Niko snaps at the bandit, uncertain if the man is fleeing or just moving to a more advantageous position, and still clearly understood in his mind as an enemy.
As the bandits run off, Euron spits and looks about the bloody remains of their fallen adversaries.
"Wonder if one's good enough to answer some questions about how they knew to ambush us here...."
Euron 19/22HP
AC11 (unarmored)
Niko 23/23HP
AC18 (unarmored)
Hearing Yelena's desire to keep the dazed one alive, Karthas rushes out down the stairs in pursuit of the fleeing bandits.
Round Seven (continued):
Map of Temple of the Elk at Night
Niko manages to nip the seat of the fleeing bandit’s pants, but the fearful man barely slows his stride as he races down the stairs, overtaking his companion at the bottom.
Edrukk invisibly chases after the two fleeing bandits, overtaking them as they reach the bottom of the stairs. Karthas rushes after the two fleeing bandits as well.
Mikmek slashes his curved blade at the burlier of the two bandits – who appears to have already been wounded by the kobold...
... scoring a wicked gash across the man's stomach.
Yelena calls for the temple’s defenders to capture at least one bandit alive for questioning, and sets about searching for rope with which to secure prisoners. She remembers seeing some with the supplies in the central sub-chamber, and hurries to retrieve it.
Rani fires an arrow at a fleeing bandit...
... drilling a hole through the base of the man's skull. The bandit drops to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.
Jhod suddenly grows to the size of a small giant and hustles down the stairs to tackle the dazed bandit, knocking the man to the ground and attempting to pin him as Yelena searches for a rope...
... but the enlarged priest is strangely unable to get a solid grip on the man.
Suny races down the stairs and into the clearing to aid Mikmek.
Moving as swift as a wolf , Euron strides across the temple complex, Niko at his side, towards Suny and Mikmek.
Euron hollars much like an old man defending a porch with a broom, instead waving his ranseur menacingly, "Git outta here, y'blasted good f'nothing bandits!"
Round Eight:
Map of Temple of the Elk at Night
Bregan & Dorn: 23
Bandits: 13+
Edrukk: 13-
Mikmek: 12
Karthas: 11
Yelena: 8
Rani: 6+
Jhod: 6-
Suny: 5
Euron: 4
Bregan and Dorn – out of commission.
The last bandit dazed by Yelena snaps out of her spell to find himself confronted by a giant-sized priest of Erastil. The man gives a small yelp of panic and turns to flee. As he does so, giant-Jhod swipes at him with his massive mace...
... but the fleeing bandit is saved by the pugwampi's aura of misfortune, and quickly follows his companions to the clearing below.
The bandit that fled Niko’s snapping jaws pauses in his flight to swipe at Karthas with his short sword...
... but the shifting shadows obscure the Kellid's true location, causing the bandit's strike to go wide.
The bandits battling Mikmek begin to look troubled as they find themselves nearly surrounded by more defenders of the temple. The burlier bandit, looking much the worse for wear, slashes his blade at the kobold while his companion shifts his attention to the unarmored female elf.
Suny nimbly dances away from her attacker's blade, but the burly bandit's weapon finds its mark, cutting a terrible gash across Mikmek's torso.
Edrukk takes a look around as the scene develops and decides to deal with the one bandit that currently does not have anyone on him. Taking a 5' step (to AD 17), he plants his feet, and swings his warhammer at the bandit's knees, looking to bring his foe down to the ground.
Round Eight (continued):
Edrukk surprises the bandit that fled from Jhod, and knocks the running man’s knees out from under him. The dwarf bard suddenly appears out of thin air, standing over the fallen man and chuckling as he hefts his warhammer.
Clutching his wounded torso, Mikmek slashes his wicked-looking blade at the burly bandit...
... but the pain from his wound causes the brave kobold to miss his target as the bandit sidesteps the attack.
Suny continues to laugh and twirl, her blade sweeping and curving gracefully through the night air.
