The wound on Marga pains Raif as if he himself feels it, but the stalwart hound simply snaps at the arrow before turning back to face the brigands. With the two trapped, Raif will attack, drawing a scimitar from his side, slashing visciously at the trapped attacker. Marga, trained to attack along with Raif, will attack the same brigand.

(ooc: attacks with scimitar, d20+5 attack, 1d6+2 dm,
Marga attack: d20+3 attack, 1d6+3 bite damage)

As the last rune for the spell burns in the air the runes come together changing into a burning sphere in Virif's palm. He launches his sphere straight at the chest of the charging brigand watching with satisfaction as it hits. The brigand cries out with rage and charges toward Virif swinging his sword in a downward sweep. Virif rocks backwards watching the bladetip swipe just inches from his face. Whoo this guys tough and good, but I guarantee I'm better. Pulling his morningstar free from its loop Virif gives a horizontal swing aiming for the smoking brigand. This is where I'm better than other wizards, flexible fighting style.
As any well trained soldier would be Virif was aware of th combat flourishing around him including the fleeing lovebirds of the merchant's daughter and her guard. Idiot she may very well be what the brigands are after. She'd be safer in a wagon with all the guards protecting her. Virif looked around counting his priorities in this fight. First I have to deal with stinky here then I'm sure it's a tie between defending the loot and defending the girl. I hope she isn't the treasure this time around but if I was a brigand I would take the girl in case this raid failed so that I could trade her for the caravan. Guess defending the girl is second. Defending her and convincing them to return to the party. I hate split objectives. Deciding what he was doing Virif turned his full attention toward the charred brigand. "Let's dance, bub"

(+1 to attack mod, 1d8 dm. If I fell the sucker then I will begin to chase after the girl.)

Kyara eyes wide as she watches her carefully aim shot bounce off some invisible shied around the figure in the tree, then open even wider he he turns his head ans she a elven featured male with ebony skin, smile at her then fade into nothingness before her eyes. She didn't like that at all but could not wait around to figure out what had happened.

Whirling Moondancer back to the road. Kyara spots some roughly dressed brigands struggling through heavy entwining undergrowth, she fires her already notched arrow at the closest and then draws and notches another her motion smooth and sure from hours of practice. Keeping her horse moving she searches for any other target While she charges the second brigand intent on running him down or forcing him to take a defensive action..

(Edit = Upon further review)

Heironymus surveys the action going on around him. Of the charging brigands, two are entangled already. Although they look like they will be free soon, at least they are temporarily accounted for. He also saw the guard and young woman run for the woods. Foolish, but not his first concern.

There should still be two brigands coming from the other side of the wagons. His moves in order (for the next couple of rounds if needed, as time allows):

1. Fire his crossbow - at the one attacking the merchant. (1d10 +2)
2. Cast a sound burst at the one he just shot - IF it looks like this can be done without harming the merchant with whom he is engaged. If it can't be - move on to #3. (1d8 + stun)
3. Pull his mace and swing at the closest brigand. (+3 1d)

Virif levels a mighty blow against the brigand he is battling with, but to his amazement the man smoothly parries it and comes back with a quick strike of his own. He gets his weapon up but not in time to protect him from the entirety of the blow. The steel slides along the dwarf's right arm opening a wound as his parry holds.

(Virif misses. The brigand strikes Virif for 3 hp damage)

"Help me you curs! What am I paying you for!" Yells Allyn who remains sorely pressed by his skilled opponent. Blood now stains his fine clothes and the brigand thus far looks none the worse for wear.

A well aimed arrow sails past Raif as he charges into the entangling undergrowth, impaling one of the brigands in the chest. She rides forward, moving in for the kill.

(Kyara hits the brigand, inflicting 6 hp damage)

Raif and his faithful hound charge into the undergrowth intent on ending the existence of the two entangled brigands. Raif's scimitar opens a cut across the torso of the man who now has an arrow in his chest. The entangling magic, however, is unable to differentiate friend from foe. Marga gets tangled up into undergrowth before she can reach her target. She struggles mightily against the roots holding her.

(Raif strikes the brigand for 5 hp damage. Marga fails her save against the entanglement.)

Heironymus looses a quarrel into the side of the brigand fighting Allyn.

(The shot hits for 7 hp damage)

Arrows fly in from the north side, one hitting Kyara in the leg and the other passing harmlessly behind her galloping horse.

(Kyara is hit for 3 hp damage from the arrow).

The brigand nearest Raif raises his sword and swings at the druid. Impaired as he is by the grasping roots and vines he finds himself off balance and his attack swings wide.

The other brigand on the south side manages to pull free from the entanglement and firms his stance against the charge of the riding elf.

There is no sign of arrows from the south side.

The young druid viciously slices at the brigand, hoping to dispatch him so he can turn his attention towards the remaining attackers.

