Almost dropping Berrin's boot at the abrupt question, Zander stammers out, "I - Um, yes. It was a fire," clenching his teeth, he continues, "It happened when I was young, I don't believe anyone was to blame. It's not something I like to remember..."
Trailing off, Zander looks down at the boot in his hands and looks up at his new friends' faces looking at him, a kindness in their gaze that he's not quite used to. Taking a deep breath, he begins again, "I was fourteen. I was out hunting near a village and we spotted the fire in the distance. We tried to help, but there was little we could do... I did what I could to try to save someone, but fell and got trapped in the house. There isn't much to it after that..."
Berrin listens as Zander tells his tale , or at least some of it. 'Oh man! He's even more uncomfortable than I am!' "*cough* so eh.. you spent some time in the woods then huh?" he says, looking to change the topic. "No the strap goes through there. Yeah, thats it..."
Happy for the change of topic, Zander replies, "Err yes, I've been living in and out of the woods for the past several years. Yourself?"
Jemini's only listening in with half an ear - she's not comfortable with other people that are not comfortable, so tries to ease over it by not paying attention. Still, something about it grates at her.
Taisper goes about whistling softly to himself as he finishes packing up his gear and getting his chainmail Inquisitor's Raiments on in preparation to leave. As he's tying up his bedroll, he calls over to Jemini. "Hey captain! Hey, I think I fell asleep maybe before you could tell me. But, what's your dad like? You talked about your mom a little bit, but what about your dad?"
With everyone awake and ready to go, the expedition begins moving again. The tracks are a bit harder to find initially, but Zander and Berrin find the telltale marks of the bandits' movements. Amidst the broken branches of poor riders, the trail clearly points to the southwest, deeper into the forest.
Hills
Clear
Flat
Forest
Hills
Forest
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Finishing his prayers Verik stretches and rises, "Morning all, another glorious day of slogging through the wilderness hey?" He packs his bedroll and leather armor away pulling some trails rations from his pack as he does and munching away unenthusiastically as he packs.
He finishes the contents of his waterskin and chants briefly to refill it, asking if the others need any and doing the same for any who do and the creating a puddle for the horses to drink from. He then greets Virtue fondly and saddles the horse ready to travel.
"Ready when you are." He says stifling a yawn, and surrupticiously rubbing his posterior in anticipation of the coming pain.
"My father? ...that's a story for tonight. I didn't realize you were into pillow talk Taisper." Jemini grins as she climbs into the stirrups. "Right now we head towards the southwest. Berrin! Zander! Make sure to keep a sharp look-out for less criminally minded dangers. ...few bears try to rape and pillage villages, but they offer cause for concern regardless."
She bends forward, whispering a few words of encouragement into her horse's ear, "I saw you noshing on them earlier - you are now called Wild Flower! ...just try not to live up to your name."
Berrin finds it plesantly easy to work with Zander finding the traks. Determening which direction to head Berrin heads for his horse. Eyeing it suspiciously he suddenly remembers who it reminds him of. "Bessie. Thats who you act like." he says to the horse, shuderring as he remembers the anoying little nag from his home village. "Always having a better idea of whats good for you, eh? Well, good luck Bessie, were heading that way." he says pointing down the trail before mounting up.
Mounted and ready to go he mulls over Jeminis question from earlier. "I have rations for 3 more days myself, me and Zander should see about foraging or hunting as we go so we can possibly stretch our rations. Pooling our rations would also be a good idea so we can better control their distribution if this expedition prolongs any." he say, feeling slightly aprehencive about his own idea of rationing but knowing he'd rather be hungry than starve.
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"I have nine days worth remaining, and we got what tens days worth from the bandits?" Verik says, "so that alone should be sufficient for three days for us all. Hunting is going to take time I assume? If so I'd rather press on and get a better idea of what kind of numbers we have to face with these bandits as soon as possible."
"Actually it wouldn't have to slow us down Verik. As we need to move carefully while following the tracks we could split out attention between the two, me and Zander. Say I keep my eyes on the tracks and Zander could forage while we move. It should work out about the same."
Jemini broods over the conversation for a while. Then she cautions: "I don't think we should track for more than three days. If we haven't found the Stag Lord by then, I will break off this hunt. Oleg and Lord Kesten might be tempted to mount a rescue expedition after our continued absence, and we're not suitably equipped or informed to pursue this endeavor indefinitely."
