No comment from Aust

So they got their treasure, looted the cave entirely, sent the boy back on a horse and continued on their way.

I may have failed to mention it last time, but one of the reasons why murdering the knight was such a viable option was how it was set up. The whole thing caught me by surprise, but the knight was never meant to be a major character and it all made sense. They were alone with the knight, so there were no witnesses; and they had just crossed the border into a neighboring kingdom in order to get to the cave. The knight had commented that they were no longer in King Aldaire's territory while they were on the road.

Still though. There will be an investigation. Eventually bounty hunters will come looking for them.

As for our most recent session, things became quickly awkward. I'm afraid it's all my fault.

A new character joined the group; they found him walking on the side of the road with a large jingling backpack. As they passed him on the road Yorik said, "Hey, I know him." Looking closely, the party realized that they also recognized him. He was Kon, the alchemist from the last shop they had visited. Turns out he's an alcoholic whose been late on his rent and owes everyone in town some money. They kicked him out of town. Yorik mentions that they have use for an alchemist, and offers to hire him. He accepted.

When they rolled into town near sunset, the townspeople were setting up stands in the streets for tomorrow's Harvest Festival. They checked into their respective rooms and met downstairs for dinner. Over the course of their meal they discuss their plans for the treasure.

Yorik suggests keeping a few items each and then taking it to the king of this nation, mention that the king from the neighboring kingdom hired them to get it; but that they came to this king out of loyalty. With war looming to the south and the potential with the neighboring kingdom to the east, Yorik explained; "Well, war is good for business."

Tobin was of mind to just head south and sell of relics piece by piece as they go, not too much in any one location so as to avoid being noticed. The rest of the party seemed to get behind this idea and it was this that the group agreed on.

Next day was the festival, plenty of food and drink available at no charge. Meat on the spit, a huge array of vegetables, and copious amounts of wine and ale. The city was drunk in the merriment of their celebration, our new alcoholic alchemist friend was in 'free beer' heaven... The music from around town grew louder and more frantic and the flow of the crowd swept them to the edge of town where they soon found themselves inside of a seedy looking tavern.

In the tavern were a large number of people, crowded and drinking. Musicians played a frantic dance, drummers keeping a tribal beat, flutists and lutists caught up in a maddening rhythm... Smoke in the tavern grew thicker until they could barely see.

And yet, even after I'd mentioned that it didn't look like there were any people left inside, and that the only people left were wearing masks; it wasn't until I asked them to make constitution checks that the players caught on that something was amiss. When they missed the check, they started coughing; and the checks became increasingly more difficult. If they were already coughing and missed again, they fell unconscious. Tobin and Aust were the last still breathing. While trying to escape, having chopped a small hole into the door, they took turns breathing in fresh air then tried to fight the people around them. Tobin almost got one of the masks, but he was shoved to the side and fell unconscious before he could fasten the mask into place.

They all passed out.

They all woke up naked, their clothes spread on the floor around them. They woke up individually, rolling gradually less-penalized constitution checks; success resulted in them waking up. They woke up not far apart, when the first player to awaken had started putting his clothes on the last was starting to sit up. Yorik got to his feet and said "My asshole hurts."

Then I said; "Roll a d20 to see if yours does too." I gave them a decent chance, all they had to do was roll 12 or more to be safe. The rolls came back: Tobin - 16, Jynxie - 14, Kon - 12, Aust - 11.

Aust.

Silence at the table. Not at first though. At first it was riotous laughter and multiple declarations that I am a dick. Hahaha. After that though, silence. I made sure the silence made it a little more uncomfortable before moving on.

Looking behind the bar, Kon discovered the armor. In the kitchen, Tobin discovered the weapons. The doors to the place are no longer locked. Other than a blood-red boar's head painted on the back wall of the place, there's no indication of who is behind it.

Back at the inn, their rooms are trashed. All of their items (save for 2 each) are stolen. Completely gone. But who is responsible? That's a dumb question, it's obvious who is responsible. Whoever the hell ran that bar where the bloody boars head was painted on the wall.

They ask around town, find out that there is a gang in this area of the country called the Bloody Boars who make hell for travelers. Aust works at tracking them through town and (due to some amazing rolls for once) picks up their trail. They left town sometime in the night, heading northwest.

Aust stops now and then to make sure they are on the right trail. The air is becoming increasingly cold as they travel. A storm starts to pick up, large flakes of heavy snow fall from the sky and accumulate on the ground. The snow storm turns violent, a blizzard that soaks and freezes them all.

They are forced to abandon the road and find shelter. They huddle under some trees but to no avail. Someone suggests one of the watchtowers in the distance, old crumbling relics of the old empire. Jynxie spots a fire inside and the party heads cautiously but hastily in that direction.