aubrin, when we get back this afternoon, it would be good if he were...relaxed. In a good mood. Chatty. I have heard that priests of Cayden Cailean can conjure ale and wine as easily as others conjure water. Is that so?"
Rhyna and Aubrin nod, eyeing the newcomer with curiosity and suspicion. "I'll be sure he's received plenty of the Lucky Drunk's blessings," Aubrin nods. She looks tired, and it's clear her wound still pains her, but she seems determined to see Benedict's instructions through.
With Edran dealt with, your next step is to ready yourselves for your recon trip.
Once Benedict returns, Jie begins to prep Feng for the trip. When questioned about her scouting preference she says. "I really think we need to start by finding these people a better place to stay. And I feel bad about taking them someplace I haven't personally visited. So I think we should head east." With a quick graceful movement she mounts the horse. "When my father got me this job, he warned me to be on the lookout for troglodytes. They've been preying on the rangers in this area, supposedly from a cave. I've never seen a cave around here, but keep an eye, or more importantly a nose out for them."
Benedict will defer to Jie and try to assist.
He is of no help.
With a wave to the rest of the refugees, Jie leads the group into the woods.
Once they're out of sight and sound of the refugees, Lissa takes a moment to stop Benedict.
"Not a word about this to our camp of refugees please. I don't want aubrin thinking I'm pretending to be more than I am, but I can lend you a bit of shelyn's healing for that wound if it's still bothering you."
As he nods, she lays one hand against his side, clutching the glaive tightly.
,
It's full morning, slowly warming up from the dawn chill, when you finally are ready to head out. Aubrin has given you decent directions to the Ranger redoubt, and while that's not exactly your intended destination, you are planning to stick fairly close to that path as you travel. Having a pair of skilled survivalists like Jie and Benedict in your group helps, because the green half-light that reaches you beneath the canopy and the endless sea of trees in every direction would make it quite easy to get lost.
Shortly before noon, and with no good campsite yet located, you reach a portion of the forest that shows signs of old habitation - the trees here and much shorter and younger than those around them, a number of them are apple trees (the Fangwood is mostly conifers), and there is an old chimney marking where a house once stood not far from the apple tree grove.
Benedict will stay where he is, not approaching the old house for now, and will look at the ground for any tracks or signs of animals.
Oddly, there are apples, and yes, they are entirely out of season. They look small and hard, better for cooking than eating raw, but there are several bushels full on the trees, enough to potentially be noteworthy as a provisions source.
"Oh look Feng, apples!" Jie exclaims to her horse, excited about finding one of his favorite treats. She keeps an eye out as she rides under one of the trees and picks a couple of apples, one for her and one for Feng.
Amkarang looks about the orchard, trying to find if there are any good apples left.
"Jie! Look out!" Lissa calls, just in time - for the wasp nest she was about to guide Feng right underneath is already darkening with the impending swarm.
Grum looks around, trying to come up with something to do about the swarm, but realizes he is completely ill-equipped for such a thing.
The wasps buzz angrily out of their nest and through the orchard, engulfing Jie, Feng, and Benedict all three.
Benedict moves 20' out of the swarm towards a stream or something.
Jie gives a yelp of pain and starts wildly flailing at the little beasts, riding away from the rest of the party to draw them away.
If he is close enough to attack, I'll roll for him.
So 4 pts to the swarm.
Then he takes a 5' step away from Lissa and Amkarang.
"Fire, good idea grum. All things fear fire."
Suiting actions to words, Lissa pulls a torch from her bag and lights it, then waves it in the direction of the bugs.
She's not very frightening.
Amkarang pulls out his bottle of alchemist's fire and also hurls it toward the wasps. The throw is off, though, only scorching a handful of the hateful insects.
,
The wasp swarm twists and writhes, turning toward Lissa, Amkarang, and Grum instead of its previous targets.
Benedict says "Run!" and keeps moving away.
Seeing what little effect his alchemists fire has, Amkarang follows Benedict.
Lissa also retreats.
Wounded and stung, literally, the group retreats from the orchard and its angry, buzzing defenders.
Jie rides back to the retreating group. "Those have got to be the most dangerous wasps I've ever seen." she says as she dismounts and starts to pull stingers out of Feng's flesh, taking care of her horse before turning her attention to herself. "With enough alchemist's fire, I might be able to bomb them until they disperse, but I only have one vial."
"Given enough time, I might be able to make more alchemists' fire with those supplies we found. Or acid. But we will need a lot, and we'll need protection against their stings. Let's avoid this place for now."
Shakes off the poison.
"Setting the woods on fire is probably not the right approach, that was a bad idea all together. We'd do better with smokers. Better still with some kind of poison. Acid would work, I suppose."
She shakes her limbs, still stiff from the stings. Moving her hands along her sides she pulls the occasional dead wasp from between the fine plates of her armor.
"Ugh. Still a lot of daylight left, we should at least mark the area where the wasps are before we head back. It would be a shame if any searching hobgoblins thought this was our campsite. Mark a few trees leading in, will you?"
Jie looks over her shoulder at the apples, loath to leave them behind. "We still haven't found a good place to camp." She then surveys the group, seeing the ruin that the wasps have wrought upon them. "Benedict, you're right. We're too hurt to continue, we need Aubrin's healing." Before she leaves she takes Lissa's excellent suggestion and attempts to make it look like there was a temporary camp here.
It only takes a couple of hours for the group to return to their actual camp. So far, the refugees' spirits seem high enough, with tasks to do that they understand and can link to their survival. Your group's early return at first is taken as a good sign - you've found a campsite already! - but once the truth is made more clear, there is a general sense of disappointment. Aubrin, however, doesn't comment, other than to tell you, "So far, we're holding up. Don't get discouraged yourselves," as she soothes your wounds.
"Thank you, Aubrin. How is our new arrival?"
Benedict goes over to Edran.
"So, sir, tell us a bit more of your story and how you came to be in Phaendar."
Jie thanks Aubrin for the healing and while Benedict questions Edran, she grabs Amakarang and any able bodied refugees she see. "I think its going to rain in a couple of hours and then get cold. Wet and Cold we might deal with separately, but together it's going make for an uncomfortable night. We need to dig a trench that will drain the water from where we're sleeping and shore up our tents." While she works she listens in on Benedict's questions. 'Interesting, Benedict and Lissa don't trust him' she wonders.
Edran looks surprised and not entirely pleased by Benedict's renewed interest. "Well, like I told you before, I'm from Taldor, I'm a businessman, but I was just traveling to, ah, Druma, when the attack happened. I thought your little festival was charming, at least until it was interrupted."
Jie's preparations will be suitable to make sure the camp doesn't flood.
Benedict signals to Lissa, Grum, and/or Amkarang to subtly surround the man.
Hopefully Edran is drunk enough to not notice.
Once they move into place, he speaks.
"Going from Taldor to Druma you pass through Andoran. Not Nirmathas. This is quite a bit out of your way and you'd have to pass through Molthune to get here. I wouldn't say our little festival is worth risking that journey.
So how about you tell us the truth?"
Oblivious to the upcoming social storm, Jie continues to concentrate on preparing for the imminent physical one.
Edran shakes his head - and in the middle of the movement, catches sight of Grum. "I... what? No, I didn't go straight to Druma, I had other stops to make, so I went to... no, not Molthune, I went to... uh..." He turns to face Grum, then looks back at Benedict. "What is this?"