"These are the Stolen Lands - there are plenty of dangers and problems here other than the Stag Lord; I will not allow our expedition to overextend itself prematurely. If after three days we're unsuccessful, we'll return and begin a methodical exploration of the Greenbelt - centered on Oleg's Trading Post."
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"You won't allow?" Verik asks frowning, "A sensible enough suggestion, but one could equally look at it as a waste of six days. I am for continuing as long as we have the trail, I have not bruised by tail bone to come back with nothing. If that happens the horses win! Uh, I mean..." He turns faintly pinks and descends into muttering giving Virtue a guilty pat.
"Oh there's an idea." Berrin drawls sarcasticly raising an eyebrow. "We'll just prance along and leave them be to come for us when they feel like it. Don't worry princess. We wont let you starve. Besides, the Levetons are safe as can be with you friend back home." Turning Bessie he starts off following the trail. "Comon. You can yell at us as we travel."
As they're riding, Taisper pulls his horse up alongside Jemini's. "So, captain, hey. I have a question if you don't mind." Without waiting for an answer, he continues. "Two days ago, when we arrived, we spend a fair bit of time organizing a plan. It seemed sound. But then when arrows came down, it seemed like we were leaderless and it was just everyone for themselves, and, ah, I kinda thought we'd be a bit more organized. I understand about battles, how things change on the ground, but it just seemed to me like we could have gathered ourselves a bit more and stuck with the plan, maybe then Berrin wouldn't have got hurt so bad. Also, I...I noticed you changed your mind in the fight. First you were rared up to kill everybody, but then you were ready to let that one guy live. I was wondering about that. Just, you know, wondering."
Quickly, he adds, "And, you know, not questioning you, specifically, or anything, I'm glad you're our leader." He smiles winningly. "It's just, I wanted to ask, is that maybe how things are going to go, you figure? Kind of loose like that, things changing a lot on the ground?"
Jemini looks at Taisper blankly as if he's just blasphemed, then she looks back to the trail they're on. Her face a mask of thought. At length she replies, "I understand. I think. Abadar teaches you the way. That which is correct, and that which is false. What I find amiss in this is the neglect on teaching of what is right and wrong. The life of a man is more than the weight of the morning star you wield. The man you killed had surrendered. Even though your position gives you some leeway, what you did is still murder - though I trust in this case you cleared it with your god. He was a bandit, sure, and headed for the gallows - but he became our charge when he surrendered. He had the right to trial and ablution. What little information he would've provided might have sped up our chase by days as we would not need to trot along slowly trying to keep our eyes on the ground."
"The raid of the bandits on the trading post was unfortunate. Most unfortunate. Though these events cannot be reversed. Our battleplans, as the proverb goes, did not withstand contact with the enemy and in the panic that ensued we collectively acted without leadership. I do not think following the original plan would have been the more effective strategy to follow - ideally, in hindsight, I think it would have been more effective to have pushed forth our forces to the gate to support Berrin. Oleg only barely survived that morning, just a few seconds more and Svetlana would be a widow. In my opinion trying to bring them into the courtyard first - or even close the gate after - would have wasted too much time. A resource we had little of back then. We were truly blessed to escape that death trap with as little losses as we did - and it isn't our cunning plans that carried us through, but faith."
She looks a little pained, "That said, I do hope we become a more close-nit and cohesive group. I wish to be able to rely on loyal comrades that can think for themselves but act for the party as a whole. It is hard to assert leadership in a group of so many strong individuals; few of which have been trained to obey the chain of command. You are my charges, and if need be I will follow the wishes of the group to the bitter end to do what I can to keep everybody safe and return them alive. I have every intention of meeting the demands of the charter, and even more so I act to ensure the safety of our party. The charter rises and falls with us."
"Tomorrow the third day will start. By the end of the third day, the trail we're following will be at least a week old - possibly as much as 9 days. We have very little chance of successfully keeping up the trail for another day then. Worse still, we have been travelling with relative haste - the lands we passed through are unexplored and we have little knowledge of what lies beyond the trail we ride. Keeping up the hunt any longer will significantly diminish our chance to fulfill the charter; it becomes a reckless act of desperate men. Not the act of order."
