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Omoro watched as Nadja threatened Teeth. Things would need to be addressed once the Irespan invasion was finished, there was no doubt of that. Teeth's addition to the team was already causing problems - some sort of trust would need to be built amongst the team, or this would be their constant battle while in the field.
But that was a battle for another time. He shook his head, his feathers rustling, and continued forwards, eyes silently scanning for threats.
23 Rova 4712
The stairs lead up a long way, curling about on themselves several times. Teeth creeps forward, hearing speech, about three voices, dicussing the approach of invaders. There is a sudden, loud thud, as if something heavy and flat were being overturned, that echoes through the stairs and to the party waiting below.
Teeth reaches the top of the staircase and manages to spy to a lit room beyond. The stairs turn and a hallway leads to a room were a set of three figures has overturned a table. Two of them are human, while the third is humanoid rat that Teeth can only presume is a wererat. They each hold crossbows, aimed down the hallway at where Teeth is hiding, although they don't seem to see him.
____________________
Teeth slowly descends the stairs as quietly as possible.
Teeth walks over to Nadja and motions for her to lean down. If she does, he whispers in her ear. Two longshanks and a weresrat hiding behind table with crossbows. Stairs not trapped. Teeth do better this time...no? His large puppy dog eyes, even big for his gigantic head, await the witches response.
Remembering the chilling voice of her patron, Nadja puts on an icy cool smile. Not entirely sure what to do, Nadja lightly pats Teeth on his head like dog Good job Teeth. She whispers back before digging into her pouch for a small bit of sweet bread and giving to the creature.
Turning back to the others Nadja crooks her finger drawing them in. There are three girls up ahead behind cover with crossbows. Two are normal, one is a wererat. They will likely shoot at the first person who rushes up the stairs. If anyone has a way to block their vision such as smoke or magic now would be the time to speak.
Teeth looks down at the bread and then sniffs it. He shrugs and places it is his mouth. A look of pure joy overtakes him as he quietly chews. Yes...Teeth will win over evil boss lady yet! She like Teeth when he do good.
Teeth goes over and watches the stairs while the others discuss their strategy.
"Unfortunately, I don't have the capacity to achieve either of those things. I can stun them if I can get close to them, but that's about all I have to incapacitate."
"The best I can do is try and rush them as fast as possible" - Calendir states matter of fact - "Once I am up in their face, they won't be using their crossbows anymore" - he smiles a wicked grin.
Nadja quietly nods along to Calendir’s suggestion. Yes, if you run in defensively, perhaps with your shield raised it’s unlikely they will do much shooting. We will follow in behind you. Quietly moving to the edge of the stairs Nadja gives a single cold smile while raising her own crossbow in preparation for Calendir’s charge.
Teeth can barely contain himself. As the group moves to the bottom of the stairs, he smiles and pumps both arms up in excitement.
The half elf climbs the stairs as silently as possible...
He then breks into a dash as soon as their enemies come into view, shield held high and defensively, wielding the Mithral shortsword.
23 Rova 4712
The hallway leading to the room beyond is lit enough to see by a few torches in the room beyond. Scattered bits of detritus can be seen past the overturned table that blocks the entrance to the room. The table is obviously ancient and looks likely to not withstand much punishment. Behind it stands a pair of woman in leathers with hand crossbows and a wererat holding a light crossbow.
The wererat starts to say something when Calendir comes into view, but as the half-elf rushes forward her momentary stammer changes to, "FIRE!"
___________________________________________
Wererat
Jotune
Raven
Aurora
Teeth
Omoro
Nadja
Calendir
Tower Girls
The wererat shouts her order and levels her crossbow at Calendir. She squeezes the trigger, aiming just below the half-elf's shield. The bolt strikes the rim of the shield and bounces off, flying down the hallway, skidding to a stop against the table. She curses, dropping the crossbow, and draws a short sword.
______________________________
Running up the stairway behind Calendir, Nadja skidded to a half as the lycanthropes crossbow bolt ricocheted off of the rangers shield and nearly hit her. Cursing under her breath Nadja reached out with her power feeling the glowing energy of each of their life-forces. Calling upon her dark, shadowy patron she filled the wererat with the icy-cold of night forcing her into a deep slumber. As she watched Calendir rush up towards Tower Girls, Nadja called out with a clear cold voice. Make the first strike count! My enchantment will not hold long. Watching the rest of her team surround them women Nadja gave a cold heartless smile.
