Good session last night - a thorough rout of the bandits who tried to raid our fake caravan of goods coming from Alesandrus's camp. Mainly thanks to the careful planning of Richard, Melvin, and Toes, I might add... Lyra was off trying to scout the area, but it didn't work at all. -sigh- One area of forest looks like another when you're flying overhead. At least the scrying helped - we knew beforehand that the leader of the bandits, Dallagher, was still encamped with about half his force in the forest. And one of them knows how to speak with squirrels - another druid? That would be odd...
Also, it looks like Richard had a latent magical talent - he was muttering the whole time that the bandits were approaching him. As they accosted him and demanded he dismount and lay down his weapons, he drew his sword and yelled the last syllable of the Bless spell (gives +1 accuracy to offense of your companions in a 50 foot radius, I think). He did say he'd signal, but yikes... another spellcaster in the party. Wow. This'll be fun. :)
With the Bless spell, the archers concealed in the wagons and protected by tower shields, and the infantrymen, we managed to rout the bandits in 5 turns flat (~8-10 seconds a turn... so under a minute? We get better every time ;). Also, Lyra's bear came roaring out of the forest and helped take out one of the highwaymen! She brought him along in order to continue training him (against the wishes of the party...because she didn't want to leave him so close to the camp - she feels responsible for him, and didn't want any problems to occur with him and the soldiers while she was out on mission.) Richard gave her a tongue-lashing for that (or tried, at least) when she finally arrived in camp - yes, he had told her not to bring Caderyn. But Lyra's not exactly under Richard's command, but rather an equal and companion. And Richard's main concern was that the bear would endanger the mission. Anticipating this, she'd told Caderyn to remain in the forest and trail the caravan, so he wouldn't scare the soldiers or horses, or give them away. But she didn't think to see him in the thick of battle. -grins- That bandit was awfully surprised when Caderyn came charging out of the woods and sank his teeth into her thigh. Of course, this timely distraction prevented the thief from getting a good shot at Lyra with her crossbow. Unfortunately, Caderyn didn't finish her off, but the infantryman certainly did. And he didn't receive even a scratch! Lyra was easily able to calm the raging bear (yaay for druid skills) and lope off towards the thieves' camp with both him and Lacha. Can't wait to see how he does when he's fully trained. :)

Unfortunately, it sounds like Mike's going to leave us - gaming's putting extra stress on him, and at a place like tech, that's just not good. We'll miss you, Mike. :( Wish you didn't have to leave. It's not going to be the same without you playing Richard. Take care of yourself, and hope you can rejoin us sometime in the future...