"Oh I think we could do it. In fact I would advise that we attack it before we attack other bases or we risk him pulling his forces to protect this base." Vlad pauses to look at the remaining mite.
"Now mind you, I am not advising that we go in there guns ablaze--or in my case arrow strings twanging--as we are right now. I think that we should do some reconnaissance and collect all the information we can about it and, if we can, gather and use a few well placed explosives, diversions, and blades to take the Stag Lord before he knows that there is a threat to his safety and he reinforces his headquarters." Vlad pauses for a second as he takes several deep pulls from his cigarette.
"As much as I want to keep this little guy as a pet, if no one has anything else to ask her...I have a personal matter I would appreciate her information on if there are no objections?" Vlad looks with a mix of wariness and hope at the witch.
"What sort of personal matter? This is life or death. You can figure out what yer lady back home is wearing some other time."
Vlad pauses for a long time before he answers, "Let's just say it's about the reason I don't have a home, a lady, or anyone else waiting for me. And to answer the other part of your question this is not about life and death. Just death. A lot of death." Vlad continues to stare at the witch thinking.
"Hmmm, I think Nitna might be on to something. Perhaps we take out smaller outlying camps? Naw, I think we can sneak into the camp, or maybe a couple of us con our way in, pretending to be would-be bandits. I was in that gang back home, it can't be too different. I wonder if there is any cover if we came in from the east side of the camp. Anyway, I think it would be good to know what else is out here. Perhaps we ask about the general geography of the area. We have to take out the bandits, but we also 'have to' explore the area. A head's up of any particular dangers might be good to have."
"Vlad, hate to break it to ya hon, but if you want to ask your own personal question, you can go off on your own and get your own mite. Until then, Klinn's right. We should get to know more about the area. Which is especially why I think we should learn more about what kind of war is going on against the fey. We wouldn't want to get mixed up in that business by accident now would we?"
"Good point" Vlad says looking disappointed "Just thought I would ask if no one else had any questions"
"So if not that I would be okay with learning more about this war on the fey as well."
Nitina sneers at Vlad's mushy-mushy, and her sneer grows as the discussion drags on. She swipes the other bound mite from whoever's holding it (Arastine, if I recall) and tosses it roughly at the ground in front of the witch.
We want the bandit's local leader, who we've been told is a woman named Kressle. How often does she leave their camp, and where does she go?
"I don't know their names," the witch says, looking up from her toy. "The woman wanders far, always with a group of well-armed men. Her ranging takes her all around the marches. She left yesterday, traveling east. If her pattern holds, she should return in a week's time, as she seems to spend every other week in camp."
She stands up. "Now then, as you're out of mites and I am out of time, goodbye!" She says this last bit quite cheerily. "I look forward to seeing what you do with this information!" She turns and vanishes into the foliage.
Vlad turns to Nitina "My aren't you the impatient little Nun. We could have asked her far more useful things Little One."
Perception:
Karina rolls her eyes. "What's with y'all being so jumpy? First we got people shooting our prisoners, now people jumping forward with questions when we haven't agreed. Whatever. We still have some valuable information from her."
Perception:
Moments after the witch vanishes, a trio of small, fungus-coated figures emerges from beneath the mushroom upon which she stood. They chatter in a strange manner, and grab the bound mites.
They drag the mites into the forest, vanishing from view in the thick undergrowth.
"Blast is all! We need more information about the geography of this place! Well, I suppose we can return with more of the mites another time if we wish, if we even think it is worth our time. Let's go see about the bandit camp. If Kressel just took off, we have an opening to scout out the camp and perhaps even attack."
After a few miles (so as they are out of earshot), Klinn pipes up about his plans of invasion.
"As I see it, there are a few reasonable plans. 1) only one or two of us go in, perhaps Karina and I as runaways and pretend we are planning on joining their gang. In doing so, we can scout out the best way to attack. 2) we all go in, attempting a stealth recon mission. 3) we go in as a group, claiming we want to join them and then attacking them from the inside when they least expect it. What d'ya think?"
K(Nature):
"I agree, this is a good chance to either attack, or at least find out more about the camp. Now, if we're talking about a mission, I'd say that I'm generally better at being noticed than not noticed, if you catch my drift. Once an actor, always an actor." She giggles. "So if you want to send me and Klinn in, we'll do just fine."
