Rose smiled at her sister's quick action of the sentry and gently nodded. "Ah just like you sis, always a clever answer to a problem." She would whisper in response, then proceed to carefully stow her staff in her belongings. She had instead decided to retrieve her bow and knock an arrow. "I always did prefer this approach in the end." She would smirk, carefully drawing her bow and training it towards the center of the camp.
She was quite aware of the sound of hooves as the riders approached the camp, though she bit her lip at not being able to see Vetra sneaking among the unaware bandits milling about and interacting. She whispered a silent prayer than when the commotion began, that Vetra would be alright.
Domitian readies his bow as Vetra and Lyra start to take action. He notches an arrow, and takes aim at one of the three people around the fire.
Domitian looses his arrow as soon as the spell takes hold, sending it flying toward his chosen target.
"Wait," the rest of Moira's sentence fades into a quiet sigh of exasperation. She heard the same sound of riders coming in. There were already eight people in that camp, a challenge even with the ambush. Now there was a lot more and some on horses. Was she the only one with any patience? Probably. Well, best start shooting things.
Moira moves closer to the camp, though with far less alacrity or subtlety as the kobold, and picks out a target.
"He'll do," she whispers to herself. He looked like leadership anyway. She takes a moment to line up a shot at half draw and waits for the signal. I could get a kidney from this angle.
As the group readies arrows and spells the bandits begin to settle in after arriving, completely unaware of the doom that awaits them. Moira moves unsteadily but the darkness aids her attempt at silent steps and is able to get a clear line on the leader of the bandits who just came in. From this angle she can see his armor is of better quality and his face is scarred on his cheek that pulls the left side of his mouth into a sneer. He is wearing a large shield and bow on his back and has a one handed axe on his hip.
As Lyra completes her spell a minute later the grass erupts into action, wrapping itself around the surprised bandits and Vetra.
The hard looking woman in front of Vetra gasps as the grass moves faster then she can react, pinning her arms to her side and wrapping her legs tightly. She topples over on the log and is soon pinned to it, the grass wrapping both of them tightly. The sub-leader that Moira was targeting grunts as his legs are held fast while two of his men manage to rip the grass off of them and remain free for the moment. The rest of the bandits shout out in alarm as they find themselves entangled by the grass and weeds given life.
Moira and Domitian's arrows find their mark and dig through the armor of both targets. The leader Moira was targeting simply grunted in pain and began to look around with narrowed eyes.
Domitian's target was too busy trying to free himself from a sitting position to look around even with an arrow sticking out of his knee.
Once the entangle spell was complete Lyra immediately launched into another spell, light sparkling over the bandits to the south as something tried to push its way to this world.
As soon as she noticed the grass begin to grow, she would be incredibly quick on her feet as she pounced the supposed leader of the group. Coming out of the shadows like an golden arrow as she dug her claws into the bandit leader with raw bestial savagery. Trying to shred into her through her armor. She would then swing her tail around quickly to slice at the leader with her weaponized tail.
Rose heard the cries start rising in the camp and that was her cue. She drew a deep breath, steadying herself, and loosed an arrow.
It soared through the air with deadly accuracy, streaking towards her target. She was excited, seeing her arrow strike true. She continued to watch him for a couple moments as she reached for another arrow from her quiver, watching to see if he would fall and allow her to seek yet another target to strike.
Moira scowls as the shot hits more armor than flesh if the mans grimace was anything to go by. She tries to follow up with another deadly shot only for him to move the instant she fired thanks to luck. Calm down, and focus.
Domitian calms himself as chaos breaks out in the bandit camp. His first shot hit, but didn't stop his mark. One at a time... He tracks forward through the woods and brings his bow back up and looses another arrow at the same target.
Mehaila pulls back the string on her mighty bow and lets fly, targeting the heavily armored foe that Moira was trying to down.
Moira and Mehaila's arrows bounce off the heavily armored sub-leader as he struggles against the entangling plants. Rosa's target lets out a gasp as her arrow strikes unerringly into his chest and he lapses into unconsciousness. Dom's second arrow strikes the thigh of his target and the bandit lets out a howl of pain. All of the bandits attempt to break free while the two free remaining attempt to move out of the affected area. One of the them manages to stumble onto stable ground but the other is hampered by the grasping foliage.
