And here...we......Go!
The morning arrives with hurried urgency. Apparently, the travelers are not the only ones who wish to get the obvious upcoming battle out of the way. Nexendia's familiar, Scarf, having been sent up to scout once more (I'm only assuming) spies a fair-sized troop of approximately 6 armed and armored men advancing on horseback from the forest in the South, led by a hooded, cloaked man with a longbow who seems very quiet despite the confidence he and his men exude. The cloaked man rides on a wagon pulled by two more horses. Just as expected, it seems, the bandits are right on time. Upon hearing of this, Oleg immediately sends Svetlana inside to hide and elects to play the bait, at least for now. But he makes damned sure the plan allows for him to run to protect his wife if things go south.
The arriving bandits sure aren't very discreet or subtle about their intentions, and jest loudly about raiding the Levetons of their fare…among other things. And why shouldn't they? There is nothing Oleg and Svetlana can do about it. They advance at a slow, steady pace, completely secure in the knowledge of their own superiority, as plans are prepared in Oleg's Trading Post. There is movement behind the scenes, sleepers being awoken, pieces moving into position. The players have taken the field and set everything up by the time the bandits pass through the gate.
"Hey, Oleg! Where's Bustylana? Tell her I got a full quiver just waitin' for her!" He grabs his groin as he says this, earning an absolutely poisonous look from the operator of this post.
"Shut it, Cade. You haven't done anything or anyone yet."
"Kressle's pet, Happs. You think you're better than me just because the boss lady digs what's in your pants?"
"I said Shut Up! Worthless sack of hide, you couldn't hold your own blade straight if someone didn't hold it up for you!"
The rest is just the bickering of mostly untrained thugs picking over scraps. The one referred to as 'Happs' clearly seems to be the leader of this rabble, snapping off orders that are met with grumbles. Though his back is hood covers most of his face, he seems like he's just holding on. Like something in his life was lost, it then took a sharp left turn on him, and now he is just adapting as best he can.
Suddenly, a loud SNAP echoes in the air, then a sickening crunch, and only a few seconds after comes a blood-curdling scream of absolute agony as Cade's left leg gets snapped nearly in half by Vidar's cleverly-hidden Bear Trap. The physical damage is visible...and quite grotesque. The bandits, and Happs, are so utterly shocked that they freeze and just stare at the stream of blood spurting from the screaming Cade.
[[Please state your intentions. If you want to attack, just roll initiative, and only initiative. Fluff posts are immensely beneficial as well, though.]]