"Oh, one more thing. I think we made a good first impression. I overheard her muttering under her breath. Something about her mother being wrong that bandits weren't useful. Course she thinks we're bandits, but hey, you gotta take what you can get, right?"
"Well, with Kressle gone aint they disorganized? Maybe we can do some skirmishes in the night without fully engaging no tower; then if they're dumb enough, they'll send smaller groups out for us and we can ambush them. Whittle 'em down before a final assault, all before their leader returns, and I can kill that bastard who gave me these bruises... Shoots your infiltration plan to s&#+ though."
Perception
Even without Kressle, that's a large and well-fortified force. We'll have better luck ambushing a travelling band, say a woman and her guards, "roaming far."
I vote we set up an ambush along the road to the bandit camp, perhaps a mile before their gate. Kill any raiders headed out, kill or capture Kressle when she comes back. It'll be a while before they realize no one's returned on schedule.
"I would suggest that we go and collect as much information about the fort as we can then decide our course of action from there, if we committing to a strategy right now is crazy and speaking as a champion of chaos and madness that is saying something."
"Assaulting the fort at night could be risky. Even though we'd be a thorn at their side, remember that they have a druid in camp, which could mean that they'll be able to track us and have a better lay of the land. I would be okay with waiting on the road for an ambush, but we'd have to make sure that they'll actually send out units that direction. But, again, if we want to collect information, the best way would be to send one or more of us to the camp under disguise."
"Sure, lets wait by the side of the road for a week. I'm quite excited about sitting around, letting bands of bandits attack Oleg's fort, taking all of our gear while we sit by the side of the road, eating all our rations and then some while we wait for a group of bandits that may or may not be traveling down that trail! That is Brilliant!"
Klinn spits on the ground.
"Look: we need to pounce on these guys before Kressel gets back. The more information we have, the better. I'm fine with going in by night for an initial look around. It is unlikely the their towers will be very useful. We could even sneak in as a group if we thought that was likely to be successful. But I think that the best way to avoid detection is walk right into the camp in broad daylight, lying through our teeth. Hell, we could even make up some story about how the witch is nasty and evil and we want to get rid of her and maybe we should teem up. I could care less. But we need to start taking care of this problem TOMORROW!"
"Right, the druid can catch us, and we don't want to face no druid in a forest. Well, 's'long as one of you can come up with a good cover story, and you can sell it, the lying way could work. Problem is, they might recognize me, so I probably shouldn't go. I dunno what Nitina's, er, patron thinks of lying; in any event she don't have much practice, correct me if I'm wrong. So that's at least two of us who can't go. Since we'd have to split up, how do our little actors contact the rest of us? You gonna sneak out of camp like disrespectful little youngins?" Pete mulls over Klinn's idea of direct infiltration.
"And if we just try to sneak in, what do we do once we're there? Kill 'em in their sleep? Those odds seem only a little better than a direct attack. I get that we should be quick though. If Kressle comes back and we're still lollygagging, it's that much worse for us."
Nitina cocks an eyebrow faintly when Vlad calls himself a champion of chaos and madness. An odd choice of words, and a dangerous one.
Pounce on them, child? Do you want to take on several dozen armed men at once with only our band? Two theives, a noble brat, a vagrant, a mercenary and myself against what, fifty, sixty men? Unless you can summon an army of those creatures she nods her head sideways at Nysro we'd be slaughtered, leaderless or no.
As for lying, the Prince has no objection whatsoever; indeed many in my order practice it to the point of artistry. I just seem to lack the patience for it. I've always found such subterfuge an inefficient way of solving your problems.
I must reiterate, our best weapons here are fear and confusion. If they see us in the light of day she casts a dismissive eye across the ragtag band they won't fear us. But if all they know is that no one who leaves the fort comes back alive, that Kressle hasn't returned as scheduled, that they're running out of supplies but terrified to strike out in search of more... that is when we will have them where we want them.
"Look Miss Nitina, we don't know if there are 60 or 6 bandits at that camp. If there are even 60 bandits in the entire gang, they would almost all need to be constantly out finding food. If there are 60 bandits in camp, then we are dealing with upwards of 200 bandits anyway, just to support the base. Now, If that is the case, I would just as soon join them. If all the Northern Nations can afford to send is ragtag teams of 5 or 6 adventurers, we would be practically invulnerable as a part of the bandit crew. It would be suicide to take out a criminal organization of 250 with only the 6 of us. Guerrilla warfare against a larger more organized guerrilla force? Humph. Not a chance. We've got to get to the fort and see what kind of damage we can do."
