Jaralin nods and salutes.

"Carry on, then. May we meet again once our home is re-taken. Send message to us in the Gate if you learn more about this blight or anything else that may help us in our negotiations with the Flaming Fist."

He signals the column to continue forward.

"I will." She watches the column continue on for a moment before looking to her party. "Well, I'm still with going to Candlekeep. I know you stated you would go there, Orst. I think most of us were in agreement to do that still. We can try to see what we find out on the way and then figure out what to do next."

Once the column passes, Orst jiggles the reins to spur his horses onward, continuing the journey south. The stream of refugees thins out toward the afternoon, and by evening you find yourselves alone on the road for the first time in more than a day. With no one to slow your travel, Orst picks up the pace to break free of the shadow of the Cloak Wood and recover some small amount of lost time.

"Just over two more days travel," he says, "if we hurry."

The rest of the day's travel, which is longer than usual as Orst pushes all the way to darkness before stopping to camp, is quiet.

-----

Everyone has a lot on their minds as they settle in to camp. The road ahead, both literally and figuratively, is uncertain, and they know full well they are headed into dangerous territory. Many of you find it difficult to sleep for the second night in a row.

It's especially difficult to sleep when, during the middle of Zina's watch (approximately the middle of the night), Gaia begins shrieking aggressively. She detects danger.

Gaia's screeching jolted Pettilaen awake. At first, he was pissed at her, and was about to throw whatever he could get his hands on. As his mind came to, he realized what it meant: Danger. Quickly reaching for his rapier, he melded with Gaia's mind to see what she saw. Three figures, cloaked in shadow, approaching from the northeast, east, and southeast. And closing in fast. He shouted, "Everyone up! We got three hostiles incoming from the east, and moving fast!"

Kanon pops up from his bedroll, eyes wide as Gaia sounds the alarm. His first thought is that creatures from Chuul were invading, but as his senses return he realizes he's just a couple days from Candlekeep. 

He stands at the ready, Rapier in hand.  (Initiative 21)

Portia rolls out of bed due to the screeching and hissing owl and hears Pettilaen tell which way they are coming. She had her warhammer and shield ready. She spins so she is facing east. (Initiative 18)

Zeratto keenly eyes the oncoming attackers, and prepares to engage them as soon as they are within range of his devastating attacks.

(Initiative: 12)

Glancing around Kanon can't see anything due to the darkness. He casts light on his bedroll, bathing it in a soft red light, and moves closer to the cold campfire.

Portia quietly mutters due light suddenly appearing even if not bright as her eyes had been adjusting to the dark just fine. She quickly moves south to be just outside of the light so her darkvision can be used and maybe she can see at least one of them coming. They definitely knew where to head to now though probably had an idea already. She stands ready knowing with Gaia's screeching alarm, they would pop up any second.

Everyone catches a quick glimpse of small, gray cloaked figures approximately 45' away as they rear up to fire. 

One hand crossbow bolts deflect off of Portia's chainmail, another off her helm perilously close to her left eye. A third hits Gaia solidly in the chest, sinking into her small frame and protruding from the other side.

The three creatures then duck and slink to cover, melding into the shadows again.

(META: Porta was missed twice, once barely, and Gaia was struck for 8 damage)

Zeratto lets out a battle cry, trying to attract attention as she leaps forth, runs into the battlefield, and dares the enemy to attack him, even as he enters an intricate battle dance meant to increase his mobility against missile attacks.

(Meta: Zeratto moves forward 35 feet towards the place where his attackers shot, and takes the Dodge action.)

He watches the fateful bolt soar through the air, striking Gaia in the chest and killing her. "NOO!!" he screamed, trying to find the assailant. Uttering a quick incantation, he activates his Spazzledazzle and rushes past the edge of the light. Spotting what looks like a figure, he yells, "I found one! Watch the orbs!" He speaks another incantation, summoning glowing orbs of purple light into his hand. He stretches his hand outward, towards the figure, and the three orbs sail through the air, crashing into it. I hope I shattered his rib cage.

Being unable to see clearly outside the sphere of light, Zina moves away from its center and scans the darkness for enemies. She believes she is able to see the target that Pettilaen hit, but is not able to take further action.

As the rest of his party scatters due to the light, Kanon feels obligated to dispel it. Remembering where he saw the wagon last, he takes cover from any crossbow fire from the East. 

Portia noted that Zeratto had charged out toward one of the possible shooters. She sighed with relief as the light in the camp went out so she would not be silhouetted by it now. She tried to put her shield in a better position due to the all too close hits against her helmet and armor. She moved forward thirty feet to the east winding up off to Zeratto's right but still a little behind as well. She did not dash in due to the buggers scouting around in the brush she could see. She did get her eye on them though.

She yells in Gnomish, "Three moving around to northeast." Might as well skip common so they might not understand her and they already knew what she was doing. She could do nothing more, but kept her eye on one that would get a surprise soon.

Orst rummages through the cart to find his crossbow, which he had foolishly packed deep amongst his belongings. Once retrieved, he loads it and braces against the cart, using it for stability and cover, as he scans for a target.

Everyone sees the creatures rear up and fire at Zeratto from less than 30' away. He sees the projectiles coming just in time to dodge most of them, though one catches him full in the throat, coming inches from killing him instantly. After, they shift further northward and attempt to utilize natural cover to slip into shadows again. One of them picks a bad route, however, and strands himself on a small berm, silhouetted by moonlight and plain to see even for those who struggle with darkness. Another fails to find sufficient cover to hide again, but remains in enough darkness to be difficult to see for humans. The third vanishes into the night.

(META: Critical hit on Zeratto for 17 points damage)

Zeratto flies into a rage, and zeroes in on the nearest creature, charging it and making a violent attack, savaging it and rearing his sword up to repeat the strike as soon as time and reflexes catch up with his murderous mental actions.

(Meta: attacked with a "Reckless Attack", rolled a modified 20, and dealt 6 damage.)

Quickly following up behind Zeratto, Pettilaen uttered an incantation and struck at the the same enemy. Either from the lighting or the creature's movement, his attack missed the mark, sailing through the air as the spell harmlessly discharged.

OOC: 9 to hit, w/ advantage.

Zina finally was able to catch sight of one of the nasty buggers, and quickly cast Witch Bolt out the kobold. Her spell landed squarely in the monster's chest, so she maintained concentration on the spell.

((OOC: 23 to hit, 7 damage))