Karthas quickly checks behind him, noting that Euron, Niko, Suny, and Mikmek have things well in hand before hacking at the bandit in front of him with another.
Attack:
Damage:
Miss Chance: (01-20 misses)
Round Eight (continued):
Map of Temple of the Elk at Night
Yelena rushes back to the edge of the temple’s main level, rope in-hand but disappointed to see that the most recent victim of her magics has fled. Looking down the stairs she sees Edrukk standing over the man in the clearing below, hefting his warhammer menacingly as the man prepares to rise to his feet. "Your allies are routed. You cannot escape," she calls out to the man at Edrukk’s feet. ”You will drop your weapons and stand still. Or, you will die. Slowly. My friends and I will gladly teach you the meaning of pain if you wish."
As if to emphasize her message, Karthas brings his great blade crashing down on the other nearby bandit, sending another of the Greenbelt’s miscreants to Pharasma’s embrace.
”Mercy! Mercy!” The bandit at Edrukk’s feet screams, curling into a ball and beginning sob in fear.
Giant-Jhod takes the rope from Yelena and rushes down the stairs to begin securing the blubbering bandit. Rani rushes down the stairs toward the remaining battle.
Suny dances lightly to the side, flanking the smaller of the two remaining bandits with Mikmek and scoring a wound across the man’s side as he tries to keep an eye on his multiple assailants.
Euron glances about for any nearby pugwampis, breathing a sigh of relief when he spots the lone 'wampi some distance away.
"Looks like it's surrendering time - your turn," he offers the bandit before continuing his attack if the man refuses.
Euron 19/22HP
AC11 (unarmored)
Niko 23/23HP
AC18 (unarmored)
Round Eight (concluded):
The wiry bandit spits at Euron’s demand for surrender. Euron spears the man through the gut with his ranseur even as Niko lunges up from the side, driving the mortally wounded man off the tines of the druid’s weapon, knocking him to the ground, and tearing out his throat.
Round Nine:
Bregan & Dorn: 23
Bandits: 13+
Edrukk: 13-
Mikmek: 12
Karthas: 11
Yelena: 8
Rani: 6+
Jhod: 6-
Suny: 5
Euron: 4
The remaining bandit standing snarls a curse as he stabs again at Mikmek, determined to take at least one of the temple’s defenders with him to the Boneyard...
... but the man slips on his companion's gore and fails to land a solid blow.
Suny laughs, spins and twirls,
"D'ye give up?" She asks, even as she continues to dance around the bandit and not landing a telling blow this round.
Having only one living still hostile target, Karthas moves into a flanking position with Mikmek and strikes at the remaining bandit
Attack: (flank)
Damage: (sneak attack, dirty fighter)
Round Nine (concluded):
Suny’s strike grazes the major artery in the bandit’s neck, causing the man to drop in an unconscious heap as his lifeblood spurts out in rhythm with his fading heartbeat.
Karthas ends his rage and begins his period of fatigue, while beginning to loot the bodies of the fallen bandits.
"Um...does we rilly need this one...?" Suny asks, unsure as to how she should stop the blood from squirting out of the fallen bandit...
"Geeze...I know I din't hit him that hard..." She mutters as he continues to leak every where.
"Geeze...I know I din't hit him that hard..." She mutters as he continues to leak every where.
Suny grins at her companions as they work at saving the leaky bandit.
She giggles "That were fun!" (^_^) She exclaims about their fight.
"Well...except fer th' gettin' stuck wi' arrows...That bit were kind'a squicky..." (¬_¬) She wiggles over and lets others have a go at the bleeding Bandit.
Edrukk tells Jhod to take care of the bleeding bandit, and try to keep him alive, as he had this guy taken care of. Finishing with the rope, he will lead the man up the stairs to the temple before tying his feet and standing guard over him.
Rani rushes up to Suny and the others. The priestess offers a brief prayer to Erastil, calling forth a spark of divine energy to stabilize the unconscious bandit. ”Bind him quickly, and then I’ll call forth Erastil’s blessings to heal you all,” she advises.
