Bother. I need the lights in here.
Rather than the intimidating humanoid figure, he creates a trickle of wisps so he can actually see down the bolthole. The lights aren't bright as a proper light spell but they're better than what he had.
Randu's bobbing lights reveal what lies below. He can see the other halfling wriggling like a worm at the bottom of the bolt hole. Ropes bind his legs and hold his arms against his body, and his mouth is gagged with a piece of cloth.
Randu's bobbing lights reveal what lies below. He can see the other halfling wriggling like a worm at the bottom of the bolt hole. Ropes bind his legs and hold his arms against his body, and his mouth is gagged with a piece of cloth.
"Oh dandy," He says looking for a way to pull the fellow up or something without falling in himself.
A rope ladder sits rolled up at the lip of the aperture, and a block and tackle hoist hangs secured to the rafters above the bolt hole.
He ties it, then tells Sage, "Warn me if someone tries to drop me down here" Hard to tell how much that bird understands, but it is a conduit to something quite powerful...
Down he goes to free the fellow
Now that the action had quieted down Krogge thought what to do next, There was some shouting coming from there but nothing else... If Rrruh was in trouble I'm sure it would be obvious. Wait what in hells is Randu doing over there!? He thinks as he moves over to the door way Randu went it and sees him opening a trap door.
"Need a hand here?" he wispers to the halfling.
"Folks held prisoner, nother halfling in the hole here... oh. wait.." This tone takes on an almost sheepish quality, "Has the battle been won yet? I... ah, got distracted."
At the mention of Prisoners Krogge looks down the hole and then jumps down and begins slicing away at the ropes binding the other halfling,"Keep watch. That axe won't hold forever." he barks quietly to Randu.
"Are ye wounded? Can you walk?" he asks once the bonds are removed.
He quickly gathered all the weapons he could find, in case the hobgoblin he knocked out awoke before they could get some rope to tie him up. He then peaked his head outside... seeing no one at all he frowned. Cautiously he made his way torwards the axe in the door in the other building.
In the courtyard, the remaining two bandits have abandoned their efforts to break down the bunkhouse door against the axe that bars their exit. Instead, the seem to be speaking through the curtained window with Sweet Pea, asking the unseen girl for mercy.
In the cramped bolt hole, Krogge effortlessly frees the bound prisoner. The halfling rips the cloth gag from his mouth, sputtering and coughing for breath. He staggers back against the shaft wall, away from his rescuer, on instinct. His eyes nervously dart between the looming half-orc and the fellow halfling above.
"Who are you?" he growls, his voice cracking as it escapes his parched throat.
"Randu Riggling, this is Krogge.And we are no friends to bandits or slavers. And you, sir?" and he reaches for a small flask of water and offers it to the fellow.
Sweet Pea keeps watch atop the bunkhouse, waiting for anything hostile to come out of either door: the one below her, or the one across the way.
He snatches the flask and downs a hearty gulp, then wipes his mouth with his forearm before speaking again.
"I'm Tamris," he answers. "Did you kill those bandits up top?"
Tamris pauses to rub the angry welts left on his limbs by the ropes.
"Work in progress. We've got this cat fellow doing most of it I think. And well, Sweatpea is someone to see."
"The hobgoblins are dealt with..."
He called out cautiously keeping his eyes searching the area... He did manage to break out a catlike smile when he saw Sweet Pea in the window. He made his way torwards the excitible lass his tail only slightly lashing side to side.
"The hobgoblins are dealt with..."
Krogge calls back to Rrruh,"Bandits are stuck in that building for a while. We got prisoners down here to free." He says, then looks to Tamris,"Need a lift up?" he offers holding his hands out to pick the halfling up.
Sweet Pea comes THIS close to leafblasting the cat when he comes out.
"Oh! It's you! You got em? That's good. There's still a couple humans in here, dunno if they want to play nice now." she says, indicating the axe-wedged door.
"And maybe you can tell us how a fort fell to hobgoblins and bandits?"
The halfling pauses before offering the story, perhaps traumatized by the ordeal.
"The, the, uh, bandits," he stammers. "They posed as bounty hunters bringing in a gang of hobgoblin outlaws. Once they were allowed inside the gates and brought into the yard, they attacked. The hobs weren't really bound. It was a sham. The surprise attack overwhelmed the soldiers."
Tamris looks nervously at Krogge before accepting his offer.
"My...my family needs me. Please just let me go home."
Krogge sniffs the air for a moment, somethings fishy going on here... he thinks for a moment then asks, "seems to me like a fort full of soldiers shouldn't have been so easily overwhelmed...Where are the soldiers now?" he asks as he hoists the halfling up before climbing up himself.
