Dare exhales hard once both trolls are down and then lobs several acid splash cantrips at the bodies just to be sure they are really most sincerely dead.
Then she finally gives a yawp and says, "Damn, talk about teamwork! Wasn't sure how we would get out of this, but we did!"
She gets to examining the magic-radiating backpack.
Despite countless tales of adventurers carrying bags wonderful at holding things and haversacks that are supernaturally handy, she cannot seem to come up with the proper name or function of the item before her.
She notes to the party, "I burned out all my magic strength on keeping those trolls down. I can throw cantrips around no problem but aren't going to be able to do anything bigger than that till I get some rest. I still got my sword, but let's just hope we see no more trolls around. I do have that wand we found just in case."
Adela joins Dare examining the backpack,
"I'm tempted to make a pyre and burn them just to make sure they won't return!" She states almost calmly. "Judging by their loot they have already killed another unfortunate explorer."
”Yeah, whoever they got this off of was definitely equipped for exploring.” Rhainn says, looking over the equipment. She nods as Dare points out her expended magic.
”We should probably find a safe place to camp soon given how much magic we’ve gone through.”
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...
Then she finally gives a yawp and says, "Damn, talk about teamwork! Wasn't sure how we would get out of this, but we did!"
...
"We did good, but we got lucky" grunts Erik.
...
”We should probably find a safe place to camp soon given how much magic we’ve gone through.”
He continues, replying to Rhiann "Agreed, but let's get away from the bodies..."
Erik busies himself trying to hide the party's trail as they leave the battlefield (in case the trolls have buddies).
3 rank +3 trained +1 wis
"We did good, but we got lucky" grunts Erik.
"Well, that's life, innit? It throws shit at you and you deal with it or you don't." She gives him a pointed look. "Not to mention, if we'd tried to hide or run away, you'd be b@!#$ing about how we were leaving all the nonexistent farmers who live here in danger of the two trolls. I get that you're incapable of ever being happy, but I hope there's a part of you that at least can take some comfort in us removing one more danger from the Stolen Lands."
"I'm just happy we sorted those two out before it got to a point where there aren't anyone left to defend" she shakes her head, still a bit shaky after the fight with the giant creatures
Erik ignores Dare's provocation with a sneer, and continues on with business.
Adela frowns a little, wishing the group wouldn't bicker so often. She realizes it is only to be expected with strong minded people new to each other and working together, but she feels it could lead to the party arguing at the worst possible time.
She doesn't say anything though, hopefully time will smooth the rougher edges.
* * * * *
Three days of travel later, as you make your way through the trees, you hear the call of a thrush that doesn't quite match what you by now know thrushes to sound like. Following the sound, everyone except Dare-- who is, perhaps, too busy inspecting/admiring the magical backpack found on the trolls-- sees a bandit perched about 20 feet up in one of the trees, watching you and throwing a bird call toward the west (roughly in the direction you're currently traveling).
When you make eye contact with her, she quickly ducks behind the trunk of the tree.
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Assessing the situation , Erik rushes to the far side of the tree, unslinging his bow and putting and arrow on the string as he goes...
He calls up to the bandit "Would you rather surrender or wear feathers?"
3 ranks +3 trained +1 studied target
Her lips curling into a smirk at Erik's pointed threat, Rhiann quickly draws her own bow, moving to the other side of the tree, ready to fire should the bandit choose to flee instead.
"Aright, aright, don't shoot!" The bandit holds up her hands and looks from one side to the other, then back at Erik. "Was jus' doin' calls, y'know, thassit! I wasn't gonna shoot cha or anythin'!"
3 rank +3 trained +1 wis +1 studied target
"Get down here. No doubt you were signaling your buddies. How many of them?"
The bandit stays where she is up in the tree. "Round here? Aren't nobody I know of. Jus' you."
Over the next three days, Dare tries to identify the enchantment on the pack:
Fortunately the following day she does indeed identify the handy haversack and remarks upon its usefulness for their explorations.
Therefore on the day the bandit appears, Dare is likely just focused on finding a nice stick to turn into artwork.
Once she is aware of the lass and the exchange between her and Erik, Dare jerks an eyebrow, wondering what she's about.
While Dare's observational skills are usually not worth writing home about, she sees a familiar pattern in the girl's body language from her own experiences as a smuggler.
"All right, girl. I can see you are alone, so no one's coming to help you, right? So how about we get you out of this without you being on the wrong end of our sniper's arrows? You've got a choice: this guy here," she points to Erik, "Means business, so you're going to come down out of that tree one way or another. You get to choose whether you get filled with arrows first or not, understand? But on my word as a knight of the crosstrade, you come down and give us some info, you won't come to harm. We're hunting bigger fish than you, so don't give us reason to bother with you, get it?"
Adela has her crossbow ready but is scanning the surrounding area while Dare & Eric terrify the Bandit, thinking to herself 'If she was alone why did she give a signal?
Yuki walks forward, her hands and arms relaxed as she goes to stand a bit closer to the tree
"Don't be shy, if we meant you harm, why would we ask you to come down? My companions are very good at their trade, so even if you're in a tree they would have been hard pressed to miss if they so wished to in fact, feather you. I'm more than happy to strike up a conversation with you. Tell us more about yourself and perhaps your situation?" she tries to be nice as possible
Nodding along at Dare’s assessment that the bandit was by herself, Rhiann is too preoccupied with the woman’s response to notice much else. She remains silent, waiting for her to make a choice, right or wrong.
"I'm comin,' I'm comin'." The bandit slowly climbs down the tree-- no easy feat, since she never takes her eyes off Erik's bow-- until she's standing on the ground in front of you, palms up. "Aren't gonna do anythin', see? Camp's 'attaway," she says, jerking her head in the direction she had been whistling just moments ago, "but it's a hike."