Edrukk will nod his head in agreement at the wisdom of Orin's plan. His biggest concern is that the charter and its authority not become the default excuse used to justify unnecessary bloodshed.
Vandar flinches as his companion's legs twitch a final time. "Please," he stammers, "by Sarenrae's mercy. I swear I'll go north and make an honest life. You don't have to cut off my hand or brand me. Please! There must be something I can do!"
If he is unable to persuade you, he will, with tears running down his face, eventually tell you he would rather be branded than have his hand cut off.
Edrukk, after pondering the situation for the time being, speaks up. "Perhaps there is another way to resolve this. Lead us to the camp, claim to have escaped the gates before they closed on the rest of the group, say that you met us on the road back to your camp, and that we are interested in joining with Kressle and the rest of her gang. If you help us in this manner, I would be willing to consider you pardoned for your crimes. It lets us make sure that you are unable to warn the others of the events that have occurred here, while giving you an opportunity to prove yourself."
"Then we would get to meet your friends, Vandar. Wouldn't that be lovely?", Treshiell says as she watches the hung bandit.
"What say you, Orin? Shall we start to act like leaders who are going to need followers of our own someday or do we settle for merely being servants of the lords up north whose commands cannot possibly cover every scenario we encounter?"
"Of course. I can definitely take you right to the camp. We can leave right now if you want!"
"It would be most prudent then. Do you normally return right after your visits? For that matter, what will your leader think when you return by yourself, without your other companions?"
"I'm sure our "squishy" friend (referring to Rupert; after his protest from earlier, Rupert has gained a new playful identity in Edrukk's mind) can come up with a suitably satisfying story, given his background. I can't imagine it all that unusual for people in Vandar's former line of work to just disappear or get killed."
"Of course 'ah can, and 'ah will. I think 'tis a good idea, march right on up the middle with our new friend here leading the way, and take 'em by surprise. When do we leave?"
"Um, I don't know," says a concerned-looking Vandar. "I think Kressle would be pretty suspicious if I showed up with all of you and no one else. We may not be the brightest bunch, but we're not kobolds. It might be better for me to show you where the camp is, but not go inside."
"We usually go right back, mistress," he says to Lirisial. "We usually got back the day after the raid, but she might not be too worried if we didn't make it back before tomorrow morning."
Vandar's eyes grow wide as Xanwell pulls his axe.
"Wait, now, let's not be hasty! We could just wrap my arm in some bloody bandages. It's not like anyone's going to look!"
"If they expect a return by nightfall, we would be best to start now, and continue planning as we travel. I will volunteer to go in with Rupert, as stealth is not a strength of mine." Edrukk heads to the stables to prepare his newly chosen horse.
"Let's gather our gear and get moving then."
"Yeah, w'can talk on the road!"
Rupert is unpicky about which horse he selects, but he quickly grows attached to it and names it Rowan.
"Alright, so the plan is: Edrukk and ah' infiltrate the camp, and we'll try and talk our way in. If that fails, ah' hope the group o'yeh are nearby and ready to help us out, because we'll likely be surrounded and ah' doubt they're into takin' prisoners. Then: we wait until nightfall and attack? Or just long enough t'take them by surprise?"
There are enough light riding horses for everyone (as two of you already had horses) including Vandar, though one of them is injured, after having been shot with a crossbow during the fight.
As you're preparing to leave, Stevic asks you to wait a moment. He goes into his home and emerges a few moments later, with his hands full. "I know it ain't flaming much, but ... here, you can take this stuff, as my thanks for getting rid of the bandits. And don't worry about paying for your room or board -- you're all welcome for as long as you want here."
He hands over three vials and a small leather pouch with 50 GP.
"And, look, if you find my wife's wedding ring when you get rid of the rest of these bandits, I can give you 1,000 gold crowns worth of goods here at the post."
Rupert bows respectively and in thanks, "Thank yeh, m'good sir, we're much appreciative and the bandits really were no trouble t'all: merely doin' our good civic duties! And we'll find the ring if it's there to be found!"
Taking a potion, he looks to the others. "I'll probably need this, but I can't promise I'll be in the right state of mind to remember to use it. Once the blood starts flowing in my veins, I tend to make sure it flows from the enemies as well."
He'll secure himself atop a horse and stretch his broad muscles out.
"I'm not much for stealth, so likely I'll stick with the group but remain hidden to the best of my ability. Once the attack begins, I'll focus on taking the brunt of the arrow shots from guards, someone should take any watchtowers or elevated shots. My goal is to find that b$%** with the axes, and take her out my self. I'm sure my dwarven friend here can help me with that." He looks over to Orin,
"You're quite skilled with both sword and bow, so perhaps it'd be best if you took out as many of their ranged fighters as possible since I'm not much when it comes to range." He knew that Orin would be able to handle himself, in fact he was certain they all could keep an eye on each other.
"The only remaining question is whether or not we take them alive, or kill them."
"I would elect to take as many of them as possible alive and use their knowledge of the region against the Stag Lord if possible. That way we buy ourselves some time to make ourselves familiar with the region and its inhabitants."
Treshiell walks among the horses, apperently trying to settle for one. As she comes to the injured horse it softly and whispers something in it's ear.
The witch then settles for one of the unclaimed horses and jumps up on it's back. "We look forward to meeting your friends", she says to Vandar.
"I have to admit I'm not too keen on splitting the party by letting two of us go into the bandit camp with someone of dubious loyalty" He says pointedly looking at Vandar. "I say we should have Vandar lead us to an area close to their camp and let us scout it out before anyone enters" looking at the rest of the group he continues "I think we should wait until dark, preferably early morning before we make an assault. That way the bandits will be deep asleep and slow to wake up."
