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Carinna looks at the big man with a mixture of feelings, success, amusement, and fear just to start. She was unsure if she'd be able to strike down such a big man so trying to take advantage of the man's emotional state, she tried to talk him down instead, "Hey... Auchs, right? There is no need for you to cry. As you have seen, you are outnumbered but there is no need for us to harm you, ok? Just come with us slowly and everything is going to be alright."
Telmari's eyes widen as the bear of a man falls down into the tunnel after Cassandra's hand at being a rogue. She looks on with owl like eyes in surprise at the mental state of the man. Wha. I. Auch? He's like a child. A dangerous child. She shakes her head at the reactions of forgiveness and caring for him. He's an enemy. Even if he is a child in mind, his body certainly isn't.
She sighs and resigns in trying to calm the man child down. In a calm, hushed tone, she whispers as well. "Yes, we're sorry about that. But you did have it coming. And if something bad happens, I will probably have to take care of you." Trying to be helpful backfires though as she chides him for being a bandit.
Auchs stops sobbing after a few horrible sniffles, then says, "I want my toys. I want my toys! Argh, I wanna break something!" A twisted glimmer of hatred and anger washes across his face and his meaty hands clench and unclench, then he looks sad again - a reminder that this lumbering Auchs can just as quickly go from pathetic to dangerous in the blink of an eye.
"He's oddly fine with me," Cassandra comments to herself. She was covered in fur and had longer claws than most hunting cats did at the moment. He seemed mostly harmless. And then he didn't. It was hard to make heads or tails of him. Thinking quickly, she pulls out her flint and steel and strikes the two together. A few sparks light up the dark tunnel. "How about sparks? You like sparks? I can show you how to make them. You can't break the rock though. You break it and no more sparks. Do it gently and it will make sparks for hours." Hopefully that would calm him down and keep him busy. She waves at the others to make up their mind. Either start moving down the path back the way they came or...something else. She didn't want to kill him either. But that anger in him made her instincts scream. Knocking him out might be the best but he might block the path.
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Carinna is startled by the big man's sudden change of mood. "This man is too dangerous... he might have the mind of a child, but can we risk enrage him? Nevertheless, we can't also risk fighting him now..."
"Oh! What beautiful sparks... I've never had seen such a toy before!" She attempts to help Cassandra in her ruse, but kept her sword ready just in case.
"As much as he loos like a non-threat, we must deal with him. Get the rope ready."
Auchs frowns and squints, then he says, "Jeb makes sparks like that when he starts fires! That's not magic." He folds his arms. "You ladies are funny-looking."
He does not seem to understand the significance of Kavalina's comment.
Funny looking? That was not the reaction she expected. And he didn't seem as childish as she first thought. Just a little slow and prone to violence when confused maybe. Either way, they needed to deal with this somehow. If he started screaming again that might be it. Maybe some truth was in order. "You don't seem like a bad person. But their are a lot of bad people up in that fort. One in particular is who we are after. He's called the Staglord. You might have seen wagons of stuff arriving here every so often. Well most of that stuff belonged to someone else. It was stolen. And we heard he is the one leading the whole thing. That isn't right and needs to stop. Will you help us?"
She didn't add, "or are you going to get in the way?"
Auchs pauses and says, "Stag Lord? Stag Lord! He's the boss man. He has the scary helmet 'cuz... 'cuz he has no face."
Vance rolls his eyes and says, "Great, another idiot."
Hatch shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot and says, "I... don't feel really good about killing someone who maybe doesn't understand what they're doing, but he's also dangerous... I'm not sure what the best thing to do is." He looks at Kavalina pointedly and says, "I guess he's like a child who can't grow up? Hanging may be... I dunno... it seems harsh."
"No, tie him up. For the sake of Shelyn no. If anything he needs a proper facility for his problems," Kavalina says wide eyed.
"3...2...1..." Cassandra counts down while still distracting the large man. She hopes the others know what's up cause she figured, without aid, she'd get a hold of him then get beaten to a pulp.