Vetra's target lets out a roar of fury and thrashes against the grass, attempting to be able to simply sit up.
In response the grass simply grows back just as fast as she can rip it off.
The bandit attempting to run manages to keep from being entangled while the rest of them are firmly anchored.
The guard on the tower puts arrow to bow string and sights in on the furiously slashing Vetra.
Lyra finally finishes her spell and in a flash of light a golden feathered eagle appears and swoops down to attack the sub-leader. As the bird extends it's claws it's enveloped in a nimbus of light.
As the bird lashes out at the sub-leader it dips too low and to the ground and gets caught by the grasping plants. Lyra snaps her fingers with a harsh word and a spear of blue energy lashes out and hits the sub-leader.
Rose watched as her last attack caused the bandit she hit to crumple to the ground. She drew her bowstring back to unleash another arrow, this time aimed at the one that Domitian had managed to mortally wound, hoping this one would also find its mark as well.
She reached back slowly feeling the fletching of yet another arrow as she watched her shot strike, joining the one fired by Domitian. She carefully pulled another arrow to knock, slowly scanning for another vulnerable target. Her sister's spell was definitely doing a fine job of distracting and hampering most of the bandits that they were easy pickings for the most part, and it wouldn't be long before they would have everything tidied up and be on the way back to Oleg's post and having a fine meal and drinks a plenty.
Noticing all of his companions focusing on another bandit, Domitian shifts his gaze from his wounded target to this new one. He looks dangerous... He shifts his stance, notches another arrow, and lets it fly.
Vetra let out a roar of satisfaction as her claws dug into the women. She doubled down, ignoring the arrow that planted itself into the ground near her. She attempted tear into the pinned leader, her whole attention solely on her as the instinct within her kept her on the women. Claws slashing as she wiped her bladed tail at her once more, attempting to finish her off. But I'm the end it seemed the entanglement of the grass finally was able to get a hold of the agile kobold.
As combat rages Delan steps out from behind the tree and begins to sing, his voice a beautiful tenor that rings through the clearing.
Moira audibly growls. That last one wasn't even close. Come on, she thinks, knocking another arrow. This was her area of expertise. This fight and the last she was doing poorly, wasn't pulling her weight. Just one good shot. Even the drow alchemist was doing better.
With a mighty roar Vetra parts the leader's head from her neck, the force of her strike sending the body part flying over the kobold's shoulder and onto the platform of the bandit trying to shoot her. The terrifying dragon kin spun around and locked eyes with the idiot who was trying to turn her into a pin cushion and his gaze watched the head of his leader go sailing ever so gracefully through the air to land next to him, dead eyes and screaming mouth pointed straight at him.
The bandit kicked the head away from himself reflexively and slipped on the blood, toppling over the railing. As the head went sailing off the platform the bandit dropped heavily to the ground and was instantly entangled on the ground next to Vetra.
The head of the leader flew through the air and bounced off the head of the sub-leader who was trying to break free from the grasping plants while fending off the storm of arrows as best as he could, only Domitian's arrow finding a gap in his armor.
The sub-leader's furious mask cracked as the head of his leader rolled around in the moving grass before being drawn down into the sea of green, her death grimace the last thing to vanish. He began to rip at the grass with panicky motions, muttering to himself. "Please no, please no, please no!"
The other bandits were too busy trying to free themselves or too far away to see what happened. The bandit closest to the edge of the grass is able to pull himself free and then he and his companion stumble over the river before trying to spot their attackers with wide eyes. At the same time bandits left in the grass continue to rip at the grass.
The two bandits closest to the edge continue to fight the grass while the sub-leader lets out a panicked scream as the grass catches his hands and begins to crawl up his arms. Soon the force of the plants pulls him off his feet and pins him to the ground.
Rosa's own target ceased his struggling as her arrow struck his neck.
Seeing the chaos of the fight magnify Lyra calls out to the rest of the group. "Keep one alive! We need information!"
She snaps her fingers again and launches another bolt of energy, this one targeting one of the bandits who had just escaped the grass.