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"I am sorry, but that is utter drivel." Verik replies bristling at the woman calling his cousin a murderer, "The Charter that grants us our authority such as it is stipulates that unrepentant bandits are to be executed by rope or the sword - a term which I am certain was meant to encompass morningstars. We are not required, nor do we possess the authority to conduct a trial, so using it as part of an argument is at best disingenuous. Carrying that sentence out is not murder, we are not your charges, and you are not our leader, so kindly disabuse yourself of the notion Madam." He takes a deep breath.
"I appreciate your sentiment, but please understand how deeply patronizing your words are. I am more than happy to be your comrade, but I am not your charge - to me at least charge implies both inferiority and an admission of authority. You will get neither from me." He shakes his head as if to clear it.
"Now in my opinion as long as we can still follow the trail we should, the closer we get to the bandit camps location the more information we have. While I am sure the region has many problems I am equally sure that the bandits are the most preeminent, and as such should be our first concern. If the trail peters out then of course we should head back, but doing so before is not my idea of how to properly pursue our goals as laid out in the charter."
Berrin looks back in his saddle as the clergy dispute their right to lead and their theological views on the charter. Personally Berrin didn't care one way or the other about the bandit. He would have let him live if he proved usefull but he wouldn't hesitate if he took up arms against them. He couldn't begrudge a man for his choises in life. Heavens knew he had made his share of bad ones. "She's still right about the trail you know. The older it gets, the harder it will be to follow. Me, I'd rather take the fight to the bandits than wait for them to come for us. It just doesn't sit right with me to have them out hunting us. I'd rather it was the other way around but if we can't follow the trail then the hunt will fall upon itself becouse, again, she's right. We don't know the land, and they do." Turning back to the trail he silently hopes they find the bandits before they loose the trail.
Jemini's lips turn white. But she nods her head.
"I apologize, blood will seek to find its way. I'll not expect what is not freely given. And murder was an ill-chosen word, and I didn't mean to imply that Taisper should repent his actions. I am sorry."
"I heard the man though. He said he was forced into serving the Stag Lord, that he had a family and he acted in the interest of keeping them alive. Now I'm no fool and quite imagine that he was pleading for his life in all ways he could - but he might have told the truth. It is not given to us to judge his merit in the heat of battle - that would make us little more than demons. I saw that he at least made the effort to fight the fire. He deserved to stand trial - even if only an improvised one. Priests of Abadar are vested with the power to adjudicate in all matters, right?"
Listening to the conversation from the rear of the column, Zander is impressed with Verik's fortitude. He'd originally thought the man soft due to his blushing and running about, but hearing the little priest stand up for himself to the Lebeda woman, he gains a new respect for the man.
Once Verik has said his piece, Zander chimes in, "I'm with Verik. Any decisions we make should be decided by a vote. We're no longer in lands where a person can simply assume the right the rule based on their birthright. We haven't lost the trail yet and until we do, I'll vote we press on. We have rations enough to sustain us and can forage if we run low. As for the bandit, it's true that we probably could have gotten some information from him, but he chose his fate when he tried to murder Oleg and Svetlana in their sleep along with the rest of us. I'll shed no tears on his behalf."
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Verik wilts somewhat, "Sorry, I stand by my points, but my ire was misplaced. Clerics of Abadar do often serve as judges, but we need to be endowed with that authority, it is no inherent to the calling. I do have a great deal of practice in seeing through lies, and I can tell you there is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that the bandit's pleas were all self serving lies. We were also constrained by the situation, we needed our full attentions to save Oleg and Svetlana, we could not afford to waste time on a man whose guilt was not truly doubted by any of our number. In a more controlled situation things would be different and I would advocate following the course you suggest."
He nods to Zander in thanks for his support - although as far as he's concerned it's just common sense.
"For my part, I agree that acting through consensus will serve us best here. Each of us brings different skills to the..." she flounders a bit looking around for a fitting description before continuing, a bit weakly, "table... - and we'll therefor have to rely on each other more often than in our more familiar environs."
I don't think his efforts to tackle the fire ever happened as Taisper killed him before they could happen.
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Verik nods and smiles - though its a trifle forced - and nods in agreement, "That I can agree with. That leaf looks trampled to me," he nods to Zander and points, "Honestly the horses know the way, they must do, they must be snickering away at us. Then I guess the bandits probably did not take this route often..." He glowers at Virtue.