Edrukk binds the other bandit and hauls him up to the temple with Karthas’ help.
Once the companions have the bandit secured, Rani gathers everyone around her a calls forth a burst of divine radiance that washes over the group, mending their wounds.
Karthas’ inspection of the bodies turns up the following gear:
9 Suits of Studded Leather Armor;
3 Suits of Masterwork Studded Leather Armor;
9 Bucklers;
1 Masterwork Buckler;
9 Composite Longbows;
1 regular Longbow;
1 Masterwork Composite Longbow (+1 Str);
1 Masterwork Composite Longbow (+3 Str);
180 Arrows;
12 Short swords;
3 Potions;
1 Tanglefoot Bag;
1 set of Masterwork Manacles;
2 Silver Stag Head Pendants (taken from the two bandits that were battling Mikmek)
As the companions move about removing the dead bandits from the clearing at the bottom of the temple stairs, Niko sniffs the air toward the east, barks once, and then lopes off into the darkness to investigate.
Euron twists his ranseur a bit in the bandit's gut before extracting it and glancing about the temple.
"Looks like we need to stop puttin' off visiting the stag-man if this is gonna be what happens. Need to hit 'im now while he thinks his men are takin' care of us..."
Suny looks after her doggies and then takes notice of her shirt,
"Well..will ye look-it that. All full o' holes..." She looks to the others in the group.
"Here, any one got th' skill o' fixin' things? Me duds did get a tad chewed on." Suny indicates the state of her ensemble's disrepair.
"Euron, where's Niko off to?" the Kellid says looking off into the darkness beyond the temple.
"Huh, wha?" Euron wonders aloud, sniffing the air and looking about for his wolf companion.
"Dammit!" he grunts, before bounding off towards the east, while illuminating his ranseur.
After doing a quick sweep of the pile with detect magic, and securing one of the Stag Lord medallions to study later, Edrukk goes back to guarding the prisoners. "I understand that a couple of folks here have recently changed their mind about your current profession. Cooperate, and you may be allowed to do the same instead of having to meet your more unfortunate comrades in death."
Euron follows after Niko as the wolf bounds into the darkness. After a few moments the druid discovers what attracted the wolf’s attention – a dozen light horses hobbled within the forest just beyond the temple clearing. A quick examination shows that each horse bears well-worn riding tack and gear with saddlebags containing provisions for both horse and rider.
Bregan and Dorn regain their feet (but not their pride) once the magical grease coating the ledge dissipates. Both men help with recovering any useful gear from the dead bandits, and then help Edrukk guard the two prisoners. Both men’s faces blanch when they see the surviving burly bandit that was battling Mikmek. ”That there’s Dirty Jeb Megeson! He an’ his brother Ayles are two of th’ Stag Lord’s men!” Dorn whispers to the dwarf bard.
"I understand that a couple of folks here have recently changed their mind about your current profession. Cooperate, and you may be allowed to do the same instead of having to meet your more unfortunate comrades in death."
The bandit identified as Dirty Jeb spits at the dwarf’s feet. ”Ain’t gonna tell you nothin!” he hisses contemptuously. ”Stag Lord’s onto you ‘Chartered Six’ now, an’ he ain’t happy ‘bout you all messin’ in his business. Gonna put an end to you an’ this temple an’ that fat man’s tradin’ post too real soon now.” Dirty Jeb glares at his fellow prisoner, and the other man hangs his head and refuses to speak.
"I can see we have one to make an example of. Bregan, Dorn, you know this man's deeds; what's a good way to demonstrate to him that he is no longer in control of his own destiny, and that the Stag Lord won't be for very much longer either?" Edrukk just smiles as he watches Dirty Jeb, anticipating the fun he's about to have.