At the same time Shirak, who had been ghosting around the edge of the grass while waiting for a chance to strike, lunges out of the darkness at the two bandits.
The celestial eagle dipped low and continued to harass the sub-leader from the air.
As Rosa is scanning the fight, she watches the terribly hilarious scene unfold before her as a small, oddly-shaped, object is flung back and forth and screams from the various bandits pierced the night. She didn't know what exactly Vetra did, but it seemed to be working to great effect. She did catch the sound and movement of two bandits running. Lyra's tiger had gone to engage one, but she herself decided to move quickly to try and shoot down the other runner. She pulled another arrow hurriedly and knocked it, watching it sail towards him.
Domitian pales a little when he sees the head go flying, and the resulting chaos. He doesn't smile. If anything, the sight seems to sadden him. A bloody and sad end, regardless of their crimes... His gaze bounces around at the remaining targets. Number two over there seems well disabled, and covered by the eagle. Everyone by the campfire is down. The runners seem to be well in hand. Focus on the two near the edge of the spell area.
Seeming to come to a decision about where his arrow should go, he quickly draws another arrow and lets it fly. However, he was a little fast on the draw, and didn't steady himself well enough first, and the arrow goes high. Domitian curses softly to himself. Stay focused!
"Damnit," Moira mutters as another arrow fails to penetrate. She tossed her bow aside and reached for her sword. She took a step towards the sub-leader then remembered the grasping vines and grass. Probably not a got idea. She was almost angry enough to muscle through it anyway but instead she turned right. There were two targets outside the ring of magic grass. She walks to the closet, drawing her greatsword.
What does he see? A very large, angry woman with a very large blade charge out of the darkness roaring, "Come here a*!#+~~."
Dylan maintained his song while he aimed a small crossbow at one of the bandits stuck in the grass. His song gained a harsh edge as the hate and grief he had held in for so long seeped out. The twang of his crossbow was a harsh rejoinder to the powerful lyrics he sang.
Mehaila nocked another arrow and let fly, the powerful staves of her bow groaning under the stress.
Watching the man from the tower fall on the head of his downed leader only made her chortle with glee. Now that he was within range, he was going to meet an untimely end once she freed herself from the entangling grass.
Vetra twisted and turned deftly as the grass entangled her. She easily slipped from its grasp like a slippery little kobold she was. She'd dart forward quickly on the bandit who shot at her. Now that he was entangled she'd grin viciously as she dove into him quickly with her claws and tail.
Rosa's arrow spun the bandit around just in time for the bandit to see Moira flex her mighty thews and cleave him from crown to crotch. Shirak's own attack was so forceful that it carried both her and the bandit into a tumble ten feet away where the tiger was firmly latched onto the corpse and savaging it. The golden eagle manages to break through the armor of the panicked sub-leader once more and elicit another scream from him. Mehaila's arrow strikes without mercy and cleaves straight through the heart of her target, dropping him to the ground. Domitian's attack staggers his target but the bandit manages to cling to life by a hairsbreadth.
Delan's crossbow made a strange sound as the arrow flew off, the string snapping from the force. Vetra showed no mercy to her target, painting the tree nearby a vibrant shade of crimson as the bandit became disinterested in life.
The last bandit standing made another attempt to break free to freedom, his breath coming in painful gasps as the act of breathing was agony from the arrow sticking out of his chest.
As his legs remained locked by the grass the bandit stopped struggling and looked back at the darkness. "Please-"
His plea was answered by a twang from Mehaila's bow, the arrow slicing out of the darkness with inevitable doom.
His words were cut off as Mehaila's arrow sliced into his mouth and out the back of his neck, ending his life instantly.
Seeing that the only thing left moving is the lieutenant being attacked by the eagle, Domitian shifts his aim once more. He steadies himself, takes just a moment to breathe out, then releases the shot.
Rose came gently walking up after the combat had finally ended for the most part and the growths had finally receded once more. She shook her head and answered. "I, for one, am unharmed. Any injured?" She gave a soft smile as she looked around at the others, looking for any injuries among them.
Domitian's eagle eye shot struck through the heavy armor of the struggling sub-leader and stilled his movements. In moments the only sound were the savage growls coming from the grappled tiger and the suddenly loud snores coming from the western guard tower.
