5 Erastus
Zeran stared at the dead kobold taking his hat off and holding it over his chest in respect. "Here." He slipped from the wagon and helped cut the poor thing down gently laying it down. "We get him back to the soot scale when we can, but something tells me-" And at that moment the grigs came flying by shouting. Zeran was spinning this way and that trying to focus on them before they dispersed leaving him scratching his head. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have a few bigger hornets about."

Thankfully nothing happened that night and they arrived at the fort easy enough.

6 Erastus
Zeran set the statue he had claimed beside the music box and dagger near his little area of their bunk house. "Wonder if I'll ever get a shelf." He mused, wondering to himself if Oleg had a couple spare boards and some nails around he could use to make one. He shook his head and laid down for a moment staring at the ceiling, thinking. "Hmm..." His thoughts in order the former river pirate stepped from the bunkhouse and headed over to see what everyone was up to.

He watched Froderick and Stefan for a short bit a small smile coming to his face before he moved on with his walk. "Stefan couldn't have picked a better person to squire under." He said quietly chuckling to himself, he had to admire that old dwarf he had proven to be a valuable ally, and a friend.

His next stop was Miguel, he kept his distance again just observing the man for a bit before nodding again. "Should learn to play the instrument he does, would give me something to do." Again it was just more quiet musings to himself, reflections on his friends and allies, his more then enough close encounters, bumps and bruises had him in a thoughtful mood.

Zeran watched Giles for a moment and scratched his chin a bit, he hadn't known Giles long enough to make much of him but he had to admire the man's combat training and prowess, was also good to have someone with more formal combat training in the group as well.

Lastly was Kyrie, he hadn't a clue where she was but he did find her soon enough. He didn't keep his distance though he stepped up to her and smiled tipping his head and hat a bit. "Kyrie, I've got to thank you." Zeran took his hat off and bowed standing upright again. "You've saved my ass more then a few times now in more ways then one. Thank you, I've no clue how I'll repay you for it but I will one day." He leaned in and pecked her cheek before moving on.

It only occured to him after he had gotten back to the bunkhouse what he had done. He thought on it for a moment, then shrugged and chuckled as he stretched out and sat up not wanting to sleep but also not wanting to be out in the sun for the moment.

[I can and will retcon my post, or add more RP post if people respond.]

Evening
Zeran glowered as he listened to the exchange giving his head a shake as he watched the bandits go off. "Can't wait to put a bullet in each of them, Stag Git especially." He growled a frown on his face. "We need to discuss a plan of attack or defense. I've a few ideas if someone doesn't suggest them first." He said keeping his eyes staring after the torches as he spoke to the group.

[See Skype discussion for suggestions. I won't add them all here again lol.]

The fifth
"Dear Mother..." Kyrie murmured when she saw the body of the kobold on the tree. She'd help to get it down with Zeran, using her shovel to split the spear haft where it met the tree to prevent additional damage, but the sunken feeling in her heart was that it was too late for the little guy. In spite of how it looked, Kyrie does what she can for the kobold regardless.

((For the record Kyrie does do a heal check for certainty but not expecting that to result in a change of situation))

Kyrie gives a surprised sound as Perlivash lands on her head. She recognized the high pitched voice easily enough. "Easy, easy there, Perl." She raised her hands to gently transfer Perl to a more relaxed position, gently hugging the fey so as not to crush him with her armour. After a moment she lets him down, "Do you two know what happened?"

“The mean biggenses, they're back! You came and you slew them foreverago, but they have returned!” Perlivash squeaked.

“They've come back for revenge! Round two! Take no survivors!” Tyg added. “They came, five of them, and the one—black like the heart of a demon—killed the scaly kobold one while the big-like-and-ox laughed. Their leader was frowny and grey and made faces at them, then they left. We were too scared to look! We were running home but then we saw you! You must kill them!”
"I don't think it'd be the same ones." Kyrie noted, "Must be others from their base. We still haven't found it yet, but when we do, there's a lot more than words to be traded." She nodded firmly.

((pending other interactions))

"Just make sure you two don't get caught by them. Not all big people are bad but be careful." Kyrie offers the two fey.

The Sixth
"Stubborn little guys. Just won't go away now will you? There's a whole grassland out there and you come in here? Well, I won't allow it." Kyrie had a stern look to her as she raised her shovel, "Weeds, I will stop you!"

