Kaeso takes aim carefully, and lets fly another arrow.
ATK
DMG
The bandit, trying to run through a bush, gets docked in the chest and falls down.
Kaeso is excited. "Did you see that? Sweet!" He hurries over to check and make sure that the bandit is really dead, and to see if he's carrying anything of value. After seeing Dris and Norn go down, I don't really to be clement. Not here, at least, in the wild.
he is carrying a short sword, leather armor, a small silver stag skull insignia, and a potion. He looks down but not dead.
He looks down but not dead.
Bingo comes running up and checks the bandit, as well. "Nice shot, kid." If the bandit wasn't dead before, he is now, as Bingo cleans his dagger on the bandit's tunic. "Let's git back t'others before the rest of 'em show up."
Kaeso nods in agreement, and picks up the short sword ("I probably should carry a blade"), the stag skull, and the potion. "Maybe one of the ladies can figure out what this potion does. I'd wager it's a healing potion."
Back to the camp. He's not pouting anymore.
Aside to Bingo: "Was that guy glowing purple? Or was I just seeing things?"
** spoiler omitted **
Having arrived at the fireplace, Mornaura quickly checks on the tied up bandit.
"Norn, will you help me with those?"
With or without his help, she gives both the bonded and the sleeping bandit a careful, but thorough body search, trying to disarm, but not to awake the latter. After that, she tries to drag the bonded bandit back to the other, so that she can tie that one up with the free half of the rope.
Wiping the sweat from her frowned forehead with her fur bracers, she sits down behind the sleeping bandit and takes out her sickle again.
"I hope Kaeso and Bingo got the other one... We have to get in position as soon as possible."
"I got something else here we can use if we need it. Looks like these two guys have some potions on them, always useful as we just experienced. Heh. I say we clean up this mess, and get back to our horses. I know I could use some of Svetlana's stew right now after this ordeal!"
Norn takes out a pair of manacles from his pack and uses them to lock up the sleeping bandit, and scoops up both potions and the silver stag amulets the bandits carried.
"I also got this stuff from Kressle's body"
Norn once again riffles through his pack, and pulls out her two masterwork handaxes and attempts to hand them over to Mornaura.
"A little small for me, but maybe Kaeso can use these?"
Back to the camp. He's not pouting anymore.
Aside to Bingo: "Was that guy glowing purple? Or was I just seeing things?"
"Nope, he's purple, all right, Dris' doing, I reckon."
"Yes, we... No, what are you talking about? I thought we'd stay here and wait for the remaining bandits, ambushing them in their camp to get rid of them once and for all. Let's ask the others. And I'm not carrying those."
Looking in the direction of the tower, Mornaura tries to find out whether the rest of her companions were successful.
"Norn, do you think they got the other one?"
Seeing that Faron still circles above them, Mornaura uses her Feral Speech hex once again, asking her hawk to set out for a scouting flight, circling the camp with some distance, and to come back and tell her if he sees people approaching.
"My guess is the bandits reset their shifts at least every few days if not weeks. So we could be here a while. I would rather let them come here and see what we did as a warning. I doubt 4 bandits will be trouble."
"I guess you could ask Mr. knots over there" Norn points at the tied bandit that Mornaura captured.
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Drispeera takes whatever's worthwhile from the tower bandit's corpse (?), and makes her way towards Norn and Morna.
Well that one won't be trying to kidnap and ransom princesses ever again. But look what that axe-wielding b%%~+ did to my dress. She brushes the knife hole disparingly. This pendant is kinda pretty tho'.
What were you guys talking about? Oh yeah, I thought the snitch bandit we brought with us, (where is she by the way?) said there were 3 or 4 more. That's why I totally saved my last sleep spell. I only have one left now, then I'll definitely be needing some sleep myself.
What are you going to do with those two, gut them or what?
"Hello, comrades! It's good to be victorious!" With just a hint of a swagger, Kaeso tells how they caught the last bandit. He does have enough humility to say "we" instead of "I" when talking of the hunt.
"Norn, Drispeera! It's so good to see you back on your feet. I thought we'd lost you both." He's sincerely relieved. Drispeera frightens him a bit with her directness, but he's fond of her, and he looks up to Norn as a rookie looks to a veteran.
"Handaxes, you say? Hmm. Those could be useful."
"Mornaura, if we knew they were coming back, I think we should stay. What does the falcon see? Otherwise, we could leave the place as a warning, like Norn said, but we should probably take down the towers." Kaeso grabs the corpse of Kressle and lifts her up like a rag doll: "This looks like food for the vultures. Can we hang it from a tree?" This last bit is for the benefit of Mornaura's questioning of the bandit Knots, and also because Kaeso really hates bandits.
"I thought we left Winrey at the horses, which now that I think about might have not been the best of ideas... But let us hope she did not try anything funny. I got a torch if we want to try and burn the towers down, although alchemist's fire will indeed be quicker."
"It's probably the last thing we should do, since the fires would be a beacon. I'm going to see if I can find some brush and pile it around the base of each tower."
