-Posted with Wayfinder
You all spot the bandits clumsily trying to hide behind the trees and if you beat their initiative of 14 (and make the Perception check) you can take your action immediately. The green spaces are to represent trees and the bandits have cover. They are human as far as you can tell so Ingrit's favored enemy bonus applies.
initiative
Erland begins to cast sleep, whispering into a small pinch of sand before opening his hand and blowing it towards the bandits.
The two bandits furthest west need to make Will saving throws, DC 14, or fall asleep for 1 minute.
"Surrender or die, brigands!" Dom draws the masterwork longsword and engages the bandit furthest south.
;
;
Erland puts two of the bandits to sleep while Domitian cuts down the third one.
End of combat. You get 801 xp each.
The bandits are armed with shortbows and shortswords and wearing padded armor and a buckler. They each carry 8 gp and 5 silver.
"Talk about efficiency," says Dom as the bandits are put down. He pulls out some rope to tie them up, assuming that's possible. "We should question them and get some answers."
"I wish I could do that more often, but not today. I can cure wounds, but after that my magic is expended for today. At least we did not have to slay all these men today."
Once disarmed and bound, Erland uses his hex to cure the wounded man.
HP healed
With a chuckle, Ingrit collects the bandits' arrows. " If we wake them to question them we run the risk of one of them shouting out and making them aware of our presence."
The bandit that Dom cut down is beyond help but you can tie the other two up if you will.
Good job there ! Now we finally have some people to interrogate
With a chuckle, Ingrit collects the bandits' arrows. " If we wake them to question them we run the risk of one of them shouting out and making them aware of our presence."
"Bandits? Let them come!" boasts Domitian. "We'll cut them down just as easily." He works with the others to disarm the prisoners and bind them.
Once the prisoners are disarmed and securely bound, he kicks one of them awake, while toying casually with his longsword. "Rise and shine, bandit. You really have something to learn about readying an ambush. Obvious tracks in the snow, fumbling about the trees, you're lucky you weren't standing where he was." He points his sword at the bandit who now lay eviscerated with one clean stroke.
"So the game is simple. My friends and I will ask you questions, and you will answer them. If you do, we may be convinced to spare your lives. Refuse, and your life is forfeit. Okay? So, tell us, what manner of demon or witch do you work for that has summoned this winter? Where is he? And where is Lady Argenta?"
The bandits have 20 arrows each but no cold weather outfits. So far they are being tight-lipped, but you could try a Diplomacy or Intimidate check.
"You made an attempt on our lives, and I still tried to save your fallen friend here." Erland gestures to the slain bandit and the copious amounts of newly scarlet snow.
"Now, this can go easily for you, where you lose some coin and some equipment, or it can go very badly." Erland draws his dagger out as Fiske jumps down from his shoulders.
"The good thing about cold is that flesh becomes tougher, more dense, and less likely to spurt and gush when cut. At least, when a sharp, precise instrument is used. Nothing could have prevented that mess, sadly." He again points at the dead man, this time with the sharp knife in his hand.
"As my comrade said, where is Lady Argenta? Let's begin there.
intimidate
The bandit that Erland is threatening is keeping a brave face, but his comrade bursts out: "Sod it, I'm not going to die for those blasted witches and whatnot. Sending us out in this blistering unnatural cold without so much as a proper coat, I say to hell with them all. The lady you're after, she's in the fort with the rest of our crowd, all nice and cozy while we're out here freezing our butts off. I've had enough, I'll say. Kill me if you will, at least it'll be quick and no more of this blasted cold."
"Now, why would I kill you for providing the information I asked for? That hardly seems honorable or fair, does it not?"
Erland looks around for signs of horses, packs, or other supplies.
"Why don't you tell me where this cozy and warm fort is? And how many others are in this crowd? These are all very important things we would like to know, and just may be enough to see you leave with this fancy white deer pelt in addition to your own skin."
Erland indicates the recently skinned deer hide, rolled up on a pack.
Damiano looks from Erland to Domitian and then to Domitian trying to understand the tactics used there.
Unsure of what is going on , he prefers to keep silent rather than undermine the scheme going on
"We're twelve in all, but half of us are getting sick from this damned cold. I knew that it was a bad idea to ally with those blue-skinned monstrosities. The fort is just a mile that way. We finally killed those pesky rangers and took over their lodge."
"Blue skinned monstrosities? Small little creatures with tiny annoying arrows and illusion magics? How many of those things kicking around? And were there worse monstrous creatures with your crew?"
"Yeah, those and some bigger ones too. There's the blue one watching the bridge and some sort of troll. I don't know what kinds there are, but they came with the snow and cold. I for one wouldn't mind to see them gone back to whatever freezing hellhole they came from."
"This is all very valuable information you're sharing, and I really do appreciate your candor and truthfulness. Now, about the bridge, is there a way to approach this fort without coming into sight of it? Or could we sneak up on the blue fellow watching it?"
At the word "troll", Erland's eyes widen a bit, but he presses on with his questions.
"Troll, you say? How big of a creature is that? Man sized? Big as a horse or cow? Bigger?"
The bandit gives a hollow laugh. "Bigger than any man I ever saw, I'd say. Not that I'd ever go near and take a look." Then he grows serious. "Hey, I don't care whatever you do to those monsters, but those are my mates in there that you are going after. Don't they deserve a fair fight at least?"
"Well, if your mates are as reasonable and sensible as you seem to be, I hardly expect there needs to be a fight at all. Perhaps there is a passcode or similar recognition sign you lot use, something we could say to indicate they should leave the area and not fight us? That would work for everyone's best interest to be honest."
