"Well, that may not be impossible, strictly speaking..."
Havelock gets something faraway in his eyes as he seems to fall deeply into thought.
"I have heard many stories since coming to these lands, one of them is about a type of witch that are capable of reattaching severed limbs, including, as the story goes, the head."
Droviz blinks a few times at Elena's explanation, and glances at her familiar.
"Sssooooo, I'd just like to make sure," he says. "Ms. Kitty over here isn't a goddess or a demon in disguise, right? You're not a priestess?"
When Brynjar mentions wanting to see someone wear a crown without a head, Droviz visibly winces.
"Thank you for that nightmare," he says. "Some horrible undead boggle with a nothing for a head and a crown floating on the nothing, all wielding her corpse? That notion's going to be haunting me until I can find a beer."
It's early afternoon.
The dead body of Old Man Dansby, a farmer from Heldren, lies here. Anyone with strong ties to Heldren will easily recognize him. Closer examiniaton reveals he was probably killed by the ice elementals. A former soldier of Taldor, Dansby kept his possessions in good repair, and they remain with his body. They include a composite longbow (+1 Str) with 12 arrows; a dagger; a masterwork handaxe; and a pouch containing 14 gp, 25 sp, and 18 cp.
Helios' heart sinks as he reveals the face of Dansby. "Will this nightmare ever end?" The half-elf feels a deep anger swirling behind his eyes. He rests back on his knees and rests a hand on his chest then waves it outward after the elven fashion of saying goodbye. Something his mother had taught him many years ago when a local I'll village's headman had passed on.
He signals to Krystae across the frozen river. She was local and would know more of the old farmer than the others. For his part, Dansby had given Helios shelter when Lord Richton had come hunting for a half-elf who'd been trying to stir up his servants. At risk to more than his standing Dansby had hidden Helios inside a large trunk while the Lord's men had searched.
Standing once more he retrieves the pouch of coins and awaits the others. Once they're near, he holds up the pouch. "The rest of his belongings I think will find use among us in this fight. But this coin, it should go to his family. At the least with it coming from us, the local nobility won't be able to dip their beaks." Helios falls to an uncharacteristic melancholy, hoping in the back of his mind no one objects.
Ragnar gave the corpse only a passing glance. He seemed a little confused at Helios' sadness but said nothing, scanning the frozen lake for further danger while the others once again went about their odd ritual of redistributing a dead man's belongings.
This is the second time they have done this. Such strange customs the future has developed.
The Tengu sighs sadly as he observes the dead man.
"When two forces clash, it is always those caught in between that pay the price...
Such a pity."
Sheathing his long sword, the Tengu shrugs a little.
"It is up to us to make sure it does not have again."
Frozen corpses appeared to be norm around these parts, and Brynjar had little liking for it, he had long since gotten used to the sight of dead bodies; it came with being a mercenary, but something about a body being frozen solid and preserved in its current state for all to see, unnerved him These bandits have certainly racked up a body count The red haired man walked closer to the corpse, blue eyes glazing over it before turning to Helios.
"Gold won't do us much good out here" Commented Brynjar before shifting his attention to the trail he spotted before the battle "After we take care of the body we'd best move on, those bandits won't kill themselves...but I'll make them wish they did"
|
Krystae immediately recognizes the frozen features of old Dansby and she lets out a weary sigh, her warm breath coming out in a long line of mist. "Poor old fool... He was a good man, deserved better than this."
She glanced over his belongings, agreeing with Helios. "Indeed, the gold should go to his family; I'd like to see his bow and axe returned as well. For now, though, let us use them against our enemy... that way Dansby can have his justice." She stoops to pick up the excellent longbow, testing the pull.
"If possible, perhaps we could erect a makeshift cairn until such time as we can return for him? I'd rather not let scavengers hate at him."
'I'll make them pay dearly for all this wanton slaughter, Dansby. I swear it.'
Moving on, you travel another hour, following the obvious trail. After climbing at least a hundred feet into the hills, the snowy trail finally levels off. In a clearing among the trees, a large wooden lodge overlooks a ravine spanned by a long rope bridge. Smoke rises from the lodge’s two snow-covered chimneys, and a large woodpile is stacked against the outer wall. A small outbuilding stands east of the lodge, and a stone well nearly blanketed by snow is barely recognizable to the north. Several tracks lead southwest toward a detached stable. Krystae recognizes it as the High Sentinel Lodge, which is supposed to house a group of rangers that serve as the defenders of this forest.
