The Taxman Cometh - 9/24 session recap

Lars Allynwy hired the PCs for fourteen days of caravan duty, at 2gp per day, per person. His caravan consisted of two wagons drawn by two mules each. Lars drove one wagon, and his partner Willhelm drove the other. The wagons were laden with corn meal, furs, and a few crates of spices.

For about a week and a half, nothing much happened. Ander talked so much to Willhelm that Willhelm started ignoring him. This allowed Ander to nap on the wagon during the morning without being asked to keep a lookout.

On the 11th day, as they were driving into the setting sun, they were accosted by a man in the road who claimed to be collecting taxes. He asked the party to please step away from the wagons so that their goods could be appraised. They noticed men armed with maces to the side of the road, and decided it was highway banditry. Thoric and Ander approached the men on one side while Xacoraki approached the ones on the other side. Boreas just sat in the cart.

Ander was the first to attack with a thrown shuriken. At this provocation, the highwaymen charged forward. They used a well-practiced head strike to daze Thoric, Ander, and Xac, then danced just out of range. The leader loosed an arrow that dazed Boreas with the force of its impact. This didn't keep him from unleashing multiple rays of frost, which started turning the bandits into fragile ice sculptures.

Another bowman popped up from hiding and sunk an arrow into Ander. Ander responded with a crippling shuriken of his own, plus one for good measure. That bandit dropped down behind a boulder to get out of the line of fire. Xacoraki and Boreas slew the four that were attacking her, and Xac started moving toward the bowman in the road. After failing twice with a lance of faith, Thoric resorted to his warhammer. This didn't help much either, but eventually all of his foes were down as well. He closed with the bowman that Ander was engaging. As Ander stepped in close to stab the bandit, he jumped back and unleashed a quick arrow. Ander fell, unconscious and dying. Thoric struck him the bowman a great blow, and Boreas finished him off with a ray of frost.

Xacoraki faced off against the leader, and they traded cuts briefly before the man surrendered. Seeing that he was completely outnumbered and wounded, he dropped his weapons and said that all he possessed was theirs. When questioned, he said that his name was Brian O'Connor, and that he was a taxman for Baron Oslic.

Thoric revived Ander with a whispered prayer to Linitheriva, and the three living bandits were tied up with pieces of their own silk rope. Ander cut marks into each one's cheek, and they were strung up behind the wagon for the three day march into town.

Once in town, Thoric escorted the bandits to the local sheriff, who threw them into a dungeon. Thoric then asked whether he could do a public carving somewhere in town. The Sheriff said that anything left in the middle of town was prone to being stolen, and that Thoric might want to take his sculpting outside of town just a little bit if he wanted it to remain public.

Ander, Xac, and Boreas found the tavern with the most activity for travelers - The Lichen Top Tavern. While ordering a drink, Ander found that the hard liquor had been stolen about a week ago, and that someone claimed that kobolds were to blame. The barkeep said he'd be willing to pay 20gp for each of the two barrels of rice liquor, and 30gp for the barrel of imported whiskey from up north. Ander then circulated through the crowd casting disparaging remarks about dragonkin in an attempt to either start a bar fight with his party, or else get a lead on Orvalion. Meanwhile, Xac and Boreas just sat and watched the crowd together.