|
Carinna cleans her bloodied blade before sheathing it. She purposely does this in front of the captured bandits, slowly, just as a remember to what her sword could do... after all, she alone almost killed four of them, five if the one in the outpost was to be counted.
"Hum... Tel, could you bring Hatch and Laric here to help with the interrogation? I'd go myself, but I'm afraid I won't be able to find them in this darkness."
Once Tel is back with the other bandits, she continues.
"Right, let's end this... Laric, Hatch, you will not say a thing while we interrogate them. In the end, I'll ask you about their honesty and it will weight in our final decision, but be warned that if they any of them manage to trick us and you cover them up, you'll be as guilty as they are and I imagine we need to remember all of you about our capacity..." She them points to the recently captured bandits. "I imagine you two were not imagining we would be able to defeat Kressle, but her she is, chained and with a pierced lung."
She changes her attention to the chained bandits.
"We are probably not known yet, but we were sent here by the swordlords of Restov to settle this lands. Banditry will not be allowed anymore. You were captured practicing it, and now is your only and last chance to abandon your former ways and live as a honorable man, or die as a bandit. Laric and Hatch here were the only ones spared during your former raid at Oleg's post, and they could tell you they were treated with honesty and justice... you could get the same deal."
She looks at Cassandra before continuing.
"I learned that everyone should be presented with the choice to abandon their past and start a new life. If you choose to do so, we'll be happy to help you, if not, a swift death awaits you... be warned that if we free you and you betray us, a swift death will not be available anymore."
Valeska continues her humming as she wanders through the camp. "There," she adds, "They've all stopped bleeding."
She casts a glance toward Cassandra but just shares a chuckle with Tzerny.
Cassandra gives Valeska a surprised thanks. She wasn't expecting the quiet caster to be so well prepared for injuries. She makes a mental note to ask her for some training. The best Cassandra could do was dress a wound, not stabilize someone dying. If she was going to constantly try and convert others it was going to have to be through action rather than word. She wasn't good with words.
Telmarni looks around the battleground seeing if there is anything that needs to be done. But with all the living bandits gathered, she begins to search the area for anything that may have been taken from Oleg's and possibly see about getting that wagon working.
With the bandits soundly defeated, you tie up the hands of the ones that are still conscious, and move the unconscious ones to a place on the edge of the campfire where they won't die from exposure or be underfoot. It will still probably be several days before they awaken.
Though Valeska's healing abilities keep the injured bandits alive, only four are conscious and able to speak as you search the area and wrap up the fighting.
When someone goes back to get Larik and Hatch, you find that Hatch is already curled up by a small fire, sleeping. Larik, conversely, is still awake, just looking off into the darkness listlessly. After Hatch is awakened, and the situation explained to both of them, Larik says, "Gotcha. I'll keep my mouth shut," and Hatch just nods vigorously.
Bandit #4 -- A woman in her late teens: "My name is Sareah. I'm from a farm in Rostland. That's my brother Cobb, over there," she says with a nod to Bandit #6. "Our parents were killed by the entourage of a swordlord from Restov, and they burned our farm to the ground. We ran away and escaped from his soldiers, but we were wandering without anywhere to go or anything to eat. Cobb promised that he'd look out for me and we sort of fell in with this group."
Bandit #6 -- A sinewy man in his early 20s: "My name is Cobb. My sister and I went on the run after a swordlord from Restov burned down our family's farm. We had no money with us and it wasn't safe for us to stay in Rostland; if the swordlord ever saw us again he'd kill us. Sareah suggested that we head south, because the swordlords never went to the uncontrolled lands and besides it would be less snowy in winter so we might be more likely to survive. We were starving in the woods when we fell in with this band. At least they keep us fed!"
Bandit #7 -- Older man, closing in on middle aged, graying hair and really strong forearms: "I'm Jagger Vance, a yeoman. I've lived in these parts all my life, hunting and trapping. Them swordlords in Restov and pirate-nobles in Issia don't know the first thing about these woods. Kressle recruited me 'cause I'm handy with the bow."
Bandit #8 -- Man of indeterminate age with a badly pox-scarred face and burn scars on his hands: "I'm Watran. I uh... came from the Rostlands, too. Uh... I never really fit in. I uh... was run out of my village because uh... nobody liked me. I uh... survived when a lot of people died from the pox one year. I uh... didn't have any family left so I ran away."
When Watran finishes his short piece, Jagger Vance breaks in and says, "They forced you out because you were a damn arsonist, Watran." Watran sputters a few times, "Uh... uh... uh..." but then just looks around glumly.
You gather up the weapons and possessions of the bandits, and acquire:
From Kressle:
* 2 masterwork handaxes
* 4 daggers
* 1 potion
* 85 gp
From the other 10 bandits (per each):
* 1 shortsword
* 1 longbow
* 20 arrows
* 10 gold pieces
* 2 days of trail rations
Telmarni searches the area thoroughly and, underneath a pile of extra tent-fabric, bedding, and firewood in the hollow of a tree, she finds the bandits' dirty stash!
