When the old man was healed Siana joined his wife in firing back, lobbing a few fire balls at them with an overhand throw. While none of them hit any bandits, they did succeed in forcing the bandits to keep their heads down. "Go wide" she said to one of the adventurers that had run up to her. "Try and flank them." As the adventurers left she drew her bow. "So," she said to the old man and his wife. "Shall we draw their fire?" The three of them started firing at the bandit's location, the woman with a crossbow, the man with frost bolts, and Siana with her bow.

In the Darkness, watching on as the bandits attacked the adventurers and farmers was a man in bone armor, carrying a spear.

Quickly swinging from branch to branch Kis made her way passed the fighting, up behind the bandits before finally dropping down into the middle of the raiders. The first man down never knew what hit him, the blade slicing his neck from behind, cutting his windpipe and jugular up under his helmet. The second felt the blade pierce up into his heart and his mouth fell open, but it was too late to cry out a warning to his compatriots, his last breath escaping in a soundless sigh.

Carefully Kis made her way through the shadows, taking the bandits she came across down one-by-one, while at the same time trying to avoid the incoming fire from her own allies. This is why I prefer to work alone, she thought to herself as an arrow whispered past her face almost close enough to take off her nose.

Garen was traveling to a nearby village when he heard the commotion. Usually he wasn't one to travel at night but given the circumstances he was in a hurry. He had heard rumors that in this village someone was setting up an expedition into the Fog, Garen couldn't let something like that pass him by.

So he was as a wraith passing through the trees, silent, careful. Finally he was passing a farm when the familiar sounds of combat reached his ears. He slowly drew Gwynt, it's polished, engraved blade shining in the moonlight. Garen crept to the edge of the light coming from a bonfire, there he saw a few men fighting, just a bunch of dark figures against the firelight. He moved on through the trees, searching for any indication of what he might like to do.

Eventually he found a group of scattered men working their way through the trees. From the corner of his eye he saw a dark figure descend and kill one, then two. The figure glided through the shadows as if made of the darkness itself. Garen couldn't help but be captivated by the figure's grace and finesse. At least he knew one thing for certain, he didn't want to make that his enemy.

Garen took the figure's lead, stalking wayward men and quickly ending them. The first one that he targeted had no idea what happened as he plunged Gwynt through the man's throat. The second was lucky enough to see him but not quick enough to avoid decapitation. Finally he found a man wearing bone armor and wielding a spear. Garen silently drew up to his back, thrusting Gwynt right at the man's throat. The man turned in time to block his attack, the two locked eyes as their weapons clattered off the other. "Well, you like a leader of some form, care to dance?" A challenge as Garen held his blade up to block any counterattacks from his opponent.

It was becoming more difficult for Kis to find targets of opportunity in the darkness. The remaining bandits seemed to have realised that something was stalking them and had begun to group together in the cover of the outlying buildings and forest making it hard for her to close with any of them without being spotted.

In the middle of the farm yard, lit by the campfire over which the roasting hog carcass was beginning to blacken and burn, Kis spotted a larger, bone armoured figure striding through her teammates, his blade hacking down at them with long, powerful strokes. It was clear that this was the leader of the bandits, and she'd learnt that with ragged groups like these it was best to lop off the head before looting the bodies of the slain. Pulling her bow from her shoulder Kis notched an arrow and drew back the string, taking careful aim on the giant.

Before she could fire a stranger leapt from the darkness, his sword swinging down at the giant's neck only to be blocked at the last moment. The pair were too far away for Kis to hear what was being said, but it was clear the stranger was no friend to the bandit leader, and with his sword flashing against the fire light Kis knew he'd be a better match than she was.

Letting her focus relax Kis spotted one of the bandits rising up behind the newcomer, a crossbow levelled at his back. Quickly she shifted her aim and let her arrow fly, the wooden shaft speeding past the swordsman's face, burying itself in the archer's throat. As he dropped to the ground, his crossbow tumbling from his lifeless hands, Kis quickly shouldered her bow and slipped back into the shadows. The arrow would've drawn the attention of the other bandits and she didn't feel like taking an arrow for the team just yet.

The man in Bonemold looked at the the new challenger that had dropped in and started killing his warriors, blocking his blow just in time. So he has some skill, the man thought.

"Well, you like a leader of some form, care to dance?"

"Sure," he said in a deep, slightly muffled voice. "Follow my lead." Seeing another enemy run up behind the challenger he pointed his spear at the man's chest and fired a full-power blast at him, confident that the idiots here wouldn't stop hitting him with these weak magical attacks before they were too weak to mount a proper attack on him.

---

When she was done healing the man, Siana drew her bow and started shooting at the random bandits that got too close. "Will you two be alright? I'm going to try and flank them."

