Elwood carefully searches the dead bandits, looking for anything useful and/or valuable.  He has his flask of holy water ready to splash on any of the dead bandits in case they start showing signs of becoming undead bandits.

Khaaven searches the dead bandits for any valuables which they might of gotten from this new attack they were planning. Making sure to gather all weapons and armor as well, so that they can start to equip and outfit their new base.

Len stood at the entrance and noticed that his compatriots were fine.

"You guys did good" he commented with his most complimentary voice. "No more problems in here. I almost attacked Vish... Viscuc..."

Len grunted.

"Lex. I almost attacked Lex. But I didn't. No more orcs, either."

He scratched his cheek.

"Do you need help gathering those guys' things?"

Len stepped onto the ground and went to the nearest dead bandit that hadn't been stripped. After sliding his own weapon onto his back, he leaned over to grab what he could.

Hugh examines the slain bandit with pity. "It's a shame to go out that way. Shot in the back. No honor in such a death," he says dismissively.

"Live by treachery, die by treachery," he adds before returning to his companions.

"We should see to their burial, but not before we find out where those zombies got off to."

Not quite knowing a spell went off in the cabin about the same time Cole Hiller dropped since she was outside the whole time, Dreya approaches his form where he crumpled near the last living bandit. Without laying a hand on him, she tries to see if he has any wounds. Upon seeing no wounds and that he is very much alive, she nudges him with the toe of her boot. When he doesn't respond, she nudges him harder.

Finally, she pushes him over to his back with the same foot she was trying to prod him with. She glances from him, to the bandit still trapped in entangle, to Cole Hiller again, then over to those searching through the pockets on the already cooling bodies.

"Uhh...what do we do with this one?" Dreya points to the entangled bandit with her dagger. "Are we keeping him alive to question him? Are we killing him? And what about Sir Hiller here?" Dreya further questions, gesturing with the dagger toward Cole's crumpled form. "He just sort of...um...fell right in the midst of screaming bloody murder."

She gives him another jostling nudge with her boot. "And he does not seem inclined to waken."

"ZZZZZZZZ"


(One could note that the Ranger never looked more at peace then when in the throes of a deep slumber.)
This message was last edited by the player at 13:52, Wed 05 Oct 2016.

The party thoroughly loots the bodies of Bandits 1 through 4.  Only Bandit #1 has anything of substantial value (the others just had a few copper pieces each).  Bandit #1 is carrying 50 gold pieces, 100 silver pieces, and several pieces of jewelry.  Khaaven easily appraises them at:

• 1 ring with platinum band set with a series of small diamonds placed to from the shape of a dolphin (value 500 gp)
• 1 necklace of rubies and blue agates (value 250 gp)
• 1 bracelet of gleaming gold (value 100 gp)
• 2 diamond earrings (value 75 gp as a set or 25 gp each)
• 1 silver charm bracelet with silver figurines of a horse, a scorpion, a dragon, a potion bottle, and a badger (value 100 gp)

Cole Hiller can easily be awakened if someone delivers a sharp (but non-damaging) slap to his face.

None of the dead bandits show any sign of arising as zombies.

Dreya's entanglement spell comes to an end.  The grasses and weeds loosen and relax, releasing Bandit #5.  He continues to lie on the ground staring at the party and occasionally coughing.  He appears to be waiting for the party to decide what it is going to do with him.

What do you do?

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
10:03, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Khaaven, rolled 24 using 1d20+4.  Appraise jewelry.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 15:19, Wed 05 Oct 2016.

Dreya hauls back and slaps Cole Hiller.

Khaaven after gathering all of the loot and appraising it. "Lex any way you can see if any of these items are magic, or the weapons or armor they had." looks to Len, "Thanks for offering to help, can you gather all of the weapons and armor. We can start a small armory or sell them off later."

He then pulls his dagger and approaches the now free bandit #5. " Your immediate survival depends on your truthfulness and cooperation. If you do so, you and the other survivor will be released in the near future. We want the names of all of your fallen comrades here, the fence or contact in town to get rid of all of your spoils."

Len blinks as Khaaven spoke to him. He looks down at the armload of items that he held. Not all of it is armor and weapons as Khaaven desired. He begins to pick from what he held, leaving just armor and weapons. Doing a quick inventory, Len smiles. He turns and heads inside with his first haul.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:17, Wed 05 Oct 2016.

Hugh searches the hunting lodge's exterior for a shovel or spade. Unfortunately there were bodies to dispose of and he knew a likely candidate to do some digging: the captured bandit now being interrogated.

If none are immediately visible he will redirect his attention to the secret door the zombie orcs fled into.

"Well ain't ye a demanding guest," Vecivious says with a snort. "Pile it all together while I get my things. No sense in trying to go back to bed anyways," he grumbles as he turns and disappears in the room from whence he came. A long moment later he returns, properly dressed and pack in hand.

"Already lets see what we've got here," the mage mutters looking over the equipment. Holding one hand forth with three fingers extended he chants "Med dessa ord och fingrar tre, låt mig veta var magi vara".

Cast Detect Magic

When Dreya is done slapping Cole awake, she will continue her original goal of finding enough berries to fill the two empty sacks in her inventory.

Elwood helps Hugh in looking for digging instruments for burying the dead.

Dreya pulls her arm back, hesitates a moment with her hand trembling in the air, then slaps Cole across the face.  Cole immediately lurches up, shouts, "Not the pimp hand!", and his foot shoots out sweeping Dreya's legs out from under her.  The druid lands on her bottom next to the now-alert Mr. Hiller.  They both look around a bit dazed.

