The bandits less than excited about the prospect of real work, but strongly prefer to give that a try given the alternative you offer.
Asha looks back to her companions "I suppose we should take them back directly rather then drag them along as we explore?"
They would only slow us down, to be sure. Let us return them, along with their things, and let Oleg declare their sentence.
321 sp, 90 gp, pair of silver earrings, wooden music box, three crates of furs and hides, a polished wooden liquor case holding 8 bottles of herbal liquor
Given that you're forced to go at a walking speed, I'm going to assume its easy to get everything back with your mounts as pack animals and jury rigging pack harnesses
The night at the bandit camp passes without incident, there's no sign of the original bandit who fled at Oleg's nor any party returning with the women.
You spend the first day walking out of the camp and north along the edge of the forest. Near midday, Ardainn puts up his hand telling everyone to halt and be quiet. Far to the east, he sees a small band of large monstrous humanoids. The captured bandits, cower, in fear. "Looks like dem trolls are back" one of them whispers.
Vors does his best to remain silent, and to keep the horses silent, by crouching low to the ground.
Ardainn crouches low, and turns to the bandit who whispered. He puts a finger to his lips, his other hand slowly drawing an arrow. Fitting the arrow to his bow, he finds a place in the trees to stay hidden and watch the trolls, trying to get a sense of what direction they're heading in, and where they might have come from.
"Trolls, really? Where? Can we go and have a closer look?" curiously inquires Farfadet by whispering and tugging Vors's sleeve.
Ardainn can tell that they've come from the northeast and and heading further to the south east. They are well east of Oleg's and you don't think they approached the trading post.
As the trolls pass out of sight you resume your march north along the forest's edge. As night falls you setup a camp. Ardainn notices fresh scat and a pair of of tracks, likely wild boar.
Asha thankful for not having to deal with trolls makes sure the bandits are taken care of before heading off to bed early, many things running through her head. An obvious look of concern on her face and unusual quite from her normal friendly self.
Vors gives Farfadet a hard look and shake of his head. When trouble is clear, he says, "Not the kind of danger I was expecting out here."
-----
Vors takes first watch, again gathering sticks to make a makeshift alarm system on the camp perimiter. He rechecks the bandit's bonds, feeds them their rations, and keeps walking in a loop about the camp while he is on watch.
Ardainn stays and watches until the trolls are out of sight, his lip curled back in a angry snarl. He turns to the bandits.
"Southeast. The direction my people went when they escaped you." He glances at Asha and then back to the bandit. "If I find them and they are not whole and healthy, I will see you again."
----
At the campsite, he points out the scat and the tracks.
"Looks fresh," he says. "I'd suggest a double watch tonight. They can be deadly, and they're tough. They'll fight on long past the point when another creature would have dropped."
Trembling with fear and exhaustion, one of the bandits speaks up. "Your pardon, but we did say the elves appeared to escape south and west, not south and east."
Ardainn shrugs his shoulders and stalks away. "East or west, if she's come to any harm...."
The night passes without incident and you resume your march to Oleg's in the morning. The weather has been surprisingly warm these past two days, but you don't think winter is done with you yet.
You reach Oleg's about mid-day with your gaggle of captured bandits in two. From the outside of the palisades you hear sound of wood clattering on one and a new voice shouting:"One, two... good, again, one, two..."
As you walk into the the trading post you see a pair of fresh-faced guardsmen training under the eye of a rougher looking man. Another younger guard looks on. He signals to the leader as you walk in and he calls a halt.
"Humph, you must be those 'saviors' Oleg's been going on about."He looks rather pointedly at the captured bandits. "Seem like you're successful at finding bandits, but all together too soft if you ask me. I'm Kestern Garess, posted here from Restov to guard the trading post. Someone is Restov must really like you to get me sent here to keep you mobile. Don't understand why you get the guest house and we just got these tents... I'm sure Oleg will want to talk to you." Assuming you don't engage him in more conversation he turns back to drilling his recruits.
You see that the previously captured recruits are hard at work, repairing parts of the interior palisade that have seen better days. The trading post is looking less worn down that before, even in this short time, they've made a difference.
Oleg steps out of the trading post and stares at your line of captured bandits."I suppose you want to leave more of them here." He starts with a his usual gruffness, but you see a bit of a smile in his face. "I guess with Kestern here it should be safe, even with these increased numbers.... Looks like i should tell the folks in Restov to send down that bounty for the bandits, you've definitely made a great start... Find anything useful out of them?"
