Autumn accepted the bow and arrows from the man, but sighed sad to know there was nothing more she could do for the poor man. "Vekkel, please take care." Autumn said kindly before she put the items away.
When Larin as his question and Torek answered she listened. "Our task was to find the bandit king and remove him." Autumn reminded Torek. "It was the life of this man that we paused that for." She added as she got the head of the dire boar out. "It seems that the land itself is telling us to focus on different things. After all we keep getting draw to more important things that we have to act upon or else it wouldn't turn out well for those involved." Autumn sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"As much as I wish to continue to focus upon the greatest threat, maybe we should just continue to head that way, and see what the land grants us?"
He had been so focused on saving the man he hadnt realized the relatively minor harm Autumn had taken upon herself for it. He was kicking himself over that now. Still A life was saved and that was what counted on the grand scheme of things he supposed.
"Maybe Torek is right. I've been dithering on riding out against this bandit king fellow becuase thats a soldiers job, and i'm no longer a soldier. I've been wandering about helping folk out cause that is old Deadeye's way. "
He paused and leaned over some to make sure he got a good look at Autumns hands, to make sure there wasn't any sign of an deeply embed thorn that would affect her drawing of a bow.
"It might be time at least to ride out to this Bandit's lords little keep and let him know its time to go."
Herger could see that Autumn had picked out every thorn with some care, however the huntress hadn't healed the wounds with magic. Most of them where still there, just scabbing over and a rare few could scar without magical means of healing.
"It sounds like the bandit king is our next goal then," Larin says, hoping he's summarised the others' thoughts correctly. "Though there's a chance we get diverted by something on our way there. As you said," he adds, looking at Autumn, "there are always important things that come up that might divert us, but we may as well start on the right path."
He frowned at the scabs forming on Autumn and shook his head slightly. He had been so distracted with Vekkel, he hadn't paid as much attention as he should have to her. He cast a spell of healing, soothing her hurts.
"Sorry Miss Autumn I was distracted."
He said lowly as he double checked to make sure she was good to go, wouldnt do to mar her pretty skin.
"That does sound correct." Autumn told Larin with a nod. "There is about half a day left. We could set out again now, though we wouldn't get far before we have to make camp. So why don't we just remain here for the night then head out fresh?" She asked.
Autumn's cheeks turned pink as Herger healed her wounds, clearing them up so that there would be any scars. "Oh, uha.. thank you." Autumn said, then she noticed Herger paying extra attention to ensure each wound was gone. "I'm fine, honestly." She told him with a thankful nod.
Larin nods his agreement with Autumn's plan, keen to stay in the relative comfort of Oleg's for a little while longer before heading back out into the wilds.
Vekkel Benzen has a pretty good knowledge of the land around Oleg’s trading post. Most of which has already been explored and mapped. He does confirm that the Stag Lord’s hold is the ruined castle overlooking Lake Tuskwater. The place Autumn had scouted (to a small degree), awhile ago.
"So that was what we found." Autumn said, happy to know she was correct. "Thank you Vekkel." She smiled at the fellow, or well once, hunter in thanks. "We owe you a great deal."
During their remaining time at Oleg's Autumn checked up on everyone and got in a lesson of archery with Ulfger. During the night she joined the guard, walking the bounds. The ever vigil huntress. Even if Frostbite snoozed in the stables beside Solstice.
"What do we know about where the Stag Lord lives?" Larin asks during the evening meal one night. "Does he have a lot of followers? Is his hold going to be a tough nut to crack?"
"Aye, seems we ran across his base in our earlier travels, thankfully we didn't make the mistake of getting too close Larin."
He paused and sighed deeply. He knew it was necessary to remove the Bandit lord, he refused even in thought to call him the Stag lord in honor of his beliefs. Ol'Deadeye was the only Stag lord in his mind, But he had hoped maybe they would have had a larger force. There was just too many unknowns.
