As the company of adventurers left the inn they noticed an older gentleman. He was a bit stooped and spoke with the shaky, yet certain tone, that only the very old and slightly feeble can manage. He very simply told the adventurers that Harbin, who they quickly noticed was no longer with them, had left to scout the road ahead and hired him to drive the wagon. He stated that a simple, old man would look harmless and might tempt nearby bandits (and quite possibly cute older women) to attack.
After several minutes of arguing and attempting to drive off the irritatingly determined old man one of the adventurers noticed that the old man looked, though only very slightly, like Harbin. This realization quickly escalated into a shouting match, mostly by the scholarly wizard, announcing to the entire village that the old man was actually Harbin in a clever disguise to fool the bandits.
The arguing finally trailed off and the small company of adventurers loaded crates into the wagon and went to great lengths to disguise the wagon to look like nothing more than a simple wagon eager to be attacked by bandits. Then they were off, moving toward a good place to be ambushed.
After several uneventful hours, upon nearing the location they were sure the bandits were waiting, the Scholarly elf decided to help the bandits decide to attack the wagon by loudly describing the 'elderly man' and his 'blind elven daughter'. Of course, this did not sit well with the decidedly well disguised Harbin, or the bandits who did not immediately attack the wagon.
As the wagon continued to roll forward Harbin noticed broken-down wagons beginning to line the road here and there along their route. The 'blind elf' decided that she needed to retrieve an arrow from one of the broken wagons that was placed close to the road, by leaning out and grasping the arrow, then pulling it free. This, of course was more than Harbin could let go without adding a bit of flare, so leading the horse a bit to the side, towards a strategically placed rock in the road, caused the wagon to abruptly and jarringly bounce, leading to his 'poor blind daughter' to fall from the wagon, only saving herself at the last minute by clawing at the tarp laying over the carefully stacked crates, this caused the tarp and several of the crates to be pulled from the side of the wagon and into the road.
The brave band of adventurers decided that since it was starting to get dark and they had already unpacked most of the wagon, that this would be a good place to make camp for the night. They quickly set up for the night and placed the empty crates around their camp to help defend their position, should the bandits attack.
They drew lots for standing watch, the scholarly elf maid was the first to stand her watch, which was uneventful. Secondly, Harbin stood watch over his resting companions. At the end of his watch, he decided that the scholarly elf maid needed to learn a lesson. She was definitely getting on his nerves and thought that a little honey poured next to her head might invite some unwanted ants and thereby teach her to be a bit more quiet and perhaps more careful.
During Kitiana's watch she heard the bushes and undergrowth begin to crunch. She decided that someone or something was sneaking into their camp, so she quickly went around and woke up her new friends... all except Harbin, who had decided to sleep in his tent, in the wagon. The last person that Kitiana woke up, did so with a squeal and began trying to wipe the ants off of herself. She was not happy, and couldn't make out that they were being attacked, let alone what was attacking... other than the uninvited ants that were crawling down her blouse.
Moments later, drawn by the honey, three fire beetles rushed into the camp. The first to do so, also spewed forth a blaze of fire which not only scorched the defenders, but hit their noble steed as well, sending him running for all he was worth. This, of course, carried Harbin, sleeping peacefully in his tent, in the bed of the wagon, down the road.
After a brief fight (and brief flight for Harbin), the beetles were dispatched and the party resumed their rest. In the morning, they headed off into the woods towards the monastery that Gwen had marked on their map. That, of course, was the only logical place for bandits to be attacking the road from.