On one she jumps him. She leaps over him and uses the ceiling to push him forward and down, trying to pin him to the floor.
Realizing what Cassandra is about to do, Telmarni readies herself to assist as well.
When Cassandra makes her move, she lunges for the legs, trying to make the lummox unbalanced.
Cassie and Telmarni manage to hold Auchs down, and though he struggles, it is in vain as Kavalina and Vance manage to loop coils of rope around the big lummox's arms and legs. Eventually he is tied up and immobilized, with a rag stuffed in his mouth to silence his constant wailing.
Getting up from assisting taking down Auch, Telmarni dusts herself off. "Glad that went as it did." Realizing she is speaking at a normal tone she brings her voice down to a whisper. "Um, right. So whats next? There's more up there, and some that will probably wonder whats taking him so long." She gestures to Auch as he squirms on the floor. "And I doubt the others are as dumb as he is."
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With Auch immobilized, Carinna moved behind him and aimed for the portion of his head where his spine joined his skull... with a quick motion, she hit this spot with the handle of her sword, hopefully knocking the man out.
"I believe we must sneak inside right now... it will not take much longer for any of them to become suspicious about Auch's vanishing... and I also doubt we'd be able to repeat this feat with anyone else. Catching them unaware seems the best hope."
Cassandra nods her agreement. She gingerly steps over Auch's unconscious form and lifts the lid of the trapdoor slowly. She peers around for any enemies and listens to hear if anyone is coming. If not, she slips out and waves the others up. Shifting yet again, she takes on her cat-like features and draws her bow. Once they are all up she stealth's around the immediate vicinity looking for enemies. She especially looks out for this bear they talked about yesterday.
Auchs goes out without a peep and is easily trussed up and stowed away safely.
Cassie clambers out to the fort. The trapdoor is under the stairs, outside of the interior southern wall. By slinking around, she is able to peer through some of the lashed timbers that barricade part of the south, and get a bead on some of the interior.
Four bandits seem to be playing some kind of card game in a central open area to the north. There's also the sound of someone sleeping nearby, but Cass can't see whom from the angles available to her.
The walls go all the way up to the second floor - there's no easy way in from the back here, unless you have the time and inclination to cut through the wood.
Cass could maybe sneak up the stairs, or go around the outside to scope out the rest of the perimeter.
Shifting for stealth, Cassandra moves slowly around the perimeter, going only so far as to see what options they had. She avoids the steps for now, as those seem like a bad idea for a stealth mission, but does at least peer up them to see is anyone is up there. The noise of someone sleeping is of particular interest.
Following Carinna, Kavalina watches for any trouble.
Hugging the inner wall, Cass sneaks around to the north side, where the main entrance lies. There's a dusty entry courtyard inside of the palisade gate. Across from that courtyard, a pair of horses are tied up near the stony wall and tower - get too close, of course, and Cass's feral nature could cause them to become quite panicked.
There's a rickety walkway that crosses overhead at the courtyard, and there are still-barely-standing watch towers at the northeast, northwest, and southwest corners.
Cassandra swings back around to the other side to see if she can get closer to the horses. They'd provide a good distraction for their first attack if she could get close enough. The bear would be even better but she hadn't seen it yet.
Leaving the rest of the group huddled by the stairway, Cass loops back to the other side of the compound and notes that though it narrows on the east side, she could still slip over and perhaps get close to one of the horses.
So far, nobody has raised the alarm on her.
* snif snif *
Something definitely smells odd and animal and... musty. Over on the west side, on the other side of the stone wall, it seems like. Bear-ish?
Only one place left. The stairs.
Cassandra moves slowly up the stairs, eyes watching the watchtowers and the second floor. The stairs creak a little but hopefully not enough to alert anyone.
Cassandra scrambles up the stairs to the second floor. The stairs are squeaky, making quiet movement hard. She crouches down as she gets close to the top, just barely peeking over the top with her eyes to minimize her profile. There's no cover in the area upstairs, so there would be no way to sneak across .