"We'll be fine," said the old woman, firing a bolt which hit a bandit in the throat. "I've got plenty of bolts left."

"Ok," Siana said, readying her fire bolt. Diving out from behind cover, she hit one bandit who was fighting an adventurer in the back with a fireball, setting him on fire. She then ran at an angle until she could see the hiding bandits from the side. She threw three balls at them, then hid behind a large Chestnut tree. From their screams she guessed that she had hit at least one squarely, and either clipped another or lit something else in the area, hopefully a person. She looked around the tree to see them run, one of them with an arm on fire, and see a burning corpse on the ground. Now that they were out of their cover, the adventurers would make quick work of them. She left her cover to find other fighters, only to see a man in bonemold armor fire a lightning bolt from his staff.

Glancing around her the only bandits Kis saw were running in the opposite direction, heading away from the battle and leaving their fallen comrades behind. Letting them run Kis carefully lay the crossbow to one side as she pulled out her blades. Slowly and carefully she made her way over to the fallen corpses, driving her dagger up into each one's heart before cutting their coin purses from their belts and stashing them away inside her cloak before checking their weapons and gear for anything useful. As she'd expected most of the bandits were only equipped with low level items well below her notice and not worth the trouble of lugging back to town.

Leaving the bodies where they lay the ranger turned her attention back to the sword fighters Kis was just in time to see the lightning shooting out from the tip of the giant's staff. Swearing to herself she quickly reached up and covered her eyes, the bright burst of light blinding her momentarily as her night vision was overwhelmed by the intensity of the blast. Quickly shaking her head she blinked over towards the man she'd seen engaged with the brute, hoping to see him still on his feet but fearing for the worst.

Garen's sword clattered against his opponent's spear, his partner in this dance answered his challenge confidently. Perhaps this would actually be a good fight? His attention refocused on his adversary who pulled back, pointing his spear at Garen. He felt the air draw a gasp as the energy starting gathering around the weapon's point, finally blasting lightning straight towards him.

Garen managed to barely dodge to side, his sleeve singed with the heat of the blast. Rolling to the side he sprung back on his feet, drawing his second sword, Tân, from it's fine leather bound scabbard at his right hip. He charged at the bone clad man, hanging to the side in case he fired another bolt at him. When he got within striking distance he swung Gwynt, aiming high whilst he thrust Tân at his opponent's middle.

@Lionheart

The man in Bonemold jump backwards more than the height of a man, dodging the attacks, and thrust the point forward. While his lightning was good for taking out weaker opponents like the man who was now laying on the ground with most of his chest burnt away, this opponent was too quick for it to be anything more than a finishing move, or a way to supercharge his melee attacks. He would have to rely on the greater reach that the spear gave him to keep the man at bay until he left an opening.

---

Siana knew that the fight with the warrior in bonemold would be too much for her, but she also knew that something was strange about him, as he should have long ago run out of mana. After a few seconds she realized what it was. "His armor feeds on magic." she called out to the warriors running towards the two men in combat. "Don't use it to attack him. Rely on physical attacks."

She knocked an arrow and aimed it at the man's body. True, she wasn't the best shot, but at this range she would at least hit him. When the man dodged a second time by jumping backwards she fired and it bounced off of his pauldron. He turned at her and fired, but she managed to dodge in time to let the tree behind her take the attack. It exploded and chunks flew off of it. She stood back up but didn't knock another arrow, knowing that if she attacked him, he wouldn't miss next time. Besides, the man he was fighting was doing quite well without the help.

As the bandit leader turned and fired towards the archer, leaving his back exposed to her, Kis saw her opportunity. Breaking from cover she quickly sprinted across the yard, her blades in her hands as she leapt up into the air. Swinging them down in unison she aimed for the break in the man's armour between his body and his head, the thin gap under his helmet where a precise blade should be able to drive down into his chest, hopefully finding his heart.

Time almost seemed to freeze as her adrenaline pump[ed through Kis's veins, her perceptions and reactions quickening in the heat of the moment. Even as she slowly drew closer she shifted her fingers on the knife handles, moving the tips ever so slightly as she tried to line up his attack for a single perfect strike.

Since he was sitting rather far from the camp's center, Adamar was attacked last. A bloodcurdling war cry broke his reading, and he looked up to see a lowly bandit charging him with their sword brandished high over-head. In only a few moments, the bandit was upon him, and in a flash of steel, the blade was embedded into Adamar's chest.

