The look of distaste is evident on Wallop's face. I'll have no part of this. I've seen far too many folk tied up helpless and cut down. This court is a joke. You've two men who've committed exactly the same crimes and you'll offer clemency to one of them because he's a halfwit that knows no better? Or is it because the other one spoke of doing worse?
After a long pause Wallop continues Svetlana, I don't blame you for not wanting him in your home. I'd make the same call myself. But speaking of doing wrong isn't the same as actually doing wrong. He hasn't committed those crimes for which he is about to be executed. If Gerran is correct and he won't survive long out in the Greenbelt, then there isn't any harm in cutting him loose and letting nature take it's course. Perhaps if he does manage to survive, the near death experience will change him.
Gerran gives some thought to what Wallop says, then responds. "They both committed the same crimes, to be sure. They are both bandits, and have stolen these good folks' goods and more. There is a marked difference between these men, however."
"Deekin has shown by his past actions that he was not as hard and callous as those around him - he showed a glimmer of kindness when there was no need to do so. He truly seems to be repentant, and these two", he nods to Oleg and Svetlana, "are willing to give him a chance."
"This other one reveled in his evil deeds, and threatened more besides. Regardless of whether he carried out his threats or not, he will say or do anything to keep his skin whole. He has shown no repentance, and as such, has assured his own fate."
"While I derive no pleasure from this, I cannot in good conscience release him. I have no doubt that he will scamper back to his cohorts, because he would need their support to survive. He would, however, tell them about us and make our coming task all the more difficult."
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Aerynne pauses for a moment, clearly at a loss. "I don't want to support someone who even threatens to violate a woman," she says slowly. "Wallop is right. He technically hasn't done anything--that we know of. But letting him go isn't an option either. If he manages to make it back to the other bandits, we can be sure they'll come back here looking for vengeance. And letting him starve to death or be eaten alive by wolves isn't exactly the most humane of punishments either."
"The question is if he is repentant or not." She looks towards the other bandit. "What do you say? Do you truly desire to change your ways for the better? To never take another man's belongings, to never threaten violence upon another person?"
Who knows if he's being honest or not... The half-elf begins to massage her temple with her index and middle fingers. "Remind me to never become a lawyer--or a ruler," she says with a chuckle. "Just this is giving me a headache. Imagine if it was on a daily basis?"
"Well s~&!, if you put it that way that's pretty easy. All I gotta do is not do anything wrong, right? The way this guy is talking I'm just gonna get my head chopped off no matter what I do. Sure, I can do that no problem. I, Skex Varlot, will not do anything wrong from this day forward."
To you, Aerynne, he seems to be in earnest.
Sense motive:
Wallop tries to get a sense of the man to see if he is bluffing or not.
Perhaps we could have him muck out one of the middens and turn it into a cell. We keep him in it till such time as the rest of the bandit crew is dealt with. In that time we could determine his true measure of willingness to change. This Wallop says quietly out of earshot of the bandits.
Wallop, you can tell that the bandit is lying through his teeth. He very obviously has no intention whatsoever of reforming.
"I've never heard such as this before. The elf is either the kindest heart or the greatest fool I've ever seen. Mere moments after pulling one of these men's arrows from her rib cage she is ready to call him her friend. I give up. You lot can decide this without me, it isn't a Stout-Folk matter anyway."
Morgrym walks off in frustrated indignation and can be seen on the other side of camp cleaning the blood from his axe and sharpening the edge with a whetstone.
Wallop heads over to Morgrym and says I beg to differ Morgrym. This very much IS a stout folk matter. Well at least one stout folk anyways. It's our charter. Look, I think this Skex Varlot is lying through his teeth. As Gerran says, he is a life time criminal with no hope of saving. But even a man with your uncompromising principals has to agree that a man's life is never something that should be taken lightly. If at all possible, it SHOULD be discussed and all sides should be heard. If were going to do it, lets get it over with.