* 321 silver pieces
* 90 gold pieces
* A pair of silver earrings
* A wooden music box (it still works!)
* Three crates of furs
* One polished wooden case with 8 bottles of potent green liquor
The wagon looks like a total wreck -- it'll never move without major repair work.
|
|
Carinna takes Sareah and Cobb aside from the other bandits.
"If what you tell is true, I must apologize in the name of the Swordlords... like all men, not everyone has a nice heart. We are here to settle this lands in the name of the Swordlords, but we are not subordinate to them... you two have now the opportunity to start over with an honest life... what do you say?"
She then takes them back and takes the old man for the next talk.
"You are no more a young man and clearly know this woods. We could employ a guide, if you think it will be better to work an honest job than be executed... this is an ultimate, but you should not see it that way. I do not know what led you to join Kressle, but I can assure joining us is the right move."
Finally, she takes Watran for the private talk.
"What the old man said is true? You tried to attack and kill us even when the fight was already over. You need to give me a good reason to let you free."
She thinks for a moment before talking to Larik and Hatch.
"Are they telling the true?"
~~~~~~~~~~
Sareah and Cobb both seem a bit uncomfortable about this whole ordeal. After Carinna makes her stance known, Cobb bursts out, "We just wanted to stay alive and stay together. Kressle is a real nasty b... woman! Sorry. Um, we would've left if we could, but we had nowhere to go."
Sareah chimes in, "I promise we'll help! Some of the others in this group are really bad men, but not everyone. We just want a safe place to live, is all."
Cobb says as an afterthought, "You managed to capture Hatch and Larik already? Hatch is not a bad guy, but he just gets confused sometimes or doesn't realize what people really want. But Larik killed a gnome in Restov or something and he's wanted for murder, which is why he's out here."
Sareah nods and says, "Yes, he has a really bad temper. It usually takes something really frustrating him for it to come out, but when it does, he gets violent and uncontrollable."
~~~~~~~~~~
Jagger Vance spits on the ground as Carinna talks to him. He smiles crookedly and says, "What, you think a few minutes of chatting is going to fix everything? You're in for some real eye-openers, missy. I 'preciate your goals; this band wasn't for much, only Kressle keeping everyone in line, but everyone's been gettin' unhappier by the day. But this forest is dangerous and haunted, and these are desperate men. Every one of them's got cause to be afoul of the law, whether for good or for ill. An' most of 'em will say whatever it takes to keep you from stretching their necks. Hell, I will too! Th' proof will come out wit' time. Easy for a man to say what he likes, hard to hide his habits and his beliefs. But you've got a problem. You may have got us by surprise, but there's still only five of you an' a good dozen or so of us. Y'can't get us back to civilized lands in good order traveling for days without someone starting something -- an' if you leave Kressle alive, it'll be her what starts it. An' that won't give you the time to suss out the wheat from the chaff. You got a hard choice, miss -- you are gonna have to shorten a few fellahs by a foot, based just on yer instincts and yer gut feelin's. Or ye could do what they do in the city when they catch a brigand an' just hang the lot and not give a damn. But if you try to haul this whole crew back in ropes, yer gonna have some kinda disaster while campin', an' it's sure to be Kressle what causes it."
He looks around the dark woods and continues, "Ye can't leave folks tied up here, they'd get et by bears or... something worse. An' ya can't just let 'em walk away. So ye gotta figure out who yer gonna spare and who yer gonna kill, all on the basis of too little time."
~~~~~~~~~~
Watran gulps nervously and sweats while talking to Carinna. "It's all, um, a bunch of, um, lies," he says with a pout. "They've always, um, hated me, and they'll, um, throw me to the wolves so um, you chop off my head and they, um, seem better in comparison." He looks extremely unhappy and then suddenly brightens slightly and says, "What, um, what do you want to know? I can tell you, um, all kinds of things, um, things about our band, um, or about the forest, um, we've been all over, I can, um, I can help you with all the, um, ins and outs of the Greenbelt!"
Your hunch is that he is trying to divert suspicion from his habits, but... since you are already inclined to suspect him, maybe he's just really nervous because the others are essentially selling him out. Jagger Vance's words ring in your memory, about how the truth will come out with enough time, when you see how men live and not just what they say. But it would be very risky to have an arsonist in the forest -- if he's really an arsonist, it's surprising that he didn't already burn down the bandits' camp. Then again, if Kressle is really as terrifying as the bandits say, maybe she kept him in line. It's hard to say without actual evidence.
~~~~~~~~~~
Once she's finished the preliminary round of questions, Carinna asks Hatch and Larik for their impressions.
