Atapax's Kingmaker Campaign

Game Master Aluvian

The Front gate slamming shut may not have been the signal that everyone was expecting, but luckily for the defenders, the mere act, combined with armed men and women seemingly jumping from the woodwork catches the bandits completely by surprise. So much so that they can do little but freeze, gazing about in shock as Sia executes the quick motions and arcane wordings of her spell.

Just as Estruven is dismounting, her sword leveled at the bandit leader's neck in a brilliant display of martial prowess....

...all four bandits fall to the ground in a sound sleep.

Man I hate rolling exactly one under the DC... twice... :)

Sia pants for several moments, somehow not quite believing that worked. "Quickly, get a rope. Tie them as tightly as you can, they'll wake up in barely a minute."

Yossian blinks rapidly, and gently relaxes his grip on the bowstring.

"Cayden's Tankard, that was easier than I expected."

He hurries to help tie the prisoners.

Gorax, listens intently for the sounds of fighting but none comes. Tentatively, he knocks the stable door slightly ajar, hoping to survey the scene, but all he sees are the rear ends of horses. His eyes wide open, Gorax creeps as stealthily as possible through the horses, trying not to disturb them. He hears the sound of running feet, so with his sword ready, pushes past the last remaining horse and stands in an aggressive stance sword held high and waving in the air, "Come and get some steel!".

He looks around, seeing 4 bandits lyingin heaps and comatose on the floor, the sounds of deep breaths and snores. His fellow travelers are either tying up bandits or running to the bandits with rope in hand.

"Excellent work Sia!" Estruven exclaims.

She takes her rope off from behind her saddle and ties up one of the bandits, taking time to ties his feet as well as his hands together. After she is sure the prisoner is secure she pours through his pockets and removes his belongings as well as any weapons he has on him.

Cal is the last on the scene and since the bandits are already being tied up by the time he gets down to the ground level, he instead keeps his bow drawn and aimed in the general direction of the bandits, just to keep them from getting any ideas of escape when they wake up again.

Sia takes a few moments to visibly calm herself while the bandits are secured. Once she can see that it's safe again, she takes a few deep breaths.

"All right people. Weapons down and away, or if you must keep them out for the sake of all the gods keep them out of their sight." She takes a look around. "This isn't over yet. The mind is a strange thing, and even magic isn't totally reliable when it comes to dealing with it. This will be a lot easier if we stack the deck in our favor. If there's anything obviously dangerous about, like, say, someone pointing a bow at their heads, it won't work at all."

Slowly, she raises her hands in a small, almost imperceptible gesture. "When I do that, it means that I'm ready for you guys to take over. Though I'd prefer we not kill any who opt to simply go to jail up north."

Cal looks sheepish and puts away his bow.

Estruven sheaths her sword. "So, do you plan to gain their trust through magic? We still need reliable information from at least one of them. If so, I think we may need to separate them so that we can keep the others from talking to anyone we question."

She looks at the mounts the bandits brought and looks them over checking for the quality of the breed and any training they may have.

Perception 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

"We should also place their horses in the stable in case any of them get spooked."

Sia nods. "I can try to hypnotize them all at once, which is what I was going to do first. There's only so much magic I can do in a single day, though. Hopefully at least one of them will prove suggestible enough. We can take that one and isolate him from the others and I'll work on him a bit more to see if we can't get information. The rest...I really would hate to just kill them, even though we're the law. So if we offer them a chance to simply plead guilty and they refuse, I guess that's good enough."

"The charter says execution is in order for engaged in unrepentant banditry, however it doesn't say anything about repentant bandits. I suppose we'll cross that bridge once we get there."

Gorax sheathes his weapon, and moves the horses into the stable out of the way, coming back with more rope and tieing up any of the bandits that require it. Gorax removes any weaponry or shields from the bandits, having taken weapons away before the rope was totally secured. "Estruven, these 3 ain't repented yet, perhaps we should ready a gallows, after all Oleg would like to use them to discourage others." If this can all be done in the time before hey wake up.

"Hey, Sia you sure you can hypnotize people when theys all trussed up and bound in rope? If you can, go for it girl, but wouldn't it be easier to hypnotize them one at a time?"

