Devlin easily hits the helpless bandit, splashing the acid in the bandits face. Both bandits start to scream, one in pain from the acid, the other in shock and terror.
After the acid disappears the bandit looks to Devlin, speaking: "That's the way to Rovagug! Embrace it!"
Branomonrik looks sharply at Devlin "Enough of that! We are not mindless and cruel outlaws! That man will be hung for his crimes. He has earned the rope. But you'll not be maiming and attacking an unarmed man by Adabar!."
He looks back to the boy "I'll except your oath boy. But mark my words you brake your oath and you'll not hang. A man who brakes his oath to the gods does not derive such a clean death. You understand me boy?"
He slings his crossbow across his back placing his hand on the boys forehead "Oh mighty Adabar, witness this boys oath, for he has sinned against your work Lord! He has been a parasite upon civilization and he has excepted his sins. Witness his oath and watch over his penance, watch his toil and except his sweat and blood as proof of his sins ol mighty Adabar. And call down your wrath upon him if he should stray!" with that he rises and looks at the boy "You owe Adabar your sweat boy, or your blood mind your oath he will get one or the other. Devlin, make yourself useful and Hang that one.' he says pointing to the screaming man
Devlin responds, "With pleasure." He then turns to Agerron and asks, "Would you be so kind as to assist me with expediting his departure from this realm?"
He looks back to the boy "I'll except your oath boy. But mark my words you brake your oath and you'll not hang. A man who brakes his oath to the gods does not derive such a clean death. You understand me boy?"
The boy, still sobbing a bit, nods to the dwarfs words.
He slings his crossbow across his back placing his hand on the boys forehead "Oh mighty Adabar, witness this boys oath, for he has sinned against your work Lord! He has been a parasite upon civilization and he has excepted his sins. Witness his oath and watch over his penance, watch his toil and except his sweat and blood as proof of his sins ol mighty Adabar. And call down your wrath upon him if he should stray!" with that he rises and looks at the boy "You owe Adabar your sweat boy, or your blood mind your oath he will get one or the other."
With a croak in his voice the boy speaks: "I swear, I'll do as you say, I'll work off my sins. In the name of Abadar."
Devlin responds, "With pleasure." He then turns to Agerron and asks, "Would you be so kind as to assist me with expediting his departure from this realm?"
"I'd be happy to. But why waste the rope? Bend him over and extend his neck." He walks up, holding his sword.
"Besides, this way his lord'll have a harder time bringing him back, if he so chooses."
"I'm okay with that, unless Abadar would like to object."
"Hanging is more civilized and less messy, He has earned his execution, as long as it is carried out in a civil manner, I have no objections"
Big Ern rolls his eyes. "Just DO something already. I'm getting bored." He lies down and prepares to take a nap.
Devlin holds his tongue, so as not to cause anymore friction within the group, then says, "If you're so bored, then help by stringing this scum up."
Agerron grabs the man by the back of the neck, getting a bunch of his hair as well. He raises him to his feet, waiting for someone to prepare the noose. Once he does, he secures it around the man's neck and carries out the sentence. "There. Done. Now collect your new laborer, let's gather up whatever's of value here, and head back to Olaf's."
The bandit doesn't protest the process, let's out just a wince of pain when grabbed by the neck and hauled upwords.
Just before the rope is pulled up, he speaks again: "You are on your right way to Rovagug."
Some minutes later, while most of the group gathers the items they deem valueable, Queslin arrives with the bandit he caught from running away.
"If all of you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on this fellow, I'll go gather up the horses so we can take this stuff back with us."
Majet winces a little at the hanging but otherwise remains quite.
Devlin looks at the assorted loot and suggests, "I think with should take all of it except the firewood. Anyone know how to make a travois?""
Queslin finds the horses pretty easy, though others would have had a hard time doing it. While retrieving the horses, the elf even finds one more, hidden a short distance away from the camp and the river in a small paddock, just big enough to hold all horses.
Pretty quick everything worth taking is gathered up and packed onto the backs of the horses.