"We aren't too sure about the number of followers he has to be honest. We've fought some of them a few times, they were not left in good enough shape to tell us.We got some information from ol' Curley but I don't rightly know if the hold will be tough to crack either, but If you prepare for something to be really difficult and it turns out easier that is better than expecting it to be easy."
He offered the little halfling he hoped was a reassuring nod though.
"The gods will be watching, and they will be with us for sure though no worries friend."
That night he found himself sitting outside of his sleeping arrangements sometimes watching Autumn patrolling around. He didnt understand it really, she could get actual sleep if she wanted. He wondered if she had tried to speak to Kestin again. He was a good man, but far too much a stickler for some things, some of his soldiers would make storming the Bandit kings keep a bit easier for sure. The chat he had with his son when they first got back to the camp had be gnawing at him a bit as well.
"Pa, Miss Blakely... you know the mother of Sara asked me the other day why you never found another wife. She mentioned she had never met an unmarried cleric of Erastil."
His son's words had been bouncing around his mind all night and he found he didnt have an answer. Clerics and Priests of Erastil were almost always married if they were looking after a community and it had been a long time since he had even thought about it... but he had always said he would have time to worry about that once his boy was safe and grown. But here he was. Something to think about for sure.
Early morning. The day looks to be a pleasant one with a gentle breeze and light fluffy clouds. The grassland is colorful with wild flowers. There is the buzzing of bees, the chirping of birds, and butterflies flit about from flower to flower.
Autumn did her best to ensure everyone had everything they needed the moment they got up.
So when everyone came out for breakfast she greeted them with a warm smile. "Good morning, this day shows itself to be a good one! Come let us eat then head out."
"Did his followers seem particularly strong or able?" Larin asks as Hergir explains their previous encounters with the Stag Lord's people. "Hopefully they give us less trouble than those trolls!" he adds with a slightly nervous laugh.
_____________________
Larin stretches and yawns loudly as he heads towards breakfast, constantly amazed by Autumn's good mood despite her lack of sleep. He sits down at the table and begins to ladle porridge into a bowl. "Are we heading towards the Stag Lord's fort then?" he asks, sprinkling a handful of nuts onto his breakfast before sitting down.
He had just finished praying to Erastil when he joined the halfling at the common table outside. It looked to the start or a glorious day. He didnt know whether to take that as a good sign or a bad one. They were going to assault a bandit lords stronghold amd eliminate him. He would have preferred a bit of a storm. He joined the table with a bowl of hot porraige and a hunk of bread. He thought back to last night.
"you asked last night how strong and able the bandit lords forces had been as we faced them and i didnt have a good answer. I do now. They are competant bullies. I think they will be a problem as long as their courage holds, but if we take the head of the snake amd his top lieutenants, assuming he has any he trusts, the rest will fall like wheat to the scythe i bet."
"We had found their base though we didn't know it at the time." Autumn explained as she got herself and Frostbite some food. "A couple of us tried to scout it, but it went wrong. We didn't get close enough to see much of anything save the fact he had people on watch. I believe that, he'll be ready for a fight. It might help to scout once again."
She paused to get a bit of her breakfast as she thought over a possible plan. "It isn't like we can just walk in."
Back in the recent past.
Torek nods at Autumn's words. "Oh, i agree there was little else we could do about this but it does seem that every time we go farther than a day something comes up that stops us from getting near the root of the problems here." He sighs, "Perhaps you're right, we should leave it in Erastil's hands. But you know I worry about things I can't control, I get it from Mom as you also know."
Present
Torek expands on Herger's words. "Competent bullies is right. But this bandit chief sets his men to tasks that seem such men would not do or do well at. Like building an outpost. Hard work that. That implies a great hold over his men or great foolishness on his part. We don't know which, given the numbers we have already killed or captured; he either is low on warriors or has a surprising amount of support. What is trying to do implies the latter but he may just be overly ambitious. In any event expect at least a low cunning."