If Jotune can get to one of the opponents, he will charge forth, swinging his scimitar.
Attack
Damage
Possible crit
Damage
Round 1
Round 1
HP 7/7
AC 12 FF 10 T 12 CMD 13
F/R/W 1/2/2
Blinding Ray 6/7
Arcane Bond 1/1
Pyrotechnics SLA 1/1
Spells
0th - Detect Magic, Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound
1st - Color Spray, Burning Hands, Silent Image
Effects
None
Raven summons a blinding ray of colors, sending them out towards the nearest tower girl attempting to blind her, leaving the wererat for the others.
[ooc]Blinding ray to the nearest tower girl (the one the same side as Raven would be), moving closer before hand but staying behind the melee.[ooc]
Calendir moves up ahead and strikes at one of the leather wearing girls.
Teeth fires a bolt at one of the sisters.
One of the Tower Girls, badly wounded, retreats yelling, "I'll get help!" The other snorts at her, "Like hell ya' are, Embyr. Jus' don't leave me up here too long ya' b~#~&!" She drops her crossbow and pulls her short sword. "This is Tower Girls territor now! Ba-" as stops in midsentence while reaching for the short sword, finding the wererat asleep on the floor behind her. She growls in frustration as she yanks her blade free of its scabbard and thrusts the weapon at Omoro. She manages to catch the tengu on the cheek, cutting a bloody furrough into the side of his cheek.
____________________________________________
Hp #1: 2/11; #2: 11/11
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+4 vs ranged attack from further than 5 feet away.
Saves Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +1
R2
Teeth sees Omoro get hit (and drop to 2 HP). He moves up behind Omoro and uses his wand of CLW. Teeth no let you kill bird boss!
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The tengu squawks in pain as the blade opens a wound on his face, instinctively backing away and clutching a hand to the bloody wound. He feels a sudden warmth, however, as Teeth presses a wand to him, and muscle and skin knit themselves back together. As Calendir steps in to distract the Tower Girl in front of him, the tengu steps away from the pair, dropping both his blade and sunrod and pulling out his shortbow. You'll raise no alarm if I can help it, he says to himself grimly. He quickly snaps off a shot, hoping to end the Tower Girl before further reinforcements can be brought to bear.
5' step away from the Tower Girl (preferably towards the fleeing TG). Dropping both my dagger and sunrod, pulling out my shortbow and firing at the Tower Girl who's escaping. This is quite literally a shot in the dark!
I think this misses, but either way, it doesn't drop her. Dangit!
Jotune moves up to the full strength combatant and swings his scimitar at her.
Attack
Damage
Round 2
HP 7/7
AC 12 FF 10 T 12 CMD 13
F/R/W 1/2/2
Blinding Ray 6/7
Arcane Bond 1/1
Pyrotechnics SLA 1/1
Spells
0th - Detect Magic, Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound
1st - Color Spray, Burning Hands, Silent Image
Effects
None
Raven summons 4 globes of light, sending them down the hallway to illuminate the escaping Tower Girl, hoping to at least confirm where she has run off to.
The wererat shouts her order and levels her crossbow at Calendir. She squeezes the trigger, aiming just below the half-elf's shield. The bolt strikes the rim of the shield and bounces off, flying down the hallway, skidding to a stop against the table. She curses, dropping the crossbow, and draws a short sword.
Jotune charges forth, swinging his scimitar. He connects solidly with one of the Tower Girls, leaving the woman with a deep, bleeding cut.
Raven summons a blinding ray of colors, sending them out towards the nearest tower girl attempting to blind her, leaving the wererat for the others. The bolt strikes the table in front of the woman, flashing brightly for a moment before disappearing and leaving the woman unaffected.
Teeth fires a bolt at one of the sisters, but the bolt strikes the stone wall near her, bouncing off harmlessly.
Omoro races forward as well, slashing at one of the two Tower Girls, placing himself as close as possible to the slumbering wererat. The dagger cuts through her leathers, gashing the woman deeply as she gasps in pain. Fear appears in her eyes as she begins to back away.
