Brilliant proof of a theory

The Caravan team headed out from Town 11, happy to have the dreadful place behind them. They traveled the first day, camped the night and all went well as they made double pace knowing they were already overdue back to Midway. As day 2 dawned, a light rain came with it. They bundled up and moved along. Unfortunately it was not long before they were under attack.

As they passed through the wooded copse along the path the first shot was an arrow that struck the buckboard right next to Cord. Cord hit the reins spurring the horses to move faster shouting back a warning so Kale would understand the situation. But Kale chose to keep the cargo wagon out of danger, slowing it down and angling away from the threat. It was then Cord spotted three enemies. All White Ninja bearing bows and preparing to fire at him again. And fire they did, two sharp shots striking him deeply. Their second barrage was comprised of an odd flaming arrow that struck the side of the wagon setting it on fire. This attack was not nearly as effective given the rain. At that, Cord spurred on his horse and charged at the Ninja. The jolt in movement caused Angel to fall in the back of the combat wagon.

Another volley of flaming arrows struck the wagon and Kale moved the cargo wagon out of harms way. Bernice and Jade, both riding along side, moved up to engage in the battle. Grogg leaped from the battle wagon charging at the nearest Ninja. But the approaching shot by his target pierced deeply in to his arm, striking it critically, rendering it useless. This was followed by a volley of Shuriken from a second Ninja which left him severely wounded. Jade was finally able to get in position for a shot and hit one of the targets. She displayed some of her versatility as she deflected a returned shot at her. At that point Leonard let loose a spell that covered almost the entire group.

The battle joined by the rest of the group Kale had her wagon pulled to the side and leading away. It was then four more White Ninja dropped from the tree cover around the wagon, one deftly dropping at the rear landing inside the wagon. The jostling of the wagon let Kale know someone had entered the compartment. The leader of this group demanded Kale stop her wagon and get off, which she did. The other three Ninja leapt on board and hijacked the wagon.

The party moved in on the White Ninja who seemed to back off and not fully engage the group. It was then Jade was able to fire off a Sleep spell that dropped all three of the targets. Immediately after that action the group heard Kale shout for help, seeing the other wagon begin to take off. Cord, from his drivers seat, took a few shots at the horse trying to slow it down, hitting it several times. But off the other wagon went, quickly gaining speed, putting distance between them. It was not long before the wagon could no longer be seen through the trees. The wagon was gone, along with the Box from the Wizard’s Guild and their passenger, Anton Phibes.

The decision was made to regroup before tracking after the wagon. Angel healed Grogg who then both quickly moved to finish off the sleeping Ninja. The flames licking about the wagon side were doused. Healing was perfomed by Angel and Leonard to get the group as healthy as could be managed quickly. Preparations complete, they saddled up and went off, Cord leading the way tracking the wagon trail. The trail was relatively easy to follow in the damp ground. It lead south west and then angled back to the north as it emerged from the copse of trees. Not long after that they came over a rise and spotted the wagon , the horse lying on the ground but they could see it was breathing with the rain splashing about its snout.

They approached the wagon from all directions, closing in. There was no one there and the wagon was empty. Angel healed the wounded horse and Cord tried to find track leading away. There were some but as the ground became firmer no more than a quarter mile away it became impossible for him to follow. Jade performed a Detect Magic on the wagon finding a residual aura in the wagon where the box had sat. This was a new concept to her, something she had never seen before. Kale attempted a Detect Evil and found none. Now having retaken the wagon but losing the cargo a discussion was had regarding which path to tread. The decision came down to the leader of the group, Kale. Her choice was to first head back to Angel’s church in 11 seeking any help they could garner, then move on to 14 going to the hermit’s place to see if there was any sign of Anton and then on to the Wizard’s Guild to discuss the missing box.

As they neared Town 11 they spotted more patrols wandering about the surrounding area. Angel hailed one of them over to talk. A group of three guards came over. The name of the guard was Danny and he spoke in reserved terms avoiding the use of the name White Ninja. He agreed to look for Anton and file a report with his superior, Lomudra. He cautioned them that it might not be wise to expect much depending on what the kidnappers had in mind but he would do what he could.

