Kaeso swings down his hammer, but the bandit is able to crawl out of the way of the swing.
Norn moves to meet the prone bandit as well, using the pommel of his sword to hit the bandit in the head.
ATK: (non-lethal)
DMG: (non-lethal)
"This one is a sneaky one!"
The one bandit left awake takes a 5-foot crawl back and steps up.
The one bandit left awake takes a 5-foot crawl back and steps up.
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Drispeera lifts a sardonic eyebrow at her allies' inability to hit even unconscious or prone targets.
This reminds me of that horrible farce my aunt hired a troupe of kobold bards to perform. All the prat falls and forgotten lines. Yikes! I hope they improve with time. Perhaps my stunning presence disconcerts them. Yes, that's probably it. I will need to find a way to put them all at ease with me. Hmmm... at very least they are all reasonably attractive, even the short one. Now which one shall I put "at ease" first...?
Perhaps the rest of you could disarm and immobilize the sleepers while we get this guy?
Whenever it's my turn again, no more non-lethal strikes. I don't want him to wake up his comrades, or take a shot at our unarmored spellcastery folk.
Bingo will use Acrobatics (+11) to move past the shaken bandit, L10>L9>M8, to set up flanking with Kaeso and Norn.
Acrobatics
Acrobatics
"Borden, Andrezi, git off'n yer asses and tie up these sleepin' beauties 'fore they wake up!"
Edit: That might not have worked. :)
After looking up to Faron circling above, watching like the proverbial hawk, Mornaura turns around and swings her feet over the roof edge, then crawls backwards to let her legs dangle down the wall of the small guesthouse.
Seems like I have to overthink my spell selection when - and with this group of people it surely is a "when" instead of an "if" - it comes to the next combat situation. What has proven worthwhile for dealing with animals seems not so reliable when used against bandits... I have to resort to one of my backup solutions.
When her legs hang down as far as possible, she lets go of the roof and drops the short remaining distance. Turning around once again to face the remaining bandit, the witch uses one hand to draw a dagger and puts forth the other sidewards, then blows a sharp whistle.
"Capitulate now and I'll see to it that you won't be injured. Proceed and the guys will kill you."
And with that, Faron swoops down, giving an answering call and landing on her forearm.
As Mornaura climbs down from the guest house and draws her dagger, Bingo is attempting to move around the bandits but is not able to react as quickly ant takes a swipe at Bingo:
AoO (short sword)
DMG:
He manages to stop Bingo in his tracks and pierces him in the shoulder.
As Mornaura climbs down from the guest house and draws her dagger, Bingo is attempting to move around the bandits but is not able to react as quickly ant takes a swipe at Bingo:
AoO 1d20 + 2 (short sword)
DMG: 1d6+1He manages to stop Bingo in his tracks and pierces him in the shoulder.
"Arrg! Alright, ya bastard, if it's blades ya wants, it's blades ya gits."
Attack with dagger
Damage
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Drispeera shakes her head at her allies' antics. Seriously? Do I make them that nervous? I am spectacular, but this is silly. Should I use another sleep spell? No, they have to do something for themselves or they'll never get their confidence back. If I shoot into the fray, I might hit one of them, but would that be so terrible?
Finally, Drispeera simply decides to jump down to the cart (with some furs, I presume?) and then down to the ground, and heads over to the leader to begin tying him up.
DC?
Kaeso hopes to put an end to this. I've never felt so clumsy in my life!
He moves to the bandit and swings his warhammer:
Damage:
Bingo sadly fumbles with his dagger, almost dropping it at his feet.
Drispeera gracefully jumps down and hits the dusty furs, steps off the cart and with a fast prestidigitation, she is looking fabulous as always.
Kaeso, with fire in his eyes, is able to smash his hammer square in the bandit's chest. *BAM* The bandit is down in just one blow. Kaeso looks down at him almost incredulously, but quickly realized he is down for good.
Andrezi and Borden come into the courtyard with some ropes and within a few seconds you can tie up the sleeping bandits.
Oleg, seeing the events, rushes out towards the party "Oy! We can take these sacs of dung where they belong. Let's throw them in the middens! We can use some of the wood I got in my shed to make a makeshift prison for this scum! Although I'd be happy to show them rope or sword too!"
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Once the bandits are all tied, Drispeera decides to make an announcement.
Alright everyone, listen up. I realize that my unspeakable beauty has you all stunned. While this is simply my due, your lust for me is making you all clumsy and ineffective. Therefore I have decided to bed each of you once. You too, if you wish it Mornaura. That way you can stop wondering about my deliciousness, and return focus to the matters at hand. Oh, and please don't mistake me. None of you has come close to earning the honor of being my consort. This is simply to get you all to stop being so nervous around me, and get you back to work.
