Marcus gave the precocious Android a nod of thanks, but she was already off meeting new people and making new discoveries. If the doctor had still been capable of smiling beneath his mask, he would have. Aisha's enthusiasm for life was infectious, even if it was a bit naive.
The doctor made his way to the caravan leaders and waited patiently nearby for their conversation to finish.
While he waited he snapped together a collapsible pole, added a pointed attachment to one end and a pennant to the other, and stuck it into the soft ground. The pennant bore the holy symbol of Sarenrae and the words MEDICAL CARE in a number of languages. Then he rolled out a leather wrap on the ground displaying many different kinds of alchemical and herbal remedies.
In his head he could feel Ashanna's wordless approval.
"An explorer and writer." she corrects, "I hope to catalogue everything that I encounter within the world. Does your statement imply that someone amongst your tribe will be braving the wilds in search of the land's blessing? Or that all of them will be?" she asks, curiously.
After the brief pause, she nods ascent, "I had not intended to ask; people often do not like when I ask questions about the conversations they are having with one another or go silent, unless they are inebriated. Often, I simply overhear answers to topics such as those." There is a brief pause before she continues. "I appreciate the advice, though." she says, dropping the subject with Lu completely and abruptly.
She notices Marcus almost immediately. "This is Marcus." she says, motioning towards the equally shady character, "He is whatever passes for a doctor around here, and is seeking to join the caravan. He is also not an android." she says with no hint of facetiousness. Introductions made, she begins to slip away from the group to look for someone else interesting.
Ishana and Lyon return to the caravan to find a Kellid tribe had set up shop in and around it and begun a party. The campsite is redolent with the smell of roasted meat, Numerian spices and the sound of raucous laughter. Regardless of whether or not they join in, the party continues until well into the night, with dancing around campfires and feasting and drinking.
Several Brevic countrymen go to Marcus during the evening, needing attention for minor medical problems - a rattling cough, a boil, a broken finger or a cut that needs a couple of sutures.
Even Kellids do not party forever, especially not with an important journey milestone to complete in the morning. After several hours of revelry the Windborne tribe's party begins to die down, and all, whether they be farmers or mages or mystics, Brevic or Numerian, tamp out the fires and go to bed. The Stolen Lands await.
On the morning of the 18th, the caravan packed the things onto the wagons and set out from Nivakta's Crossing. Each wagon rattled over the town's little southern bridge and off the main road into the mountains. With so many people untrained for wilderness survival, it's slow going, although the surroundings are very beautiful. It doesn't even take a day of travel to get far enough away from Brevoy that the land really starts to turn back to wilderness. The farms on the south side of the river eventually melt away to foothills, scrublands, and the constant chattering of birds. Each hour that the caravan travels, the higher the mountains rise on either side of the river valley which serves as a road.
On the third day of travel footpaths and a convenient lack of undergrowth change back into actual road, albeit not paved or bricked. Varnhold draws nearer.
Rumbling up the mountainside, there is a call from the vanguard of the caravan. Kesten Garess, a retired soldier from the Brevic army, rides a horse at the forefront. He calls back to whomever is listening that there is company ahead on the road. Indeed, a welcoming committee of four mounted men stands on the road up the hill from the group. Clad in cloaks and leather or hide armor, each is armed moderately. As they confirm your approach visually, one of them flicks away a cigarette. One of them flies a flag from his horse - it displays a two-headed dragon, a sword in one mouth and fire coming out of the other. While this symbol is on the flag of Brevoy, the Brevic flag is on a background of white and yellow squares. The background of this flag is solid blue.
"It's your lucky day, ladies and gentlemen!" calls out the lead horseman, his voice gravelly and gutteral. "Time to contribute to something greater than yourselves! I know it's not Taxfest, but it's time to pay up!" He grins, a hand resting on the pommel of a broadsword. He doesn't draw it, allowing the threat to be implicit.
Aisha keeps herself at a distance while the caravan travels. Each day she forages for food in the mornings, and then simply scouts ahead once the mornings are over, keeping to the cover of the wooded edges, which slow her enough for the Caravan to naturally keep up.
