Friday 13 July 1280, All Day (Good Housekeeping)

Duran listens as the others ask questions, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Gaven, whose curiosity outweighs his fatigue, asks Belloc: "any news on the Grey Fox bandits?"

"Not much," replies the captain. In fact, most of what I know comes from you. There have been some robberies on the road near Blackwell, but otherwise nothing you haven't already told me yourselves. The appearance of the 'grey men' that Alanna sent to do you in makes me wonder if she has joined up with them. Odd, since one of my own detachments reported seeing her heading southwest..."

The captain trails off as if thinking.

Gaven then asks: "What of the giant south of here we sent word on?"

"Ah, him," says the captain. "I've dispatched a diplomatic mission on that front. We've had the odd giant in the vicinity before. They're not all bad, some of them are fairly decent creatures. They come in, build a small cabin pasture some giant sheep for a season or two then move on. That type you can talk to and usually come to an understanding with them – making sure they keep off the roads and somewhat out of sight so as not to frighten travelers and merchants. The other type...well, let's just say I hope this one isn't the other type. In a day or two we should know which kind this fellow is."

"Do you know if the halfling merchant Filbert is still in town?" asks Gaven. "Filbert...Filbert..." says Belloc. "Was he that little fellow with the banged up head back at the Northstar Inn last week? Had a run-in with some grey men too, didn't he? To be honest, I'm not too sure. I haven't much thought of him with all the post-battle refitting and the new situations with the giant and Alanna."

Gaven asks one last question: "Any other rumors or concerns of note?"

The captain says: "Just that Maggie the Moon Witch was spotted again up near the Northstar again, though no trouble came of it. And there was the usual report of wolf – or werewolf – howls down Blackleaf way. With the full moon out right now, I'd say you were fortunate not to run into any yourselves."

The captain reads the fatigue on the faces of the party members. "You men look like you need a rest now. Go on back to the Red Tankard. If that giant turns out to be the wrong sort, and you're not engaged in any other work, you'd certainly be welcome to help us deal with him."

Oloc thanks the Captain for his generosity, and suggests that the party get a table at the inn to divide up the treasure and discuss their next course of action. He wants to see about getting a room, then take a bath, eat, and the hit the sack.

Duran, too, wants only to go to the Tavern, divide up the loot and get a meal, drink, bath and a bed. 

*****

With that you leave Belloc's office most of the party head to the Red Tankard, Gaven goes first to the Temple to pray then joins the rest of you at the inn.

Sadie and Sal greet you warmly. Sal starts making you a good hot meal while Sadie runs upstairs to get some rooms ready. The inn itself is rather quiet this morning – all the travelers have resumed their journeys, and the locals tend to show up only at meal times.

Shortly Sadie comes back down and tells you baths are prepared and your rooms are ready. Since Sal's food isn't quite ready, you go upstairs and clean yourselves off, before returning to the common room for your meal. After that, barely able to keep your eyes open, you head up to your rooms to get some sleep.

After a few hours, the noise of the lunch crowd wakes you and you take another meal in the common room, before heading out to sell off the mundane items and valuables you picked up in your foray against the bandits. All told, you manage to pull in 1824 g.p, 5 s.p. for those items. Along with the coins you picked up from the bandits, your total monetary haul comes to 2629 g.p., 7 s.p.

By the time you sell everything off, it's the dinner hour, and you head back to the Tankard to take another meal and divide up your coin, each of you taking a share of 657 g.p., 4 s.p., 3 c.p.

You still have some potentially magical items to deal with. Gaven asks to take possession of the vial of pale green liquid, and he and Oloc both look at the scroll you picked up. Gaven finds the words unreadable, but Oloc can decipher it with little difficulty – the scroll contains an arcane variant of a "Protection from Chaos" spell.

*****

With a few hours of daylight left, you decide, at Gaven's suggestion, to go to Cosmo's to identify the potion, and just to look around at any new items the old mage may have in stock.

On the way there, you pass by the temple once more and Gaven steps in to make a donation. Pleased with Gaven's substantial donation, the brothers reward Gaven with an amulet. "This amulet," a brother tells him, "is called the Medallion of the Righteous. It will grant you protection against the dead who have returned to the living (OOC: +1 to AC vs. undead)."

Leaving the temple, you continue on your way to Cosmo's.

