"Not a half bad idea," Syrus replies, his head bobbing up and down in agreement. He quickly scratches the bottom of his nose with his sleeves, eyeing their surroundings warily. "Let's be quick about it, then."
The sorcerer saunters over to a hiding place not too far from Jamorin's. Unfortunately, he is far from inconspicuous.
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Thenji reins in. As Aljohar and Lino pass he shouts, "He's too fast!" But he kicks his horse forward to follow in the women's wake.
There he is. 200' away. Leading his horse, head down and trudging. Another few dozen steps and he'll cross a broad open lane between the tree trunks.
Initiative:
Lydia smiles grimly and draws an arrow to her bow and let's fly and follows it with a second.
Attack: Damage:
Attack: Damage:
Following her second shot Lydia drops into the undergrowth, and moves to one side of her original position.
Stealth:
Jam hunkers down in his hiding place waiting for a sign of the bandit so he can set up the ambush.
Linokashtai sighs miserably when the bandit gets too far ahead of them, mumbling to herself, "Just my luck..." She calls to the others, "They'll know we're in pursuit. In their place, I would try to turn around once I've regrouped and crush my pursuers."
She concentrates on what her crystal is telling her, to try and get a good grasp of where Lydia might be. "It seems Lydia has fired an arrow at someone. I'll track the battle, but we may need to reposition to help if anything goes wrong."
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The second arrow nicks an unseen treebranch, and skitters well wide.
The bandit looks quickly up the slope toward you, but doesn't waste time trying to pinpoint your position. He draws the horse forward and mounts at a fast walk, then spurs it forward toward the open space ahead.
Thenji is quick to rein in behind Horace. He nods at the bandit's dust. "I'm no rider, but I think that he is."
Lydia moves forward, heedless of being seen and tries another long shot:
Attack: Damage:
"Tch." As the wounded bandits rides past their position, Syrus stretches out his fingers, performing the motions necessary to channel his arcane power. A bolt of force leaps out from his hand and chases after the rider with unerring accuracy. He did not want to risk killing the man, but letting him escape could prove troublesome.
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"Good shot, that stopped him, I'll make sure he's still breathing." Jam says popping out of his hiding place and heading over towards the bandit. He'll cautiously approach keeping an eye out for any others that may be around.
With her arrow still notched, Lydia lopes forward toward the fallen bandit. She then pauses, looking around the amphitheatre, sniffing the air for scents.
She looks around wildly. "Where's that hill they were going to ascend?"
"Too easy," Syrus remarks with grim satisfaction, hobbling out from his hiding spot. He casts a sidelong glance before nodding at Jamorin, indicating that he wants to approach the fallen bandit. "Well, he's no good to us dead. Let's see about getting him back to the others."
"Yes, we should head up to rejoin them. If they move too far, I'll have my crystal try to halt Lydia," says Linokashtai, nodding once hurriedly and having Horace turn so that she can try and fine the shortest route to them, using what she knows from the ground she's covered as well as the ground Lydia's covered.
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A violent coughing fit rolls the man unto his back. A bloody froth spills down one cheek. A forearm's length of arrow shaft, the fletching bloodied and mangled lies beside him.
His coughing is the loudest sound. The breeze stirring the meadow grass is the sole movement. The woods to the east are still and dark. The birches and brush to the north are lighter, but similarly still.
Linokashtai relays what she's seen through the crystal link. Your three climbers have reached the natural amphitheater and have downed their man there.
Thenji points out that the trail to the amphitheater is just a short distance ahead. At the trailhead, a horse, saddled and geared, grazes on the road's verge.
Jamorin not seeing any other clear threats moves over to see what he can do about this man. "He was maybe not expecting to run into a group." Once close enough he leans down to attempt to treat the wounds, at least stop the bleeding. "Looks like he already took an arrow before your hocus pocus brought him down."
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Jamorin examines the man. His injuries don't look bad, but in probing the arrow wound Jamorin discovers that the shaft, and probably head, of the arrow are still in the man's chest. Looking at the splintered length of arrow, there's probably a foot or more inside. Drawing the arrow out will do a lot of damage. Punching it through would be the best course, but maybe later when magical healing is instantly available. For now he tightly wraps the man's chest with strips from the bandit's cloak.
Lydia, to reply specifically -- no foreign scents close by.
Lydia approaches the other two quietly.
"He's alive? Good. Now why did he retreat here, instead of along the road?"
She starts to look around the sheltered dell, looking for anything that may have been left behind or any trace of why he would come here - a weapons cache, another ally, or anything else.
Survival:
"Looks like they had an old camp nearby. Maybe he was heading there...?" Syrus mumbles, grimacing when he gets a better look at the man's face. "Gah. I've seen this bloke. I think he's in the same band as Yellowbow... can't recall his name, though."
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*** On the road ***
Frowning, Thenji reaches over to take the riderless horse's reins. "I'll bet that this belongs to whoever shouted to our escaped rider. Be careful. He still may be around."
*** In the woods ***
The camp in the amphitheater was recent.
This was a natural route if he didn't want to strike directly toward the road. He made some northing and easting without showing himself to anyone on the road or running into dense brushy near the near, and he gained access to the trails that meet here.
Linokashtai says to Thenji, "We may want to check through his gear. I doubt there is anything informative, but he may have some scrap that tells us more about these bandits."
The psion sighs and says, "Let's head up the trail... It would be best to just travel the same path the others did at this point."
Survival:
"There were quite a few people camped here, at least ten...maybe as many as thirty. As twenty or thirty would be right for the group that escaped us I would assume they camped here last night, before the attack. They may have pushed past here and kept going this afternoon."
