Aubrey's Kingmaker Campaign
Game Master Aubrey the Malformed

Quinn eats in silence for a while, nodding his head at the various questions posted by his companions.

He isn't surprised by the turn of events. Ever since he came into this land, the bandits have been an ever-present danger. Looking around at the group he has come to know in the last day or so, he reckons there may be a nasty surprise for them when they return.

Nodding again, this time to himself, he returns to his stew.

Lost my post

Try again

Quinn eats in silence, his head nodding at the various questions posed by his companions, and at Svetlana's answers. A dark frown crosses his face - briefly - upon hearing of the loss of the woman's ring.

He isn't surprised at the turn of events. Ever since he came into these "river kingdoms", bandits have been an ever-present danger. He pauses to look around at his new-found friends. Mayhap there will be nasty surprise for the bandits when they return.

Nodding again, this time to himself, he returns to his stew.

"How regular have their visits been? Do they come on the same day each time? Are they on horseback?"

"I'm thinking we should mount an ambush. Let them stroll in, expecting no resistance - then we'll slam the gates shut behind them and wipe them out like rats."

"Should we at least offer 'em the chance at surrenderin'? Way i see it, they only done some stealin' and bullyin'."

"Should we at least offer 'em the chance at surrenderin'? Way i see it, they only done some stealin' and bullyin'."

'No.' Says Quinn. Pulling out his charter, he unfolds it on the table. His finger stabs down with vehemence on a line written there.

"The punishment for unrepentant banditry remains, as always, execution by sword or rope."

i'm all for getting into a balls to the wall fight here... the key word being 'unrepentant', tho Thom'll happily break some heads, too :)

i'm all for getting into a balls to the wall fight here... the key word being 'unrepentant', tho Thom'll happily break some heads, too :)

Stealing to survive=one thing, stealing a woman's only treasure, and threatening her with gang assault=banditry on the worse scale. The way I see it, repeated trips doesn't seem very repentant. Repentant when they are about to get their ass kicked isn't repentant either.

Lol. point taken... tho from the thief's pov this might just be low-hangin' fruit. Like i said, Thom doesnt disagree with you... he's just new to this whole schtick.

Sorry, not pontificating. 'prolly would've been better IC, but Quinn isn't a talky type...and his background involves bandits beggaring his family so he isn't really concerned about their well-being.

thomril wrote:

"Should we at least offer 'em the chance at surrenderin'? Way i see it, they only done some stealin' and bullyin'."

'No.' Says Quinn. Pulling out his charter, he unfolds it on the table. His finger stabs down with vehemence on a line written there.

"The punishment for unrepentant banditry remains, as always, execution by sword or rope."

"I hate to be the one to bring this up, but if I understood Lady Svetlana correctly, there are more bandits than the ones that will be showing up. We may need to capture some of the bandits alive to find out where they lair if Master Oleg & Lady Svetlana do not know where the camp is located."

"How many showed up last time?"

"...we need to...be ready to kill. Make the mind prepared. hesitation is loss....killing is a hard thing to do.
Question self later."

"They may want to surrender once we've pounded them a bit. We should encourage this, both beause we need information from them and because we are honourable men. Those that do not surrender... Well, they will face the immediate justice of the Iron Lord."

"....I....I can tell; YOU....you're ready, Heimoth.....I can tell you're blodded....ready with that sword, to do this thing.....Heimoth. who's ready? huh? who's ready? HEIMOTH'S ready, isn't he...."

Gleeful, giddy; first time he shows any modicum of emotion the whole day or whatever you've been around Aleph. Then he kinda shakes his head in dismay; returns to his droll monotone.

"...okay I'm ready...."

"Yup." Heimoth sends the warlock an odd look, but he merely nods in bland agreement. "I was born ready."

*coughs nervously. tries to stifle the cough which makes it worse; sprays out a coughing fit like no tomorrow; stops; clears his throat and looks around embarassed*

"I'll be ready" Thom mutters quietly looking at no one in particular, though it's questionable whether it's for the benefit of those present or himself.

After a second of quiet, he begins to look around to hear the answers his hosts might have to the questions that have been posed.

Just waiting to hear what Svetlana and our dour host have to say about those questions above.

