Noting the ground ahead of them and what options they have Phillip ventures "Get them into the open ground, then challenge them?"
Purposely not glancing over his shoulder, Tendal strides forward, his cane occasionally clicking on a stone. "To be honest, that seems to be the only reasonable option unless there is some natural bottleneck nearby that we might exploit to our tactical advantage. Regretfully, many of my spells work best when adversaries are positioned near to one another." Tendal says, sotto voce.
"There's only two of them", Gristav mutters, looking to a carving on his staff as if describing it to Tendal. "Why not confront?"
Snake takes a quick glance in Gristav's direction, "More like four, bub. And I'm for out in the open."
Braddon sneers.
"I don't like the uneven ground. There'll be two soon enough though."
Braddon checks his crossbow is loaded and accessible.
Still without turning Phil narrows eyes looking forward, seeking a blind turn where he might be lost to shadow for a few moments. Assuming he sees an opportunity he speaks without pointing "There... I'll step right and into the gloom, wait until they're just almost past me and make the challenge. If they prove to not mean us harm we let them be... otherwise they bleed."
"As good a plan as any on such short notice" Tendal agrees with a nod.
Phillip takes advantage of the last structure before the edge of the town, quickly ducking all the way around the building as the group turns the corner and waiting stealthily in the narrow alley for their tailers to approach.
Phillip draws and loads his crossbow, patting at his waist to reassure himself that his blades are will be free to hand if and when they're needed. As the tailers round the corner he raises his crossbow to a waist held firing position... and waits for Braddon to challenge the group...
As they pass the last building, Braddon counts out 20 steps. He gets bored at 13 , turns and raises his crossbow.
"Can we help you, losers?" he calls back to them. It takes most of his self control to not fire.
Subtle, nuanced and to the point... lets see how they respond.
Tendal as turns with his companions to face the figures skulking behind them, a bit of paranoia grips him, and he scans the surroundings, looking for any other figures.
"Gentlemen.", Gristav uncaringly entitles the men Braddon's addressed. "Surely there's no hostile intent - the two of you, and all of us?"
If they mean battle, let them assume ignorance, and try to take advantage of it... I'll take an advantage of my own.
As he spoke, the peredhel magus' hand settled subtly on his staff, already held, and it lightened, and heavied, both at once...
The four men appear briefly taken aback by the confrontation before recovering their equanimity. "What's your problem?" one of them growls, setting a hand to his own weapon without actually drawing it. "Is there some rule that only you can use the road?"
Phillip keeps to silence and the shadows, leaving the words to his companions.
"Ah, yes." Tendal begins, his languid drawl both haughty and condescending. "All can use the road, but you gentlemen have been following us for some time, and now, as we reach the edge of town, there is little else for you to practically be utilizing the road for, other than some attempt to interfere or waylay us as we go about our business. That, unfortunately for you," he says, waving his cane vaguely in their direction, "makes your business now our business as well. So what, praytell, is your business, so we might decide if you might better be served accomplishing it at some other time, or we might have resolution of any unfortunate unpleasantness quickly and efficiently."
"Is that what I sound like?", he asks of Snake, carelessly. "That is annoying.", Gristav agrees with his strawman, grinning.
The warmth, but not the fire, of the grin fades as he regards the spokesman of the strangers. Promising apology to the Grace of Haiku, he incants:
"Choose: words? We've plenty.
Peace? All you want, behind you.
Or battle? Have it!"
The spokesman of the four men raises his voice to a pitch that carries easily to the ears of the bystanders. "Our business is none of yours. Or do you think that you can turn up here in your fancy clothes and order ordinary Cove-ers out of the road because you don't like the looks of us? You're no captain, admiral, nor Overlord!"
The eyes of the other men in the area are increasingly drawn toward the confrontation, and the unfriendly look in them indicates that they're inclined to side with their fellow townsmen.
Phillip narrows his gaze and muses upon the situation, trying to see beneath the surface appearance and ken the follower's intent...