Drispeera has made this announcement with the sincerest belief that it will be for the good of the group.
Once the bandits are all tied, Drispeera decides to make an announcement.
Alright everyone, listen up. I realize that my unspeakable beauty has you all stunned. While this is simply my due, your lust for me is making you all clumsy and ineffective. Therefore I have decided to bed each of you once. You too, if you wish it Mornaura. That way you can stop wondering about my deliciousness, and return focus to the matters at hand. Oh, and please don't mistake me. None of you has come close to earning the honor of being my consort. This is simply to get you all to stop being so nervous around me, and get you back to work.
Drispeera has made this announcement with the sincerest belief that it will be for the good of the group. [dice=Diplomacy]1d20+9
Bingo looks up from going through the dead bandit's pouch, "Alright, missy, how ya wanna do this? One at a time or all at onst? I figger I oughta go first since I'm the shortest and the best lookin'"
Kaeso blushes beet red, and tries to avoid looking at the blue temptress. "Um, I think I'd better help get the prisoners squared away."
As he walks away, he keeps sneaking glances back at the elf, as if rueing a missed opportunity. But he is too shy and old-fashioned to take advantage of it, and is still trying to recover from the thrill of battle.
"Aye, Kaeso. Let us round up these bandits. Just remember to not kill these men, as long as they are willing to submit to a fair and just trial at Restov of course. Otherwise, well, we have no use for unrepentant banditry in the Greenbelt."
Before heading out he addresses the elf. "My lady Drispeera, please know that I do not spurn your advances due to not finding you beautiful and fair, but because duty demands I take care of these wretched villains. Maybe in the future we will have time for... pleasantries."
"Huh?"
For a moment, Mornaura just stares at Drispeera, motionless and slack-jawed, as if she was frozen in the spot.
Her rapidly changing facial expression speaks volumes about the thought process rattling through her mind.
"What? Did she really say what I think she did?
Does she really think all we think about is her? Even that her personal aura is hampering our fighting skills?
Is she really serious about that proposal?
And how should that work out with all of us?"
Slowly her imagination kicks in and creates unwanted pictures in her mind, causing her to blush.
Not until Faron squeaks at her mistress does Mornaura shake her head, regaining at least some part of her composure. She looks around and tries to discern what the others make of the situation, and before she can finally vocalize an answer, she has to clear her throat - but even then it is more of an embarrassed murmuring.
"I... um... I don't think it would be appropriate... or would it... and... um... oh, the bandits... we should... um... interrogate them..."
In a few minutes, between Oleg, Kaeso and Norn, a few boards are put up around the midden in the farthest corner of the outpost, making for makeshift bars. The bandits, now up to their knees in compost, are starting to come around. Their leader, the hooded man, speaks up.
"What is this! Get me out of this filth! Y' have no ide'r who y'r messing with! The greenbelt is our turf, strangers! Y' wanna get y'rselves killed?"
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@Bingo Since you are at least the most forthright, you shall have your chance tonight. The others appear too shy, which is understandable, but they will have to get over their clumsiness around me one way or another.
@Everyone Well now it seems we have prisoners to interogate. You there, you seem to be the leader of this ragtag crew. What can you tell us of this mighty Kressel, we are supposed to be so afraid of?
@Everyone Well now it seems we have prisoners to interogate. You there, you seem to be the leader of this ragtag crew. What can you tell us of this mighty Kressel, we are supposed to be so afraid of?
"She is the person in charge of course. She and I... go back a bit, so I'm sure she will b' coming back fer me. She will split y'r skull open as soon as she sees y'r ugly mug, elf. All of y' for that matter!"
Kaeso has managed to contain his emotions throughout the battle, and in fact was pretty calm in the fight, but now it comes spilling out.
Redfaced, he seethes, but manages to speak in a cold voice: "You accursed son of a mongrel. You rob good people of their livelihood, and you dare threaten us? You thrice-damned bastard! It's hard enough to live out here. . ."
He rummages through his pack for a copy of the charter. "Can you read this? Let me read it to you, you cur, you festering chunk of feces. "The carrier of this charter should also strive against banditry and other unlawful behavior to be encountered. The punishment for unrepentant banditry ramains, as always, execution by sword or rope." Sword or rope! Are you unrepentant? Please be unrepentant, because I would just love to kill you, you pustule on society, you carbuncle, you rotting scourge!"
Intimidate:
"BAH, I am not afraid of y'r stupid paper! There is only the law of the wilds out here, and we be the masters of these wilds! I am not afraid to die by y'r hand or anybody! Y' are prolly weaker than my grandma anyway! BWAHAHAH!"
