“Hey Mister, this is already your fourth day questing,” says the attendant in front of you. “Shouldn’t you be resting or spending your money?”

You just smile and shake your head.

“I want this herb gathering quest, this venom gathering quest, and I want information on this bounty.”

The attendant looks at the poster intently.

“Jorick the Stygian, he leads a band of outlaws that waylays caravans in the south,” she explains. “They started with just extortion, then robbery, now they’re killing people.”

“How many?”

“They were around 60 — but the kingdom had the knights deal with them,” she riffles through a bunch of papers. “Around 15 or 20. They fled to the forest to escape the kni-” she stops clearly alarmed. “You’re going after them?”

“There’s no more than eight of them,” you reassure her. “Some of them even got poisoning from eating mushrooms.”

“Bandits are still bandits,” she shakes her head. “Don’t go alone — take someone with you.”

“I will.”

She nods relieved.

“Any updates on the bounty?”

“Still 200 gold for the Stygian,” she says shaking her head. “20 more for each bandit — 30 if you can bring them back alive.”

You nod, noting that the Stygian’s bounty didn’t increase whether he was alive or dead. Authorities probably preferred him dead.

“By the way, how much do I have now?” you ask.

“You earned 180 gold the past three days — so 280 in the bank. Do you want to take out some of it?”

“No, not at the moment.”

You say goodbye to the guild attendant and head out to find Thomas.

Arriving at his house, you see Thomas already geared up in leather armor. His bow and quivers are packed behind his back and his baselard, Silver, is at his waist.

“You said we were heading out,” he says with a questioning look.

“Some gathering quests in the forests — maybe a bandit or two.”

“Should we get Eomer and the others?”

“No. Let them have a bit of family time.”

“And Dune?” he asks, a bit nervous.

“I tried looking for him, but he’s nowhere to be found.”

“Bru-” he cuts his question short with a downcast look.

“So bandits, huh,” Thomas starts, “anyone in particular?”

“Jorick the Stygian — and five to seven others.”

“Are you sure we can handle that many?”

“They’re bandits — in a forest,” you reply, “and we are hunters.”

The two of you wave to the guards as you leave the town — passing through the path you walked when you first met with the hunters.

“That sword of yours… and that obelisk from before?” you start, “Bruce couldn’t take it down — but you did, with just one strike.”

Thomas shrugs before answering, “Silver is a sword of the sun — bane to all things dark and cold.”

“That’s no demon sword.”

“It’s not,” he sighs. “Torm can bind more than just demons.”

“I see.”

Thomas seems uncomfortable so you decide to change the topic.

“Did you get to see Bruce?”

He shakes his head. “Dune got to see him a couple of times — but he wouldn’t open the door for me.”

“Trent seems worried about Horizon — that it might be bad for Bruce, especially with how he is now,” he finishes.

“The smith said the weapons only used a bound entity’s life force,” you recall. “I don’t think they can take over once they’re bound.”

Thomas nods but the worry in his face lingers.

“We need to go deep into the forest to get these herbs,” you indicate. “I’ve seen where most of them are in my extended stay in the forest.”

“What of the bandits?”

“I’ve seen them once or twice during the past few days,” you reply. “I did a few forest quests and I saw a few people. I just wanted to confirm who they were — and I recognized one from the bounty boards.

The two of you continue your trek to the forest — eventually reaching the bear cave at mid-afternoon.

“So we’re back in your lair,” Thomas chides. “How long did it take to build these fortifications?”

“A couple of days.”

“Your run-in with the bear sure made you paranoid — but a good one at that.”

“Let me get the herbs and the venom,” you say as you pack the flasks and herb satchels in a smaller pack. “I know where they’re located and I can travel faster alone.”

“Do what you want — I’ll just stay here and guard the fort.”

“Be wary of wolves,” you remind him

“Wolves? Didn’t we take care of them last time?”

“We did,” you answer. “But some residual energy or magic was released when you broke the obelisk.”

Thomas nods in understanding.

You leave the camp and sprint through the forest as you find herbs and venomous snakes for the quest.

It takes you close to two hours to gather enough materials to make the quest worthwhile and you finally head back to camp.

You see smoke rising from the camp and see Thomas already busy with the fire.

“Good harvest?” he asks as he puts more wood to the fire.

“Good enough.”

“It’s not the same without the others,” he says gloomily.

You nod in agreement.

You take most of the watch — only waking Thomas a few hours before dawn so you could catch a couple of hours of sleep.

You wake up to the sound of hurried footsteps and you see Thomas approaching you.

He makes a gesture to stay quiet.

“I think they’re here,” he says in a low voice. “I spotted three — maybe four people — heading towards us.”

“They must have seen the fire.”

Thomas nods. “Plans?”