That leaves you with two hurt bandits, one of whome slashed from the claws of Delfey, the other incinerated by acid, both bound and obedient.
Big Ern snorts and horks up a big wad of mucus onto the chilly ground. "So what's the plan -- we drop this stuff back at the trading post and then we go kick the Stag King's ass? Sounds good to me."
While packing the loot, Devlin uncorks one of the bottles of greenish liquid, and smells the cork.
The cork gives of a strong smell of alcohol, with just a hint of pine.
Seems like those bottles contain a really hard liqueur.
"Well if were not going to hang these two maybe we should put them to work at Olegs? You know pay there dues and all that?"
Meanwhile back at the trading post.....
Michael stands and rubs the small of his back as he looks at Kay, "Olegs a real task master eh?" he pauses and looks back over the wall, "I wonder if them others are all right? They were queer folk, but they seem to know how to handle them selves in a fight."
Queslin gives the bandit he chased down the offer of five years hard labor that the other prisoners had. He does not elaborate on what will happen to him if he refuses the offer.
Big Ern shrugs and nods. "Sure, let Oleg decide what to do with 'em. I couldn't care less one way or the other. Enough jawing -- let's dump this junk off at the trading post and get back to kickin' ass."
Coming back to the trading post, Oleg greets Michael and Matius, but keeps looking out for the rest of the group, when only Michael and Matius made their way back.
After the situation is explained, Oleg speaks:
"Well, if your friends out there find the campsite of that Kressle-woman and rot those bandits out, we probably got a lot less to worry about.
And there are the promised troops that should arive any day now. Damn the officialdom... But I'm glad that you helped out." he says with a smile that doesn't really reach his eyes.
Svetlana prepares a nice meal for the evening and Kay is eager to help her.
The other bandit isn't as eager to accept the deal, but after a moment of thinking he agrees, nodding.
Some minutes later the group is on horseback (safe for the two bandits who are just handcuffed for ease of travel), riding back north towards Oleg's.
Our two convicts can begin their toil by digging a mass grave before we go.
After smelling the cork, Devlin figures the bottles are just alcohol, recorks the bottle and replaces it in the crate. "Well, get to digging you two!"
Agerron interjects a bit. "Why are we burying them? They won't last long with all the animals out here, anyway. I say let 'em rot." He spies Devlin sniffing a cork out of the corner of his eye. "What do you have there, Devlin? Anything good?"
He eyes the one bandit that hesitated at the offer, and tries to determine how sincere the man is.
sense motive
"Just a simple, yet strong brew with a faint smell of pine. I'm guessing we got to them before they could get to this." Devlin partially pulls one of the bottle from the crate.
"I'm not much of a drinker, prefer to keep my wits about me, but you're welcome to it once we're somewhere safe."
"We bury them because we are civilised. We pray over their remains because we are pious. Without these things, we are little better than them."
"I to suggest we wait until we return to the Trading Post before enjoying the spirits. In fact, I would offer that we give some of this to Svetlana and Oleg as gifts. Even though it is not her ring, I think the music box would please Svetlana and if the spirits are of quality, I bet Oleg would appreciate a bottle to keep for a special occasion."
Having their cuffs removed, the two bandits start digging into the soil, but once they get about a foot deep in, the hole starts filling with water.
Agerron can't really tell, if the bandit is up to something or not. He probably just thought out the situation before making a decission.
During the digging, while Devlin inspected the bottles and reported about their content, the bandit Queslin brought back speaks up: "We wouldn't have drank that stuff. It's for the Stag Lord. Kressle should bring it to him with our dues. That crazy drunk."
First to find a better place that's close to here for Runner and Whiner to dig the graves.
Knowledge: Geography
"What more can you tell us of this Stag Lord? Where is his base of operations. How many men does he have."
Dragging some dead bandits to the newfound location of the grave, 'Runner' answers: "What's more to tell... His fort is 'bout 40 miles south. If you follow the Thorn River downstream, you can't miss it.
How many men he got is hard to tell... Last time I was there it were 'bout a dozen man. Could be more now though.
And there are enough men out in the country he can call for.
