"Ah well. So much for that invocation." Castor says, letting his magic dissipate and tucking the arrow away.
He proceeds to search alongside Xelani.
Looking around, Xelani doesn't notice much in the remains around the lair. Seems like its mostly animal remains though you do see some old human shaped bones.
Looking at the spider's 'lair', Castor sees that the hole is filled with spider webs. Castor is about to turn around when he sees a small glint of some sort of metal at the bottom of the pit. Probably from some sort of blade.
The pit seems to be about 25 feet down. It shouldn't be too hard to climb down.
As he prepares to leave the hole's vicinity, Castor suddenly turns his attention back to the hole, as though something had caught his eye.
"Wait, I see something down there. Looks like some sort of blade," he says. [b]"Is any of you an adept climber? There might be some things of value left inside."[b]
Shaking his head in consternation, Rufus quickly free climbs down the sinkhole after Korrine.
"Korinne!" Xelani shouts as she follows her into the hole, wasting no time removing her armor despite it weighing her down.
Xelani and Rufus are slow to catch Korinne as she falls down after slipping on some spider web.
Korinne lands with a loud thud and shakes herself awake only to be greeted by the skull of a dead human, maybe a half a foot from her face...
The area is relatively small and cramped(though you doubt it bothered the spider much). Investigating the skeletons in the area after the others bring a source of light, you see one of the skeletons has leather armor, a short sword and a familiar amulet of a silver stag.
Xelani, while helping Korinne, notices in the boots of the skeleton, there is a small piece of parchment. Opening the parchment, you see a simple drawing of a claw shaped dead tree upon an otherwise barren hill. A red X is scrawled at the base of the tree.
"No, you're not." Rufus replies flatly as he examines her carefully, "You're simply not 'mortally wounded'." He adds, "No one is 'okay' after a fall like that except a few acrobats I've met travelling through the 'kingdoms."
"I wouldn't be 'okay' after a fall like that. I appreciate you wanting to 'carry your weight', but in a situation such as ours, you'll do so much more effectively if you acknowledge when you're genuinely hurt."
Sighing, he nods his own acknowledgment. "Not to be a 'mother hen', but none of us contribute if we fall & you look to me to be not much more than a solid punch away from doing just that. How about you let us bruisers," nodding to Xelani, "take the next few blows, hmm?"
Begging off one of her torches, Rufus lights it & begins looking around the deceased spider's den. "Assuming that amulet means what we believe, that's one less bandit running around...
Not sure if that tree is supposed to mark a cache or a threat, what d'you think Xelani?"
"I'll be right down," Castor says, fetching his rope and attaching it solidly to a tree before letting it hang down the pit.
"This should help," Castor says, channeling some of his magic to help Korinne's injury heal quickly.
"If my guess about how bandits tend to operate is correct, it may very well prove to be both."
"Rufus' right, Kor" Xelani says in an empathic tone. "But there's no need to apologize. Just remember: next time you see a dark hole, or some hulking brutish menace, just leave it to us... uhm... bruisers" the lithe half-elven paladins concludes, looking up towards Rufus' imposing figure towering a full three inches over her.
"As for the map, I concur with Castor – though I'd be slightly leaning towards cache. Perhaps this poor sod was trying to hide some of his ill-gotten gains from the Stag Lord. Who knows? In any case, staying on the look-out for a similarly shaped tree can't hurt, I figure".
Turning to Korinne once she's been healed, "Are you feeling better now Kor? You can just grab the rope and then we can lift you up if you want..."
Now that she knows Korinne's well, taking with her both the map and the Stag amulet Xelani climbs up the rope and offers to help with lifting whoever would so request.
"I think there's nothing else for us to find around here. I told Kesten we would be back by the third sunset after our departure – that is, this evening" she says once everybody's ready to depart. "We might want to call our small initial foray into the Greenbelt complete and head back to Oleg, if everybody agrees with it".
Nodding agreement with Xelani's assessment, Rufus assists the others in climbing back out of the den before following himself.
The group heads out, heading back to Oleg's Trading Post...
The trip is uneventful. More rolling hills and most grasslands. The light is late evening as you approach the old fort and you are alarmed to see what looks like smoke coming from the post...
"A retaliatory strike? So soon? It can't conceivably be..." Xelani says in response to Korinne's questions. "Let's approach cautiously and see if we can discern any presence upon the palisades. It's miles upon miles of flatlands all around, so I'm afraid stealth is not an option, but if we're lucky there might be no sentinels to spot our arrival. Or if we're really lucky, it could be nothing but Svetlana's dinner getting burnt, and we're just here getting all worried for no real reason."
She tries to underline that last statement with a smile, which nonetheless fails to extend to her eyes.
"Let's hurry and find out, shall we?" Castor suggests, picking up his pace. "I dare not imagine what might have befallen the fort."
I can think of possibility...
At Korrine's query & Xelani's reassurance, such as it was, Rufus can do little more than shake his head. "We won't know until we investigate." H nods agreement with the Elf's assessment. "So let's investigate."