She had been picking her way through the woods, either slowly as she foraged for more food for the caravan, or quickly - only slightly more quickly than the Caravan could travel on the road itself, when the scout had made the discovery of horsemen on the road ahead. While she was curious, she stuck to the woods moving closer, albeit more slowly, hoping to watch the exchange from afar.
Ah, taxes. That made sense, they were maintaining the roads, and so a toll should be paid in order to help keep them fed and clothed. There were curiosities, however... such as why there were no warnings of a toll ahead; Aisha did not have much money and would have attempted to find a different road to Varnhold if she had known this one would cost money.
During their days of travel, Lu spends his time hunting while letting Sil keep an eye on his people and the caravan. Making use of his magic, he beseeches the land to guide himself, Aisha and two others capable of hunting for game. Each finds it trivial to wind through even the thickest undergrowth, as if a path had been laid for them ahead of time.
The approach of the horsemen was not missed by Lu. He had been spending his time walking up and down the line ensuring that everything was moving along well when they'd begun approaching. Back in Numeria, the appearance of people who were not of one of the tribes likely meant bandits, and he saw no good reason to expect otherwise out here. He looks about briefly for any signs of other riders as he begins to move towards the front of the caravan.
Hearing their demand as he closes, and seeing the leader placing his hand upon his hilt, his suspicions are confirmed. He whispers to Sil to watch from above, and to warn him if any further riders are approaching, then continues on to stand before the horsemen. When he arrives before them, he locks eyes with the leader and clenches one of his fists, causing the knuckles to pop audibly. Visible at the edges of his ornate breastplate are massive scars, some of which are clearly caused by the claws of a massive creature.
Addressing the man who had demanded the toll, he speaks, his eyes still fixated in a penetrating stare. "I see no signs here that these lands are occupied, much less cared for," he says gesturing around him. "and we are far from the towns and cities where travelers might expect such demands. If you are honorable and rightly demanding what is yours, you should have no qualms coming down off that horse, standing before me and making that demand again. Otherwise leave and find some other travelers to make your demands of."
Kaussek spends the first three days much as he had the last few--diligently keeping watch, weapons ready for trouble. Thus he's ready when Faluhann steps forwards to follow him.
The lizardfolk does not speak--Lu had done that for him. Instead he simply draws himself up to his full height next to the kellid, puts a hand on his warhammer... and smiles.
He had found that most humans considered that expression terrifying on his face.
The men on the road ahead wheel about on their horses. They had expected (and desired) easy prey, not two huge warriors. Two against four was good odds, but not that good. The leader calls out ahead to the group, "You'll regret this!" he shouts. "You'll wish you had paid the taxes! The Heralds will come for you, and when we do we won't be so polite next time!"
Then they wheel around and ride away, riding off of the road. They quickly disappear from view.
Kesten, a swarthy middle-aged man whose hair has not yet gone to gray, claps Faluhann on the shoulder. "Nice work, my friend... It looks like we'll need to be on the lookout for that group, though."
As she travels with the caravan Lyon would try and to make small talk among them as a good way to pass time and build trust with her traveling partners. She seemed to bore easily and would often kick random rocks along the way or hum to herself, always doing something. Unlike the others Lyon did not have the survival skills to scavenge for food and her shotgun was way too loud to hunt anything without scaring off half the forest. So she would offer to do any odd jobs around the caravan: guarding, fixing damaged parts, and whatever else needed to be done in exchange for some of what the others had gathered, if they declined she would just purchase the rations she needed.
At the signs of trouble Lyon would start to draw her firearm but when the other two caravan members moved up to meet the horsemen she would stay back and wait for any signs of escalation before getting involved.
"The Heralds?" She thought out loud as the men ran off. She would take a moment to draw the flag they carried and write a short description under it before walking up to the group of men that had confronted the would-be bandits. "Thank you for getting rid of them." She would offer her hand to the two, if Kesten was still talking she would focus on Kaussek. "Have you dealt with 'The Heralds' before?'
Marcus sighed behind his mask. Things had played out predictably. The extortion. The heroism. The bullies shrinking and covering their cowardice with threats. It would escalate predictably from here as well. Scouting. A raid or ambush. Blood and death.
The caravan was prey waiting for a predator.