It's hard keeping track of who's working for the boss, so we use a master phrase as a sort of password to get in the fort. Unless it's been changed recently, the current phrase is: 'By the bloody Bones of St. Gilmorg, who wants to know?'."
"Well, it looks like we're finally getting somewhere!" Devlin says with a smile and laugh. "What else can you tell us about the Stag Lord? Habits, fighting style, etc? Also, the layout of his camp would go a long way to earning our trust." Devlin says this last part with a grin and a wink at the younger of the two prisoners.
Branomonrik will give the man Queslin brought back the same speech and same "blessing" of Adabar. Along with the same promise to hunt him down and make his death not as pleasant for oath breaking as the other.
He also sides with the elf on burying the dead.
"Well, he's a crazy drunk and a sadist, he is..." 'Runner' starts answering, while 'Whiner' just keeps digging, working the ground, dripping sweat in the cold day.
Whiner seems eager to really want to please his capturers with his work, shovling fast, breathing hard from exhaustion.
Runner isn't idle either, but he's not breaking himself with his tempo. He's sweating as well and a little out of breath from digging and answering the questions.
"From what I've heard, he's a deadeye with his bow, if he's not too drunk. And if he is, he's strong like a bear.
The fort... well, it's bout squareish with 100ft. to it's sides, lined with a palisade much like Oleg's. Got no catapults though.
It sits atop a small hill. North, east and west of the fort are no trees or bushes to hide, just some larger boulders and they are sparse.
South is the Tusk water, a rather large lake.
The fort has three watchtowers, in the northeast and -west and the southeast corner. They aren't direktly on the palisade but inside the fort and raised. Walkways lead up to them.
Once inside the gate, you are in the yard, from where you can get to the central area. It's under a stone structure that's partly broken. Close by is also the armory, from where you can go up to the northwest tower.
Towards the south side of the fort, when going through the central area, is the storage room, and behind that is the Stag Lords room. The storage room serves double duty as the boss' bodyguards room too.." Runner explains while digging.
Agerron steps up beside 'Whiner' and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Easy there, man. I get that you want to earn our trust, but I'm not carrying you back slung over my shoulder. Pace yourself a bit."
Other than that, he listens intently to the other bandit's details of the Stag King's base of operations. "Interesting. I don't see a good approach, which makes the Stag King, or at least whoever built the fort, a smart man. When we get back to Oleg's, can you draw us a map on parchment?"
Devlin nod's in agreement with Agerron, "Yes boy, no sense in killing yourself digging when you've just had your life handed back to you." Devlin asks both the prisoners, "Aside from the terrain, do you know of any other defenses at the Stag Lord's base? What about other allies?"
Seeing that no one is moving very fast, Big Ern goes rummaging through the bandits' provisions for something to eat. He's practically starving to death.
Whiner takes a bit of speed out of his digging after Devlin and Agerron insist on that. Still, he doesn't say a word, keeps his eyes to his task, even jerks as Agerron puts the hand on his shoulder.
Runner nods, saying: "I can try. But I've only been there 3 times, so it might not be too true to the real fort.
The stag lord sure didn't build the fort, whatever it was before he took it as his base, I don't know.
Other defenses? No, don't think there are more. Don't know... there's been no one attacking the Stag Lord before... Who should?
And more allies? He's got plenty of bandits in the fort, and more in the surroundings he can call on.
Been two weeks since I been there, so that's that."
Late afternoon Whiner (whose name is Dimitri) and Runner (Taras) finish the grave digging and closing.
The group returns to the clearing, to spend the night there and the next day they go on their way back to Olegs.
Around noon of the fifth day of Pharast (Fireday), the group shows up back at Oleg's trading post. The ride back was uneventful and Runner and Whiner were helpful enough.
Back at Olegs, Svetlana greets them heartly, and even Oleg is around to shake hands. They aren't too trusty towards the two former bandits though.
Michael, Hobson and Kay are around too, helping Svetlana tend her garden.
