Kazz looks puzzled, "No time? What do you mean?"
She sighs, but still holds the bow up
He's a drunk, he will be expecting his drink to come soon, if we take too long, there will be a lot more prep time for them to look or counter an attack if they suspect there is a problem. We kill them now, we take their place and go deliver the booze in their stead. We infiltrate their base, and kill the stag lord before they even know what happened
"I think it is likely they will be hung but there are soldiers coming to Oleg's let them decide like they will for the rest. We can take them back unless you want to push on and maybe scout the stag lord's fortress."
Kazz looks at Zartana for a moment before holding up his own hand, "Thus far, the Stag Lord's followers have all been human, no? There is much else to consider as well. This fort of his cannot be near or they would be operating out of it instead of this temporary camp. Sparing a few hours here will change nothing or our arrival."
Kazz moves over to talk to Kenaniah once again, asking a barrage of questions, "How far is it to the fort? When were Kressel and the rest of you expected to return? How many men are usually stationed there? Have most of the men here actually met the Stag Lord and those bandit's remaining at the fort and is taking on humans mandatory or simply a result of the surrounding population?"
Kazz shakes his head at Dregan, "The decision has already been made for the others. They will live, the only question to be put to the soldiers is whether they will help watch over those men?"
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Regarding the Stag Lord's fortress Kenaniah replies that it is just over 8 hours travel ahorse. He explains that the Stag Lord keeps a large force around him, often at least 40 men. The rest are free to roam and pillage as they see fit, so long as they check in once a month to pay the Stag Lord his cut.
Because there are so many bandits, and not all of them know each other, there is a passphrase used to identify themselves at the Fortress. He adds that most of the Stag Lord's bandits are humans, or perhaps half elves, certainly if someone like a dark elf or, he gestures to Kazz, were to join the ranks, it would quickly become widely known.
Listening to Kenaniah explain the Stag Lord's situation, Raven shakes her head as she looks to each of her companions. "Dregan and I might be able to pass for one of them, but I can only do so much to cover up Kazz and Zartana's heritage. We will have to make sure we are not seen."
She looks over at the two prisoners. "We have the time to deal with these two. We could mete out justice here or take them back to Oleg's. From the sounds of it, the Stag Lord isn't going anywhere soon."
Alexio sighs and speaks with obvious frustration in his voice, "I cannot believe the talking and debate on this when the law is clear. There is no reason to shirk our duty on others."
He walks to the closes bandit (i.e. not Keneniah, but one of the other two) and draws his sword. Once he is in contact, he swings it in a large arc with two hand, driving the blade deep into the bandit's body.
After executing the first bandit, Alexio continues on to the second one.
After that, he wipes the blade of his longsword on a cloth. "Now, shall we be off toward the stag lord? He may not be as much of a pushover as these lot."
Kazz studies the bodies of the two bandits, "Are we certain we should rush into a confrontation with the Stag Lord? He is well fortified and commands a large force. We might be wise to seek local allies who may be able to aid us in bringing him down, no?"
He glances at Kenaniah, "Kressel was to return once a month like all the others? How long since her last visit to the fort?"
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Kenaniah says "Kressle was in charge of this camp, of maintaining thing s here. So she would personally be expected to present herself, as the only lieutenant that holds a sattelite camp. That being said she have sent these supplies a few days after getting her 'tax' from Oleg. There's no precise schedule for these things"
She gives the exicutioner a smirk
I like how you work Alexio
Kazz looks at the crate of alcohol for the Stag Lord, "Kenaniah, did the Stag Lord ask for that liquor? I imagine it was more a gift Kressel hoped would keep her in his good graces, no?"
He glances around at the others, "If it is, we are under no deadline. Infiltrating the Stag Lord now is foolhardy, we might be able to get to him with an appropriate deception but even should we kill him we still have to contend with 40 of his most loyal bandits who will tear us apart."