The shovel sank into the dirt easily enough, and Kyrie took care to only aim for the roots of the weed rather than any of the produce. She had years of experience doing that after all. For once (well, since the last time they were there anyway) she wasn't in her armour, just dressed in plain attire and tending to the small garden.

"Really, really stubborn." She chuckled, wiping her brow with the back of her hand.

Seeing Zeran nearby she waved at him as he came over.

"Kyrie, I've got to thank you." Zeran took his hat off and bowed standing upright again. "You've saved my ass more then a few times now in more ways then one. Thank you, I've no clue how I'll repay you for it but I will one day."
He leaned in, but Kyrie leaned back, unable to keep the giggle from her throat, "Might not want to do that right now, Zeran. Mah'i always said to wash up first after fighting weeds."

She gave him a warm smile, "Don't worry about repaying or such. I did sign up for this after all." She pauses, thinking a moment, "Or at least would have if that one guy wasn't so finicky with his paper. I guess the shovel intimidated him." She shrugs, "But that's just a detail." She gave a laugh.

Evening
Zeran glowered as he listened to the exchange giving his head a shake as he watched the bandits go off. "Can't wait to put a bullet in each of them, Stag Git especially." He growled a frown on his face. "We need to discuss a plan of attack or defense. I've a few ideas if someone doesn't suggest them first." He said keeping his eyes staring after the torches as he spoke to the group.
[...]

Kyrie nodded, "Let's let them know that they're wrong about us being away. Shake them up. The fort's locked down so we can't get to them right now anyway, though personally I'm tempted to shoot the black wearing one if there is one. He was the one the fey said tortured the kobold after all."

((pending outcome, assuming a 'scare off' is decided))

Kyrie made her way up onto the battlements and gave a wave, "Hey there! You said something about... us not being here? Must make you feel so proud to do a lot of shouting with nothing to back up what you say!"

6 Erastus
Oleg's Trading Post
South Brevic Borderlands
Akrios' gaze darted between the shovel in the girl's hand and the green streak in her hair. He shot a glance at Dovan. The man in black did not bother to hide his rage at whatever trick was going on before him. Auchs, perhaps misinterpreting what was going on, merely waved back at Kyrie.

“Bah! This changes nothing! We will be back at the end of the month and you will give us your goods or we will burn this pathetic excuse for a fort to the ground!” Dovan spat. The five turned their horses to leave.

Akiros regarded Kyrie for another moment. “The Stag Lord is a fearsome man with a reputation for monstrous cruelty. You should know who it is you stand against before you are so quick to oppose him.” He spurred his horse with the rest, headed back for the forest.

Travelling B5-F5
7-10 Erastus
The Greenbelt Charter party set out at first light the next day. They went with the Levetons' blessing as the fort prepared itself for possible danger. The group traveled south around the edge of the forest and through the Kamelands. Unless the Stag Lord's camp was exceptionally well-hidden, there were only so many unmappd places that it could be.

As they went, the party discussed what their plan would be once the finally found the Stag Lord's base of operations. It was Zeran who realized that they still carried the case of herbal liquor that they found in the loot of the Thorn Ford camp—a little battered and dirt-encrusted for having survived a tornado, but nothing that couldn't be polished off.

On top of that, there were the silver stag amulets worn by ranking bandits in the Stag Lord's band. They had three in total, including the one Zeran carried with him. This, in addition to a little clever illusion magic worked up by Giles could make a good start.

10 Erastus
River Fork; Hex F5
Thorn-Shrike Rivers
Perhaps not by coincidence, the Greenbelt party started their search for the Stag Lord in the very place where a couple months before they had ambushed and captured a small crew of bandits. Before they even began to explore the area, though, they found their first evidence of bandit activity. Naturally, it was that evening.

The party kept a small cookfire as the twilight stretched toward dusk on the long, warm summer day. Just enough of a flicker to navigate their campsite and to warn wild animals away. Giles set up for first watch as the others settled down to sleep.

“Right, what's all this then?”

The disembodied voice made the party jump. It was vaguely familiar, but it didn't sound remotely like either Tyg or Perlivash, even if their nest wasn't far away in the forest.

