Knowing that he's going to need to get closer to have an effect on the combat, Geliglee moves towards where he expects the bulk of the enemy to be.
You see a bandit pop up from behind one of large logs in the center of the clearing, and he raises his longbow to fire at Nalys...
...however, his shot gets tangled up in the shrubbery that surrounds you, and misses.
The other bandit fires at Brandt...
...but he is clearly hurting from his leg wound, and lurches into the trees to the north.
Behind him, you hear further cursing from a woman's voice - apparently Kressle is infuriated that she is still stuck, and you hear her call out clearly, "Surrender is for the weak - you'll not take me alive!"
Brandt quickly crosses the river, advancing on the bandit and moving the opposite direction from Calum. Drawing another arrow he quickly fires it into the nearest bandit.
While continuing her song, Isla moves forward, but attempts to remain in the shrubbery. She pulls back her bow once more and fires on the same bandit.
Brandts arrow gets caught up in a low-hanging branch and diverted, while Isla's arrow thuds into a nearby tree trunk that protects the bandit from harm.
Geliglee moves forward and casts a minor spell at the bandit to the south of his position.
Nalys choose the easy target and shot in one behind the log.
The bandit freezes where he stands behind the log, obviously trying to move but clearly unable to... and though he tries to avoid Nalys arrow, he can't seem to get away from it, and is grazed across the shoulder.
Calum moves to strike the dazed opponent with his lance despite the cover.
"This brush is everywhere! Gah, I can't get a lance in anywhere, good thing we have plenty of breathing room. I cannot wait to see what their leader will do."
Calum's lance careens off the top of the log, just missing the bandit standing behind it.
That bandit is incapable of moving or acting against you, and stands fuming inside against the magic that restrains him.
The other bandit disappears into the undergrowth.
Isla hesitates for a moment as her target disappears into the wood. Darn. I can't just let him escape... Her instincts tell her to run after him, but she catches herself. No. You can't just run over there alone. Kressle could be with him...and the last thing we need is for her to get away because I went and became a hostage.
She lets out a sigh of frustration, before continuing her song and moving towards the remaining visible bandit.
However, after her moment of indecisiveness she rushes loading the arrow and breaks it as she tries to fire.
"Do not try to run away!" Nalys run to river and tried to shoot through the foliage. While aiming he made a whistling sound to Seara, sending her forward.
Brandt stalks around the fallen timbers, closing upon the lone bandit and grimly firing an arrow at him. "Surrender now!" He yells, knowing the bandits will not capitulate.
Geliglee is holding to see the results of the attacks upon the bandit he can see.
Though Isla's arrow goes wide, Nalys puts a daring shot through the tree branches that just manages to catch it's target, and you hear a woman's voice catch in pain.
The bandit in front of Brandt does not surrender, growling as he reaches for his sword, when Brandt's arrow drives into his shoulder and knocks him unconscious to the ground.
Seara tears towards the trees, searching......and screeches when she gets close enough to see the leader of the bandit camp - Kressle.
Gelliglee climbs up onto a fallen tree, peering into the area of entangling floura to try and spot any targets for his magic.
Geliglee, you see a woman bearing twin handaxes being harried by Seara. The woman is about fifty feet from your current position.
"I see her, about 50' to the east. Seara is engaging her, I think we need to dismiss the entangling spell and engage right away."
With that Geliglee moves up to the edge of the entangled are ready to move in.
Calum prepares to ride William into close combat when the enchanted grasses cease their grasping.
You hear Kressle snarling and cursing as Seara closes on her position, and she shouts a battle cry...
...and Seara cries out when an axe cuts into her wing.
The bandit you lost sight of in the trees to the north suddenly re-emerges, firing his longbow at Isla!
He manages to get an arrow across her shoulder, drawing a deep furrow in Isla's arm.
Isla lets out a scream of pain as the arrow pierces her shoulder. Her song wavers slightly, but continues as she rushes towards a tree for cover. She turns to fire upon the bandit, hoping that she takes him down and that her companions can handle Kressle.
Isla lets out a scream of pain as the arrow pierces her shoulder. Her song wavers slightly, but continues as she rushes towards a tree for cover. She turns to fire upon the bandit, hoping that she takes him down and that her companions can handle Kressle.
