Ike continues trying to hunt for the trail, but after a while, it's clear they've covered their tracks well... no surprise, truthfully. When he lived in the villages of his past, he knew better than to leave a trail.
Returning, Ike sees Sigurd and Arlen interrogating the bandit, who looks a bit terrified. And Arlen was laughing his head off... was he scaring him? It was a bit... unnerving... but when Sigurd mentions the booze, Ike shrinks back a little. Ever since the moon radishes, he'd rather not approach anything that gets him like that again. He knows what booze can do to someone...
"...I guess? I'm not sure... Oleg will just beat him up again, won't he?" Ike asked. He really didn't see any sort of good outcome for the bandit... than again, bandits were jerks, so he couldn't feel too badly for him.
Underneath a pile of lumber at the guard tower closer to the campfire, you find: 321 sp, 90 gp, a pair of silver earrings, a wooden music box, three crates of furs and hides, and a polished wooden case of potent greenish herbal liquor. There are eight bottles with liquor left in them, along with a handful of empty bottles that the bandits were likely sneaking sips from.
Rai will gather all the fallen bandits gear and drag all the dead into a pile to bring and be creamated saying a silent word doing this without help if he must
Wise Diceros carefully looks at the cart before he jumps up on it and loots the chest. He notices a long cloth, like a table cloth, jumbled up in front of the chest. Pulling it carefully aside, Diceros reveals a set bear trap! Carefully avoiding the trap, Diceros pops the chest open to just reveal old and smelly clothes. Clearly, the bandits kept their real treasure out of sight--under the guard post-- where it would not readily be found and taken from them.
As Rai gathers the gear and rounds up the bodies, he pulls out a total of 52 gold pieces from all of the pockets of the lesser bandits. Kressle, on the other hand, has a potion in her pocket along with 85 gold, and both of her handaxes are well-made works of craftsmanship (masterwork).
Arlen laughs and laughs while staring balefully at the bandit. "HEE HEE HEE! Convince us we need to keep you alive longer. What else can you do for us? HAHAHAHAH!!!!"
"I... uh... Promise you let me go! Promise you let me go and I will tell you the passcode to get into the Stag Lord's fort! Untie me first, and I will tell you!"
"Hahahaha!!! Oh yes my friend!!!! We'll definitely let you go if you help us out!! What do you think, Sigurd? Should we... teeeheeeheee... untie him first or have him tell us first?"
Arlen draws a dagger and stands on the other side of the man. He also gestures for some of his other friends to join him around the man.
Brokk'r scrambles to mount Gefjun as quickly as he can, but it turns out he can't do it any faster than normal. He heads to the edge of the woods, calling out to his companions as he passes.
"Check the woman for Svetlana's ring!"
When he reaches the treeline, the bandits have already vanished, so he dismounts and attempts to pick up their trail.
The bandit is resolute. "Untie and let me go, and then I will tell you how to get into the Stag Lord's fort... and maybe I know something about the trader lady's ring."
Once a couple of friends have a chance to gather around, Arlen unties the fellow and stands ready with his dagger and Sigurd with his earthbreaker on opposite sides of the thug.
"Hoohooheee! Tell me! Tell me! Hahahaheee..."
"You are gonna let me go, right? That's the deal. I'll tell you, and you let me go. I'll start with the easy one. We had the trader lady's ring. But a bunch of little mites came in here and stole some of our bags of treasure, including the ring."
He steps backward several steps. "Okay, you'll let me go? I'm going to tell this last thing and you have to promise to let me go. If you want to get into the Stag Lord's fort... wait a minute, none of you have actually said that you are going to let me go."
It really seems like he is telling the truth.
Arlen follows along with the fellow, smiling.
"I did! Hahahaha! I did! Tell him, Sigurd!"
He turns back to the bandit, somewhat puzzled.
"Hee hee hee! Little mites? Describe them!"
He does believe you.
"To get in the fort, they will ask you, 'Who are you?' and you will answer, 'By the Bloody Bones of St. Gilmorg, who wants to know?' And no, I have no idea who ‘St. Gilmorg’ is. As for the mites, they are little fairies who live in the ground somewhere in the eastern side of the Greenbelt. Little miserable scavengers, they are."
Untied, he takes several more steps backwards, and eventually turns his back to you and starts walking away.
Brokk'r picks the bandit's trail up to the south. With this much of a headstart, it will be hard to catch up to them, but he thinks he can follow them to their destination.
Arlen mimes to his companions stabbing the bandit in the back and will attempt to do so unless someone objects.
"Gahhh!" Arlen cowardly stabs the bandit in the back, but it doesn't have enough force to pierce his armor.
The bandit starts to run.
The bandit wrenches away from Sigurd and runs into the woods, to the north.
shake a head at me earlier and then stab a man in the back after safe passage. We will see him again to be sure and he will be a problem. No sneaking up on the stag Lord now
Ike perks up a bit at the mention of mites, before sitting and trying to recall where he's heard that name before... it sounded familiar...