The massive Kellid walks over to the bound man. "Many of my friends would be willing to put you to a quick death. You'll get no such kindness from me." he says reaching for his dagger. "I will allow you one choice though, shall I start with your fingers or your toes? Of course you could avoid all of this if you would cooperate."
Intimidate:
Edrukk motions to one of the reformed bandits to help him move the other prisoner somewhere else. "You seem to have this one under control, Karthas; I'll see if I can't convince our other guest using methods that allow our guest to keep all of his body parts intact." With one last smile to Dirty Jeb, Edrukk turns, lugs the other prisoner to a different corner where he can hear the interaction between Karthas and the recalcitrant bandit. "Now then, let's try this again, shall we. That conversation did not get off to a good start. Are we going to have to do our own reenactment of that scene over there, or can we make this conversation a more pleasant one?"
Suny wanders over and watches the interactions between Edrukk, Karthas and this 'Jeb' fellow...she calls her dogs to heel and sit/stay beside her ...
Then after but a few moments takes off her shirt and begins examining the holes all poked through it...before she glances down at her pants..
"Awe maaaan! I gots hole in me duds as well!" She exclaims.
Euron grabs the reins for a couple of the horses and leads the animals back towards the temple, whistling for Niko to follow.
Broaching the clearing, he observes as Karthas towers over the bandit and shrugs at his animal companion as he tethers the animals and returns to lead another pair.
Upon his final return, he rummages through one of the riding bags, and pulls out whatever the bandits ate as food, taking up a seat next to Suny, he offers to share what he's found.
"They say much yet?"
Suny proceeds to remove her battle worn clothing, fold the items up and use them as a mat upon which to sit. She calls her hounds to her,
And settles them down beside/around herself as she continues to watch Karthas, Edrukk and now Yelena 'work' on the bandits. Suny's gaze is bright with interest.
Perhaps it’s Karthas’ resemblance to the Kellid barbarians who raided his village as a child - the ones that still haunt his nightmares and cause him to wake screaming and trembling - or perhaps it’s Yelena’s disturbing child-like glee in describing past tortures of other bandits. Regardless, Dirty Jeb cracks almost immediately and reveals everything he knows. The Stag Lord recently became aware of the location of the Temple of Erastil, and that the shrine’s restoration is being led by a priestess affiliated with the Chartered Six. Furthermore, the Stag Lord has learned that the Chartered Six are using Oleg’s Trading Post as their base of operations. The Stag Lord sent Dirty Jeb and his brother Ayles along with ten men to kidnap or kill the priestess, and then to scout out the trading post’s defenses for a pending attack. The Stag Lord provided his men with a map showing the temple’s location (which Euron finds in his search of the bandits’ saddlebags).
Dirty Jeb goes on to reveal that the Stag Lord’s fort is located approximately four days’ ride southeast, on a hill overlooking the point where the Shrike River flows into Tuskwater Lake (this information matches the information provided by the grigs a couple of weeks ago). The fort is in disrepair, but is surrounded by a ten-foot tall wooden wall with only one gate on the northern side. It’s only safe to approach the fort along the path that leads to the gate because the dead rise up from the ground and attack anyone or anything approaching from any other direction.
The Stag Lord keeps around a dozen men with him in the fort along with a pet owlbear. Plus a creepy old man locked in the basement. The Stag Lord has taken to drinking heavily of late and spends most of his time passed out drunk, leaving his three lieutenants to take care of the day-to-day business. Bandits from around the Greenbelt deliver their monthly tribute to the Stag Lord at different times. People entering the fort have to give the master phrase, which the Stag Lord changes every month. The current master phrase is, ”By the Bloody Bones of St. Gilmorg, who wants to know?”
The other captured bandit nods in wide-eyed agreement with everything Dirty Jeb says.
Suny watches and smiles at how well her friends seem to make new friends. (^_^)
Having gotten the information he wanted from the bandits, Karthas smiles, "See that wasn't so bad, now was it. You have been cooperative so far, do you forsake your bandit ways, or do we have to make other arrangements."