Vlad nods at Klinn, "I agree with Klinn's analysis and while I would rather that we perform reconnoissance on the base before we do so, if we aren't going to do that I think that we should return to the base and prepare based on the information that we have available and can collect"
"More importantly I am worried about Oleg, it has been many days since we left, the raiders should have gotten back by now. If I were in charge I would send a very strong group along the same path as the previous one and beat information out of people until I had the whole story. If we leave Oleg alone for much longer I have no doubt that this is what will happen."
"So if we go back we can do both of these things" Vlad draws his bow as he prepares to leave hops on his horse and readies himself to leave.
"THANK you." Klinn says curtly (he is clearly agitated). "But really? All the way back to Oleg's? We left there, what on Toilday? It is only Starday today, How much trouble is another couple of days going to be?! We can intercept any raiding party on the trail either way." As Klinn says this, you recall earlier that he was saying that we needed to get back to Oleg's fort asap just yesterday.
Karina has been uncharacteristically quiet during the discussion, listening intently to what everyone has to offer. "You know, these lands are pretty dangerous. Who's to say that the raiding group didn't get attacked by one of those gigantic centipedes or those snakes or worse? Anywho, if we can learn more about what the bandits are up to through scouting or going undercover, we'll know if they're sending a party to investigate. Which I'm willing to look into. But if I'm going in there, we need some way of communicating with the rest of you, cause if we get in trouble, we'll have nobody to bail us out. And once we're in under cover, it's gonna be hard to just disappear as we please. Who know what kind of odd jobs they'll task us with as trainees?"
As you ride along, Arastine's expression of incredulity has grows until she can contain herself no more. "Um, I don't think we're up against a fort here. First, that creature in the woods called it a camp. Second, she said it straddles a creek and a game trail. No fort straddles a creek. Ever. It's a structural weakness - water and sewage functions happen via wells and latrines. Trust me on this," she says knowingly.
"As for dealing with these bandits, I think the one thing we can agree on is that we need more information. Unless one of you want to go sweet talk that witch into giving up more information, we'll need to learn more about this camp ourselves." She thinks for a moment, before saying "Nitina, your ambush idea requires that we know their travel patterns. We don't. Infiltrating them could work, I guess, but you'd need to be bloody convincing. By now they almost certainly know that something went wrong for the group sent to Oleg's. I wouldn't be surprised if they shoot unknown persons on sight. If you think you can convince them you're the real deal, though, it could be worth a try. Maybe wear those badges and pretend to be higher-ranking bandits investigating why the witch is still alive?"
"So if the camp's not that big, and they're suspicious of intruders, maybe it's best we lure 'em out after all; we can even use the land to our advantage, trap those motherless sons of... no one, I guess. Depends on that Druid. Sounds better than a direct assault to me, anyway."
"What a bunch of cowards! You sissys! Look, this can't even be their main camp! Do you think this is where the Stag lord himself hangs out or something? If the bandits who were raiding Oleg had never met the Stag Lord in a place without walls, they'd have to be blind and deaf. There has got to be no more than a handful of bandits there! We come in at night, they won't see us until we are breathing down their throats. And so what if they do! If we come in fast enough, they won't know what hit them. Go in either before the moon comes up or just after it goes down. There is nothing to this! Lets get in, get out, and get on with life."
Nitina remains silent after this outburst. She's watching the rest of the group, trying to size up which way the consensus is moving.
"Well, fine. Don't cry to me when you're turned into a newt, though."
Klinn has variously argued for sneaking in to get a look around, infiltrating through deception, and killing them while they sleep.
Nitina wants to set up a road-block. She thinks an all-out attack would be suicide.
Arastine warned against infiltration and against a road block.
Pete has for a night attack (or attacks), and is okay with the idea of infiltration.
Vlad seems to want to sneak in for some recon.
So we've got four plans:
Plan (in favor/opposed)
Infiltration (1/2)
Night Attack (2/2)
Stealth Recon (2/0)
Roadblocks (1/1)
Or if I--as best I can--rank each person's preferences (most-least)
Karina RB SR NA In
Klinn NA In SR RB
Nitina RB SR In NA
Arastine SR NA In RB
Pete NA In RB SR
Vlad SR In NA RB
Using 5-3-2-0 scoring, this gives
In 0+3+2+2+3+3=13
NA 2+5+0+3+5+2=17
SR 3+2+3+5+0+5=18
RB 5+0+5+0+2+0=12
Stealth recon seems most popular, but only by a hair.