Svetlana explains that the bandits first showed up in force - a dozen, including their woman leader and her seeming deputy, a cloaked man with a bow. On the second visit, the man with the bow showed up with about half a dozen cohorts, and on the third he had a similar number. They always arrive within an hour of sunrise on the first day of the month, and the next day they are due on this schedule is tomorrow.

The woman was quite talkative, alert and clearly in command of her troops. She was also probably the most frightening of the bandits, with a malicious sense of humour that involved nearly cutting off Oleg's hand at one point. Her deputy, and the rest of the bandits, seemed fairly unintelligent by comparison.

Oleg dismisses any idea of making the fort 'defensible'. "Defend against what? This fort was rotting away here for years before we moved in and started using it as the trade post. We aren't soldiers and anyway don't have any money to make it a fort again. These bandits" - he pauses to spit in the fire - "are a bunch of thugs, not an army. You will probably outnumber them when they get here tomorrow."

Marc listens to Svetlana's tale, making appropriate noises of concern and sympathy at the appropriate moments, but not interrupting her. He nods slowly as Oleg speaks.

"MAster Oleg is right. Even if we had more people, what we lack is time. Personally, I like Master Heimoth's idea. If the gates work, we should just hide out of sight until they enter as usual, then close the gates behind them." He smiles, and it is a happy, but wicked smile.

"Depending upon what we are able to learn from our first batch of 'visitors', we can then decide whether to follow them back to their camp, or wait for them to send another group to see what happened to the first."

After waiting for discussions on his proposal, Marc dabs his mouth with a kerchief, smiles and thanks Svetlana for the meal. ("After more than a week on the road, it was the very nectar of the gods madam!") And proposes that they look at the post, find the best hiding spots, and plan to be up early tomorrow.

Quinn nods his head at Marc's suggestion.

'I will be the lookout when the time comes.' he says firmly.

Hasren listens to the discussion while he finishes off his stew & mops up the remains with the last of his bread. He weighs in with the following comments:

"So it sounds like we have a plan here! We should probably take a quick tour of the place before it gets dark. It will give us a chance to figure out what preparations are possible. That said, there are a few more things we'll need to know so we can keep an eye out for things that will help us prepare our ambush."

"Lady Svetlana, Master Oleg, do all the bandits arrive on mounts? Do they have a wagon to haul away their loot? If so, it will be to our advantage to shift things around to either pen them in, or channel them to a place within the fort more to our advantage."

"Also, you mentioned a cloaked man with a bow. Is he the only one with a bow? Do you recall if any of the other bandits have ranged weapons? Setting up places to take cover near where we expect to fight them might be a good idea if that's the case."

"One last thing, are there any other men that stand out as seeming particularly dangerous? We'll want a description so we can take them down as quickly as possible. Take out the tough guys and the rest tend to lose the wind in their sails."

"I can stay out of sight well enough… I reckon I'll be hidin' when they get here."

Other than that, Thom's happy to finish his meal, letting the others do the rest of the chatting… only speaking up to give thanks to Svetlana for the warm meal. When they take the tour, he'll be intentional about finding good spots from which to ambush the bandits.

I'm ready to get this thing going. And thinking i might be a good choice to go after ranged opponents - like our cloaked friend, if he makes an appearance.

im better at seeming innocuous than i am at hiding. just to let you know

"I'm useless at stealth in regular clothes - and while wearing all this armour... I think I'll be the bait in our trap; I'll stand on Oleg's porch and tell them to surrender their weapons to me. If they do, that'll be great, and if not, they'll hopefully close in on me. That's when you move in from your positions. I can hold my own against just bout anyone in pitched battle, but I'll struggle against eight men."

"Might I suggest that we all hide, at first? We don't want to give them any warning of the ambush. And we don't want them to see us and not all enter either. I suggest that we stay hidden and let Oleg and Svetlana greet them as they always do. Once they are inside and we have closed the gates, (They gates do work, right?!?) Then you can step out and demand that they surrender while Oleg take Svetlana to safety. If they do, great! If not,... well, then we all get to indulge our baser desires and teach them a lesson." Marc suggests in a tone one might expect to hear while discussing the weather, or business.

