Graul you look as if you are about to collapse, may I assist you? She looks over your wounds and then places her hands upon the sides of your head. A wash of cold flows over you followed by burning. In an instant the pain begins to recede and all that is left is some bruising that looks to be fading already.
Lain bows slightly to the men, before beginning to speak. "I see you Hurin of the Borderlands. I wonder... Could you tell us if you have you seen a group of bandits come through here?"
Vanir inclines his head to Jasmine. My apologies, Accepted. Still a welcome help though mi'lady.
Hurin nods to Lain, checking his gear and rubbing his nose ostensibly at the Aiel man. Bandits? There are a lot of violent men about these days. We've caught the scent of a group of them many times. Maybe we crossed trails with these raiders of yours, about a mile or two back. There was a small hollow, there to the north. Someone tracked through there recently - someone who had done terrible things. They were heading northeast from there. It sounds like he is describing an area roughly in line with the direction you were already headed in.
The men begin gathering their things together, getting ready to head out. Again, much thanks mi'lady, mi'lords. We are grateful for your intervention on our behalf. We must be off ourselves but Peace favor your travels.
Graul smiles weakly at Jasmine, "Thankyou Jasmine Raleen."
It is my honor to help you all. Perhaps we should go and find this hollow these men spoke of. I do not want to keep the young woman's family in these brigands hands any longer than is necessary. Jasmine will then remount her horse and wait for the group to continue.
Pandin would like to skin the other cat...perhaps if we put them together we could make a new sweat tent.
Survival:
"Sounds like an ambush...but I shall look forward to another dance. What say you brothers?"
Graul walks away from the others, keeping his face away from them.
I almost gave in! The urge to burn alomst took over, would I really have burned my friends to destroy that mountain cat? Am i that far gone? Maybe I am going crazy. Light why could not I have just went into the blight after that dream?
After a moment of regaining his concentration Graul returns to the others. "I am ready Jasmine Raleen. Let us find the bandits."
Excellent. Lead on good sirs.
Pandin takes his post on the left of the group and begins to track these bandits.
Perception:
Survival:
Stealth:
Following Hurin's advice, Pandin is easily able to navigate the group northward to the hollow he mentioned. From there, the trail continues on, passing through some low hills.
It's approaching dusk as you come around a bend and see an efficient, well organized military camp that sits atop a low, treeless hill. A handful of small tents surround a much larger tent at the crest of the hill.
At the northern end of the encampment is a timber-fenced pen, while a dozen or so horses are strung together at the southern end. A few soldiers stand around campfires, their cloaks flapping in the chilling breeze.
The men seem intent on their tasks at hand and you seem to have not been noticed so far.
Pandin whispers to the others.
"Perhaps a distraction would serve us well...Maybe untying and scaring off their horses. If you desire it I will volunteer for that while you get the child's parents out."
"Perhaps we should finds somewhere to hide out till morning". "Though darkness does have the advantage of surprise, and confusion". "I fear though I am well read on the battles that have shaped our land, practical applications are not my forte". "I will leave that planning to our brothers from the parched lands".
"Darkness does allow for much confusion. If our good lady here could channel some fire. That plus the darkness and the spooked horses would add for too much confusion."
Perhaps I can do something better. I may be able to raise a fog large enough to conceal our movements and get the prisoners out of the encampment.
"I agree with the fog. if we can keep the camp from knowing anything is wrong we may be able to steal away the prisoners."
"The fog would be a good idea. Unfortunately, my armor limits my movement, so it is quite difficult for me to be stealthy. The fog should help though."
"I will go prepaire the diversion by releasing the horses."
Perception:
Stealth:
"Yes Brother Graul and I shall take care of their horses. Even if they have someone on watch there they should be no match for two Aiel brothers."
Perception:
Stealth:
It's rather uneventful as you keep an eye on the camp, the sun slowly sinking towards the horizon. There is little activity in the camp, the men mainly just huddled around the two campfires, stamping their feet to keep warm and talking amongst themselves.
Over the couple of hours waiting for the sun to set you can make out more details of the camp. You count roughly 12 Taraboner soldiers around the camp, of which 4 seem to be on watch, 2 for the horses and 2 for the pen. You also make out what appears to be 3 officers, chatting amongst themselves in front of the largest tent. In the pen, you can see a number of prisoners, huddled under blankets and keeping to themselves.
As dusk finally falls and the light fades, the 3 officers get up and begin to head off. Two of them retreive horses from the line and ride off to the north. The third one speaks briefly to some of the soldiers around their fire and then begins to head southeast towards the woods on foot.
"Officers...we promised we would take care of the these bandits, although they seem to be more organized then traditional bandits. Perhaps it would be wise to capture those officers and get information. What say you all?"
Lain sits quietly, watching the Officers. 'We should really do something... it is too dangerous to leave this group around, with their officers...'
"Is now the time to strike"? "I should probably scare the horses...though I hope they don't get hurt bolting away". "I'd probably just scare the prisoners, and I'm really no good at fighting".
I agree with Brother Graul he and I can snatch the lone officer while you guys rescue the prisoner. A single man is no match for 2 spearbrothers."
Perception:
Stealth:
I agree with Brother Graul he and I can snatch the lone officer while you guys rescue the prisoner. A single man is no match for 2 spearbrothers."
Perception: 1d20+7
Stealth: 1d20+9
K sounds good
Pandin and Graul slip away into the dark, silent as shadows as they follow the lone officer into the woods.
The officer doesn't travel far before he reaches a break in the trees and arrives further down the path leading to the encampment. You watch silently from the trees, waiting for your moment, as he seems to stand around as if waiting for something.
Shadows dance over the dark road, suddenly revealing a menacing figure.
I trust you are well. you hear the officer stammer out.
We have no time for pleasantries the shadowed form hisses out. I have come with a command from our Master.
The officer looks nervous and intent. I see. Please contin- He cuts off abruptly as the figure jabs out lightning quick and slaps the officer across the face with a pale, white hand.
Silence! On your knees, worm, and hear your Master's commands. The officer quickly drops to his knees, the mud squelching underneath. Your efforts to sow civil war have been fruitful, but it is time for you to move on. Our Lord has work, great work, which requires your presence in Tanchico. Instruct your men to continue with their attacks here. But you are to report to Tanchico at once. Do you understand these commands?
The officer looks almost as pale as the hand that hit him as he nods vigorously. The Great Lord of the Dark is my Master, and most heartily do I serve him to the last shred of my very soul. He then rises shakily to his feet and heads back towards the camp, this time heading directly down the road instead of through the trees.
The dark figure remained, scanning the area. You both pull your heads back behind the tree although you can still feel the gaze through the dark. After a few minutes it turns and steps into the shadows, disappearing from view. It's only after its gone that you realize that during that whole exchange, not once did it's cloak move in the wind.
By the time you gather yourselves together, the officer is halfway back to the camp.
Knowledge:
Graul looks at Pandin mouth agape. "Burn me! Darkfiends!We have to tell the others, these are not simple bandits. We will need to rethink our plan of attack.
Moving silently, Lain prowls the edges of the clearing they are holed up in, keeping an eye out for any danger.
Pandin and Graul return to the group and relate in a subdued tone what they saw. It's still early in the night and there is plenty of time left to implement the plan.
If these men are darkfriends we must free those prisoners. There is no telling what evil their captors will be up to. We need to continue with the plan and get those people out of there.
"Darkfriends"? " These soldiers serve Darkfriends". "Do you think they know that, or are they just following orders"? "I am ready to scare the horses and stir up the camp when you are".