They pressed on and stopped at the Church of Thor. Angel found her local leader, the Lama, and asked for assistance. She was able to secure an audience with the High Priest who took their concerns seriously and promised to look in to finding Anton. He asked for a few days to gather intel. This worked well with their plans as the group saddled back up and headed to Town 14 and the hermit’s home. There they tried to speak with the hermit but he was … umm… reluctant. Kale and Grogg were unsuccessful gaining his trust or making any headway, Jade and Angel stepped up and made a second attempt. When they were finally able to get the hermit to hear they were only interested in the well being and relocating of Anton did he relent in his recalcitrance. The hermit told them Anton was there and went to tell Anton he had company. A few minutes later he emerged, ready to leave. His story was odd. He was taken, along with the box, and put in to a different wagon. The box was lifted from their wagon by some mechanism and placed in another wagon and off they went. When they arrived in Town 11 Anton was removed from the wagon, handed a few gold pieces and told to get lost. With cash in hand he got a taxi to take him to the hermit’s home and here he was.

With Anton safely recovered, back to Town 11 to speak with the High Priest and call off the search. It was there they found more info on the Ninja. The High Priest told them the Ninja were embedded deeply in the town government hierarchy and much of the guard and police force command structure. It was wise to avoid mentioning anything or any word of the group as they protected the knowledge of their presence and their activities. He also informed them the Ninja knew about the transit of the box, even before they arrived. There was a definite leak somewhere. With this, they thanked him for his help and moved on. As they left town they ran in to Danny once again. This time he was in a larger group of guards. But he was willing to step away from the group and speak with them quietly. He confirmed, on the down low, about the ‘white dressed people’ and that they were only after the box. He was sorry for any trouble they ran in to and advised them to stay clear of Town 11 for a good long while for their own safety. With that, Danny moved off back to his patrol group and Cord mentally removed Danny from his ‘burn it all down’ list.

The next move was to return to the Wizard’s Guild to inform them of the problem. Kale and Grogg, having been there before, went in. The meeting was painful and the wizard categorically denied any possibility of a leak in his guild. The Wizard was unpleasant and let them know his displeasure with this result and that Raifer was to come to see him at his earliest convenience. With that they were escorted out. New plans in place, off they went, the caravan leading out and heading back to Midway but this time they would NOT go back through Town 11.

Back in Midway, the group now having been gone 4 weeks on what should have only been a 2 to 3 week trip, Raifer organized a follow up group to go find out what had happened. Kenny, Bru, Ruurik, Patrick, Diana, Taern and Parker headed out for the Intercities. Three days out from Midway the two parties ran in to each other as they were starting their travel that day. The two grouped together and made back to Midway.

It was a long and arduous story told to Raifer. Kale was uncomfortable as many of the decisions were questionable even if made with good intentions. Angel was not happy with the several decisions made to split the group up. Cord was unhappy about having been jailed for something he did not do. And Jade was unhappy because Raifer was rather unsympathetic to her having laid out cash to get Cord through the Town 11 legal system as lightly as they did. Many lessons were learned and new protocols and tactics would need to be put in place as a reaction to this incident to improve their performance in the future. Raifer had word sent to Rollin Hand to see if he could find any information about the White Ninja in the Intercities and leaks in the Wizard’s Guild.

The last task to be completed was a visit to the Wizard’s Guild. Raifer chose to visit the Midway guild first and required Kale to accompany him to this meeting. There they were ushered in to a sitting room and were shortly joined by MT, the head wizard. Raifer spoke of the problem bluntly. MT’s reaction was not what he had expected. MT informed them this was a sting operation, a set up. They knew there were leaks or problems along the way and they were trying to spring a trap. The box was a macguffin. A phony set up hoping it would be stolen by whomever they suspected. The box was not magical at all except for the overabundance of magical aura, which would rub off of the surrounding area, like the wagon. It was also not dangerous. MT spoke of having heard a plot to attack or terrorize Midway so the Guild set up a trap to flush out this new enemy. He apologized for the subterfuge but said it was necessary for it to succeed, which it had. He offered to make restitution for any expenses incurred, tossing a bag of 50 Mithril coins to Raifer. There would be more of this situation to come. With that, Raifer and Kale left. Kale was told to not speak any word of what was revealed at this meeting, he would decide how and where this would be shared.

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