@Aranor Make another DEX check, same DC. Roll Initiative.

Dex 12

Initiative 14

As she begins to sing, Pru slices her blade upwards. Catching the bandit from bottom to top the bandit pauses for a moment before falling to her knees. She slumps down on the heels of her feet, her grasp letting go of her weapon. Aranor stands by wiping the dirt from his eyes, not sure why he didn't see that coming. 

"Not. Not bad red." the bandit grasps for air. "Be careful. She, she will kill you all. *cough, cough* I beg, don't let her take me. I can't be one her mindless wenches." she starts to sink lower onto her feet, slumping further backwards. "Remove my head plea, please. It's the only way."

With that, the bandit falls silent.  As you gather yourselves and look around, you realize that some of the items in the cave are marked with seals and/or logos of their owners. Easy enough to return. Other items are not.

@Everyone Actions?

"what was that?! we should destroy the bodies, not just remove the head, the limbs too. it sounds like that bandit was taling aboutg  necromancer"

Aranor shudders at the mention of necromancy. Such vile magic. If the bandit was telling the truth about being possessed in some way, it would be best to remove her head as she wished or possibly incinerate the body altogether.

"I for one don't wish to take any chances," the high elf announces. With a solid thud he brings his sword down firmly against the bandit's neck, severing the head from its shoulders. That grisly task completed, he sets to cleaning off the now gory blade. "We should remove the other heads as well and investigate this cave to see if we can find any more information. I'm curious as to who this "she" is who will supposedly kill us all."

"a ******* pile of ash if i have anything to ay about it" kaladin spits, trembling with rage

Pru turns away when Aranor beheads the bandit. She doesn't know much about necromancy except the stories some of the minstrels on the street would tell. Even if the stories are true, it's still unsettling what needs to be done.

She begins looking around the loot in the cave to see if there's anything useful. 

"So would some dark wizarding woman take kids?" Pru asks as she pokes around. "She wouldn't use them for some spell would she?"

Looking around the cave, you happen to find what looks to be like part of a young girls dress Upon further inspection through the blood and dirt, there looks to be an "S" sewed into the bottom hemline. A decent set of leather armor is sitting in the far corner, wrapped around a staff. Among the remaining stuff, you locate the following to divide between all.

8GP

Brooch of Shielding

Eyes of the Eagle

Necklace of Adaptation

Potion of Growth

As you finish preparing the pyre for the dead, you can't help but feel as if your being watched. It's roughly 1am. As you check the weather, the rain has stopped. It seems to have warmed up a few degrees. The frogs and other creatures of the night seem to be out in abundance. 

Pru eyes the trinkets and coins, smiling as she runs her hands over them.

"This is all quite nice," Pru says to the others. "Any one keen on any of it? I kind of fancy these little crystal lenses but we should think about who could use each to the most advantage before we head up to the manor."

"i could do  with the necklace, poison and fire are the weapons of choice of many villains"

"I wouldn't mind taking the brooch. It looks like it might be useful," said Aranor, after they finished up with the bodies.

"It seems to be pretty late. Do you think we should stop here and rest before continuing on to the manor?"

Pru nods.

"I don't much like the idea of those kids spending the rest of the night with some nasty necromancer," Pru says, hands on her hips. "But if we're all exhausted, we're not going to be much help."

Brushing the ever present loose strands of red hair from her eyes, Pru tests out the bedrolls left behind by the bandits. She looks around for something to help soften the floor.

"I can sit first watch," Pru volunteers.

@ALL: Update your character sheets with your new found items. Adjust your XP to 335. Should be enough to get you to lvl 2. Add any new spells, etc. 

kaladin was leaning against a wall, watching the group when he suddenly smirked, "oh this will be fun"  he grinned, his voice taking on a demonic tone, "i have light now!"

Pru plays a few notes on her Lyre while she stands the first watch near the front of the cave. With each note, she notices a small shimmering of violet light. She smiles and almost laughs to her self. After a few minutes of practice, Pru finds she's able to make the violet light shimmer and appear around objects that several feet away from here.

While Kaladin sleeps she causes his entire body to glow with the violet light.

"It's beautiful," Pru whispers to herself.

She then waves away the light and pays attention on watch, waking whomever's next.

Perception (if needed for watch): 4  

@All Pru's adding Faerie Fire to her spells.

Aranor affixed the brooch to his cloak and admired the way it shone in the firelight. "I can take the second watch," he announces before claiming one of the bedrolls.

Luckily he has always been able to drop off to trance, even in the strangest of places, although he would much prefer a cozy down mattress piled high with a plush duvet and many pillows. When you live the life of a knight errant, such luxury is few and far between sadly so he has had to adjust his expectations.

When it's time for Pru to wake him, he opens his eyes and gets up, alert as ever. Elves don't need much in the way of rest luckily, just a few hours deep meditation, and he feels good as ever. He's always thought it a bit of a weakness of the other races that they needed to rest for at least 8 hours a night. It felt like such a waste.

Perception for Watch - 11

"we will need a third watch as well, not that im volunteering mind you."

The clouds roll through the night. It seems to get a bit warmer as the moon makes its way across the sky. As you sleep, you can't help but feel that your dreams are not your own. Recalling what the bandits had said, were you actually after a necromancer? Were you going to have to fight through a party of undead to save a child that might not still be alive?  Or are the events of the evening and the shear tiredness taking its toll on your minds? Other than a few far off animal quarrels, the night is uneventful. 

As the sun starts to break the morning horizon, you awake. The last bit of rain fell a few hours ago. It's chilled the air just enough that you can slightly see a wisp of breath when you exhale. You gather your belongings and make foot from the cave further up the road. As it rounds the bend, you see a small branch in the road. It looks like the main road goes off to the right while a narrow wagon trail leads to the left.

As you get closer to the fork, you notice only a handful of tracks going right. To the left it looks like a few horses and something being dragged through the mud. Having never been this high up the mountain before, you're not sure which way leads to the manor. As you look around, you happen to notice wagon tracks further up the right road. Seems the mud has dried mostly there and has blended them in with the surroundings.

Actions?

Pru looks at the ground at the fork in the road and then around to the others.

She closes her eyes holds out a hand at arms length and then spins around in a circle. She comes to a stop and takes a look at what direction her arm is pointing. She laughs loudly when she sees that she's pointing back in the direction that they've come.

Pru digs into her pouch and pulls out the lenses they had found in the cave and slips them over her eyes. 

"Kind of like weird glasses," Pru says, holding her hands up and moving them around. She then turns her vision back to the fork in the road.

Perception - checking the ground for anything that might have fallen off a horse or wagon as a clue: 16  

"My vote's for the left with the horse tracks and the very ominous sign of something be dragged through the mud."

Pru doesn't spot anything that shouldn't belong.