Saga of Hester the Jester ~The Shapeshifting Trogger

About two weeks and five days down the road from Aleria they're back in human lands. Lucien, Toughas and Hester are coming through a prairie between forests. They enter the forest and see a freshly downed tree blocking the road. There is a man who is failing to be stealthy and they spot him. Lucien and Toughas switch places so Toughas is driving the carriage right up to the "trap" but they know they're there. Four people come around behind our carriage, with one of them being a wizard. One shouts for Toughas to stop and turn himself in.

Toughas steps down off the carriage as if he's surrendering, and then turns and barrels into the girl who's behind the carriage. He hits her with all his weight and knocks her clean out to the ground.

Lucien creates a great arcane shield. The bad guy from the front fires a bolt from his crossbow at Lucien. Toughas takes down one guy who attacks him as a counter attack, and another guy during his own turn. Hester even jumps against the guy, pushes someone in the back of the head and he goes down as well! Knocked out! The guy with the crossbow gives chase to Lucien and ends up shooting an arrow into his own friend who's on the ground.... oops. Their mage fails to rend the veil...and Toughas sticks him through with the rapier and kills him.

The big bad guy who was left turns and runs away.

After the fight is over Toughas moves the log out of the way, Lucien immolates the bodies, casts some spells and heals up. Then they're back on the road to Domni. Lucien has read enough of the spell books and practiced enough to have learned "scry lock" and "resist pain" spells.

They pull off to the side of the road for Lucien to cast scry lock on the carriage. It appears to be locked for five years, making it so that no one can magically spy on the carriage or any of its contents. Hester and Toughas go to the stream and go fishing. Toughas catches five fish and Hester starts frying them up on the spot. They mix them in with fresh onions. Lucien scrubs down Pickles and they have a nice rest.

They believe, from looking at the map that they can make it to the river, and the ferry by night fall. As they travel on, they're encountered by two knights on horseback. One says "this madness ends now! You will relent Lady Densmeal's property!!

Nope.

The group scoff at the idea and the melee will soon begin. Toughas, who had been driving the wagon hops down to the ground and gets ready as the knights charge toward us. Hester is able to move first, and with quick thinking she uses her voice of the herald (a spell that makes the voice boom, loud enough to be heard for miles) to spook one of the horses. She screams "boogity boo!!!!" and the knights have to spend their time reigning in their horses. One is thrown from his horse, but he doesn't fall to the ground. He attempts to swing at Hester and fails...throwing his sword. He pulls out a short sword from his belt.

Toughas runs at the man who's fallen from his horse and goes to stab him. He fails, hitting the shield but the shield looks a mess. Lucien sends magical pain at the other guy who crumples to the ground screaming in pain until he faints and is quiet now. Toughas stabs at the other fellow dead. Lucien goes after the runaway carriage and Pickles. The fight is over and Hester goes to find the runaway horses and grabs them. While all this is happening the man who Hester knocked out wakes up and starts shouting.

They get some information out of him, strip him of his armor and weapons. He was commissioned by his Lieutenant, not by Densmeal herself. He had a drawing of us, and our carriage, pulled by Pickles. He knew that we had a staff that he was supposed to get from us, and that it would be wrapped in silk rope.

Lucien finds a stick about the same size as the wand and he and Hester get into the carriage, Toughas ties the horses to the back of the carriage and gets into the driver seat. They drive past an insectoid mound, not wishing to stop there. The large bugs give them all the heeby jeebies. They pull off the road to have Lucien disguise Toughas magically. Lucien turns him into an albino hornless trogger, and both Hester and Lucien find this utterly hilarious.

They get back on the road and drive on. For the next three hours Toughas looks weird and different. They drive past six different wagons of people on the road, who now have seen this odder version of the trio. Or, Toughas at least. Lucien and Hester and hidden inside the carriage. They see a sign for Stanley's Landing and will be there in two more hours. The spell has worn off Toughas, so they pull over and have it reapplied. Lucien changes Pickles into a very large horse, and turns Toughas into a really tall elf with zits in place of the horns and protrusions.