Adamar looked down at the sword in his torso, and then slowly rose to his feet. "Hm, that woman did say that those who attack me are legally giving up their lives." An expression of confusion and fear washed over the thug's face as Adamar gripped the sword by its blade and pulled it out of himself. His strength ripped the weapon from his assailant's hand and tossed it onto the ground. "To be honest, I'm not upset about being stabbed. What bothers me is your audacity to interrupt my studies. On the bright side, you might have some other uses."

His hand began to glow a faint black radiance as he reached forward. The ghostly glow began to pull itself from his gauze wrapped hand and floated towards the bandit, entering his eyes and mouth. The man's screams of terror and pain could be heard across the battlefield as the spell Enervation tore his life force to shreds. After a few moments, his cries turned into dry moans, and then eventually nothingness as his corpse limply fell to the dirt below him.

Instead of raising the fallen bandit right then and there, Adamar looked up towards the campfire. There were still a few attackers engaging the troop. He began another incantation as he walked towards the camp.

Garen's twin assault was dodged by a surprisingly spry backstep on the part of the bone man, irritating that a man in so heavy armor could be so agile. Still, it was information that Garen could process and use. He started circling, wary of another lightning attack. As he circled his opponent his eyes searched for a weakness, obviously there would be gaps were the joints were but those were to obvious weaknesses for Garen to use. No the bone man would be expecting that.

As he was examining his opponent he saw a woman knock an arrow and fire right at his enemy. It deflected harmlessly of his pauldron of course, but the distraction she cause as the bone man lifted his spear to fire at her was all an experienced fighter needed, and Garen was nothing if not experienced.

He charged, both blades hanging low. The aim was to shove them both under his arms where his armor would be weakest. As he drew closer out of the corner of his eye he saw another woman start sprinting towards his enemy, blades drawn, obviously seizing the same opportunity.
He slowed his pace a little, allowing the woman to strike first. at the end of her charge she pounced at the bone man, blades aimed at his neck. Garen himself reached the man rolling partially to the side and thrusting Gwynt right under the bone man's spear aem.

The Bone-armored man staggered, dropping his spear and grabbing the whole in his neck with his good hand. The whole under his arm was bleeding too much, though, and he soon collapsed from blood loss. Within a minute he was dead.

The adventurers gathered around, having finished looting the bandits, and stood staring at the dead leader. Siana walked over as well. "Well, that was an interesting fight." she said. "With enemies like that out there, we'll have to be more careful. First, though, is anyone hurt? I can heal you. Otherwise, we need to eat and discuss this. We definitely need guards too."

"Hmph."

Adamar interrupted his mysterious incantations as the the final bandit fell to the floor. The charge of lightning dissipated from his hand into nothingness as he approached the group. He came into speaking distance as Siana concluded her assessment.

"We have our grands, right here." Adamar rose his hands over the fallen bone-armored man, and cast the spell Animate Dead, Lesser. The bandit, along with several other thugs in the immediate area, let out soft and dry moans as they slowly rose to their feet.

"They will keep watch over the camp. Any objections?" He asked, waiting to see if anyone would oppose him.

@TheUnknowable "Well, that was an interesting fight. With enemies like that out there, we'll have to be more careful. First, though, is anyone hurt? I can heal you. Otherwise, we need to eat and discuss this. We definitely need guards too."

@Light "They will keep watch over the camp. Any objections?"

Retrieving her blades from the bandit leader's neck as his corpse stood next to her Kismet quickly patted herself down, checking for any injuries. She hadn't felt any pain at all, but she'd learnt that in the heat of the moment you didn't always feel the wounds until it was too late. There was plenty of blood over her, but as she wiped it away she assured herself that none of it had been her own.

"I'm fine over here," She called over to Siana with a smile, waving her arm to show it was still attached and still working. Turning towards the necromancer, she watched him quizzically for a moment before stepping a little closer, iving the two of them a little privacy from the rest of the party as they went about looting the bodies. Kismet had already gathered her fill of the booty, and felt it best not to push her luck while others were paying attention.

"That's a useful spell to have," She said to Adamar by way of an introduction, "But that armour of his seems like a very useful piece of equipment to have. A little too sophisticated for mere bandits, wouldn't you say? Would you mind giving it a closer examination and let me know what you uncover?"

While she knew enough about magics to survive in the crazy world she found herself living in, Kismet would be the first to admit she knew little of their actual operation. At times like these it was usually better to rely on an expert's opinion on the matter.

Without responding to Kimset's question, Adamar waved his hands again and weaved the magic for the spell Detect Magic. Right away, he sensed an aura of necromancy about the zombified bandit. This immediate aura was no doubt a result of his spell Animate Dead, Lesser. However, if there were any other magics contained within this zombie or anything held or worn by him would be discernible by Adamar in only a few moments.

(@TheUnknowable You should decide if Adamar detects any magic from the armor. And if so, you should decide what magic it is.)