May 8th dawns hot, muggy and rainy.
Illyana grumbles at the weather. "Damn rain ruins equipment. No point in using a bow in this downpour."
You are on the road again soon after dawn.
The morning ride is unevenful. Being the major thoroughfare between two large cities, The Old Dwarvish road is quite busy. You often pass caravans, fellow travellers, peasants and military patrols going in either direction.
At noon you cross another ancient stone bridge, spanning the Aas River, which flows down out of the Mountains of Nlad, southwards to where it joins the Grande. It is about 1/2 mile wide at this point.
"Oooh, nice view. I've never gone out quite this far from home." says Illyana.
It also forms the eastern border of the Barony of Sandas and the Borderlands. Once you are across the bridge you are in the Duchy of Strabath.
Immediately across the bridge is an intersection with a road heading south. A signpost reads -
The Old Dwarvish Road: East: to Carnovy, Valleymouth and Strabath. West: To Sandas, the Border and Silver Mountain. South: To Vomit and Hork.
You stay on the main road.
It is midafternoon when you come across an ornate carraige at the side of the road with a broken wheel. The harness has room for four horses, though only three are now hitched to it.
A middle-aged man of noble demeanour sits within the carraige, glaring out at the rain through an open window.
Kelar speaks to the man in the carraige.
"Good day sir. It seems you have a problem with your carraige."
He nods, still glowering.
"A wheel broke," he replies, eyeing you all. "It couldn't be fixed, so the driver took a horse to ride back to Carnovy to get a new one."
"This isn't the best of places to be out alone. If you would like I could try and see if I could fix it. I have some knowledge about woods and we might be able to jury rig something."
His face lights up at this prospect.
"Sir elf, you are most kind! I do not know what you would be able to do to fix it, not being very mechanically inclined, but if you could I would try to make it worth your while."
"I would be more than happy to look at it. I am not promising anything..." says Kelar.
Turning back to the group "Any of you have any skills that might help. I just know how to shape the wood. If someone else has any ideas about getting it up so we can get at the wheel that would be helpful."
Raz shakes his head replying, "Sorry, but I've only memorized combat spells as of late and I'm afraid I'm not very good with my hands."
Kelar examines the wheel to see what exactly is wrong with it.
The wooden rim is broken and the metal hoop that goes around the outside of it is bent. Evidently it hit a rock...a frequent occurance on roads in the spring.
You could probably repair the wooden rim with your skills, but to fix and replace the iron hoop would require the service of a smithy.
"Sir it soesn't seem that I will be able to do anything with the wheel the extent of the damage is just to much. If you would like I would be willing to stay here with you untill your driver gets back to make sure you are safe. Or if you wouldn't mind you could ride in our wagon. I realize that it isn't quite the same but you would be a lot safer."
"I may as well wait here, then," he replies, sounding disappointed.
Aldarin will keep a hand on his sword hilt and a wary eye as he takes in the local surroundings, "Looks like a good place for an ambush."
The man in the carraige hears him.
"Are you all implying that I am a decoy?" he asks hotly.
Raz replies, "No Sir...my friend is merely making a observation." Raz is watchful also.
Kelar tries to smooth things over.
"Good sir please take no offense at my friends comment. He is not really feeling all that well and his conditions came about because of an ambush. He is just wary and he does make a very good point. Not per say an ambush but a perfect place to attack someone.
"Illyana I think we should wait here with this fine Gentleman and wait for his driver to get back. We can set up a perimeter that way we should be okay."
Yurning back to the gentleman.
"Excuse me I have lost my manners I am Kelar T'alster. My friends and I were heading for Strabath to escort a friend of Yuri the Paladin home."
"Where are you from and heading if you don't mind my asking?"
"I am from far away," the man replies. "I am going to dinner..."
He raises his arms...
...and a fireball erupts, engulfing you all.
Raz and Britan hit the deck and take 11 hit points of damage.
Aldarin and Kelar each take 21 hit points of damage and fall unconscious and in flames...the latter near death.
Illyana also takes 21 hit points of damage.
Your horses are all consumed in the flames as well.
When the smoke clears you see no sign of the carraige or its horses.
The man, you see, is not a man...but rather some creature with the body of a man and the head of a tiger...
Raz unloads a series of magic missles at the man/creature.
The missiles bounce off him.
He turns and with a sneer blasts Raz with magic missiles...for 16 hit points.
Raz drops, unconscious, a large hole blown in his chest, revealing his white ribs.
Illyana curses. "Surround him people, otherwise he'll just do that again to us!"
Britan, however, is giving first aid to Kelar and Aldarin.
Illyana attacks the man-tiger.
A lovely hit with her old two-handed sword...and the blade bounces off of his hide.
"You cannot hurt me, my dear," he replies with a smile, revealing a mouthful of very nasty-looking teeth. "I shall be dining on your sweet flesh tonight..."
Britan is dragging the unconscious elves away as fast as he can.
"Pull back, everyone fall back, get under cover!" Illyana grabs Raz and starts to pull him away from the whatever it is.
"Nay, leave him for me," says the man-tiger, reaching out to touch Illyana, and speaking arcane words as he does so.
A feeling of the most unspeakable terror engulfs her.
Illyana screams, and flees in blind fear.
Somehow, though, she does not let go of Raz.
The man-tiger curses at this, and lets loose another volley of magic missiles, which slam into the mage, blowing him to pieces and scattering bits of his corpse across the road.
Illyana does not care. In oblivious fear, she continiues to run, still clutching the dead mage's robe and pack...and a few severed parts of his body.
Britan, half dragging, half carrying Kelar and Aldarin, does not stick around either. Glancing over his shoulder as he hurries around a bend in the road, he sees the man-tiger settling down to a meal of raw Raz-flesh.
Britan catches up with Illyana ten minutes later. She sits at the side of the road, gasping for breath...the last vestiges of the magical terror receding. Beside her lies what she managed to salvage of Raz in a gruesome, bloody pile.
At this point, Kelar and Aldarin regain consciousness.
Illyana sighs, shaking her head. "We had no chance, none at all. Not even enough time to blink. What a lousy predicament. I don't suppose anyone here has some way of healing ourselves? Otherwise, I suggest we get moving again. The longer we wait on Raz's body, the harder it will be for the clerics to bring him back."
You get to your respective feet and hurry on your way...afoot, now.
Anything that was carried on your horses is lost, now.
The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully, and you camp that night in the woods again.