...the bandit...
Shocked that the Damsel is actually a vile bandit, Berenkor nevertheless refuses to fire his crossbow at her, and uses his last spell slot on her to cast Tasha's Hideous laughter (DC16).
I've taken two alive already, Harther!
With a shout, Tyr runs headlong at the bandit, but his greatsword gets tangled in a low hanging branch.
EDIT =
With a shout, Harther runs headlong at the bandit, but his greatsword gets tangled in a low hanging branch.
The bandit stifles a chuckle at Tyr nearly hacking a limb off of the nearby beech tree, but his snide remark is snuffed out as the point of Karthas's greatsword erupts from his chest. He crumples in a heap, his rude comment dying along with him.
Meanwhile, reality folds in on itself and a large beetle with a gleaming carapace erupts from the air above Eseldras head and soars towards the female bandit beating and slashing at her with a vicious attack. With a cry, Eseldra launches a dart of acid at the “damsel,” but the corrosive liquid splatters along the side of the wagon, pitting and marring the wood.
Bizarrely, the female bandit begins to chuckle, even as she's bleeding from several small cuts. Just before the chuckles become a full fledged laughing fit, she gets a strange expression on her face, shakes her head, and seems to regain her composure.
With a shout, Harther runs headlong at the bandit, but his greatsword gets tangled in a low hanging branch.
Rani draws another arrow and takes a shot at the female bandit, with a quick prayer to Erastil on her lips. "Deadeye, make this shot true!"
Rani's shot goes wide in her effort to avoid hitting Eseldra's summoned companion.
With another curse, the female bandit drops her crossbow and pulls a concealed dagger from a hidden sheath up her sleeve. She swipes at the celestial beetle.
Harther drops his bow and draws his greatsword as he runs toward the treacherous female bandit who apparently has a tenuous hold on sanity. As he reaches her he swings mightily...
Attack:
Damage:
Harther cleaves the vile woman nearly in twain with his mighty blow. With a cry, she falls to the ground and quickly expires.
Karthas lumbers over toward the wagon to inspect it contents, and somewhat out of breath says, "Let's see what these bandits have claimed from others not so fortunate as us."
Rani mutters under her breath "Damn!" and goes to retrieve her arrows. On the way she touches Karthas' shoulder and says, "Be at rest, friend." The weariness he was feeling soon vanishes without a trace.
"These two are still breathing. We should question them to find out if they're working alone or are in cahoots with a larger band. I suspect they'll be cooperative. And, I guess we need to discuss how we plan to administer justice in our new lands...the charter was rather vague. I don't like vague."
Feeling stronger and more alert, Karthas says, "Thank you Rani. My weariness usually passes quickly enough, but your aid is well received." His tone becoming more somber, "As for these brigands and their fate, I will hold my tongue until we hear what they have to say."
"The charter's pretty clear if you ask me," Harther says grimly as he wipes the blood from his sword. "The punishment for unrepentant banditry is execution by the sword or rope."
Harther approaches the others as they secure the sleeping bandits. "So the key question is, will these two be repentant? If not..." The ranger hefts his sword meaningfully.
"You are correct, of course, and I'm quite happy to administer justice in that event. But, let's suppose they're repentant, or at least claim that they are...what then?"
Harther cleaves the vile woman nearly in twain with his mighty blow. With a cry, she falls to the ground and quickly expires.
Excellent work, all of you. A mighty fine shot Rani, worthy of your heritage. And to you two gentleman, I imagine bandits will shake in their boots when I tell tales of your mighty swords singing through the air, cleaving bandits in mighty blows.
But now to business.
Search their belongings and strip them of anything of value. The weight will be negligible spread between our mounts, and perhaps we can offer their paltry equipment as a gift to Oleg's Trading Post, or sell it if the equipment has some worth.
As for these brigands, secure them in rope before they wake up, and let them make a case for their life. No rash killing until its necessary, and lets certainly not be known to kill men in their sleep before they have had a chance to repent or confess.
Berenkor moves to inspect the woman's crossbow and its quality.
"If they are truly repentant, then they can travel with us to Oleg's. Perhaps there they can be put to constructive work to atone for their crimes. It will also allow us to keep an eye on them, and if they prove to be false in their claim of repentance, then we will deal with them accordingly."
"However, by attacking us they have shown that they HAVE BEEN participants in banditry in this region, and I am not willing to simply let them go based on any claims of repentance."