With Morgrym and Wallop on the other side of the fort, Skex takes this as an opportunity. He bolts from his position, bounds over the wagon, then clambers up the ladder onto the battlements of the fort. He looks about ready to jump off to the other side, but hasn't quite mustered the courage or climbed over the tops of the battlement wall.
So, is it going to be muck out the midden and make a cell out of it for our friend Shex? Or is it the executioners axe? I've spoken my piece but if its the latter I'll not bear witness to it. Either way lets get it done.
Wallop sets about looting the bodies of the fallen bandits and asks Scraps and Aerynne to give him a hand. He borrows a shovel from Oleg and gets Deekin to drag the bodies outside to begin to dig some graves; all while watching the bandit closely.
Gerran shakes his head at Wallop. "I'd not leave him here, in a cage or otherwise. He is likely crafty, and might be able to escape and wreak vengeance upon Oleg and Svetlana. I will not ask any other to carry out his sentence, however, nor to bear witness to it, with one exception."
He looks in Marius' direction. "Marius, I have noticed you seem to have a fondness for keeping notes and the like. I would ask, if you are willing, that you would document his crimes and witness his execution. There are those that might choose to tell a different version of our journey, where we are the aggressors; those records might well help to defend us."
Marius, who is sitting inside the door to the bunkhouse, looks up from where he is writing. "Of course, Gerran. I'd be happy to." he says with a smile. "I am writing up a contract for Deekin, and will start a chronicle directly afterwards."
"Let's get this over with, then." Once Marius is ready, Gerran leads Skex out the gates, still wielding his greatsword, to a small clearing southeast of the outpost.
Gerran pushes Skex to the ground in the middle of the clearing and announces in a firm voice, "Skex Varlot, you are guilty of unrepentant banditry. Pursuant to our charter, we have been authorized to carry out the sentence of death. Best make peace with whatever deities might be foolish enough welcome you into their domain."
Finished, Gerran waits a moment. I wish it hadn't come to this, but it couldn't end any other way - we would have to kill him if we let him go, and he would try to kill us if given the chance. He steels himself, then raises his blade and delivers a mighty blow to the bandit.
Sorry for doing this all in one go, but I figured better to be able to move on quickly, once the decision was made.
Deekin watches his former comrade go with a sad countenance. "I'm sorry." he manages to say, as Skex is walked by him. "Up yours, moron. They'll turn on you yet, and when that happens? I'll see you in hell."
Skex has no final words but to curse you and your companions in terms that one would be loath to repeat. He offers no repentance and no prayer. Gerran's blade comes down upon Skex's neck, severing the bandit's head completely. Streams of crimson run through the still-dewey grass as the body lies still. Your task done, there is nothing left for you here except perhaps removing the body's belongings or even burial.
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For all her offers of redemption, even the kind-hearted (or, alternatively, foolish) Aerynne couldn't help but agree with Wallop claiming that Skex was lying. She trusted the bandit about as far as she could throw him. Not that she trusted Deekin too much either, but he at least seemed to show some degree of humanity in his actions. So, in the end, Aerynne agrees with the execution sentence, although not without some level of misbegivings haunting her mind. Doubt was not something she was accustomed to; then again, neither was having the fate of a human being in her hands.
Aerynne isn't interested in going through the corpses' belongings more than she already has, but she decides to gather up the horses the bandits rode in to Oleg's on and inspect their conditions. She removes any riding gear and stacking it up in a pile in the corner, checking for belongings inside any saddlebags she notices, and then gives them all a quick sponge down. The actions were inherently familiar to her, tasks she'd done a thousand times over ever since she was a little girl back on her aunt and uncle's farm; it was soothing, and more importantly, allowed her to keep her mind off of the execution occuring not too far away from here.
Cadeyrn helps with the digging of graves, carefully watching the actions of Deekin for any missteps.
With the horses settled, Aerynne slumps down at one of the picnic tables, burying her head in her arms with a sigh. "What a wonderful start to the journey," she says to nobody in particular.
