Is Humberto a magic user? I thought only Maria was.
“Forgive Taye his jest, my friend. I only thought to lighten the tension. We have had a hard journey and it is not over yet. I will of course take the next to last watch as penance for a poor joke. A bit of lost sleep may teach me to keep my lips sealed.”
Joseph spends the night swapping stories with Harald, matching him story for story with equally improbable ones from his own travels (“only sixteen feet tall? Why, I once saw one…”).
The Doge told you that Maria was a sorceress. He didn’t say anything about Umberto.
As is his way, The Brute does what other people tell him, still slightly amused that the most onerous task presented is “Wake up for a couple of hours, then go back to sleep.”
He does listen closely to Harald and Joseph’s stories, though, particularly when either of them use words from a language he doesn’t know yet.
The watch goes uneventfully. You wake up about twenty miles outside of the city; you’ll be able to get there by mid-afternoon if you hurry.
Zachary winces slightly at the prospect of having to hurry, but busies himself with his usual daily preparations, stowing assorted items of questionable stability about his person in case he should need to cause a minor explosion later. He is pleased to see Aji looking well rested and makes sure, as usual, that his companion’s don’t take advantage of the Brute’s good nature.
Bird scouting ahead of the party, doing periodic circles back to check behind (again, standing order)…
Harald will first cook a hearty, stick-to-yer-ribs breakfast for the party, spicing it up with a handful of filched figs ; then re-checks the binds on both of our prisoners and gives Ingrid a bit of love before enjoining the lads to “hurry the *faen *up !” and “put some damned heels to the devilbeasts !”, for he seems quite anxious to get paid - and to celebrate getting paid by blowing all of the money on wine, women and song of course.
“Hold your wild stallions, stor mann, the village ladies can stand to wait awhile longer for your prowess to cross their thresholds, I’d say.”
“Easy for you - and for them - to say. They don’t know what they’re missing yet !”
Examining the bindings on Umberto and Maria, Taye exclaims…
“Well done, my northern friend, you tie an excellent knot.”
Casting [COLOR=Blue]Prestidigitation, Taye pulls four glowing balls from the air and starts juggling them as he heads to his horse[/COLOR]
“On the journey to the city perhaps Taye will teach you to juggle? And you, friend Hawkins? Have your reflexes sharpened since last we traveled together?”
The party gathers up their belongings, and hustles toward Genoa. Taye practices his sleight-of-hand tricks and juggling periodically through the day, occasionally tossing one of his glowing balls to Hawkins, who flips it back easily with a grin.
By late afternoon, Genoa is in sight as you come down out of the hills. One of the Duke’s scouts, a green-clad Ranger toting a small, long crossbow, greets the party and confirms the identity of the prisoners. He nods, mounts a pony that had been hidden in the brush, and bolts off to the city. Umberto seems panicked and struggles against his bonds. Maria seems resigned to her fate.
As the gates of Genoa come into sight, you can see a trio of soldiers in Genoese livery approaching you about a hundred yards away. They’re dragging a cart and are armed with spears.
Staying on his horse, still juggling Taye waits for the soldiers to approach, then calls out grinning…
“Well met, crusaders. Here to take these troublemakers off our hands? Excellent. Tell me captain do you juggle? If your hands and quicker than these companions of mine, perhaps we can get a roundabout going. Friend Hawkins? Toss me some of those concoctions!”
Taye then casually tosses balls to the lead soldier and Hawkins…
Smiling towards the soldiers, Joseph speaks to Taye out of the corner of his mouth.
“Stop it, you fool. These are not men who will be amused by sorcerous displays. They as likely to gut you as to applaud.”
Hawkins is prepared to go along with this, although he will surreptitiously make sure he switches out the fuses first - these bombs are not toys. A little more warning would have been helpful, though!
Harald will stay mum in the background but dismount, matter-of-factly unslung Ingrid from the horse and quietly be ready for Shenanigans.
Do these soldiers, by any chance, look in any way… afflicted like the ones we fought in the doge’s burning palazzo ?
That would be a shame, what with me having bombs right at my fingertips and no innocent bystanders within range. 
Hold on, mistake. Will update when I’ve straightened something out.
The lead soldier snatches at the ball, which disappears in his hands. Another ball arcs toward Hawkins, and in grabbing for the ball, Hawkins spills a leather pouch of a white liquid, which hits the chalky dirt of the Genoese hillside and bursts into a billowing cloud of smoke. That’s a natural one right there, folks. Hawkins, standing right next to the prisoners, is engulfed in the cloud.
After a moment, the prisoners are visible bolting from the cloud. Maria seems relatively unharmed, but she’s hampered by Umberto, who’s coughing and limping left as he runs.
Taye, Hawkins, Harald, Giacomo, and the Brute make their rolls and can act in this round. The soldiers have also broken into a run.
Shouting Taye casts [COLOR=Blue]Burning Hands at Maria
“Stand clear I will handle the prisoners. Hawkins, you anvil-handed butcher! Though, in truth the soldiers caused this! Someone make sure our horses do not flee.”
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