The second floor is in bad shape, though the flooring at least seems to be structurally sound. Here along the south section, the stairs go to a walkway that leads over the room below and into a watchtower on the southwest side of the fort. The tower has a peaked roof and the interior wall is mostly a two-foot-high barricade, with support pillars at the corners of the tower; this allows anyone in the tower to see outside but have a little cover from ranged attacks from the ground.
Cassandra spots two people milling about in the tower. One of them is a lean bandit in leather armor, with a longbow loosely in hand, leaning against the southwest pillar. The other one is a brawny-looking, tall man with oddly mixed-color hair -- a shock of unruly orange-red with occasional patches of black in it, gathered into a short ponytail. This bandit wears a custom-fitted suit of studded leather armor, and has a pair of kukri sheathed at his waist.
As Cassandra watches, the smaller, skinnier bandit says, "Still no sign of 'em."
The man with the reddish-and-black hair says, "Of course not. They headed north and they didn't circle back around. You think they'd be on the Tuskwater? They're hunting, not fishing." He sighs heavily, folds his arms, and says, "Just keep your eyes open. With Kressle dead it's likely that Brevoy has sent troops to hunt us down, and we're counting on you to make sure that we can spot them and decide whether to fight, negotiate, or escape." He unfolds his arms and claps the other man on the shoulder.
The skinny bandit smiles and says, "Gonna feed the bear tonight?"
The red-and-black haired man says, "Dunno. We need the horses that we have. I think the beast is not really hungry so much as it's just ornery all of the time. We'll see how much the boys bring back."
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Cassandra ducks down and leans over the steps. She whispers down to the others, "Weapons ready. Stay down until I say so." Then, taking her bow out, she rises back up slowly. They were still talking. Good. She knocks an arrow and draws it back to her check. She wouldn't dare try this any other time then right now. She felt a little apprehensive but also a little giddy. This was going to be very cool.
Cassandra breaths out slowly, her breath coming out like mist, though it wasn't cold, and wraps around the head of the arrow. In one smooth motion, she releases and sends the arrow flying towards its target. It shoots right between the two, hits the wall with a thunk and a small whoosh of fire. She calls to them over the space, taking a step up, revealing her feral form. "I suggest the latter options or the bear will most definitely get fed."
The lean bandit against the corner post starts and windmills his arms. He nearly falls over the side, until his compatriot grabs his tunic by the collar and steadies him.
The red-and-black haired man says, "You realize you're outnumbered, right? Between the four men right below you, the two in the northern towers, and the others scattered about the place, unless you're the greatest swordswoman of the River Kingdoms, you'll never get out alive."
He seems to hunch forward and there is a familiar twisting of his features, and his fingers thicken and extend into long claws. His mouth becomes more muzzle-like and long whiskers extend from the sides of the space between his nose and mouth. Furry red-and-black hair surrounds his face almost like a mane and he says in a half-purring, half-growling voice, "And you may feather me, but one arrow can't kill me."
The lean bandit against the corner post starts and windmills his arms. He nearly falls over the side, until his compatriot grabs his tunic by the collar and steadies him.
The red-and-black haired man says, "You realize you're outnumbered, right? Between the four men right below you, the two in the northern towers, and the others scattered about the place, unless you're the greatest swordswoman of the River Kingdoms, you'll never get out alive."
"Am I?" she asks. "I got in without being seen. May have brought others." Cassandra keeps an arrow on the string but keeps it low and only at a quarter draw.
He seems to hunch forward and there is a familiar twisting of his features, and his fingers thicken and extend into long claws. His mouth becomes more muzzle-like and long whiskers extend from the sides of the space between his nose and mouth. Furry red-and-black hair surrounds his face almost like a mane and he says in a half-purring, half-growling voice, "And you may feather me, but one arrow can't kill me."