The masked doctor looked off in the direction of the bandits for half a minute, thinking, briefly at war with himself. Then he walked to the front of the caravan and said simply to the gathered group, "I am going after them."
Then he started walking in the direction of the riders trail.
Marcus is trivially able to pick up on the tracks of the bandits. They proceed up the mountain. He figures he'll be able to follow them for a couple of hours, unless something changes. As he strides up the hill and off the path, Kesten calls out to him, "Wait, are you sure it's the smartest idea to go alone? There were four of them, and they were armed!"
"I'm not going to stop anyone from coming with me, but I think I'll be fine," Marcus said.
Aisha moves from her place amidst the trees to join the others. She seems at first intent on approaching Marcus, but then immediately stops as Lyon asks about the group. "Their flag marked them as Rogarvia's Heralds. They're a group that was quashed by the Brevic Military when they tried to rebel against the present government. Likely, they have situated themselves down here in the southlands, where they are difficult to approach, or simply unapproached due to a perceived lack of value of the lands." She pauses, "I do not believe they were collecting taxes, though this is technically their territory."
She turns to Lu after a moment, pressing against the bridge of her nose beneath her outfit. "It was unwise to provoke him. Not because he is going to injure you, but because I have never read a story in which a man left angry and did not return later within the arc to spread misfortune. In the future, I believe we should attempt diplomacy with those willing to open with dialogue, and then move towards threats if violence seems impossible to avoid. The bloodshed we were spared today could be made worse tomorrow." she pauses, looking after Marcus. "I will go with you to talk with them. I have ran alongside horses before, I should be able to keep up."
"I have no intention of talking to them," Marcus said calmly.
Ishana had spent most of the early morning on the caravan working on a tattoo on her forearm. She had been trying to replicate a holy symbol tattoo, using non permanent ink to make herself look like a divine magic user. The trick would be of dubious value, but Ishana still felt the idea slightly amusing at the possibility of hoodwinking someone into thinking she was something that she wasn't. Besides, it was a slightly cosmetic change to her apperance and sometimes, she just felt like something new.
With the tattoo mostly finished, she attempts to complete the illusion by using her prestidigitation to color the mark gold, trying to make it glow. She is mostly absorbed in this exercise until the caravan approaches the four riders.
Ishana immediately knows who the riders are, as well as who they represent. She approaches the front of the caravan, hoping to have a diplomatic conversation, worried that an intimidating one could cause future conflict. She arrives too late however, and she hides her disappointment and exasperation at the two males who promptly achieve what she had hoped to avoid.
Still though, she feels more alarm at the masked man going off on his own and quickly speaks up.
"That would be unwise. They have horses, and you are on foot. Even if you could track them down, there are four of them, and one of you - assuming that they don't have more allies. After all of that, even if you can track them, chase them down and defeat them unharmed, it leaves you on your own, in centaur country, who tend to be rather violent towards outsiders. We could, of course, accompany you, to perhaps complete the task quicker, but then it leaves the caravan undefended, or weaker without as many defenders should we run into further trouble."
Kaussek also followed. "A decision like this should be made as a group, not through acting so as to force the actions of the rest," he reproves. It's difficult to tell whether or not he's upset about this.
Kesten frowns at Ishana and Kaussek's reprobations, and at Marcus' possible suicidal thoughts. "Well," he says, "We're going to start going again. We need to get to Varnhold, and standing here arguing about bandits won't get us there. You all can stay, or you can follow, or you can go after those men if you like, but if you want to come with, you better decide now."
He calls back the all-clear towards the back of the caravan. Whips and slaps resound the entire length and the wagons begin to rumble uphill once again.
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The fact that the men, clearly revealed to be bandits now, turned and fled at his request was... actually a bit disappointing. But truly cowardly men like this know no honor. They would likely attempt to live up to their threat, and so the doctor's plan to leave to hunt them down would be Lu's preferred course of action. Or would have been, if it weren't for the fact they were currently escorting the caravan, and taking several people to track them down would leave it short-handed were any other problems to arise.
When Aisha explains the situation in detail, he nods. "Diplomacy is important, but requires respect and trust. This I learned from my father. A man who is unwilling to stand before you and meet you eye to eye is not someone you should trust." Even men you could look in the eye couldn't be trusted sometimes, as his father had found out not long ago. "Had we treated with these men, they surely would have gone back on their word."