Moving froward, no one notices any problems about the fort outside structures(the walls mostly). The gate is still open and as you move closer you can see, and hear, yelling.
You see Oleg, Kesten and one of the captured bandits in the central area. The bandit looks to be hurt, a few burns mark his arms. Not too far away is the probable source of the burns and the smoke you saw: The forge that Alayi had assigned them work appears to have caught on fire recently, though the fire has been put out and only heavy smoke comes from it.
Oleg is yelling at Kesten, making threatening moves at the bandit. Getting closer, you hear Oleg yell at Kesten, who appears to be standing between the bandit and Oleg, "THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT THESE PEOPLE HERE. BASTARD IS PROBABLY TRYING TO BURN THIS PLACE DOWN."
The bandit, cringing a bit, says, "I was just doing the work assigned to me. The metal got loose from me and started the fire. It was only an accident."
Kesten is about to say something when he sees you guys approach. With a look of relief on his face, he greets the group and says, "I hope you all heard that. It's as it stands. The man," indicating the bandit, "says he accidentally caused the fire. Oleg, considering it could have caused serious damage, is understandably angry at the man. We were just lucky one of my men saw the fire before it got too bad."
Looking to Alayini briefly for confirmation, Rufus raises his hands placatingly. "While I'm no smith, I do know you have to get metal quite hot to work it. A fire hot enough for that purpose could get out of control whether he was attempting to cause trouble or not." Focusing his attention directly on Oleg, Rufus' demeanor becomes somewhat less placating. "You chose to start a new life here, in the wilderness. If you wanted a life without dangers...
Well, perhaps the Riverlands aren't for you."
Xelani waits for Rufus to express his stance, then chimes in in a somewhat more conciliatory tone. "The fact that one has chosen a life surrounded by constant danger is no justification for tossing him in even greater peril. We asked Oleg to keep those men under his roof, while agreeing that their actions would be our responsibility, Rufus. Our host has every right to be angry."
She then turn towards Oleg. "The Riverlands hold enough dangers already without adding accidental fires to the mix. I apologize for this unpleasant occurrence, Master Leveton, and I promise we'll do our best to prevent it from happening again. Alayi, perhaps you'd want to... have a word with your apprentices?"
Castor listens to Oleg's grievances and the former bandit's explanations with measured, equal attention, hoping to get both sides of the issue.
Alayi says, "I suppose Korinne is right. It may have been a mistake to leave them here to work on the craft with little supervision. As their...master of sorts, I suppose I should pay more attention to them." Turning to the group, she says, "I will take a more permanent approach to teaching them. I will stay here, for the time being. I will teach these...apprentices the craft and help Kesten with his other duties around the fort for now. I know our adventures have barely started and I'm staying behind. However, I should be available to help whenever and wherever needed."
With Alayi's words, Oleg seems a bit mollified and accepts the plan. Kesten thanks Alayi for her offer of help and moves off back to the gate to resume his watch. Alayi admonishes the chastises the apprentice-bandit and moves him off to the rest of his fellows.
"Your offer is very generous" Xelani says hugging her friend. "Anytime you feel like scratching some wanderlust itch, just say the word. In the meantime, remember: kingdoms might be forged by the sword, but it's the hammer that ultimately tempers them into nations capable of standing the test of time. Your work here is no less precious than ours, Alayi."
Later, while having her dinner she updates Oleg on the results of their scouting. "Bokken seems to be alive and well, if a bit... eccentric. There's something else I wanted to show you, though" she says while pulling out the parchment they found on the dead bandit. "Do you recognize this particular tree?"
"Wise words, Xelani." Castor nods. "Any contribution is precious; any help is good to have."
"Unless any of you has business to conduct, I suggest that we take the night here to rest, and depart tomorrow at the break of dawn. What do you say?"
Assuming the party does not intend to head back out immediately and chooses to rest, Castor will seek out Korinne.
"Please accept my apologies for not dealing with this wound entirely, earlier. My powers are still rather limited at this point, and I feared the possibility that other incidents may befall us later on."
Channeling the healing forces of the positive plane, he clears up what remained of her injury, wanting to make sure it wouldn't bother her in her sleep that night.
Later in the evening, Castor pays the guards and workers a visit, curious about the fort's general morale. If anyone is injured from other accidents or from driving foes away, he makes sure that they are taken care of.
Rufus nods agreement with the recommendations of staying overnight before departing once more, his expression distracted, as if in contemplation of a conundrum.
Noting Rufus's expression, Castor opts to let his companion ponder for a while, but keeps an eye out, planning to approach the latter and offer a helpful ear, should one be needed.
"Hmm," Oleg seems lost in thought for a moment before saying, "can't say that I have. I will admit that I haven't gone too far south from the post so it's probably out there somewhere. None of the traders and hunters in the area have ever mentioned such a tree but then it may just be another tree to them..."
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Castor goes about the fort, talking to the various inhabitants. In general, moral seems high. The Leveton's are happy for the protection and the defeat of the immediate bandit threat. The guards, Kesten included, are relatively happy. The post isn't to some of their liking but it's their job and it seems an easy enough one at that. The bandits turned apprentices are pretty neutral, mostly still worried about keeping their heads connected to the rest of their bodies.