"I don't know," Tamris quickly answers. "They knocked me out, and I woke up down there."
As you hoist Tamris up from the bolt hole, one of the other bound prisoners begins to wriggle fiercely and moan into the rags sealing his mouth.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Randu frees the mouth of that one.
Once Randu removes the gag,” something to add to the story?” he asked as he cuts the bonds from all the prisoners.
"Don't let him get away!" he shouts hoarsely. "That halfling led the raiders right inside!"
With his ruse exposed, Tamris turns to flee the stable and make his escape.
"HEY!!!! GET HIM RRRUHH!!!! SWEET PEA DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!!!" he says as he scrambles out of the hole in pursuit.
"Bloody traitor!"Randu is furious! And gives chase, which might look comical, neither being long legged. His advantage is that Tamris might not see where the rope is and thus is still at least stopped by the walls and gates.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As soon as he heard Krogge's voice roar out he spun about looking for the whom he was talking too. Seeing the motion of someone running from the stables he moved his momentum leading him to jump and bring his foot across right into the side of the running creatures temple.
"I Do believe I have him!"
He called back loosely cringing. He didnt mean to kick him THAT hard.
Sweet Pea scampers across the roof towards the yelling.
With a wave of her hand, the vegetation surrounding the fleeing figure suddenly grows and animates, coiling around his legs.
Tamris darts out of the stable as quickly as his weakened legs can carry him.
He is blindsided by Rrruh's flying kick, which nearly knocks the wind out of the halfling - although it doesn't seem to stop him. Tamris even manages to avoid being Entangled by the weeds and creepers suddenly bursting through the pebbly yard.
Randu hisses, "Spite and Hex and Spite again. Curse you!"
"oh no you don't!" Krogge growls as he moves in pursuit of Tamris, drawing his throwing axe as he moves, then throwing it at Tamris at the end of his move,
Hopefully wounding him enough to prevent him from fleeing.
Randu's hex saps Tamris' vigor, and Krogge's thrown axe slices at the cad's back. The hafling slips by Rrruh's paws and hobbles towards the fort's gate, but he struggles to open the broad wooden doors. Standing there, as he pounds his fists upon the gate, the grasping weeds take hold of him.
Tamris turns back to face the party, casting his own bitter eye in your direction.
“HA! Gotcha!” Sweet Pea shouts, jumping up and down in triumph. “Wait, who is this guy?”
"Apparently someone who would betray his fellow Andorans, but I'd sure like to know why" Randu says grabbing the fellow when he can do so safely.
Krogge will grab some of the rope the rest were tied up with to re-tie up Tamris, then take his throwing axe back.
"What in the hells are you doing working with hobgoblins?!" he growls.
The halfling remains silent as you bind him, his facing pinching into a scowl.
"I'll tell you why," calls a voice from the stable doors, answering Randu's question. One of the other freed prisoners steps out into the courtyard, and with the light of the campfire and moon you can see she wears a filthy army uniform. "That damn moorsnake is Tamris Quickthorn, the most wanted bandit in Darkmoon Vale!"
Other similarly dressed prisoners emerge from the stables, some helping others walk as they struggle against injuries.
"I don't know what this scheme was about, but if he had a chance to earn some coin by inflicting misery, I'd wager that was enough for him," the soldier fumes. Her eyes lay bare that if not for her discipline, she would dole out a summary execution upon Tamris here and now.
The large dark furred feline monk scowled his nose wrinkling in clear distaste. He wasnt sure if he wasnt willing to let the soldier woman do as it was clear she wanted to.
"How many died because of his actions?"
He asked quietly even as he moved to the halfling fellow and went about bandaging the wound that Krogge's throwing axe no doubt had made.
"I imagine Hobgoblin soldiers were not a part of his usual tactics. Where did they come from?"
He asked the halfling as he worked.It was clear he didnt have a clear idea of what should be done but at least the attempt was being made.
"Here, let me help," Randu says after freeing another man and guiding him to free another.
A newcomer to Andoran, Rrruh is unfamiliar with how the authorities would handle such a peculiar turn of events. As he attempts to treat Tamris' wounds, he (perhaps subconsciously) tugs at the lacerations and sends pangs of pain shooting through the halfling's body.
"By Aroden's blessed bones, we were fortunate," the soldier states. "They didn't kill a single one. In fact, they seemed to strive very hard to keep everyone alive. Of course, I doubt this was a mercy on their part. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they planned to pass us off to a slaver for a tidy sum."
