After a bloody clash the party stands in the sudden silence of an unoccupied Woodhaerst. The final bandit is cross examined with the information they’ve gleaned from their cooperative captive, Ultimus, and they are eventually released back into the wilderness. Podrick reveals that the bag he’d mistakenly given to you belonged to Headmaster Beelzebrandy – a satchel full of bird pheromones and tasty, tasty bird seed which earned him the attention of a certain, watchful pair of eyes towering 8 ft over him.

Weary after their unexpected battle, the party finds what relief they can by munching on potatoes, laying in hay piles, and trying to recoup their strength. Before they set off, Aywin’s father, Hansith, leans on Maria’s technical proficiencies and reveals to them the built in fail-safe that he has put into all of Riona’s ballistas.

After politely telling Aywin she would not be joining them on their bandit camp assault, Yuka gets kicked in the face. They instead settle on having the brave, yet eccentric wood elf child guard the town while they’re away.

Team 287 saddles up on the myriad of stolen equines that the bandits had left behind – some nimble and swift, others large and brawny, and one portly lad named Pony Tony. The team is cautious on their ascent into dangerous territory – their forethought to check for traps paying off more than once.

The party sneaks their way into the bandit hideout as the sun begins to set behind them. Almost immediately, combat breaks out when Yuka teleports half the party behind enemy lines. Upon hearing the clashing of metal and the screams of her burning legion of terrified fools, Riona joins the fray with intent to trample and maul. The aforementioned ballistas nearly send Podrick’s soul packing as he is impaled by a bolt that’s bigger than he is. Maria is able to dismantle one of the ballista before anyone else is skewered.

The battle was as bloody as it was quick, eventually leading to the demise of our centaur leader and her warpath of greed. Kaladin brings our goblin rogue back from the brink of death while the rest of you begin sniffing around every corner in this earthen hovel.