The lizardman's words strike a chord, however, as it was true he had little right to decide for the entire caravan. "You are correct," he says, turning to face the lizard man and the others. "I speak for my people, but do not have the right to decide for the entire caravan. I apologize for my brashness."
Introductions would be appropriate at this point, but with the doctor keen on leaving, Lu decides to focus on that first. He turns and steps towards Marcus, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. "The girl is right. They are on horses, while we will be traveling on foot, and we do not know how far away their camp may be. Were our people safely settled, I would not hesitate to accompany you to root out these bandits. Their presence is clearly a threat to all in this region. However, these people need us here. A group of us leaving to pursue them could leave those here vulnerable to other threats. Surely as a doctor you must see this, Marcus."
Turning to all those who had stepped forward--beginning with Marcus, who Aisha had mentioned, but whom he'd not had a chance to speak to that night--Lu takes the opportunity to introduce himself. "I am Faluhann Windborne, leader of the Windborne tribe, but please call me Lu. Since all of you who have stepped forward seem to be quite capable, and eager to protect our caravan, I would be honored to learn your names as well."
"Worrying about theoretical other threats while ignoring this one is foolish."
"They are not going far. They have a camp nearby, probably not more than an hour's ride. Likely closer." Marcus said simply. "They are going to return to it and fume about being driven off. They will send a rider back to their main force, which is further away but still not far. The rest will track our movements from the treeline. They will return tomorrow or the next day with a larger force. They will likely attack at night and kill as many of these people as they can."
"I am not going to let that happen. Come with me, or don't. That is your choice."
"Oh, ok." Lyon spoke softly and lowered her hand in disappointment as Lu and Kaussek both seemed to ignore her to speak to the others. She turned her attention to Aisha when she answers the question in their stead, Lyon jotted down the Android's words before speaking up. "Thank you." She would offer her hand again but to Aisha this time. "I suppose that is going to be a common theme out here, lots of people are out here carrying their life savings and not everyone can afford to defend themselves." When everyone starts bickering over giving chase Lyon would try and speak up so she isn't ignored again. "If they are running back to a camp we won't be able to do much against all of them and if the guards die out in the woods then the caravan is an easy target."
Aisha looks at the hand curiously, tilting her head for a moment, before realizing why the hand had been offered. She takes it and shakes it loosely. "I am armed, and capable of arming myself further with ease. Shaking hands means little in this situation. My name is Aisha." Her tone isn't threatening, simply informative; something that Lyon might not understand yet, but would come to understand with time.
"I could likely go check up on them, and return with information. I do not agree that leaving the caravan mostly undefended for this is wise. If there is another bandit group just down the road... or centaurs... then we leave the caravan at immediate greater risk to chase after ghosts. I can go alone, or with a very small group, but I will not leave the caravan without protections."
She returns her attention to Lu, and simply shrugs, having little else to say. She had forewarned him of the way these tales normally went, and that was good enough for her. That he had traditional wisdom that backed his own perspective wasn't worth arguing against; she'd learned that long ago. She takes a moment to choose her words carefully.
"I can move as quickly as the horses for the majority of the time as I follow their trail back to their camp. I can then outpace the caravan to return with information. I will not leave the caravan undefended."
Kesten shrugs. "There should be a farm a few miles up the road. We can wait for you there awhile, maybe even make camp on level ground if the locals will let us stay. Otherwise, just follow this path until you find us again. Good luck."
"I would be a detriment to a stealthy approach," Kaussek states. "I will await your return with the caravan."
"Oh, ok." She repeats at the strange comment but she did agree with the woman that handshakes seemed to be pointless here. "I'm Lyon from the Pathfinder Guild in Absalom." When the caravan starts to move again she would follow along side it, assuming she could keep up, with her weapon drawn just in case there was more trouble ahead.
"A pleasure to meet you, Lyon," he responds with a nod.
"It seems we have some who wish to stay back and protect the caravan, so I will accompany you two on the road then. It is only fair that I bear some of the burden being the one who sent them fleeing with their tails between their legs." He laughs, thinking about how quickly the men fled. "With some help from you, of course," he adds, nodding at the lizardman.