Running up the stairway behind Calendir, Nadja skidded to a halt as the lycanthropes crossbow bolt ricocheted off of the rangers shield and nearly hit her. Cursing under her breath Nadja reached out with her power feeling the glowing energy of each of their life-forces. Calling upon her dark, shadowy patron she filled the wererat with the icy-cold of night forcing her into a deep slumber. As she watched Calendir rush up towards Tower Girls, Nadja called out with a clear cold voice. Make the first strike count! My enchantment will not hold long. Watching the rest of her team surround them women Nadja gave a cold heartless smile.
One of the Tower Girls, badly wounded, retreats yelling, "I'll get help!" The other snorts at her, "Like hell ya' are, Embyr. Jus' don't leave me up here too long ya' b@~~~!" She drops her crossbow and pulls her short sword. "This is Tower Girls territor now! Ba-" as stops in midsentence while reaching for the short sword, finding the wererat asleep on the floor behind her. She growls in frustration as she yanks her blade free of its scabbard and thrusts the weapon at Omoro. She manages to catch the tengu on the cheek, cutting a bloody furrow into the side of his cheek.
Calendir moves up ahead and strikes at one of the leather wearing girls. As he climbs over the table, the woman strikes out at him, but he brings his shield in line and easily blocks the weapon. His return strike has similar luck as the Tower Girl knocks his short sword aside.
______________________________________________
Jotune(18)
Raven(18)
Aurora(17)
Teeth(14)
Omoro(13)
Nadja(13)
Tower Girls(5)
Calendir(4)
The wererat rolls fitfully on the ground as her induced slumber is not a peaceful one. The nightmares that she's having must be quite bad from the even a cursory sight of how she reacts to them.
____________________________________________
Round 2
Raising her hand imperiously Nadja called upon the newly recovered power of the shard. Feeling the tight bundle of prideful and domineering energy resounding within the ancient Thassilonian relic, Nadja felt her own inner pride beat a resounding echo alongside the thrumming magical resonance of the shard. Pointing towards the woman fleeing down the hall that had been lit with Raven’s dancing lights Nadja gave a cold smile. Finishing her incantation she called into existence a crackling wall of fire roaring with heat and flame blocking the fleeing woman’s escape. As droplets of liquid fire sputtered out of the wall hissing and bubbling, Nadja took a few slow luxurious steps towards the woman, her silhouette made sharp by the roaring wall of light and heat. As she did so her face slowly turned into a smile. Where did you think you were going darling? Nadja whispered, the coolness of her voice at odds with the heat of the fire. There’s no need to run.. surely we can make a deal.
The running Tower Girl's eyes go wide as she skids to a halt, fearful of the wall of fire that had appeared before her. "Deal! Right, deal! Just... just don't kill me..." she wails pitifully.
The other grunts and shouts back, "Embyr, ya' whore! Don't be givin' in ta' these outsiders!" She feints to one side, then reverses and stabs hard at Calendir. He doesn't fall for it, however, and brings his shield in line with the blade, knocking it aside. "Just die already, damn it!"
______________________________
Pressing his attack on the girl with the bravado, the half-elf smiles as he comments - "You really should follow the example of your friend here and surrender - it would make things easier for you..."
The wererat rolls fitfully on the ground as her induced slumber is not a peaceful one. The nightmares that she's having must be quite bad from the even a cursory sight of how she reacts to them.
Jotune moves up to the full strength combatant and swings his scimitar at her. His foot hits the table as he does so, throwing his balance, and swing, off. The scimitar misses the woman by a wide margin.
Raven summons 4 globes of light, sending them down the hallway to illuminate the escaping Tower Girl, hoping to at least confirm where she has run off to. The light easily illuminates most of the room beyond, revealing the fleeing woman's position.
Teeth sees Omoro get hit. He moves up behind Omoro and uses his wand of CLW. "Teeth no let you kill bird boss!"
The tengu squawks in pain as the blade opens a wound on his face, instinctively backing away and clutching a hand to the bloody wound. He feels a sudden warmth, however, as Teeth presses a wand to him, and muscle and skin knit themselves back together. As Calendir steps in to distract the Tower Girl in front of him, the tengu steps away from the pair, dropping both his blade and sunrod and pulling out his shortbow. You'll raise no alarm if I can help it, he says to himself grimly. He quickly snaps off a shot, hoping to end the Tower Girl before further reinforcements can be brought to bear. The arrow grazes the woman, but fails to stop her.