[dice=Concealment]1d100
[dice=Attack]1d20+3+1
[dice=Damage]1d6+1+1
The bandit reels when your arrow strikes him in the shoulder, and he is obviously staggered, barely staying on his feet.
"Seara in danger", shouted Nalys and ran over the water. Despite losing a moment, he stop on the other side and took careful aim throught the leaves and then he let an arrow fly.
Meanwhile, Seara rushed all her claws and bite on nasty bandit.
Nalys, filled with concern for his companion, launches a truly miraculous shot through the branches and leaves, grazing Kressle across the back and causing her to lurch directly into Seara's talons and beak.
Kressle is visibly staggered by this, and it's clear that a single blow might bring her down.
Brandt strides forward to the edge of the entanglement spell, another arrow coming to hand as he sights on the bandit leader. Carefully aiming to avoid Seera, Brandt lets fly.
Cursing as his arrow hangs in the foliage...
Calling upon his arcane bond, Geliglee formed a complex magic in his mind outside of the spells he had memorized. With it he invoked a bolt of force that he cast upon Kressel - hoping to finish her. The magic bolt of force streaks from his hand, weaving between trees with uncanny speed and accuracy - striking Kressel!
Calling upon his arcane bond, Geliglee formed a complex magic in his mind outside of the spells he had memorized. With it he invoked a bolt of force that he cast upon Kressel - hoping to finish her. The magic bolt of force streaks from his hand, weaving between trees with uncanny speed and accuracy - striking Kressel!
[dice=Magic Missile]1d4+1
The force of the magic bolt strikes Kressle in the head, and she falls limply to the ground with a cry of pain. The remaining bandit sees her fall, and drops his bow and arrows to the ground, slumping down himself in defeat and weariness from his wounds.
Calum looks at his lance then frowns.
I need to react faster and without fear. For a knight should show bravery in the face of danger
He maneuvers William to block the retreat of a bandit, using his lance as a prod to keep the bandit from fleeing.
"Whoa there, you won't be going anywhere."
Nalys dismissed his spell and whistled for Seara come back to see her wound.
With the adrenaline of combat fading, Isla falls back against the tree trunk, wincing from the pain in her shoulder. Despite bracing herself, she still lets out a small cry as she pulls out the arrow. She uses magic to try ease the pain and stop the bleeding.
After taking a moment to regain her composure, she pushes herself up with her good arm and walks towards Nayls and Seara.
"She's hurt?" Isla asks Nayls uncertainly. "If you can get her to keep still, maybe I can help a bit..."
"We should probably take away their weapons... she says to the others, as she heals the bird. "Oh! Also, keep an eye out for a ring. They took Svetlana's wedding ring when they attacked the trading post...and I know it's probably a long shot, but maybe they still have it."
"Thank you, Isla", Nalys passed single small berry to bard, "these heal wounds as well, but not so forceful. Take it if your shoulder still hurts."
"Thanks...it is still a little sore..." Isla says as she pops the berry in her mouth.
Feeling slightly better, she begins searching the camp. As she looks over the bodies, she remarks, "Do we want to stabilize them or just leave them to their fate? Also, we should probably bring the other we fought earlier here, so that we can watch them all."
Under the east platform, you find tents, firewood, food, and other supplies kept under a canvas tarp. Underneath these, you find a collection of coins, a pair of earrings, a wooden music box, three crates of furs and hides, and a polished wooden case with eight bottles of greenish liquid sealed inside. There is no sign of Svetlana's wedding ring, unfortunately.
On the bandits, you find more longbows and arrows, shortswords and leather armor, and each carries a small purse of coins.
Kressle herself is wearing studded leather armor, carrying a pair of finely crafted handaxes, a set of four bone-handled daggers, a large pouch of coins, and a small vial in one of her pockets.
"For Kressel, I can't imagine any way she could redeem herself. Best to finish what we started. For the rest, if they are willing to follow the strictures set to the others we can allow them a shot at repentance. More hands working at Olegs can only help, though I am a bit worried what the captain will think when we return with more prisoners. I'm guessing we'll need to hire guards soon."
With that he draws a dagger and moves towards Kressel, willing to do the work himself.
"At least now, we have some money for that".. said Nalys, capturing some silver from their pouches, "And I agree that we shouldn't leave Kressle alive. She had influence over that other bandit, Happs.. So if we bring her in, it might be a revolt or something. I will tend their wounds and if tomorrow, they can travel back to fort, we will make a trial. Each of them has one of two options: to live by law and earn himself some respect or be hanged."