Hatch says, "Cobb and Sareah are both really nice. They treat me all right. They don't like fighting and only do it because Kressle says she'll skin them with her axes and hang their flayed corpses from the trees if they don't do what she says."
About Jagger Vance he says, "Old Vance, we call him sometimes. He's not that old but he's all scarred and wrinkled from living in the woods so long. He knows all about the forest but he's also kinda scary. He says the woods are haunted by faeries and ghosts and things. He's a really good hunter and a good shot with a bow. I don't know how Kressle got him to join us."
About Watran he says, "He's always playing with the campfire. One time he went off on his own and started a fire somewhere else and Tomtom had to go find him and put out the fire. When they got back Kressle beat him something fierce! He said the fire makes him calm but Kressle called him an idiot and said that if he started a big fire that we'd have to move our camp and change our routes and it would ruin everything. She said if he did it again she'd cut off his hands, cook them, and feed them to him."
Larik says, "The kids are all right, but they haven't really toughened up. They were starting to get pretty demoralized and lose hope of ever getting out of the woods and escaping Kressle."
About Jagger Vance he says, "That old kook! He's always telling these crazy ghost stories about the forest, but I've never seen anything that ridiculous. He's a pretty good shot though. Always bringing back some fresh meat. Doesn't complain about skinning it and smoking it for our food stores."
About Watran he says, "That guy was born under a bad sign, I tell you. He's not right in the head, and he's got all those scabs and stuff too. I think if Kressle didn't reserve the right to kill people for herself, someone else in the group would've killed him first. Maybe Rance, but you did Rance right proper when you snuck into Kressle's camp, and he won't be killing anyone no more."
~~~~~~~~~~
When Telmarni brings back the cadaver of the decapitated watchman, there's an uncomfortable look between several of the bandits, as this shows that you really mean business.
Larik walks up to the cadaver and looks down. He says, "Wow. Someone finally got Rance. No more of that dead-eye fish-stare. Never thought I'd live to see that day." He rubs a hand over his balding head, then suddenly he says, "F*** you, Rance," and kicks the severed head so hard that it flies off into the bushes in the forest.
After bringing the whole cadaver back into the camp, she stretches a bit. But before long she noticed Larik walk up and mention something. Rance? So this one I killed was Ran- She sees him kick the severed head flying into the bushes. She sighs a bit at the sight. ".... I don't want to go looking for it again after the first time it hit the forest floor. It was hard enough without bushes." She looks towards Carinna. "I thought we could use the wagon that is next to the stream... But unless we can get someone to work miracles, it is not going anywhere. Without it, it will take a while to get back with the supplies and people. We would have to return on a second trip, but with that, there could be other creatures that may scavenged this place before then." She lets out a sigh and looks around before leaning in to speak with Carinna in a slight whisper. "I have not found the ring either... It may already changed hands, or someone came through here already and stole it from them."
The more the bandits talked, the more Cassandra realized they weren't doing anyone a favor here by leaving them alive. They were putting everyone in danger. And it was her fault. She pushed for them to let them live but now what? Vance was right. Either they would mutiny or they would have to kill them. So what do they do?
As always, Cassandra thought about her grandfather. When someone joined the village that proved to be problematic, they would give them every available chance to prove themselves. If they continued be a problem and refuse help, they were punished. If they continued to be a problem...well, they couldn't have anyone telling people of their secret home. But at home they outnumbered the accused. Here they didn't. She as on her own for this one. Wait. Maybe there was something.
After hearing what the bandits have to say and the former bandits, she pulls Carinna aside. "Vance is right. We can't handle this many. They'll try something as long as they have someone to rally around. So how about we just take Kressle back. Release the rest? Leave them enough to survive and the offer of legit work if they come to Oleg's peaceably?"
|
|
She lets out a sigh and looks around before leaning in to speak with Carinna in a slight whisper. "I have not found the ring either... It may already changed hands, or someone came through here already and stole it from them."
"Humm... maybe it is still with one of them... when we tied them up, we only searched them for their weapons, might be in a pocket or even on a finger covered in their own blood."
After hearing what the bandits have to say and the former bandits, she pulls Carinna aside. "Vance is right. We can't handle this many. They'll try something as long as they have someone to rally around. So how about we just take Kressle back. Release the rest? Leave them enough to survive and the offer of legit work if they come to Oleg's peaceably?"
"I'm not so sure Cassandra... some of them, like Sareah, Cobb and Hatch really need some assistance, and leaving them behind will only mean that another thug will bully them back to banditry. Old Vance is indeed right, if we take many of them we might be in danger, but right now it is not quite dangerous yet..." She points to Sareah, Cobb and Hatch. "Those three are quite grateful to us, I do not believe they will turn on us. Larik is a puzzle, but for now he has not shown any sign of fowl play... he could have lied to us about this encampment and doomed us all, and I belive Old Vance, if given the opportunity to keep doing what he does, hunting and tracking, he will remain in line."