"Aye Autumn, that's the rub. A forest of knowledge out there but we have but one leaf. How to plan with so little known? His men will be prepared, we must be too. If things were different, if we were different we could pretend to join him but by now he should have some idea of us. In any event he seems to have a policy of having recent recruits prove themselves in the field under trusted lieutenants. A wise way of things truthfully." Torek shrugs, "I wish I had a clever thought but I don't. Play it as we can perhaps something will occur on the way."
"Indeed." Autumn said to Torek with a small smirk. "Much like how I take on too much, it's apart of my nature." She added, bringing up the topic he had mentioned to her about working on. Which she had begun, but such a nature would be a long battle to quell. "We will have to do our best to keep the path but know that there many be more in store for us."
"If one of us was good at lying then I would actually suggest getting in by suggesting to join... but I don't think any of us could sell it." Autumn admitted with a chuckle. "If we can get close again I shall try to scout once more." She told them.
"We find a spot to hole up, someone sets up a small camp in view of the place let him send a patrol or a raiding party to the fake camp and hit them when they think they have us. After all we know have an idea of where they are so we have that advantage."
He suggested next thinking back to his days up north.
Larin nods appreciatively as the others expound on what they do or don't know about this bandit group. It's obvious they've thought a lot about how to deal with the Stag Lord and his people, and as a newcomer he feels he has little to add.
"If you've dealt with a few of his recruits already the Stag Lord might not have had chance to gather more, and probably not good ones - it's not like there are loads of people out here to choose from. Maybe we should wait for another group to leave the fort and see if we can capture a recruit or two who'll trade information for a better life away from the Stag Lord?" he suggests.
Torek mulls over Larin's ideas. "That may have possibilities, they acted quickly at the last attempt. Taking a patrol out could be helpful, but then they are even more alerted. Still our options are few. Perhaps, in the daytime I could lookout from the forest see if I can note anything and if they give chase with reasonable numbers I lead them to our ambush point, if not I vanish into the woods; I can make it very hard to track me there, if I wish. Likely those sent will be warriors this would be warlord trusts more than most. I know time was brief before leaving Autumn but do you remember how far the fort was from the treeline? Any guess as to the numbers that gave chase?"
Torek starts planning not always the best thing...
Larin mulls over Torek's point before responding. "Does it really matter if they're on alert though, if we've dealt with even more of the bandits? And it doesn't sound like they're all very dedicated either, I doubt they'd stay on alert for long."
"Miles away." Autumn told Torek. "We had been in the hilly plains remember?" She asked before pausing and eating the rest of her breakfast.
"I did not get enough time to see who was following or even if they gave chase at all. I had to hide the traces and gain as much distance between them and myself as possible." Autumn explained, "I do know that they as close to the lake as it was by that I lost them completely."
"We could set a camp up as a distraction and see if they take the bait, we can thin their numbers, maybe even get enough time to scout their base as well."
Torek replies to Larin, "That's the rub, we really don't know there could be six or sixty in there, very disciplined or rabble. Take our best shot, it's all we can do."
Torek nods to Autumn's reply, "The problem is hiding the reserve force, we want to tempt them out and send a force for a smaller group. But with the height of a fort they can pretty well see for miles. How do we conceal our numbers and still be close enough to each other to support?"
Torek looks at his breakfast with a bit of surprise then ruefulness, "Yeah, think too much, eat too little, got focus on the now."
"I'm not sure what the best way forward is," Larin muses, finishing off his porridge. "I'm not a hunter or a trapper, and I've never encountered bandits in my life. What I do know," he says as he reaches for the ladle to refill his bowl, "is that a caravan travels on it's stomach. Fill your boots Torek, you'll need the fuel for when we find the bandits."
I can't imagine they have numbers more than twenty at this point. They surely would have struck before Kesten arrived if they had.Unless they are paranoid about something, which doesnt seem typical of a bandit, at least none i've ever ran across.
He added finishing up his breakfast. He picked up his plate and utensils and went to wash them up. No sense in not picking up after himself.
"We should see if Oleg or Bokken has a potion or two we could buy or trade for just in case things get dire or I fall."