“Well, if it isn't you chaps again!” A ball of purple light winked to life right in the middle of the camp. Giles recognised it for a will-o'-wisp immediately. What was it doing here? Normally the aerial aberrations preferred to lure travellers into danger, rather than kill personally.

“Why, if I'd known you lot would be in the area—ah, but I've already made plans for lunch. Speaking of which, could you put out that fire for, like, ten minutes? It's kind of throwing off my groove.”

The wisp suddenly rose half a foot into the air. “Oop, there's my cue, gotta go.”

Without waiting for a response it winked out. A moment later Frodrick heard the sound of voices, not too far away, behind one of the hills. Regardless about the wisp's 'groove', Frodrick killed the fire. “Weapons out, stay down,” he whispered to the rest of the party. He didn't know what was going on out there, but the chances their campfire would attract someone friendly in this wilderness were slim compared to the alternative.

In the darkness another campfire suddenly sprung to life down the hill, closer to the river. A lone jet black horse seemed to be tied down next to the campfire.

Coming over the hill in the twilit dimness, the party could barely make out three humanoid figures. They appeared to spot the campfire. “There, I told you he'd have a camp nearby. That must be his horse!” The party was just close enough to catch snatches of their hushed conversation as they passed, oblivious, toward the other camp.

“I'll be damned, that looks like a fine beast. You guys can have the rest of his loot, the horse is mine.” The second voice was a man.

“Yeah, well where did he go—we all saw the lantern come this way.” The third voice also a man.

“Must be down by the river, come, we'll get the jump on him,” the second voice murmured, distracted.

The three crept toward the campfire until the party could barely make them out anymore—no traveller ever appeared, but the party soon understood what the wisp meant by its plans for lunch. The man who seemed to be interested in the horse came clear into the light of the horse's campfire.

The horse did not stir as the bandit approached it carefully. It wasn't until he was close enough to touch it that the black stallion suddenly bolted out of the fire light. Unthinking, the man gave chase. His companions shouted after him, but their words fell on deaf ears as the fire winked out as suddenly as it appeared.

When the party's eyes adjusted again, they could see that the horse had run into the river swimming easily into deeper water, with the man not far behind, struggling to keep afloat as he followed.

The party was no longer certain who was supposed to be ambushing whom, but one thing was certain—it wasn't them this time, and that made for a rather pleasant change.

Frodrick 34/34 –
Jargon 19/19 –
Giles 29/29 – 20 bolts
Kyrie 34/34 –
Miguel 25/25 – 19 arrows
Zeran 27/27 – 30 bullets
Stefan 11/11 – 17 arrows
Uriel 13/13 –

(Incredibly late post away! After about a week of working up the time and energy just to start this post the first time it was sent to the void when my compy froze and sharted itself. I hope this will be sufficient. I am trying not to go quite so often for the cinematic approach with encounters, but sometimes it's the only obvious option to pull off a confusing scene without stopping every paragraph to check party reactions.

Anyway, cinema over, now you may fight. Or keep watching, if you feel like it. But either way, there are three bandits, an invisible wisp, and some kind of horse out there and who knows what else.)

Frodrick brought up his shield and glared at the body of water. He heard tale from the halfling neighbors of his homeland of a creature that took the form of a horse and dragged children into the water to drown them. A hippogriff or something like that.

Clenching his teeth, Frodrick grumbled to Miguel. "Best be staying by boy-o. Your magicks will be a bit useful to this group tonight. If you be needing to go anywhere, try to keep a distance that me old legs can keep up at eh? I will make sure no one disturbs your jimmer-jammering."

Delay turn: Basic combat plan is to stay by miguel as he buffs people
using Bodyguard to raise his AC if he is attacked
using Tactician - Shielded Caster when an enemy is in melee range when he starts to cast spells.

Zeran grunted and stretched as he sat up wondering what the light was before he recognized it, only because it recognized them. "Oh hey long time no see, since the tornado if I recall." He greeted the wisp like a friend given this would be the third time they had seen it. He woke up at his pace and watched the bandits raid the 'camp' chuckling a bit.