"Well, that settles that then. What do we do with the other?"
Sorry for doing this all in one go, but I figured better to be able to move on quickly, once the decision was made.
Once the sentence is carried out, Gerran kneels and forces himself to watch the body in its death throes. Law or no, this was the right thing to do. Still, even in the law, I cannot take this lightly...
Without looking at him, he says, "Thank you, Marius, for your assistance in this." With that, he carries the corpse to the grave-site and leaves it for others to search. Without a word, he turns and walks back to the outpost. Once there, he checks on his horse and dog, silently and absentmindedly playing fetch with the latter until the others return from the grave-site.
After the unpleasantness is taken care of, Marius presents Deekin with the contract. In neat, embellished handwriting, it spells out the terms of the former bandit's servitude. There is a space for Marius, Deekin and Oleg and Svetlana to sign. He explains to all that it lists the responsibilities each owes and outlines penalties if any break their end of the agreement. For Deekin, that includes incarceration, corporal punishment or even death. For Oleg and Svetlana, they can be fined or be cut out of the contract if they fail to provide adequate food and shelter to Deekin, or inflict excessive or unneccessary suffering on Deekin. Marius is a signatory as well, and will take over Deekin's contract from Oleg and Svetlana if they fail to meet their obligations or decide to terminate the contract prematurely. He explains it all as clearly as he can, and then again if he is not understood.
Scraps hides behind Aerynne as the sentence is read.
She watches warily when the bandit is led out of the stockade and breathes a sigh once the catman is gone. Her relief is short-lived however once she sees that the dwarf hasn't followed him.
Scraps follows Aerynne without thinking, the musing in her head demanding all of her attention. Her thoughts having run their course, she looks up only to see the giant beast above her. Yipping in fright she grabs for her unloaded rifle, bolts to the side and desperately looks for Wallop.
Belatedly remembering something about looting and watching him walk outside, Scraps blanches upon realizing she is alone with Aerynne and the giant beasts.
Scraps dodges to the side, dives between the horse's legs, runs under the wagon and around the side of the main building. Spying some hay, she throws herself into the pile, desperately hiding.
Acrobatics for horse AOO:
Stealth to hide in the hay:
Oleg and Svetlana sign the contract after reading it, complementing Marius on its thoroughness. Deekin doesn't bother to read it, and simply signs his name right away.
"Well, best we get these other bodies taken care of. It would be a waste to let all their stuff be buried with them. Besides, it might help pay for all the damage they called. Deekin, help me out. You all are welcome to whatever you'd like. Far as I'm concerned, it all belongs to you anyway. I'd be glad to buy as much as I can from you, but I have limited funds at the moment. I'll be happy to exchange some for store credit, though."
Oleg and Deekin begin stripping the bodies of valuables and laying them upon the table where the "taxes" still lie.
1 breastplate
4 sets of leather armor
1 dagger
1 Composite Longbow (+2 str)
4 longbows
100 arrows
4 short swords
10 days worth of trail rations
75 gp
Svetlana then helps the men clear the bloody dirt from the yard.
Aerynne's attempts to discern the level of the horses training succeeds. The horses are of slight frames, and seem very docile and not-meant for combat. You surmise that this is most likely why the bandits dismounted before battle.
As such, Scraps, the horses take no attack of opportunity but seem slightly agitated at your presence. You disappear extremely well into the haystack.
You have successfully defeated this contingent of bandits, but the other bandit camp that Deekin and Skex mentioned still remains. You also have your charter, to thoroughly explore and chart these lands. It is up to you to decide what to do next.
Gerran looks over to where Oleg and Deekin are stacking the loot, then pulls himself up and walks over. He doesn't seem quite the same as he was this morning - more introspective, less willing to look others in the eye.
He looks over the loot, picking up the composite longbow and testing its pull. "This is a fine bow. Unless anyone else would like it, it looks to be an improvement over my current one. I will add my current bow to the pile, as partial payment. Also, arrows will always be of some use - I'd like to claim two quivers' worth."
