The Forgotten Wish

Breldo keeps circling forward to intersect the road farther on.

Oren motions the others to head on down the now open roadway.

"Yes, let's get moving," Sylvera huffs, flicking her hair before she starts down the trail. After a brief moment of hesitation, she looks to the two who'd moved the log out of the way and says curtly, "Good job you two." Then she lifts her chin and continues down the road, totally oblivious to whatever enemies might be lurking--though part of her knows that this could be a trap. She didn't see anything so... maybe they're safe after all? Regardless, the faster they get out of this sketchy forest the better. 

As both carts slowly come back to a roll, the situation is resolving to a crux. Slowly, the group approaches the site of potential ambush, Slick keeping an arrow nocked, Pallen awkwardly slinking away into the back of the cart should the worst happen. Up ahead, Breldo keeps to the foliage while circling forward, possibly intercepting the bandits. Sylvera confident in her skills ignores the fact she's barely looked between the trees, and it all comes to a crux as Nuria calls out for Breldo, revealing her position and making the two merchants initially panic that she's the bandit in question.

And then, nothing. A few birds flutter away at all the sudden commotion, the horse briefly lurching at the merchant's panicked cry, before the assistant leans over and pulls the reins to calm them down before they buck the cart. A mostly anguished cry comes from the bearded man as the wheels briefly gnash against gravel, then come to a sudden stop.

"Don't do that!" 

Eyes scan the surroundings, but fail to find the supposed threat still. Now however, the merchant in question doesn't actually seem more glad.

"Oh, this is a terrible idea... it takes half a hour to get through this stretch- They could be anywhere!"

Are these merchants going the same direction as us, or where they coming towards and past us?

(Same direction, we came up behind them)

Khond casts his eyes about, but keeps steadily walking onward, "Why fell a tree at the entrance of the forest if it's just going to put people on high alert for the rest of the area that they can launch the ambush, though?"

Rick sighs,

"Rick thinks maybe it could block them coming from the other direction? Either way Rick feels that taking a break here to let the wagon go ahead and collect the bandits is a good plan!"

Nuria squeaks and darts behind a tree when the merchants spot her. Pulling her bow from her back to prepare to return fire, only to not be shot at in the first place. Confused and still nervous, she keeps looking for Breldo. Why hadn't he answered her? And why do the (not) bandits seem to be fine with her companions traveling with them? What kind of trap is this?

Perception: 11

Sylvera rolls her eyes at Rick, "What a valiant hero you are." She says with a scoff as she keeps her position beside the wagon. Good grief, why had Pallen hired that one? Does he really have what it takes to defend anything? She shakes her head silently, eyes fixed ahead of them. 

To the merchants she says, "You should be ashamed of your cowardice. Look at our numbers. There would have to be quite a few bandits out there to challenge us." Or some with exceptional skill, she adds mentally before continuing. "If we move forward with confidence and stay alert whoever is out there should realize that they are outmatched and let us be. The faster we move the less likely they will be to risk attacking. However, if you stay back and cower then they might just decide to take the risk." She speaks in a loud tone, both to make sure she is heard by the merchants, and as a warning to anyone who might be listening. Perhaps she can dissuade them further if they believe that these nobodies are actually skilled fighters. 

She flicks her hair, suddenly pretending that the merchant cart no longer exists and focuses her attention on her group, "There is little point in dallying. Whether or not there are bandits here, this is the route we chose. So unless you all want to turn around and lengthen our journey by choosing another route, get moving." At least Khond is keeping a steady pace, she wishes she could say the same for the rest. Still, perhaps their wariness is warranted, the could send scouts out ahead... though that would be spreading themselves rather thin. No, better to stay within sight of each other. 

Rick gives the stuckup bird elf lady a toothy grin,

"Rick never said Rick was a hero! Rick is a guard of boss Pallen, so Rick is being the best guard Rick can be! Rick knows the very best way Rick, and boss Pallen, gets through a fight is to let someone else fight for Rick so Rick and boss Pallen can avoid it!"

