A Predictable Surprise

Bandits.

We were ambushed. They came from all sides. The chief might be dead.

It all happened so fast, I could barely grasp most of it. After breakfast we were back on the road. I interviewed Olmah and Keo and was about to turn the notes into a journal entry when it happened. The chief told me to run and threw me over their heads before getting his arm pierced with a spear.

For a few seconds after I hit the ground I could only lie there and watch the massacre unfold. Two bandits held Gaemon down while another tied him up. Keo was lying nearby with a dagger in his chest. I couldn't see the others between all the bandits.

At the front of the caravan where I sat a few seconds before ten bandits were fighting the chief. He didn't lie when he said he could break a man's spine like a twig, I saw him do it twice today. He swung his arms around like two scythes, ripping off whatever came into contact with them. One of the bandits got a chain around the chief's neck and eight of them dragged his head down. After they got his head on a reachable level they stabbed him with their weapons but even then he managed to get his hands on a few of them and hurl them into a nearby tree.

I didn't see the end of it because one of them turned towards me. That's when I could rip myself free of my rigid state and flee.

I ran as far as I could as fast as I could, but my pursuer was quicker. He ran a dagger through my calf. Luckily for me in front of me the forest made a steep slope like a giant had mistaken it for a sandbox and wanted to see how deep he could burrow with his hands. I tumbled at least 100 ft, constantly banging my head and shoulders on stone and roots that slowed my descent. I'm guessing that when I hit the ground I lost consciousness for a while because the next time I opened my eyes, the sky was already orange.

Now i'm lying here with a broken leg, bleeding and hungry. I hope the dagger wasn't poisoned but even if it was it wouldn't matter. I can't move anyway. Not with this leg. If the bandit's wanted they could be long here by now but I guess I ain't worth the effort...

If anyone finds this report, please be so kind and tell my mother 'Peria Nahles', she was right. I shouldn't have left home.

I'm sorry.