"Best be staying by boy-o. Your magicks will be a bit useful to this group tonight. If you be needing to go anywhere, try to keep a distance that me old legs can keep up at eh? I will make sure no one disturbs your jimmer-jammering."
Zeran overheard Froderick and gave him a puzzled expression. "You aren't seriously thinking of going down there right now are you? Not only would we have the three bandits, one clearly gone insane, but the horse thing and possibly our good ol' wisp buddy." There was more then a hint of sarcasm at that last bit. "Why don't we just stay here, watch and wait for all we know the wisp might be satisfied with just those three and go away, and if he doesn't then we can deal with him. I'm not to keen running off like a lunatic to save three bandits down there."

"No. I ain't of the mind to run into combat, but me thinks that the fight may come to us. I be preferring to be prepared and no enemy be comin' then be relaxed and have something lash at me throat."

10 Erastus
River Fork; Hex F5
Thorn River
Giles silently agreed with Frodrick's suggestion. Keeping low so as not to attract attention to himself, Giles moved ahead. He was close enough that he could reasonably fire at one of the bandits on the shore, but in the darkness he didn't have a clear shot. Instead he quietly chanted a spell to turn the odds in his favour.

In the back, Stefan turned to Uriel just behind him. He mounted his horse, bow in hand, then spurred the black gelding to ride around the left flank, coming up on Giles' left side.

The bandits on the bank were still too preoccupied with their cohort struggling across the river. In the scant twilight, the party could see as he came just up to the horse's flank. They also saw that the moment the man managed to get within arm's reach, the horse suddenly turned on him.

It kicked at him with its forelegs, striking him once (-6dmg) and seeming to stand on him holding him down as he struggled to breath. Throughout the whole attack, the man never screamed for help or shouted in surprise.

On shore the bandits were beginning to panic. One drew his bow and fired an arrow at the horse to no avail.

Meanwhile Zeran strafed right to match Stefan on the left, hoping to attract somebody into the range of his pistol while the others distracted them with a head-on assault.

Frodrick held back as Miguel cast, but Kyrie had no such patience for a fight that she was not already in the middle of. The farm girl charged forward with her shovel in hand, providing exactly the kind of target Zeran was planning on.

Even if by now the bandits were not becoming quickly aware of the party advancing on their rear, Miguel threw his spell-lights out over their heads, illuminating the entire bank and part of the river.

The other bandit on the shore whirled around in surprise. She grabbed her bow, but obviously couldn't see clearly into the party approaching in the half-light beyond the spell's radius any more than they before. She loosed an arrow at the dark shape of Kyrie charging forth, but struck dirt several feet wide of the paladin.

Flanked by Frodrick and Jargon on either side, Miguel followed up with the rest of the party, keeping up with Giles.

Frodrick 34/34 –
Jargon 19/19 – Defend: Miguel
Giles 29/29 – dL, Divine Favour (1/10), 20 bolts
Kyrie 34/34 –
Miguel 25/25 – Dancing Lights (1/10), 19 arrows
Zeran 27/27 – 30 bullets
Stefan 11/11 – 17 arrows
Uriel 13/13 – Mount

BanditA: Injured, Grappled
BanditB: Uninjured, 19 arrows
BanditC: Uninjured, 19 arrows

Horse?: Feelin' Murder-y?

(The swing of things is hard to get into after most of a month. Doing good so far, though.)

10 Erastus
River Fork; Hex F5
Thorn River
Giles channeled his will into his weapons as he proceeded into range, calling upon the power to make them strike true. He saw that Kyrie had a dead shot at the woman on the left, so he pointed his crossbow at the right. The bandit almost saw the bolt coming in time to jump out of the way, but he was barely a second too slow. The bolt buried itself in his shoulder (-3dmg BanditC), interrupting him as he reached for another arrow.

Stefan, riding out on the left with Uriel, loosed an arrow at the woman, striking her upper leg (-2dmg BanditB). The two on the bank forgot about their comrade in the river entirely in favour of their own skins. The man in the river was offering absolutely no resistance as the black stallion dragged him under the water, vanishing from sight (BanditA Dead?).

The man on the river bank looked between Giles and Zeran, and the realization of his imminent death cross his face. Clutching the bolt wound in his shoulder, he simply turned and fled along the river. Zeran watched him run and mentally considered whether it was worth the powder or if there was any harm in letting one escape.

The short, blocky bandit on the bank never had that chance. Kyrie lifted her shovel as she charged in like some kind of a magitek excavation engine. The bandit woman's unconscious body rolled a few feet down the bank, stopping several feet short of the river edge as the 'oioing' of Kyrie's shovel faded (-11dmg BanditB KO)

(After Zeran decides to shoot or not; regardless the outcome)

Miguel and Frodrick jogged to catch up, with Jargon still watching his flank. It seemed the fight was already done.