Bluff
His two compatriots who are awake do not seem to be so... committed to the banditry stuff as their leader. They look at each other with shifty eyes.
Kaeso scowls at the bandit chief, spits on the ground in disgust, and stomps away a bit. He looks at his companions in the eyes, and motions for them to follow him.
Sense Motive (Trait bonus)
Bingo stands next to Drispeera, casually putting his arm around her waist, and says to Kaeso "He's 'bout ready to crap his pants, Kaeso, lean on 'im a mite more an' he'll prolly do ennythin' we wan' 'im to."
Meanwhile having calmed down again, a now only slightly irritated witch leans against one of the walls and observes the short verbal saber rattling, one hand holding her quarterstaff with Faron on top of it. She has just realized that the bandit leader isn't as tough as he pretends to be, which makes her snigger as she follows Kaeso around the storage pen.
"I like that plan... Maybe we can even make them tell us something about their gang if we scare them well enough. If we find out where they're hiding and how many they are, it could significantly simplify our mission."
She answers quietly but confidently. Thinking about hunting techniques for a moment, she continues with a dark undertone.
"We should interrogate them separately and away from the others. We could tell them the most helpful source of information among them will be reprieved while the least helpful will be executed right away. OH, and maybe we can use the dead one to make them believe we mean business..."
When Mornaura mentions dead bandits, one of the underlings steps up "Wait, hold on, I don't want to die for this, Happs. Look lady, I just came from Restov do do some trappin' you know. Joined this gang when they offered me more crowns. I'll talk if you just let me live. I'll face punishment in Resto..." *BAM*
Suddenly Happs, the leader, runs at the underling and slams him against the makeshift walls of their cell. He falls a bit dizzied into the manure. The other awake bandit is not too thrilled with the situation either, and she shouts out, "Bob is right man, Kessle is not worth dyin' for. She is a few miles to the south, travelers. Just make sure she can't find us!"
Happs pipes up again. "Shut y'r mouths you good-fer-noth'n goons! This is mutiny! Treason! I'll personally see Kessle has y'r heads for this on a pike back at camp! You, little man," pointing at Kaeso, "y' know where y' can shove your pretty little paper yeh?"
Kaeso walks off to retrieve the corpse of the dead bandit. "This one was unrepentant. We gave him chances to surrender--he refused. I killed him with my hammer."
He drops the corpse face down on the grate of the middens. "It was fun. I especially liked the moment when I crushed his ribs into his heart." Kaeso smiles his scariest smile: "It was like cracking an egg."
"What do you think, friends? Is it time for omelets?"
Intimidate:
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Drispeera decides that Kaeso's plan sounds like fun, and plays her part.
First, she give Bingo a look that says, "Move that arm or lose it."
Then she goes over and grabs Kaeso's arm in a show of trying to calm him. Kaeso, you're right of course, these creatures are scum. But perhaps one or two of the most cooperative can be useful to us. Perhaps we could spare them if they will tell us more about this Kressle and her defenses. Will you let me talk with them before you crush them utterly?
She turns to the bandits and gives her sweetest smile. If you decide to cooperate completely, I might be able to convince him to spare you. If you give us really useful information there might even be... she smooths her dress in a provacative way, ...other rewards.
Kaeso allows himself to be calmed. "Mistress D'Lith, if you insist, I'll let them live. For now." He stomps off a ways to leave her to be the center of attention.
When Kaeso mentions dead bandits (not to mention Drispeera's offer), one of the underlings steps up "Wait, hold on, I don't want to die for this, Happs. Look lady, I just came from Restov do do some trappin' you know. Joined this gang when they offered me more crowns. I'll talk if you just let me live. I'll face punishment in Resto..." *BAM*
Suddenly Happs, the leader, runs at the underling and slams him against the makeshift walls of their cell. He falls a bit dizzied into the manure. The other awake bandit is not too thrilled with the situation either, and she shouts out, "Bob is right man, Kessle is not worth dyin' for. She is a few miles to the south, travelers. Just make sure she can't find us!"
Happs pipes up again. "Shut y'r mouths you good-fer-noth'n goons! This is mutiny! Treason! I'll personally see Kessle has y'r heads for this on a pike back at camp! You, little man," pointing at Kaeso, "y' know where y' can shove your pretty little paper yeh? And y', elf, I'll ask Kessle to leave y' fer me. I will teach y' how we do things down here."
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Drispeera casts Sleep one last time for the day, trying to center it so the spell catches just the irate leader and none of the others. Again-- 10' radius, 18 DC.
If successful, she'll say to Kaeso Kill him. It's clear he'll never repent.
Then she'll turn to the remaining 3 bandits. Now what was that you were saying?
Happs ZONKS out, falling back into the manure.