Delan lapsed into silence and stepped forward into the killing ground. He moved from body to body, staring intently at each of them. When he got to the headless corpse of the leader visible shaking overtook his body and it was evident that the seemingly gentle bard was physically restraining himself from stomping the corpse into mush.
Shirak savaged the corpse of the bandit who had so rudely dragged her to the ground, growling ferociously as her claws and teeth made short work of what was left.
Once Shirak was finished the big cat released the bandit and moved away to begin cleaning her bloody fur. Lyra frowned at her friend but said nothing as she waved her hand and dismissed the aggressive grass. In moment the glade had gone silent, the only sound being the faint snoring coming from the guard on the tower to the west. "Not I sister. We need to restrain the guard on the tower."
Rose perked up at the mentioning of restraining a surviving bandit. "If perhaps one of you had rope on you, I would be more than happy to go tie him up." She clapped her hands, a mischievous gleam in her eyes as one corner of her mouth pulled into a smirk.
Mehaila frowns as she thinks about her gear, and sighs. She had left her rope at home, foolishly. " I can assist if you wish, I had some skill with tying up patrons in the past. Different knots causes different feelings. Do we want him to be comfortable or in pain?"
After the grass spell fades out, Domitian will begin going to each one of the downed bandits, checking for signs of life. Any that were not quite dead but bleeding out he would give a quick mercy killing to. Death is the penalty, but better to not draw it out any longer than it needs... At each body, he will say a quick prayer in passing.
As the others begin to tie up the remaining bandit, Domitian will come up to join the group with a sad look on his face. "Why do men make such violence necessary? For want of an easy score, they destroy lives and necessitate their own doom. I've never understood that. Would an honest living really have been that hard? Instead they must get put down like rabid dogs." He trails off, shaking his head.
Lyra would accompany Domitian to each mercy killing, blessing each event with a dedication to giving back to nature. Once those were finished she tucked her hollyberry athame back in her coat and went to where her bag had been tucked before the fight. From it she pulled fifty feet of rope and the same pair of manacles she had used to capture Delan and handed both to Mehaila. "Once these are on him bring him down. In one piece please. As for the knots...there is no need to sugarcoat the situation. He is guilty of banditry and only one path lies before him.
What he needs to decide is how he wishes to sleep. Painfully or quickly."
She looked over at Domitian's question. "If we knew the answer to that there would be no evil in the world. Alas such questions are the purview of the gods alone."
Rose shrugged at Mehaila after hearing Lyra's response and watching her hand over the rope and manacles. "Well that answers that, we have a prisoner to bind." She answers, in an almost cheerful or chipper way, quickly heading towards to the tower where Lyra had put the watchman to sleep at the beginning of the combat, hopefully before he decides to wake up.
Moira felt...well not good, but at least a little relieved she finally contributed, little as it may have been. The moment last for just that, a moment, before she realizes what she did. She had cleaved a man from top to bottom. She didn't feel bad for him. He made his choice, even if he thought he didn't have one at the time. No, she felt bad because she knew what cutting through bone did to a weapon. She'd be sharpening all night. "Damn it."
For now, she wiped the blade clean and put it away then went over to retrieve her bow. That done she surveyed the carnage. Most of it was hidden under a carpet of grass but the headless body of the leader was hard to miss.
The grass was red.
"I got him." Moira waves Rosa away and climbs the tower. She had her own rope and binds the sleeping bandit, leaving the rest of the rope trailing behind him. She then casually shoves him off the tower, grabbing the rope to prevent him from falling. She lowers him most of the way down then lets go, letting him fall the last few feet. That should wake him up.
Rose felt a little put out at being shoo'ed away by Moira, but she simply let her have her way. Besides she saw what she could do to a man given a chance, and did not feel like protesting and making her cross. She simply stepped off to go search the bodies of the three she hit with arrows to see if they were even remotely salvageable.
The guard came awake after the five foot fall, his first words being gasps of air as the impact had knocked the wind out of him. It took him a few minutes to regain his senses before he spat out "Fething hell! What the feth do you fething buggers want!? You want our loot just take it and go!"