"We need allies, information and better equipment for such a task. I suggest we string up these four bodies as a message. Taking out his lieutenant and better than a score of his bandits will give him pause to retaliate against Oleg for the time being and should help to limit his operations while we organize the rest of the region against him. During this time any bandits we encounter will only serve to weaken his position and our success may well cause others to abandon his cause. Once he is desperate we strike, maybe making use of the others as well. What do you all say?"
This is why I left. Raven looked at Alexio and then at the bodies, shaking her head.
"If we can convince him to keep sending men out to find us, we can win against him by attrition. Eventually his army will see all of their brethren hung out to dry, and they will lose their will to fight for the Stag Lord."
So we wait for him to come to us? Maybe an entire army? Hes a drunkard. We use this to our advantage. We poison the booze or something and there you go. Dead bandit lord.
Alexio dismisses his actions without too much fanfare, responding to Zartana, "I did only what was proper, glad to see you are of a like mind."
"Agreed, if we can make this stag lord split his forces or send smaller parties, we will have an easier time than facing them all at once."
Turning to Kenaniah he asks, "Might you know of any other small encampments? Hitting a few of them might cause the bandits to spread themselves thinly."
We all know what people think of me and my kind. What if I offer up my skills to this guy. Get into his ranks. I can feed you information, and get more info about him. And if I do get a chance. I off him. Just a suggestion she smiles. A drow smiling. Now thats unsettling
Kazz considers Zartana's offer before shaking his head, "It is the drow's reputation I worry about. From what we've seen, he's as like to take you captive out of hand as to offer you a job."
Raven listens carefully to Zartana and her ideas. "I agree with Kazz. You honestly stand out like a spot on the sun. He's as likely to kill you as take you on his crew. I would have a better chance. I do like the idea of poisoning his grog though. That might be the easiest way. There might be some plants around here I could cook something up with.." She trails off as she looks around the surrounding area for anything she could concoct a poison with.
Kazz nods, "The poison is a fair plan but one for down the road. We should hang on to this liquor, once the bandits are desperate for members we should offer them some new recruits. Ones who even came bearing tribute to the great Stage Lord."
He gestures to Zartana and himself, "Fine liquor and two of the black skinned bastards who've been causing him so much trouble. Far enough in his god graces it should be child's play to poison the bastard and slit his throat in the night."
"Not sure that the rest us can pose as bandits under close observation. We don't know what the bandits that escaped saw. Might be best to pass the plan onto one of the other groups."
And my brother might be there, I don't know if he would believe I'd become a bandit. Dregan thinks.
Alexio offers an alternative. "Maybe we should look at the stag lord's camp ourselves before committing to a plan. At this point, it is closer to go there then back to Oleg's if Kenaniah is right."
Raven listens to them all, trying to not to be frustrated in not finding what she is looking for. "Well, I think we should at least scout the place out and make a decision once we're there. As I said earlier, the Stag Lord isn't going anywhere without coercion. We have time."
She nods
Planning is half the battle. I have an idea we can use if we know exactly what we face. But I want to see layout first
Kazz nods, "I agree, lets load up the supplies and get moving."
Once everything is ready he mounts Dusk and nods to Kenaniah, "Lead the way."
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Kenaniah seems uncertain about this course of action, but he has seen your strength in battle. He leads you south along the river. So long as you keep the river on you left he says you will find the fortress on the shore of the Tuskwater lake.
You travel for fives hours, from the camp you quickly passed out of the woods and into low hills. Following the river you find a rickety bridge whose ramshackle aspect makes you glad you had already crossed at the ford.
Another five hours down stream you have ventured across more hills and found where the thorn splits off into the shrike river. You turn in a more southerly direction as you follow the Thorn back to its source in the Tuskwater.
At this point it is getting into the later afternoon. Kenaniah explains that if you continue traveling at this pace you will arrive at the fortress after dark.
Going this route do we find many recent tracks of the fleeing bandits or other things.
"We could find a place to hide around here for and scout tomorrow night, or we could presson scout tonight and have a tiring day getting away again. Personally I'm happy to push on that way we will be there before any of the escapees make it back so the security might be less alert."