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The night goes by fairly easily. The forts inhabitants have a small dinner prepared by Svetlana and listen in to any tales from your adventures.
Dawn arrives without much incident as well.
"You're probably right, Oleg. I don't know what kind of answer I was looking for, really. Well, at least there's no harm in asking."
The rest of the dinner proceeds smoothly. Xelani asks Svetlana for a bath tub filled with warm water and some soap, knowing that it could be a while before she has the chance to enjoy such pleasantries again.
Bathed and refreshed, come morning she's ready to once again venture out into the Greenbelt.
Castor retires early that evening, exhausted from the day's events. He is amongst the first of the camp to rise, the next morning, performs his early-morning obedience to Desna. With that done, he opts to join the fort's morning watchment.
"A blessed morning to you," Castor addresses one of them, making small talk until the party rises.
Castor performs his rituals just before the sun rises and it sun rises just as well as any other day. Korinne can see one of the two guardsmen near the gate, probably tired from the night watch but still watchful. Kesten comes out not to much later, greeting Korinne with a gruff but still somewhat friend hello before relieving the soldier of his watch.
Xelani, Alayi and Rufus shortly join you in the morning activities. Svetlana serves a small breakfast and Oleg pulls out a few packs, filled with rations. "It should be enough for about a weeks worth of travel." the older man says.
Kesten says, after a short discussion on where you will be heading, "I'll see about sending a man west if we don't hear back from you by the weeks end."
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The group leaves Oleg's much as you did a few days ago. You can hear Alayi rousing up her "apprentices" as you leave, barking out orders to the lucky? men.
The group heads west. The first day is relatively peaceful, the rolling plains of the Greenbelt quiet except for normal animal sounds. As you proceed west, you see the forest start to come into view. It is mid-morning as you enter, the forest not quite as foreboding as it was 5 days ago when you entered to deal with the bandit threat.
As you move through the forest, you stop for a small break. Korinne moves a bit around the brush looking for spell materials when both Xelani and Castor sees a glint of metal near her. Both of you see what looks like a bear trap near her foot...
"Korinne! Don't move! Bear trap!" Castor immediately shouts, approaching to take a closer look at the item.
"Be careful!" the other half-elf cries in unison with the first, as she tries her best to grab her friend away from the trap.
"Traps – the coward man's bow" she says in a contemptuous tone. "A prey's death should be quick and as clean as possible, not slow and agonizing. Once we're back, perhaps we should ask one of our 'guests' if it's them who laid it – and if we should be wary of more as we venture deeper into this forest."
As she speaks, she looks for a log nearby which she uses to activate the trigger mechanism. "Cautious now. There's likely to be more of them. Or worse yet, we are dealing with something more dangerous than a simple hunter. Someone who's not very fond of strangers stumbling upon his private business" Xelani whispers as she slowly proceeds forward with great circumspection.
Castor joins the search for other traps, also keeping an eye for possible tracks. Perhaps they could track down the person who had set up the trap. Was it one of the bandits? Perhaps an ill-advised hunter?
Taking some time, Xelani finds a trap and then another. This entire area is probably littered with them. You think you could spend a day or so searching the area for them and either disarming or mapping them. It shouldn't be too hard of a job considering you know what you're looking for now.
Unfortunately, Castor doesn't find any real signs of tracks. Castor thinks he seems some for a moment but they only lead to another trap. None of the tracks you've found so far lead in any far direction.
"We'd probably best take some time searching this area. If someone's leaving these traps out so carelessly, they may very well pose a danger to us and any potential future resident." Castor suggests.
"I think the tracks are too old. I saw traces here and there, but nothing that could point us to a culprit."
"A wise course of action. Every small thing helps make the Stolen Lands a safer place" Xelany nods in agreement.
"A pity we can't prevent whoever's behind this from laying any more traps. It's obvious there are many things, many secrets going on in these woods outsiders suspect little about. At least for today, this comparatively mundane mystery is bound to remain unsolved" she then muses contemplatively.
"Not necessarily," Rufus replies, "this many traps would require a beast of burden to bring this far, even if acquired from the Levetons. When next we return, we should inquire as to any regular customers & see if they have some who use traps to exclusion. Not everyone has an elf's skill with a bow.". He raises an eyebrow archly at Xelani & Castor. "I'd also point out that trapping is simply a form of hunting & we have no mandate to curtail that. If we see signs whoever it is is overtrapping, we might have a better argument than 'your technique offends me'."
"One's lack of ability is no justification for resorting to underhanded techniques to succeed in his craft. Moral compunctions aside, laying down a trap near a trodden path without taking any measure to prevent people from stepping on it is beyond simple overtrapping – it is careless. And dangerous. That's why I think we're acting in our charter's spirit as we strive to make the Greenbelt a safer place, even when the letter only speaks about banditry."
"And as for needing some kind of logistics to be able to carry around such a large quantity of traps, I concur. Due to them being placed where people might be harmed, I was rather thinking about bandits, myself; but asking a few questions around surely can't hurt."