Raising her hand imperiously Nadja called upon the newly recovered power of the shard. Feeling the tight bundle of prideful and domineering energy resounding within the ancient Thassilonian relic, Nadja felt her own inner pride beat a resounding echo alongside the thrumming magical resonance of the shard. Pointing towards the woman fleeing down the hall that had been lit with Raven’s dancing lights Nadja gave a cold smile. Finishing her incantation she called into existence a crackling wall of fire roaring with heat and flame blocking the fleeing woman’s escape. As droplets of liquid fire sputtered out of the wall hissing and bubbling, Nadja took a few slow luxurious steps towards the woman, her silhouette made sharp by the roaring wall of light and heat. As she did so her face slowly turned into a smile. "Where did you think you were going darling?" Nadja whispered, the coolness of her voice at odds with the heat of the fire. "There’s no need to run.. surely we can make a deal."
The running Tower Girl's eyes go wide as she skids to a halt, fearful of the wall of fire that had appeared before her. "Deal! Right, deal! Just... just don't kill me..." she wails pitifully.
The other grunts and shouts back, "Embyr, ya' whore! Don't be givin' in ta' these outsiders!" She feints to one side, then reverses and stabs hard at Calendir. He doesn't fall for it, however, and brings his shield in line with the blade, knocking it aside. "Just die already, damn it!"
Pressing his attack on the girl with the bravado, the half-elf smiles as he comments - "You really should follow the example of your friend here and surrender - it would make things easier for you..."
______________________________________
Jotune(18)
Raven(18)
Aurora(17)
Teeth(14)
Omoro(13)
Nadja(13)
Tower Girls(5)
Calendir(4)
Waking from her slumber, the wererat scrambles back to her feet, scooping up her weapon as she does so. Calendir takes advantage of the open she presents as she stands for a quick stab at her, but the attack falls short, his attention too divided been the two opponents to make an accurate attack.
____________________________________
Embyr? That’s your name my dear? That was the wise choice. Nadja softly coos to the complacent woman. Now just stay and drop your weapon so there’s no accidents. Turning slightly to her side Nadja watches as the slumbering lycanthrope rises up, deftly avoiding Calendir’s mithril blade. Must I do everything myself? Nadja hisses under her breath in annoyance. Very well then…
Pointing to the lycanthrope with her wand made of aged bone and inscribed with runes of suffering and misfortune Nadja mockingly laughs at the woman, the scorn and derision in her voice cutting sharp like a knife. Lycanthrope! Your escape is blocked off with my wall of fire. One of your people has already surrendered and the other is about to be cut down. You have no chance. Give into your despair and know that these are the last moments of your life.
Demoralize: You can use this skill to cause an opponent to become shaken for a number of rounds. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + the target's Hit Dice + the target's Wisdom modifier. If you are successful, the target is shaken for 1 round. This duration increases by 1 round for every 5 by which you beat the DC. You can only threaten an opponent in this way if they are within 30 feet and can clearly see and hear you. Using demoralize on the same creature only extends the duration; it does not create a stronger fear condition.
Shaken: Characters who are shaken take a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
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Omoro mutters something in Tien and drops his bow to the floor. Retreiving his silver blade, he leaps into a position to threaten the wererat from an angle opposite Calendir. "Listen to what our tsukai says, Tower Rat. You'll not be walking away from this."
Free: Drop my bow.
Move: Pick up my silver dagger.
Standard: Move to flank the wererat, Acroing my way there if necessary.
Jotune swings at the closest opponent, hoping for more success this time.
Attack
Damage
Possible crit
Damage
Round 3
HP 7/7
AC 12 FF 10 T 12 CMD 13
F/R/W 1/2/2
Blinding Ray 6/7
Arcane Bond 1/1
Pyrotechnics SLA 1/1
Spells
0th - Detect Magic, Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound
1st - Color Spray, Burning Hands, Silent Image
Effects
None
Without a clear shot, Raven instead chooses to stand behind the others and watch the battle unfold, waiting for an opportune moment to step in.
Teeth drops his wand, loads his crossbow, and readies to shoot if any of the enemies are aggressive.
