"Sounds like we have a plan. Terri will convince her that Blackheart is going to do something horrible to her unless she tells us the truth about the Stag Lord." Jennet grins wickedly. "Tell her we saw the tracks of four bandits that left camp recently, and ask where they were going...if she says anything but the trading post, Blackheart can catch her lying with her spooky powers--she'll be afraid to lie after that."
"The scars look pretty old, Blackheart," she adds. "I'd guess they're from a former life as a prisoner or sailor or slave."
"... Even the chauvinist half-Elf," she adds, raising her voice so Torod can hear.
Torod looks up at the mention of his name. "There's work to be done. It would be nice if you'd help do it. You hens can gaggle while you work can't you? That goes for you too, Strawberry" Torod goes back to work grumbling.
"On second thought, he can pack up the loot for transport while we get on with things," Asta says, her voice a little more frosty than usual. It's quite a feat, really...
"The scars look pretty old, Blackheart," she adds. "I'd guess they're from a former life as a prisoner or sailor or slave."
"Or she could be a Kuthite." Terri half-jests.
"If she is, torture would be useless anyway, so no need to even think about it," Asta says, and she shakes her pale white hair. There is an unmistakable note of relief in her voice...
Jennet hobbles over to Torod. “Come on then, old man,” she says without rancor, “It’s you and me on packing duty.” She nickers at the horses and arranges their tack and loads as Heptamegistos herds them over.
"I wouldn't relax just yet. We still have not decided your fate."
Terri kneels next to the bandit leader using her quarterstaff to support her as she does so, her face just inches from the other woman's. Her voice carries every ounce of menace she can muster.
"You may think that there's nothing we can do to you that'd make you talk. Your life is forfeit, but I can get fairly creative when it comes to making your life miserable, and there are other's that could make me look as clever as a stupid ogre. As a matter of fact, I bet I can make you beg for damnation in Hell before it's done."
Terri taps the tip of the staff to the bandit's knee.
"Would you be willing to tell us what you were doing out here in exchange for not having to walk back to Oleg's with a broken knee or two?"
Croft flutters over and lands on Terri's shoulder.
"Look," he says in a conversational, even reasonable tone of voice, "if she doesn't cooperate, she's basically dead weight, right? So here's the thing: I like my meals fresh and warm, so if you haven't got a use for her, there's no reason why I shouldn't be allowed to eat out her eyes, is there? I mean, come on. Give me one good reason. Look at them, they're so yummy and moist..."
Croft clicks his beak at the bandit, and his tongue slithers out a few times, as if he were trying to lick the lips he does not possess.
"Maybe, but you didn't. We not only captured you, but killed everyone else in your band. You have two options. First you can tell us what you know and join us in stamping out the banditry in the area. Second, you can act like a petulant child, refuse to repent, and we will put you to the sword. Your destiny is in your hands and your hands alone. Choose wisely."
Terri's voice is calm and soft, but the ice in it is very real. She'd heard what this did, and seen what her subordinates had done. She was not feeling merciful.
Unfortunately, this was not coming across well at all.
Valeria walks over to Torod while the interrogations are taking place, while keeping her eye on the treeline. Even so, it's obvious her mind is somewhere else.
"So, Torod, I've gotten to talk to just about everyone but you. Care to tell me a bit about yourself?"
Torod gives her a sideways glance. "I'm a simple man that likes simple things. Not much else to me really."
Perception
Valeria nudges Torod, and noticing that he sees them as well, Valeria moves towards the interrogation group, passing Jennet along the way. "Riders," she says simply, motioning in their direction. When she reaches the interrogation party, Valeria quickly replaces Kressel's gag and says to Asta and Terri, "We may have company. Riders on the plains."
"Pox," Asta curses. She uses her quarterstaff to nudge the brigand to her feet.
"Up, you, and be quiet," she says, menace in her voice. "Terri, tie a lead to her. Croft? If she makes one move I don't like, just one wrong move... See to it that she will not be able to see the punishment I send her way coming."
