With the sun starting to set far to the west, Svetlana starts up a fire while Oleg excuses himself from the discussion, admitting that the tactics and strategy are all over his head, and he prefers honest numbers and bartering. With the fire starting to catch, Svetlana fetches the remainder of the stew from inside the house, as well as a large kettle she fills with water and suspends over the fire. "I've seconds here if anyone wants, and in an hour or so we should have hot water for baths. Also, if I may say, I may be from Restov, but Oleg grew up here on the border, and he knows near every family from here to the East Sellen. Not one of these bandits were familiar to him, so I suspect they're from Mivon, Pitax, or perhaps even further afield still. If you want them to repent, you'll likely have trouble on account of those fool 'River Freedoms' they hold dear."
Shortly thereafter, Oleg announces that the beds are all made, and apologizes again that there's not enough for everyone, "First time I've ever actually needed all four, and it's not even enough! I'm sure Svetlana won't mind serving an extra helping of sausage to whomever gets the short straw on bedding. Is there anything else we can do to help you all plan or prepare tonight? We usually turn in early so we can be up before dawn."
"I have my tent, and bedroll and such." Ary smiled, "I'm more comfortable in it, anyway. I'll just go ahead and go set it up." She released a pair of highpitched two-toned whistles... and Libi came running back into the keep from her feeding frenzy (once the gates had been opened, anyway). Ary lead her into the stables, got her settled in with water, and then started setting up her tent, medium sized, big enough for two. She was careful to set up the tent nearby so she wouldn't miss out on conversation.
"I like your plan Paza, cut off any path of escape. I think that will work nicely."
Pyotr took a second bowl of stew and once again devoured it greedily. He waited for an opportunity to bath and then dressed in his night clothes took one of the cots, laying his greatsword on the ground next to him.
"Fantastical magical color swirls that dazzle foes into a stupor are more my style then sending someone off to sleep. That's just boring. If they are grouped together, my magic should be quiet potent, though."
"I could craft an illusion of a cart that should pass inspection, especially at a distance, but I do worry about sitting as a victim before charging raiders."
"Thank you for the delicious supper and bed, unlike Ary here I am much more accustom to sleeping well to aid my studies of magic..."
"Yes... I'd thought about that as well. Do you need to be near the illusion? I've very little experience with the magic not employed by the church, I'm afraid. If I were near you, I could interposed myself... but then the wagon would clearly have a bodyguard... which would change the outcome. Paza's magic is the best bet, so far, if we can catch them all together, how close do you need to be?" Ary asked while she continued to work at setting up her tent.
"Need the seeds, first," Paza tells Pyotr. "There won't be any there now. Not the right ones."
She glances at Ary. "Don't need to be close. Four hundred steps away is close enough."
She turns to Oleg next, and stubbornly repeats: "Seeds. Need the right seeds to trap the open space. Get me seeds for thorns and seeds for vines." The next moment, she springs to her feet, the scarred wolf surging to stand at her side. "Roof!" she says as she slips out the dining room door. "Open sky. Sleep! Bath tomorrow."
Unless anyone tries to stop them, Paza and the wolf will sleep on the roof, under the stars...
As Paza leaves, Geliglee shakes his head a bit. "She is a... colorful one, that is to be certain."
Turning back to the crew he adds...
"Realistically, we need to know who we will be encountering and where we will be encountering them before proper planning can take place. I say we sleep the night and venture forth to scout on the morrow. If we are truly worried about a bandit attack, one or two of us can stay behind to help secure our shiny new gates."
All these new variables make Arnulf uneasy. The hunt should be simple: you versus the prey, skill versus skill. "It's been a long day. I hope you don't mind if I'm going to catch some sleep?"
Ary grinned as Paza headed up to the roof. Well, that was certainly -one- place to sleep. She couldn't help but wonder if the girl would need a bath after getting covered in the morning dew, though.
"She definitely is... and I have -no- idea what to make of her. I'm good with being in the scouting party... but I'm not at all capable as a ranged fighter. If they climbed up on the walls, they could do whatever they wanted up there. I was supposed to be equipped with that sort of stuff when it was needed, not as an everyday thing; I always seem to choke when it comes to shooting at a target near a friend, you know?"
To Arnulf she nodded, as she started brushing out Libi's coat. "Sleep well."
She turned to Kira as everyone else seemed to be heading off to bath or bed. "Maybe you and I can take a look at the siege engines tomorrow morning, and see what you can do about fixing them before we leave. Magic that fixes things sounds -infinitely- useful." She smiled, as she continued working at Libi's slightly tangled mane.