The female bandit looks up again "Look lady, just let us live and we will tell you where the camp is. Kessle, the leader of our band is there. They expect us back within 3 days, or she will suspect something. You can kill the other guys, just not me! I talked! Take me to Restov and face trial if you will."
Leaning against a wall again, Mornaura decides to let Kaeso and Drispeera do their show. Faron, however, has other plans and flutters over to the dead body. Landing on its neck, he starts nibbling one of the ears, then looks up to the witch and lets go a soft, pleading squeak.
She wouldn't even have needed her magical gift to understand what he wants right now, so she answers right away, chuckling, but with a slightly scolding undertone.
"Yes, I know you like them, but no, you are not a carrion crow so I will not turn that corpse on its back only so that you can reach the eyes."
With another short, maybe even slightly displeased sounding squeak, the hawk continues treating the earlobe with his beak.
Bingo hastily removes his arm from the lovely elf's waist and listen closely to the bandit's words.
Sense Motive
Kaeso beams at Mornaura and Drispeera: "It is so neat that you can do that! Sleep spells! I won't get on your bad sides."
"Bingo, what do you think? Should we let the minions out of the sh*t? Tied up for safety, of course."
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Even though Drispeera preens with Kaeso's praise, she whispers to himCool it, tough guy. You still have cretins to terrify.
To the world at large she says I say, kill the leader, he's clearly irredeemable. If you do it while he's sleeping, it's more mercy than he deserves. You'll teach *me* how things are done? I don't think so. The others seem to be coming around though. I think we let them live for as long as they continue to be useful... and not a minute longer.
I mean, with Happs gone, the other bandits are definitely intimidated. You are not sure you can get much more from these guys. What you want to do with them is totally up to you. They are not repentant about their banditry, but would like another way out besides rope or sword, basically.
Loudly, Bilbo says "Iffen it wuz jest me, I'd say hang 'em, not a one of 'em is sorry fer whut they done, jest sorry they got caught." More quietly so that the bandits can't hear, he says, "I reckon if we wuz to offer them a deal o' sum kind, they'd grab it right quick. I 'spect they'd keep their word, 'taint always true there's no honor 'mongst thieves."
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Someone suggested putting them to work. I think that is a splendid idea. This place could use a little spit and polish. She gives the old fort a cursory glance. Or at least the polish. Looks like it's seen more than its share of spit. We should probably disarm them, and keep them separated for a while. And... let them bathe.
Kaeso wonders if someone else should ask them the questions, so that he can stay the 'bad cop.'
To the group (not the bandits): "Here's what I would like to know:
Who's the leader of the bandits? What is she like?
How many bandits are there?
How do they like to attack? Are there any with special abilities?
What's the bandit base like?
Can you draw us a map?
For all of them, this would be the deal: 'you help us, in any way you can, with labor and even fighting. When the bandits have been dealt with to our satisfaction, you can go free, no restrictions. But you need to be all the way in. To ensure your cooperaton, when we meet the bad guys, we will tell them that you have decided to work for us. Even if you haven't. So you'll need to help us eliminate them to be safe.'
One more thing: does anyone have crafting ability? We should really fix the gate and the catapults, if we can."
After waiting for some time, Mornaura sighs and rolls her eyes, then raises her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Fine, I'll do it if the rest of you keep each other from killing them preemptively, they MIGHT be willing to help us, after all."
She crosses the few steps over to the middens, leans on her staff and glances down at the bandit woman. Smirking slightly, she speaks to them with a dark and dangerously smooth voice.
"So it seems you're the only one who wanted to talk to us. If you answer truthfully and completely, we can offer you a deal, which seems to be your only chance of getting away with your life. We'll offer it to all of you who start answering now, except for your leader."
And with that, she starts echoing the questions Kaeso suggested, giving her - or possibly the other bandits, too - time to answer after each one.
The female bandit takes a second to flip Happs over, so he won't drown in the manure.
"Look lady. We already said much of what you asked. Our gang is lead by Kessle, who came with us the first time we raided the outpost. The Leventon couple should know her well. She has a dead-eye with her hand axes, and can slice off the wings of a Stirge with them. Our gang is not too big, and it changes from time to time. Some fok's get killed, while others join y'know. I'd say there might be eight left at the camp with Kressle."
"We have a camp a few miles to the south west. It's an abandoned old camp we rebuilt, y'know like an old logger's camp. It has a few high guard towers to check out for intruders and trappers who might stumble upon it. We have pilfered quite some crowns off the trappers, so its kinda of a good spot. And yea, I can draw you a map. I can take you there too, but no ways I am helping you fight Kressle. That bi**h will slice my head open if she sees my mug there."
"Now are there some crowns for me in this deal, or what?"