The bandits have set a crossbow trap with a trip line hidden in the snow at the trailhead. When the trap is triggered, the crossbow not only fires at the creature who triggered it, but also falls from its perch on the porch, dragging a string of attached pots and pans and making a lot of noise.
Helios moves cautiously forward. After the finding of old Dansby he wonders if their luck had finally changed. But as he gets closer his hand leaps upwards as he calls an immediate halt to their progress. "Ok, it's not the friendly welcome we were hoping for..." he whispers back to the group.
Gesturing downwards the bard points out a trip wire and then the line that leads back to the crossbow trap and noise maker right at the trail head leading to the lodge.
"Don't suppose it might be friendlies just shoring up defenses, huh?" By his tone it's obvious how much he doubts the prospect. He nods to an area off trail so they're not out in the open so they can strategize.
"So. Who's going to be cutting the string, or whatever else disarms the trap?" Droviz asks as he quietly draws his sword and unslings his shield.
|
|
Krystae frowns as she follows the tracks leading towards the High Sentinel Lodge. "Not good. This is the High Sentinel Lodge, and the tracks lead directly there. That can only mean..." She lets out a deep breath.
When Helios gestures, her sharp eyes pick out the crossbow trap. "Good eye, Helios. I had hoped to find the Sentinels here, but it appears our quarry has taken the Lodge as their base of operations. Perhaps I can scout forward to see what we face?"
At Helios' gesturing, Krystae helps the others off the trail a little into the treeline. "Thoughts?" And then she sees Elen's cat and gets a plan... "Witch, are you able to speak with your familiar?"
"Not in words, but we share emotions, goals, sensations... If you're thinking of using her as a scout, it would depend on what exactly you need her to do. I'd be able to sense through her if she sees something she recognizes as dangerous, but we wouldn't be able to get a report of something like 'six human men in the cabin with swords'. Hmm. Estrid had a raven who could speak Skald, though it rarely spoke to anyone but her. She thought a cat would be a better fit for me, though."
Unsheathing his sword with an audible screech of metal against hardened leather, Brynjar crouches low and examines the snow for tracks or signs of movement No chance of receiving help from these sentinels then...I wasn't expecting much from them anyway A frown came over Brynjar's face, and his brows came together "So much for the sentinels..." He muttered in his coarse voice.
"Not so sure it's them down there, Brynjar." Helios responds as he surveys the surroundings. "Could be our quarry has taken control while the Sentinels are in the field."
...making sure no one is approaching.
"And we were seeking help from them? They couldn't even keep their dwelling from being taken" Asks Brynjar in a disbelieving tone "The more I travel, the more I see why the world needs mercenaries" He continues in a bitter tone, as he looks around.
Brynjar can tell there are a lot of tracks, but they crisscross each other so much throughout here all he can tell is it has been a high traffic area, with lots of tracks running between the lodge and the various outbuildings.
Tulo flies around the lodge, looking in some of the windows. He says there are armed men inside. Some of them look very sick. He's not sure exactly how many.
|
|
Krystae also takes a moment to examine the tracks around them while they wait for Tulo to return from his scouting mission.
After examining the tracks she looks at Elen. "Well done with the raven, Witch. That was an excellent idea." After hearing the raven's report Krystae sits quickly, thinking a moment. "I'd like to scout some of the outer buildings before we make our first move."
"Can't tell anything by these tracks...." Complained Brynjar as he got up from his crouching position "What did the bird say?" He asks turning to face the elven witch.
"Armed men are in the lodge, some very sick." Helios translates for Brynjar and begins thinking on what it could mean. "He is unable to clearly see their number."
"I like the idea of scouting ahead." He nods to Krystae his willingness to volunteer for the effort. "I'm wondering if perhaps our enemy may have poisoned the Sentinels' water supply...or their food." He rubs at his chin as he considers. "They'd be the first to retaliate in the region of there were evil afoot. It would only make sense to remove them as a threat. What more insidious way than poison?"
➢ ...sneaking along
➢ ...watching the path for traps
➢ ...observation of the lodge
|
|
Krystae nods at Helios' thoughts and willingness to scout ahead with her. She puts an arrow to the string of her bow. "Let's investigate the small building over yonder." She indicates the small outhouse with a jerk of her head.