After some consideration, he says, "Let's divide up the rations between us, as well. As to the rest, I have no use for any of it."
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With the horses dealt with, Aerynne comes back out into the yard to investigate the loot. She glances over the lot with mild curiosity, but ultimately isn't particularly interested. "Add to this the five horses they rode in here on. It'll definitely speed up our travelling time if we're all mounted, and Oleg can keep the rest to sell or use as he pleases." She grins cheekily at Marius. "I hope you can handle a horse better than you can handle a mule, Marius."
"I think we should set off as soon as we can. Our first goal should be the Thorn River camp. Considering it's about 50 miles from here, their leader shouldn't be expecting their 'friends' back for a couple of days. If we move quickly, we should be able to surprise them."
She then retrieves the stag-head amulet she pulled off of Happs' corpse earlier from her pocket, holding it by the chain and dangling it in the air in front of the group. "Any of you recognise what this is?"
Marius smiles at Oleg and Svetlana, and at Deekin, then after signing himself, he places the contract in his chest and locks it. He walks over to the display tables where the belongings and weapons of the fallen bandits are laid out and disinterestedly pokes through them until he comes accross the Alchemist's Fire.
"Ah, now if nobody minds I think I will claim one of these." he says with a smile. "One never knows when one may need to set something on fire in a hurry."
He smirks at Aerynne. "I'd consign that beast to the deepest pit of hell if I could, but she might be useful for carrying our gear." he grumbles.
At this point a small black and white bird, shaped like a crow, drops down from the roof of the bunkhouse and lands on the display table. It looks up at Marius, its shiny black eyes intelligent. "Marioosss!" it warbles several times atonally. Marius smiles. "Oh, and this is Cagnazzo, my familiar. Please don't let his mischief put you off, he really is a good bird." At which, Cagnazzo begins pecking at one of the trail rations trying to get at the dried fruit and bread within.
"I agree, Aerynne. They will be expecting this group back and we don't want them alerting more of their kind that we are here." he says.
Wallop smiles at Aerynne's indifference to the world of business. Bartering is something my family does ... well used to do quite well. Oleg! We've done you a good turn yet our job is only half done. Indeed as Aerynne has said, we will be taking out the rest of the bandits and their boss soon enough.[/b
You can see the sadness of the previous events begin to fade from Wallop's face as he looks over the wares. [b]In the meantime, can I interest you in some horses, armor, and weapons to resupply your stocks? These are good quality suits of armor and weaponry. Out here in this ... ahem ... lawless place, these sorts of things would sell quite well I imagine. What would you offer for the lot? Well that which my companions don't object to selling of course. Also, you wouldn't happen to have a halfling sling amongst your current wares would you? I've gone and broken mine and I am using an inadequate replacement for the time being.
Oleg replies to Wallop: "I'm glad to hear that. Listen, if you could do me a huge favor? Svetlana's ring should still be with 'em. If you could get it back, I could give you a bunch of store credit. It's worth a lot to us. And a Sling, eh? Well I might have something like that. We don't have many halflings come through here, but I think there were a few who died here when the Taldans still had the fort, and they didn't take back any of their gear. Too small I guess. Lemme check my stores."
Oleg goes back inside. Svetlana approaches the group at the tables as well, "I also have an errand for you if you don't mind. Oleg's been under a lot of stress lately and I'd love to cook him his favorite meal, Moon Radish soup, to help him relax. Unfortunately, moon radishes are relatively rare. I wouldn't ask this of you if I thought it would inconvenience you, but there's a patch about 16 miles southwest of the trading post. From what I can tell, it's either right on the way to or from the thorn river bandit camp. I'll of course reward handsomely anyone who can bring me a basket's worth."
Gerran nods to Oleg,"If we find the ring, we will be sure to return it. And if we happen upon anything else of use," he nods to Svetlana, "we will bring it as well."
