Star Metal Marauders- Highway Harvest

"Well regardless, we avoided a fight, reduced the chances of them meddling in our affairs, and as they are heading back to town, they will not ruin any plans we have with our bugbear friend." Sparhawk smiles, "they aren't very bright however. Good work team, now, on with our task at hand."

"They likely took the bounties down when they decided to take the job." Bjorn stands up. "Glad they're on their way." He nods in respect to Sorsha. "And that we still have all our coin, and our blood inside us."

Having skirted getting blamed/ rewarded for the ambush you return to your task of following the road keeping your eyes on the deep ruts it is leaving behind. You move at decent clip and there has been no word from Ruhm as of yet. 
after about a half hour of travel you start seeing bits and pieces of metal and wood.. a bolt here, a sliver of worked wood there.  Finally you come upon a destroyed wagon wheel and the left side rut becomes a gaping wound in the ground for about 100 yards then it disappears and the right Side rut continues as before. 
 
In Sorsha’s mind Ruhm checks in

” Captain, me has them in me sights…they busted a wheel…the horney guy his carrying that side of the wagon…that dude is scary strong…”

“Looks like this wheel broke but maybe they fixed it?” Sparhawk looks puzzled.  “We are probably not that far behind them.”

Bjorn grins. "The men are hauling the wagon on one side. They must be getting close to their destination, else they'd leave it or wait for a new wagon to come by. We'd best pick up the pace."

"I think there are quite a few bounties we are unaware of I'm afraid Vars, but let's focus on Bernard now." Sorsha says as she gets up on the cart again to continue after the bugbear and his gang. 

As Ruhm reports, Sorsha messages back. "Can you take to the air and determine how far ahead of us they are, at what speed they are moving and give a detailed report on how many they are and what weapons they are carrying?"

"Bjorn, you bring up a good point." Sparhawk muses. "After we have more information on the group we are pursuing, it may be an option use our wagon as bait. If they attack one group, they would surely attack another.  However, I'd rather attack them when they are surprised, then have them be the ones ambushing us.  Just thinking out loud."

“Pelican Ruhm at yer service, heh he..”

after about 10 mins, Sorsha can feel Ruhm presence and sees a Pelican circle overhead and head back towards Mirabar. Another 15 mins goes by and you get a new report.

” Captain, seems to be they are bout’  er mile and a half or two miles ahead. There is a fork ina road not far. By my count thar be 7.  Two be bigguns and 5 be small fry….Seems they be stopin for a rest”

"Okay, thanks Ruhm, stay with them and keep me updated on their movements. When they settle in you come back and show us how to approach them without being seen." Sorsha messages back.

She then turns to speak to the crew. "Okay, listen up, Bernard and his gang is about a mile and a half up the road and they're stopping for a rest. They are two big ones, possibly Bernard and a minotaur then, and five others. We would need to strike fast and hard if we are to stand a chance against them. We will hopefully find a way to approach them without being seen. I know you're very fond of trickery Bjorn, how would you feel about approaching them as a traveller, perhaps an entertainer, and distract them while the rest of us move into position to attack? I want all of us to think carefully about how we take out as many as possible in the opening moments of the attack."

"Sounds like we are close. Do we have ways (perhaps a sleep spell or command) to eliminate some of the lesser foes quickly, or get the two bigger ones from causing too much trouble?" Sparhawk asks the group. "I can certainly take on Bernard and perhaps keep him from causing harm to the rest of the group.  We can also begin with some targeted ranged attacks and move in from there."

Bjorn scratches his head. "I'd really rather not gamble on the goodwill of the crew who killed those travelers earlier, if it's all the same to you."

"I figure once we've got them in sight, there's really no reason we need to rush in. A longbow can shoot up to 600ft, and we've got two of 'em. That's a handful of free shots before they can reach us. What are they gonna do, turn and run? With their busted wagon? I doubt it. But we could try to circle to the other side of them first, if it's a concern."

[And if it turns out they have their own bows, we have Fog Cloud. Step out, find a target and shoot, step back in. Or try to steal their ammunition first with Invisibility. Then they'd be really screwed.]

“I may be able to put a few of them down for a nap.”

"An interesting strategy. If we can take some of them out from range, the rest will be much easier." Sparhawk strokes his broken nose. "I'm fairly good with a bow, although I certainly prefer to look them in the eyes with my sword in hand. Targeting individuals together will be the easiest way to dispatch some of them. Unfortunately, we may have the same weaknesses, if they have ranged weapons."

"That is true," Vars says to Sparhawk. "Though perhaps we can find ourself some higher ground. If we can position ourselves to where it is easy for us to shoot down at them, but difficult for them to see us and shoot up, we can easily get ourselves at an advantage. Though...it would be nice to make sure they don't have any ammunition. I also would like to know how many of them we are going up against. We only have two bows and a limited number of arrows, which might not be enough to hold them at bay." 

(OOC: What does the terrain look like. Would it be possible to find a hill to shoot down from? Or is this mostly flat forestland?) 

Sparhawk likes Var's idea, will also analyze the land for any strategic advantages they can gain (soldier background, etc.). "Good thoughts, Vars."

Ruhm contacts Sorsha  again as you  gets closer to the stopped gang.

” Captain, the small fry keep heading off into the trees and coming back with long branches. Seems like they be making some kind O’ travois or sumthin…must be planning on ditching the wagon….”

Ruhm also tries send his direct view of the situation at the fork in the road.

Your current position is approximately 100’ further southwest on the road around a bend. The terrain is similar to what you see here. The right hand split heads to Mirabar, and the left road heads up towards the settlement of Raven Rock. The sound of the river is much louder as you get closer to the intersection.

After scanning the area through Ruhm's eyes for a while, Sorsha turns to the crew and exlains the situation carefully. "I suggest we hide our cart and make our way up on the hill overlooking the bandits from the southwest. Hopefully we can surprise them and take out as many of them as possible in the opening moments of the fight. I think we can safely assume that whatever we are supposed to retrieve is on that broken cart right now. Thoughts?"

“I have no issues with the plan. I am comfortable at range or up close in a fight and the Moonmaiden can grant blessings to assist us either way.”

OOC: Disregard the attack roll in the log.