A
At long last, the bandits and their camp have been found and eliminated. It all started in the Peltarch Commons after six adventurers returned from patrolling the sewers. They included Order squires Reynauld and Celia, Andrew, Romulus, Dwarf "Weave Engineer" Fafir, and a ranger named John who introduced himself as a Peltarch "Senatorial Advisor." They were joined by famous elven archer Elidor the Great, and sturdy dwarves Beourn and Gnarl.
Gnarl, the last to arrive, informed the others that he had seen four birds on the road north from Norwick near the Nars Bridge. Thinking this signalled the return of the bandits and thier bird lookouts, the whole group headed south to investigate. Well north of the bridge, the first of the birds was encountered. It was a hawk, rather than a falcon like the bandits had used before. John tamed it and got it to follow him.
Two more hawks were covering the road south but just as the party began to cross the bridge, Romulus spotted several more hawks circling over the gypsy pass to the west and called the others to go that way. On the hillside above, a hidden bandit rogue was encountered. He attempted to flee, but the many archers in the party quickly turned him into a pin cushion and dropped him.
The party proceeded into the Gypsy Pass and near the gates on the road, encountered several more bandits. These too were quickly dispatched. A larger body of bandits waited on the hillside to the south, near the cave entrance, including several archers and a few clerics. The strong party made quick work of them, but decided that their defeat had been too easy. More and stronger ones must be ahead.
Romulus, who had scouted this location the day before without finding anything, declared that this camp was new. John and Elidor cautioned the others to wait while they explored the cave entrance which led to the southernmost part of the Gypsy Camp and the spider woods. Gnarl went in behind them to disarm any traps.
They ran into an ambush and the main body of the bandits, led by a bandit chieftain and a huge half-orc brute. Gnarl fell before the others could come to his aid, but the eight remaining adventurers managed to defeat all the bandits and destroy their camp. Reynauld found a hoard of potions, scrolls, weapons, and gems; while Fafir picked up the body of Gnarl and others gathered his equipment. They took him to the Dwarven Hold in Norwick, where he was returned to life. Among the treasures found were a large number of death ward and remove paralysis potions and scrolls that should come in handy for the assault on Fendon.