Once the trio reunited at the Mallard Inn and took the night to rest, they gathered in the tavern to decide what to do with the new tasks they had been given.
"What information did the Druid present?" Rayne asked Lirael and XIII.
"She told us that there are potential reinforcements at Tor's Hold, but we would have to take some bullywugs off their hands. Sounds like a big project to me," Lirael replied, unenthusiastically.
"I see," Said Rayne, "Well, Dar Gremath told me about a supply caravan heading out from here today. We could attack it to anger the Iron Circle, which would help Dar Gremath to lure their leader out of his little castle."
XIII grinned, "That sounds like a fun alternative with instant gratification."
"And there is probably some treasure to loot on said caravan," Lirael added. "Let's just attack the caravan and then we could see if Dar Gremath needs the Tor's Hold reinforcements."
They all agreed that this was a decent option and so they headed out immediately to prepare themselves for an ambush. On the outskirts of town they each hid on the side of the road where they knew the caravan would be pulling through. Shortly thereafter, a large wagon pulled by a big cart horse creaked along the dusty road. Sure enough, it was driven by Iron Circle soldiers, two of them in the familiar black cloaks, and one in chain mail with a dark hood over his head. Unlike the soldiers, he wore a red surcoat and his embroidered Iron Circle design was black trimmed in gold.
Before they lost their chance, Lirael and Rayne jumped out from their hiding spots and ran after the caravan. One of the brigands turned around in his seat and shouted, "Hey! Who's there?!"
Rayne leaped into the air, jumping onto the roof of the wagon and swinging wildly at the soldiers just below. But they dodged his blow, one of them pulling out his crossbow and shooting towards him. Luckily, the top of the wagon caught the bolt before it struck Rayne.
Meanwhile, XIII popped out of a bush as the wagon pulled to an abrupt halt next to it, summoning black flames which crashed into a startled brigand's shield. Lirael attempted to corrupt their minds, but their minds were in chaos already, with the sudden and quite unexpected ambush.
Suddenly, the Dark Adept stood from his seat on the wagon and shot long tendrils wreathed in flame at XIII, who ducked at the last second to avoid their fiery bite.
With crossbows firing at him, Rayne's skin started to become thick and bark-like as his limbs began to turn into branches and roots, planting him to the top of the wagon and entangling the soldiers in both roots and shock. The first brigand pulled out his scimitar and swung at Rayne, who took the blow unflinchingly.
XIII transformed into a cloud of mist and drifted silently over to the opposite side of the wagon where he could safely project his vampiric shadow on the all too proud Adept, which clutched him and sucked a great chunk of his vital energy out, bringing it back to XIII.
Lirael took a brief second to focus his mind and use it to send a forceful thrust of imagery to the Adept as well, which sent him flying backwards off of the wagon, clawing at his head for an escape from the mental assault before he gave in to the dark call of death.
Turning his crossbow on XIII, the second brigand was unpleasantly surprised as Rayne lashed out with one of his powerful branches, tearing a deep gash in his torso before he even had the chance to shoot. Then, with another branch, Rayne summoned the energy of the earth to slam down on the brigand from above, crumpling his helmet with the stony branch right into his skull.
Shaking with the fear of witnessing his two comrades' deaths, the first brigand shoots a crossbow bolt towards Rayne but it whizzed through his branches into the air, missing. So he turned around to cut the reigns of the horse and jumped madly from the wagon, but the horse bolted so fast out of the horrific scene that the brigand fell to the ground, afraid and all alone.
XIII mercilessly placed a dark curse on him before sending ribbons of eldritch energy, crackling with black lightning, towards him. At first, the brigand rolled out of the way, causing the ribbons to pierce ineffectively into the ground. But XIII pulled them back and sent them flying right at the brigand once more, this time forcing them right into the soldier's chest.
As he clutched at the dark wounds, the brigand was assaulted by Lirael's psionic energy. It was too much for the reaver to withstand, and he fell to the ground, his eyes rolling back into his head, to writhe in mental anguish for a few short seconds before he lost the will to live on.
Rayne's branches and roots collapsed back into limbs and he jumped off the wagon as Lirael darted to it to scavenge for treasure. They divvied up the findings, pleased to enjoy a few well-earned comforts for their effort and gathered to decide what came next.
"I suppose we should just head back into town before someone notices us here," Rayne said, and the others agreed.
"Ah, those poor soldiers," Lirael said sarcastically, "You have to wonder if they have a God they will beg for mercy on their way down to where ever it is they will end up going....Oh, but...Do either of you worship the Gods?"
Rayne raised his hand to admit that he did, "Yes, I favor Melora. I can relate easily to her. She understands that one must live in harmony with the wild, something my blood calls for me to do."
"Interesting," Said Lirael to himself, "I can't say I follow any particular deity. I suppose I relate most to Corellon most, though. He understands beauty as it should be and I admire that. What about you, XIII?"
XIII shrugged, "I care not for the Gods. Useless things, sitting up on their thrones just enjoying their pampered lives..."
Lirael laughed and then said with a smile, "Ha! Yes, I guess that's one way of looking at it."
Back in town, XIII decided to split up from the group to go and run a "personal errand." He went to visit the house upon whose doorstep he left a decaying offering of flesh and bone. Curiously, the house was dark and appeared to be abandoned. The head was still lying on the doorstep. However, upon closer examination, XIII noticed that the pearl was missing from the eye socket...
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