The 3 bandits start to stir out of their sleep, so Gorax stands over them, one hand cupping his huge fist, that is tightly clenched. He looks each in the eye as they wake from the slumber saying to the stirring bandits in a tone of grim authority, "You're gonna behave for me now ain't you, don't want any trouble now do we. You see we're here under a charter, which requires us to seek out repentant people, who no longer want to follow bad ways. Now I'm sure this little misunderstanding you are having with Oleg and his good lady can be sorted out amicably can't it? You do want to help us don't you?"

Intimidate 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
If anyone else wants to aid another, well me, in the intimidation then please do, i assume only Cal or Yossain could do this as I think they are over by the 3 bandits, rather than the leader who is with Sia and Estruven.

Sia sighs as the boys get right into the heavy-handed stuff. This isn't helpful...I'll have to try to make do.

"Unfortunately, Gorax, I can only do this once without prior preparation, and I thought it might be more prudent to be prepared for combat than the following interrogation. How was I to know these men would have less mental strength than the merchants and laborers I paid at school to act as my experimental subjects for classes." On noting the probably odd looks she's getting, she gives one back. "What, did you think I practiced on animals? Please, put them all together, facing one direction.

"Gentlemen," she addresses the bandits with a smile. "Lest what you think too much of what Gorax said, it's truly not all that bad. I'm a fair sort of girl. If you confess to your crimes in front of a judge in Restov, I'm quite sure you'll only get, oh, ten years of hard labor or so. For the killing and raping I'm sure you've no doubt done, that's practically a bargain."

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20 Diplomacy check, trying to at least calm the bandits down enough that the Hypnotism spell will work its' magic without needing to contend with the 'in immediate danger' modifiers.

Pulling out her amulet and sliding it from around her neck (no doubt giving the scum an eyeful, possibly the last they'll ever get), Sia looks at them and smiles. "Now, I do apologize for the necessity, but I'm afraid that this is not a court of law, and we are not magistrates. Further, we're in a bit of a rush. So, this won't be held against you." The pendant is dropped down and allowed to sway gently, the ruby catching the early morning sunlight and seeming to reflect it in fascinating patterns. "Now, all you have to do is watch as the pendant sways slowly...that's it. Good boy. Just watch it and relax, and let take care of everything..."

2d4 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3 Base HD affected.
1d6 ⇒ 3 Number of rounds to make the suggestion.
Casting the Hypnotism spell through Arcane Bond spontaneously. Lowest are affected first, though I'm not sure that matters in this case. Any who fail will be helpfully inclined to follow the suggestion below.

"Now...I know you're nice and relaxed, so you just want to keep feeling this way. All you have to do, is tell us everything you know about your camp. That's all..." Once Sia's done speaking, she quickly snatches the pendant up and out of sight before snapping her fingers. "Now, anything you boys want to talk to me about?" she asks with a smile.

Yeah, I know technically the Arcane Bonded item has to be worn, but this is just a little too flavorful to pass up. For the record, if it becomes relevant in the future I'm perfectly willing to say it still takes up the neck slot when used in the hands, so she can't benefit from an amulet and cast spells. I think that's really the intention of the rule anyway.

Calath leans up against the wall of the guest cabin and watches the enchantress at her work, keeping a careful eye on the prisoners both for signs of violence and for signs of falsehoods as they begin to talk.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Sia, as hypnotize only gets the negative modifier in combat, and with the bandits tied up and not weapons out, combat should have ended. Thus there should be no negative modifier to the hypnotize from the intimidate. The intimidate if it works would make the bandits friendly, so a good diplomacy would by someone else would make them helpful, as your diplomacy has done. Might not even need to waste a spell to hypnotize them.

Also apologies for not taking a 10 for the intimidate, forgot I might have been able to do that. The intimidation, for any it works on, will last for:

Intimidation duration1d6 ⇒ 4 x 10 minutes = 40 minutes

The bandits wake up slowly, shaking their heads in confusion. Their predicament comes back all too vividly as they look about and see all of the people around them. While there are no longer any weapons in sight, Gorax's message does not go unheaded and it becomes obvious that while the three who had been loading the horses might care far more for their own lives than protecting anyone from anything, the leader is not so cowed.

Still, all four focus on Sia as she begins to talk and four pairs of eyes focus on the pretty pendant. Oooooo Preeettty...

While two of the regular bandits just continue to look about fearfully, the leader and another continue to look at Sia in rapt attention.

"You want to know about our camp?" the leader asks, his voice rather vacant.

"It's a couple days south. Kressle'll be expecting us in a couple days." the other adds.