She then points to Watran and Kressle.
"Kressle, just like Happs back in the post, is the heads of this camp and the root of all this, she must go. Wantran as well. We do not know yet about the other ones though, but I have no expectations either, after all, if all of them are good people, they wood be feeding the poor with their goods, right?"
Though the response from Carinna was likely sarcastic, Cassandra answered very seriously. "You really don't know what good people can do when they think they have no choice. When they're scared or hungry, they take whatever they can get. Even if they know its wrong and destroys them a little each time. Destroy enough and you lose sight of any good left in the world. You become the monster everyone thinks you are." Cassandra turns solemn and silent for a moment. Her mind wanders far away from the stolen lands to a different forest. One very similar but very different at the same time. "We're only two days away. We can leave that much in rations. They can choose to follow or try and survive out here. Not a good choice but at least it is one. You guys can ride on and I can stay behind to see what happens. I mean we have the bandit leader. There is no one else to bully them. We've proven that we're the strongest around."
Old Vance mentions, "So, yer lucky that you got us in an ambush while we slept. Good move. Three o' those fellahs are former gladiators from Pitax. Hard men used to violence. They escaped the ring when the opportunity presented itself but they have no qualms abou' preying on anyone else. They aren't gonna take kindly to bein' tied up or ordered about. That's them -- Gallero, Turmo, and Pesh."
"That one," he says as he points again , "is a cowardly lickspittle named Zaed. He's been following Kressle around this whole time. They've worked together for quite a while. I think he was some kind of traveling con artist or the like before he got roped into this business."
Telmarni keeps watch over the bandits while Carinna and Cassandra speak to the side, to not talk in front of them. When Vance mention who others were, she makes sure to take note. From Pitax, isn't that far south? And others from Brevoy as well. It seems like they came from all over... Wait, if there did come from all over, there might be other bands of bandits out there! She fluffs her feathers slightly at the revelation. "...Vance, was it? You do seem to know who has came through these lands. Are there any chance of other groups similar to Kressle's? And if so, tell us?"
Telmarni sighs when she finishes inquiring. She turns to Korinne with a slight pleading look. "Could you explain better? I am not... Nice with my words." She feels that it could have went better.
"Your oddly calm about all this," Cassandra says to the old hunter. "Especially about the possibility of your own death. Why did you even join them? You could make a decent living hunting from what Laric and Hatch said of you."
Vance seems to chew on Cassandra's thought for a long moment, then finally he replies, "I'm not some carefree souls who just loves to live out in the woods. I done my share o' misdeeds. But I'm just getting to old for the life. Can't live on my own anymore -- the cold gets into my joints in winter. Can't haul an entire elk by m'self. Can't watch my back at night. But I ain't one for the city. I ain't got no family there, no skills, no trade."
He stares off into the darkness to the northeast and continues, "Me an' Olaf, we're of a piece. Men who like to be alone wit' our thoughts. Men who like to live in the cool air an' the frontier. I imagine Olaf's none too happy 'bout the thought of Restov turning his little trading post into a big border town."
"I hain't a civilized man and I'm too old to change. But I can't survive on m'own any more. Too many scars and too many years. But it ain't in me to give up and go jump off a cliff or some damn fool thing. So here I am, livin' rough, wit' the only kinda 'family' would bother with me." He works his mouth a couple of times sourly and shifts his sitting position. "You ladies gonna learn it's a hard world an' if'n you got nobody, it'll eat you up in the end."
|
|
As Carinna hears about the unconscious bandits she feels kind of relieved. She sighs
"Hum... if what you tell the truth, the former gladiators, Zaed, Watran and Kressle are beyond redemption, so they must be dealt the same way Happs and the others were... and I see your point Cassandra, we really can't bring all of them around with us."
She then turns to Vance. "Vance, you say you are only in the banditry because you have no choice and no family... well look around, you actually have one." She points to Larik, Hatch, Sareah and Cobb. "You seek people to watch your back and these people just want to survive in this no man's land. Our intention is to settle these lands, but it will take years yet, and we clearly need some help... your expertise would be handy, as well as the disposition of those men."
"What about you five stay around here? We'll need somewhere safe to rest more than once, and somewhere to come back after the explorations. There is plenty of wood to build shacks... we know you lack tools, but we can get them at Oleg's. There will be plenty of food in the woods and we can bring some more. You will be actually doing the same you were, except there will be no more thefts and a better leader. We'll make sure you thrive in here."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Valeska looks on the entire scene in shock, hardly sure what to make of it.
Yet with a sudden flourish to stand up straight, she cocks her head and walks forward with purpose as if to speak. And yet... she says nothing, her eyes glazing over slightly.
