As the other two bandits awaken, they begin to panic, but Kimber and Jerrick are quick to calm them, lest execution become the order of the day again.
After an abridged summary of their predicament from Kimber, the other two bandits - introducing themselves as Quince and Wilton - likewise swear oaths of servitude by way of punishment.
"With men-at-arms and a walled place to sleep away from the rain and most of the bugs, we are fast approaching what could generously be called a real fief," Kalima says with no small amount of pride. "I would be happy to likewise supervise our new servants."
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Ahto nods again. "A very practical decision. You are uniquely capable of incapacitating multiple targets with your magic, should they attempt to revolt and escape."
He gives the prisoners a meaningful look. "After all, you have done it before."
He turns to the rest of the group. "Let us return to the trading post and get the new arrangements in place."
The march back to the trading post, a distance of approximately 10 miles, takes a little more than 3 hours at an unforced walking pace. Although the sun continues to drift towards the westward horizon, you are confident you will return before nightfall.
The return trip proves uneventful, other than Kalima's loud thoughts on heraldry and defense for the nascent fiefdom, occasionally interrupted by snorts from Chacta or Tal.
This time also provides an opportunity to glean information from your new, albeit untested servants.
When asked if they were not going to kill the bandits Teuni stands, menacingly. His scales flaring mouthing in draconic how he very much wanted to kill them. Only stalling as things proceeded, sitting back on his launches again. His tail thrashing the mossy earth in frustration.
He shook his head at Wonky's question. "Place known to enemy. Not safe, good hunt, no sleep ."
When they made their oaths he glared death at them. Their tone making him flare up and storm towards them threateningly. He had no patience for these tireless cowards. No mercy either. The law of survival was different for him. He had no use for cowards and especially those who threatened Svetlana and Oleg once. They were dead men walking to him. One misstep and he'd not hesitate to kill them and he doesn't hide this. If asked he bluntly says. "They hurt Svenlana or Oteg, Hexa will kiel them. Simple, they threaten to kiel you already. Coiled one bite when not expect, cage not tame, only slow."
On the walk back Hexa towers over the 'oath makers' his hand on his hatchet as he eyes them with a deadly gaze. He trusted them as much as he did a coiled swamp snake, docile only until it bites. Which cold steel in the ribs was not a pleasant thought. He didn't trust in oaths, so poorly given. Not after what he had been through.
Tal and Chacta tag along close to Hexa, Chacta nips at any bandit foolish enough to get close. Hexa only stops his biter if he needs to. Tal was almost leaning on him with her proxomity.
"Kressle isn't some magic user," Kimber says, shaking his head. "She's just really at home out in the wild, waylaying travelers. There's a reason the Stag Lord put her in charge of our camp, patrolling the northern reaches of the Greenbelt.
"In a fight, she'll send her other boys in close while she keeps a distance. When pressed, she'll pull out her axes, and that's when she's really dangerous."
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"Why is he called the Stag Lord?" Wonky asks Kimber and Jerrick on the way back to Oleg's. "Is he a druid with the powers to transform into a mighty animal?"
Wonky continues to take notes on landmarks and directions, hoping to create an accurate topographical representation in map form at some point.
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"So," Ahto says, rubbing his chin, "Kressle is a skilled combatant who doesn't rely on magic, but still chooses to put her underlings between herself and her opponent. She is a fighter that doesn't hold the line with her brothers-in-arms...she is a coward. If we overcome or incapacitate most of her men, she will shamelessly abandon them and run. If we are going to capture her, we will have to put her down first, or else cut off any route of escape."
He taps his chin thoughtfully. "What can you tell us of her camp? How is it laid-out? Are there sentries posted; snares, or traps of any kind? How many men are left under her current command?"
"Naw, nothing like that. He wears animal bones and hides like some shaman, but I ain't never seen him use any magics of his own," Kimber answers, as Jerrick and the others are still too spooked to speak.
"His helmet, though, we always reckoned may have been touched by magics. It looks like it's made from the skull and antlers of a big stag, but it's endured sword strokes like it was made of metal. That thing's probably where his moniker came from.
"Come to think of it, none of the boys I've run with know his real name. Hells, the way he gets himself so deep in the bottle, I reckon even he don't remember his real name no more."
Additionally, with information from Kimber and his boys, you mark down the site of the northern bandit camp, located at a crossing for the Thorn River.
"That sure sounds 'bout right for Kressle," Jerrick confirms, nodding quickly. "But I'd be wary 'bout cornering her. If'n she can't run, she'll fight like a demon and take as much blood and bone with 'er as she can.
"We kept camp at a spot where the Thorn River was fordable, just on the edge o' the woods. If'n Sams joined ya, and ya kilt Haps and 'is boys, and we're, well, 'ere, I guess Kressle'd 'ave just four men left. Course, when we don't come back, she'll probably send for more."