Vecivious's fingers twinkle with magic, but none of the jewelry, coinage, or equipment taken from the bandits resonates as magical.

The surviving bandit looks at Khaaven's blade and barks out a laugh.  "Fence?" he says.  "We don't fence a damn thing.  We bring loot to the orcs and we're lucky to get day old gruel in return.  I don't know any of these assholes.  That guy over there called himself Milky.  Those guys are Sizzler and Karl.  What's left of Bart is flopped over there.  There was supposed to be a guy named Chisel watching over the place, but I guess you took care of him."

The secret door/fireplace is quiet.  None of the dead bandits show any sign of animating as zombies.  You don't see any digging implements outside, but a search of the large closet across from the suite reveals a couple shovels as well as additional yard tools and cleaning supplies (covered in much dust).

There are no berry bushes nearby, but Dreya does have 12 fresh berries in her pouch.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
11:36, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Dreya, rolled 12 using 2d10.  How many berries does she have?

---

Hugh grabs the shovel and returns to the others and listens to the ongoing questioning. Once concluded, he says to the captive, "You picked the wrong line of work. A person should never willingly yoke themselves to the likes of orcs. Maybe something can be learned of this. Your first lesson is at hand."

Hugh lightly digs the shovel into the earth. "There is much digging to do and I know just the man for the job."

" Think we should bring the dead back to town, want to see if any rewards for them. Also prefer to not have many dead around here if we can since they seem to rise from the dead."

Looks around to the rest of the party;" My suggestion is that Elwood, myself and maybe one other return to town, we talk to the law about the dead bandits. Get a reward if one is available, sell off the goods we just recovered, get supplies to fix up the lodge. Those who stay here can supervise the surviving bandits on their mandated sentence to fix up this place for us. Elwood can try to find out more about this place in town as well as about the dead and anything we might need to fight it. Once we are ready we can clear out what ever threat is hidden below. Elwood and myself will talk to the law and sell our recovered goods, whoever else comes with us can hire a wagon return here and bring in the bodies. By the time they return we should be done shopping and information gathering so we can use the wagon to return with our supplies."

"I don't think it wise to split up the party, reward or not, while there are unknown threats lurking below. Doing do might call for more shovels." Hugh reasons.

The monk has no interest in fixing up the ramshackle hunting lodge. He has few needs for material possessions, save for those he can carry in his pack.

Elwood remarks "I agree that at least some of us should go into town to sell these goods and get supplies.  I can start asking the brothers in my order and some of the other churches what is known about any old stories of this evil temple that Snarg mentioned, and also inquire about what is known about this lodge - when it was built, and who owns it.  As for whether we stay together or split up, I leave that up to the rest.  It might be a too much for only four people to handle if anything comes through the fireplace entrance while keeping an eye on our two prisoners.  If we all go to town, taking these two bandits with us, there's a risk of this place being filled with orcs or undead , but seeing that there are three among us trained in the art of stealth, we should be able to assess their presence without being caught unaware."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:30, Fri 07 Oct 2016.

Brushing out the grass and leaves from the fur of her hide skirt with a little indignant glare shot down at Cole as she gets to her feet, Dreya hedges her way over to where Khaaven, Elwood, and the rest of the men are discussing further plans.

"Even creatures of the forest know that there is safety in numbers.  It is not like we can't handle anything that may be in this shack, undead or otherwise, once we get back.  We are obviously all still very much alive from our first encounter, so we could clear it out again.  But going in to town?"  Dreya nervously fingers a fur hide scarf that is wrapped around her neck, the idea of heading into a populated area clearly unnerving her.

"I suppose I can go in to town with everyone else.  I believe you all will be wishing to clear out this underground passage before we decide whether we are using this hut as our own place. Sir Elwood's idea of gaining information is a sound one."  She eyes the hut warily. "Though staying in one place?  Hmm.." Again, that idea makes Dreya uneasy.

"Perhaps we can sell some of the...loot?  Is that what it is called?...Sell the loot we have gathered and get equipment for going down somewhere where there is clearly undead.  I wouldn't mind resting a little as I feel some of my magical reserves are low.  Even if we come back here once we are done in town and spend the night in the shack, we can post watches to guard the fireplace and the entrances to the hut itself."

She goes to stand awkwardly near the doorway, yet remaining outside.  "I could search for berries on the way into town as well.  I wouldn't mind filling all my empty pouches with fresh berries.  And...I'm rambling again, so I will go along with whatever you all decide is the best thing to do.  You all clearly have more experience with this sort of thing than I."

This message was last edited by the player at 23:06, Fri 07 Oct 2016.

Hugh is still puzzled over the party's apparent desire to repair the lodge, but he pushes these thoughts aside for the moment. The consensus seems to be to yield initiative in favor of returning to town.

"If this is the will of the group, so be it," Hugh concedes. The monk returns to the secret door and listens for activity while the others prepare to return to town.

Brushing the grass and dirt off his knees, Cole stands up, retrieves his bow and reharnesses it to his back.  “I don’t like splitting up the group.  It never ends well…” The words trail off and die in the Ranger’s mouth as he seems to stare off into the distance, one hand rests atop the hilt of his sword.

And so the party is off to town.  Rather than role play out every in-town encounter, please post a list of the activities the party wants to engage in back in town and I can give you the results.

This message was deleted by the player at 01:07, Mon 10 Oct 2016.

Actually, let's put the to-do list in a new in-town thread.