On To Triel

After leaving the kobold warren, the group returns to the camp. There the survivors of the kobold raid have done their best to recover from the damage and are preparing an evening meal when the adventurers return.

An Adventurer Is Born

The next morning, with a hard frost upon the ground, the group prepares to move out and continue on to Triel. By now, Lady Mara has heard of the groups adventures in the kobold warrens and she swears that this is the life for her now. She is determined to become and adventurer, just like her caravan protectors. Sylvannas promises to teach her how to use her dagger. They talk and practice as the caravan moves along. Marcon, Lady Mara's hired protector, listens and scowls, he tells Merrick his job is solely to get Lady Mara to Triel and put her into the hands of Elvar The Grainlords household. There she can decide if she wishes to marry the Grainlord's son or not. It matters not to him.

Turt, the tortle, who always dawdles behind, pauses as he listens. The rough road now passes through a wider clearing with forest on either side several yards away. From the west side of the road, within the forest, Tort thinks he hears something. He calls to the others and tries to describe what he heard. His mimicry skills are poorly lacking, and his imitation of the sound comes out more like a belch.

Sylvannas, sends Lady Mara and her squire back to the safety of the caravan while the group, while she moves towards the woods to investigate. Sylvannas sees a human male being mauled by an owlbear. He screams and then goes silent as the owl bear rends his back open with its massive claws.

The Owlbears and Werebear

Sylvannas moves back silently through the forest and as he passes the others, now entering the forest to investigate, Sylvannas tells them its an owlbear. Too late to help. Might as well move on. The others decide its important to see if they can help. They fight off the owlbear and heal the fallen human. When he rises back up he transforms into a massive bear. Together they kill off the owlbears, charming some, but the werebear has fallen again.

They tie the unconscious human to a strong tree and wake him. Under Messick's Zone of Truth they hear the man's story. His name is Filip Burtdum. Yes, he has been a werebear for years now. Ever since he and his smith mentor went into the woods to cut wood. There they encountered a massive bear. It killed his mentor, Olfstock, and would have killed him too if he had not escaped by jumping off a cliff into a rushing river below. Unfortunately, he did not escape unharmed. He had been slashed by the werebears claws and weeks later, he found himself under a full moon, in the woods near his house, with a carcass of a deer in his clutches. He found he transforms whenever he experiences strong emotions. Because of this, in the middle of the night, he packed a few belongings and left his home, leaving his wife and infant child. He did not trust himself. He has spend his years in the woods trying to keep it in balance but has found it more difficult in the recent years. Monsters abound and he still hasn't found the werebear that transformed him.

Releasing Filip, the group moves further into the woods to make sure they have completely cleared out the area. They come across a cave. After some debate as to whether or not they should enter the cave, they find a small group of owlbear cubs. Small and defensless they mewl at the group. The group argues over what to do with the cubs. Leave them be and they will grow up to attack and kill others on the road. They decide to kill them.

The Killing Of Small Owlbear Cubs

That's when they notice, hiding behind a tree watching them is Lady Mara. They call her over and tell her if she wants to be a part of the adventuring group she has to prove her metal. She must kill the owlbear cubs. She immediately draws her dagger but then looks at the small defenseless creature. It's soft feathers surrounding a cute face. Is it smiling at her? Tears running down her face Lady Mara stabs it through the chest. She screams and stabs again and again. Sobbing uncontrollably now. Finally the others pull her off and she runs back to the caravan.

 When the group returns to the caravan, they find Marcon glaring at them demanding to know what happened. Lady Mara has locked herself in her wagon. The group explains and Marcon looks displeased but resigns himself to simply getting the caravan going again.

They continue on to Triel.

A Vigilante Ambush

They travel for hours. A fine mist fills the air and the chill makes the ride miserable for that last few hours. Soon they see the walls of Triel in the distance. As the sun begins to approach the horizon behind grey clouds, the adventurers see a wagon ahead on the side of the road. A man kneels beside a removed wheel. A woman and a child sit nearby wrapped in canvas to keep the chill of the mist off of them. Messick goes up ahead and approaches the wagon. He asks if everything is alright. The man stands and scrutinizes Messick and then the others. He calls out, "It's them!", and attacks.

The woman and child discard the canvas they have been huddled under and join the battle. The woman moves gracefully as she slashes with her short swords and moves about the group with ease. The child, now revealed as a dwarf, attacks with an axe. As the rest of the adventurers rush to join in, several arrows fly down from a small bluff several yards away. The group moves to the far side of the wagons for cover. The attackers continually yell such things as, "Make them pay for her death!" and " We'll show you how we deal with those that murder innocents!" and the man who was feigning fixing the wagon wheel shouts to the others "Remember….we want to take them alive…..if we can.
But Elvar said that if it's our lives or theirs…..make them die painfully!"

Eventually, they kill the attackers but are still harassed by one of the archers on the bluff. Sylvannas jumps on a nearby horse and pursues up and over the bluff. The archer, trying to flee, mounts his horse and the chase is on. Sylvannas, draws her bow and fires. Even on horseback at full speed she hits her mark.

Unfortunately for Sylvannas, her attention was on the fleeing archer and not the terrain. She and her horse plummet into a small gorge in the otherwise flat plain. Injured, both to body and pride, she rejoins the group. They do not mention her stumble...but their smiles do,

They decide to take the wagon, as it is in good shape. Mystora replaces the removed wheel and attaches it to her horse.

Soon they arrive at the gates of Triel.

Garren's Wagon

The guards posted at the gate look at each other worried.

They call for more guards. One of the guards approach them and asks them why they have Garren's wagon. The group explains the attack and then have to explain how they have not murdered anyone. After some tense dialogue, the group finds that Jay Harris had arrived days earlier and told the city that Lady Mara was murdered by those who were hired to protect the caravan. This angered the citizens and some of them took it upon themselves to seek revenge.

Not only was the marriage celebration something the citizens were looking forward to but it would make political inroads to link Triel to the Waterdeep allegiance.

The group calls out to Lady Mara to come out of her wagon. She does so. She does not look like nobility. She is dischelved, hair cut short and ragged, clothes dirty from the road and blood splattered from the owlbear cubs. She is still shaken and is not the composed Lady Mara the group was expecting.

The guards call for Elvar to come and make a decision. Elvar arrives shortly and hears the group out. It is decided that Jay Harris should be present. Until such time, the group must surrender their weapons and stay within the city. They are taken to the Singing Wind Inn and are given a meal of succulent meat and bread.

They have no fear that once they can face their accuser, the foul Jay Harris, things will be sorted out easily.