Wilton takes this opportunity to angrily interrupt.
"She shoulda already sent for backup, what after those filthy Mites stole half our loot from the camp! Anyhow, no sense holding nothin' back. Even if you Rostlanders die fighting the boss, he'll just kill us, too, for being captured.
"We gots two sentry posts on either side of the crossing, built between some good, stout trees. If you see a wagon broken down on the trail, don't fall for it! That's just a trick we used to lure in marks. Our camp, proper, is in a clearing we cut just behind the eastern watchpost. Kressle will probably forbid anyone from lighting the campfire now, else they give their position away."
Hexa sat back and took in the information. Ahtos preference to defeat Kressel above all else when encountered. These dead men proved more useful with each breath. Something Hexa hadn't considered, perhaps the scaleless had something with this.
In a day his opinion and experiance is overturned. No wonder we die, we think too narrow. Not look far enough. The description of the stag Lord pauses his thoughts and he drinks in the information.
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"Mites are the rubbish that even goblins kick around," Wilton explains bitterly. "My maw-maw told me about them nasty gremlins as a whelp. They come out at night to spread mischief and torment folks.
"A couple nights ago, I told the lads that I saw a couple of 'em - tiny bodies with big, bloated, blue heads - sneaking off with a couple sacks of our loot. But Kressle told me to keep my dreams to myself and not wake her up with imaginings lest she start cutting things offa me.
"In the morning, when everyone realized that some of the loot was gone, they still didn't believe me. Kressle even accused me of pocketing the stuff. It took a full search to prove I didn't take nothing.
"Them mites probably took it to their lair, whatever blasted hole that might be."
Sams starts to chuckle. "Me ma tells me about monsters with big blue heads called smurfs! Theys just like mites!"
"Uh oh. Didn't one of those stolen bags have that ring in it? You know, her ring?"
Hexa gives a very gecko like growl as he leans forward all the while staring at the two whispering bandits in a lethal fashion. "Whis-pur again and Hexa's fangs find you. You are At-to's..." :Food... no... not food...: He didn't know the word, his people didn't keep talkers and he didn't want a misunderstanding. His momentary pause was just that. He was still as lethal as a coiled a back as he finished. "... so Speak ! Who her ring?"
As he spoke he leaned close, his lips peeling back from his fangs to emphasize the seriousness of their quiet talking.
Quince quivers in fear, visible shivers running down his shoulders. He is only able to speak because he knows that silence would be his doom.
"Sv...Svetlana," he says meekly, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Oleg's wife. Her wedding ring. Kressle took it. The first time she demanded money from the post, about three months back. She took it after threatening to chop off Oleg's hand."
Hexa cast a heavy shadow now, his growling ceased but his scales remained flared. He had new enemies, new ones to hunt and kill. He chuckles, though to anyone or pro baby sounded like a choking growl. "Ara, Ara. Now know O-leg." He stayed close, cracking his knuckles loudly before asking. "Where else See Mite's? Close to O-leg's hut? Running water? Hmmmmm." His lips were lower now, his fangs just barely visible. He needed a direction, which would give a new hunting ground...
Although Kimber, Wilton, and Jerrick still doubt his credibility, Quince claims to have seen the mite thieves traveling southeastward, along the Thorn River.
"I'm not crazy. I've even seen those blue buggers fighting tiny lizard men out in the hills between the two rivers, before they meet and flow into the lake."
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"We will need to explore Quince's suggestions that the mites have absconded with the ring stolen by Kressle and her henchmen from Svetlana. I might suggest that we avoid telling Oleg of this when we return - it would likely do him more heartache to hear it then good," the gnome finishes.
She turns to Hexa and practices her Draconic.
"Viděli jste v těchto lesích roztoče? Myslíš, že Quince říká pravdu? A co z těch malých ještěrků, o kterých mluví?"
Hexa exhaled hard in Qunicies face, ruffling the scaleless's hair as he focused on the directions given. He stepped away from them now, his claws off his handaxe as he recalled his movements. Then it came to him, he had some knowledge but hadn't acted on it. At Wonky's High Draconic speech he grunts.
He emphasizes heights and approximate distances between the Mite dwelling and Kobolds dwelling. Using whatever means available to show that both races were close to each other. "ehtaha ulhar rekisixi ghoros, vargachir mrith moxt ternocki shar shio loex. nurti ocuira takh. wiilirk trail spical ekess vi loex skjall, svaklar ulhar mites waph persvek muansi juanth skjall persvek wer jonali rionib running pabi, vur wer moxt ternock ingellar persvek vi dug reskafar rionib irral mitne vur yoweth mitne de juanth skjall." by the end of his rxplinations he was already considering what it would take to get Svetlana's possession back. Anything to cement his reason for being in this new tribe.