Rose was humming as she used a bit of ripped bandit shirt to clean the tips of two arrows she managed to find and retrieve. When she went to retrieve the third, however, it ended up breaking as she pulled it out. Cursing under her breath, she collected as much of the material she could and stashed it in one of her bandolier pouches, making sure it was secure on her person before heading back. She was a little unhappy to lose yet another arrow, but alas such was the life of an adventurer she convinced herself and so was more than happy to at least get two back from their encounter. As she was walking back from her scavenging, she heard the colorful curses from the one remaining bandit. She decided to pick up her pace a bit to rejoin the others already near him.
Vetra huffed after her final kill. Quickly scanning the area as she looked for any other targets but saw that they were all down or dead. She couldn't help but grin in satisfaction of what they accomplished. Her hands and tail were covered in blood but she did not mind it much as she moved towards the group when the grass calmed. If she walked past any bandits that were still alive but bleeding out, she'd do them the mercy and finish the job before arriving at them.
The small kobold would look to the others for a moment, staying silent as she calmed her nerves from the battle. Giving herself a little shake she'd watch Moira lower the bandit from the tower. Chuckling, "I can speak, see if he talks." She'd offer quietly to the group as she glanced at the others for a moment. "Or I can look at bodies and search for information." She'd let the choice stay with the group seeing how she had already run off and initiated combat before they had time to really settle in. 'Best to not be too impulsive... she thought idly as she awaited the directives from the group.
Moira quietly hauls the bandit a few feet back up and leaves him hanging there while she ties off the rope. It shouldn't cut off circulation too bad but it wouldn't be comfortable. She then climbs back down and walks in front of him. She left him a little above her eye level. She then draws her greatsword and swings it around in front of him, sometimes using it to spin him back towards him gently.
"Be nice or I'm going to treat you like a piñata," she says pointing the blade at him. "We're here under orders from Restov to clear away the trash. Trash that delights in bullying a couple into giving them practically everything they earn in a month just so they don't loose limbs. Trash that kills traders and forces other people to go along with their corruption or die. Trash that steals, rapes, and murders with no thought of the consequences cause there's no one around to stop them." She stops and waves her hands at the others. "At least until today." She plants the blade in the ground and looks up at him intently. "Anyone else here? I didn't see a man with a stag helm so where are the rest of you?"
"Feth you!" the bandit spits at Moira, arrogance and hate clear in his eyes. "You think just because you killed my mates that you got all of us? We OWN this land! All we do is... collect adequate taxation." he finished with a sneer.
Delan stands behind Moira to watch the interrogation for several minutes, remaining silent and letting the powerful fighter do the speaking. After the bandit's diatribe he leans forward and whispers into Moira's ear "He's terrified of spiders."
Lyra was stripping the valuables off the bandits and preparing the bodies for dedication to nature when she was attracted by what was going on with the bandit. After hearing and seeing everything she moves over to the edge of the forest and begins to...whisper. Anyone nearby will see her staring intently into the trees and whispering, her voice vanishing into the wind.
A few minutes later there was a rustling in the bushes near her feet and a black insect leg two feet long thrust out of the foliage. It was followed a moment later by a bulbous body and a head topped by 8 shiney eyes. The folded pincers underneath were a pale white color and twitched nervously as the giant spider stared at Lyra.
The druid smiled at the vermin and cast another spell, creating what appeared to be spiderwebs made of energy that drifted out and settled around the spider.
As the spell took hold the giant spider moved fully into the clearing and rubbed it's leg affectionately against the druid's leg. Lyra moved over to where the interrogation was taking place and the giant spider followed like an obedient dog. Once she was standing next to Moira she looked at the spider and whispered something. The spider clacked it's pincers once before climbing up the frame of the tower with ease then moved over to the rope that was holding the bandit up. The spider spun around so that it was pointing down the rope and extended it's front two legs, rubbing them softly on the bandit's shoulders, feeling out his body, testing for danger.
"Right now he listens to me." Lyra said quietly, her eyes deadly serious. "I don't know if you know this but spiders are ALWAYS hungry. Out in the wild it's hard to get enough food to maintain a body that large. One word from me and he eats you....alive. Answer her questions."
