You pause, and as you do so the air is suddenly filled with the sound of ear-piercing screeches, and out of the trees at the side of the road rush five owlbears at you.
They are about 40' away from you and closing...
Several of you react simultaneously...
"AAACCKK!" Screams Dani. She quickly jumps into the arms of the nearest male...who happens to be Who Knows the halfling...who groans loudly under the weight.
Dani quickly pulls forth a wand, and mutters something that sounds like, "Ishtage" - pointing the wand at the approaching owlbears.
"Everybody, hold! Let them come to us. I'm casting a spell." Jesse will then cast a spell, in such a manner that it will not injure the party, but engulf the owlbears.
Occa shouts to the owlbears, "Run! Run away while you have a chance."
He giggles and steps behind one of the fighters and pulls out a wand from his pouch. He points it at the owlbears, his arm extending past the people in front of him, and says, "Blaahoue!" Or something like that...it's hard ot make out.
Then he realizes what Jesse is up to.
Occa says, "No! We are in a forest...use something smaller and less likely to cause a huge blaze."
"Just what I like, a good fight to start the morning," Salaam says with a grin towards Tracy, "Do you think Thor would like this maneuver ?" he hurls his hammer at the closest owlbear.
Valdar covers his eyes.
Dani sees the owlbears engulfed in complete, impenetrable darkness.
The rest of you, though, see nothing of the sort. Then, a fireball blossoms a short distance behind the owlbears, engulfing them, while at the same time a cone of cold shoots out of Occa's wand, and Salaam's hammer sails into their midst.
By the time the smoke clears there are five dead owlbears lying at side of the road...their bodies toasted and frosted, while one has a crunched skull.
Thanks to the dampness of the climate Jesse's fireball does not cause a massive conflagration, though you do have to spend some time putting out small fires.
Eventually, though, you continue on your way.
It is well into the evening before Valdar allows you to stop for the night. He wished to make it to the village of Omlet, and the affair with the owlbears caused a slight delay. Like Morgrond, Omlet is located in a low lying, swampy area along the coast, where another river flows into the sea. There are two inns here, both of only middling quality but still more comfortable than sleeping out in the bush...though the bedbugs are worse.