Mites are small fey that are almost always found underground. They are not inherently evil; though they have a particular hatred for dwarves and gnomes due to past conflicts. They have the ability to emphasize with normally mindless vermin- spiders,centipedes, and the like.
Ike sat and seemed to grow lost in thought a bit before sitting up and snapping his fingers! "Oh! Right! I read that in one of master's books! Mites!" he said, standing up. "They're these little creatures like fey! They like it underground and love little vermin like spiders and other bugs... but they aren't really fans of dwarves and gnomes, so, uhm... if we meet any, Brokk'r might want to stay back... they aren't mean by nature, but... I think it's an ancestor thing lost to history. Like, a gnome stole a mite's favorite bucket once, lent it to a dwarf, and they've never been friends since."
"I might be remembering that last part incorrectly. It's been years since I read it..."
CAMPING PHASE!
The day draws to a close, and the party decides to make camp and use the good fortifications of the bandits to your benefit.
As you set up camp and settle in, you all discuss the events of the very busy day, your plans for the immediate future, and the ever present threat of this very ominous sounding "Stag Lord."
Brokk'r heads back over to the others.
"Well, I found their trail and we should be able to follow it easily enough if that's what we're wantin' ta do," he says. "What's all this about mites?"
When Ike explains, he agrees that he should hang back when the others approach the mites.
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As he eats his evening meal and looks into the fire, Sigurd contemplates the events of the day. He didn't exactly like lying through his teeth to that bandit, but they did get some good information out of it. I guess that'll help me sleep tonight.
To the group, he says "What's the plan for tomorrow? Back to Olegs to unload some of this loot? Brokk'r, could you find that trail again if we came back later?"
Arlen settles in by the campfire to enjoy the group's traditional camping and debriefing. He takes out Rasputin and strokes the rabbit gently. The rabbit seems content with this but occasionally snaps its sharp teeth at Arlen if he absent-mindedly pets its fur in the wrong direction. He chimes in "Yes I think returning to Oleg's would be wise. But should we try to get Svetlana's ring before or after we do that? I would love to have such a delightful surprise for our ever-gracious hosts."
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As they sit by the fire, Diceros admits, "Ike, I had no idea what was going to happen to you in there today. I thought you, and probably all of us, were dead for sure! But between your deception and holding down their leader, we couldn't have done it without you! And everyone -- wow, we were outnumbered more than 2 to 1! And it felt like we handled that fairly easily. Wow. I am blessed to be part of this outfit!"
"But if we could get out of these trees soon, I would be a much happier druid!"
Ike, having reverted to his slime form, seems to perk up a tendril at Diceros' praise, before curling back as if shy about it. He was feeling a lot better from a week ago... he was actually feeling useful!
The discussion of what to do tomorrow made Ike think a bit. Going back to Oleg's for resupplies would be nice... but so would recovering the ring and finding out about these mites. A part of him wondered if he could actually shift into one of their forms... but he'd want to see one before trying.
After a moment of thought, he hung out a tendril and drew "Oleg" into the dirt. It seemed the wiser course of action... and they could always tell them they were on the trail of the ring! That would make a good surprise!
"I could certainly try, but I imagine that by the time we get ta Oleg's and back, it'll be cold," the dwarf responds.
"Course I don't suppose we'll be able ta overtake 'em and it doesn't seem smart ta be walkin' up ta the Stag Lord's door right after he gets the bad news."
let's find the mites and the ring and then go back to resupply. Rai says as he takes time to set up the tent as a community roof tent and makes a dry common area for everyone.
The night passes uneventfully, but also with a measure of comfort, as you take advantage of the bandit's camp. And the bandit's camp becomes a home of sorts over the next two days, as you continue to map and explore this region, every night returning to base camp. For of course, none of you have forgotten the primary task that lies before you... explore and map the Greenbelt on behalf of the Aldori Swordlords and the Lord Mayor of Restov.
You believe the map made in this piece of the forest will bring 141 gold.
Pharast 25
Terrain: Hill ; max PC speed: 40 ; days to explore: 1 if everyone rides
Heat Wave: Living creatures are fatigued unless protected through magic.
On the morning of the 25th, you say good-bye to your camp where you have been for the last three days, and head east. The party's plan, at least as of right now, is to go east and then north, exploring new areas on the way back to Oleg's Trading Post.
You finally emerge from the dense woods and look upon a landscape of hills. Forests and plains dot the landscape as well, but not the wide expanses of trees and grass that you have seen in other areas. The biggest constant seems to be up and down, up and down hills, some steep, some gradual.
And it is bloody hot. It almost feels like summer has decided to come early, and no one is used to it.
EXPLORATION PHASE!
Mounts will surely make exploration go faster, but the terrain is challenging. Not as challenging as forests, but will still take some skill.
Give me a DC10 ride check if you plan on riding your horse/mule/pony in hilly terrain.