One man is missing though: Matius has decided that the wildernes is not the place for him. "To rough, to cold..." were his words, he clearly misses civilisation. Without much of a goodbye he took his horse yesterday and rode out, north, back towards Restov.
Getting a parchment and pencil, Runner works on the map of the Stag Lords Fort and finishes with something like this: Map
Giving another expanation of what he drew you make out:
1 - Yard
2 - Watchtowers (about 20ft. from the ground)
3 - Walkways (about 20ft. from the ground)
4 - Half broken roof (about 20ft. from the ground)
5 - Common room (groundlevel)
6 - Armory (groundlevel)
7 - "Kitchen" (groundlevel, access from 6)
8 - unused room (groundlevel, access from 5)
9 - Stag Lords room (groundlevel, access from 1 and 10)
10- Storage room (groundlevel, access from 1, 5 and 9)
Branomonrik makes his way to Oleg and presents Dimitri and v to him. "These two have an oath to fill and penance for the sins they have committed. Five years they have sworn and five years they will give back." He says with a stern glance at the men "Since your the only honest man I have yet meet in this lawless land I would ask ye to put these sinners to work. To show them what a good honest days sweat feels like. Men must learn to be a man from honest men, need to learn how to put in an honest day. Otherwise they are nothing but parasites fit only for the rope. "
He looks at Oleg, "What say ye?"
Michael moves from the garden to greet the others, taking the horses from them to tend and stable. He presses them for information on what they saw and discovered.
The morning after the fight with the bandits, Devlin summons Delfey and admonishes him for getting himself killed.
Devlin continues after Branomonrik's little speech, but before the dwarf asks Oleg "What say ye?", "They have so far proven to be will to work off their crimes, especially Dimitri. Taras has given us valuable information, which we will soon find out if it's actually worth his weight."
"With this setup and a dozen guys we would be hard pressed to come out victorious." Queslin goes over the crude map. "We'd need some sort of distraction or ruse to get inside."
"How about some firebombs? That's always good for a laugh!" Big Ern smirks.
Devlin ponders what the group could do.
He asks Ern, "Just how powerful can you make bombs? Strong enough to blast out one of the walls so we could get in somewhere other than the front gate?"
"Seems to me the SE corner is the weak point. No entryway, but if we could bring a rope ladder or something like that, we could perhaps get a few of our stealthy folks inside. They could cause the kind of havoc inside the fort that might let the rest of us attack up front. They might even be able to get the gates open."
Devlin ponders what the group could do.
He asks Ern, "Just how powerful can you make bombs? Strong enough to blast out one of the walls so we could get in somewhere other than the front gate?"
Big Ern looks skeptical. "If we had a thousand gold pieces and a lotta time, we could cook up some barrels of alchemist's fire, I reckon. But torches are free and lamp oil is cheap, you know."
Majet takes this moment to speak up
"Maybe we should scout out some of the surrounding land first? Would be unfortunate if we were attacking the fort and something else comes by and attacks us."
"It would be wise to get our own information and not rely totally on the word of a criminal trying to stay alive while looking for a way to escape."
Branomonrik makes his way to Oleg and presents Dimitri and Taras to him. "These two have an oath to fill and penance for the sins they have committed. Five years they have sworn and five years they will give back." He says with a stern glance at the men "Since your the only honest man I have yet meet in this lawless land I would ask ye to put these sinners to work. To show them what a good honest days sweat feels like. Men must learn to be a man from honest men, need to learn how to put in an honest day. Otherwise they are nothing but parasites fit only for the rope. "
"They have so far proven to be will to work off their crimes, especially Dimitri. Taras has given us valuable information, which we will soon find out if it's actually worth his weight."
He looks at Oleg, "What say ye?"
Oleg thinks about what the dwarf and Devlin said, then comments: "The boy seems young enough to learn from his mistakes, but the other one's been here to go 'tax collecting' on us before.
I can't and will not trust both of them. And I can't and won't support them here. I don't like the idea of having them around here.Reckon the law is to behead or hang them? Then I suggest you do that, or I will."
Svetlana has nothing to say to this all, she simply stares at Taras in disgust, standing a bit behind Oleg.