Jungle Stalking for Freedom

Ah, the lovely village of Taloren. Right on the edge of the Serpent River, the last bit of easy transportation on the edge of the jungle. Great stopping place for the Red Lantern. And, also for the Sons of Severus, it would seem.
 
When the Red Lantern pulled in for supplies and some light trading, our group noticed that the only other riverboat parked at the dock was the exact one we were chasing. The Sons had come through here. Our group had some fast discussions about finding discrete ways to find out who was still on board, and whether the Orcish girl we were following to rescue was still on the boat or not. We decided to be totally discrete and wait at the one tavern of the town, so clearly identified that no sign is even needed for it, nor a name.
 
Inside, we settled in for some local hospitality, stew, and ale. No more Blarg for us this day in this T'skrang hangout. We found out a number of really interesting things, though, thanks to some diplomatic curiosity mixed with local quality hosts. The people we were seeking had indeed left just a couple hours before into the jungle...with a wagon carrying a very large crate. Large enough, we surmised, to hold an imprisoned Orc. Also, the jungle is haunted and cursed and anyone who goes into it never comes back out. Which...come to think of it, the slavers were certainly regulars, so they must have come and gone many times. Probably having allies in the village to be dealt with another time.
 
Our group hastily, and less discretely than I would have liked, followed the obvious path into the jungle. Between not knowing the terrain as well as the slavers did, and our traveling on foot, we failed to catch up to the first group before we ran into an ambush left for them. A trio of jungle T'Skrang attacked us after we deftly avoided falling into their pit trap. It wasn't much of a fight, between Drax the cavalryman running one down, several spells piercing the hide of another, and my own precise blade work. It did slow us down a bit more, though, and we discovered that though their equipment was disguised to look primitive, they had been attacking us with high quality manufactured equipment. Equipment we were happy to add to our collection.
 
After catching our breath and collecting our spoils, we determined that we couldn't easily catch up to the caravan in the fading daylight. We camped out in the jungle, each tucked into cover under the trees. The next morning dawned, and everyone did their morning rituals as efficiently as possible before we started back off for the wagon.
 
And catch up to the wagon, we did, but not before, well, that's best left to the next part of the story.