Be it so known that the bearer of this charter has been charged by the Swordlords of Restov, acting upon the greater good and authority vested within them by the Office of the Regent of the Dragonscale Throne, has granted the right of exploration and travel within the wilderness region known as the Greenbelt. Exploration should be limited to an area no further than thirty-six miles east and west and sixty miles south of Oleg's Trading Post. The carrier of this charter should also strive against banditry and other unlawful behavior to be encountered. The punishment for unrepentant banditry remains, as always, execution by sword or rope. So witnessed on this 24th day of Talistril, under watchful eye of the Lordship of Restov and authority granted by Lord Noleski Surtova, current Regent of the Dragonscale Throne.
Vik looks over at the group who has traveled with him for the last few weeks from the city of Restov. While not a very difficult journey, it was still long enough to get to know those who were to be his allies in this venture. He hoped that he would bring honor to his benefactor, Swordlord Jamandi, and would soon earn the title of Swordlord himself.
Thomas looks around and nods to his traveling companions.
Well the easiest part of our adventure is done. Where do you think we should start?
Kearan also glances around at his companions. He's a big man, though he looks quite young. His countenance is alternatively boyish when he grins, and incredibly hard and serious when he frowns or looks around. "I'd guess we start by knocking on the door," he says, glancing to the other man in the group who wears an Aldori dueling sword. Swordlords must stick together, eh?
Normally more accustomed to traveling by mount, Jarvis leads Valmier on foot so that he may keep a more appropriate eye level and pace with the others in the group.
Jarvis nods in agreement to both Thomas and Kearan. "Yes, I believe you are both correct. And while we are out this outpost, we should make sure to fill our supply bags," adds Jarvis.
Thomas checks his bags for coins. Should we buy mounts? I could probably afford a mule, I think.
"Well, isn't this supposed to be the only bastion of civilization in the area? If it is, this place could be a good base camp." The odd looking girl with the partially shaved head spoke with a think Tian accent even though she didn't quite look like one from the Dragon Empires.
"Let's see who is home." With that she walked over to the gates of the outpost and knocked.
The gates of the wooden outpost immediately swing open and they are greeted by a middle aged women with long, flowing black hair.
"Welcome, I am Svetlana, you must be the guards we were promised. I was hoping for more but you look more than capable. Please come in I have prewed a nice warm stew for everybody and some wine in the main hall please this way."
As the PCs enter the outpost the see a middle aged, slightly overweight man on the room top of the nearest building to their right with a hammer in his hand mumbling to himself.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Svetlana. We are here by order of Restov to aid in your defenses as well as see to the exploration of Greenbelt. We would be ever so gracious if you could fill us in on anything of note," replies Jarvis with a slight nod and bow.
Taking a moment, Jarvis tries to jog his memory to see if he has heard or knows anything of note about Svetlana or others that might be of nobility in the area. Granted, he knows it would be an oddity for someone of note to be out in this area.
Thomas follows the group in, glancing around the main hall to determine if anything threatens his group of companions. This is a well made post. My father was a woodsman and part-time carpenter, he taught me to recognize good woodwork.
Jarvis Jarvis thinks deep for a moment, then laughs to himself, like any nobility would be out this far in the middle of nowhere. He does recall hearing something about an Oleg figure being a very skilled craftsman and a good merchant but can only assume that it might be the same man.
"Please, have a seat, my apologies for confusing you, we received word from a hunter that Brevoy was sending us some gaurds to help protect our outpost. But before I go on let me go get my husband." Svetlana says with a smile on her face as she tries to hide her disappointment, and she turns and walks the door to fetch her husband.
A few short minutes later, Svetlana enters the room, "everybody this is my husband Oleg."
A tall (5'10), slightly over weight man enters the room. He has a large bulge in his lip and spits as he enters the room. He rubs his balding head and spits again, "if your not here to gaurd our outpost and on some damn adventure, then you can stay in the bunkhouse for one night, 5sp a night and you best be out of here tomorrow when the bandits come, I don't want no damn trouble from..."
Before he can finish Svetlana elbows him in the side, "please excuse my husband, it has been a rough couple of months. You see the bandits come every month, an hour before sunrise, on the first day of the month () to take their tax collection from us and if we don't pay they threaten to burn our outpost down and kill us. Please will you help you can stay the night for free if you do?" Svetlana begs the group as she fights to hold tears back.
Oleg huffs and throws his arms up, "I don't got much to offer right now, but you can stay and eat for free tonight and take whatever you want from their corpes and what you don't want I will buy from you at a fair price?"
"Though I cannot speak for everyone, i will not reject your humble request. I will do my best to aid you in this endeavor," says Jarvis, still remembering his edict promised upon entry to his order.
Thomas nods his head with Jarvis.
You said they come an hour before sunrise, I saw a place or two that might work for an ambush, if we are so inclined. You know, if ambushing doesn't offend anyone's code...
Thomas grins.
Vik listens to his companions as the speak to Oleg and Svetlana. He keeps quiet for now, and listens to all that the people tell them. It would seem that the bandits had grown very bold to demand payment from people in their own homes.
"Though I choose to not kill under the guise of deceit, a surprise attack may work to our benefit. If we can establish a flank, and a fair number of volunteers, we may be able to apprehend these bandits before any real battle begins. Should they choose not to surrender, then we will have no choice but to bring them to justice," says Jarvis to Thomas's implied comment.
He then turns to Svetlana and Oleg, "What can you tell us about the town's defenses? Do you have anywhere to keep prisoners? And what of any medics or town healers?"