*****

Cosmo seems genuinely pleased to see you, and as you walk down the long dimensionally transendental corridor to his back room, you have plenty of time to relate your tale, which is punctuated frequently by Cosmo's "oohs" and "ahhhs" that make you think he misses adventuring now that he seems too old for it himself.

Once in the back room, Gaven hands the vial of green liquid to Cosmo.  Cosmo looks at it, swishes it around, peers at it with candle-light behind it, gives it a sniff, then smiles.

"Ha!" he says. "I know what this is!" He sticks the tip of his finger into the liquid and licks it off. "Sure as the sunrise!" he exclaims. "I made this one myself. Distillate of Bezoar, is what you've got there my young cleric. That will cure any poison known to man, as long as the victim drinks it before the poison manages to kill him."

Then he frowns. "You picked that up from the bandits you say? Hmph! I've never sold to any bandits. Harlon and a few other screen my customers carefully for me, as you well know. The rotten no-goods must have stolen it from one of my legitimate customers."

He thinks a moment and then adds. "Tell you what. I'm so glad you took that away from those ruffians, I'll let you have the identification for free – I'd hate to think anything I made or sold fell into the wrong hands!"

Cosmo then glances at the rest of the party members milling around the back room. "See anything you like lads?"

Looking over the shelves, you see that the stock has changed considerably since the last time you were here. You note the following items that could be useful for individuals in your line of work:

Potion of Invulnerability.....250 gp (OOC: +2 to saves; -2 to enemy's attack roll)
Potion of Fire Resistance.....250 gp (OOC: +2 to saves vs. fire; if no save allowed, half damage from fire)
Potion of Cure Light Wounds...200 gp (OOC: cures 1d6+1 hp)
Returning Throwing Dagger....150 gp (OOC: no bonus, but returns to throwers hand after each shot; ROF = 1)
Borland's Shield.....500 g.p. (OOC: Shield +1 to AC)
Hagar's Short Sword....500 g.p. (OOC: Short Sword +1 to hit/damage)
Rope of Climbing....1000 g.p. (OOC: leaps upward, ties and unties on command)
Ruger's Perfect Arrow.....250 g.p. each (OOC: only one use each; automatically hits the target and does double max damage; Cosmo has four in his stock)
Apprentice's Ring of Spell Storing.....300 g.p. (OOC: grants M-U one additional spell slot per day) Losenges of Healing (Wild Cherry).....50 g.p. each (OOC: heals 1 hp; Cosmo has four of these)

After looking around and deciding what you do or don't want, you conclude your business for the evening with Cosmo, who sends you off with a cheerful farewell.

*****

As darkness begins to fall, you return to the Red Tankard. When you enter the inn, the place seems a bit more crowded as travelers have arrived to spend the night, and the local townsfolk drink and talk. You barely get inside the door before you see a familiar face – it's Filbert.

The halfling jumps up and waves to you from across the room. "Hallo! Sadie and Sal told me you were back in town. Earlier than I expected too!"

Seeing Filbert's enthusiastic greeting, Oloc suggests quietly to the rest of you: "Blackwell Keep, anyone?"

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OOC: Actions? If you wished to buy anything from Cosmo, just let me know and we'll say you bought it while you were there. Simply tell me, subtract the g.p. and add it to your sheet.

Depending on whether or not you use magical healing to bring Varros back up to full hp, you may need to spend time in town to heal him up; Oloc may or may not want to spend some time copying the new scroll; Varros and Duran may want to spend time training, etc. Just let me now what you want to do. 

Note that for healing, any "light" activity like running errands, buying gear, etc. is considered "rest," allowing healing to take place. More rigorous activities (like martial training) do not count as rest and no healing takes place on a day when such activity occurs. So Varros (and anyone else who was down any hp) just healed 1 h.p. today.

Recovery of h.p. is at a rate of 1 per day of rest, unless magic is used.

If you want to buy specific pieces of equipment, just say so, subtract the g.p. and it's yours. Anything in the rulebook is available at price in town.

If you want to talk to Cosmo again, or the Abbot, the Mayor, Belloc, just let me know who you want to speak with and about what. Remember too, that you did hear tell of a Sage named Bede (see NPC page) who might know things that might relate to activities you wish to undertake (though you'd have to travel out to see him). 