Cassandra lowers her bow even more and cocks her head to the side. She shouldn't be surprised to see another Shifter. Or should she? She'd never run into one outside the village so this was new. "Killing you is the last thing I want to do. Especially since we have a lot in common." Cassandra's feline features melt away until she turns back into a white-haired human. Mimicking his change in a way, he lets a hand off the bow and lets them see as hair and claws quickly grow where their were none. Her nose and mouth grow a little longer and more square like a wolf's as well. Then its back to human and back to feline. More white hair with black spots. A snow leopard.
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Carinna was caught by surprise by Cassandra's quite impetuous behavior, actually blowing their whole infiltration. She grabs her sword tightly, gesturing the others to also get ready to attack.
She then pays close attention to Cassandra's voice, making sure to answer to any sign of an attack signal.
The other shifter - who must be the ones that the other bandits called Tiger - seems quite surprised at Cassandra's change of form. He tilts his head to the side and his nostrils flare out involuntarily. "Another...? How odd," he says with a tone of curiosity.
The lean bandit starts to say something, but Tiger looks back at him like an angry cat that is about to leap on someone trying to steal its food. Tiger then looks back at Cassandra and says, "What are you even..." but trails off, then, "Ah. You must've killed Kressle. You tracked back to our likely location. Superlative." Then his eyes narrow and he says, "It would be a shame if I had to kill you. But our paths seem to be crossing at an inconvenient juncture. And I expect you're not the kind to just leave."
"Where did you come from?" he says, advancing at a slight oblique angle. The other bandit nervously shifts his weight back and forth while waiting to see how the encounter plays out.
Hmm. Red and black is a lovely color. So graceful. "No. No. Stop moving." She shakes the bad thoughts away and raises her bow. An obvious threat to stay still. "No. We aren't," she says, emphasizing the fact that she was not alone. "Not when we have the upper hand. And not if your words earlier weren't sincere. But...we'd rather avoid bloodshed. Some in Kressle's camp have survived and have found this side is much nicer." Cassandra pauses, trying to think of something else but fails. The other group shouldn't be back for a few hours so they had some time but there were other bandits here and they might attack first and ask questions later. She spares a glance at the other bandit in the back. "Can we even things up a bit? I am not good at negotiation. My skills are...elsewhere." She lowers the bow a little. "Carinna. Can you take over?"
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A bit unsure what to do, Carinna shows herself as Cassandra mentions her name. With her dueling sword in hand, she hoped to use the swordlords famous prowess in combat to strike fear in their enemies' hearts.
Noticing no reaction, Carinna lowers her sword a bit, following Cassandra's example, before addressing Tiger in a low tone, trying not to bring the other bandits attention, "As Cass said, there is no need for unneeded bloodshed. You have enjoyed free reign in this wild region for too long, but that time is over. Banditry will not be tolerated anymore but this doesn't mean that you all should perish..."
"As Cass said to you, we have attacked and bested Kressle's band and not all of them were put to the sword... two of them now have an honest life with equal if not more possibilities of enrichment."
"You have just an old and crumbling fort to defend yourselves and once you leave this place, you run the risk of never return, like Jeb, Aysle, and Auchs. You'll fall as well if you resist... it might be in our hands or not, but you surely will for the swordlords have turned their eyes to the south."
"We have heard about your boss... the Stag Lord... not pleasant things about how he treats all of you. What is the point of fighting for such man? Surrender now and you may yet live and even prosper if you are willing to leave the brigand live behind."
"Not a bad deal really."
Tiger says, "You don't know anything about the Stag Lord, do you. You don't want to tangle with him. He's a monster. He just happens to look like a man... mostly."
"Unless you somehow got a small army in here, you're badly outnumbered. Even if most of the bandits here are incompetents and head-wound survivors, the Stag Lord will pick you off while the rest of the men keep you busy," he says. His eyes flick cautiously over the visible team members.
He nods to Carinna's sword and says, "You're one of the swordlords? You look more like a swordlord-in-training to me. I guess Brevoy picked... the ones they didn't mind sending out to the hinterlands, eh?"
