Not being able to see anything out of order, Apragic approaches the old men smoking weird pipes:

"Good evening, gentlemen," he said, his voice carrying a musical quality. "Might I interest you in a game of dice while we wait for the next train to arrive?"

@Ryuji

"That's a beautiful, sad and very illuminating story about how we shouldn't exploit the ones who try to help us" - says the old lady with tears in her eyes, while packing up a sack with fruits and various nuts. - "This earned you a hefty price though!" - she smiles and hand you over the sack - "Have a nice day, dear!"


@Apragic

The old men stop talking and both look at you. They are a bit surprised by your request, then one of them answers: "Sorry, young warrior, our wives banned us from gambling after my friend Abu lost his wedding ring on a card game." - they both laugh - "But you don't seem to be from around here, come closer and tell us about yourself!" - The old man also offers you his pipe for a puff.

@Lan, Morax and Direen

"Ali's Finest Camel's and Travelling Goods, that would be the name of my humble business here" - says the merchant, who is apparently called Ali, while he puts away Direen's 8 gold as quickly as a cobra strikes down on a sick desert mouse. He then turns to Morax and Lan - "I see the other lady and the gentlemen finished too, well in normal case two shields and a longsword would cost 35 golds, but of course I don't charge full price for it, as I might end up being accused of lacking impartiality. What about 28? Back to our other topic young lady, yes, in my long years as a caravan guard, then as a travelling merchant I heard about a certain group of magicians from the land of Halruaa who used to wear special blue colored robes. If the tales are true, they work in secret to keep the flow of time in its course and protect it against any harmful machinations. Or something like that, it was a long time ago and my memory fades..."

Arpagic drew closer to the old men, grateful for their hospitality. As he took a puff from the offered pipe, he began to tell them a story about how he had once been tasked with retrieving a lost item for one of his employers.

"It was a ring, much like the one your friend Abu lost," he said, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "My employer had inherited it from his grandfather, and it was a priceless family heirloom. He had lost it while traveling through a dangerous region, and he was desperate to get it back."

The former mercenary went on to describe how he had tracked down the thieves who had taken the ring, and how he had used his skills as a warrior to retrieve it without bloodshed. "I'm no thief," he said with a grin, "but sometimes you have to use a little force to get what's rightfully yours."

"28 gold sounds reasonable to me," Lan says with a confident smile, counting out the necessary coins from her pouch. "Thank you for your fair pricing, Ali. And congratulations on the success of your business, Ali's Finest Camels and Travelling Goods. It's not every day we come across such quality wares."

When Ali talks about the group of magicians from the land of Halruaa wearing blue robes, her brows furrow in thought. "I see..." Lan's mind races as she thinks about the blue-robed man who had approached them earlier. She wonders what exactly is the box, why did he choose them especially, and the man did seem to have the ability to control time, in some way. He was able to put everyone else on the bazaar basically on pause when he sought them out. "That's very interesting. Do you believe they are real then? Do you think they are still active?" 

Direen bows slightly to Ali saying "I will remember. Peace be with you..." she moves toward the exit from the tent. Goes out and puts her new scarf over her head. She tries to locate Arpagic and Ryuji and looks towards the platform to see if the train is at the station.

@Arpagic

The elders sit in silence, listening to your stories with great interest while puffing on the pipes.

@Lan

"Well, I assume they are still working yes. That doesn't sound like a job you just retire from" - smiles Ali - "Thank you for your purchase my friends, peace be with you too!"


@Direen

As you look around to locate Arpagic and Ryuji you quickly notice that something isn't right. 6 men stands in front of you, one of them is closer to you, while the others standing behind him forming a half circle. All of them wields a scimitar, light crossbow and light leather armor, except the closer one who has a golden, very intricate dagger instead of a crossbow, while wearing a silver chestplate and definitely looking like the leader among them. All of them has a same looking vertical silver scar over their left eyes.
"Hello there!" - says the leader - "Where are your friends, lady?"

Direen is looking at each of them "I am far from being any 'lady' but where are YOUR manners?" she asks 'graciously' and continues with slightly mocking tone "As you have forgotten your name, I will call you 'Scar'... and you too... and you..." she points at each of them while keeping her quarterstaff in right hand. "As for my friends... who do you have in mind? Melvin? Ricass? Genvieve?" 

Direen will try to get one of her darts in her left hand with [Tooltip Not Found] 7

(OOC: how far is the "leader" from me and his minions?)

Skill used is supposed to be Sleight of hand... :/

“Thank you Ali.  These appear to be quite serviceable.”  Morax takes the shield and long sword and nods to Lan.  He has a look of curiosity on his face and he listens closely to the conversation about the Halruann magicians, making mental notes and appraising the veracity of Ali’s story.  He gives him a warm smile as their business is concluded and he says to her, “Should we make our way back to the platform?  I’m not sure I fully trust that fellow to notify us when the train arrives… and we could check in on the others.  I say, I really am curious about that box now…”

"Yeah, we should." Lan says. "I'm curious about the box too. What could possibly be in there? Maybe something that controls time..." Her thoughts drift to the possibilities of what the box might contain, but at the same time, she's also thinking about practical matters. She imagines modifying her shield so that it can attach to her vambraces, freeing up her hands for other tasks. As they make their way back to the platform, Lan notices a commotion and sees Direen surrounded by a group of rough-looking men.