With that she begins making her way towards the outhouse to the east, using the treeline as concealment as she makes her approach.
Ragnar moves with the group, not exactly sure what was going on. He stayed near Master Helios and Lady Elen.
Tulo the raven landed on his shoulder after a circling around. Ragnar decided that he was going to to need to fashion a cross-bar for his father's spear. The raven deserved a better perch.
Droviz brings up the rear; he is well-aware that he isn't all that stealthy, and this way he can at least guard the others from an attack from behind.
"What do we expect to find here? I am...concerned by these developments..."
Elen creeps along with the others, but is unable to control a gasp of pain as her bare foot steps onto a sharp rock. She winces, hoping against hope that she hasn't given them away.
The door to this small outhouse is frozen shut. A small hammer hangs by a rope from its upper eaves to chip away the ice and provide access. Unfortunately, the weather has made the outhouse much less functional, and the stench of its recent use is somewhat overpowering.
There are no outward signs that anyone has noted your presence at this time.
Havelock covers his beak and coughs softly at the scent.
"lovely..."
Elen sighs at the smell, and motions for Krystae to lead on closer to the house.
Helios wrinkles his nose and nods to the main house. "Go slow and quiet, use the well and the debris over there for cover..."[/spoiler] He whispers to the others. The half-elf meets eyes with Ragnar. [smaller]"શાંત અને નીચી, મારા મિત્ર જાઓ. અમે શોધી રહ્યાં છો તે પહેલાં અમે અવલોકન કરી શકો છો, વધુ સારી..."
That said, he grips his bow and an arrow in his left hand and focuses on being as quiet as possible as he crosses from the outhouse and to the debris south of the well.
...scanning before he makes his move
...going low and slow to the point on the map to try and keep out of the view of the windows.
|
|
Krystae wrinkles her nose at the stench coming from the outhouse. She looks around at the group and nods at Elen's words. She moves forward, towards the main building quietly, keeping a sharp towards the windows and rear as she makes her approach.
Once in position she motions for the others to remain where they area. She'll attempt to take a quick glance through the window nearby and see what can observe inside, but being careful not to expose herself much.
Ragnar knew that he wasn't particularly good at moving unnoticed. He fell back to guard the rear of the group, staying far enough back that his graceless trudging through the snow might not draw attention.
Elen is more careful about where she steps, and her light clothing and bare feet make no sound as she follows close behind Krystae.
Droviz stands next to Ragnar, sword and shield at the ready, but otherwise still and silent. Behind the mask, his eyes sweep the area, checking for threats.
Elen looks through the window and sees five armed men inside.
A large table and two benches run the length of this hall, and a twenty-foot-high vaulted ceiling rises into the rafters overhead. To the west, a roaring fireplace provides a welcome heat and light while to the south, a flight of stairs ascends to a wooden balcony overlooking the room. A set of double doors stands in the wall to the east.
Krystae can see through her window that there are four very sick men laying down in the room, shaking from some kind of violent fever. She would expect to be able to recognize most of the sentinels, but she recognizes no one here.
The three of you are able to overhear a bit of conversation.
"So, what are you going to do with your share of the money?"
"I've got some debts to pay off, my brother's been wasting the family's money as usual."
"I might have enough to buy a little plot of land, find a woman. Seems like a good time to settle down, don't you think? And safer too."
"I think it's a little silly to be making plans already, Rohkar hasn't even been able to ransom the woman yet. How do we even know her daddy will actually pay the ransom? From what I've heard he might be glad to be rid of her."
"You worry too much. Let Rohkar deal with them noble types. They'll pay, you'll see."
Nobody seems aware of your presence.
Elen looks back, holds up 5 fingers, and points at her window. She then tries to listen some more, see if they have anything else useful to say.
"These kidnappers, all they want is a home, money, the same things most people want. What a shame they chose this way to try to get it!"
|
|
Krystae worries that she does not recognize any of these men, they are clearly with the mercenaries. That fact is only reinforced by the conversation she overhears coming from the other room.
She glances over to see Elen holding up five fingers and nods. She point to her own window and holds up four fingers. She then shakes and makes a sickly looking face. She then gestures for them all to meet back by the others near the trail...
Krystae starts backing away from the window, making sure to stay low.
Elen gestures with her hands, trying to convey something complicated, but she shrugs and sneaks back with Krystae when it's apparent that she isn't making herself understood.
You are all able to return without being noticed, as far as you can tell.