The tracks of horses are easy to follow, even as the ground gets firmer on the mountainside. A group of such large creatures leaves an easy trail to follow, and for about an hour you're all easily able to hike off-road towards wherever those bandits got off to.
After the first hour, a thin trail of smoke can be seen rising over the treetops. A campfire, must be. The assembled three warriors climb just a little bit farther. There, through the undergrowth, Aisha and Marcus and Lu can see six men with a small camp set in a little dell. A few tents, a makeshift hitching post, and a little cooking station rest around a minor campfire. Four horses are tied up at the hitching station. Four of the men you can recognize, and the other two are younger - probably mid-teenagers. All have laid down their weapons for the moment, and they can clearly be heard complaining about the encounter that they've just had. One, the previous leader, says "Steve, one of us is gonna have to go speak to Mr. Morgan about this." The second man grunts. "Maybe Arthur can do it," he says, indicating one of the two younger men. "We'll need... what do you think, twenty guys to really hustle a group that size?"
The caravan moves at a walking pace, so it's a relatively simple affair for Lyon and anyone else who wishes to walk alongside the caravan with weapon drawn. No more bandits or monsters leap out of the undergrowth onto the path to eat anyone, so you are merely subjected to a forty-minute walk up the path to the first farm on the outskirts of Varnhold's territory. Still about two days' ride from Varnhold itself, these people are the sort who do not really want to live in a growing town.
The road and hillsides flatten out as the caravan enters the farmland itself, which must be built on some sort of ruins. The farmhouse's foundation is ancient mossy stone, and the crops are on terraced platforms both above and beyond the land with the house and barn, built and leveled into the hillside. A variety of springtime vegetables and fruits grow in the terraced gardens.
Nobody is clearly visible from the edge of the land, which is marked by a rough-cut wooden fence and a wooden arch which a wagon can pass through. On top of the arch is a sign which says, "The Upton Farm, No Trespassing"
The braying of cows can be heard from inside the barn. When Kesten walks ahead to call for someone, nobody answers.
Lyon walks forward to meet Kesten. "Maybe it would be best if a few of us went ahead of the caravan and talked to them?" She stows her weapon at the suggestion. "I'd be happy to go alone if none of the others are interested but I think a small group would have better luck convincing them to let us stay than everyone just going onto their land."
Unless Kesten or one of the others protests Lyon would start heading towards the house, she examines the architecture as she walks on.
"Can you circle around and untether their horses?" Marcus whispered to Aisha.
Marcus began quietly opening bear traps and placing them on the soft ground in front of himself, twisting the anchors into the soft ground.
Aisha had kept a small amount of distance between herself and the other two, expecting Marcus to be significantly less quiet than she was, but she was not quite fortunate in that regard, as she neared the edge of the clearing...
If they don't immediately spot her, she'll do as Marcus asked.
"I'll join you" Ishana remarks quickly, seeing Lyon step forward and put her hand up. "I can be rather persuasive when I need to be, which might be useful if they are rather cross."
Ishana glances at the animals, gardens, and property checking to see if they looked well fed or maintained. She was a little worried that Kesten had heard no response and wondered if the occupants had met an unfortunate end.
By sheer bad luck, Aisha stumbles out past the undergrowth into plain view. By sheer good luck, she manages to quietly retreat back behind a tree before anyone turns to look in her direction. The six gang guys continue chatting.
Kesten decides to go along with Ishana and Lyon. He strides onto the farmland, his gaze not wandering like the two women.
Neither of them can tell exactly what type of civilization the ruins were left by, although based on the size of them it was certainly some kind of species of giant.
As the three get closer to the farmhouse, it becomes clear that there's no one here. It's too quiet (besides the braying of the animals emanating from the barn). The door to the farmhouse has been left open. No one comes to greet you.
Ishana preemptively casts Mage Armor, before hanging back for a moment. "My teachers indicated that I was pretty unobservant at critical points, so I might not be the best person to walk forward and spot someone in hiding. Anyone have better eyes than mine?" she asks to those present.
Kaussek hangs back with the caravan for the time being--while actually fairly diplomatic, he knows his appearance alone might ruin any chances they have of a peaceful discussion. Though he suspects there is something very wrong here...