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As the sun dips below the distant western treeline, the sky grows tinged with orange and streaks of red.
The trading post comes into view but appears livelier than before.
A number of unfamiliar horses and mules stand near the open gates, their packs being unloaded by a pair of men.
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"By my stars, that is quite interesting!" When pressed to explain herself, Wonky continues:
"Why, that is the livery of Swordlord Teodor Koenig of Restov! I wonder if they are here to check in on us, or if coincidence finds them at our humble headquarters in the Stolen Lands!" Wonky's sly wink at Ahto leaves no question as to which answer she thinks is most likely.
Wonky calls a familiar Brevic saying to the tabard-wearing men. "“The temple is close, but the night is cold. The tavern is far...?”
The men at the gates are unable to provide the reply Wonky hoped for because they are too enrapt with laughing at Sams' honest, relatable answer.
"Hail, and well met," they call, but are soon cut off again as Sprocket perks up with a curious growl.
He sniffs the air then charges into the trading post, baying with excitement.
Svetlana emerges from the gates, barely avoiding being bowled over by the eager doggie. She waves and welcomes you back with a smile on her face.
Up close, you see that the men are likely mercenaries or house guards - wearing leather coats over chain shirts, swords and hatchets at their sides.
One of the men grasps Ahto's hand firmly with friendly bravado.
"I think it's more likely that we can be of service to you. We were dispatched to help these trader folks with their bandit problem, but they tell us that you may have beaten us to the goal."
Svetlana steps forward and clarifies the matter.
"Yes, some weeks ago, I convinced my stubborn husband to send a letter to Restov asking for help once those bandits started robbing us blind.
To be truthful, when your band first arrived, I thought it was in response to that call for help.
"However, it seems our plea was not entirely ignored. The leader of these men, who currently sits inside moping, claims that an honest-to-goodness swordlord sent them for additional protection."
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"We have captured and indentured a handful," Ahto replies. "However, we have learned from them that there are many more still at large, and at least two leaders of their band. We have started the fight, but it is far from over. I am glad to have your sword-arms with us."
He turns to the others and says, "What say we meet with the despondent captain, and find out how he found himself here?" Ahto says, a gleam of mirth in his eyes.
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"The correct response is 'but I have a cloak'", Wonky patiently explains to Sams. "It is a Brevic saying that reflects their practical viewpoint of the world - that things are always grey, tinged with both black and white, light and dark, and that the practical person sees both the good and bad in all things."
"Much like the presence of a forlorn captain of mercenary men sent on a separate mission of aid to the same outpost that we have been sent to....I see the philosophic coincidence in this," Wonky muses to herself.
She shakes herself out of it almost immediately. "Now what could have made Sprocket so excited, I wonder?" With a polite greeting to Svetlana, the gnome pursues her canine companion inside the compound.
Hexa's scales were flared at the sight of unknown, armed men at Oleg and Svetlana's run down hut. But he watched in curiosity as the scaleless greeted eachother, upon finally seeing Svetlana unharmed did is when he calmed down. Releasing a deep sigh as he let go of the tension in his muscles and scales. No battle today.
Seeing Sams was the most injured he focused and invoked another spell of healing. Expending his might for the day. He left Ahto to sort things, though he was curious he didn't want to trample on the afford of the scaleless.
With that done he follows Wonky, Chacta and Tal trailing behind the small childlike scaleless. When he came within a pace of Svetlana he bowed his head, spreading his hands wide, palms up to show he had nothing to hide. His usual greeting as he waited to be invited in. "I survive Svenlana."
"I'm glad to see you encountered our new friends, my good Hexa. Perhaps you had to rescue them out in the wilds?" Svetlana says with a laugh.
"I'm afraid Tal and Chacta will have to stay outside for now. It's become rather crowded inside the post at the moment. The other guards are currently arguing with my Oleg about whether there's room to set up their tents inside the palisade."
From her spot in the trading post’s yard, Aris listens to the baying of Sprocket and opens her eyes. She’d hoped to drift a bit before rejoining the expedition she’d missed out on before, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, she suffers a few licks, arms raised to keep her hands more-or-less clean, and then pushes the bulldog’s face away from hers as she stands to get further out of his reach. A moment later, the dog is joined by Wonky, and Aris’s carefully-planned speech about how she’d gotten here is temporarily put aside. ”You might want to teach him to be a bit less friendly. He’s only gotten more slobbery since I saw him last.” She pauses a couple of beats. ”Hi.
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Wonky pauses for a beat before her face breaks into a smile. She rushes to the taciturn elf and hugs her around the thigh. "Aris'arial Tathmir! I knew that I had not seen the last of your pointed ears! I am so glad to see you once more! Have you recanted your position on journeying into the wilderness in favour of pondering dusty tomes in a disused bookshop? Your decision was well-made, my friend! Welcome to Oleg and Svetlana's trading post, the only bit of civilisation for leagues in any direction! Welcome to serenity." The gnome smiles earnestly.
