Darian chuckles at Isabel, and smiles as he joins her briefly in the dance. When she moves to another partner, he slips out of the dance and to his seat and watches quietly.
Gods, if any of you are listening, help me to find a way to keep her safe and happy. After everything we've been through, everything we've given up, everyone we've lost...we could use a win...
__________
The next day, Darian rides quietly in the cart, keeping his eye on the horizon in the direction of their travel, anxiously watching for signs of the bandits again.
Lisl is polite and considerate to the hosts. After brushing and braiding her hair in the morning, she thanks them for their hospitality, then she is on the road with the group at her uncanny, mile-eating pace.
"Oh, someone brushed you already?" Roksana says with a mock pout as she collects Kasper and then the mule. "Well, they seem to have done a good job. Looks like that stable boy earned his gold, good for him."
Leading both beasts toward the cart, Rok waits patiently for the others to get up while storing the pasties in one of the saddlebags on her mount. "Free lunch to boot! The River provides, even when that river is just a sad Inn."
When the group is ready to depart, Roksana hops onto Kasper and leads the way, beckoning the mule forward as it carries the party behind her. She keeps her eye's on the horizon, trusting the horse to follow the road and not steer them off track.
|
The next day Isabel is in much better spirits, thanking the innkeepers wife profusely for their breakfast (and lunch), tapping her foot and humming as she rides in the wagon and generally being much human than she was the previous day.
"Have you spent a lot of time out here Rok? You seem to have all sorts of sayings and things! Great-Aunt Ledeba wasn't very complimentary about the people who live down south." She imitates a crotchety elderly woman, screwing up her eyes and sticking her chin out pointedly. "People who don't understand their betters! Need some civilising if you ask me!"
She continues in her normal voice. "She's a very nice woman once you get to know her, just a bit.... opinionated! She had some great advice though - I don't think there's anything she didn't know about the Brevic nobility!" Turning to Jory she continues. "Didn't you say you worked for a noble patron? Who was it? I'm trying to remember if we might have met them before... and what did you do for him?" She looks attentively towards the halfling, a wide, happy smile on her face as the miles roll away beneath the cart wheels.
The afternoon is getting old as you steadily travel southwards, passing though a small wood you are just about to cross a small wooden bridge over a rushing stream when Lisl & Freya both see several men lurking alongside the bridge, and more on the other side. "Ambush!"
This is the surprise round, only Lisl & Freya were high enough in perception to spot the bandits. They can have an action on this round.
Lisl shouts, "In the bushes!" She quickly raises her holy symbol and murmurs, "Abadar, I beseech you, bring law to the lawless."
In preparation for the skirmish, Freya casts a protective spell on herself.
Adding to Lisa's warning, she says, "Both sides of the bridge!"
The ragged bandits see their ambush has failed, they scramble from the covers of the trees and line up in front of the bridge. Trying their hardest to appear menacing.
On the other side more scurry out of cover, two with bows and two more with swords.
The party may now act.
The bandit actions were getting into position, all the party can now have an action.
Darian loosens his sword in its scabbard as he retrieves his bow and knocks an arrow. "Looks like our job with dealing with 'unrepentant banditry' is getting started early..." he says as he stands.
"Gentlemen!" he calls out, "there is no need for any of you to get hurt or die here. What seems o be he problem?"
__________
"Gods!" Alerted by Lisl and Freya, Jory pulls the cart to a halt and fumbles at his side for the light crossbow, which he thankfully loaded before the day's travel.
_________
Freya dismounts her horse and prepares to target a bandit with a hex, should one come close enough.
"Yaaaa!" Rok cries as she digs her heels into Kaspers side and spurs him into motion, driving the horse directly toward the nearest bandit. When they reach the target, both horse and rider strike out.
Lisl clambers over the side of the wagon and hits the ground with a sigh. She keeps her shield raised in case of enemy arrow fire.
Any demands or responses from the ambushers are discarded as a Cavalier charges into them with a battle cry. Red stumbling back with a pained scream as Kaspars hoof smashes into him.
Green curses foully and tries to strike Rok from the saddle.
His blow skidding off her armor.
The other bandits run forward with ragged yells. The two with bows stopping to take snapshots at Rok and Freya.
Don't shoot the women you fool!" Green snaps. "We can get good gold for them!"
Party actions now.
"Oh you're going to regret that." Roksana growls as she swings her hammer down on the man who wants to sell her for gold, she directs Kasper to attack the man as well.
"Well then, not a friendly welcome to the Stolen Lands!"
Jory stands and draws a bead with his light crossbow on one of the highwaymen circling Rok and her steed.
Freya attempts to quickly dismount her horse, for her own safety if nothing else given the lack of combat training on the horse's part.
Getting caught up in the stirrups, Freya has to take more time than she would have liked dismounting. Unable to do much more, she again readies to hex a bandit should one get close enough.
With none of the bandits approaching her, Freya heads towards them, targeting the light blue clad bandit with her hex.
Darian sighs. "Well then, do what must be done, everyone. Take them down!"
He wills his magic out to his friends, and their weapons all gleam with white energy!
Lisl nods to Darian and says, "I'm going in."
The Green with the loud mouth barely has time to regret his inopportune words before Roks smashes him to the ground and Kasper tramples him to a messy death.
Red already battered by a hoof simply steps away and staggers into the woods.