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***The Road***
Thenji dismounts to go through the new horse's saddlebags. They contain only equipment for life on the road, and a few days rations. Taking the horse's reins, he remounts his own horse and gestures toward the trail. "After you."
Like the trail on the south side of the ridge, this trail is narrow with thick growth on its sides. The branches brush your legs as your horses walk along it.
*** The Reunion ***
Eventually the trail broadens into the grassy meadow of the natural amphitheater. An easy sling's throw into the meadow, Lydia and Syrus stand over Jamorin, who kneels beside a body on the ground.
Aljohar trots up to the group. "You got one! That's more than we can say. The lookout on the road got away." She dismounts and plunks down next to Jamorin. "Is he alive? If he is, we've got a spare horse that we can tie him to." She sets delicate fingertips on the man's neck.
Jam nods as Al hops down next to him "So far yes, I fixed him up best I could, mostly stopped bleeding. He still has a chunk of arrow stuck in him though, figured a more skilled healer should maybe deal with that."
Looking around at the camp he adds "Lyds figures there were maybe as many as thirty staying here recently, they were long gone when we showed up though."
"The one that got away concerns me, he could report that they are under pursuit." Lydia shakes herself.
"That can't be helped, now," she looks thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe we should rest up while we can. I can track these raiders as well at night as by day, and that may give us an advantage....no, none of you see well in the dark, do you?"
Karl gets down from his horse and ruffles his head in a dejected manner; "Not I. We got the horses into a good lather in the pursuit, but he must've known the area too well - just slipped past us, 'ey Thenji?" He asks his old friend.
"I've a lamp and can help you find the North." He adds before pointing the way out.
"I can make light, but not see in the dark. If the rest of us must have light in the night, it will make us visible from a distance. Of course, if we travel during the day, we'll still be visible from a distance, so..." Aljohar shrugs. "Either is fine by me. In the meantime, do we need information from this man? If we take him along, he'll wake up and be a liability to us. We could always send back one of our squires leading the spare horse with this guy tied to it. The village isn't too far for that."
Aljohar rocks back onto her heels, scrutinizing the unconscious man. Or will they want to slit his throat? she wonders. Worse had been done in the war, but she still had no taste for such things.
"I'd like to know what his orders were," Lydia says. "It would tell us where the other one is going."
Linokashtai nods and says as she climbs down from Horace, "It's better to have information than not. My crystal is able to 'see' in the dark, but it's not really proper sight, and it's short ranged. I would not recommend it as a watch except in a pinch."
She approaches to take the thing back from Lydia, taking its legs again and putting it back in her pocket. She focuses a moment on using Know Location and Direction in order to be certain on their position so that she can log it.
"Thenji, maybe you can get the information." She gestures towards the unconscious bandit, "Then yes, it may be best to send him back on his way."
"I can heal him enough to bring him around," Aljohar offers. After all, this is war. I guess.
"Uthar, can you tie him up before I heal him? I hate to waste my good silk rope on this guy, and I don't trust my knots to hold." Aljohar nudges the unconscious man with a toe.
While Aljohar deals with the prisoner, Lydia starts searching the surrounding area more closely, looking for any clues or detritus the bandits may have dropped or let slip when they departed the area.
Perception:
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The sloping ridge leading up to the lookout forms the seating area of the bowl-like natural amphitheater. The level floor of the bowl is soft rich grassy turf. Yellowed rectangular patches show where tents where pitched. The turf is much cut up and trampled by the traffic of men and horses. Four small fire firepits have been dug and set with stones. The pits are dead cold and filled with partially burned wood chucks, some cubic charred coals, and ash.
Second is a trail leading into the woods. Your nose tells you what's at the end before you reach it. It is a 2 foot deep, slit-trench latrine. It is straight and square, and has been recovered in dirt.
Third is the trail that Jamorin and Syrus came down from the lookout.
Camp sized for 20 +/- 10 people.
Camp sized for 25 +/- 5 people.
The grass where tents were placed is bent and yellowed, but not dead. And is recovering somewhat. They were here for 2 or 3 nights and probably broke camp this morning.
Knowledge (nature):
"Around twenty-five people, here for two or three days. Is anyone good with writing?"
"I can read some languages," says Linokashtai, "Not as many as I would like to. Unfortunately, I'm not trained in interpretation."
"Does anyone here read elven?" she asks, glancing around at the others. "That might be it. A translation may be handy."
"Sorry, I only know the language of the angels. Because that's appropriate for me." Aljohar smiles smugly at her friend. "Are we resting for certain now? If so, I will finish healing the prisoner more and save the wand, but I'll need to make my devotions before we leave."
"You're welcome," Aljohar responds placidly, "You have quite the nasty arrow wound, at the very least. You will survive now, though you're probably still in pain. Your fellows have all left you. My intent is to keep you alive, though I can't speak for everyone here. We're a bit curious as to what your orders were and what is going on with your group. You cooperate with us, we'll cooperate with you." She watches him closely, trying to judge his attitude and (if he speaks) truthfulness.
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"You are right about the pain." He draws a ragged breath which catches short.
"But I do not want to appear ungrateful, for I can't fault your intent. I was dismayed by my unfavourable situation." His hand describes a loose vertical figure eight. "My humble thanks, dear lady. Please forgive me if I do not rise to bow."
"You've no doubt deduced my orders already, so I've nothing to lose by disclosing them fully. My partner and I were charged to watch the road and notify the column of any pursuit. Can you tell me if he made good his escape?"
A cough cuts him short. He looks past Aljohar at the others, then frowning, returns his attention to her.
"Fair spoken for a bandit," Aljohar responds with a wry smile, "As to your partner, I cannot tell. I was not in the group that felled you. What of the main group? What was their mission?" She looks to the others with a shrug.