Between his size and lack of subtlety, Lu was not the stealthiest of people. Knowing he'd likely be seen anyway he positions himself slightly further back to allow Marcus to place traps before him. He didn't quite agree with their use, but battle was about to start, and there was no time to argue now.
Lyon looks relieved to have another Pathfinder on the trip, even one so strange. "It's kind of a long story and I think the others are leaving if you plan to follow them." She motions to Lu and Marcus as they started to move onward. "We can catch up when you get back?"
Seeing that the door was left open immediately put Lyon on high alert, she would draw her weapon again and slowly move towards while keeping a close watch for anything that seemed out of place or signs of a struggle. "I'll take the lead but keep an eye out. If those guys were bandits they might have been here recently."
If Lyon does not find anything suspicious in the house she would report back to Ishana and Kesten before heading to the barn.
Aisha circles around to the closest point to reach the hitching post, then dips low, her form hugging the ground as best it can with her legs not particularly articulated for low movement. Even still - she's fairly swift.
Lyon enters the farmhouse. After her eyes adjust to the light, she finds herself in a large central room. A fireplace sits to her left, next to which are a couple of large rocking chairs, blankets thrown over them. Further into the room, there is a stove, a low dining room table, a kitchen, and a bar. Nearly everything inside is made of wood. A deer head hangs from one wall, and a bear pelt from the other. Cold ashes fill the fireplace.
In the center of the room there is a ladder which leads up to a loft containing beds a bedside table and a gas lamp.
There is no one here, although there are three raccoons who dart underneath one of the tables when Lyon enters. Up the ladder, the beds are made and unslept-in. Worse, although the raccoons have long since eaten the food, the table was clearly set for dinnertime.
One of the bandits jumps up as Faluhann stumbles into plain view. "Hey!" he shouts, and the other guys turn. The bandit who spotted Lu points a finger and says, "It's that caravan guard! He done followed us!"
Promptly they pick up weapons and stand, taking a few steps towards Lu. "You lost, friend?" says one. "You better run back to the road while you still can," says another.
They don't seem to have spotted Aisha, who has begun to circle around their campsite to where the horses are hitched, or Marcus, who is nearly finished setting up the first of the bear traps.
The emptiness only makes Lyon more uneasy, if there were signs of a struggle at least she would have an idea of what happened. She returned outside to tell the others what she had found. "It's empty, like scary empty. A table is set for dinner but it looks like they just walked off. I'm going to check the barn just to be safe."
"Ishana, are you good with animals?" Lyon wasn't sure if trying to turn into animals meant spending a lot of time with them but it was worth a shot. "If this place really is abandoned maybe we should let the animals out, unless the caravan wants them?" She offered to Kesten. "Just seems cruel to leave them to starve."
Regardless of the other's answers Lyon will move to check the barn.
It looks like four or five people lived here.
Inside the barn, there's a half-dozen chickens, a cow, and a horse. Nothing of note is evident from the doorway or window - it seems like it's just got hay and animals. It reeks of old shit.
Similarly bothered to Lyon, Kesten heads into the house and spends a few moments chasing out the raccoons. "Still someone's house," he reasons, closing the door behind him when he steps out. "You think there's something to find in there? Can anyone track?"
"Stall them a few more moments," Marcus whispered to Lu through the Message link Aisha had created.
"Aisha, send the horses running when the fight starts."
The tracks of horses are easy to follow...
Lyon returns to Kesten after finding nothing at the barn. "I don't know, this all feels very wrong. It's like they just walked off or vanished? It might not be safe for the caravan to camp here if we can't figure out what happened." Lyon's tone makes it clear that she is very much out of her element. "I'm not really trained for it but I'll try to figure out what I can. Ishana, do you want to check the barn while I search the house?"
Ishana sighs at Lyon's comments. "I said it before but I'll say it again, but I don't have particularly sharp eyes. It means that if someone is obviously standing in front of me, I can spot them, but if you want someone looking for clues, its better that you check both buildings instead of me. It would take more time, but there is less chance that something gets missed."