Swinging his Morningstar mightily Virif loses just a little balance as the brigand parries the blow. The Brigand hoping to take advantage of the momentary loss of balance launches a counterattack but to his dismay Virif recovered and barely parried the blade that was aimed for his head for his head. The brigand however lost no time as he thrust his blade forward drawing a nasty cut across Virif’s upper bicep. Dammit I still need to work on my melee. Virif thinks through the haze of pain that washes over him. I could probably dispatch him easily if I could cast a spell, but would he give me enough quarter to do so? Virif shrugs the bandit’s blade from his Morningstar struggling to ignore the pain of his recent cut. It has to be a quick spell like ray of frost or acid splash. But those do relatively little damage, and might not dispatch this foe. Still I’m not going to beat this guy in hand to hand. Virif pulled his chakra into the palm of his shield and concentrating on the caustic nature of acid spoke he single rune of magic needed for the cantrip. With a small flick of the wrist Virif sent the orb of acid into the bandits face.

(ok so casting orb of acid dealing 1d3 cid damage and because of warmage edge +2 dmg. For a total of 1d3+2. Oh and I was rereading the warmage and discovered I did my spells wrong, expect an updated pm. Let me know if I fail to cast so I can change the last part of this.)

There was a sharp sting in her thigh. An arrow from somewhere out in the woods hit her as she galloped towards the attackers. Kyara grimaced as the arrow stuck her with a solid thunk, she could feel the warmth of her blood flowing down her leg, but now was not the time to deal with the injury. Kyara separated herself from the pain letting it pass from notice. There were both the brigands on in the open and those hidden in the woods with bows and the strange elf who had disappeared.

Kyara away the second brigand breaks free of the entangling vegetation. Moon Dancer was well train scouts horse, she had trained him herself. However, she is not a war horse, riding her against a well armed and set enemy risked he beyond what Kyara would do. She halted her charge well short of the man but at point-blank range, drew back her bow string till it was taut. Focusing on the man she let the deadly shaft fly
.
Kyara is already is drawing another arrow and drawing it back ready to shoot another at the Brigand urging Moon Dancer to circle the figure with knees and heels, which freed Kyara to guide her while her hands are occupied with using her bow.

A fleeting thought crossed her mind as she circled the brigand quickly trying to get him to break his stance and aavoid, as much as possible, being hit s=again by another arrow., someone in their group used arcane arts. whe would wonder about thqt later though.

Heironymus was glad to see the bolt he had shot sink into the brigand attacking the merchant. Now to help finish him off, he thought.

(As indicated earlier, Heironymus will:
1. Use the sonic blast spell on the merchant attacking the merchant if possible. I do not have a copy of the spell so I do not know its details. It seems likely that such a spell might also impact the merchant. Would it? If not, he casts the spell. If it would hurt the merchant, he follows #2.
2. He moves up with his mace and attackks the brigand attacking the merchant. Hopefully with the brigand engaged already he can get a swing in from the rear for an attack bonus. (Normal mace bonus = +3) )

As he prepares to attack the brigand again, Heironymus considers the arrows from the woods. As soon as this guy was done he would turn his attention to those further out.

Virif recovers from the slice and, dodging beneath another savage cut, unleashes a splash of acid right into the face of his foe! The brigand drops his blade and falls to the ground clutching his face in pain.

(Successful defensive casting. Hit the brigand with Acid Splash inflicting 5 points of damage)

The merchant takes a slice from the brigand, but manages to return one in kind, cursing all the while.

(Brigand hits Allyn for 3 points of damage, Allyn hits the brigand for 4).

Raif manages to continue avoiding the grasping roots and brings his scimitar blazing across, opening a fine line in the brigands throat. It takes a moment before he realizes he is dead. He almost gets another swing of his blade, but his mortal coil shuffles off and he falls dead. His corpse is quickly claimed by the grasping weeds.

Marga continues fighting valiantly with the underbrush entangling her.

(Raif critically hits the brigand for 10 points of damage, Marga fails her saving throw vs. the entanglement again.)

Heironymus casts his crossbow aside, drawing his heavy mace and heading to assist the merchant. Moving into a flanking position the cleric levels a blow at the man and connects solidly. The crunch of bone can be heard and a grunt of pain as the brigand loses his balance for a moment before recovering from the blow.

(Heironymus hits the brigand for 6 points of damage. See Q&A thread)

Kyara, just seconds away from launching an arrow into the now dead brigand turns to her other entangled foe and looses an arrow at him. However, just as she does so Moon Dancer rears up as the entangling vines grasp at his hooves causing the shot to go wide and disappear into the underbrush.

(Kyara misses... I assumed you wouldn't want to waste the shot on a dead brigand)

The now free brigand takes a look at his dead companion and bolts towards the woods as fast as his legs can carry him, barely managing to avoid one particularly large root that grabs at his ankle.