"On the other hand, we could lure them here with the fire and probably not have to wait that long. Almost anything is better than giving them a reason to be out for revenge. Oh, and Kaeso, they probably do have a rope around her somewhere."
Pointing back and forth between the tied up bandits lying in front of her and herself, Mornaura shakes her head.
"They will probably tell you where they store their stuff if you ask them nicely, because they don't want you to cut them down like their leader."
Kaeso walks over to the tied-up bandits, dragging Kressle's corpse easily with one arm (strength is a good thing to have). "I bet you thought no one would ever kill her, didn't you? She was pretty tough." He drops her in front of them, face up. "We killed Happs and most of his band, too. It was fun. Happs spat on the ground and cursed me as I chopped his head off. Good times!"
He crouches down to get to eye level: "Here's the deal: banditry is no longer allowed. Unrepentant banditry will be punished by death. Which is it?"
Intimidate:
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My strong eager friend here, is giving you a choice. He forgot to mention the other one: Foreswear banditry forever and... tell us everything you know about the remaining bandits at this outpost... and any others. This is counter to, you know, dying horribly while we mock you. Up to you.
If it had been up to me, I would have already killed you. You decided what kind of filth to be, long ago. But the boy is giving you a choice. She shrugs her shoulders as if the outcome is of little interest to her either way.
Diplomacy???:
The bandit Mornaura captured spills the beans pretty easily. Look, uh, you people. I don't want to die, so I'll tell you what I know. Just promise me I'll make it. Kressle was the leader of this gang, but yeah, she answers to someone else. I've never seen'im but I've heard of'im. Calls himself the Stag Lord. They say he is a deadeye with the bow, and that he crushed a prisoner's hand to mush in one fist. They say the man wears a creep stag skull as a helmet, but I herd he ain't got no face under it.
As for the other guys in this camp, I wouldn't worry. They are the new meat we just got. Kressle sent 'em out to find random trappers, half hoping they would get killed. If they return to the camp and find her dead, I don't think they will think the life of banditry is for them, heh. The first few are bound to be back in a few days'r so.
My word of advice tho, don't let yer victory over Kressle and Happs fill yer heads up with delusions of grandeur. These are t'Stag Lord's lands now. And he ain't gonna fall to some scrubs from Restov.
Hermia makes polite conversation with the elder priest when appropriate, but it is likely since she is not a liar and he is an elder priest that he can tell that she is reticent. As Erastil's is a lawful faith, she will readily admit his superiority and offers to assist him in his task, so long as it does not interfere with the commission of her duties enumerated in the charter.
Two questions:
"What's the skull talisman for? Also, is there a stash here somewhere?"
"Th' silver stag? Seems to be a badge of some sort, they all have 'em. We oughta string up the dead 'uns and take these three back to Oleg's. Give 'em to those guards from Restov."
The talismans are just to let everyone know we are with Stag Lord. That way other bandits can know it's us. And not attack us on sight.
Most of our loot was kept by Kressle, the greedy !@$@%. The last round of gear was already shipped to the Stag Lord's fort. We got one or two things on the cart over there but it's not much...
In the wagon you find a few ragged furs, along some pretty badly dented weapons. There is one masterwork warhammer and masterwork dagger that look pretty nice though, as well as two usable scrolls: color spray and anticipate peril. There is also a magical cloak.
Bingo picks up the masterwork dagger, "Ooh, pretty." He tosses it up in the air and catches it by the hilt. "Y'all don't mind, do ya?" as he slips it into his boot.
"Somehow I got a feeling that the Spirits try to warn me... We will face this Stag Lord sooner than we'd like."
Without caring to explain that any further, Mornaura stows the sickle and mounts her staff to the backpack, then gets up and helps the others, tieing nooses around the dead bodies and getting the fire started.
Hm, a camp of this size... Ah, Faron probably needs some time.
"That hammer looks great." Kaeso picks it up and tosses it in the air to test the balance. "Very nice."
"Should we torch the towers and make our way back to the Levetons? Maybe it could be fortified. If this Stag Lord is as bad as Knots here says, it would be good to have a fortress."
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I don't see why you all are in such a hurry to burn things down. We might want the lookout posts ourselves later. In fact, aren't we supposed to explore? If we're exploring on the way back, then I'll want to rest now, and one of the towers would do nicely.
spellcraft:
and does detect magic on the lot.
If you can't record the scrolls into a spell book,Mornie, then I can use the spells for one use only. And, do you want the cloak, it gives some protections?
Drispeera also goes back and picks up Bingo's potion which she dropped earlier.
Up to everyone what we want to do. I still think we should go back and regroup at Oleg's. Kresten will also want to know about these bandits' fate. Either way, I want to go check on Wenry.
Norn stands up and goes to check on the horses.
"Drispeera, if we're going to bring peace to this land, it seems to me that the only people with fortresses should be us. I'd hate to have to reconquer this camp again, after some new bandits find it. That's my thinking."