Ooh, allow me! An opportunity to use my least useful Class Ability!

While the others interrogate the prisoners, Yossian moves to calm the horses. Moveing slowly between them he strokes their manes, scratches behind their ears, and whispers soothing words, trying to calm the horses down.

Wild Empathy - 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

If he can calm the horses sufficiently, he unharnesses them and leads them into the stables.

Sia thinks carefully. She knows that even though they'll still answer questions once the spell wears off, she has to somehow relate everything to the camp itself. "How many people live there? Do you follow any trails to get from there to here?"

Gorax moves away from the bandits and watches in amazement as the leader and one other offer up information about the camp. Talking quietly under his breath, "Jez, that crystal is pretty powerful to make these guys talk so freely. Pretty impressive, wonder what else Sia has up her sleeve." His mind wanders as he contemplates that maybe this magic stuff is useful after all, but it doesn't last long.
He turns to Yossain, who is with the horses in the stable. "Better take a look to see if there are any 'Taxes' that can be re-appropriated from the saddlebags, I'm sure Oleg is due some sort of a rebate from these collectors." He chuckles gently, thinking it is only fair and just that Oleg and Swetlana be returned goods that had been stolen from them. "Oh, and if you find any shields in their possession, send it my way, always wanted me own shield. Never could afford one, and its fair payment to clear the countryside of thieves."
If any of Oleg's possessions had been taken by the bandits, Gorax will help Oleg get them back from the stables and carry them to the store house. "Wanna hand Oleg with getting this stuff back in your storehouse. If these scum took anything, I'll help you retrieve it from the stables."

Gorax does not interfere with the bandits until Sia has finished her questioning.

Yossian nods to Gorax. "Go ahead - I'll join you once I've seen to these beasts. Remember to look out for a wedding ring - Svetlana said they took hers."

Estruven stands silently as Sia continues to amaze with her capabilities. My, how fortunate we are to have someone with her powers! she says to herself.

Yossian and Gorax take care of the horses, with the help of Oleg. He seems very interested in what's going on with the bandits, but knows enough about magic to not mess with those who use it while they're waving it about. As it turns out there isn't much on the horses. The bandits did have a reasonable amount of equipment however. The most noticeable is a composite longbow that had belonged to the leader. Each of the other bandits also had a longbow, but unfortunately, no shields and no ring.

"A dozen of us live there..." answers one of the vacant-eyed bandits.

"No trail... Just a game trail... And then a path..." continues the leader without missing a beat.

The other two bandits look from their comrades to the Enchantress and back, obviously disturbed by the scene.

The horses seen to, Yossian returns to the scene and begins to fashion a noose from a length of stout rope.

Sia smiles very slightly at the two who managed to resist her spell, probably an unnecessary gesture but hey. She only continues to speak. "Good. That's very good." Quickly running out of ideas for questions, she starts making a series of gestures that's actually fairly complicated, but the gist seems to be clear enough...

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 Bluff: Trying to convey a secret or hidden message, DC is 15 for something relatively simple

Sense Motive 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Yossian looks curiously at the gestures, assumes it is some magic thing, and continues his ropework.

After helping Oleg, Gorax sees Sia making some movements with her hands and turns to Yossain, "You know Sia does dance strangely, what the hell is she doing?" Gorax starts to mimic the hand gestures and starts to sing badly,
"her hair was black...dum dee dum...her heart was pure...la la la...she was my love...but now she's gone...dum..dee..dum"
If the bandits turn to look at Gorax, he stops singing, a little embarrassed and confused, before putting on his hostile and rough demeanor.

Sense Motive1d20 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2

Estruven wants Sia to ask about their leader back at their base and a few other questions. She is about to approach Sia when she begins making more strange gestures.

Sense Motive 1d20 ⇒ 4

When Sia quits moving Estruven slowly walks over to her and whispers in her ear: "Ask them to describe their leader back at their base, what their base is like and how it is fortified, if they have any magic users. Also, ask them what will happen if they don't return, or umm...are "late" getting back. And finally, if they know where Svetlana's wedding ring is located."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Technically we don't have to roll (Sia passed the check, which means her intended recipients understand the message automatically), but I figured everyone else did...

Cal nods at Sia and interjects a few questions of his own. "Is yer base th' only one fer yer band o' bandits? There any traps on th' trail t' yer base? What're th' watch-words fer th' sentries?"