Finally, here is the rundown on the new items you acquired/identified in this post:

"Protection from Chaos" Scroll (Magic-User version; chaotic creatures attacking M-U get -1 to hit, and M-U gets +1 to saves)

"Medallion of the Righteous" (given to Gaven for contribution to church; provides +1 bonus to AC vs. undead)

"Distillate of Bezoar" (pale green liquid Gaven had ID'd by Cosmo; cures any poison if taken quickly before death occurs)

Make sure you've made notes of these things on your sheet (along with whatever advantage they give you).

Friday 13 July 1280, Morning (Belloc's Office)

Duran, in no mood to talk after the long walk in the rain, grunts and says, "We need to speak with Captain Belloc."

Varros looks around for Karnak while awaiting the guard's response, but sees nothing other than low-hanging clouds and rain bouncing off rooftops.

"Captain Belloc . . . " says the guard. "You must have pretty important business."

Following Duran, Gaven says, "Please take us to Captain Belloc straightaway. We have sacked the bandit group to the south and have news that he must hear."

To underscore Gaven's point, Stan holds out the sack containing Mackey's head. The blood-soaked cloth betrays enough of the human facial features pressing against it for the guard to quickly recognize what the bag must hold.

"Uh, of course!" he says, taking an involuntary step back from the head in the sack. "By all means. I'm sure you've been to the Captain's office before and can find your own way."

The guard has mixed look of fear and admiration on his face, as you walk past him into the town.

Oloc has stood by silently as his companions asked to be taken to Belloc. The Mage is tired and wants nothing more than a day's rest. He wonders if not having the bandit leader's body will be problematic in claiming the reward. With the other evidence on hand, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, he thinks.

"Yes, let's speak with Belloc and then get some rest."

*****

You arrive at Captain Belloc's office in short order, and are bidden to enter without delay. Seeing your fatigued condition, he quickly sends his orderly to have benches brought in so that you can all sit down.

"I received your message," he begins. "That was very good work. I know you're tired, but if you could, I'd like your complete report."

The orderly scribbles away as you relate what you think are all the relevant details of your foray into Blackleaf against the Red Serpent bandits, including all the details about Alanna, her written communications with Mackey, and the grey men. The captain occasionally asks brief questions to clarify a point here and there.

When you have finished relating your tale, Belloc gives you an update of his own.

"The good news is that I've alerted several subordinates – of whose loyalty I am sure – to apprehend Alanna. The bad news is that she seems to have anticipated this move, and is currently nowhere to be found."

Seeing Varros' anxious tendency to look expectantly toward the window. Belloc adds: "Once Karnak came to me with your message, I gave him a brief rest and then sent him out with a few other ravens to alert my subordinates. He should be back some time today."

"At any rate," he adds, looking at the grisly sack in Stan's hand. "It seems you have something to show me."

With a nod from you all, Stan opens the sack, and Belloc looks inside. He nods and takes a hefty pouch of his own off the table, and exchanges it for the one with Mackey's head.

"I'm sure the mayor will be pleased to see this head. And I'm just as sure you'll be pleased to see this. You've certainly earned it."

Looking into the large pouch he hands you, you see the 500 gold pieces promised by the reward poster.

"As an added bonus, I'd like to offer you something else. I've noticed Karnak has become quite attached to you. I was thinking you might enjoy his services on a more permanent basis – he does make a rather good scout. I've spoken with him, and if you'd like to have him along permanently, I'll send him to meet you at the Red Tankard when he returns. What say you?"

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OOC: Actions?

Let me know if you have any questions for Belloc or any specific things you'd like to say to him.

Also let me know how you want to proceed. I suspect you'll want to divide treasure, rest/heal, possibly re-equip, make major purchases/donations (I'd be surprised if you weren't at least close to leveling up), talk to certain people, and so forth.

BTW: question. I've been thinking about the "XP for g.p. spent rule" and I'm wondering if it's not just more fiddly than it's worth. What do you guys think? In retrospect, I'm not sure that it really serves much purpose. When I originally put it in as a house rule, it was at a time when I had read a couple of blog posts about excessive PC wealth. But now over a year later, as I reflect on it, I'm thinking "how is it actually a problem if PCs have more gold than they can ever spend?" We'll go with a majority vote on this. If there is no majority (i.e., if nobody cares, or if the vote is split) we'll just keep that rule as is. If a majority say so, I'll drop it (with a retroactive recuperation of any "major expenses" you've noted on your character sheet, if desired).