Assumming that at least one person will fail this, it will take you 3 days to explore this hex. Give me 3 rolls to explore and map!
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Diceros claps excitedly and slaps Pygmy's rump when they leave the treeline and come to the clearing. He spends the first few hours in the hills marching and looking at the horizon with a wistful smile on his face.
Then he notices the heat. Then he notices that these are no plains, but way too much climbing.
"Augh! These cursed hills! Why the Creation Giants didn't flatten them down properly into a savanna makes no sense!"
He gets back on his pony, mopping the sweat from his forehead.
Even though a hilly terrain, Diceros does start to see more vegetation he is familiar with and finds some edible tubers for everyone to munch on as they travel. He keeps some samples of leaves that he can't recall immediately, for further study. He also studies the ground, in a constant state of alert for telltale signs of life, dangerous or otherwise. Finally, coming to some ponds in the hills, he takes advantage of the water to cool off and to explore a bit of the local aquatic life.
Rai looks for signs of far now everywhere his eyes especially peeled for mites because he likes the innkeepers wife and wants to return that ring.
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Sigurd breaks camp, loading his possessions onto his horse, and mounts up.
It's then that he notices his store of beer is getting dangerously low. Rather, than get upset about this however, he sees it as an opportunity. He will be the first to brew a Greenbelt Ale, in the style of his homeland, using local ingredients. He keeps his eyes open for anything that would go good in this next brew.
He sees a few things that might work, but he is new to this land and has to make a decision about these new things he's found. Will they work in a brew?
Unfortunately, he remains undecided about the things he's found so far. He thinks back to all that his father taught him about the craft of brewing to try to remember some of the stranger brews he helped his father with over the years. Maybe he'll gain inspiration from one of those.
Rai does his best, but can't handle his mount on such difficult terrain. Looks like it will be a long three days walking these hills.
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Pharast 26
On the morning of the second day in these hills, Rai picks up a few tiny footprints in some soft moss along a mountainous stream. Excitedly, he gestures for everyone else to follow, and eventually leads you to a narrow crack in the side of a rocky outcropping. The crack is only two or three feet wide, but as he steps through, he calls out that there is an entire cave on the other side.
The rest of you squeeze through. It is a cave, and Brokk'r, with his dwarven eyes, is able to tells everyone that he can see it goes back pretty far, and then takes a turn to the right.
The light from outside only penetrates a few feet in. The rest of the party tries to peer into the darkness beyond. Thankfully, the cave is quite cool, a welcome relief from the heat outside, and all of you feel you strength returning.
Arlen looks around, enjoying the view as he travels.
Noticing mostly the very obvious things around him, Arlen starts thinking about hills and how past civilizations settled them.
After thinking long and hard about it, Arlen comes to the conclusion that hills were mostly used as sights for temples. Just cover them in temples! That's the way to use hills!
The confused librarian ponders the temples most suited for hills like these.
Hmmm... probably not a templte to any sort of god associated with the ocean or underground... that makes sense...
Upon finding the footprints and cave, Arlen gets excited. "Oh what a find, Rai! I do wonder what could have left these small footprints? Do you suppose it could be those mites?"
Brokk'r steps into the cave to get out of the heat, but hesitates to delve any deeper than the entrance.
"Aye, I'm thinkin' it could be, elf. And if it is, I'm not the best one ta be greetin' 'em," he says to the others. "Might be better if someone else takes point."
Ike continues to roll and slosh along, until the group locates the cave in the hills! Almost immediately, he crushes himself down and slinks inside, thankful for the respite from the heat! He was starting to feel a little solid out there... and not intentionally!
But boy was it dark! As he slunk inside, Ike made it a short distance before slushing into a wall... and immediately swirling up and changing shape into his kobold form. NOW he could finally see... and the place seemed quite well sized for him now! "I can take point!" he exclaimed, his claws forming into... much bigger claws as he moved ahead. "Lemme head down and see what's ahead. I can see perfectly in the dark now!"
Arlen studies the footprints. They are small... humanoid... They could be mites, or some other small little fey who prefers walking over flying. It is really hard to tell.
Ike proceeds down the cave to where it makes a hard right hand turn. From there, he sees another left hand turn about 20 feet down, or he can go straight.
Wow... this place was turning into a real labyrinth! Which make Ike suspect that this wasn't a natural formation. Animal or other creature, he couldn't be sure, but he was certain this place might be intentionally made. He forged ahead, curious to see what was hiding down here... and keeping his eyes peeled for danger!
Walking down the tunnel, Ike comes across a large, empty room, and the tunnel proceeds beyond. As Ike steps into the tunnel, he pulls back suddenly as his eyes just barely flicker over a switch set in the middle of the floor!
Ike suddenly halted as he came into the room, noting the switch on the floor. So he was right! This place WAS inhabited! Deciding it might be better to let the others handle this particular bit of trouble, Ike doubled back to try the tunnel on the left from before. He made a mental note of the location... Rai was good at those things, right?