Blue curses as Jory's bolt punches into his side nastily, he turns to glare at the Bard and meets Freya's eerie gaze.
Slumping unconscious to the ground as his pitiful will meets her magic.
Already feeling the shock and fear as their ambush goes badly wrong the surviving Bandits go even more pale as Isabel's voice rings out in commanding tones.
They flinch and take a step or two back. If we surrender it's the rope for us you fools!" Yellow cries desperately, urging the ragged men on. "Kill the Ugly one before she rides us down!"
Purple manages to calm his tremors long enough to put an arrow into Roks, while Orange also comes close.
Yellow dashes forward and swings clumsily at Roks as well.
Coming close but again not beating her well fitted armor.
Party actions now.
Lisl continues advancing on the bandits' position. With her uncanny speed she manages to loop around past Roks and get onto the rear of the bandits facing the cavalier.
As the bandit shakes off his grogginess and tries to stand up, Lisl lashes out with her spiked shield, her holy symbol of Abadar firmly clutched in her other hand.
Ugh...I've never even shot this thing yet...
Darian takes aim at the bowman who shot Roks, and sends an arrow his way before knocking another one.
_________
Feeling the momentum in their favor, Jory jumps to the ground and advances in support. "Keep one alive!"
_______________
Freya re-directs her ire, this time focusing on the yellow clad bandit.
"Surrender, and you may yet live to see another day." she calmly but firmly states while gazing at the yellow clad bandit.
Roksana grunts as she feels the arrow hit but the wound is shallow enough to ignore for now.
"You'll feel my hammer soon enough!" she shouts to the archers as she attacks the last bandit that tried to hit her.
Blue scrambles to his feet and squeals in pain as Lisl's spiked shield punishes him, he staggers away in desperate terror, barely making two steps before collapsing on the ground.
Roks contemptuously slaughters Yellow, smashing him underfoot for Kasper to trample into a bloody pulp.
Purple yelps in shock as Darian's arrow clips him. Looking at the odds after a few seconds of fighting he and Orange discover discretion is a wonderful idea and scuttle off into the trees.
Lisl turns and lowers her shield and her shoulders, then while ducked in she points to indicate one of the runners to Roks so that the cavalier can run down the other one.
Seeing Lisl speed off after the bandit, Frey calls out, "Rok, follow her. You're the only one that has a chance of keeping up."
"Yeah," Darian agrees, "You pursue the first runner! We'll go after the rest!"
He lets another arrow fly before hopping down off the wagon.
Huh. I'm not half bad with this thing!
__________
Seeing the far bandits under hot pursuit by Lisl and Freya, Jory moves toward the downed bandit that he saw staggered by Lisl spiked shield.
If he's not done for, maybe we can get something useful out of him. This isn't much different than a rumble in a Restov alleyway, he thought.
__________
"Let's get 'em boy!" Roksana says as she spurs Kasper into a run. She's surprised to find that Lisl can almost keep up with her mount but she keeps her focus on the archers as she rides up behind them, hammer raised.
"You can't beat a horse in a foot race. Surrender and you live, keep running and I'll brain you both!"
Looking bitterly disheartened, and wounded again by Darian's accurate shooting Purple surrenders. Orange is still gaping at the speed of a woman in armor running him down, the crushing blow from her spiked shield finishes him off brutally.
What are you doing now?
Jory kneels down to check on the nearest wounded bandit. "This one is going to need some repairs," he calls to his companions.
He moves on to the bodies of the bandits that look beyond help. What secrets might you tell us? With Isabel and Freya attending to their wounded charges, Jory begins to systematically inspect the bodies of the unlucky bandits for anything significant.
______________
Darian walks into the midst of everything, looking around cautiously. "Good job, everyone."
At Jory's question, Darian says, "I can work some magical healing, but these men were fairly set on their course of action, so I don't see that as unrepentant and wouldn't it just lead to their later execution at our hands? That seems like it would be rather cruel..."
Freya makes her way over toward one the downed bandits. "I make no guarantees, but I will do for him what I can."
Having successfully bound the wounds of the first, she makes her way over to the second.
Darian moves over and eyes the still living bandits. He says quietly, "They couldn't have come this close to Brevish borders on foot. They would have to have a quick escape. They surely have a camp nearby, maybe some horses tied up. I'd hate to see innocent animals starve because we didn't search them out."
Lisl returns to the team and puts away her holy symbol, removes a rag from her belt and cleans some of the gore from her shield spike. She shakes out the rag, folds it, and carefully puts it away.
She looks over the injured bandits, but with Freya tending to their wounds, she sees that the likely need no further intervention.
"Do you suggest that we look for tracks, or simply make a widening circuit in search of a camp?" she replies to Darian's suggestion.
"If anyone is particularly skilled at following tracks, that may be a more prudent course." Freya says, idly looking around. "Failing that, the widening circuit is a reasonable option."
The bandit's camp is close to the road, poorly concealed and untidy. Two light horses seem to the only mounts the bandits have. Both show signs of mistreatment and react suspiciously when you approach.
Aside from more rations in the form of dried meat and hardtack (20 days) there is nothing else of any worth in the camp.
The surviving bandits have little to say, probing for answers finds they are all fleeing from justice and the noose back in Brevoy, slipping over the border with hopes of preying on the farms and traders.