"Hey!" She calls out to the men, moving towards Direen. "What's going on? What do you want with her?"

Quote from LeinadetheAlchemist >>

@Ryuji

"That's a beautiful, sad and very illuminating story about how we shouldn't exploit the ones who try to help us" - says the old lady with tears in her eyes, while packing up a sack with fruits and various nuts.

 Ryuji sighs with a hint of guilt, avoiding eye contact by looking at the back of the stall. "Well, to each their own. After all, even a robber will be crowned emperor if he gains enough power." Dispersing the flicker of guilt with this assertion, Ryuji turns towards the exit and halfheartedly mumbles, "Sayounara (Goodbye forever)," waving his hand without turning back to look at the elderly woman. How useless, she never gave me any information either.

Stepping out into the scorching desert wastelands with the midday sun barraging Ryuji's delicate facial skin, he squints and feels droplets of sweat roll into his eyes. The stinging sensation penetrating his eyes failed to dull a tingling instinct that whispered, "danger." This the place maybe just feels a bit too quiet, or maybe the heat was just making me delirious.

Squinting at the sarcastic voice, with the drips of sweat and the blinding sun in his eyes, Ryuji could barely perceive a few amorphous blobs in the distance. Subconsciously, he knew those plastic entities was a group of men encircling Direen. With this realization, Ryuji waves teasingly at Direen, sticking out his tongue for extra effect, and slinks behind the stall, deciding to stay hidden until something occurs.

(Stealth, if necessary: 6)

(OOC: Glad to see everyone back! Especially great to know that you're okay now, Leinade! :D)

Direen tries to sneak a dart into her left hand but she drops it to the sand. The scarred men doesn't seem to notice it or care about it. As soon as Morax and Lan steps out of the tent the leader grins and talks again:
"Ahh, here they are, welcome, welcome, nice to see the whole gang here, am I right boys?" - he takes a quick look back. - "Okay, let's not waste more time, give us that box and we are done here!"

(OOC - The leader is around 2.5 meters from you, the others are 5 meters from you. They didn't notice Ryuji and not sure or don't care about the exact number of party members. Arpagic is not aware of the situation right now, but Ryuji is close to him enough to warn him.) 

Direen tries to remain calm despite lost dart and takes a good grip on her staff although she almost smiles seeing Ryuji's tounge.

"What should we give you?" she asks angrily "...and most important WHY THE **** should we give you anything?" she raises her voice to attract attention of the guard.

"Is THIS the hospitality of this city? To send some ... thugs to attack travelers?" She looks to the left and to the right to see if she is getting any attention...

Slinking into the shadows of the stall, Ryuji smiles despite the situation from the cool in the shade. Man, how did I get myself into so much trouble?

With his back turned away from the stall, Ryuji spots Arpagic vibing with the elderly men and waves at him. Attempting to bring Arpagic to the situation without drawing attention to himself, Ryuji holds two fingers to his lips and gently blows out, miming "I want a smoke." 

Quote from LiofDanzig>>

"What should we give you?" she asks angrily "...and most important WHY THE **** should we give you anything?" she raises her voice to attract attention of the guard.

"You will have to excuse me, gentlemen, thank you for the smoke!" Arpagic says to the elderly men as he catches up on Ryuji's signal.

He approaches him in a stealthy manner.

Stealth = 19

"You think you can just strut around like some big man, telling people what to do?" Lan steps up to stand beside Direen, her voice is filled with righteous anger as she speaks, her eyes blazing with a fierce determination to stand up for what is right, she nods with her chin. "Tell him, Direen!" 

The calm and genteel demeanor of Morax disappears in a flash, as he pulls out his newly acquired longsword and shield, taking a defensive stance.  He anger boils over however as he hears the threats and sees the clear intention.  “You are sorely mistaken here. And if you think we will sit back and do nothing, well, you have a lot to learn.  Get out of here, now!”  He steps forward as he says this, directly in front of the gangsters, yelling at them.  

He is screaming the last at the top of his lungs and great gouts of fire shoot out of his mouth toward the gangsters.  Fire shouts out in a 15 foot cone from Morax, for 7  fire damage, DC 11 Dex save to take half damage.  

Initiative : 19  

Dex save (leader): 15

The leader would like to answer but Morax's fire cone hit him by surprise, though he manages to save his face with his wristguard, while his men jumps back a step, so the cone cannot reach them. After the flames pull out, it looks like other than a slight burn mark on his armor he didn't receive any damage.
"MAN, I HATE TOURISTS!" - he throws a tantrum, then with a theatrical arm move he calms himself down - "Well, I tried, you saw it guys, I tried! NOW KILL THEM ALL!"

His men rush forward to attack.

(OOC - need Initiatives from the others too, after that I will post the attack order. Ryuji and Arpagic are close enough to run up and make a melee attack in one turn or make a ranged attack without disadvantage. As the bandits are anaware of them, they can both make a Turn 0 attack regardless Initiative number and do that attack with Advantage (you can set it up in the dice roller Combat section). Arpagic closed up on Ryuji so they are side-by-side right now. Also, sorry Morax but a Nat 20 save is a Nat 20 save :D )