"That reminds me we still need to get Bokken his berries." Autumn sighed. There always seemed to be more to do and if bandits where not the core focus at the moment she's be thankful for it.
"Don't speak of that Herger." Autumn told the cleric when he mention he might fall. "I will not allow it. You've a son to return to and I will ensure that if only one of us can return alive it will be you. I know that sounds horrible to the rest of us..." Autumn said, then sighed. "I hope it won't come to that..."
"Hope you're right Brother Herger, but this situation here has been odd all along so ... expect anything?" Torek trails off uncertainly.
At Herger's rather fatalistic remark, Torek is cut off by Autumn's chiding remarks. "May Ol'Deadeye guard you brother, we stand all as one but it is important that you stand for your son and as Erastil direct devotee. It's clear to me, you are a future Elder, and already a father. Your son could manage without you at his age but it's better he has your guidance for many years more. And for all of us. Still your point that you may not be always able to bring Erasil's divine aid to us, for whatever reason, is something to consider, still it won't be cheap. Bokken isn't a generous man." Torek says the last a bit sadly.
He had a gentle and loud enough laugh reaching over and clapping Torek along the back of his shoulder.
"By Erastil's will and my own I don't intend to fall against this bandit heretic. I remember my youth as a guard in my homeland. It was a standing order to target enemy witch's, healers, and wizards in...that order too i recall. I know if i were them I would focus on me."
He stretched for a moment and slightly frowned running a hand down the length of his beard for a moment in thought. He did glance torwards Autumn and her protests.
"I've a son, who is looking to make himself a husband and no doubt a father himself soon enough. I've walked through five nations, and seen more than a man's fair share of trial's and tribulations. I am the last person whom should be put above any of you others. No worries Torek was correct, it was more a warning that we should have a back up plan in case I can't get one of us in time. I'll ready the horses while you folk finish up your repast."
He gave them all a rather broad smile and a head nod. It seemed he was as at peace with the decision to face the bandits as he could be.
Autumn smiled at the scene with Torek and Herger. The laughter and smile warmed her heart. Small things like this was what she missed most of her home.
"Lets us set out." Autumn called to the rest as Herger left to double check the horses she had set up. "Our plans might change the closer we get after all." She pointed out before she quickly finished her breakfast.
Then she got up and patted her leg to get Frostbite to follow her. "Larin, you riding on Frostbite again?" Autumn called out to the Sorcerer.
Torek returns the smiles to everyone but it fades as he contemplates the journey ahead. Quietly he talks to everyone, "We should set out indeed but maybe we should consider going deeper into the woods at first. I'd consider moving a fair bit west southwest of the crossing the bandit's tried to claim as their own, (we need a better name for that). Why well, if I were this criminal chieftain, I'd try to keep an eye on this place, if I could. A spy here, or a scout nearby, and then I had a thought. The Kobold King has scouts watching as we know. It occurred to me that we know nothing of any relation or deal, these parties may have with each other. It may be none, or hostile, or perhaps they have a small cooperation. Human bandits raiding other humans simply benefits the King, they bother each other and not him. I not saying it happens but it could. If we go deep we would be harder to track and we lead them to believe we are working on other goals. Then we turn more southernly and go to about where the base is to the east/northeast of us. A direction less likely to see us. We still emerge from the forest but we may find a more concealable route to close in and then follow our previous plan. It would take longer though. We do you think? We'll discuss it on the way, it'll be a while before we need to decide."
Torek leads the group out into the wilderness again heading for the crossing, wary for bandits and other hazards.
Spot trouble before it spots us. +2 if human +2 if forest terrain.
Get along in the wild, avoid hazards, make speed, adjust for weather conditions, find a good camp site. +2 if forest terrain.
"If she's happy to let me," Larin replies, approaching Frostbite and giving her a gentle stroke. "There might be a treat or two in it for you," he whispers in the wolf's furry ear.