With the matter of who is and isn't getting a bed settled with surprising ease, the Levetons turn in for the night after checking that all the animals in the stable are well situated. The night passes uneventfully, giving everyone the opportunity to get rested up, and the scent of fresh bread being baked begins to waft through the fort before dawn breaks.
In addition to the hearty loaves of pumpernickel rye, there's also a briny cheese and a pot of marmalade, as well as tea. Svetlana apologizes profusely for the 'meager' breakfast offering, though it is still better than most peasants would eat, and promises a more fitting feast if the bandits can be dealt with.
"Alright if that's where you need me." She answered Ary.
The next morning after they ate Kira would thank them for the meal before heading up to the siege weapons in search of things she could repair.
Ary avoided the pumpernickel like the plague. Those berry things people put in that stuff was -nasty-. She enjoyed the cheese quite a lot, as did she enjoy the tea. "So... have we decided on what we're going to try to do? I didn't really think much on it last night. I feel like I had an idea, but it's gone now."
Arnulf's hair is a mess when the morning comes and he joins the others for breakfast. Lazily he scratches the top of his head when Ary asks him and the others the question. "I say we go out and get a feeling of our surroundings. With some luck we'll run into the bandit scum. We shouldn't stay away for too long, because the bandits might have someone stationed outside Oleg's post - I mean, that's what I'd do. That person might then warn the others and undo our reparations to the door and even worse to Oleg while we're gone. It's very tedious having to look back constantly, but I'd never forgive myself if something happens to Oleg and Svetlana because of our presence here."
"That sounds about right. Ary said, pointedly ignoring the scum comment, "I was thinking, like he said, we should have at least two people here to make sure that they're not left undefended while we scout. Any ideas on how to stay in contact with one another? Does anyone have... I don't know, a horn or whistle? You guys decide who's best to go where... I'm going to go help out Kira with the engines... I'm sure there's something heavy she could use me to hold." Ary grinned as she headed up to the siege engines.
Pyotyr grimaces.
"If that is what we've decided, then lets be on with it."
He gathers his weapons and dons his armor.
Turning to Ary and Kira.
"Once the gates are closed your biggest worry will be fire. You can address this by filling buckets now with water from the well and positioning them around the wall to throw down on any thatching that catches alight," He looks over the two women and browns at their lack of ranged weaponry. He removes his light crossbow and hands it to Ary. "You'll want to put a bolt in the first one that gets in range. Don't worry about your catapult for now, unless you've studied with siege weaponry you'll more likely wrench your arm out of socket than kill a bandit. May the keeper of the First Vault, keep you safe."
He turns to Arnulf.
"Well lets get on with our fool's errand."
Early the next morning, the air is rent by heartrending howls and yelping from the direction of the well. If anyone goes to look, they will find Paza there, in the tub -- and struggling with the wolf, who is trying very hard to get out of the tub while declaring in canine that he is being tortured to a grisly death. Finally, clearly, fed up, Paza bites the wolf on the ear, causing him to whimper and give in.
"He rolls in mud and fights with dogs, then says there will be no fleas," Paza says to anyone who comes to see what is going on. She glares at the wolf and bites him on the ear again. "There will be no fleas!" She proceeds to soap up her companion and herself, then rinses both off thoroughly. Finally free to go, the wolf trots a few paces away from the tub and vigorously shakes himself before stalking even further away, casting accusing looks at the girl, who is drying herself off by more human means...
Paza eats ravenously at breakfast, then wipes the crumbs from her mouth and addresses the others: "Go out. Gather seeds. Set trap. Talk, talk..." She frowns as she broods on something, then looks to Oleg. "Pigeons?" she asks. "Rgh. Do. You keep. Pigeons? For messages? I. Will. Talk. To them. Then."
"The whole point of going east for two to three hours tops and then back is to make sure the bandits cannot ambush Oleg. I strongly suggest we go with the six of us.." Or were the two women perhaps not up to the task? Surely that couldn't be the case.
Ary, sadly, had been busy with her morning rituals when the morning wolf-horn sounded to quite probably awaken everyone who had happened to still be asleep when the ruckus had occurred.
Ary nodded her thanks to Pyotr as he offered the crossbow. She took it in hand, measuring the weight of it, before nodding once more. "I think I can do that. I think we'll try to get these working while you're gone, since we won't have much of anything better to do." once finished manipulating whatever part Kira was mending, she'd also take the advice to have buckets ready. If the bandits really did try to burn them out... well, that would answer the question of redemption quickly.
"Looks like we've been nominated to hold down the fort, Kira." She looked to the others "I'd loan you Libi... but I could never really break her of her unwillingness to trust people. She's done well with me, and is growing accustomed to Kira... but she's otherwise just too stubborn. Any ideas fora signal, if we need you or you need us?"
