Obviously in charge. Let's hope this works
Kern immediately targets the woman giving orders and fires off a Toppling Magic Missile at the woman befoire saying anything
Obviously I need more practice
"You have exactly one chance to surrender. Do so now, and gain the possibility of mercy. Fail to thrown down your weapons, and you lose that."
0-Acid Splash, Mending, Prestidigitation
1-
(Specialized: Enlarge Person)
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Kern's spell damages the woman, but fails to knock her down. She then drinks something and vanishes. Halden gets two solid hits on the bandits in studded leather. The other bandit lets out a loud roar of incoherent rage and swings at Pyros.
The other two fearing another volley from Halden, both return the favor.
But they miss badly.
Finally, the bandit that Pyros grievously wounded steps to the side (flanking w/ the greatclub bandit) and stabs at him with his shortsword.
Pyros's luck runs out when the bandit slips under his guard and stabs him deep in the side.
Missed? Stop rushing. Take more time to aim properly.
Teryll steadies himself and first another arrow at the thug attacking Pyros.
Frowning and nose wrinkled like she's smelling just the worst thing ever, Signy goes ahead and jumps into the fight. Things don't seem to be going great.
Halden keeps up his attacks on the two enemy archers, trying to prove himself the superior marksman.
Kern shakes his head, "You had your chance"
Seeing Pyros is in trouble, Kern moves to flank the wounded bandit flanking Pyros, "Termach, kick".
Kern energizes his staff and strikes, but fails to maintain sufficient control for Termach to attack.
Seeing everything spiral completely out of control, Faerin targets one of the bandits not currently in melee with a dart, hurling it with surprising accuracy.
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Teryll and Halden both miss their marks, Signy moves up to flank the bandit with the greatclub and hits him, Faerin is able to wound one of the archers again, and Kern rides up and drops the bandit with the shortsword.
Linzi, seeing the threat of the raging bandit, attempts to take him out of the fight.
A look of confusion briefly crosses his face as he suddenly drops to the ground, laughing hysterically.
Feeling suddenly light headed, Pyros thinks fast. Stepping back from the fighting, he draws and drinks a potion.
As his wounds reknit, he drops into a defensive stance, focusing on not being hit again until he can gather his wits.
I don’t think I can do Total Defense or Fighting Defensively without devoting an action to them, unfortunately. That’s a preview for next turn, I suppose.
Pyros draws a potion, then sees the effect of Linzi's spell. Capitalizing on the opportunity, he slashes down at the laughing bandit.
He turns the swing into a weaving motion, settling into a defensive stance that, he hopes, will give him time to drink his potion in a moment.
Fighting Defensively
HP 2/12
AC 21 (Flat-footed 14, Touch 17)
Signy doesn't love the idea of having a couple of guys standing around trying to turn her and her companions into pincushions. On the other hand, she estimates the big guy on the ground is the most dangerous immediate threat so she sticks to him.
She gets a thrust in with her blade before he can get back on his feet. She recognizes Linzi's spell and knows it won't last long.
Halden continues his tactic of firing one arrow at each of the archers, hoping to take them both out before they can hit one of his teammates.
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Pyros, Signy, and Harrim all hit the bandit on the ground, severely wounding him, but not knocking him out. Halden misses his first target, but nails the second, dropping him. Then Linzi gets a solid hit on the second archer dropping him as well.
The bandit on the ground refuses to give up, but you cut him down as he tries to stand (not going to waste time with him). There is no sign of the woman who disappeared.
Seeing all of the opponents down, Kern dismounts and checks on the man in the apron.
"Are you harmed?"
"No, they never actually harm us, just bully and steal. Although who knows how rough it would get if we refused to hand over their "taxes." The man replies.
"I am Oleg, master of this trading post. You must be the group Jamnadi sent word of."
Hmm. I’ll double check HeroLab. You’re forgetting +1 to Attack and Damage from Possessed Hand, but that throws the damage numbers off too. +1 Inspire Courage and +1 Insight would account for the Damage, but then my Attack bonus is wrong. I’m at work right now, but I’ll double check when I get home.
As the last enemy is cut down, Teryll moves up to the rest of the group. While Kern checks on Oleg, Teryll instead moves to the spot where the woman was last seen, and looks to see if he can tell which direction she went; or if she truly left at all.
Faerin rounds up the horses, speaking to them quietly to calm them after the chaos of the fight. "So they just show up to 'collect'? How regularly?"
As soon as the fight is over, Signy spins around to Pyros.
"What is wrong with you?" she asks in an aggravated voice.
Fresh from drinking his CLW potion, Pyros confusedly glances over his recently-closed wounds. "Uh, less now than a minute ago. I'll be fine with some rest."
Signy grimaces "No, what's wrong with your g!&&!!n head? What were you thinking?"
Pyros looks only slightly less confused. "We were sent here by the Aldori to break the grip of the bandits dominating the area, especially those of the Stag Lord. These people were bandits, explicitly henchmen of the Stag Lord. They're the precise people we were sent to fight. They made clear they had no respect for the Aldori, so there's no chance they were leaving because we asked nicely. It was always going to come to blows. Why not seize the initiative?"
Halden puts away his bow and turns to Pyros. He says in a calm voice "The problem, Pyros, is that charging into a group of enemies by yourself without warning is a good way to get yourself killed. That bandit gave you a nasty beating. You're lucky those archers weren't very competent or it could have gone much worse. I know you get upset when someone insults your Aldori masters, but try not to be so reckless next time."