"You all have more experience here than I do," Larin says once Torek has explained his plan. "I'll go where you lead. Though I am worried about how many rulers these lands have. The Stag Lord; the Kobold King - I know the Stolen Lands has lots of states but this seems ridiculous!"
Torek looks at Larin in surprise then with a bit of embarrassment saying, "My dourness may have mislead you a bit, we are few in number and the outpost not much more. This outrageous bandit king may have a dozen men left or a hundred and the latter bad indeed. The Kobold King seems to rule only a single place or may have a few sub-chiefs elsewhere but I doubt he could raise more than 100 to 200 warriors, they seem to live only by hunting, gathering, and, raiding. Both do, so there forces could not be all that large, just large compared to what we have to work with."
Torek gathers his thoughts, "Our charter says we are to explore no further than 36 miles west and east of Oleg and 60 miles south. That's. - " Torek pauses and mumbles to himself then continues, "Over 4,000 square miles. Of which we have explored maybe ... 2,000 square miles, less than half. And by explored we mean we glimpsed the tops of forest trees or hills, or mountains, through misty vistas from many miles away as we road our horses by."
Torek shakes his head, "Don't think I'm making fun of your lack of knowledge, I blame myself for being unclear about this land the stolen lands are much larger than this, over a hundred miles east and west of us and more than 100 south to Mivion. Say, Oh about thirty or thirty five thousand square miles in all. These are savage lands, uncivilized in the slightest way. We must 've missed more than a few groups in the area alone and we are not in the deep areas of these land. I think there will be many more tribes and clans and families of many things. We have fought trolls and I suspect we'll see giants and many other fell beings before long. This area alone I suspect has many more ... call it powers or people than we know ought of. There is room for dozens of small groups, families and tribes and clans. In total their number would be formidable, enough to break every army sent against them. That's why there is no real control over the land just across the river from Restov. Any time they try to make a large permanent settlement it is raided to death by the many tribes there. This area seems almost empty by comparison and now I wonder why."
Torok stops and says, "I'm talking too much; to sum up, all that we have met have little real control of this land, that's why they raid so much. There will much more to see when we really can closely explore. Hope that helps put things into perspective, something I need to keep in mind."
Still discussing options you head away from Oleg's, making southeast toward the Narlmarches for now...
"I didn't think you were making fun," Larin replies earnestly. "It's just that I'm so new to this area, and it's not anything like the lands our caravan travelled further north. It's so untamed here, and with powers like the kobolds and the bandits I can see why there's been little effort to explore and catalogue the Stolen Lands for so many years."
He looks around at the wilds as they head out from Oleg's before continuing. "The area covered by our charter is so huge, I doubt my family's caravan ever travelled so far in a whole year. I'm sure there are all sorts of secrets hidden in the marshes and forests that we'd struggle to ever uncover. Thank you for taking the time to explain, I'm sure I'll catch up sooner rather than later, but there's just so much more to understand and to discover down here than I'd ever imagined."
"This place is very vast." Autumn said with an agreeing nod. "And it's been unsettled for so long, honestly after the Stag Lord is dealt with I've decided to stay. It... Just feels right." She added.
"It occured to me that perhaps the bandit's might be smart and start to watch this post with scouts or the like. After all, they know we are here, they probably are aware that Keston is here as well or they would have attacked. If we leave this trading post making our way straight for the bandit fortress they will be ready."
He paused and nodded to Torek.
"So i think you have the right of it, perhaps we head north and west look like we are exploring other areas then cut through the forest or around it and the catch them off guard from another direction. Well thought out Torek."
He reached forward and gently patted his horses neck for a moment seeming to be thinking about something.
"I am glad to hear you plan on staying about here once the bandit lord is dealt with Autumn. Be nice to see a friendly face about and all."
He said only blushing slightly under his beard. That was a weird thing to say. He felt a bit awkward for the moment.
Torek, seeing but not noticing the undercurrents, "I'll stay too, if possible, way to much to do here, even after that problem is gone."