Jotune's blade catches the woman, but she manages to move just enough that her armor stops the blow before it could be worse. She glances at the wererat and says in a pained voice, "It'll take more than that to force me to give in."
Omoro tumbles forward, rolling over the table, but he stumbles as he does so, and both the woman and the wererat take advantage of it. Teeth looses a ready bolt just as the woman goes to stab Omoro, and catches his in the side, sending her to the ground in a heap. The other tower girl screams and drops her weapon as her companion falls. The wererat's catches Omoro in the side, cutting deep and nearly felling the tengu.
The woman at the end of the hallway collapses to the ground in a sobbing heap, "I-I'm s-sorry. I-I w-won't d-do anything!"
______________________________
"Good thing that you are back up. Now we can talk straight - surrender NOW for the slim chance that we leave you alive. Else, it ends here!" - Calendir states at the weregirl as he swings.
Waking from her slumber, the wererat scrambles back to her feet, scooping up her weapon as she does so. Calendir takes advantage of the open she presents as she stands for a quick stab at her, but the attack falls short, his attention too divided been the two opponents to make an accurate attack.
Jotune swings at the closest opponent, hoping for more success this time. His blade catches the woman, but she manages to move just enough that her armor stops the blow before it could be worse. She glances at the wererat and says in a pained voice, "It'll take more than that to force me to give in."
Without a clear shot, Raven instead chooses to stand behind the others and watch the battle unfold, waiting for an opportune moment to step in.
Teeth drops his wand, loads his crossbow, and readies to shoot if any of the enemies are aggressive.
Omoro mutters something in Tien and drops his bow to the floor. Retreiving his silver blade, he leaps into a position to threaten the wererat from an angle opposite Calendir. "Listen to what our tsukai says, Tower Rat. You'll not be walking away from this." As Omoro tumbles forward, rolling over the table, but he stumbles as he does so, and both the woman and the wererat take advantage of it. Teeth looses a ready bolt just as the woman goes to stab Omoro, and catches his in the side, sending her to the ground in a heap. The other tower girl screams and drops her weapon as her companion falls. The wererat's catches Omoro in the side, cutting deep and nearly felling the tengu.
"Embyr? That’s your name my dear? That was the wise choice." Nadja softly coos to the complacent woman. "Now just stay and drop your weapon so there’s no accidents." Turning slightly to her side Nadja watches as the slumbering lycanthrope rises up, deftly avoiding Calendir’s mithril blade. "Must I do everything myself?" Nadja hisses under her breath in annoyance. Very well then…
Pointing to the lycanthrope with her wand made of aged bone and inscribed with runes of suffering and misfortune Nadja mockingly laughs at the woman, the scorn and derision in her voice cutting sharp like a knife. "Lycanthrope! Your escape is blocked off with my wall of fire. One of your people has already surrendered and the other is about to be cut down. You have no chance. Give into your despair and know that these are the last moments of your life. "
The woman at the end of the hallway collapses to the ground in a sobbing heap, "I-I'm s-sorry. I-I w-won't d-do anything!"
"Good thing that you are back up. Now we can talk straight - surrender NOW for the slim chance that we leave you alive. Else, it ends here!" - Calendir states at the weregirl as he swings. His blade connects, piercing through the leathers she wears. She hisses loudly as the blade slides easily through her normally resistant flesh. "Sil-urk-v-ver!" she yelps with surprise through the painful wound.
_____________________________________
Jotune(18)
Raven(18)
Aurora(17)
Teeth(14)
Omoro(13)
Nadja(13)
Tower Girls(5)
Calendir(4)
The wererat staggers back from the wound that Calendir had dealt it with evident surprise. Her hand that had went to the wound returned red with blood. She glanced at the other two for a moment before letting her weapon fall to the ground. "I surrender," she winces as she kneels on the stone floor. "You've won, but- but what are you doing here?"
_______________________________________________
With a prideful smirk at the situation, Nadja ran her fingers along the aged wand she held in her delicate hands. So many interesting options here. The conniving witch thought to herself, briefly considering the possibilities at hand. It was unlikely that the rest of the group would be as willing to execute them Nadja was. The heat of battle was one thing, but the rest were weak and unwilling to make the hard decisions. Likely that was why the Venture Captain had put her in charge. Nadja would do what it took to get results, no matter how distasteful the actions. If I cannot kill them, then I will have to destroy their will to continue. They have already given up. It will taken only take the lightest of touch to push them over the edge.