Suddenly a sound very much like a deep, satisfied sniff emanated from the air above Kyrie.

“Ah, yes! Yes!” The wisp's unmistakable voice returned, apparently caught up in a passion. The familiar purple orb flicked into visibility with a contented sigh. “If I'd known you were here, I'd have brought them straight for you to deal with instead of splitting the meal with whatsit over there.” The wisp bobbed in the direction of the river, probably referring to the horse that had taken down the bandit.

Frodrick 34/34 –
Jargon 19/19 – Defend: Miguel
Giles 29/29 – Divine Favour (2/10), Justice, 19 bolts
Kyrie 34/34 – Charge -2AC
Miguel 25/25 – Dancing Lights (2/10), 19 arrows
Zeran 27/27 – 30 bullets
Stefan 11/11 – 18 arrows
Uriel 13/13 – Mount

BanditA: Dead?
BanditB: Injured, Fleeing, 19 arrows
BanditC: Unconscious, Dying, 19 arrows

Horse?: ???

(Battle... over...? Maybe you thought so until you read this but now you're not so sure.)

Frodrick looked at the creature with his one eye and glared.
"Do ye know if that damn water-horse be coming back up or not. I be wanting parley with ye and yer minions if there is any chance o' it."

His grimace remained steadfast as he await the response from the mischievous masochist.

“Water horse? Oh you mean my accomplice. I tell you, the old nag is as stubborn as a mule and bad tempered to boot. At any rate, it's got one meal to take care of already—shouldn't bother us at least for the moment. What topic of discourse did you have in mind?”

More or less right on queue, there was a disturbance from the river.

A wet, pale, naked woman, long dark hair covered in duckweed, emerged, dripping, from the dark water. She completely diregarded the Greenbelt Party and the wisp and trudged dripping straight for the bandit Kyrie had knocked out. She knelt down over the unconcsious body and placed both hands over the bandit's mouth and nose, suffocating her even as she bled out.

“H-Hey!” The wisp shouted at her.

The river woman didn't even glance back.

“Hey, I was savouring that! You already got one to yourself!”

The woman flicked her head dismissively, continuing her work.

“You see that? How dare she! Kill her!”

She looked sharply at the party for the first time and hissed, a sound very much like a sputtering water pump. “I would welcome the extra fresh meat,.” she said.in burbly Taldane.

Kyrie wasn't too sure what to make of the situation at this point, but there was one thing she did know for sure, and that was that she was not going to say nothing.

"Hey, listen! I might not know who you are, but it looks like you had an agreement. I know you need to eat to survive, but you already have one. We haven't attacked you, but if you insist, I will use my shovel." Kyrie spoke, advancing and staring her down, "For the record, I'm not just leaving her to die here, even if it was my shovel that knocked her out."

No one told her that carnivorous water shapeshifters were unable to be reasoned with. Also, no one apparently told the water creature about how stubborn Kyrie can be. If she doesn't relent, then Kyrie instinctively activates her shield and uses her shovel as she said she would.

His axe and shiled were still at the ready: he figured something like this would happen. His brow furrowed and sank down a bit as he glared at the she-devil of the waters. but though Frodrick wore a somber expression of stern anger, a twinkle could be seen in his eye.

"I ain't the type to discriminate between the goof lads and the dumb lassies of this place. You call us meat, I call you dead!"

Not taking his glare off the creature, Frodrick called out to the others: "Surround the hag! Create a wall to cut off any retreat to the waters it calls home!"

Whirling his axe in a vertical oval a couple of times, the dwarf proceeded to do a downward slash at the creature's head.

-Challenge the woman, Miguel is the ward for this challenge.
-Basic attack, if Frodrick needs to, he will change his position to either get between the thing and the water, or between it and Miguel, whichever makes more sense (I cannot quite imagine the position of everyone at this time, so I don't know if Miguel is in danger or not. Make him the priority

10 Erastus
River Fork; Hex F5
Thorn River
Between the wisp's call to fight and Kyrie's warning, the naked woman hissed, angrier. “Mine!” she shouted, leaning protectively over the unconscious, dying bandit. At once her body began shifting.