Early in the afternoon, the forest parts to the banks of a wide river. The water is flowing quickly from west to east, deep in some parts but shallow enough in others to cross with relative ease.
It looks like a great spot to rest and get a drink.
Taisper listens to the back and forth between Jemini and Verik and Zander. This wasn't really how he wanted the conversation to go, but here it was; all the bullets were in the gunbelt. As it winds down, he speaks up again. "Hey guys, I really appreciate what you all are saying. And, uh, thanks Verik for understanding, and Zander too. But I appreciate Jemini's points a lot, too. I do! It's just you know I just like to understand my operating parameters, you know? Know how things are going. And, uh, I'm real sorry Verik, Zander, I thought Jemini was in charge. That's my mistake. I can vote on things, that's okay. I work...I work better with a clear hierarchy. But it's okay! I'll go along with you guys, you know? I don't want to cause any tussles."
Taisper looks uncharacteristically serious.
"There's one point that I need to make really clear, though. I don't murder. You can call it that if it makes you feel better, but it's not true. Judgment is channeled through me. Verik's right; that man was just a bag of lies, but it doesn't matter. Whether that man lied or not, it wouldn't have made a difference." He looks directly at Jemini, very focused. " Just, you know, so you understand that." He gives a sideways smile. "Anyway captain, I really hope you'll still tell me about your dad. I'd really like to know! I don't much about nobility so it's interesting to me."
"The tracks go west, guys. They follow the river. But hey you probably already saw that." Taisper smiles earnestly.
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Verik nods, "If you say so Taisper, I guess we follow the river to then. Do you think we need to dismount? Are the tracks boot or hoof? If they rode I suppose we ought to be able to, but I don't want to tackle anything to challenging my natural abilities and this lead breastplate combine to give me all the riding prowess of a sack of potatoes."
Looking west down the river Berrin seen that Taispar is right. "Let's take a break before going on. Water the horses and stretch our legs."
Berrin dismounts and leads Bessie down to the river to let her, or him, Berrin reacalls he hasn't actually bothered to check the horses gender, drink. As the horse drinks Berrin looks up and down the river, trying his best to be vary in this unknown territory.
Zander nods in agreement and leans over his saddle to look at the tracks. Looking up, he says, "Taisper's right. As far as I can tell, the tracks appear similar to the ones we've been following. Probably made by these same horses. We may be getting close though, so keep your eyes open."
Looking to Berrin as the fighter dismounts, Zander says to him, "We shouldn't wait too long. They may have scouts patrolling the area."
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Verik shrugs and basically falls from Virtue's back. He then leads the horse to the stream and allows him a drink while absent mindedly scratching behind the animals ears.
"How long does it take before riding becomes enjoyable? I know people who do it for fun, but its like a form of slow torture. I ache in places I was previously blissfully unaware of." He asks the group in general wincing as he hobbles about bow legedly.
The expedition continues through the forest along the banks of the river, which cuts and winds through the area. The tracks are not difficult to follow, but are growing fainter with every mile. About an hour after beginning to follow the river, the trees begin to thin while the ground grows rockier and more uneven. The tracks are extremely faint, obscured by time and the hard ground.
Jemini points, "This looks pretty shallow - should we have a look on the other side?"
'What does she know about tracking down anything other than a servant to do her bidding?' Zander thinks to himself as he follows Jemini's gaze across the river. His musing are cut short however as he notices a broken twig across the ford.
Looking to the Lebeda woman with a masked look of surprise, Zander says to her in as even a tone as he can manage, "You're right. I think they crossed here. Follow me." Turning his horse south, Zander begins to ford the river.
Taisper follows Zander's lead, nosing his horse into the shallow water and across. "Oh man, I wish I could get my horse to splash more. The water feels pretty great!"
None.
Mountain
Hills
Forest
Hills
Forest
A few more hours into the trip, the trek's excitement is beginning to wane. The scenery is not as interesting in the rocky terrain and the horses are beginning to tire. Berrin's horse, as usual, is acting up, while Verik's horse seems to be trotting at a gait specifically designed to pain him.
The late afternoon is interrupted by the sound of raucous laughter from not far to the west. Someone is obviously nearby, someone having a good time.
Hearing the laughter, Zander stops, dismounts from his horse, and draws his longbow. In a soft voice, he says, "I think this is the place. What's our plan of attack? I'm thinking our options are either to move in now or to wait until nightfall and try to catch them in their sleep. It's likely they'll have guards posted however and they probably know the terrain better than we do so my vote goes to a quick strike while they're seemingly distracted."
