Day 3, Mar-17, Stillford

4:00PM After making arrangements to have Robert’s final work displayed over his favorite seat in the Sleeping Goose, the group headed over to the festival to purchase supplies for their journey before turning in for the night.

Day 4, Mar-18, Farm-to-Market Road

8:30AM The group set out toward Riverbend with Hof and the wagon. The weather was brisk and typical of this time of year. After a couple hours of travel, the group spotted a pair of harnessed cart horses standing by the side of the road and, further on, a wagon lying partially in the roadside ditch. When the party investigated the crash, they discovered a pair of imps harrassing a young wizard imprisoned in a cage.

The party confronted the imps who put up a strong fight. Eleanor was poisoned in they fray, but the heroes eventually managed to destroy one of the imps and drive off the other. Upon freeing the mage, who introduced himself as Aloitius of Balthazar’s Emporium of Arcane Accoutrement, the party learned that he had been fleeing from bandits who had accosted him in the Streamwood. While careening down the road, Aloitius had lost control of his wagon and crashed into the ditch. He suspected that the collision caused some of the magic items to misfire, resulting in the unexpected summoning of the imps. He thanked the party for their assistance and promised them a friends and family discount should he ever run into them at a B.E.A.A.

Continuing along the road, the group reached the edge of the Streamwood without further incident. The ancient forest was bathed in a lush green light as the sun filtered through the dense canopy. The road behind soon disappeared among the twisted sentinels of the ancient trees.

In the midst of the forest gloom, the heroes were stopped short by a booming voice, which called for them to halt and pay a toll. A shadowy, cloaked figure stepped out from between two large trees beside the road and blocked the way ahead. The brigand identified himself as, the Mighty Mustardo, Bandit Lord of the Forest.

Suspecting that things were not as they seemed, the heroes chose to speak with the figure, offering him praise and enquiring as to what sort of tribute would appease him. The figure’s request for the ordinary-seeming signet won by Kit in the bar brawl back in Stillford further deepened the groups’ suspiscions.

Eleanor, ever the wise cleric, noticed that Mustardo’s responses to questions seemed a bit delayed and that before he spoke or moved, a ripple of light would occasionally play across his figure. Deciding to take a chance, she called out the illusion for what it was.

Upon being called out, Mustardo decided that he was dealing with a higher caliber of travelers and decided to reveal his true nature. The illusory image vanished and a small, gossamer-winged fey appeared sitting on a branch over the road. The pixie introduced himself as Mustardseed. As the party talked with the puckish sprite, they discovered that he had developed an insatiable desire for glittering trinkets and all things shiny.