Her face elongated to resemble that of a snaggletoothed horse while her already pale skin turned translucent and slimy. In an instant she looked like a tall, emaciated humanoid with the face and feet of a horse, but webbed, humanoid hands.

Giles threw a brief, annoyed glance at the wisp. He was not impressed that yet another fight couldn't be avoided. He put away his crossbow and drew his sword, but held his ground, watching the water horse from afar.

Meanwhile Frodrick was not about to take any guff from stringy-haired water monsters speculating on the chewiness of his hide. He called the attack on the monster, declaring his intent to see it dead or driven off from these waters. Then he put his head down and ran around the monster to cut off its escape back into the river where it might have an advantage.

It took a swipe at him with one of its webbed hands, but the dwarf deflected the blow with the edge of his shield. While it was distracted with Frodrick, Miguel came up by Kyrie. He tried to cut into its flank, but it twisted away at the last moment, causing his sword to glance off its slimy hide.

The river monster turned on Miguel, lashing out with its webbed hands. Miguel immediately went on the defensive, ducking the first, clumsy swing, but too slow to avoid the second entirely. The monster's hand glanced off his collar (-4dmg) and took hold of his body armour with a strength that belied its sickly appearance (Grappled).

Kyrie didn't need to focus her sight on the river monster to know that this was a weed that would need plucking. She wasn't sure a shovel was the right tool for river work, but she could at least take out its thorns. She stepped forward to smite the water horse with her shovel, calling up the divine power to act as a shield against evil. Unsurprisingly, her power took effect, and the protective aura washed over Miguel and Frodrick, and also the unconscious bandit.

Zeran spared not a moment, dashing to keep the monster in range. It was moving about too much for him to get a clean shot through Kyrie from here, but he crossed his fingers and took it anyway.

The humanoid monster horse let out a shrill, distorted cry between a horse's scream and a human cry of pain. The bullet struck home in its white flank, causing bright scarlet blood to leak from the wound (-11dmg WHMT).

Frodrick 34/34 – Challenge [WHMT] (+3dmg, -2AC, +1attk allies), Bastion
Jargon 19/19 – Defend: Miguel
Giles 29/29 – Divine Favour (4/10), Justice, 19 bolts
Kyrie 34/34 – Bastion of Good
Miguel 21/25 – Dancing Lights (4/10), Grappled, Bastion, 19 arrows
Zeran 27/27 – 30 bullets, -2G
Stefan 11/11 – 18 arrows
Uriel 13/13 – Mount

Water-Horse-Monster-Thing: Barely Injured, Grappler

BanditA: Watery Grave
BanditB: Unconscious, Dying, Bastion, 19 arrows
BanditC: Injured, Fled, 19 arrows

(I say, there were a couple poor rolls, but sure, they had to happen eventually. Better now than against the Stag Lord. Unless they're so bad now we never make it to the Stag Lord. (I kid, you guys are powerhouses). Challenge and Bastion activated, who wants to take bets how much longer the monster will live? Do I hear 3 rounds? That said don't forget about the bandit who is still liable of bleeding out even without mysterious women trying to wash them like a raccoon)

10 Erastus
River Fork; Hex F5
Thorn River
Giles sighed. Though he was used to working alone in hostile environments, he was not one to abandon his allies needlessly. With the cold iron sword he picked up in hand, he hustled toward the fray going down. He came around left, hoping to cut off the monster as it moved down the bank away from Kyrie and Frodrick, carrying Miguel by the collar.

Stefan saw the monster grab Miguel. He resolved to get serious, focusing all his attention on the monster. He mentally steeled himself to putting every ounce of his effort into taking it down. He fired an arrow, glancing its leg at an oblique angle (-2dmg WHMT Injured). The young squire couldn't do much in a fight compared to his more experienced fellows, but he could be one more thorn in the monster's side.

Frodrick strafed in along the bank, keeping the water woman's most direct route into the river cut off. Jargon appeared around Kyrie's back, coming to the aid of her ward. She bit the horse monster on the arm, leaving harsh red marks when it wriggled free of her (-5dmg WHMT). Frodrick beat at the monster, trying to give Miguel an opening to escape.