Friday 13 July 1280, Morning (Takin' Walks in the Rain)

The party takes a short breather upon exiting the forest.

Duran dons the armor with the elvish markings and finds it feels exceptionally durable compared to his existing armor (OOC: magic leather armor, +2 to AC) . Once thus fitted out, the fighter turns to the rest of the party.

"I say that we skirt the road north to Fairbrook that way we can easily hide if anyone comes along. If Karnak gets back soon we can use him to scout for us," says Duran.

"I agree, Duran. That path seems to me the most sound." Oloc looks up into the gloom. "Let us hope Karnak can find us in the darkness!"

Oloc isn't too comfortable out in the open at night. He tries to stay in the middle of the party, head up and eyes scanning about.

"Your plan sounds solid Duran. Let's start moving." Gaven takes rear guard and keep a close eye on the forest. He keeps a tight grip on his club.

Varros agrees with the others regarding the plan, hoping to avoid entering into any sort of melee combat, and to stay out of the line of fire should an encounter occur.

As you move along the road, the distance between you and the forest increases, despite your fatigue. About halfway to Fairbrook, you notice clouds move in, covering the moon, and shortly thereafter a soft, steady rain begins to fall. This makes it somewhat difficult to continue your advance off the road, but you manage it anyway, without incurring too much delay. Visibility is low, but you are still close enough to the road to keep an eye on it. You see no activity there, or anywhere else around you. It seems that anybody and anything – besides your company – has taken shelter from the rain.

Karnak does not return during your march.

Gradually, the sky begins to brighten in the east, but the rain continues to fall steadily. Despite being dripping wet, and bone tired, the increasing daylight is a welcome relief, after a night march out of werewolf territory at the full moon. You finally arrive exhausted but unmolested at the south gate of Fairbrook, around 8:30 a.m., on a grey, damp Friday the 13th.

You are greeted a mailed sentry at the palisade gate, protected from the weather by a slight overhang of the wooden guard tower behind him. "Good morrow! Please declare your names and your bus..." The sentry squints into the rain. "Ah, I recognize you – the goblin troubles last week. What brings you gentlemen back to Fairbrook? You've had an overlong march in the rain by the looks of it."

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OOC: Actions?

The time is 8:30 a.m. on Friday 13 July.

Also: I have updated the "Quests, Rumors, and Information" page. Don't forget you can consult that page at any time to get a reminder of previously acquired info and quest possibilities.

Thursday 12 July 1280, Night (Into the Forest Gloom)

"I think we should move quickly from this cave before more of Alanna's thugs show up," Duran says to the others. The fighter recommends taking what the group can carry and still move at speed, spread out amongst everyone.

Varros says: "I agree with Duran's assessment. I suggest we equip the company with the best gear available and leave the worst and least valuable behind." Varros gathers himself and slips on Swede's vambraces. They feel exceptionally sturdy and light (OOC: The vambraces are +1 to AC).

Varros also offers to try out the sword if no one else wishes, and seeing no volunteers, he picks it up and gives it a few swings. The strong light-weight blade curves a graceful arc in the air, and makes no sound whatsoever, as if the air doesn't even touch it (OOC: +1 Longsword).

"Duran I'm not an expert but that elvish leather might serve you better for now." Duran picks up the finely crafted leather armor, eyes it, and puts it in his pack for now.*

Gaven concurs with the others: "We should make straight away to Belloc. Since it is almost nightfall, we should gird ourselves with the wolvesbane."

Gaven distributes the wolfsbane he acquired earlier and makes sure everyone is wearing it before leaving the cave.

While not overly excited about the prospect of travelling at night, Oloc agrees that staying in the cave doesn't appear a better option. Oloc shoulders as much of the loot as he can, and makes sure he gets some wolfsbane...just in case. "Let's go!" he says.

*****

You arrange yourselves in a marching formation and begin heading down the path by which you came in order to get out of Blackleaf as fast as possible. True to their name, the dark leaves of trees make the forest seem more shadow-steeped than other places you've seen in your lifetimes. Occasionally you hear a rustle in the underbrush, or spy the faintly glowing eyes of some small forest creature as they catch the occasional ray of silver moonlight that manages to penetrate the canopy.