"Either way, my vote is to go back to Oleg's."
Bingo buckles one of the short swords around his waist. "Yah, going back to Oleg's iz probly the best idear. The onliest problem with burnin' the towers is that fire gets outta control real ezy. Choppin' 'em down'd be better, if'n we had a axe."
Bingo goes over to Dris and holds his hand out, "Thankee for pickin' up ma potion, lass."
Winrey is still there and bored. She says she heard the fight from there and was slightly amused by the progression of events. "But, I have to say, you gave them quite a run for their crowns! You know what, I know we got off the wrong foot but I got a deal for you. Now that Kressle is gone, if you don't turn me over to Restov, offer me some protection and a decent living wage, I will help you out at Oleg's. I'm a hard worker, know the land and can trap quite well."
Norn packs up some of the horses. and starts to lead them along back to the bandit's camp with Winrey.
"The magic in these scrolls does not resonate with the magic flowing through my veins."
With a shrug of her shoulders she adds,
"But I'm sure you will find good use for them. Oh, and if you say the cloak offers protection, of course I would like to take it."
She waits for Norn to come back with Wenry.
"Well... Let's come to a decision, companions. Burn the towers and make sure we don't clear the whole forest, or chop them down with the handaxes. Maybe the other bandits come back before we're finished, maybe not, but when we eventually head back to Oleg's, I think we should give Wenry a chance and a new home. She didn't try to flee after all."
I believe that the bandits here are poorly organized. They will come back to camp, see Kressle's body and either flee this lands or go back to this Stag Lord. I say let them. I think what we do to these towers will be irrelevant.
I say that on the way back, we take the time to fully explore and map these lands, as the immediate threat to our lands is squelched and it is part of our charter.
With that, Norn starts packing up the horses with all the junk the bandits had.
Bows, swords and armor... I bet Oleg would pay us for these or at least sell them for us in consignment. Norn grabs the armor off once of the female bandits. Here you go Wenry. Don't make me regret this.
Kaeso, to Wenry: "Welcome! I hope you'll find life with us better than Kressle. May you be the first of many!"
He picks up the handaxes, since no one else seems to want them. "I'll have to work out a way to carry these. Maybe hip holsters?" Kaeso also takes the war hammer.
"Norn, I'm fine with leaving, if you think it's best. I wasn't really looking forward to the labor of tearing down the towers."
It takes the party one day to explore the hex you are on now. Everyone heals their level in hit points and regains spells.
Day two:
You explore the next hex over. The party encounters a larger clearing in the woods, full of radishes. In the patch, you see 6 Kobolds.
3 Kobolds are laying face up on the ground one has its hand on its stomach. Two are picking and eating radishes. One has a spear, and starts jumping up and down when he sees the party approaching.
"Guys, look! Bigsies are approaching our radishes! Look out for trouble!
These are a variety of radishes called Moon Radish. They are native to the region.
Remember Knowledges of DC 10 or lower are considered "common knowledge" and may be made untrained. (i.e. straight INT check)
Knowledge Nature
"Moon Radishes! Them is good eatin'! Mebbe them critters will share 'em.'
Bingo gets down off of Fern and advances towards the radish patch, holding out his empty hands to indicate his peaceful intentions.
"Tiki rashta manaer timbitu. Boogie awayza gorem!"
Three of the kobolds have gone and grabbed their spears, and run over to the edge of the radish patch. They are just standing there, with their spear tips pointed at you.
"Anybody unerstand thet gibble gabble?"
Kaeso tries to pick out any words: "No--no idea, but I've got a hunch they're guarding the radish patch. Hey, I've got an idea: anyone have any good food? We could maybe make peace with a treat. It works with horses, at least.
Just in case peace doesn't happen, he drops a hand slowly near the handaxes. Just in case. . .
The +13 reminds me I took half-elven skill focus nature because I planned to take eldritch heritage later on, which I can't do anymore because of the lowered cha score. So I'm thinking about tweaking around that bit if that's okay. +10 is enough anyway.
Oh and btw, Mornaura uses her map making kit all the time when we are exploring. Somebody got to draw the map and note down important places, after all. :)
With an audible sigh, Mornaura stows her coal-pencil and the map she has been working on, and turns to her companions.
"They want us to go away, as they think it's their patch of radishes and that we're here for trouble. On that matter... we aren't, or are we? I mean, kobolds aren't exactly mentioned in our charter, right?"
Raising her voice so that the kobolds can easily hear her, she goes on in the language of their ancestors.
"Got some trail rations, not sure iffen they kin be called good, but..."
Bingo slowly reaches into his pack and pulls out two days worth of trail rations, puts them down on the ground. He points to the rations, then makes giving motions with his hands towards the kobolds, then points to himself and his companions and then points towards the radish patch.
(Draconic) "Bigsies go away! We no want your food! Radishes are the kobold's. We found, so we keep. We no fight you if you just go your way! Otherwise, we kill biggsies with our mighty strength."