The monster held Miguel in a strong, webbed grip. Despite Frodrick's efforts, the bard all but stopped struggling for a moment—instead he went for his belt pouch. He managed to pull out a small ball of wax paper containing a single glob of butter. Withdrawing his consciousness from his position, Miguel muttered the words to the spell, consuming the butter with a hiss. At once, his armour gleamed with a fresh coating of translucent magical grease.

The monster ignored the magical trick. With Miguel still within its grasp, it turned wrenched him and dragged him toward the river (-2dmg Miguel). Frodrick and Kyrie made their protests with shovel and axe, the dwarf finding the monster's slimy hide tough to piece. Kyrie's shovel pounded down on the monster's back (-7dmg WHMT Bloodied) but hardly slowed it down as it splashed into the water, pushing Miguel into water above his head.

Kyrie was not about to let Miguel be manhandled and taken away by another river monster again. She ran to the edge of the bank and stomped into the shallow water right behind the monster. When she caught up, the paladin clubbed it across the back of the head (-11dmg WHMT Near Death)

Zeran chased to catch up to the incresingly all-terrain melee, popping another bullet into his gun as he went. If this went well, he might not even need it. If not, it might be Miguel's best chance.

Frodrick 34/34 – Challenge [WHMT] (+3dmg, -2AC, +1attk allies), B
Jargon 19/19 – Defend: Miguel, B
Giles 29/29 – Divine Favour (5/10), Justice, 19 bolts
Kyrie 34/34 – Bastion of Good
Miguel 19/25 – Dancing Lights (5/10), Grease (1/30), Grappled, B, 19 arrows
Zeran 27/27 – 29 bullets#, -2G
Stefan 11/11 – Challenge [WHMT] (+1dmg, -2AC, +1CMD resist), 17 arrows
Uriel 13/13 – Mount

Water-Horse-Monster-Thing: Injured, Grappler

Bandit: Dying, Unconscious, 19 arrows
Will-o-Wisp: Still feeding from the mortal terror of death.

10 Erastus
River Fork; Hex F5
Thorn River
Giles waded into the water right along side Kyrie. He'd prefer a bit of room but there was none to be had. The soldier refilled with energy spurring on his every strike and with dispassionate precision he thrust his sword into the unidentified monster's flank. He used the cold iron sword on the chance that this was some kind of demon or fey, but it didn't seem any more vulnerable to his sword than any other when he pulled the bloody tip free (-6dmg WHMT).

Frodrick splashed into the river after him. What was only knee-deep water for the rest came clear to the dwarf's belt, but he waded level to the monster, still trying to help Miguel escape its grasp. Jargon kept up trying to bite, but the monster was more wary of the fellow horse.

Miguel squirmed and thrashed in the water over his head. The slippery layer on his armour made him extraordinarily hard to keep a hold on, and with Frodrick's help, he easily slipped away like a greased fish. Once free, he made a breaststroke for the shallow water. The monster slammed him in the back as he retreated, most of the force diverted by Kyrie's aura (-3dmg Miguel 16/25). The bard crawled out of the river onto land, soaked head to toe.

Recognising its own imminent mortality and the loss of its meal, the monster did the only sensible thing. It dove into the deeper water, retreating to wherever it had stashed the first bandit it had drowned.

In the last second before the river monster escaped his grasp entirely, Frodrick swung his axe. To his satisfaction, his waraxe struck hard against the fleeing creature's back (-12dmg WHMT). The pale body spasmed and went slack, already beginning to float downstream slowly, unresisted (Dying).

Frodrick 34/34 – Challenge [End]
Jargon 19/19 – Defend: Miguel
Giles 29/29 – Divine Favour (6/10), Justice Resumed and Ended, 19 bolts
Kyrie 34/34 – Bastion End
Miguel 16/25 – Dancing Lights (6/10), Grease (2/30), 19 arrows
Zeran 27/27 – 29 bullets+, -2G
Stefan 11/11 – Challenge [End], 17 arrows
Uriel 13/13 – Mount

Water-Horse-Monster-Thing: Dying, Unconscious, Driftwooding

Bandit: Dying, Unconscious, 19 arrows
Will-o-Wisp: Uninjured

(The horse appears to be dying and will probably float away if uncontested (it's a simple matter to just grab and tow it to shore). The unconscious bandit has been laying dying for the better part of I think 4 rounds, bleeding out.)