First time with the Makita case in the field, secreting myself away in a corner on a family holiday. Got it there and back in one piece, despite some local wasps taking a shine to it. Tough enough to endure some swatting, anyhow.
- Boluaga – a heavily-armoured zealot
- Caraile – an alchemist and mystic
- Duhin – a scouting archer
- Gorane – a rescued pilgrim with a warhammer to grind
- Fede – Boluaga’s loyal servant, damager of weapons
Bold of heart and cheap of skates, the warband opted to spend several days assisting Murutegi’s ragtag watch in their patrols while Duhin helped the local blacksmith make a start on their backlog of damaged gear. A refurbished bow was given to Caraile for those times when his magic sputtered, and Fede was returned her original staff. She promised she wouldn’t damage it. Third time lucky. Boluaga spent the nights poring over the old dusty tome they’d found: Amusing Anecdotes and Dictionary Definitions, an ancient treatise on oration. Sandstoney hearts would crumble in the face of her tirades now.
With the increased hostile activity around Murutegi, the village elders offered the warband the princely sum of 6 gold marks to patrol the surrounding area further and, feeling this to be a good opportunity to familiarise themselves with the local landscape, the adventurers agreed.
Their initial treks brought them across a procession of pilgrims whose vague metaphors affected Boluaga profoundly, and who then pointed the party towards a gaggle of petty robbers, all members of the same extended family, loitering in an area to the west of Murutegi. The warband set off for a simple recce.
Of course, the band of brigands had other ideas.
Noting the signs of an unattended camp atop a hill, Boluaga had Caraile magically shift her up to avoid the climb, and there amongst the broken crockery and food waste found a map pointing up north. She was interrupted by some guttural chuckles, and a couple of grimy vagabonds scampered up the hill as she stuffed the intel into her pack.
Spotting more ruffians darting from cover with weapons drawn, the bow-armed adventurers took advantage of their higher position to pick some of them off as they charged. Gorane clambered up the rocky hillside to help Boluaga face off the increasing number of robbers.
Down below, a giant of a man neared the vulnerable archers, and Fede boldy stepped forward to halt his progress at a natural funnel between the rockfaces. An arrow took out his remaining companion but that didn’t seem to deter the brute as he swung his weapon at the stalwart servant.
With their backs to a sheer drop, Boluaga and Gorane fought fiercely, and the cluster of bandits proved ill-suited to deal with the well-armoured duo. Trapped themselves by the terrain, those who could flee did so in the face of the two women carving their way through their companions.
Fede swung her staff at the large thug but the close walls hampered her efforts. Her foe brought his blade down upon the haft of her weapon cleaving it in two, and she had just enough time to wince at the thought of having damaged yet another piece of equipment before her head was removed from her shoulders.
The blood-spattered brute then noticed that he was the last of his band of ruffians still around, and cursed the adventurers as he fled the field.
Mourning the loss of their servant, the warband collected what measly spoils they could from this evidently unsuccessful gaggle of thieves and returned to Murutegi.
Warband Notes
Each hero passed an XP advancement threshold:
- Boluaga gained Skill: Leadership
- Caraile gained Skill: Scholar
- Duhin’s Agility increased to 3
- Gorane’s Luck increased to 1
There Could Have Been Snakes 
Good narrative as ever!
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