With a frown he says, "You know they tried to kill me in Moonvale? Not for anything I'd done, but because I'm different. Was it the same for you? Why would you work for people who want you dead?" He directs that last part pointedly to Cassandra.
The lean bandit licks his lips nervously.
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Tiger says, "You don't know anything about the Stag Lord, do you. You don't want to tangle with him. He's a monster. He just happens to look like a man... mostly."
"So are we to some," she says solemnly.
"Unless you somehow got a small army in here, you're badly outnumbered. Even if most of the bandits here are incompetents and head-wound survivors, the Stag Lord will pick you off while the rest of the men keep you busy," he says. His eyes flick cautiously over the visible team members.
"So he's here?" she asks.
He nods to Carinna's sword and says, "You're one of the swordlords? You look more like a swordlord-in-training to me. I guess Brevoy picked... the ones they didn't mind sending out to the hinterlands, eh?"
With a frown he says, "You know they tried to kill me in Moonvale? Not for anything I'd done, but because I'm different. Was it the same for you? Why would you work for people who want you dead?" He directs that last part pointedly to Cassandra.
The lean bandit licks his lips nervously.
Cassandra glances at Carinna. "See her? When I asked, she came to help. And now she stands beside me. I trust her implicitly. The others too. Ones even a Strix. Can't hide that as easily as we can. And yet, we don't treat her differently. No one has." Cassandra lowers her bow and looks at both of them. "That's the kind of place I want. What we want. And we can make it happen. We have Rostland's support and that of the real Swordlords. It won't be perfect. But it won't be Moonvale. And it won't be this. But it might just be a home."
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"Swordlord-in-training? No, I left their schools for pur styles were kind off different... But I managed to pierce Kressle's heart in a single move so unless you are implying that Kressle was so useless she could not best a simple girl with a borrowed sword, I advise you not to test your luck..." Carinna answers, unable to not defend her pride.
"Nevertheless we have a problem here. You have seen us and we are not leaving until the Stag Lord has been separated from his head... Despite your warnings you also can't leave us go without yourr boss knowing... So, are you continue to live in this dump, working for a man that might decide to kill you for simple whim, or will you try to actually give your life some worth?" She was waiting for an answer when another idea crossed her mind. With a smile in her face she continued, "Hum, why don't we put a show for you? Ypu bring us to ypur boss to fight him alone... If he wins, he will prove his might and right to rule these lands... Well, he might even thank you for bringing those who bested Kressle's group! On the other hand, if we win you will now we are not kidding and will end up without the Stag Lord to worry... It is a win-win situation for you... While confronting us right here is a lose-lose for you'll either end up dead or having to explain your boss how a bunch of girls infiltrated the place while you were on the watch..."
Dots
Tiger snorts and says, "Bunch of girls? You say that like it's a bad thing. If you're trying to get a rise out of me on the basis of some kind of machismo, that's the wrong tack."
"Regardless," he continues, hands resting on his belt, "you can't get to the Stag Lord without going through several of the crew anyway. I'll give you credit for guts. But I've seen the Stag Lord in action - I know what he can do. I don't have any reason to think you're tough enough to take him. But I'm not inclined to stop you, either." He shrugs, then looks over at the lean bandit. That fellow looks nervously back and forth across you, and occasionally cranes his head over in the direction of one of the other towers.
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With a smile in her face, Carinna motions to Cass, indicating the lean bandit behind Tiger, "Very well... you don't want to help us, but also don't want to stop us... so sit down and watch. You are about to experience a show. And you?" She points her sword to the lean bandit, "Will you also be part of the crowd, or will you engage us and be part of the show?"
Turning back to Tiger, she continues, "You are aware that we might kill some of the bandits that resist us, right? None of them are your friends?"
"Then just stand there and look pretty." A slight blush shows on Cassandra's cheeks. Did I just say that out loud. S@+~. Play it cool. "Uh. I mean just...You" She raises her bow and aims it at the lean bandit. "Where is he? The Staglord." Smooth.