To the rest of the group, he asks, "What do you say? Shall we leave at first light, or within the hour? We've already spent more time than the bandits would have here, I'd imagine, and if we don't want the rest of them to be suspicious, we should leave fairly soon."
Marius frowns. He has pulled open the wrapped ration and is breaking off morsels of hard bread for Cagnazzo, who warbles as he snaps them up.
"Tomorrow is best for me. My magic, while potent, is taxing and limited. I will need the night to prepare. We can rise well before dawn if we have to, but I will need eight hours and an hour to prepare my magic." he says.
Morgrym puts away his axe and walks over to the ex-bandit.
"Lad, how long does it usually take your group to return from your *ahem* trips? Did you have any kind of system in place to alert the others that you would be late, for instance if a horse broke its leg? If your group didn't return on time, what would the others do? Would they send a group out looking for you?"
Morgrym turns to address the rest of the group.
"Depending on his answers, we might not be in as much of a rush as thought. These men have been molesting Oleg and Svetlana unopposed for months now. I can't speak with certainty but I doubt they were anticipating our arrival or any more resistance than they usually encounter. I would think that this lady's group would be more likely to assume trouble on the road or perhaps that Happs had simply decided to stay here the night than to assume someone had killed all of their men.
"Well Mr. Dwarf, it usually took about a day's journey on horseback. They'll prob'ly think something's wrong if we've been gone more than a day. Kressle's real clever-like. She's been in the thievery business for a while, and'll probably'll figure somethin' went wrong. If you want to get the jump on 'em, you won't have much time. They'd be expectin' us by early tomorrow at the earliest, afternoon at the latest. They wouldn't send anybody lookin' for us though. She's not gonna lose more people."
Oleg comes back carrying a staff-like object. "I think this'll be what you're looking for. I'll give it to you for 20 gold. The rest of the stuff I'll decide after all of you are done picking over the items. Say, where'd that goblin of yours go? It seemed to pull its weight in combat pretty well."
Scraps peaks out from the hay bales, the tip of the rifle leading the way. When she sees the horses put away, she crawls out and brushes herself off.
Climbing up onto the ramparts again, she squats down and observes the conversation taking place below her. Looking down at her rifle, she begins counting on her fingers.
Five cartridges minus three leaves two cartridges an powder for tweny more. I use 3 shots fighting five, how many be at camp, ten? tweny? So I use six, maybe twelve in big fight. Then I haves maybe ten left for after.
Her calculations done, she breaks into the conversation, "How much money be there? I doan be wantin any horse or none of that other stuff but I be needin powder and shot after we fight other bandits."
Gerran nods at Oleg, "I'm loathe to admit it, but I agree - it did make handy work of the bandit leader. Still, as effective as its musket was, I prefer a good bow in my hands."
To the rest of the group, he says, "Per Marius' suggestion, let us leave at first light. Until then, rest well."
Gerran will be sleeping in the courtyard next to the gates, in case Deekin decides to escape.
Oleg is amused by the Goblin's glibness.
[b]"Hah! You're a lucky little greenie! Theres a good amount of powder and shot in the back that I can sell you. I haven't got much else to do with it, is suppose. Are you all done with this stuff on the table? Care to make a transaction?"[b]
Gerran reconsiders the gear on the table, then strides over and grabs the breastplate, checking its fit and straps. Stealth is all well and good, but when you know you're walking into a battle, you should be prepared.
Once he is satisfied that it will suffice, he considers the hour for a moment. "Oleg, you said that you were able to get that potion from someone named Bokken?"
He pulls Oleg aside and asks him for directions to get to the potion-maker, then approaches the rest of the group, "I suggest that we finish our transaction and pay this Bokken a visit. We should return by nightfall . Does anyone wish to stay behind?"
Wallop smiles at Oleg and takes the Halfling slingstaff by the haft and swings it around lovingly. This will do nicely. Thank you Oleg. I will pay for it out of my cut of the proceeds of this venture. He then takes out a handful of bullets from his waist pouch and tests out the staff hurling the hardened pellets at the wall of the fort. Satisfied, he gathers up the bullets and stow's the staff with the rest of his belongings.