It's clear that it's for sure been awhile since whomever was here, was here. There's a layer of dust on all the furniture, and the pitcher of milk in the kitchen has gone sour. Aside from the obvious clues, nothing particularly sticks out, but it's been at least three days since the farmers left - probably more.
Maybe that's why Lyon, who has no training at the task, has such an issue finding anything trackable. Springtime rains play hell on tracks, and it's been multiple days...
Curious people start to come up to the edge of the property, disembarking from their wagons. Kaussek and Ishana hear a lot of 'what's going on?'s and 'why have we stopped?'s. About a dozen people head up to lean on the property fence. One young man, a simple-faced farmer with a threadbare white tunic and a straw hat, dares to say "Well if nobody's home maybe some of us can just move in?"
Kaussek steps forward when tracking is called for. "It has been some time since I have hunted much, but I might perhaps be able to find something of use."
"I am afraid I am also poorly suited to searching for clues here," he adds on to Ishana's statement. He looks over at the young farmer. "I would not recommend it. As we see now, being alone in this sort of territory has many dangers."
Lu steps out to further draw the focus to him, making sure the entire group of bandits can clearly see him. "Those who hear the voice of the land are never lost," Lu responds to an approving chirp from Sil.
"I came to deliver a message: Stop thieving like cowards for your dinner and instead earn it. Our caravan can always use a few more guards, and there will be space and opportunity where we are headed. Or continue your path, and one day you will bite off more than you can chew."
Kaussek's words resonate poorly with the crowd of homesteaders around him. They break out into murmurs like, 'maybe it was a mistake coming here,' and 'that lizard-man is right,' and such things. Another farmer, a young and pretty woman, approaches Kaussek. "So," she begins, casting a furtive glance at the farmland which Kesten and Lyon are exploring, "What happened here? What makes it so unsafe?"
At the same time, the straw-hat-wearing farmer who spoke up first snorts. "To be honest, lizard-man, I don't really need your recommendation." He pats the wood of the fence. "This is the kind of place I came here to live in. My son and I can handle trouble as it comes."
Meanwhile, Kesten breaks off from Lyon. "I served in the cavalry for a long time," he says. "I can handle a hungry cow, I'll go check out the barn." When he reaches it, he slowly opens the door and heads in. He can be heard giving comforting noises and simple commands to the animals in there. Then, he leads the animals out onto the yard where they hungrily begin to graze.
After he gets the animals out of the barn, Kesten heads back in, but he comes back out fairly shortly. "Nobody in there," he says. "Just cowpats, hay, and a lockbox. I left it alone - I figure the farmers aren't inside it."
Faluhann and the others are able to get a better look at the six bandits now. The leader is a big man, probably Kellid by descent but clearly not part of any tribe. A broadsword sits at his hip and he wears chainmail. He has the banner that flies from his horse pinned to his chest, and rough-chopped hair frame an ugly, snorting face. The second, older bandit is a smaller and leaner man wearing leather. Punching daggers are sheathed on his hips, and a bow is slung over one shoulder. He looks like he probably drinks too much and his hair is greasy. The next two men are younger, probably in their mid-twenties. They're clearly Brevic, and carry themselves without as much discipline or will as the first two. They both carry simple clubs, and are armored in only padded armor. Neither of the two teenagers is fresh-faced, and one has an ugly burn scar which mars his cheek and one eye. Both are armed, one with a longsword and the other with a handaxe. Still, they look the most uncomfortable with their environs. One is even wearing what looks like the remains of a university uniform.
The bandits are taken aback by Faluhann's words at first, staring at him bug-eyed. Then the big, chain-wearing leader breaks out into a laugh, and the rest of his cronies follow along. "The guy with a bird for a friend thinks he knows what's up!" he cries. "Listen, friend."
"I'll give you some free advice: Get outta here now, and me and my buddies won't carve you up and use your remains to lure bears to your friends. Head back to your little wagon train and gather up what gold and silver you can, and then put it in a nice, convenient box for our Mister Morgan when he arrives. Pay your protection fees and we'll even take care of the other, less friendly gangs and maybe even a couple of fey for you. Trust me, it'll be easier that way than the other way."
Meanwhile, Marcus has finished quietly setting up the second bear trap. Aisha has reached the horses.