Drawing herself up to her full height, Nadja pointed to the sobbing wretch of a woman, curled into a ball. Eyes focusing on Jotune, Nadja gave a decisive nod. Please see to the woman at the end of the hallway. I’ll be ending my spell soon and I hate to see our ambush fail after such a momentous start. Eyes wandering over the group, Nadja hissed under her breath at the sight of Omoro, clutching at his face, avian blood running through his clawed hands. Teeth, dear, see to our friend. He is useful. Eyes resting on his wounded shape, Nadja frowned to herself. He has stood by my side and supported my claim of command. It would be a shame to lose such a valuable ally.
Stalking forward towards the lycanthrope tower girl the way a cat might approach a mouse, Nadja put forth an air of confidence. It’s quite simple really. We are here for Ayala. After Natalya escaped she was being hunted by your gang so she turned to the only place she could, the other families. The Wreckwash blades were already were in an uproar but now that Nataly told everyone about your rat problem it has become far worse. There’s no need to worry though. The bounty is only on Ayala since she turned the rest of you. So I will give you this one chance. Tell me everything you know about the layout of “The Crow”. Tell me where Ayala is hiding at and where the rest of the Tower Girls are at. Tell me everything you know about this place. Then you may take Embyr and the other one and leave. We saw other skiffs below. Pausing dramatically, Nadja narrows her eyes. And do not mistake this for kindness. I will call upon each of you one day in the future and ask for a favor. You will remember this day and you will do what I ask or I will take back the life that I am letting you keep. Are we clear?
Teeth picks up his wand at Nadja's words and walks over to Omoro. Teeth heal you birdman! He casts CLW from the wand.
Evil boss woman already see how valuable Teeth is! Killing longshanks with bow and healing bosses!
Looking at Nadja: Teeth do good scouting no?
23 Rova 4712
The wererat looks to Nadja, "I'd be payin' my freedom with the information, right? So why then..." She seems to rethink the statement. "Nevermind. Stupid idea," she grumbles. The woman sighs and steadies herself for a moment, turning inward for a bit, perhaps to try and map everything out in her head. "There's a secret door in the back room, there." She nods to the room with the illusory wall of fire sputtering in it (and a weeping Tower Girl). "Through there, you'll come to a room overlooking the boat landing. There should be a platform hanging over that'll give you access to a secret door hidden nearby. You'll need to climb though, but it ain't hard. You'll head through some crypts after that, but look out for a trip wire that'll serve as an alarm for the girls posted as another set of guards. Ayala's been gettin' paranoid since Natalya up and left.." She looks at Nadja, "With good reason it seems. There should be three of them posted in the next room. Past them'll be the staircase down. Head down there to the floor below. If you're wantin' to find Ayala, and only Ayala, head to the right and hollow the hallway to the end. It'll lead to another staircase down, but you'll have to sneak past the girls in the common room on your way there. Once on the floor below, there should be a pair of strange doors on your left. Head right. Ayala hasn't been able to get them open yet, but she's in a room to the right, probably with some of her favorite pet rats."
She sighs and slumps, the weight of everything bearing down on the woman a bit more. "If you want more detail, I'll need to draw a map, but I ain't so good at it."
Jotune moves to the weeping Tower Girl, as Nadja advised. He grabs a piece of rope, "Now, I need to bind your hands while we finish up here, young lady. Now turn around, please," the elf requests, happy the fight was over with everyone in his group still avoiding too many injuries.
23 Rova 4712
The Tower Girl does as Jotune says, offering her hands readily and following his orders. Her face is tear-stained, but she stifles the tears with short snuffles and snorts. The sight is rather pathetic, but thankfully, she offers no resistance whatsoever.
Calendir walks over to the weeping girl, and brings her back towards the group, rummaging through their enemies' possessions for some rope to tie her up with. If finding none he just reaps piece of cloth from her to bind her hands.- "There, there girl. You'll be fine.." - he comments with a smile.
After that he proceeds in searching their opponents for any valubles, weapons or coin in their possession.