Sia acknowledges Estruven with another quick gesture, which she probably expects everyone to immediately comprehend the meaning of, before beginning to speak again.

"Who runs your camp?" she says, still keeping her tone friendly and dignified. "What's it like there? And does anyone who uses magic live with you there?" As to the last few, she shrugs.

By this point the trance itself will have worn off. While the suggestion is going to remain in effect, they'll likely be thinking much more critically now. That means they're only going to talk freely about stuff that's directly related to the camp itself. Even asking about the people living there is a bit of a stretch, though not too implausible. All of Cal's questions are right out, except maybe the bit about the traps.

The bandits all look over to Cal and his questions with squinting eyes, but the leader can't help but answer Sia's. As much as he knows that he should be guarding this information, he just can't seem to consider it valuable right now. It's a contradiction that he visibly doesn't like.

"Kressle runs our camp, and she'll do you in good too. Wipe that smugness right off that pretty face. Right good enough camp too, shade and water easy enough."

"Right... And no magic!" the other bandits chimes in as though that makes the place much more inviting.

The change in attitude from the spell also only applies to Sia. They are under no compulsion to assist anyone else.

Sia frowns as he comes out of the trance. The cognitive dissonane may have him talking now, but if she can't keep it going he may actually be able to fight off her suggestions. She quickly goes over what she knows about him in her head, which unfortunately isn't a great deal. Unfortunately, only one reason he might still be talking springs to her mind. Gods, I hope Oleg's got a bathtub and some soap. I'm going to need both after this.

Her voice drops down to a seductive whisper. "Oh, thank you handsome. Now, if I just happened to want to pay a visit there, is there anything I should know about the approach. Stuff I should be looking out for, anything I should say, you know..."

If this actually works, it will be a very minor miracle.

Gorax watches the bandits, ensuring they do not try an break their bonds.

The leader just sneers at the enchantress. A mocking snide expression that shows exactly what he's thinking. "You might try saying your prayers if you go looking for trouble in those woods little deary. Kressle'll chop you all up good." His grin grows as he looks about at everyone else. "And there's more to worry about in them woods than just bandits."

Yossian finishes furnishing four nooses, then walks round so that he can show them to the captives.

"Yer might want to think about being a bit more helpful. Because *this*" and he fishes his slightly tattered copy of his charter out of his pocked "gives the lawful representives of the Throne, namely *us*, the right an' duty to enact the lawful punishment for bandity, namely *this*" and he brandishes the four nooses.

"Right now, the only thing that might convince us not to stretch yer necks is how helpful yer might be rounding up the rest of Kressle's sorry bunch. Right, I'm off to tie these to the rail of that watchtower over there. Yer've got til I gets back to be a little more helpful. Don't think about it fer too long."

He saunters off to climb the ladder up to one of the watchtowers, before securing the four nooses firmly to a stout beam.

Gorax marches over as he hears the words from their leader, no one talks like that to his friends. With a scowl he looks down at the leader and the others. Calling to Yossain and Oleg he says How's the gallows going?, then to the bandits leader. "We are bound by charter to remove from circulation bandits we find harassing and bullying poor innocents like Oleg and Swetlana."
Without taking his steely eyes from the bandits, Gorax says to the party, "Can you collect all their weapons now and search them, now we've finished with the introductions. Save a bow and arrows for me, I could do with a ranged weapon for this countryside. I think we should invite this scoundrel" looking at the bandit leader "to see Yossain's handiwork." Gorax hands his sword to Oleg or Sia with the words "Can you look after this for me, whilst I help this 'Gentleman' to his feet."
With that, Gorax's large rough hands grab the bandit leader and pull him to his feet.

I assume if the intimidate has worked I have at least 35 minutes left? Is that OK.

Gorax leans forward and whispers in Yossain's ear,

After finishing tying the nooses, Yossian scurries back down the ladder and fetches a wooden crate from Oleg's goods, positioning it under the first noose. He leaps nimbly on top, takes hold of one noose, and nods down at Gorax. "Heave him up here, Pops."

Why are we hanging the guys while they're still talking, again? I imagine that might just disrupt the magic and make them not want to talk at all. Actually, I wasn't aware that we'd agreed as a group to hang them at all.

I think the magic has worn off and I guess this is a bluff to get them to confess more, or at least that is what Estruven believes is going on.