"Sprocket, down." It is at this point that the gnome releases her hug.
"Actually, no, I haven't exactly recanted, since I'd never canted to begin with. It would be more accurate to say that I've been reassigned." Aris looks around the trading post. "Theoretically, you could be right, and this could be serenity. Practically, I miss my books. Cistiť! Zažať" Sprocket's slobber disappears from her jacket and a few pale blue orbs hop into the air, lighting the post's courtyard. "Much better."
"I'd sooner wait until I've seen the others before a longer explanation, since it's a story with some complexity, most of it involving Swordlord Koenig. Besides, I have a few things I need from my mule." Having said her piece, Aris flicks the bouncing orbs toward the gate ahead of her and follows them.
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Wonky intercedes.
"Aris, this is Sams. He is local to these parts, or rather, more local than we are," she adds, "And has recently joined up with our band to aid us in tracking the bandits plaguing these lands."
Wonky turns to Sams. "Sams, this is Aris. She is a friend, and a magic user of some renown."
Satisfied, Wonky waits near Aris, very curious to hear her tale.
"I'm glad to see you encountered our new friends, my good Hexa. Perhaps you had to rescue them out in the wilds?" Svetlana says with a laugh.
"I'm afraid Tal and Chacta will have to stay outside for now. It's become rather crowded inside the post at the moment. The other guards are currently arguing with my Oleg about whether there's room to set up their tents inside the palisade."
Hexa nods, accepting her decision without argument. "They are... different. Hexa curious to learn more." He features for her to wait as he turns to Tal and Chacta issuing a quick command which puts them to the side of the gate. He moves and scratches Tal under her scaly crest to calm Her as she beds down. He gives Chacta a stern rebuke as the horse snaps his teeth at the newcomers.
Hexa looks to the ones outside and points at his animal companions. "Four legs, Chacta, biter. Lizard, Tal and both friend to Hexa." He taps his chest with the last word as he stares at the scaleless guards. With that said his seriousness fades and he moves back to Svetlana and moves inside pnce allowed.
Stepping into the large open area he spots the center of excitement and moves towards Wonky and the rest. Upon seeing who they were speaking too he steps back, visibly shakened by the sight of the elf.
Rolls just in case.
DM Kaddeh knew I have played Kingmaker previously, so I may as well ask what all does Hexa know from his travel from the Lizardmen village to here. Granted unless asked he won't reveal it. He has no practical reason to. But I thought I would make a couple more rolls and get any further knowledge, that you see as suitable for him, out of the way. ;)
Granted I don't see this as claiming hex worthy, only what landmarks he might remember.
Thanks for taking the time to read it and either way I was curious. If you seem nothing useful is found or its too metagame for me to ask then please disregard.
Thanks!
”Yes, I am an elf. Are your ears sharp? Mine are made the same yours are; cartilage, skin, and so on. They’re just longer and pointier.” Aris looks at Sams for a moment while Wonky introduces them. ”I didn’t think there were a lot of locals. You must’ve gotten lucky to find one willing to talk. And my joining you wasn’t entirely by choice, Ahto, though it’s not bad to see you—” She stops, drawing in a breath. It’s not the first time she’s seen a lizardfolk, but it is the first time she’s seen one outside of academic sketches. All the others have been in books.
After a moment, she decides that since no one else seems to be panicking, it must be all right for it to be here. She casts another glance at it, then struggles to regain her train of thought while she unpacks the few belongings she’d brought from her mule. ”Now...Oh, yes. My story. I suppose I’d best start at the beginning. Swordlord Koenig is a great connoisseur of books, maps, wine, and knowledge, but he can be indecisive. First he wanted a representative in the Greenbelt, and with my research over the last decade, I was a good candidate. Later, just before the expedition was to leave, he decided my knowledge was more valuable in Restov, so back to the library I went.
“As to why I’m here now, the leader of these guards would know more about that, but I’ll fill in what I do know before you talk to him.” She pauses to rummage through her kit and check that everything’s made it, as well as to gather her thoughts. Once she’s ready, she stands again. ”Shortly after you left Restov, Swordlord Koenig received a letter that’d been sent around the Swordlords from the proprietors of this trading post, begging for help with banditry. Together, the Swordlords had been able to muster only a couple of men, under the command of...well, you’ll meet him and be able to see for yourself. Koenig waffled and wavered for a couple of days before deciding to offer some arcane support to make his mission less of a desperate move.
“And that’s how I got here. Nominally, I’m under the command of the guards’ leader, but in reality, I don’t think he’ll mind at all if I disappear. He doesn’t seem to like me much, from our travels so far.”