"As for spoils, I would hazard a guess that this wagon is in good repair. If need be, we can cart our prisoners to Oleg's, and perhaps sell the wagon and horses as well."
With these words, Havrin leaves the securing of the prisoners to the others and walks over to the horses. The ranger speaks to the animals softly and soothingly in an attempt to put them at ease, offering them some dried fruit from his rations.
Tyr frowns as he returns to the group, obviously not happy with his performance in the combat.
"Perhaps next time I'll just run over the enemy?" He ponders aloud. "So, we have two survivors and a wagon." Tyr rolls up his sleeves and checks the axle and wheel.
"Right, I'll lift, Karthas? You push the wheel onto the axle." So saying Tyr puts his back to the wagon, grips under its bed and prepares to lift with his knees.
Tyr brushes his hands together as the rest of the group go through the vanquished gear and equipment.
"I'm not taken with the idea of killing prisoners, no mater what their grievance or crime." Tyr' says solemnly. "There must be another way for those who transgress to be dealt with." He looks to Harther,
"As for 'repentant', they attempted to do wrong and cause harm, there's a price to be paid for that." Tyr's voice carries an ominous tone as he sums up his feelings as he scowls at the two na'er-do-wells in the parties custody.
I am not suggesting simply letting them go Harther, merely allowing them a chance to speak for their lives; and to avoid cold murder while they sleep. It is likely we will end up dispatching them anyway, but lets talk to them like civilised folk and decide as a group what their fates shall be.
Seeing as no one has tied up the bandits, Berenkor strips them of their weapons , sits opposite them and waits for them to wake- a loaded crossbow prodding one of the brigand's chest in one hand, and holding his longsword to the other bandits throat with the other.
"I must agree with Berenkor. Justice in this situation is obvious - brigands live by the sword knowing they will die by the sword, which makes me wonder why anybody would ever choose this lifestyle, since you're always going to meet your match eventually. The same could be said for us too, I suppose."
"However, if we are going to be a just nation, then we must give evil-doers a chance to make an honest repentance. Besides," she adds with a shrug, "if they realize we're just going to kill them anyway, they won't tell us where to find their hide-out or any more of their little band. We will need capital to fund our kingdom and raiding their stash of stolen goods will be a big help."
Karthas lumbers over toward the wagon to inspect it contents, and somewhat out of breath says, "Let's see what these bandits have claimed from others not so fortunate as us."
The wagon is filled with rolled up filthy canvas, rock, and empty barrels all underneath a weather-beaten tarp. None of the goods seems to be of any value, and from the looks of it was only a decoy used to lull would be victims into slowing and helping the poor "merchant" woman.
Berenkor moves to inspect the woman's crossbow and its quality.
The lady brigand's crossbow is a light crossbow of mediocre quality, as is her dagger. Each of the other bandits was armed with a short sword, a short bow, and a total of 15 remaining arrows. Between all the sleeping or dead figures there is a total of 20gp, 5sp, and 3cp.
Havrin will use Wild Empathy if needed to calm the horses.
The horses, near panicked from the smell of blood and only kept in check by the brake on the wagon, finally begin to calm as Harther whispers soothing words to them. After a few brief moments, they become placid, if not a bit lathered.
"Perhaps next time I'll just run over the enemy?" He ponders aloud. "So, we have two survivors and a wagon." Tyr rolls up his sleeves and checks the axle and wheel.
The wheel and axle are in very good condition. Clearly, the “damsel in distress” was using the wagon as a decoy to lure travelers into stopping and making themselves vulnerable to the ambush.
AC 12 does hit the fire beetle, but not enough damage to take it out. Do you allow average hit points for summoned pets, or do you want me to roll for their hps?
Are you tracking XP or would you like us to do it? Would help either way if we knew which XP track your using (i.e. fast, medium, slow)
Berenkor, go ahead (everyone else as well) and track your own xp. We're on the medium track, as I believe that is what this AP is designed to use.
Karthas starts unloading the rocks from the wagon. "Anyone have a use for the rest of this junk? If not, I'm getting rid of it so we can make better use of this wagon"
"Berenkor, do you have those two covered, or would like some help?"
After a few brief moments, the brigands awaken to the faces of the stern group of adventurers who soundly defeated their sorry ambush. One of them remains stoic, with a clenched jaw and defiant gleam in his eye, while the other one, a young man of perhaps sixteen winters or so takes one look at his captors, and promptly bursts into tears.