Indeed, Oleg, if we are done here, we should set about preparing for the rest of these bandits. This Bokken fellow; does he live far from here? I believe you said south east? Let us pay Bokken a visit to gather some medicines. Three of us are wounded. Oleg, if you do not have the coin to pay for the whole lot of goods at once perhaps we could take what coin you can spare to pay Bokken and you could give us a note of credit for the balance?
"Yes, a visit to this Bokken fellow sounds like a good idea. I will join you. Can we get there and back by nightfall?" he asks Oleg. "Also, I believe repairing the front gate is our primary priority should be repairing the gate and stockpiling food here at the fort."
Oleg looks pleased at his new inventory.
"Alright, I'll ring you all up. And yep, you can easily get there and back before nightfall if you ride on horseback. It'll take about six hours round trip. If you're going to explore the area around his hut, however, that'll take a whole day in itself. I can give you directions to his hut so you don't have to scatter all over the place in order to find him. If you're going by foot, you might have to spend the night there, though," he looks at Morgrym, "Especially for those of a shorter gait."
"And speaking of gait, what happened to the gate that it needs fixing? It looks fine to me! We got plenty of food too, but if you find any grub in your travels you can feel free to bring it here and we'll store it."
After bringing out a ledger and inventorying the items, Oleg goes back inside and comes out with a big bag of gold that he puts on the table.
"Alright, like I said, I can't pay in full for all of this yet, but I can give you 200 gold now, and then 80 gold in store credit. You can also redeem that store credit for cash in increments at a later date, but it'll take some time before I can sell these wares and get some more cash. Besides, you're not gonna find any other merchants around here other than me and Bokken. Beyond us, you'll be hard pressed to find civilization 'round here."
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Aerynne listens quietly to the conversation about loot and where this potion-maker Bokken lives, nodding occasionally. Though loathe to go off on a side errand when there were bandits on the loose, she could admit the benefits of allowing Morgrym some time to recover from his wounds at the very least. Given a pause in the conversation, she steps forward and begins speaking.
"Alright. So here's my thoughts. We all take a horse--and that includes you, Scraps, although you can certainly ride on Cadeyrn if you prefer--and ride to Bokken's place right away. We can return to Oleg's this evening that way, and set out for the Thorn River camp early tomorrow morning--before sunrise, preferably. If we push our horses, we shouldn't be too much later than their leader would expect."
"What do you all think?"
Wallop listens to Aerynne and then adds the following Why come back here at all? Both our destinations are southish. Let's just hit Bokkens on the way and save us the return trip? We’ll arrive at the bandit camp at pretty close to the expected return time for those that were sent here so no worries or suspicions will be aroused at their late return.
"You can ride your horses if you so need, but I will be keeping my feet on the ground. Father Torag placed the stout folk close to the earth on purpose. We were not meant to leave it."
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Aerynne shrugs at Wallop's suggestion. "Whatever works. If it were completely up to me, I'd be leaving directly for the bandit camp right now."
She is not, however, happy at Morgrym's stubbornness. She rolls her eyes and heaves an exasperated sigh. "So you intend to hold up the group while you plod slowly along? We'll entirely lose the benefit of surprise if we wait for you to catch up. Does Torag bar you from swimming, too? From jumping? Climbing?"
"Be practical, Morgrym." Marius says. "How do your kind travel quickly, if you will not ride? Maybe there is a way acceptable to you and to Torag?"
"Don't speak to me in that way, elf. Torag does not forbid us from leaving the ground, it is simply just not done. Our Father's spirit is in the dirt, the stone, and the metal you tread on right now. You simply lack the ability to feel it. But for the stout folk, we feel our Father in the stone and we feel the stone within our blood."
Morgrym pauses for a bit and when he continues it is in a softer tone.