Before Gorax can grab one of the bandits Estruven walks over to Yossian, close enough so that she can whisper to him without the others hearing her. "You're not going to actually hang them right now are you? We may still be able to get something useful out of them."

The leader just scowls at Gorax as he's led up to the makeshift gallows. Either he feels Gorax is bluffing or he's just not afraid to die. It's hard to tell which.

The other bandits, however, are all looking about at each other worriedly. This is quickly going from bad to worse. Yet no one seems about to talk to save their leader.

The magic is worn off. It still has a moderate use, but it is very limited, as Sia has pointed out.

As for your Intimidate, Gorax, sometimes people are more afraid of other things than death, even weak willed people. That and if they figure they're going to die anyways... :)

Well, I guess we're about to see what the consequences for "unrepentant banditry" looks like.

Estruven hates the idea of torturing people for information. It is dishonorable to say the least, so she is direct and to the point. "We hate to put you up there, but we do have an order from the Swordlords to clear these lands of people such as yourself. Now, we can get you down from there and you can serve some time for your crimes if you renounce your ways." She reaches into to her bag and pulls out a sheet of parchment. "We can draw up a confession and request for mercy right now, just need you to sign it. And then I promise that no harm will come to you as long as you don't resist being escorted to the prison in Restov."

"How does that sound?"

Yossian places the noose around the bandit's neck, tightens it a little, and then leaps off the crate.

"Give the lady an answer, and make it a good 'un. It may be your last."

As soon as the others step in, Sia suddenly slouches back, looking fairly exhausted for a few moments before standing up. "That's a little harder than doing it in a classroom," she admits. "That spell's not going to get much more out of them, I'll admit."

She nods to Estruven. "It's better than how I would have to get any more information out of them. It could take days, or even weeks. No food, little sleep, and in between taking minds apart a little more. Not that, you know, I've ever gone in for something that extensive. The odds that I'd be able to put them back together again, metaphorically speaking, are not good. But the curriculum is very clear about making sure to study the theory of any application of magic you choose to apply yourself to. I could get the job done."

1d20 ⇒ 13 Not sure what kind of a check the above is. Intimidate would be +7, Bluff +6. Or maybe I'm just rolling dice to roll dice. Sia, for the record, has no intention of actually going through with that kind of a violation.

Yossian flashes a grin at Estruven, then remarks aloud

"Hanging is a mercy, surely? You've heard the way Svetlana's been talking - sharpening that rusty knife o' hers all morning, and promising us prarie oysters fer lunch. Now I don't know exactly what them are, but I'm reckonin' if we let her loose in this bunch, they'll be begging fer the noose afore too long..."

Gorax says to Estruven and Yossain, "If this one hangs for his crimes, perhaps those others might be more helpful and grateful for any clemency we might show and make their way back to Restov. We should speak privately to each one, so they don't try and lie to us. Let me go down and speak with the first. Have this one feel the judgment of the rope and let his God take care of him."

With the leader up on the his perch ready to swing, Gorax returns down to the bandits below. He helps the next gentleman to his feet and whispers in his ears, "Now then sunshine, with that big bully out the way, do you think you might be able to help us some more? Just nod yes and perhaps we can have a little private conversation. Perhaps we can avoid more bloodshed and you can give us enough help to spare your life. I hope you aren't a bully like him."

Atapax?

Gorax waits to see the bandit leader hanging for his crimes, before acting further. Hope you are all OK people.

The bandit leader glares at Estruven, glancing down to her parchment then back up to her. It's obvious that he's torn. On the one hand, he obviously wants to live, but on the other hand something seems to be holding him back. "I've already told you everything that you've asked," he spits. "What else do you need to know?

Meanwhile back at the rest of the bandits, one of the frightened men is starring at Gorax who has him held tight. The man listens to the proposal... considers it for a moment... Then nods a couple times. He's not dyeing if he can help it, and it doesn't look as though he's going to need to worry about his boss much longer.

Cal focuses on the bandit leader, watching his expression and body language as he and Estruven talk, attempting to discover any clues about what he's holding back or how to get him to discuss it.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

"Y' didn' answer my questions, now, didja? It's a real hardship fer us t' trot yerselves back up t' Rostov t' hand ye over t' the mag'strates. Might wanna be a bit more cooperative iffn ye'd like t' keep yer neck on straight. It'd be much easier t' jus' hang ye here, an' we got that nice letter tha' says we'd be all legal-like t' do so."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15