"Oh, well. We're sorry we stopped you."
Braddon lowers the crossbow in one hand but his finger stays on the trigger. He swings his other arm wide, gesturing past himself away from town.
"Our business ends here. You can keep going."
He grins.
Gristav chuckles at Braddon's grim good humor. "You'll forgive our confusion...", he says aloud, more for the listeners than the followers, "But when you followed, two by two, from the shadows, we thought you wolves. Now, you bay like a hound, for the attention of the good folk of the ville, trying to draw them to a fight that you aren't sure you want. If you have business with us, be about it. Business elsewhere, go to it. But if your business is to stalk us like wolves, then stop. Run back, hound, to your master's hand, and whine and lick. But do not try to bring on these people, pains and indignities at our hands that they, do not deserve."
"Shoo.", Gristav dismisses.
Phil hears Braddon's suggestion and nods affirmative support before bracing himself as Gristav begins to wax lyrical. Blinking slowly a couple of times, the halfling avoids shaking his head... but pauses slightly less hopeful than prior.
The men look momentarily confused by Braddon's reply but hesitantly continue up the road toward the Port-Governor's house at a brusque gesture from their leader, though not without more than one backward glance.
Braddon grins at the others.
"Follow them?
Phil relaxes and takes the tension off his crossbow, lowering it to a neutral guard position. If Braddon or any others send eyes his way he gestures with his chin as though they should continue and follow... wordlessly implying that he would catch up.
Braddon grins at the others.
"Follow them?
"Those of you that do it well, might follow or track. The rest of us, will follow you.", Gristav says, reflecting the grin.
Granting Braddon a working distance and delay, Gristav observes to Tendal, "Such a friendly town."
Cutting his eyes toward the halfling, Snake turns to Braddon. "Alright. Let's see where they're headed. But let's try to keep this short and sweet as possible. I'm ready to put this place behind us," he says, glancing around a moment before readying to follow Braddon.
Tendal falls into step with Braddon, Snake and Gristav. "While I appreciate the idea that we should identify and rectify potential threats before they do grievous harm to our personages, I wonder if these gentlemen might simply be itinerants and while surly and traveling toward the Governor's house, are of no particular interest or threat to us?"
"Particularly not, if we leave this town. And yet, one of the promises of our trip here remains unfulfilled, so we might hope that, wherever they lead, it seems familiar to Herepus, here...", Gristav says with an unpointed look at Snake.
Braddon heads off after the small rabble. He stays well back, knowing they are on the lookout for him, but attempts to keep them at the edge of his sight using his elven vision and his smooth movements to avoid their attention.
"After all," he grins, "there's only the governor's house. Where else could they be going but an ambush point?"
Tendal falls into step with Braddon, Snake and Gristav. "While I appreciate the idea that we should identify and rectify potential threats before they do grievous harm to our personages, I wonder if these gentlemen might simply be itinerants and while surly and traveling toward the Governor's house, are of no particular interest or threat to us?"
"You're probably right, bub. Personally, I'm more of a 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' kind of guy. Any time someone's not trying to kill me, I've no desire to give them a reason to wanna try."
"Particularly not, if we leave this town. And yet, one of the promises of our trip here remains unfulfilled, so we might hope that, wherever they lead, it seems familiar to Herepus, here...", Gristav says with an unpointed look at Snake.
As they walk and keep a fair distance from Braddon, Snake keeps his eyes roaming around the areas they move through. "Maybe."
Braddon pulls a dagger, drops to his hands and knees and makes a low cutting gesture to his companions. He pushes the dagger into the ground behind him, then crawls carefully forwards, his head tilted slightly to one side.
Seeing the sign of caution from Braddon, Phil melds into the shadows to the side of the path and brings his crossbow back into a more actionable position.
Seeing Braddon's odd activity with the dagger, and then even more perplexing, Braddon scrambling forward on all fours, Tendal glances to Snake and Gristav to see what their response is.
