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Message: <blockquote data-quote="silentspace" data-source="post: 1202588" data-attributes="member: 14316">Your hearts are still pumping furiously from the battle.  You see or hear the hobgoblins running off into the distance.  Rowyn calls out for Sabala to return, and she does, followed by Braveheart.The guards and drivers make sure all the enemies are dead.  They seem to have no interest in questioning them.  Darien makes more notches in his saddle.Alan and Dunathar help the others loot the bodies.  Compared to the first hobgoblins you encountered, these are carrying quite a bit more gear (weapons, rations, water, blankets etc), coins (mostly silver, copper, and a few gold), and quite a bit of what looks like useless junk (pieces of leather with pictures etched on them, pieces of parchment with goblin writing, small wooden sculptures).  The ogres have a bunch of coins, rations, and some more junk (mugs, plates, a broken human-sized longsword, a spool of string, some moldy cheese).  Alan doesn’t have an opportunity to swipe anything (unless he wants to try doing it in clear view?).  The dead creatures are stripped and the coins, weapons and armor are put on Darien’s wagon.  Dunathar, who had injured both worg riders (one of them still has his dagger in him!), saw that the worg riders had finely crafted weapons and armor, some sort of magic arrows, and who knows what else.  Too bad none of them were killed.  Now that you’ve seen the caravan guards in battle, you are amazed at their discipline and bravery.  They must have learned that in the military, in the wars against Goruka and Pachen.  Every single guard stood their ground, even when facing multiple hobgoblins, or ogres.  In fact, they rode fearlessly out to meet the ogres.  Not one of them doubted for a moment that their mates would back them up.  It’s a good thing Darien only hires veterans!  Less disciplined troops would have been thrown in a panic, or fled.  Seeing the power of the ogres’ blows, you can tell that just one blow would easily knock out one of the guards.  And combined with the fall from the horse, that one blow would have more likely killed the guard than knocked him unconscious.  And yet they battled on.  One blow could have killed Zanock too, even though the orc is sturdier than the guards.  It was very lucky they all survived.  One driver is dead.  A hobgoblin slew him with a coup-de-grace.  All the drivers and guards are deeply affected.  If only they could have done something, they say.  Darien says there is no time for mourning now, but everyone mourns quietly.  They have lost a friend and a long-time companion.  Watching them, you get a sense of how close these men and women are to each other.  As they travel from town to town, spending all their days and nights together, eating together, fighting together, they have formed bonds as tight as those in any family.  You wonder what it would be like to form bonds like that, or to have a family like that.Glendrake is not pleased.  He berates Darien “How could you have allowed one of my drivers to die?!  What were your guards doing?  That was really careless of you!  At least my wagons and my cargo are safe.  Have you checked the horses yet?”Some of the horses had scattered, but the hobgoblins had not taken any of them.Driver 7 thanks Rowyn and gives her a potion of cure light (1d8+1).  Zanock lies unconscious.  He was unlucky to have been targeted.  The ogres hadn’t gotten many attacks off, but the attacks they did get off were focused on the riders.  “Well?”  Darien asks, looking at the conscious members of the rear guard.  “Zanock’s just unconscious, not dead.  You should revive him, don’t you think?”  He's a little snappy.  Maybe he doesn't appreciate Glendrake yelling at him.</blockquote>

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