Tzerny speaks for her.
"Valeska's a bit of a delicate hatchling about violence, and would love nothing more than to save everyone's lives and have us all live in harmony."
Valeska walks toward Vance and gestures towards him. Tzerny continues, "But you know the truth of the situation. That's impossible. Things are too desperate out here, we act out of necessity, not some hope to sing with our neighbors. But we also aren't in the city. You'd all be strung up because there would be a whole hundred other people willing to take up the slack of your loss. Not out here. There needs to be forgiveness, understanding, knowledge of whether turning our back on you will be a benefit, or a mistake."
Valeska places her hands behind her back and walks around, as the raven continues his speech. "Civilization is coming to these lands. It's not going to be some triumphant march of a thousand soldiers declaring this place as theirs. It's going to be the slow encroachment of labor and effort into these lands, as settlers continue to enter here out of necessity or worse. Some will help. Some will not."
The witch stops and stares past everyone. "That is where we come in. We are going to separate the wheat from the chaff. Mistakes will be made. People will die as we fight back against the chaos and darkness. But Valeska is going to save the lives of as many of you as possible, so that the decision to kill, turn any of you into my next meal, will be done deliberately. We will need extra hands to help as civilization grows. Extra eyes, extra ears, extra minds, extra hearts. Prove your value to us, show your loyalty, band together with us against the wilds, and you will be protected, and, over time, the numbers will be on your side. Turn against us, become a thorn in our side, and you will be plucked."
Cassandra could understand Vance. She could understand him better than most here most likely. Wolves rarely got old. They were constantly challenged by the young for authority or some creature doing the hunt would end them. But the really old tended to get ornery. Some people thought it was because of the pain of old age. But Cassandra had talked to some of the old wolves in the forest and knew better. It was because they were annoyed that none of the younger generation were strong enough to topple them. That was the value of age. Wisdom compensated for strength and they felt it was there duty on pass on that wisdom. And when they didn't learn it annoyed them.
As Cassandra thought about what to say, Carinna and Valeska's companion said for her. Vance wasn't a fool, his instincts were just smarter than him. No one wanted to be alone, even Oleg knew that. Vance had just been alone so long he thought that's what he wanted. He didn't join because he couldn't live alone, it was because there was young here that needed some wisdom. But the others had said all that so Cassandra kept to herself. She wished she had a bird to speak for her too.
Old Vance meanders over to his bedroll and rummages around in a small leather bag at its head. As you get a bit wary, he carefully holds up an old wooden pipe, which he starts to clean with a small hooked metal tool.
"I dunno about 'organization,' as such, but Kressle's made some time working with other folk around these parts, yeah. There's been some come-and-go of folks. Zaed and Gallero would sometimes ride out with Kressle for other stuff, but it's not the kinda thing they would blabber about 'round the firepit. I know we been stealin' lots and lots o' booze. Either someone's got a hankerin', or there's a great market for it somewhere," Vance says.
He gives the pipe a few good whacks to empty it of ashes and then starts to meticulously pack it with crushed tobacco. "Lissen, don't get cocky. You ladies got lucky. There's worse things living in the Narlmarches, old things, dead things, haunts an' ruins an' remnants of the Wee Folk. You wanna wash away some o' that green before you go traipsin' out into the unknown."
Cassandra raises er axe in case Vance pulled something. Old men tended to have a trick or two up their sleeves. But when he pulls out a pipe she lowers it, slightly. His talk of the things that wander the forest gave her an idea. "Jagger?" Cassandra asks to get his attention. "You may be too old to survive alone but there is value in the wisdom that got you this far. So what if I hired you? As you know, every forest is different. Has its own beasts, has its own lifeforce, has its own moods. I'd like you teach me what you know. And them," she says pointing Hatch, Cobb and Sareah. "You stay close to Oleg's and train these people how to survive. They learn a valuable trade and you have someone to carry an elk back, someone to watch your back at night. My grandfather always said most will waste a second chance because no one changes quickly. But a second life is hard to pass up." She hefts the axe into both hands and kicks a sword his way. "Or I could give you a warriors, a survivors, end." Which old wolf was he? The one that was eventually taken down by the younger generation, or the one that lead them to be stronger than ever.
Edit:
Vance squints and takes a long puff on his pipe as he works to get the tobacco smoking well. He breathes out a plume of smoke and regards Cassandra levelly. Finally he says in his gravelly voice, "Ambitious, aren't ya?"
He takes another long drag, and you aren't entirely sure if it's because he's thinking, or making you wait.
"I've seen ambition afore. Kressle has a raw kinda ambition, t'bring death and destruction in her wake. She gets a special kinda pleasure outta spreadin' pain. An' I 'spect she falls in line behind others like her," he says in a meandering drawl.