About halfway down the path out of the forest, you hear a mournful lupine howling. Judging by the sound, it is some miles off. But you still can't help but feel the urge to press your pace as much as the load on your backs allow. At one point, you could swear you hear Ollie's teeth chattering. For a second Stan opens his mouth as if to say something to the porter, then furrows his brow and clenches his jaw shut without saying a word.

Despite your fears, you manage to exit the forest without incident, and you cannot help but feel relief as you enter the open fields spreading out west of the woods. While you know you may still be at risk, just being out of the trees, where you can see clearly into the distance by the full moon's light, makes you feel much more secure. At least if enemies approach, you should spot them in time to react.

Looking at the land ahead of you, you realize that you have a couple main ways** to follow Gaven's suggestion of heading with all speed toward Belloc in Fairbrook.

Blue Cross = Party's current location 

Red Cross = Where party spotted the giant earlier

One hex = one day's march (roughly ten hours with periodic rests)

The fastest and most obvious route, heading northwest to the Ham's Fork road and from there to Fairbrook, would take you north of the town of Ham's Fork (with some small chance of encountering Alanna and any loyal followers she might have if she's out and about that side of town). Contrarily, you could go cross-country all the way, staying well east of the road and heading due north, giving you even less chance of encountering Alanna, but staying longer in proximity to Blackleaf, as well as running nearer the giant you saw earlier.

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OOC: Actions?

Time is now 8:30 p.m.

Dienekes, please make a note of the two magic items and their bonuses on your character sheet.

*I didn't want to just assume that Duran would put on the armor without Dan's say-so. If he wants to give it a try, just let me know, and I'll retroactively work that in.

**You're not limited to these main options, of course. I thought I'd toss them out there, with a rundown of the most relevant pros and cons (proximity to Blackleaf and its possible werewolves, to Alanna, to the giant you passed on the way down east of the road north of Ham's Fork). But obviously you can mix and match or do something completely different.

Since one hex = one ten-hour march, it would take you about ten to twelve hours to get to Fairbrook from where you are now.

Regarding what you're carrying: the least valuable cumbersome item is the lot of 500 cp (worth all of 5 gp); next would be the sets of leather armor (each worth 7 gp, 5 sp at resale). Leaving the 5 least valuable cumbersome items behind to avoid movement penalty (the coppers and 4 sets of leather armor) results in a sacrifice of a total of 35 gp/35 xp (or less than 9 gp/9 xp for each of you). Professor P suggested taking items up to encumbrance limit, which I took to mean before a penalty sets in. If my reading is incorrect and you wanted to carry those 5 least valuable cumbersome items, let me know and I'll correct this. For now I've assumed you've taking everything except the 5 least valuable cumbersome items.

Thursday 12 July 1280, Sunset (Loot and Pursuit)

*****

Duran steps forward and tries to shoot down the fleeing leader, but the leader disappears, lumbering into the shadows down the west tunnel before Duran can get off a shot. The archer quickly gathers the hirelings and takes off to chase the leader down and clear the cave, telling the others to tend to Varros.

Gaven yells after Duran and the hirelings, "take them down. Don't let them get back to Alanna."

*****

Remaining behind, Gaven tends to Varros and chides, "Perhaps you should buy some heavier armor. "

Too weak to retort, Varros plans to lick his wounds and shy away from combat in the most dignified way possible.

Gaven finishes binding Varros' wound, but the damage is fairly severe (OOC: Varros regains 1 hp; now at 2 hp total), and Varros still feels quite weak, though he is able to stand and move about on his own.

 *****

Once Oloc is sure that Varros' wounds are being tended to by Gaven, the Mage suggests that the group search the area as quickly as possible. "Reinforcements may arrive any time. Let us search quickly for anything of value."

Oloc searches the bodies in the immediate area first, and finds that the dead grey archers carry and swordsman carry loose change in their pockets worth about 80 gp in total. In addition, the dead swordsman wears a necklace, probably worth about 75 gp, wears leather armor with extremely intricate designs tooled into it. Oloc recognizes the pattern as elvish in origin.

Apart from their loot, however, Oloc also notices that several of the grey men bear a tattoo on the forearm – a tattoo in the form of a "G.F." rune.

Accompanied by Bill and Ollie, Oloc then sweeps outward with his search, looking about for anything tucked away in one of the caves which have been explored.

Turning first to the dead prisoner, Oloc and the porters find a gold ring on the ex-bodyguard's finger, probably worth about 100 gp.