"I think the only healer here just walked into the gate with you. This is a tradepost, not a town." She shook her head. Had these fools really never been outside of civilization before that the concept of an outpost was so alien to them?
Alerdane turned to their hosts, "Do you have any idea where the bandits come from? Depending on that our best shot might be to lock them in here tomorrow morning and beat them into submission."
"I came to study my steel, and here I see a grand chance to do so. You have my sword." Kearan says, his voice still rather soft.
Vik looks startled at the formal words spoken by Kearan. Having kept mostly to himself, he never realized the man was armed in a similar fashion as himself.
"Aye, and my sword as well!"
He walks over to speak with Kearan.
"Well me and well spoken! Are you Aldorii trained?"
Kearan nods at Vik and extends a hand. "Kearan, I'm named, and 'the Short,' I'm called." He gives a small grin. "By way of joke." He drop his hand and touches his sword. "And, yes, I'm in training to be a Swordlord, though my pa would have preferred a mage, and I study a bit of that, too."
"There is nobody else here, and I don't mind being bait but I want my wife to be safely in here. The stable or the bunkhouse are perfect places for ambushes and you are free to look around and plan but they will be here tomorrow morning and they expect us to have our 'taxes' out on the tables for them to load." Chimes in Oleg.
"Please, I just want them gone, they are a nasty bunch and I doubt they will do much talking, last time they only came with a few men and were lead by a rude man who had his hood up the whole time." Svetlana pleas.
"I think that Valmier and I will wait in the stables. If they are to head straight into this building," says Jarvis as he indicates the building marked as A4, "then I can charge at them from the left and hopefully divide them while I rear around for another attack. We will need to move those tables outside though so that we may use the enclosing areas around the open center of this outpost better to our advantage."
How many come to the meeting? Thomas asks.
"Last time they only brought 4 and it seems that each time they came they brought less and less." replies Svetlana
"Kearan! Shall you and I await these bandits at the gate? I would prefer to meet them face to face...and maybe be a distraction for the others."
"That's a horrible idea. These are thieves, cowards. They attack an unguarded post because it's easy. If they see two sword swinging goons at the gates they retreat and come back with more, we do not want that. If we are lucky they just turn you two into pincushions." She was to be the brains of the operation now, was that it? How did she get stuck with a collection of complete idiots?
"What we want is them to not have a clue of what's happening, catch them of guard. Suck up your honor and think about winning here. What we need is two people, one on each side of the gate, who can close the doors behind them. We do NOT want them to report to their leader and give away the element of surprise. We close the doors and kick their ass, we also want at least one of them to survive." One by one she looked all of them in the eyes, trying to determine which one had the biggest stick up their arse. "We all want to help Oleg and Svetlana, but getting the bandits to come back with reinforcements and burn down the outpost is not helping."
Knowing that the hot-head is only half right in her assessment, Jarvis decides it best to point out the main problem in her plan before she gets others killed.
"I agree that we cannot let them escape and send for reinforcements. However, if we are to lock them in, it is not a simple matter of trying to take them down swiftly. If they see newcomers, they might get suspicious and attack. If the normal people of this outpost are on the grounds when we lock the doors, these people may get hurt or worse. We cannot have anything different happen up until the point when we attack. There can be almost nothing out of place. It seems that they are getting complacent. I think our best course of action is to reinforce that complacency. Let them think everything is normal, and then strike when their guard is completely down."
Turning to Oleg, Jarvis says, "Please, give us as many specifics as you can as to how this meeting normally takes place. We need to know everything, from the moment they are in sight until the moment they are gone."
"I agree. No point in taking risks we don't need to take." So there was a brain in there. A small smile appeared on her face.
She then turned to Oleg, "Could you help us set up the trap? You know how it should look better than anyone."
Kearan nods at Alerdane's suggestions, though he doesn't quite take to her arrogant and insolent tone. "Bringing them down quickly from range is wisest, although closing to use my steel would be more beneficial to my training... I think it would be best to mimic a normal meeting, get civilians to safety indoors, and then launch a trap, concentrating fire on the bandits in a small area." He clears his throat, looking uncomfortable at having spoken so much. "Of course, that's just an opinion. And facing them openly would be more 'honorable,' perhaps, but also more foolhardy." He shrugs to his fellow swordsman, looking sheepish.
"Well I do not mind setting a trap for them but I must insist that my wife stays in the main hall. They usually walk right into camp and they expect us to have all their damn 'taxes' out for them on the tables outside. " replies Oleg.
"Perhaps if we have the gold sitting on the tables, they'll see it and it will distract them from everything else. They aren't expecting any resistance. What if I and someone else, hid behind the buildings and after they come in, run to close the gates? Might take us out of the first part of the fight, but it would prevent escape."
"I believe it wise to keep your wife out of harms way as well. It looks as if the stable will be a good place for me to wait as it provides a direct route to the tables where the taxes will be. Perhaps if we have some hide in both of the buildings to either side of the tables. That will leave one of us to sneak in behind to close the gates before joining the rest of us to incapacitate the bandits."
"I'll volunteer to hide behind the barracks and close the gates."
Vik will stay out of the way at w-24.
"I do believe that because Svetlana and anyone else that should not be in this fight will be in the main hall, we should have someone inside there to be able to launch an attack and drive them away from that direction. I would consider it a great folly on our parts if we are all to rush from only two directions and send them directly into the main hall. Would anyone be willing to defend the entrance or at the very least rush out of the main hall to deter the bandits from entering?"
"I would be more than honored to protect the main hall from the bandits. That is, if it is not considered folly!", Vik answers rather stiffly.
Kearan looks to Vik and gives a small smile. "No folly in honor, friend."