"Oh, boy!" Croft caws happily. "Hors d'oeuvres!"
The raven flaps over to the brigand and sits on her head. "Don't mind me," he tells her in a cheerful tone of voice. "Just checking which eyeball looks ripest... Who am I kidding? I'll take 'em both, anyway!"
The ravn laughs; a harsh, cawing sound.
Torod calls Strawberry to him. "We'll go and figure out their intent. You women take up ambush spots to keep us covered." Torod goes to where he figures the riders will enter the camp area and stands in the open with Strawberry lounging as only felines can lounge close by.
"Alright."
Terri takes a minute to tie a lead tightly to the ropes already binding her. She leaves the woman to the others and heads up to the platform and tries to get a bearing on what's happening. Her bow is ready and an arrow is ready to be launched if things go south.
Jennet vaults into Heptamegistos’s saddle. The two of them trot to Torog’s side. “We’ll await them together, First.” she says. “Diplomacy isn’t in your nature.”
She stares vaguely through the trees, waiting for the riders to enter her field of view, reciting a prayer to Erastil who tames wild hearts.
Torod is content to let them pass.
Jennet sits regally in the saddle, preparing herself for whatever the riders may portend.
She sits there for a long, long time.
"Are they almost here?" she finally whispers to Torod.
"Passing at a distance, it would seem," Asta replies, her blue eyes following the riders. "I suggest we return to the outpost. There may be better arrangements for questioning the prisoner there."
Valeria steps out from her hiding spot, pulling Kressle with her as she does so. "True, and I'm sure Oleg would like a few words with this one. Anyone find Svetlana's wedding band, by chance?"
"No. No rings, just wine and mundane supplies. We can get a better accounting once we're back at Oleg's."
"We should say a few words over them, at least," Asta says, eyeing the corpses. "Maybe we should even bring them along - to increase confusion with the other bandits."
“Let’s bury them,” Jennet says. “These bandits had family. Showing some respect to their bodies might help prevent feuds later on.”
Jennet sets to digging graves, transferring goods between wagons, hitching horses from the bandit camp to the wagon--whatever work needs doing. She also takes a minute to instruct whomever will be driving the wagon on how to handle a team of horses.
The last thing she loads into the wagon is the bear trap. “Might come in handy!” she says, grinning.
"If we take the time to bury them and whatever, it'll be too late to go back tonight. We'll have to wait until tomorrow. That means we'll have to keep an eye on that woman for that much longer."
"I've heard stories. I'd rather put them to rest and not worry about them rising again. We can have two keep watch to keep her in check if it comes to that."
Terri helps Jennet bury the dead and load the wagons, amazed that the crippled woman was out pacing her.
"H-*pant* how do *pant* you do it."
Valeria stays with the prisoner, watching over her while the others go about working with the camp in preparation for leaving.
Jennet grins at Terri. "Slow and steady wins the race. I've been working a farm since I was six--this is like an afternoon nap for me."
Terri rides at the back of the group.
Torod
Strawberry
"Is anyone keeping an eye on the woman? She seems to be fidgeting quite a bit."
Asta takes a look at the prisoner and, methodically but not too cruelly, knocks her unconscious with a punch to the jaw.
Terri keeps having trouble keeping up with the others and doesn't know what's going on until Torod says something and Asta throws a punch.
"Hehe. That's how its done. Next time use club or a nice stick."
Asta waves some feeling back into her knuckles and gives Torod a sober look. "Hnn. Too easy to crack a skull that way, when they're restrained."
"Whatever. Just keep an eye on her. I got a feeling that cow has horns."
Jennet, riding by the wagon, chuckles at Asta's stoney left hook. "I knew she should be afraid of you, Blackheart. Keep the reins a little tighter, though, the team should know you're always there."
"I didn't have to do this a lot at home," Asta grumbles, as she awkwardly tries to follow Jennet's advice. "I was a secretary, for Nethys' sakes..."
Keep moving.