An overjoyed Farfadet extends his friendly hand for Kestern to shake. "Wow, first trolls then newcomers at Oleg's, that's quite a trip! My name is Farfadet. Nice to meet you! As you see... pointing the prisoners. "... have been busy of late! Those wish to redeem themselves as well. They were at the service of one Stag Lord, who happens to be wearing... can you guess? ...I'm sure you can! ... Really you can't? Well I'll tell you then... REAL ANTLERS! Can you imagine that?! I'm so looking forward to meet that man. Or beast. Or both. In all cases, an exciting character to be sure."
Vors offers a salute to a fellow soldier. "Good to have you here, Sir. We'll talk to Oleg first, but we'll have some tactical information to discuss with you soon enough."
He shakes Oleg's hand. "If you can put them to good work, you might even get a field or two out of this ground before planting day. Keep 'em too tired to think of action. You've got your own little town here already!"
Vors gestures to the crates of goods from the camp. "Do these look familiar? Found it at their camp in the woods to the south."
Vors makes a set of best guesses as to the value of the recovered goods:
Silver Earrings (Pair)
Wooden Music Box
Crate of Hides
Polished Wooden Case
Greenish herbal liquor
Vors scratches his head. "Well, I'm not sure about the rest of it, but I bet it's valuable. Do the rest of you have any ideas?"
Vors also helps negotiate the sale of the bandits' gear.
Oleg nods at the crates of hides. "Those the bandits took from me last month; haven't seen the rest before, though these fellas here have been talking about how their big boss likes to drink... I'd guess that's who the liquor was bound for. Looks better than most that comes through here, they probably had to actually pay for it. Those earrings and music box look too good for me to move easily here... I wouldn't be able to give you a good price on them. I can hold them for you until you get a chance to get back to civilization, or try to find a buyer for a commission."
At your mention of a "little town", Oleg looks a little pained. "You probably heard I moved out here to get away from civilization; me I like the solitude and quiet. Though I think Svetlana misses some of the comforts. Still there is safety in numbers and we have some guards now. The fellas you left before have been good working so far -- fixed up the storage shed right nice and I've had them doing minor repairs on the palisade walls... Probably need to put them to work on some shelters for them and the guards. I've been letting the first set of reformed bandits bunk down in the stables... its warm, but no place for a self-respecting person and I guess we need to help them out on that front.... I'll ask the next trader for seed stock and try your idea of some fields."
"Are you staying for a few days, or heading out again? Any ideas where you'll be if we need to reach you?"
Asha looks to her companions and shrugs "I think we need to head out again. With all this dealing with the badnits it has put us back a bit on exploring and mapping the wilds."
She looks around to all the new 'reformed' bandits as well as the previous ones "Perhaps we need to have a meeting of sorts to see what we can do to keep them interested in the community and away from banditry. I believe if they can build some shelter for themselves and the guards that should be enough to pay of their debt, yes? It seems that we could potentially continue to use their aid though. Maybe we need to start setting aside funds for their actual payment if they keep to the straight path and we can start to grow a true community here."
"I concur. Let them know that we are willing to invest in them and their reform. For a profit, of course. They can also build one for the Guard, too. Might keep each other in good graces. But yes, let's head out again in the morning. West, I think, makes sense."
The captured bandit are happy by the talk of wages and being put to work on their own living spaces rather than simply repairing walls. A few seem more than trivially interested in the prospect of farming and have begun to talk about the lay of the land around the trading post.
You've spent a day exploring and mapping to the west. The area you've explored is generally more of the rolling plains that would likely make either good farmlands or pastures. The western and southern edges are giving way to forests. You've seen some signs of wild animals -- boars & elk primarily, but no signs of bandits.
Three hours into exploring and mapping the northern tip of the Greenbelt you hear a loud snapping sound.
Looking down you see a large and vicious bear trap. The trap was exceptionally camouflaged, surprising so. You think it will take another 5 hours to finish exploring this area.
"It looks like there are hunters in these parts. Remind me not to step on their territory, those things would be the death of a small person like myself!"
"Whoah, Ardainn! Are you all right? That'd hobble any of us in a moment. Keep a sharp eye, all. Asha, be ready to heal if this goes poorly, but I say we press on at our current speed."
"I am unharmed, but I fear I owe that to luck more than anything," Ardainn says to Vors. "I agree that we should press on, but with reasonable caution."
He takes a moment to study the area around the trap, looking for any sign of who - or what - may have left such a thing.
Now that you know what to look for, you see scattered signs of a fairly active, but very subtle trapper. Whomever he is, appears to be more interested in trapping/inconveniencing other trappers than actively trapping game. There's slightly more recent signs in a generally southwesterly direction. More recent by a matter of days, not hours.