"Probably, need to put equipment from others as well into our saddlebags. Might be one of them had Svetlana's ring"
Seeing things well in hand, Brandt studies the collected gear, "Aye, all works for me. Geliglee, you certain you want to handle that?'
Brandt replenishes his quiver from the arrows of the bandits, and looks about to his companions. Shrugging, he takes the short bits of rope and secures the surviving bandits.
When Geliglee proposes killing Kressle, Isla takes a moment to look the fallen woman up and down. Lets see...she outright said that surrender is for the weak, she used violence to steal from the defenseless, even her own men are terrified of her...oh, and she threatened to take Svetlana for the men's amusement if Oleg didn't comply. Isla's eyes narrow darkly for a moment and she simply replies, "No objections here."
She continues her search through the camp, trying to take note of potential valuables and casts Detect Magic to help identify what she suspects is a potion.
However, as she turns over every inch of the camp and still can't find the ring, she grows increasingly frustrated. With her temper at a boiling point, she looks up and makes eye contact with the man who shot her in the arm.
"You!" she shouts, as she runs up to him and grabs him by the shirt. "Where is it!?! Where is the stuff that you took from the trading post!?! There was a ring! Did she sell it!?!"
The man is stunned by your ferocity, and blabbers immediately, "Oh, gods don't kill me, it's gone! It's gone! A group of little blue fey snuck into our camp last week and made off with a bag of our... the Trading Post's goods. It must have been in there. Kressle took to wearing it for a bit as a joke, but then tired of it and threw it in the sack with the rest. We took down one of the culprits, but the rest snuck off in the dark and we couldn't give fast enough chase. Oh, gods, don't kill me, please!"
"Ugh, mites... You lot know which direction they scampered off in???" Brandt asks looking from survivor to survivor...
"They are small fey, annoying, vicious, and mean. If they have the ring we'll have to track them down and take it from them, or bargain for it- maybe..."
"Oh, those are small and nasty as their insect relatives", said Nalys as Brandt mentiones mites. "They rarely travel alone, and if you saw several of them, probably there should be a tribe somewhere nearby. They usually dwell in caves or caverns, so we should looks for something like old dwarven mine if we want to find them."
He looked at prisoner and other unconscious thugs:
"I don't think we need to chase them now. We can return later, but now deliver bandits to Kasten in Fort, so they can work and repay the things they done wrong. Those who are not willing to be hanged of course."
After cleaning off his blade from dispatching Kressel, Gelliglee says, "I agree, back to the trading post." He seems a bit quiet and dour in contrast to his normal demeanor. It had to be done, and I am as good as any to do it... She was vile, but not an easy thing, either way.
Isla lets out a deep sigh and releases the bandit's shirt. Well, at least we have a lead...
Turning to face the others she says, "I agree, we definitely need to return to the trading post first. This is far to many prisoners to drag around the wilderness." Looking at the large number of captives, Isla remarks, "Although, might it not be worth identifying those willing to work off their crimes before we leave? If someone is going to be uncooperative, it seems like an unnecessary risk to drag them back to Oleg's..."
Calum nods toward Isla. Drawing his blade he lets the sun flicker across the sword before raising his head in the direction of the bandits.
"Those who wish to work off their debts to society raise your hand, those who would rather die in a puddle of their own blood from my sword keep your hands down. If you wish to die right here I will take a last request, by law or by sword you will pay for your crimes in the Stolen Lands. Most specifically, banditry."
The four bandits you defeated earlier were not so lucky, having bled out from their wounds during your assault on the rest of the camp.
Only the one bandit is still conscious, and while you've managed to keep the other three here in the camp from dying, they are still unconscious. The conscious one looks at Brandt, "No, I didn't. Didn't see which way they went. It was during the night, and by the time we figured out what had happened, they were already running into the darkness." He gives Calum's raised sword a fearful look and does what he can to raise his bound hands. "Oh, aye, aye! I've no wish to die, and will work however you'll have me do so." The remainder, of course, are unable to raise their hands in protest...
...you find the least injured bandit and feed him a healing berry, and his eyes just manage to flutter open. Under the threat repeated he gasps in pain, but nods, raises his hands for mercy, and promptly passes out again from his wounds.