"Here, child, I know little of your power but from the way that beast follows you there is a connection, a bond, between you, yes? What would you feel if I asked you to suddenly sever that bond? To completely lose that connection?
You call me stubborn, but you don't even understand what you ask of me. I have been able to feel Torag's spirit since I can remember, even as a lad. All stout folk have a little of our Father in us, but not all can feel his presence in the rock. Most who do become healers and clerics, calling upon the divine mercy of Torag to heal the sick or work even greater miracles. This was to be my fate as well, until it was discovered that I was T'Krra P'raar; in the common tongue Stone Born. Very few of my people are blessed with this gift. Those who are can feel the stone of our Father flowing through us, guiding us and aiding us. But if we lose our contact with the ground, with Father Torag's earth, his voice goes silent and the stone stops speaking.
So to answer your question, no, you will not see me ride nor jump nor swim nor fly."
Gerran, seeing the controversy unfolding, steps in. "Morgrym, I can appreciate your principles, and understand, to an extent, your determination in keeping them. If this is a tenet of your faith, that you not leave the ground, then so be it. I hope you understand, as well, that if we are to go against a superior force, we must use all resources available to us. If they realize that something is wrong, they will prepare for battle. We are hoping that the element of surprise will help assure our victory, but we will likely lose that advantage if we are not all traveling swiftly. If that means that you cannot join us, then, again, so be it."
"This brings me to my point. This is difficult to ask, because you were very helpful in our last run-in with the bandits, but would you stay behind and help Oleg and Svetlana ready the fort for defense? If we die, there will likely be retribution on them for sheltering us, and you might be able to help hold off the bandits for some time if you can get their defenses ready. I'd not have their kindness repaid with their death."
It's not jes me they be hatin, they hates each other the same, I's thinkin. All be thinkin of theyselves and to heck with the others. Catman calls us an "it", Stumpy hates the elf and won't work with the others anyhow, so it's not just me them two be hatin. The wizard be too smart for everyone else an that leaves jes the halfling and the girl as friends. I wonders who will be first to stick a knife in one of the others.
Scraps abandons the conversation, slipping away silently before heading for the rear of the house. There, she will attempt to wheedle some food from Svetlana as she sits down at the kitchen table to convert 7 rounds into cartridges.
Stealth check to leave area:
Diplomacy check to wheedle food:
Craft Firearms check to make cartridges:
Frustrated, Wallop looks at Morgrym and saysGood sir dwarf, you do bring justification to the expression 'Stubborn as a dwarf.' Your uncompromising stance on certain issues, while an admirable quality in many respects, is plainly putting our mission at risk. Ask Torag if its ok that you forfeit on your charter contract to eradicate these bandits and evildoers just to keep your feet on the ground. Ask Torag if its ok if you and others of your charter group die because you refuse good tactical advice. That is EXACTLY what happened in this first encounter. Your principals got in the way of good sense and nearly cost your God the opportunity to prevent more evil. Do us a favor and ask Torag if that's ok will you? I'm sure he would agree that it is better that you, his emissary and two of your sworn colleagues in the fight against evil die or come close to dying just to keep those principals true. 'Hell, lets give evil the advantage' I'm sure he'd say ... 'so long as you keep to those gol darned important principals. One less Stoutfolk in the world to keep to the principals!' I like Gerran's suggestion, you can either stay here to mind the shop while were out fighting evil or you can thump along on foot 20 miles behind us. You might just arrive in time to bury your companions. Maybe when you get there you can tell the bandits that your feet are firmly planted in Torag's soil. That might scare them into submission. Wallop stomps off towards the stable in a huff and as he walks away he mutters under his breath too loudly Personally I think it's cowardly.
Marius, his eyes narrowed during this whole exchange, sighs and crosses his arms. Cagnazzo warbles and eyes the others, a piece of dried apple held in his beak.
"I won't ask a man to violate his principles. But, Morgrym, how does one of your convictions travel quickly should the need arise? Is a cart or wagon acceptable? What about magic?" he asks in a reasonable and diplomatic tone.