As she is peering around the tree, Breldo joins her, back to the tree, crossbow in hand when he clocks her state of readiness.

"You see anyone, lass?"

Oren reluctantly gives a nod when the snooty elf woman is near the end of her speech, as he thinks she is right.

"Yes, we should just get moving.  Together.   Safety in numbers and all and sitting here is just wasting time."

As both carts keep rolling forward, the merchant slowing down just a bit to keep pace with the group - Be it from companionship, or just feeling more secure that way- Various thoughts and words are exchanged, with varying ideas of what the hell is even going on in the first place. And Slick making a statement that the other cart should be going on ahead so they can draw out any potential bandits while they are still very much in earshot.

"Absolutely not!" the man starts, absolutely offended, but placated some even as the usually snooty Sylvera speaks in a way that makes sense to him, at least... Even if she would try to ignore them but a second later. "Yes, it has to be that- They just got scared off, so, let's not tempt fate," the still nervous man says, acknowledging Khond's point as well. It is obvious the man would under other circumstances have asked about his being a centaur, but the situation being what it is seems otherwise preoccupied.

"Or it's a really dumb prank. Or we're not their target," Pallen adds, his glancing about he's been on the lookout for would-be bandits as well, but hasn't seen any such sign himself. He glances between both Rick and Sylvera, seeming to hold mixed opinions, mostly toward Rick judging by his glance.

"I'm just glad it seems there's no mess in the first place. So, is our bet a tie, then?" he turns to Slick. Not too far away, Breldo rejoins with Nuria who perhaps by this point starts wondering if she might have misjudged these people. Both by how they act, and the little snippets she overheard- The carts are moving ahead without them by this point, however, and the merchant takes note of that.

"...Those are your friends back there, right, not bandits? Anyway, I'm sorry, I feel like we've probably got off on the wrong foot," the merchant speaks, and for many gives the first proper look as he leans a bit over the side of the cart. Finely dressed, a well kept short brown beard, topped off with a beret.

"The name's Richard. You all heading for the big city too, or?"

Rick shakes his head,

"Rick thinks not boss Pallen! Rick said more bandits than us and Boss Pallen said more of us than bandits, Boss Pallen clearly won!"

Rick reaches into an armpit pouch and fishes out a silver and hands it to Pallen with a nod. He then goes back to giving the woods a suspicious glare, angry at the woods for having lost him money.

Pallen shrugs, still paranoid himself, but takes the silver with little fanfare even if he clearly doesn't care that much. His attention briefly turning back to the merchant.

"No, not us. We're heading to one of the smaller villages once we're through Passley, first,"

"Ah, I see,"  the merchant nods. "Sorry. I admit you're an... Interesting bunch, so I'm just curious."

“Yep, we just threw in together for safety in numbers. I’m sure you know how that goes.”

Oren hopes these merchants are what they seem. He again begins sticking nearby to Pallen

"Rick wonders what Richard is taking to the big city?"

Rick asks while eyeing Richard's wagon.

Nuria jumps slightly when Breldo appears next to her. "Ah. N-No. I haven't. But...something doesn't feel right." She glances at the cart. At this point she's second guessing her earlier assumption of the merchants being thieves. But why does she still feel on edge? ...maybe it's because she's always on edge, but still. She glances back at Breldo, "Should we go back to the others?"

"Let's circle forward and meet up with them down the road, make sure the forest is clear."

Breldo will slip away from the tree and loop up to intersect with the road a hundred feet or so along.

"Right, of course. I mean, I wasn't joking earlier, the main road SHOULD be safe," the merchant says, but it remains obvious he is not quite at ease. "But if you're eventually going off the main road... Well, I suppose it's not unheard of that there are some opportunistic bandits," he admits, clearly thinking of it. He glances back at his cargo as Rick asks what they are even transporting.

"Ah, various things from faraway lands! We've got a bit of everything really. Some rare metals, a few pieces of furniture, but most important of all, the one that always makes this route profitable," he says, and points out a few big bags while his assistant holds the reins.

"Coffee."