So no clear favorite. Let me know if I've misconstrued anyone's position.
"Klinn trust me I want to kill them all as much as you do. Probably more for that matter. But if we are going to succeed we should see what we are getting ourselves into beforehand. It doesn't really matter it sounds like no matter what we are agreed that our next move is to go to the base. So onward then."
"Klinn, there's a difference between cowardice and prudence. We don't know much about these bandits in the camp. Specifically, unless the ones back at the trading post gave up some information before they died, we don't know how large their camp is or how many inhabitants there are. Only a fool charges into a fortified position without knowledge of what he's up against." She pauses, before continuing "I think we need to do some reconnaissance. Whether we do so by stealth or by infiltrating the camp I don't care. If we happen to catch a random scout, great! Without knowing their travel habits we can't be certain of that occurring, though."
"Sheesh, always so reckless, Klinn. Slow down. We certainly need to know what we're up against before we try to kill them all in the night. Now, as for the way we get some information, going under cover has the highest ceiling, though it's damn risky. Really, the best way to learn about things is by talking to people." She grimaces, "Buuuuuuttttt... there's no guarantee they'll buy the story. I don't think I have quite enough pieces available to make a convincing backstory as a superior bandit. So if y'all are ready to sneak around, I think that may be our best bet."
"Sneakin' around at night sounds good. How about we just look around for starters, and if we see an opening we pounce there and then?" He pauses, taking a good look at the group. "And if we screw up, we make our stand there and then. Heh heh. Very least I doubt they're expecting us."
At the wise words of Vlad and Arastine, Klinn lets out a loud, frustrated yell, which spooks his horse. The horse bolts and Klinn is unable to regain control over it until he is a good 150 yards down the trail. He slowly and sullenly rides his horse back to the group, but ignores the party.
Gauging Klinn's reaction, Karina sighs and tells the others, "He'll be fine. He just gets a little moody sometimes. Here, let me talk to him." She rides alongside Klinn and says, "Hey Klinn. Can I talk to ya?"
She continues, "Look, I know you're disappointed, but... well, we can't go rushing in to the camp without knowing what we're up against. I know you're always up for a fight, I can't blame ya. But don't let that charter get to your head."
She leans in and says softly and sincerely:
Perception
Nitina smirks, but says nothing.
The night passes uneventfully and you prepare to set out on the fifth day since leaving Oleg's.
Vlad stands up dressing and checking that his arrows and blade slide easily, "Shall we explore the area suggested to us by the witch? If we locate the camp we can formulate a plan from there."
Vlad, satisfied with his preparations, finishes by lighting his usual cigarette, careful not to select the one containing mite dust, "We should probably all keep our weapons at the ready and stay sharp, the closer we get to the camp the more likely we are to run into bandits from that camp and be waylaid by them. If we see them we need to make sure that they either think that we are also bandits or kill them so that we still have the option of talking our way into the base and no stories of bandit killers reach our...prey." Vlad lingers on this last word, his tongue savoring the sound as though he can taste it. Vlad licks his lips, lost to the world.
Vlad then shakes himself a little and his features return to normal as he goes to his horse and makes the final adjustments for the day.
Perception:
"Y'know, if we run into some bandits and capture one without letting him off himself, we could convince him to give us good info on the camp."
You set out. It is a cool spring day. By mid-afternoon, you have discerned the location of the bandits' camp. A creek runs toward it, and smoke from a campfire drifts above the forest canopy.
Karina says in somewhat of a hushed tone, "Well, here we are. I don't think we can get any closer though. Should we back off, kill some time, and come back at night?"
Klinn continues to look sullen. For the rest of the day, Klinn doesn't say much. At camp, Klinn summons and heals him (he is only missing one HP), then dismisses him.
Klinn summons Nysro (str -1 for the day) on his watch as per usual.
"If we want to try to con our way in we should go during the day. My advise is that we wait until tonight and we scope it out. Then we make a plan." Vlad's grin slides along his face. "This is going to be fun"
"We could also keep scoutin' the perimiter. I say we look for scoutin' bandits, kill all of 'em but one, and then we know everything we need ta know about the camp. Hiding here like little bunnies for the rest of the day'll make my back sore anyhow."