Dismounting Berrin again ties a line between two trees to stable the horses. "Assessing their numbers is prudent, do you think you could get in close?" he asks Zander. Begining to take the saddle off Bessie he hesitates, "Do you think we should be prepered for a quick gettaway?"
"Before sending someone in to gauge their strength - I think we should have an emergency plan. Assuming Zander sneaks in and gets spotted: do we charge in, hoping we catch some unarmed and unarmored - but possibly into a force that greatly outmatches ours. Or do we withdraw, alerting them to the fact that we're around and allowing them to prepare defenses and guards afterward?"
"Personally, I think to favor valor over caution in this - an assault might throw them off as they do not know our numbers. This might buy Zander (or whoever sneaks in) the time he needs to get out of trouble. We can then on the fly judge if the battle is ill-advised and retreat - or try to press our advantage. What do you think?"
"I think I'm not leaving anyone behind if thats what you mean. I reckon Zander goes in, gets thair general number and layout and then we just walk in and give them a good smack on the head."
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"I certainly don't want to leave anybody behind, but if it does come to an assault we need to use our heads. Ride in bringing Zander's horse - speed would be vital in escaping if they have a force too large for us to handle - I will try commanding anyone holding Zander to release him, the rest sow confusion, preferably using ranged attacks and cries of attack. Hopefully Zander can reach his horse then we flee. It will give us some precious time." Verik whispers thoughtfully, his brow furrowed.
"But we should probably also have Zander wear one of those amulets, so he might be able to bluff his way free - worth a try at no cost to us. Not to doubt your skill as a sneak you understand Zander, but it is prudent to plan for the worse case scenario."
"That's what I'm asking: if Zander's in trouble - should we ride in, create a diversion and try to escape together. Or ride in and press the assault, hoping the situation is to our advantage when they're not prepared for us?"
"This becomes a mute question of course, if their force proves too overwhelming, we have no choice but try to create a diversion and then make good our escape."
"I agree having an idea of their numbers is sound. I can't sneak around in my raiments, but I can definitely stay back and provide ranged cover at first. If these bandits have the same kind of armor, and if I can get within 80ft., then if I take a second or two to set up my shots, the Keeper will guide my arrows home. I will not miss. "
"Berrin, will you stay back and use your crossbow, or move in with the capt-- I mean, Jemini? As for getting Zander out, well, I think that's a decision we'll have to make on the fly when we see what we're up against, like what Jemini was talking about earlier. No way we can know how that'll work until we see what's on the ground."
Looking into the forest and half listening as the rest of the party comes up with plans for him, Zander eventually chimes in, "You know guys, I'm really not that stealthy and I don't think I could talk my way out of anything really. I suggest instead we ride in on horses with our hoods drawn up and the amulets showing. They may mistake us for their comrades which would give us time to retreat if we see we are overwhelmed or to dismount and attack if we have the advantage or are at least on even footing. Tandlara and I will hang back, her casting spells and me protecting her and attacking from range. The rest of you can then close to melee range and finish things as swiftly as possible. I do think we should try to keep at least one of them alive this time for questioning however."
Listening to Zander's plan Berrin shrugs, "Taht might actually work. I can put on the leaders armor and pull my hood up. It might trow them off for long enough for us to get a surprise in edge wise. Otherwise I would opt for openingup with ranged attacks and then move into melee. It's takes forever to load this thing, he claps his crossbow, But it packs quite a punch. So a lucky shot might take out one of tehm before we move in."
"Yeah! Berrin and I can go in with the melee fighting group, just hang back a bit with crossbows ready. Get in one shot, then move up and support. Thing is, I'd need to go in on foot. I don't think I could shoot from a horse's back without something real bad happening."
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Verik snorts softly, "Should we wear nooses to save them time? For all we know there could be hundreds of them, and I think it likely there are at least dozens. Svetlana said there was a female superior with them last time, and I think we can assume she is not this so called Stag Lord. To me that suggest greater numbers than we could handle. And I doubt Restov would have felt the need to create the charters if we were talking about a few bandits. How about we wait until nightfall and move forward close enough to view their camp? Just the size of the camp should give us a good indication of their numbers, and we can return knowing their location and having an idea of their strength."