“Oh, please don't kill me, good sirs!” he wails, then noticing Rani and Eseldra adds, “and ladies! I en't never hurt no one, not a soul! I just scares 'em good so's they give us what which they have! I en't never killed anyone...I don't even like the sights of blood. I...I..”
He trails off as a new burst of sobs wrack his thin frame. The other bandit sighs loudly.
“If yer gonna kill us, do him first, and do us both quick-like. I en't scared of no pain, but I don't like it much either. I didn't sign up for this...but a man's got ta live with his choices, don't he.”
He mumbles something under his breath.
Rani looks perplexed, as if unsure what to do.
"And who is this Stag-Lord, you complain of?"
Rani looks even more perplexed, "Stag-Lord?"
"Oh really?" Eseldra asks, slowly and steadily marching at the young man. "You just 'scares' them? As if just scaring people and robbing them of their rightful property is nothing at all!"
Intimidate check:
"If people will trust me to handle the party's coin, I can keep track of our party's finances for us. I am quite fair at arithmetic."
"I see two ways of going about it, either we divide things evenly and put the leftovers into our party coffers, or put everything into the coffers and give ourselves a 'salary', say 10%. Of course, this becomes harder when we're dealing with actual goods. At that point, I suggest we attempt to keep things as fair as we can, but give the goods to those who need them or could use them. I, for example, will not lay claim to enchanted great swords or magical plate mail just because I am behind on treasure."
"If people will trust me to handle the party coin, I can keep track of our kingdom's finances for us. I am quite fair at arithmetic."
"I see two ways of going about it, either we divide things evenly and put the leftovers into our kingdom's coffers, or put everything into the coffers and give ourselves a 'salary', say 10%. Of course, this becomes harder when we're dealing with actual goods. At that point, I suggest we attempt to keep things as fair as we can, but give the goods to those who need them or could use them. I, for example, will not lay claim to enchanted great swords or magical plate mail just because I am behind on treasure."
"That works for me....as long as you leave trying to scare people to me."
"Hah. I like you people; you think big!"
"Hah. I like you people; you think big!"
As Karthas begins to remove the rocks Tyr does actually appraise them, looking for the largest and flattest ones.
"Hold freind, even rocks can have value." He then looks at the empty barrels, "A pity we don't have a Cooper with us. An empty barrel is only worthless until we fill it something of worth, even water." Tyr continues to muse solemnly. As he begins to open one of the rolls of canvas, "Even as patchy as these are, they can be useful with enough rope to keep the rain off people for a while." Tyr even checks the tarp that has been thrown back to reveal the parties new found wealth. "Even if the barrels don't hold water or keep out rats, they will add to a nights cook fire."
"Well, with the wagon and its team fixed and stable, our walking and hauling problems are solved." Tyr takes off his chain mail and then sets to work resettling things within the wagon so as to have them take up less 'bulk' and space. The better to load their two miscreants along side their rocks and barrels. With the re-loading/re-settling done,
"Waste not want not." Tyr nods, then looks meaningfully at the two prisoners, "That would even include you." He then turns and smiles at his companions,
"As for posturing to people?" He gives a shrug of his shoulders, Tyr's strength alone should be enough to load the two prisoners into the tray, as the first of their pair of the bad apples gets settled away, "I never bother. Keep things honest, keep things simple. These two have a debt to be paid." He looks at the pair appraiseingly. "How they pay it? That's where we have to decide what is the simplest and most honest way."
Finally, after wiping the sweat from his brow and shoulders, Tyr pulls out his copy of the charter and looks through it, "Says here," He points, "The word 'annex'. That sounds like adding to lands already held to me." He looks at the rocks, bandits and everything else in the wagon, then seemingly the wagon as a whole.
"I think we've just annexed quite a bit." He adds with a grin. Looking to Eseldra, "Though it'll add more figures to your calculations, surely working out the monetary value of things and then trying to divide things that way would work?
Eseldra raises an eyebrow at Tyr. "Indeed," she replies, "though to simplify things, we could just say that from now own, we'll leave no stone unturned searching this land for bandits and wealth, and then when we're finished, you can have all the stones."