"I hain't the kind o' man who can be held down and live under t' thumb o' civilization an' its blanket o' laws," he continues. "T'be at someone else's beck an' call, that's a different kinda prison." He looks over in the direction of Sareah and Cobb, who are seated some distance away so that you can keep everyone separated. "Though I suppose them kids are gonna get kilt if someone doesn't do somethin'. An' Hatch is gonna kill someone hisself if he isn't looked after."
He blows out another peal of smoke and says, "I hain't got no kids o' my own 'cuz I ain't the kind to be tied down. But I hain't got no likin' to see folks get kilt just because they didn't know the ken of survivin' the woods."
He peers intently at Cassandra again and says, "What's yer name, missy?" He cocks his head slightly and says, "Ye may think yer of a piece out here, but ye haint. The woods're full of hunters. An' I seen some of 'em." Something about how he says this gives Cassie an involuntary shiver, just for a moment.
Cassandra, being the bearer of cursed blood and heightened instinct, respected any warning it gave her. In this instance it was the haunting look in the man's eyes that proved more than anything there were definitely things out here that she had never seen before. But that same blood also drove her to establish herself as the dominate one. Never back down. Never show fear. Her natural pragmatism and shyness balanced these feelings well. It saved her from more than one sticky situation her more, aggressive kin, would have fallen into. So she took the words to heart and ignored the urge to transform and show him who the real hunter was. That would have made things very difficult.
"Cassandra Lupin," she says smiling. She lowers the axe and offers a hand. "Our charter just says we're here to scout. Oleg was kind enough to offer a roof so we helped with his...problems," she says looking over at Kressle. "I'm not asking you to give up your life. But it is certainly being under-utilized. Kressle was a fool not to see that. And I think you are missing out on the best part of being old. Telling ambition, young fools like me I told you so." She smiles hoping to have cracked his crusty outer shell of cynicism and apathy. "I assume we have the makings of a deal?" she asks. She didn't want to bind him to anything now and ruin the possibility. Then she remembers something.
She spins and looks at the others awkwardly, ahving almost forgot they were there. "If that's alright with you guys of course," she says blushing with embarrassment. Crap. I got carried away.
Vance grips Cassie's hand firmly and says, "Yeah." He pauses just a few seconds before saying more firmly, "Yeah, we understand each other."
At first, Cassandra cocked her head to the side a little, confused by the way he said "understand each other". She didn't get to voice a concern or clarification because of Carinna. "Wait. What? They..." she starts. But at this point she trusted Laric, Hatch, and Vance. None of them had anything good to say about the five still out, and their wounds were great enough to require magically healing or they'd be stuck here for a few days. So instead of arguing more she accepts the gain they made today. 3 of nearly a dozen was pathetic but it was something. "At least heal Kressle. She might know more about what is going on here." That was all she requested but it was obvious she wasn't comfortable with killing a helpless foe.
Carinna executes the pit fighters, the arsonist, and the sycophant with simple efficiency. They are buried in shallow graves with a thin layer of dirt and a few river stones. Both Sareah and Cobb seem rather shaken by this experience, but Vance goes about the business of helping to bury the bodies with quiet efficiency. Hatch seems a bit torn by the whole episode, as if he realizes that he should feel something about this, but he isn't really adroit at expressing himself. Larik seems muted and says nothing.
Once this grisly business is concluded, the team encamps and settles in to have some food and some sleep.
With Kressle conscious after some healing magic, you set about to question her about her activities. She is pale from blood loss and injury, and her voice is weak, occasionally interrupted by bloody coughing, yet even so she manages to sneer uncooperatively.
"You think your actions here mean anything? You topple me, there are a dozen more ready to take my place. Don't think your actions will go unnoticed. The Stag Lord will have his eye on you, mark my words."
This piques some curiosity, and questioning about this so-called Stag Lord elicits another sneering reply.
"He's touched, he is. By the old spirits in these parts. He has their blessing and their power. You'll know him only when he's ready to slay you, and you'll only see the pinpoints of light from his eyes under that stag-horned helm that he always wears. He's tougher than any of us, tougher than me, or Vance, or any of you. And you'll be lucky if you're close enough to even spot his stag-helm -- he'll kill you half a mile away with his bow, first.
The Stag Lord's going to be the next ruler of the Narlmarches. That's what we're doing -- it's not banditry. We're collecting tribute and taxes. And the Stag Lord will be recognized as the new king of these forests and hills. Every day more men flock to him."
|
|
After executing the other criminals, and hearing Kressle's words, Carinna felt that a bit more information about the Stag Lord would be helpful. She walked towards her with her blade still bloody and cleaned it on Kressle's clothes.