"I don't object to scouting out the camp before entering, but someone needs to be in there before night falls, or our task will likely be harder when we do attack; also, I still think we need to try to save some of the bandits and turn them to our side, so that they can start eroding away the Stag Lord's base of support while we further acquaint ourselves with the region. If we are to lead this region, we must win the hearts of those who already live here from the very start, and not just slaughter everything in sight."
"What further details can you tell us of the camp, Vandar? Is there a good place for the rest of the party to hide until late night while Rupert and I join you inside?"
"Well, it's out in the middle of nowhere, so there're plenty of places you can all hide.
The camp's about 60 feet north of the Thorn. We ... I mean, they got a couple lookout platforms in trees, one on each side of the river. Whoever's on duty gets a thunderstone they'll throw if they see any problems."
"What is the Thorn, is that the river you speak of? How many bandits can be found there at any given time normally?"
"Yeah," Vandar nods. "The Thorn's the river, runs through most of the northern Stolen Lands.
"Don't really know how many bandits'll be there at any given time. Almost always at least 4, but it's possible more will be in camp. There were about a dozen of us ... them that didn't come north with Happs."
"How amenable would the lower level bandits be to working with us instead of the Stag Lord should we prove ourselves capable of removing certain impediments, like Kressle and any trusted officers she may have? I would ask about Kressle, but your description of her sounds like she would be unlikely to agree. Also, what magic capabilities can be found within the group that we need to be aware of?"
"We don't have any magic; I suppose people who do don't really end up as bandits, you know?"
"I don't think it really matters to must of bandits who they follow. You give 'em something to do and take care of food and shelter and maybe a woman once in a while, and they'll follow you. I'm sure if the choice is death or following you, most'll do the latter. Though they might try to run away when they get the chance."
"So are you planning to run away, Vandar?", Treshiell ask. The witch has appearently ridden behind overhearing the conversation.
"Striking as Orin suggests would likely yield the best results. Hopefully we would be able to catch many of them off guard during the confusion of awaking."
"And yet without someone in the camp to maintain the appearance of everything being at least somewhat normal, catching them off guard is highly unlikely. These clearly bandits are well organized, and will notice when things don't at least appear normal."
"If'n ah' can convince them that they can trust me without much trouble, ah' can volunteer to take someone's watch during the night and sneak the group into th'camp in that way. 'Ah am sure there'll be somebody who'll want a night off. But if things don't go as well, we'll have t'rely on a whole lot of improvisation."
"Improvisation is something we may as well get used to doing now, because it certainly won't be the last time it will be required, unless of course we all die horrific deaths, in which case it will be the last time improvisation is required." Edrukk adds on the last bit with a wry smile on his face.
"Certainly a cheerful sentiment, Edrukk. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, though." Lirisial puts a small smile on her face.
"No, I won't run away!" Vandar say. "I mean, once you think I've paid my debt, I'll probably head north, but I promise I'll bring you to the camp and do whatever you want."
Vandar leads the group south, as discussion proceeds on what to do when the group reaches the bandit camp. The first three hours of travel are of gently rolling plains, where green grass is beginning to emerge after the long winter.
The group then enters heavier woods, where patches of snow remain in shaded areas beneath the evergreens that dominate the landscape. After about 11 long hours of trekking through the woods, the sky is growing dark when Vandar pulls his horse up. "The camp is a few more miles to the south," he says. "I don't know if you want to continue on tonight or not."
"I vote we keep going, and once we get close to the the range that the watch towers can see, those planning on hiding split off, find a good place to hide under the cover of darkess, and wait for Rupert or I to signal them to attack. Meanwhile, Rupert, Vandar, and I will continue on into the camp to try to smooth any ruffled feathers down enough by morning to allow for a dawn strike."
"We should keep going. I am eager to meet Vandar's friends"
"I agree. Once we are near, we can set up camp at enough distance they won't find us."
"Aye, but if'n this plan goes down poorly, the group should be not too far away t'listen for our shouts and they can come flyin' in to rescue us. If'n we need it. Also," Rupert turns now to Vandar, and hands him his dagger. "If'n they figure out who we are and what 'tis you're doing, I doubt they'll look too kindly upon you. In fact, eventually they will see what you've done, and they'll try'n kill you for it faster'n you can blink. So I'ma give you this, trustin' that when the time comes, you'll use it for our side instead of theirs: most of all, use it to stay alive, mate. If you prove yourself in the comin' events, we might reconsider that whole brandin' situation," he gives Vandar a friendly wink, then continues into the coming darkness.
Vandar will bring you closer to the camp, though he warns that his former campmates are frequently coming and going. Even avoiding the most common areas, getting any closer will increase the chance that they may accidentally run into you in the woods.
Assuming everyone is OK with the extra risk, he begins leading you closer, closing to half a mile away before stopping again for a whispered conference to see who's going where. He's leading you directly north of the camp, on the same side of the Thorn River so no one will need to cross.
Lirisial once again readies her armaments. "We will await your signal. Good luck, and may the Song of Spheres watch over you!"
"Alright. The signal will be, if'n things go poorly and we need immediate help, 'ah will blow this here whistle," Rupert holds up a silver whistle he retrieved from a pocket on his belt, "And if things go well and we attack by surprise, either 'ah or Edrukk will signal you with a torch: just a quick wave back and forth several times will suffice, assuming ya'll will be able to see it."
Rupert continues toward the camp as well, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be in the area.
Perception
Edrukk will keep an eye out for trouble as he enters the camp as well.
"We will be waiting for your signal", Treshiell says in her hazy tone of voice and then adds: "Watch out for bandits"
"What should I call you when I introduce you to Kressle," Vandar asks Rupert and Edrukk before entering the camp.
He leads you north from the rest of the group, crossing the river and circling to enter the camp from the west, well away from where your four companions hide in the brush.