, plus half speed until removed (DC20 Disable, DC 22 Escape, DC 24 Strngth)
Vors triggers another trap, but manages to avoid it. Having encountered three over the course of your exploration, you'd expect there's probably a similar number left, undiscovered in the region.
As you settle in for the night, having completed your survey of the region, you're more than a little on edge and frazzled from the constant fear of stepping into another trap. Lucky for you, during the exploration through the woods you often had to lead the horses. Had one of these traps caught one of your pack animals it would have easily killed them.
When Ardainn triggers another trap not able to avoid it Asha hurries over to try and help get it open. "Help, let's get this off of him!"
Once they remove the trap Asha calls on Erastils power, channeling his energy through those around her.
------
In the evening once they have setup camp Asha will go to the others "Perhaps we should see if we can track down this trapper. As we have seen this is extremely dangerous."
Vors tries to take lead on getting him out:
It takes a minute, but together with Asha they finally pry it open.
-----
Vors grunts as he crunches into his rations for the night. "Whuf. Definitely worth recording on our map, 'Hunters only!', if we can't find him. I hope that west of here goes better than that."
He sets out his usual perimeter of sticks and dried leaves outside the boundaries of the fire, then settles in to take first watch.
Another night passes without incident, as if animals and humans have learned to avoid this place.
The next day is another uneventful day, aside from more snow
Vors stretches out some riding knots before setting up camp with the others, and making the alarm ring. He again takes first watch.
That night Asha looks through their rations "Perhaps we should try and do a little hunting and scavenging just to make sure we don't run out of rations. Especially with the weather continuing to be nasty we should take advantage of the land as much as we can for as long as we can."
Looking to Ardainn, "Perhaps before we head out in the morning or in the evenings you and I can try and get some extra food for the group?"
Ardainn stares glumly into the fire. Two traps, he walked into today. And Vors another. His taste for vengeance is undiminished, but it occurs to him that whoever set these traps could be a useful ally, or a deadly foe.
"Hunting would be good," he says. "Though it seems that this area is picked fairly thin. I would suggest we slow down, as long as we're in these trappers' territory. The tracks suggest they may have come from the southwest, and bandits also mentioned trappers to the southwest. And I have my own reasons for wishing to search in that direction."
Vors nods. I"t seems we have enough for ten days, but I would appreciate something other than weathered apples, hard cheese, and stale bread, if it can be found."
Yes, fresh food would be much tastier and much nicer. Especially for the third breakfast. Farfadet smiles in jest.
If Ardainn is up for it, after her morning prayers Asha will help him forage or hunt for extra food.
At Ardainns mention to heading to the southwest she nods "I agree we should be more cautious and I think it is a good idea to find this individual. So if that is where the tracks lead I am ok heading that direction."
Leading the group to the southwest at a more cautious pace, Ardainn does his best to supplement their weathered apples, hard cheese, and stale bread with mysterious roots, eggs, nuts and berries.
You spend two days exploring to the southwest, moving more cautiously and foraging as you go. During the first day, Ardainn was barely able to find enough food to provide for himself, but the second day found enough food to feed you all for the day.
You've seen no sign of the elusive trapper. Ardainn suspect the trapper might stick to forests and doesn't venture onto these plains. During the second day you spotted a flying creature, near the forest. It disappeared back into cover before you got a good luck at it, but it didn't seem like any bird or bat you've seen before. At this distance it was more of an elongated shape that either flew by magic or fluttered its wings so quickly that they were invisible.
Vors takes a look at the map they are making as they sit by the fire chewing roots and winter leafy greens. "Hmm, almost got this corner of our charter taken care of. Ardainn, do we have a day to head up to the remaining area to the northwest? Or do we come back much later to go through there?"
Asha chimes in "We might as well finish it off while we are here so we don't have to worry about coming back."
I agree, we should explore that part before we turn back, it would be a shame to have ridden all this way to stop here." adds Farfadet enthusiastically. "Moreover, we might meet some trolls! Or satyrs! Or bears! Or..."
You spend two days exploring the northwest hex, going slow careful to watch out for more traps. While you don't find any traps or signs of the trapper, your careful progress finds a small burial cairn in a thicket of blackberries. Its mid day when you encounter the cairn.
"Curious. I wonder who's that is?" Vors examines the cairn, but mostly looks to Asha's religious knowledge.
Ardainn scowls intently, studying the cairn to see if he can see how long it's been here, and if it represents any threat.
The cairn has been here for many years by your estimate. The blackberry thicket's roots are thick and encasing the rocks of the cairn.