"I'm likin' the idea of Heimoth standin' with the Oleg's. I mean, that way he's there to protect'em if things go sideways up front. No offense, intended, Master Oleg, I'm sure you're right handy in a fight on yer own, but it'd make me feel a might better if Heimoth were there if worse came to worse."

"It is a good refinement on the original plan. I'll start off inside of the house and then step out once the band of bandits are inside the walls."

"Next up, we need to decide upon and then prepare our positions. Someone will need to close those gates - preferably someone who's OK at stealth and not afraid of taking a lick in close combat. Our ranged combat specialists can camouflage themselves up among the catapults."

Hasren listens to his companions palns & makes the following suggestion:
"Let's go have a look at those gates & see how easy they are to move. I'm willing to help close the gates, but might have trouble shifting the gates if they're not moving well on their hinges. Also, while I'm not great at sneaking about, in this case, I would have the advantage of being out of sight behind a gate and should be ok."

i like hiding. i'm always hiding. i'm hiding right now

"I'll help with the gates, too. That'd put me in position to help out Hasren if he needs it."

Marc smiles.
"Excellent! That places us all around our, 'visitors', they will be surrounded and cut off. ALthough,... while I admit I like the idea of enjoying the show from the balcony,... I think I'd feel better being on the ground than in the tower. That way I'd be closer to provide assistance should things turn,... unpleasant." He smiles again.

"I should be able to hide behind one of the gates and assist in closing it, I'm stronger than I look, or behind one of the buildings." He adds as they head outside to have Svetlana and Oleg show them the trading post.

Aubrey

Quinn:

Quinn:

** spoiler omitted **

The following is a map of the trading post, for the coming encounter and to help you plan. A to Z across the top, 1 to 28 down the side.

The walls and towers are made of wooden logs. The “towers” are little more than platforms with non-functioning catapults on. There is a 5’ wide walkway on the top palisade, accessed by two ladders, which has a waist-high battlement on the outward side but is open into the bailey of the fort. The walls (with battlement) are at G/5-11, I-V/3, X/5-24, I-V/26 and G/18-24. The towers are at E-H/1-4, W-Z/1-4, E-H/25-28 and W-Z/25-28. The ladders are at H8 and Q25. The catapults are at F-G/2-3, X-Y/2-3, F-G/26-27 and X-Y/26-27 – as noted above, they don’t work, but could feasibly offer cover or a hiding place.

The gates are at G/12-17. They are old, sagging on their rusty hinges and resting on the ground. They habitually lie open and weeds have grown up around the bottom, also making it more difficult to close them. To do so is a DC 20 Athletics check for each gate (there are two) – obviously, two people can try to close each gate to close them in a single round and more can Aid as normal.

The visitors’ bunkhouse is at I-K/17-23, with the door at K20. The interior is an open space with bunks for about ten.

The stables are at J-S/5-9, with the door at O-P/9. The stall inside are at J-K/5-6, L-M/5-6, N-O/5-6, P-Q/5-6 and R-S/5-6. Otherwise, it has the odd bale of hay, tack on the walls, and (currently) no horses.

The storage pen is a fenced-off area with a roof on poles at each corner. The fence is 6’ tall and the gate is locked with a stout padlock (Oleg has the key). Inside are bales of trade-goods (furs, wool, foodstuffs and so on). The storage pen is at Q-S/11-14.

The house is at Q-V/16-23. The double doors at the front are at Q/19-20. The dining room is at Q-S/16-18, Oleg and Svetlana’s bedroom at T-V/16-18, an office is at Q-R/21-23, S-T/21-23 is the stockroom and U-V/21-23 is a storeroom. A corridor runs Q-V/19-20.

There are three midden pits at U-V/6-7, U-V/9-10 and U-V/12-13. They are nasty and smelly, and count as difficult terrain. And you could catch something if you wallowed in them.

And, finally, there is a cart with a broken wheel at M/13-14.

Hmmm,... The gates are not in great shape, (DC 20 is not easy at 1st lvl in ANY edition!) but perhaps if we closed them once, then opened them back up, it would make it easier for the next time? Clear the weeds a little maybe? Or would it be easier to fix the broken wagon wheel and use the wagon to block the gate?!?
Also, do 4E druids have Entangle? That could be a very useful way to introduce ourselves! :)

Off to try and draw a map,...