She sighs, and continues to talk, making certain that their prisoners can hear her. "All joking aside, however, I do like how you think. I suggest that these gentlemen tell us about this stag-lord person, indicate on our map where other bandit groups can be found, tell us a bit about their strengths and defenses, and then perhaps join our cause. After all, if we do let them live and go on their merry way, this Stag-Lord person is never going to believe that they got their freedom for nothing. Naturally, he'll assume that they told us everything they knew in exchange for their freedom, and he probably won't be happy about it." She pauses. "But you're right, Harther, our charter does say that unrepentant banditry is to be punished with either sword or rope."
"If people will trust me to handle the party's coin, I can keep track of our party's finances for us. I am quite fair at arithmetic."
"I see two ways of going about it, either we divide things evenly and put the leftovers into our party coffers, or put everything into the coffers and give ourselves a 'salary', say 10%. Of course, this becomes harder when we're dealing with actual goods. At that point, I suggest we attempt to keep things as fair as we can, but give the goods to those who need them or could use them. I, for example, will not lay claim to enchanted great swords or magical plate mail just because I am behind on treasure."
They don't sound unrepentant to me- I would prefer to keep them trussed up until we reach Olegs, and at that point put them under a zone of truth and discern their true natures. They may yet repent, and redeem themselves in the service of Good. As the one who captured them, I invoke the right to keep them alive until we reach Oleg's; and if a Zone of Truth spell is within our power, we will make our decision then.
Edit: Partially ninjaed by Sully I see :)
Any applicable knowledge at +1 for information on the Stag Lord;
And if a Knowledge Nature covers it-
"Oh really?" Eseldra asks, slowly and steadily marching at the young man. "You just 'scares' them? As if just scaring people and robbing them of their rightful property is nothing at all!"
Intimidate check: 1d20+1
The boy wipes his eyes violently, but new tears instantly well up and run down his cheeks.
"Oh, no, ma'am it's frightful bad, I know," he gasps between sobs, "but they tol' me I could make enough to send home to my mama, so's she wouldn't have to work so hard no more. An' my brother bein' so sick and all...I jus' didn't know where else to go. And now I'm gonna be hanged up like a chicken for sure!"
"And who is this Stag-Lord, you complain of?"
The stoic bandit's eyes shoot up, shocked you heard his mumbling.
"Aye, that right bastard is the one ye want. I've only seen 'im once or twice. I en't tellin' you more if'n your jus' gonna hang me anyway. I know I en't in a position to bargain, but if ye promise me ye won't stretch me neck, I'll tell ye all I know...and fer Gorum's sake shut the kid up." He shoots a dirty look in the direction of the hysterical youth. "Aye, maybe on second thought 'ang the both of us so I don't have to listen ta the yappin' of this little dog!"
Any applicable knowledge at +1 for information on the Stag Lord; 1d20+1
The boy wipes his eyes violently, but new tears instantly well up and run down his cheeks.
"Oh, no, ma'am it's frightful bad, I know," he gasps between sobs, "but they tol' me I could make enough to send home to my mama, so's she wouldn't have to work so hard no more. An' my brother bein' so sick and all...I jus' didn't know where else to go. And now I'm gonna be hanged up like a chicken for sure!"
The stoic bandit's eyes shoot up, shocked you heard his mumbling.
"Aye, that right bastard is the one ye want. I've only seen him once or twice. I en't tellin' you more if'n your jus' gonna hang me anyway. I know I en't in a position to bargain, but if ye promise me ye won't stretch me neck, I'll tell ye all I know...and fer Gorum's sake shut the kid up." He shoots a dirty look in the direction of the hysterical youth. "Aye, maybe on second thought hang the both of us so I don't have to listen ta the yappin' of this little dog!"
"I think your fate is still in question at this point. If you tell us more about the Stag-Lord it would likely improve the outcome."
Kathas looks first to the boy, "Calm yourself." Then looks around to the rest of the party, "I think the boy has seen the error of his ways enough to avoid the noose."
"But you" quickly snapping his gaze toward the seemingly unfrightened bandit, "I'm not entirely sure you're good enough for the noose. Depending on value of your information."
"Tell us all you know, and you may yet live."
"Well, perhaps not like a chicken..." Eseldra mutters to the boy. She grabs him by the arm. "Up on your feet now," she says, and takes the boy over towards the wagon, motioning to Tyr to accompany them. Once separated from the other bandit, she begins asking the boy about various things, such as his mama, the Stag-Lord, and where their hide-out is.