This terrible thought spreads like an illness among the freed garrison, and they all level glares at Tamris and the slain hobgoblins.
"You've the right of it, sir" Randu says, "Many of the injuries are meant to hobble you..arms, legs ankles, not set at all. We'll want those tended to. My kingdom for a cleric. But I don't suggest slaying them though they deserve it. They may not be the only patrol of this sort, and surely they have smugglers who would be wiling to aid them in peddling flesh out of our fair lands. Best to learn your superiors send someone to question them, find out these horrid folks so even more can be brought to justice."
After dismissing the writhing foliage so the bandit could be apprehended safely, Sweet Pea joins Randu in helping free the wounded soldiers. She takes the opportunity to practice the healing skill she has been picking up from Randu and Laurel the herbalist.
"I wish I had healy magic." she laments, tearing up at the sight of the injuries, "then I could make everyone better right away!"
"Krogge looks to the Soldiers, [b]"How many of you are fit to hold a weapon right now? We can secure the fort for the night and in the morning when we head out we can request reinforcents be sent out if you think you can hold the fort for a day or 2 on your own." he says sheathing his knife and throwing axe then drawing his bow he glances at his Greataxe in the door. "what are we doing about them? We have a hole we can put them in."
Even without magic, the skills learned from her old mentor allow Sweet Pea to ably assist Randu as he treats the soldiers' wounds. She steels her resolve for the particularly troubling parts, such as resetting bones so they can knit together properly.
"Most of us could probably still draw a bowstring," one of the soldiers says, "But there aren't many still mobile enough to handle a sword or spear."
When released from the bunkhouse, the two remaining Blastwater bandits are overcome with fright. Seeing how suddenly outnumbered they are, they instantly throw down their weapons and toss up their hands.
"We aren't so cruel as to toss them into a hole," one of the soldiers speaks with a clear vein of irony, "But we do have a stockade at the rear that would fit them nicely."
A knocking comes at the fort's gate, and Jilla's voice rings out.
"Has all gone well? Have we won?" she asks with open optimism.
"Jillia!" Sweet Pea jumps up and runs to her friend. "We beat up a bunch of guys!"
"So it would appear," Randu says "Blast and bother me for a fool for releasing that traitor in the first place. "
Rrruh reached over and gave Randu's shoulder a friendly pat.
"Not your fault. I'm very curious as to how he got put in that prediciment. I wonder if it was done on purpose or not. Should we continue the investigation here and try to discern what happened yes yes? or continue on our way."
He asked the others. Curiousity made him want to stay, but duty made him want to continue on.
"So it would appear," Randu says "Blast and bother me for a fool for releasing that traitor in the first place. "
"You and me both Randu, Hopefully he'll get aquainted with the gallows soon enough once Jack hears of this." he says bitterly, glaring at Tamris. To Rrruh, "It seems we are camping here at least for the night as planned. We may want to stay a day and help refortify the fort before heading on to request reinforcements."
He then looks to the Soldiers, "I slew Knifetongue about a fortnight ago, his head is mounted in Falcon's hollow. Do you think this attack has anything to do with that?" he says with a slight smirk and hint of pride, then adds, "Is there a bounty on Hobgoblin heads?"
"You're too kind, Rruh... amazing job taking out so many of them before they knew they had trouble."
Then he nods at Krogge, "I agree with you. A day here won't kill us and might let me help heal more soldiers faster."
"Jillia!" Sweet Pea jumps up and runs to her friend. "We beat up a bunch of guys!"
"Oh my. I certainly hope they were bad guys," Jillia gasps as she is admitted into the reclaimed fort. She begins contributing her efforts in tending to the soldiers' wounds. "Sadly, living around the Hollow and even Olfden, I've had call to help set more than one logger's broken bone," she sighs.
Speaking with the rest of the soldiers, and interrogating the captured bandits, a clearer picture of the scheme unfolds. These hobgoblins were warriors from a tribe that lives in the mountains to the west. They partnered with Tamris to infiltrate and seize the fort in order to enslave the soldiers within.
"There was a sixth hobgoblin," one of the bandits admits, his voice trembling in fright. "Once all the soldiers were secured, he was sent out as a runner to contact the rest of their tribe to come collect their slaves."
As for Tamris, it seems that his grating personality and insistent demand for payment wore on the hobgoblins' threadbare nerves. They waited for the halfling to doze off, then ganged up and beat him senseless before tying him up and tossing him in the bolt hole beneath the stable, intending to lump him in with their tribe's newly acquired slaves.