In the bandit barracks, the treasure seekers locate about 20 gp worth of resellable mundane gear (eating utensils, clothing items, and the like), 10 gp, 50 sp, and 500 cp in loose coins, and a green stone that appears it might fetch about 60 gp.

Going over Swede's body, the group find a suit of leather armor, Swede's crossbow and sword, and a set of finely crafted vambraces.

In the bandit chief's cavern are found another 30 gp worth of mundane gear, similar to what was found in the barracks.

*****

Duran and the hirelings make haste after the fleeing grey archer and the leader.

The enemy archer is swift, and rapidly outdistances the wounded leader. Racing toward the entrance of the bandit lair the enemy archer simply vaults the barrier and disappears into Blackleaf.

The leader is another matter, and he makes an inviting target as he struggles to reach the entrance wall.

Duran and the hirelings unleash a hail of arrows, three of which strike the grey leader in the back, killing him.

Rushing up to the barrier, and looking out into the darkening forest, you cannot see the fleeing archer anywhere, and you're not even sure which direction he went. All you can see are the last fragile rays of crimson light that manage to wend their way through the branches of the trees, punctuating broad patches of shadow and falling night.

Examining the grey leader's body, Duran find a scroll in a cylindrical leather case, and three red gems, in a pocket, probably worth about 100 gp each. The dead leader wears leather armor, and bears a G.F. rune mark tattooed on his forearm.

He also carries a piece of parchment with instructions on how to find the cave of the Red Serpent bandits. It is written in the same hand as the note you received telling you reinforcements would arrive, the same hand as that which wrote the documents you found in Mackey's stash.

Additionally, when Duran draws the sword from the grey leader's scabbard, he notices that it feels lighter than one would expect.

*****

With the area secured, Karnak flies past Duran and the hirelings, out into the night, carrying his vital message off to Belloc.

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OOC: Actions?

Bandaging Varros: d4 = 1 (1 hp restored, Varros is back up to 2 hp).

Once I rolled three obvious hits against the leader I stopped rolling for hits, and didn't bother rolling for damage since he had only 2 hp.

Time is now 7:00 p.m. (sunset).

As a reminder, you've heard rumors of Werewolves in Blackleaf, and we are still in week two of the month (full moon).

You'll need to decide (among other things) if you're going to try and return to Ham's Fork (or elsewhere) tonight, or if you prefer to hole up in the Red Serpent Bandits' caves.

Also, please remove one day's ration from your equipment list (unless you want to eat bandit food -- it's there, and it seems good enough.

Loot list:
80 gp
10 gp
50 sp
500 cp  (cumbersome)
1 necklace (75 gp, grey swordsman)
3 sets of leather armor (grey men leader and archers, cumbersome)
1 set leather armor with elvish design (grey swordsman, cumbersome)
1 gold ring (100 gp)
Miscellaneoux mundane gear (20 gp, barracks, cumbersome)
1 green stone (60 gp)
1 set of leather armor (Swede, cumbersome)
1 crossbow (Swede)
1 sword, long (Swede)
1 set vambraces (Swede; "sparked" when Duran hit them earlier)
Miscellaneous mundane gear (30 gp, Mackey's quarters, cumbersome)
15 sets of leather armor (bandits, bodyguards, Mackey -- this is the total number for all bandits, including those killed earlier, cumbersome)
1 scroll in a cylindrical leather case
3 red gems (300 gp total [100 each], grey leader)
1 sword (lighter than normal, grey leader)

Given the large amount of loot, I've marked certain items here as "cumbersome." I'm ruling you can simply carry out all the other items with no penalty.

Anyone carrying two "cumbersome" items will have his speed dropped one notch (120' becomes 90' etc.), and dropped again one notch for each "cumbersome" item after the first two.

Since we've just been "eyeballing" encumbrance, this seemed like a simple way to deal with such a large quantity of items.

In all you have 23 items listed as "cumbersome" (the complete list of everything you've picked up appears on the "Monsters and Treasure" page).

By my count, the party (9 members, including the hirelings and yourselves) could carry out 18 of the "cumbersome" items with no penalty to movement.

Carrying all the "cumbersome" items out will bring the movement of 5 party members down one notch.

Let me know if you want to carry it all out, or if you want to leave some of the cumbersome items behind.