Rose watched with amusement as the interrogation was already underway. That is until he spit at Moira, and then her smile faltered a little. She had half a mind to reach into her pouches and pull something out with a little sting, but before she could Lyra had leaned closer to Delan, nodding, and went to cause some of her own mischief. Rose watched Lyra with a bit of incredulity, up until she saw the massive furry leg and body of the spider creep out of the bushes. An unconscious shiver went down her spine, almost instinctual, as she watched the movements of the spider. She did not know whether it entranced her or disgusted her, but she watched with rapt attention as the spider obeyed her sister's commands to go menace the bandit dangling from the watch tower. She cocked her head to the side, watching the spider's movements for a little while longer.
Assisted where needed, but was unable to recover any of her arrows. She was actually unsure what her skills would be usefully in this spot, and so she patted Vetra on the back and said " Come, let us bury them atleast. Proper rites will prevent them from returning. You help me dig and we check them as we go. We can burn what we don't keep." And with that Mehaila would make her way to the first of the bodies, thinking they need to be buried outside of the camp, trying to find a somewhat peaceful spot left
The bandit's eyes went huge as the spider climbed above him and actually began to shake in terror as the legs slowly stroked his shoulders. Instead of answering anything the human seemed frozen in abject terror, his eyes almost rolled back in his head as he kept them locked on the monster above him.
Lyra clicked her tongue impatiently as she saw her interrogation tactic go way overboard. She snapped her fingers a few times and the spider reacted by jumping off the roap, it's large hairy body passing an inch from the bandit's nose. The spider hit the ground with an audible thump before scuttling over to settle down next to the druid. "Answer. The. Question."
As the bandit dangled, Moira knew what was coming, or could at least predict it. So often when bandits fouind themselves unable to vent their anger they did the only thing the situation allowed. She saw his mouth move as if gathering something, his chest expand as he gathered breath. She was already out of the way when the spit went flying by. Calm and cool as she was, she was not prepared for Lyra to call a giant spider. She probably looked just as surprised as the bandit, tensing in case it attacked. But she recovered quickly when she realized it wasn't after her. Instead it climbed the tower and settled on the bandit. And then he panicked. Not a lot but she was might loose him if he didn't focus. "Hey," she says, slapping him in the face with the flat of the blade. "Questions. Remember those. Where are you based out of? Who leads? How many? Start talking."
The bandit swallowed audibly before looking back at Moira. He stared at her for several long seconds before a feral grin spread across his face. "Ooooo my precious...he'll have fun with you now wont he? I can only imagine you chained to a wall, your hips-"
Before the bandit could illuminate any further Delan steps forward and slams his fist against the bandit's mouth and slamming his head back against the tower. The bard steps back and rubs his fist, wincing in pain. "Sorry about that. I remember this one now, you won't get any useful information from him. He's a psychopathic rapist and murderer who enjoys...how did he explain it? He likes to watch the light fade from their eyes as he...has his way."
"Gonna string me up for the buzzards now are you? Gonna send me along after my lovelies so I can taste their fear again!?" the bandit spit with a maniacal grin. "I killed them because I was storing the loveliest for when it's my time to shine!"
Delan sighed before singing softly and waving at the bandit. A moment later the bandit's maniacal grin softened and he looked at the bard with genuine affection. "Alright my friend could you do me a favor and answer the nice lady's questions without your normal embellishments?"
The bandit made a rueful face. "You take all the fun out of life Delan. Alright just the facts. There is a new passphrase to get in; 'Happiness is when you clap along'. You can find the bossman where he always likes to hang out, in his fort on the lake. The Stag Lord is a bloody drunk. All that booze under the platform's for him. He's half of what he used to be, and ain't never been right in the head. Personally I don't care if he dropped dead tomorrow, but even drunk out of his mind he's still got a fair amount of fight to him. I don't know anybody that lives there, that place creeps me out."
Rose managed to snap out of her revelry when the spider leaped from the tower to join Lyra's side once more. She shivered again, just realizing now that she was off in her own little world for some time and was not paying attention to the interrogation. She watched Delan sing and wave his hand and at least the bandit appeared to be quite cooperative. She nodded, now fully listening to the conversation that was underway and making some mental notes for herself.