Kazz massages his temple, "Staying ahead of the bandits will certainly reduce the risk. I'm for pressing on now, though the horses will curse us for it."
"We'll need to find a place to hide the horses before we get too close anyway. Kenaniah any idea if they will have patrols and if so how far out they'll go?"
Alexio groans and stretches in the saddle. "As Raven says, I agree the Stag Lord isn't moving anywhere soon. I'm not sure that pressing on now is of any advantage to us. Having rested horses will be a boon if we need to leave while being chased."
Wiping the sweat from Blackfoot's mane, Raven agrees with Alexio. "We shouldn't push our horses too far should we need them."
Kazz shrugs, "Fair enough, I just prefer to work under the cover of darkness where possible. We'll scout the fort in the morning then. Dregan, if you would find us a place to camp then?"
"No problem boss." Dregan will look for a place which is still a good hour ride from the fort and we'll away from the river path they have been following.
Realizing she hasn't eaten in some time, Raven dismounts Blackfoot and helps Dregan look for a suitable out of the way campsite.
"This looks like a nice place to settle in for the night."
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Nothing much of interest is found along the route.
You find a safe camp and rest for the night. As day 4 dawns I'm the kamelands Kenaniah explains that patrols are few since the stag lord relies on his fearsome reputation to keep the curious away.
You travel the rest of the way and find a thicket where your horses can be safely and stealthily left behind. The fortress is plainly visible in the distance. It would take perhaps an hour to walk there. Approaching unseen will take twice as long but the hills and gullies of the shores of Tuskwater lake provide you ample cover.
In the early morning Raven forages for a light breakfast.
Unfortunately anything she would find is either still hidden in burrows or too poisonous to eat. Cursing her luck under her breath, she takes her backpack off of Blackfoot before tying him to a tree. She takes out her camouflage netting and covers her backpack and other gear, including removing her bandolier of daggers, and covers them up before the rest of her companions awaken to head out on foot.
Kazz is similarly up early, moving out of sight of the camp for a few minutes and returning with the Ammanas trailing at his heels.
After mechanically working his way through the morning rations, he takes a minute to secure Dusk at the thicket, muttering softly to the horse.
Joining the others he takes his black bow in hand, "We'll stay out of sight, see if we can't take measure of this "Lord's" domain..."
I dont mind, as long as I stay out of the sun or direct sun, im fine
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A strange twinkle on the horizon rides an elven woman towards your location. As she approaches, she looks like the elf who danced with many a gentleman at Olaf's. She seems to be singing a strange elven poem as she rides.
"By moonlight I ride,
No more companions by my side.
I have sworn the eternal vow,
The best time to act is now.
I see friends ahead."
As she approaches, Hithil says, "Hail! I ascertained your assemblage location without difficulty; the vector was uncomplicated with my mystically enhanced perception. My faithful stallion Zippy-Do and I request to join your honorable syndicate. I seek extravagant adventure and pledge my spells to your prosperity."
A brief frown sets on Zartana's face, but quickly vanishes. She simply waves at the newcomer
Kazz regards the elven woman for some time, his teal eyes holding a somewhat glazed expression as he blinks slowly.
Ammanas circling around his feet in a restless, furtive fashion.
After a time he speaks, "Welcome to our group, the pious of Erastil a little too much for your sensibilities?"
He gestures towards the Stag Lord's Fort, "Here lies the heart of bandit corruption in the Stolen Lands. Secure your mount...Zippy-Do...with the others, we mean to take a closer look at the fortifications."
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"Why thank you. Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Hithil, diviner extraordinaire at your service." Hithil jumps off Zippy-Do and walks him to the other steeds. "Stay here and make friends with the other horses Zippy-Do." The horse looks around at the other horses as if begging to be put down and end the misery of being called a strange name.
"Ah, exploration of a bandit fort. Now, that's the breakfast of champions. I do not wish to speak of the pious of Erastil, they did me neither harm nor foul."
Raven perks up at the word 'diviner'. "Really? So you might be able to see more than we are able with your power?", she pauses for a moment, as if considering something. "I welcome such help to our cause."