"Look, you are not an idiot and already knows you are far past redemptions and second chances, so you might be guessing why would you tell us something before we execute you. We'll for sure not torture you, but listen to me: you could die quickly like the others, or I could perforate your lungs. I have no stomach for grisly work and we would abandon you here in the woods. If done right, a perforated lung would mean a slow death, from fifteen minutes to even hours or a whole day, an agonizing death like you are drowning. Your choice... "
She moved away from Kressle and asked. "Where is the Stag Lord's camp? Who follows him?"
Cassandra offers to help with the executions but it seems Carinna intends to see this through. Whether to protect them from the burden of the deed or accepting full responsibility for her decisions, the hunter was not sure. Either way, they were at least buried and would be returned to the forest. While she sees to Kressle, Cassandra talks to Vance to work out their deal. "We haven't gotten to explore much so I don't know where would be a good place to set up camp. Once we find one, I'll try to stop by once a week to check progress and learn a little of what you know of this land. Do you want to work with all three of them," she says indicating Cobb, Sareah, and Hatch, "or one at a time? Larik doesn't seem like the survival type. We could probably leave a horse too in case of emergency. How about a gold a day to train them and stay out of trouble?"
Carinna's interrogation of Kressle seems to become an ugly back-and-forth. Kressle alternates between pausing to gasp for breath and then spitting her hatred, with her disheveled hair and blood-speckled lips giving her the appearance of a harridan.
"I already told you, the Stag Lord is gathering everyone in the Narlmarches to his side. He's been chosen, elevated by the spirits... don't look at me like that, I'm no priest. He's taken one of the old forts south in the March, abandoned long ago by weaker men with less ambition and less fortitude. Follow the Thorn River past the crossing to the northern bank of the Tuskwater and you'll see his overlook. Soon enough he'll extend his grip across this whole region."
She shakes her head weakly. "Oleg should've just shut up and paid his taxes."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vance mulls over Cassandra's offer for a bit, then says, "Might not be safe for us to stay here. If Kressle doesn't check in with her 'friends,' they could send someone to check up and see why they haven't gotten 'tribute.' We should move our camp, at least for now."
Telmarni is taken by surprise, by the venom in Carinna's words. I don't remember her being so... Fearsome. I guess her training with those so called Aldori changed her. While watching the tirade that Carinna and Kressle were doing, she notes the location of the fort that this Stag Lord has taken hold of. She sighs as Kressle returns to threatening again by way of her Stag Lord. Telmarni walks up beside Carinna to speak with her. "I don't think we will get much more information from her. Might as well end her now so nothing will come wondering what is... Squeeking like nothing more than vermin. Do you wish for me to end her?" And with that she pulls out her black scimitar and awaits for Carinna's reply.
"I wasn't suggesting here. Or I could be," she says turning away for a moment to think. If Vance and the others stayed here they could deflect any searches and then come warn them. "No. Nevermind. Too dangerous. Might as well abandon the camp and leave them wondering. What about the forest south of Oleg's? Far enough away you can disappear into it if their's trouble."
|
|
At Telmarni's words Carinna sighed.
"I agree you Tel, nothing more that she says will be useful... go ahead and end her, my blade already ate to many souls today..."
She turned her back to Kressle and Telmarni and started to walk away when she remembered about the ring.
"Oh Tel, ask her about Svetlana's ring if you could."
"The ring? That worthless trinket?" Kressle coughs. "Probably lost. Maybe stolen. There are mites in the area, they sneak into the camp and steal food and little things sometimes at night."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vance scratches the stubble on his chin and says to Cassandra, "Could maybe stay there for a couple of days. No easy access to fresh water, since it's not on the river and I'm not keen to dig a well for a temporary encampment."
"Oleg has a well." She didn't figure that would go over well with either so she said it more as a joke. She looks over to where Carinna and Kressle are making a racket. "Don't think they are going to take much longer. I'll see what I can come up with. Maybe we can follow this river north a ways and find a new camp before going back to Oleg's." She then turns back to Vance. "You keep dodging an answer though. If you leave tonight and I never see you again, I would be fine with that. I can assume you haven't joined another bandit group, or if you did, you're someone else's problem. But we could use your help. These kids, who are just trying to survive, could use your help. And I am willing to pay for it. When we part ways I hope you will have an answer." Cassandra pauses a moment to let the conversation and offer sink in. She then takes a seat across from him and opens the little notebook she has been mapping the forest with and marking local flora. "Think you can help update this. I'll trade some stories from my forest if you tell me about yours."
Korinne watched silently as Carinna set about the grim task of executing the majority of the bandits. Between that and Kressle's very open, unbridled hostility towards them, the young woman seems to withdraw from the proceedings somewhat, her mood dampened.
I'm not sure how I imagined things would go here in the Stolen Lands, but this certainly isn't it.