Paza gives Libi a dubious look, then clicks her tongue at her in an experimental fashion...
Libi looked over to Paza. She gave her a light huff, but otherwise didn't approach the girl. She showed no signs of aggression, and in fact, wouldn't run from Paza... but like a supremely stubborn human being, she simply wouldn't come to the girl, no matter how much she liked her. Neither would she stay when told to do so... and so on.
Ary just offered Paza a shrug.
"Good," Paza says, smiling briefly. "Good horse. Good friend."
Svetlana seems rather amused by Paza's antics with the wolf, and a great deal less apprehensive around the wild creature. She admits that no, they haven't any carrier pigeons for messages, and explains that this is why it took so long just to send word to Restov that they were suffering raids by bandits. "The merchants who keep us restocked travel in a great circle, heading northwest to New Stetven from here, and Noleski doesn't care one whit about those of us living on the border down here. We're just expendable small folk of no concern as he tries to solidify power and claim all of Brevoy."
Beyond the walls, today is looking to be a relatively clear day, free of rain, though it may be chilly, with winds gusting down from the Icerime Peaks far to the northeast. From the top of one of the fort's towers, one can see about five or six miles in any given direction, but it would be difficult to actually make out individual people or even horses at that distance without a spyglass, an expensive luxury the Levetons also don't have access to. Nonetheless, a keen eye might be able to pick out a small party approaching from a great distance, though you would still need to figure out how to send signals from the fort to the scouting party.
Kira shrugged when she heard she had been volunteered to stay behind she didn't mind but hoped it wouldn't become a habit, she rather liked exploring."If that's where I'm needed I will do what I can." She nodded.
"Your shield," Pyotr responds taping his hand against the plate of steel hanging from Ary's arm. "Svetlana, do you have any tallow? Ary can use the tallow to shine her shield, and then reflect the sun off it. If we march to the east, we'd be able to see the signal until noon. So we could loop back and head west, while the Sun's in the west. The problem is we'll constantly be marching with the sun in our eyes."
Ary smirked at Pyotr. "Are you suggesting I don't keep my shield shiny enough, Pyotr?" She asked playfully, before looking over it. "Well, no, I guess I don't. It's lived in." She nods as she looks to Svetlana to see whether or not she indeed had tallow.
"Yes," The Paladin says with a wink. He turns to his companions. "If we're going to do this we should head out. Though I'm still leery of splitting our already meager numbers."
"So we don't go far," Paza says, shrugging.
Geliglee joins in the efforts with the catapults after assuring that his riding dog is ready for the day's journey.
Realizing that Kira seems to be at least as able as he with the war machines, he joins those preparing to leave. "My most potent ability to dazzle them is a short ranged burst that radiates over an area about this size.' He steps off a cone shaped area. "If we engage in hostilities, try not to spread out too much or I won't be able to bring the magic to fruition without possibly dazzling some of you as well."
Though the Levetons mostly use more expensive beeswax candles, even after months of predation by the bandits, Svetlana finds a couple of cheap tallow candles which Ary can use to shine her shield with. Oleg offers to help with moving catapult parts from one tower to the next so that Kira can get one of the siege engines back in working order, but he mostly seems to be keeping a wary eye on the horizon. Svetlana heads out behind the fort to where she's been tending a patch of vegetables, with a ladder leaning against the wall of the fort so she can easily get back inside in a hurry rather than having to go around to the entrance.
Kira actually finds that she can put together two full catapults from parts salvaged from all four and careful application of magic, but there will be nearly nothing left of the two remaining catapults. Progress on just one will take most of the morning though, with the sun high overhead by the time a test shot could be attempted to see whether the effort was all worth it.
Ary set to work shining her shield with the tallow offered, then went back to aiding Kira, simply holding pieces in place as she mended them... or moving pieces out of the way that she didn't need. She'd also already prepared several buckets in case of a fire, though she hoped it wouldn't be an issue. Having not explored the camp, she had no way of knowing that the woman had made her own back door into the fort... that was unfortunate.
When Kira suggested Ary go to a different side of the Keep to watch that side, she did so.
Kira, with the help of Oleg, would spend her time repairing the catapult. If she thought they would be able to finish it fast enough with just the two she'd suggest Ary or anyone else that stayed not assist, so they wouldn't be unprepared or worn out if an attack did happen.
When Kira discovers that she can only rebuild two she'd ask those that didn't leave which they suggested be brought back to life.
Once One is complete, if time allowed and no objections, she would try a test shot on the first catapult, before beginning work on the second.
Ary shook her head. "No, I don't think we should. We don't want to have to pack up more ammunition back up... and besides, I trust your work. It would be wise to make sure they're loaded up and ready, though."