The Rose of Winds approaches the bandits' camp, unnoticed. Vittorio suggests to strike their archers by surprise and fighting ensues.
During the fight, Caliban casts Enlarge on Winter, and it starts punching bandits around. Vittorio asks if he may jump on its back and Winter accepts. Now there's a huge monk punching people around with a tiny fighter on its shoulder throwing arrows.
These are no ordinary bandits. Their tacticts are smarter and they're better equipped than most enemies the party has faced so far. They're so strong, in fact, that they trap Edna in a net, Counterspell Caliban (but he Counterspells their caster right back!), and Winter and Polvere end up surrounded and unconscious. An extremely worried Serpico rushes to Polvere and heals him immediately with a gentle Lay on Hands, while Winter is saved by Edna's Healing Word. In the meantime, Vittorio tries to keep the enemy's attention on himself and Celio has no pity for their caster. Overall, it's a tough fight.
Combat is over and the adventurers can catch their breath. They take a look around the camp and they find quite a nice loot - mostly stolen goods, like a few fancy clothes and simple jewelry, and of course some coin. Following Montini's orders, the party keeps the loot for themselves as payment. They also find Merlino's lute and boots! The boots are especially cute, with the letter "M" on both soles.
The party takes a short rest and gives Merlino's stuff back. Caliban asks him about Elia - he's still suspicious he might be Angelo, his ex-best friend. According to Merlino, Elia is Corrado's partner, a human man in his 40ies, blond and handsome, very quiet but also the kind of person you don't want to see angry.
During the short rest, Edna invites Vittorio to rest his head on her thighs, but Vittorio refuses, joking that he's like a cat - once he lays on her, she cannot move to, say, go to the bathroom. Caliban mockingly retorts that Vittorio doesn't deserve her and Edna acts playfully offended by Vittorio's refusal. Serpico and Polvere decide to leave and take a stroll by themselves to unwind together, so do Celio and Caliban who (mysteriously) disappear as they often do.
Merlino then asks Winter if he may have a word with it while the party takes a short rest. He tells Winter that Corrado, its former teacher and friend, is worried: Winter had disappeared, leaving his side without telling anything. Winter then opens up, telling that Corrado wanted to join the war and help the front, and Winter couldn't bear the idea of being left alone or hearing Corrado's name amongst other dead soldiers' names. So Winter took its belongings and just went away, scared and hurt. Merlino hugs Winter and offers his empathy. Feeling a sense of mutual understanding with each other, Merlino shows a wiser and calmer side of himself, and Winter promises him that it will face whatever fears it with its head held high. Merlino helps it write a letter to Corrado.
The party, helped by Merlino, buries the bandits' bodies. Merlino wonders about the Altian tradition of placing coins in the dead's mouth: would Avandra (goddess of Death) not let people in her domain when they die, if they don't have said coins? Celio jokes that he doesn't know, but that he didn't have the tribute in his mouth when he died and he came back from the dead, so it must mean something!
Then it's time for Merlino to go back to his journey. Before he leaves, he hugs Winter and tells it to remember their pinky promise. He then tells the party that his father is from Trelbia (a region in the North, close to the border and therefore, the war). He's a simple man doing a simple job and when the war broke, he urged his son to leave and follow his dreams. The Rose of Winds and Merlino say goodbye, hoping to hear his songs about today's encounter soon.