As they move out of the gate and head towards the former bandit camp crossing, the route of which is overseen by the kobold scouts, Torek thinks about what Herger said. Slowly Torek says, "Yes he should, if he could but maybe he does ... sort of."
Torek, looking concerned, continues. "The Kobold King owes us nothing and his settlement is (what?) maybe 25 miles from the upstart bandit chief. Yet here he has scouts about 40 or so miles watching us. What if he has a deal or even a case by case trade in telling our murderous bandit lord whatever the king wants to offer? It could be of benefit to both; I suspect the kobold king would love nothing more than to have all the 'longshanks' kill each other. I wonder how long it takes for these scouts here to run back to their master and report? I guess two, more likely three days, less if they have mounts. Autumn have you seen any signs, tracks or anything that these scouts have any mounts? We might be out of position to tell."
"It is always nice to have familiar faces." Autumn said with a smile. "I'll be glad to have a few around after everything."
"You assume he did sent scouts to both." Autumn pointed out but shook her head. "When we where at their den I saw nothing that would be a mount. Only kobolds. While I do agree they would love to have the 'longshanks' kill each other, they wouldn't make a move till after because it isn't their fight right now." She explained. "Doesn't mean they won't be a problem in the future however."
Your path to the Thorn River Crossing leads you past the Moonradish patch. The place is abandoned.
Of the Moonradishes, there are none. Only churned earth.
The bandit camp at Thorn River has seen activity, Torek notes. There are fresh hoof prints, booted footprints(About human size), and the soil of the fresh dug graves seems too fresh. Though the graves don't seem to have been profaned in any way.
As the party closes in on the bandit camp, Torek's sharp eye's spots fresh hoof and footmarks. Torek holds up his hand to stop the group and falls back to them saying, "'Ware ambush, fresh hoof and footmarks, human sized, and I think the graves are a little too unweathered, though not really molested with, maybe to check who was dead, perhaps?"
Torek scans around looking for signs of anyone present or for traps.
Spot trouble, ambush or traps. +2 if human +2 if forest terrain.
While doing this he asks the same of others, "Everyone, stay in group, but look about for sign of ambush or traps, as I'm doing, if we see nothing threatening then we can take a closer look."
If he spots trouble he alerts the group to it, if not he will do a more detailed check/search of the camp, up close.
Check out the camp for traps or any other info he can find. +2 if human +2 if forest terrain.
With that out of the way, he'll attempt tracking to note whatever information he can find from them about who and where they came and went, their numbers and compositing he can tell.
Tracking roll - +2 if forest terrain.
Any information he gets he'll tell the group but won't follow the tracks without consultation.
Autumn nodded in agreement with Torek and while he looked around she looked over the tracks
"These are fresh." Autumn agreed. "almost too fresh..." She added as she bit her bottom lip.
Torek’ s search of the tracks shows that the presumed humans mounted their horses, and left, heading north. Perhaps as long as a day ago.
"I imagine they partially redug them up to check to see whose bodies were buried. I wonder if they were looking for one in particular."
He frowned as he lingered near the disturbed soil. Something was off. He wasnt sure what it was, but something...He ran his hand through his beard and tried not to fret about it too much. The bandits didnt seem the sort to care whether a body was properly buried. Why would they refill the holes once they checked the bodies?
"How much time do you think we have to spend here?"
He asked trying to keep the worry from his voice.
Larin looks around as Torek warns the group of the signs of recent passage. He stays on Frostbite's back, not yet ready to dismount. "Looks like they've come looking for their missing comrades," Larin says. "They must know they're facing some opposition now."
"We have as much time as we need." Autumn said. "While we would like to deal with this bandit lord it is our time to spend."
"They have likely known we're here for a while." Autumn said "These graves are the second time we had to clear this camp."
"Bah im probably just being paranoid. I dont understand nature as well as you Autumn or you Torek. Why would the soil over the graves seem fresher than the rest?"
He paused again running his hands through his beard.
"Can you track them?"
"I think so." Autumn said.