I believe that he is signaling something...most likely danger from the men who we confronted, but I have no idea if he wishes us to engage, turn about or hide.
Catching Tendal's questioning look, Snake motions with his hand to hold a moment. "Watch and wait for it, bub."
You wait a moment longer after Gristav, Snake, and Tendal follow Braddon. You see no additional people who seem to be tailing the group, though a few of the bystanders gaze suspiciously up the road after the strangers.
"...to follow them out here," you hear Read say.
"They saw us. What were we supposed to do?" the other man answers.
From your current position, you only have a clean shot at one of the men who was tailing you; Read and the others have cover behind another cluster of boulders.
"Fine, Read. We owe you one," the other man snaps back.
"Damn straight you do," Read growls. "And the first thing you're going to do to start to make it up to me is go back and find out where they went. This time, without them seeing you."
It would appear that the group of four is about to turn back the way they came. They may not see you behind the rocks, but they'll certainly meet the three men waiting behind you on the road.
Seeing Braddon's odd activity with the dagger, and then even more perplexing, Braddon scrambling forward on all fours, Tendal glances to Snake and Gristav to see what their response is.
No woodsman was Gristav, but he'd been a man in a wood often enough, and long enough, and hungry enough, to hunt, blessed by boons of martial mien and marshaled magics, and success brought a rough sort of experience, and the welcome of others to their hunts, over the short seasons of the long years.
He smiled now, recognizing in Braddon's crouch a timeless, feral grace, born of beast but not below man, nor elf - the predator, on the hunt. Gristav stayed his step, and sidled and settled to where if Braddon had to retreat, whatever pursued must take a line entirely under the arc of an arrow, born and boosted by a broad bent bow.
An early Erastilian baptismal blessing brought the half-elf's hand to the bow, as it had ever, as it had at the first, and, though untaught in the demanding warrior's weapon, Gristav stood, as ready as any Ranger.
Any, who pursued the peredhel he'd called brother, would die.
As Gristav, Snake, and Tendal wait at Braddon's behest, their former followers come into view over a rise in the road, near a cluster of boulders, heading back toward the town.
Braddon fires into the rear thug then steps back further behind his cover.
he shouts.
The arrow thuds home, and with a guttural grunt, the man drops onto the dirt road.
"Watching and waiting's over, bub!" Snake tells the well-dressed man hurriedly as he brings forth his innate magic and moves toward the trouble while drawing his weapon. "Stay hidden, Luck!" he orders the backpack hiding mongoose.
Seeing the man at his elbow fall to a sniper, one of the sailors draws his curved blade and hurries around the boulders with a snarl to occupy the hidden crossbowman's attention. Braddon easily ducks his swing, however.
Another man emerges from behind a boulder farther up the road and runs toward the fracas, a sizeable staff in his hands.
Braddon fires into the rear thug then steps back further behind his cover.
he shouts,
The delicate Fair Folk habit of stealth... you has it., Gristav mused, and grinned, happy in the hearing of Braddon's health, as much as in the sight of his fellow peredhel, rounding the rocks, at the left lee of the lane.
Snake advanced, casting, readying. Intent on melee?, Gristav pondered, You might have left a firing line. The better for your support...
His bow already in hand, Gristav advanced obliquely, to the right of the path, mindful of the shot to come, and, he hoped, of the melee to follow. He filled the bow with Will, then grimly chose the closest foe to Snake, and drew and fired, with Tienish zennish lack of flourish, empty of thought...
...and malice, and much of effect. Though if he even hobbled the assault on Snake, he'd be happy enough.
A horrible pun came to him, and he grinned, and shared it. "Surrender! Or disarm and flee! Your flights will be less painful than mine!"
In that, at least, he was merciless.
Braddon tosses aside his crossbow and slides out his bastard sword, gripping it with both hands.
"Don't want to live? My pleasure!"
With both hands, he swings his sword in an elegant arc at his attacker, and steps back once more.
"NEXT!"