“If they’re bandits, we kill them,” you reply as you ready your shield and grab Skybreaker.

Three unkempt men appear from the forest — most likely part of the Stygian’s group of bandits.

“There’s a fire — but I don’t see anyone around,” says the leading bandit.

“Any food?”

“I don’t know, we need to get closer.”

The third bandit readies a bow while the two others unsheathe their swords.

“I’ll handle the archer,” says Thomas.

“Wait a while,” you reply.

The leading bandit is a few steps away from a trap — so you decide to make an appearance.

“Hail, fellow travelers!”

The bandits are dumbfounded by the greeting — not knowing how to respond.

“Do you have any food?

“Of course,” you reply as you strap Skybreaker to your waist. “I thought you were wolves.”

The bandits balk at the mention of wolves. It seems they had their own run-ins with the beasts.

The thought of food immediately lifted the men’s spirits and they immediately hurry to the cave.

The leading bandit steps on a concealed shallow pit — impaling his foot on pieces of sharpened bone.

“Now,” you bellow as you charge towards the injured bandit.

An arrow flies behind you followed by a second and a third.

All three arrows find their mark on the chest of the bandit archer.

You rush to the injured bandit and bash him with your shield — sending him crashing to the ground. You draw Skybreaker from your back and strike the second bandit on the leg before he can recover from his shock.

The sound of fleeing footsteps from beyond the forest alert you to the presence of a fourth bandit.

“Damn!” you drop your shield and sprint towards the footsteps — knowing Thomas could take care of the rest.

You use the echoes of your own footfalls to scan the area as you run — giving you a 360-degree picture of your surroundings.

You’ve been trying to keep your blindsight activated as much as possible as an extra precaution — a shame that you can only accurately “see” up to 15-17 yards.

You catch up to the bandit as he stumbles through the unfamiliar forest.

The famished bandit immediately drops his sword once you confront him.

“Spare me,” he pants, “I surrender.”

You take the cowardly bandit back to camp.

Thomas just finishes tying up the two bandits when he sees you with another one.

“The archer is dead,” he says apologetically. “I couldn’t risk him getting a shot.”

“It was unavoidable.” You reply.

“What’s next?”

“We head to their lair before they get suspicious and finish them off.”

“And these three?”

“Just tie them up so they can’t walk away,” you say in a dark tone. “Even if they try to escape — the wolves would probably get to them.”

“No please,” says the bandit with the pierced foot. “We won’t be able to escape even if we wanted to.”

The bandit with the broken leg nods his head while grimacing in pain.

“This one isn’t injured at all,” Thomas remarks at the most recent addition to your prisoners.

“He surrendered.”

“Just tie me up!” the bandit begs. “Tie my hands and legs — you don’t have to hurt me.”

Thomas balks at the show of cowardice. He ties the bandit with more fervor — making sure the rope bites his skin.

“There should be less than five of them in their camp” you reassure Thomas.

“If they’re as skilled as this lot — it shouldn’t be a problem.”

The two of you drag the three bandits into the cave.

Thomas hesitates for a moment, and then he drags the corpse of the fallen archer — dropping it in front of the three scared bandits.

“You’re not just going to leave us here?” asked one of the bandits.

“You should be safe here for the time being,” you reply. “Wolves won’t come near this place — but it’ll be a different story if you try to escape.”

“We won’t, we won’t,” mutters the defeated bandit.

Thomas gives the bandits two strips of meat each before letting them drink a few mouthfuls of water.

“We don’t want them dying on us before we return,” he explains. “It’s easier if they can walk or limp back — and I want that extra 10 gold.

You nod and make a quick scan of the bandits and their bindings.

“Let’s go.”

Thomas adds a few more logs into the fire — just to maintain the smoke.

You lead the way to the bandit’s lair — but you opt to take a more circuitous route to avoid detection.

Once you get close enough, you motion to Thomas to be alert.

These bandits survived in the forest, even with the wolves. They shouldn’t be as weak as they appeared to be.

As you slowly approach the lair, you begin to hear the boisterous conversation of the bandits.

“They should be back by now.”

“Those bastards are probably eating without us.”

You finally catch sight of the bandits.

One of the bandits is massive. He stands close to seven feet and he has a double-bladed axe strapped to his back.

The second one looks dangerous. He has an air of intensity and coldness. You see several daggers on his waist as well as a sword.

The third is more composed. His unusually dark skin singles him out as the Stygian. He seems to be getting impatient at the two and he raises a hand to silence them.

“Show yourselves,” he calmly says. “I’ve been observing you the moment you got here.”

He throws two daggers — hitting the trees that you and Thomas were using as cover.

You come out from your cover.

“Stygian, there’s no hope for you — but your men can still surrender.”

The men laugh as they slowly prepare their weapons.

“A battle then.”