(No arrows are fired from the woods this round)

The young man turns, breathing heavy. There is a vicious gleam in his eye for a moment as he is covering in the spurting blood of the fallen brigand. He shakes himself, breathing heavy, then turns back towards the massive dog, working to pull him free of the vines and roots slashing about. "I've told you a thousand times about this..." he mutters under his breath as he pulls back hard on the dog, attempting to free it out of the range of the spell...

Virif ducks under the bandit's sword concentrating on the caustic substance in his hand. He jumps up, flicks his wrist, and releases the acid orb into his opponent's face. The Brigand drops his sword, falls to the ground, and howls clutching his raw recently eaten face. To take him prisoner or just put him out of his misery? Virif ponders for a second. Come to think of it I like him miserable. Looking at the scratch on his arm Virif decides it s not worth losing time over.

"This one's down, watch him!" Virif calls heading in the direction Jocelyn and her 'lover' left in. "We probably want to keep him for questioning."

Virif trots towards the northern woods. Chances are the fools are captured, or worse. All the arrows were coming from this direction. Then again it is weird that the arrows almost expertly landed in the ground at their feet rather than in them. Virif watches the woods warily sure that the three or four bandits the caravan guards engaged were not the only ones assigned to the mission. A traitor perhaps? Joining the caravan to mark which ones are worth hitting? Maybe but I hope for Joelyn's sake that isn't the case. And if it is and they've done some terrible misdeed then I hope the the traitor's sake I don't find them. Virif glowered at the thought that perhaps they'd been set up and perhaps Jocelyn was in danger. As he ran he mentally ticked off spells and options open should he find himself in less than desirable circumstances. It was a habit drilled into him at the academy.

(I've got Fist of Stone +6 str and a natural slam attack, prepped in case I get jumped and can face the attacker(s) I've also got Kelgore's Firebolt (3d6 fire damage partially ignore SR) prepped in case I can't see any would be attackers.)

Heironymus can't help but smirk as his mace crashes into the side of the brigand in front of him. The battle had gotten off to a slow start for the cleric, but he was earning his money now.

Since the brigand in front of him was still standing he hauled back for another blow with his mace. As soon as this one was down he knew he would need to look around and see if he could identify where those in the woods were hiding. Sound burst might make a good weapon then. (If the brigand in front of him does go down before he swings he will look to identify where those in the woods are hiding and cast the spell if it works. Other actions would depend on what he sees.)

Virif disappears into the forest at a dead run in search of the fleeing Jocelyn and Harl. In moments he is gone from sight into the underbrush and shadows of the trees.

The skirmish at the front of the caravan continues as the brigand swings down hard barely missing Allyn but embedding his blade in the side of the first wagon. Allyn takes swift advantage of the situation and clubs him upside the face, spinning him around to face the grinning Heironymus, blade still stuck in the wagon behind him.

(Allyn hits the brigand him for 3 hp of damage)

Raif struggles against the snaring roots and vines of his own spell as he aids his faithful hound in breaking free. Just as the last weeds are pulled from Marga they clamp tightly onto the druids ankles, holding him fast.

Heironymus, now smiling into the face of the soon to be deceased brigand simply raises his mace and brings it crashing down on the man's collarbone. With a sickening crunch he crumples to the ground in a heap.

(Heironymus hits the brigand for 7 points of damage)

A lone brigand remains on the south side of the wagons, standing in the midst of the entangling weeds. Seeing the last of his allies crumble at a powerful blow from Heironymus' mace, he turns and flees as fast as his legs can carry him, somehow managing to leap around and dodge every grasping root that attempts to trip him up.

Seeing the fleeing man Kyara looses one final arrow at him, striking him in the arm. Adrenaline overcomes his pain however, and he keeps running into the relative safety of the forest's shadows.

Allyn nods his thanks to Heironymus. "Thanks for that. For a moment I thought he would be the end of me."

Silence reigns as the agonized cries of the acid burned brigand fade away, only the winnies of frightened horses can be heard.

"Jocelyn, you can come out now. It's safe." Allyn calls to the rear of the caravan. His eyes go wide with fear as he slowly realizes she isn't there. "Where has she gone?!? They must have taken her! We've got to find her! Why didn't you protect her?!?"

As everyone's gaze is drawn to the rear wagon you all notice something a bit out of place. When the combat started their were two guards there: One with two arrows in his chest and another crushed beneath the weight of the wagon. Neither can now be seen. In fact, it seems that the broken wagon wheel is still attached to the wagon when you remember for certain seeing them remove it prior to the attack.

Raif, slightly embarrassed at the geting caught within his own spell, works to cut himself and Marga free of the entangling vines, and after a few minutes, the spell will fade away, the roots and grasses and shrubbery returning to their previously still state. He bends to examine Marga's wound, speaking gently to the creature as he carefully removes the arrow. He cleans the cut, getting rid of any dirt or grasses in it, then looks back towards the wagon.

"Is it my imagination, or has something happened to that wagon?"