"Nah, Rohkar - that's our boss - would never allow it. It's easier for me; you are here and he isn't. If you take him out, you might be able to "reason" with the others. More likely, they'll scatter."
Dom decides to join the conversation again with some questions of his own. "You said something about a rangers' lodge that you took over. Who were these rangers? Why did you attack Lady Argenta? Is there an entrance to the fort other than the bridge?"
"Man, you ask a lot of questions. The rangers used to call themselves the High Sentinels. They used to be some sort of border patrol in case the Quadirans were up to something nasty in the forest, but there hasn't really been any Quadirans about in a long time, so they've taken to hunting bandits, which would be us. Bunch of losers, mostly, but annoying as hell. We've skirmished with them for as long as we've been around but now we finally managed to take them out. But I guess you're not local, so you wouldn't have heard of them anyway.
"I don't know what the boss wants the lady for. We haven't made any ransom demand so I guess he's keeping her for something big, something I understand nothing of. I try to keep out of politics. Makes for a longer life.
"The bridge is on the other side of the fort, so you don't need to worry about that. The blue witch probably won't bother you either unless you try to cross it."
Dom considers whether he knows anything about the High Sentinels - it seemed like the kind of topic that would come up when studying the neverending conflict between Taldor and Qadira.
Dom looks to the others to see if they had any more questions. Otherwise, they would need to figure out what to do with these bandits.
kn (history)
knowledge local
knowledge history
How did you join with the forces of the blue monsters ?
"It's like I say, they just appeared one day, together with all this snow and cold. We fought them at first but they were too powerful for us, so we struck a deal. They helped us take out the rangers and we ambushed the caravan. I have no idea why they wanted that lady, and Rohkar isn't one to tell us about his plans. Those who have questioned him in the past tend not to be around very long - that is, unless he turns them into zombies. Me, I'd rather be killed outright than walk around trapped in my own corpse."
zombies ?
"So we know who's responsible for the ones back at the caravan." Ingrit mutters.
"Yeah, he did that. And he's let us understand that it's going to happen to us too if we cross him."
"Well, I am a man of my word, so I offer you this deer pelt. It might be a bit recently peeled, but it should offer at least some protection from the cold."
Erland sheathes his knife and unties the white deer hide, stepping away from the captives.
"I would suggest heading to Heldren and turning yourselves in. A little jail time isn't the end of the world and you can work off your crimes. If you decide to return to banditry, the next time we meet you will die." Ingrit says in a straighforward tone.
The grim faced druid, with his face half hidden by the white beard, looks with his steely eyes at the two men, "Ya eard the lady, scarper back to Heldren an live, or die ere. Di'na worry me boyos." His voice ends with a slight chuckle. "An remember, we'll know which way ya go, so nah tricky stuff."
He turns his back on the men and walks away to his other companions, his voice hushed so the two men don't hear. Before he speaks, he looks back to make sure the bandits are making their way towards Heldren. "Let's study tha fort first, watch it an see what they do. If we rest o'night, wees could sneak thar under cover o darkness, or at least in the morning mists. Corse, we'll need be careful, can't let 'em see us camped out ere wi' lights and smoke and fires an stuff. Mus' cover any fires, mus dissipate any smoke, an nah lights. Dass wha I tink, wees need da."
The bandits grab the pelt and make a beeline out of the snow (which would be the way you came). Will you proceed towards the lodge or wait for darkness to fall?
"The fort sounds heavily defended. I say we scout it out, then rest while it's day. We attack with our strength and magic recovered under cover of darkness when many of them are likely to be asleep."
"I think that's a workable plan. We might be able to ambush any stragglers or outgoing patrols, thin their numbers down a bit."
"Agreed"
Who would be doing the scouting then?
Ingrit begins to move around the perimeter, however the days trials prove to have worn on her far more that she expected.
We should all get as close as we can while staying safely out of sight, before Ingrit breaks off to her scouting mission.
"Oi find us em nice comfy place, safe for them prying eyes in der fort." says Eianar as be scours the landscape before they reach sight of the fort. "Yeah, best let Ingrit do her stuff, she's traveled dese ways afore, I wouldna doubt. If nah these, den ways like dese."
There are no guards visible outside, so Ingrit is able to get right up to the fort without being noticed.
After climbing at least a hundred feet into the hills, the snowy trail finally levels off. In a clearing among the trees, a large wooden lodge overlooks a ravine spanned by a long rope bridge. Smoke rises from the lodge’s two snow-covered chimneys, and large woodpile is stacked against the outer wall. A small outbuilding stands east of the lodge, and a stone well nearly blanketed by snow is barely recognizable to the north. Several tracks lead southwest toward a detached stable.
"I'm guessing they're going to come out and get firewood sometime tonight. That's a good time to bop one on the head and take 'em down nice and quiet like. And if they care about their horses, they'll probably come out to check on them if they get all riled up such. Could be a good chance to isolate another one or two and take 'em down."
"That could definitely work, though taking them down quietly would be a bit more challenging if the plan is for them to also remain alive." Ingrit comments.
"To be fair, so long as we don't slay them outright like our swordsman did before, I can keep them alive if they go down. It's one of the best things about this hex."
"S'pose blocking them chimneys might get em out quicker." the druid surmises. "But saving te orses, int stable afore they come out, could prove useful." Eianar says as he tries to weigh up the options. "Corse, I dinna want to meet the creature from t' bridge. Ee sound nasty piece o work." He shakes his head, "But maybe we should ga back t' original plan, we make camp a bit away and get em in the early morn. Afore theys are awake. Wees be more prepared then an all."