Feeling uneasy and out of her depth, she looks about for something to do and seems to settle on attempting to engage some of their other 'prisoners' in conversation. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry," she whispers, her words primarily directed at the siblings and Hatch. "It may sound crazy for me to say this, but none of us enjoy this sort of thing. We'd much rather simply map the area and work on clearing hostile creatures out to prepare for settlement. Even Carinna and Cassandra...heck, Cassandra's pushed the hardest this whole time to offer any of the Stag Lord's men a chance to start over."
She pauses for a moment and then continues, her voice gentle. "Were any of them friends?" Though she knew some of the others might find it a strange question to ask, Korinne couldn't help but put herself in the shoes of the surviving bandits. Even though they didn't all get along, surely there had been some sense of camaraderie that had formed between some of them. She knew that it would be upsetting if something were to happen to one of her own teammates; why should the bandits be any different?
Hatch watches the whole mess of a situation unfolding with watery eyes. He rubs a sniffle from his nose and says, "I guess it all had to end some day."
Cobb, by contrast, seems very high-strung. He's jumpy and touchy. At first you worry that it might be a fit of pique or temper, but Sareah grabs his arm and gives him a hard stare as if to tell him to get himself together, and you realize it's anxiety.
Sareah says to Karinna, "I don't... I don't think we really had friends, so much as we were just trying to survive together. Cobb and I kept each other safe."
Cobb swallows hard and says, "They were rough men. I mean, I guess we knew that's how it would go, but... yeah, we just did what we could to stay alive." Nevertheless, he looks a little green around the gills.
Sareah adds, "We've seen our share of violence with this crew. I never really liked Rance, and Kressle was the meanest, nastiest, quickest to give out a cut or a beating. I guess she deserves what's coming to her."
"Honestly," Cobb finishes, "this is all just a little bit... scary."
Telmarni takes a deep breath before replying to Carinna in a calm tone. "Right." She walks forward to Kressle as she sits there next to the tree. She swings her scimitar to get momentum up before swinging it into Kressle's neck. But before she connects, Telmarni stops when she hears Carninna call out and ask about the ring that we are looking for.
She pulls her blade away from Kressle's neck and the bandit replies to them. Mites? What is a mite? Do they mean what are found on... Dogs? Why would a small bug want something as simple as a ring?
Telmarni looks down at Kressle, sighing before making her blade glow slightly, she twirls around and swings the blade into the neck of the unrepentant bandit that is formerly known as Kressle.
With all that said and done, Telmarni cleans off her blade on the corpse and moves over to the others. "So... With that done, we should see about moving, things with keen noses should be able to sniff out these... Things, and will be coming to investigate. Also..." She looks at all the people gathered and tilts her head slightly. "So... What is a mite?"
Telmarni's strike ends Kressle and, with her, the immediate threat of local bandits pressing up on the southern border of Restov.
Vance watches impassively from a distance and then he says to Cassandra, "These kids deserve better than that. Do right by us and I'll do right by them."
|
|
Carinna watched as Telmarni ended Kressle's life with brutal efficiency.
"Well, now that the more pressing matters were dealt with, we need to take this loot back to Oleg's... since there are not enough horses for everyone, we could use ours to do the job. What you think, girls?"
She then looked at the bodies.
"I think it would be better to burn these corpses... If done right, any scout from the stag lord would not be able to notice that there are fewer bodies than the usual number of bandits."
"Mites are fey," Valeska responds to Telmarni, "Fairies. They're very small, blue and live underground, or in mushrooms? No, underground, sorry. They're mean and like to steal and make traps, so they're a problem when they aren't placated."
Turning to Carinna, she adds, "I like that plan. Let's load the horses, burn the camp, and get everyone back to Oleg's. I don't want to stick around for too long here."
Cassandra was uncomfortable with the massacre but said nothing to the contrary, instead focusing on the tasks at hand. Burning bodies always left a horrid stink though. "Let's not be anywhere near this when we camp tonight. Bodies tend to draw scavengers, burnt or not, and I don't think my nose could handle that smell all night." Even more true given her sense of smell was as good as a hounds.
Telmarni turns to Valeska, curious about what the mites were. "They are fey? Hm. Never really placed much knowledge into nature and things within, maybe I'll have to have you teach me." As she smiles slightly. Though it seems more like a grimace.
She shakes her head before looking over the campsite. "We should take any supplies that will be useful for us and the others so they do not have to camp under the stars." Telmarni begins to look for salvageable supplies for Vance and the kids. While putting it with the pile of goods, she sees the music box and is intrigued by it. Oh...? What is this? She gingerly picks it up and opens it. Surprised by the music, Telmarni nearly drops it before recovering it. "Wow... How did they get something like this?" As she mutters listening to the music box.
Mites. Ugh. We had an infestation like that once. Worse than ticks. Biting little... a strange sound distracts Cassandra from the bad memories. Her ear twitches in the direction of Telmarni. She wanders over, seeming to be in a daze, and stares at the music box. "Ooo. Pretty sound."