They may have Entangle, but I do not. The wagon may be the way to go, and I can restrict movement to some extent.

Heh, sound good Quinn! You pin 'em in place, and I'll blast 'em!
:)

Hmmm,... The gates are not in great shape, (DC 20 is not easy at 1st lvl in ANY edition!) but perhaps if we closed them once, then opened them back up, it would make it easier for the next time? Clear the weeds a little maybe? Or would it be easier to fix the broken wagon wheel and use the wagon to block the gate?!?

DC 20 isn't that hard - it's the DC to close a gate in a single round. It's an Athletics check and a 1st level character with a decent STR and the skill trained should have a decent modifier. Also, Aid Another is pertinent here, and there are measures you can take to make the DC easier too which you allude to.

Heheh, looks like Marc gonna get his hands dirty! Awww,... ;P
Anyone else wanna help clear some weeds? ;)

So, It looks like half of us should hide behind/near the gates to close/block them, and the rest around to surround and prevent escape?

Which way do the gates open? Looking at the map as described, it would appear they open outwards. This could be something of a problem for our planned ambush. First, it might make them less useful as cover as we'd have to be outside to hide behind them. Secondly, I think any prep work to make the gates easier to close would be more visible & thus more likely to warn of an ambush. Do we want to take that chance? And lastly, does it make a difference in how quickly we can close the gate if we're pushing vs pulling?

Apologies if I'm being too much of a worry-wart. I'm just trying to think of ways to make the ambush go as well as we can.

Which way do the gates open?

Wag, look at the pics linked in the discussion thread. That will clear up most of your questions I think. (No worries, I needed to see the map too!) ;)

A day's worth of carpenty-work, weed-picking and hinge-oiling should reduce the Athletics DC to a tolerable level. However, relying on making two DC 20 rolls is just crazy. I like the wagon as a backup plan.

"Looks like we have some work to do." Heimoth gets out of his armour, grabs some tools and starts working on the gate hinges.

The gates open inwards.

Oiling the hinges reduces the DC by 2. Clearing the weeds and trimming the base of the gates reduces it by another 2, to a total of 16. However, given the size of the gates and the time of day, that is pretty much it in terms of what you can physically do to prepare, unless you have ideas that might be quick to execute.

Hasren will help clear obstructions in the gateway & then do what he can to hide any scuff marks the gate leaves when moved.

As the group begins oiling hinges, moving the gates, and picking weeds, Thomdril realizes his only expertise to lend here is.... to pick weeds.

"How did I go from pickin' weeds for the priesthood to pickin' weeds for the crown? That ain't right."

He does spend the rest of the evening, however, on hands and knees making sure the gates will move as easily as possible.

"Actually, we are picking weeds to enhance our bandit-smashing effectiveness. As this will please Gorum immensely, we are still picking weeds for the priesthood in a way."

Finally drew out the full map. This courtyard is a tight fit! I guess that's good for our spellcasters, though, as it forces the bandits to bunch up.

Heimoth will start off around O24. One gate team (Thom, assisted by Quinn?) starts behind the gate in G18 and H18 (I assume this gate is half open, as it can't swing past the bunkhouse), while the other (Marc, assisted by Hasren) start off in H9 and 10. Where does Aleph want to position himself? The towers have somewhat limited line of fire into the courtyard, so the stable roof may be a better option.

roof sounds good. J9. I'm gonna bail some hay at i9 on the ground if I need to jump down there.

Can't you just teleport around? Or is that a different pact warlock?

I'll take H9 i suppose. ;) IF we run into some REALLY tough weeds, Marc will use his acid to simply remove them. Then he will help to make sure that there is dirt over the area to hide any scorch marks or gate-scuffs.

MArc begins helping, happily supervising the tasks that need doing.
Once he realizes that he is getting unfriendly glares, he smiles sheepishly and begins removing his bright red jacket.

"Ah well, Father said that I needed to get my hands dirty. I just didn't think that he meant it quite so literally!" MArc mumbles as he gets face-to-flower with a particularly large, tough-looking specimen. A moment later it is shriveling under a blob of acid.

"What?! It threatened me. It had pointy leaves!"