His opinion on the matter stated, Halden begins looking over the corpses for valuables.
"I'll admit that that was a bit of a miscalculation. I wasn't able to catch them as off guard as I had hoped, and the one did get a lucky shot in. I will attempt to be more careful in the future."
"Good. I'm glad we understand each other. The Stag Lord's got a lot more men than we do, so we can't afford to lose anyone to carelessness."
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Signy is apoplectic.
"Ooooh, I see. I'm so relieved that you were able to take care of all that hard thinking stuff for all the rest of us, and then seize the initiative like a snake under a log."
"Nice story. The thing is though, I witnessed all of it. You couldn't, or wouldn't, control yourself. She slighted your little club so you went at her, no weapon in her hand. But! There happened to be someone in the way, just standing there. So you cut them down instead. Then when your ass was getting handed to you, the rest of us were forced to step in and save it."
"You got all pissy about what she said. That's the deal. I myself disagree with you about whether or not things were 'always going to come to blows'. See, she ran and told her people to do the same when you made your move. Doesn't seem like they were itching for a real fight all that badly. But we'll never know now who was right because we can't ask them can we?"
"The part that really gets me, aside from your eagerness to kill people who aren't prepared to defend themselves, is this. You decided our lives were worth settling your petty little grudge. I can't seriously believe you are so insane that you actually thought you were going to handle them all. You expected us to jump in. I, or any of us, could have been killed when we did. We mean less to you than your ego."
"If you are in any way representative of the Aldori, I have no respect for them anymore either. And mark my words, if you ever pull that kind of crap again, I will not have your back. That's a vow."
Teryll walks back to the group just as things start getting heated.
"I'm no expert in matters of warfare, but I know a bit about scrapping with bandits. Letting them goad you into rushing in will get you or maybe all of us hurt or killed. We were fortunate that they weren't prepared for us. In their own territory, they set ambushes, or one distracts you while another slides a knife into your back. This may or may not have come to a fight regardless, but in general I'm not one to needlessly kill a man that surrenders. If they won't yield then I'll do what's needed. Same as chopping off a gangrenous leg; when it's time to do it, do it quickly and don't make them suffer for it"
He looks around.
"In any case, better we hash this out now than later on. If we don't work together we're doomed to fail. Also if you're wondering, the woman who vanished made a run for it. So at least she didn't hear our private discussion.
Kern shrugs at Oleg, waiting for the argument to subside, "Jamandi sent us, yes, with the mission of removing the Stag Lords and ending the bandits he controls."
"To that end, I think we are not going to have time to stay yet. We need to track down their leader so we can intercept whatever new threat they may pose here. Oleg, you've been seeing these bandits for some time. Can you tell us how many different faces you've seen during these...collections? That will give an idea how many may be at their camp."
Pyros is silent for a long moment. "We were sent here to eliminate these very bandits. So yes, I thought it was bound to end violently. These aren't the sort of people to have a revelation of the moral rectitude of our cause and leave peacefully. And yes, I expected the rest of you to back me. Because that's what we were sent here for. To get rid of these people." he holds up a hand to forestall any response. "But. I see your point. I should not have allowed myself to be goaded, and I should not have attacked without coordinating with the rest of our group. I will endeavor to do better in the future. You have my word on that, however much or little it may be worth to you."
Responding to kern, Oleg says, "Kressle, the woman, is the one that usually handles collections here. Despite her job, at least she keeps the others in line when they come here."
He rubs his chin as he thinks for a moment.
"However, your presence will demand a response. They will definitely send a group to deal with you. I would expect them to be here in six hours or so. If you aren't here when they show, I don't know how it will go for us."
A woman rushes out of the main building to Oleg's side.
"Are you alright? I told you to not argue with those bandits, Kressle can only constrain them so much!" She says worriedly.
Signy is wound up, ready for pushback from Pyros. When it doesn't come, she left wrong-footed for a moment.
"Well, alright then. Good."
But she does snipe one more time.
"We were not specifically told to kill them. 'Get rid of', 'clear out', and so forth are not the same same thing as 'kill'. We might have had other options to try with a little creative thinking. I doubt we do now though. It's a self-fulfilling prediction to believe killing them was the only choice."
With that she goes to introduce herself to Oleg and Svetlana. When she's done so she adds "about six hours until they're back? That's enough time for a bath. Is it possible to get a bath here?"
When Oleg mentions them returning, Pyros looks to the towers and walls of the fort, his earlier argument practically forgotten. ”A few of us on the walls with bows should be able to thin their numbers. I don’t suppose you have any heavier weapons that we could use, do you?”
"No fear Master Leveton, six hours gives us ample time to prepare for them. And I believe I can speak for all of us when I assure you and your lovely wife that we will not abandon you to them."
He looks at the rest of the group;
"Allow me to introduce everyone. The swordsman there is Pyros Adlori, the archer is Halden Elwood, the young lady with the rapier is Signy Birkirsdottir, the other young lady is Faerin Cordova, the gentleman with the staff is Kern Therensgard, and I'm Teryll Tholor." pointing out each of the others, and offering Oleg his hand to shake at the end.
"Now that introductions are out of the way, might I be able to browse your goods? I came into some gold, and would like to purchase some additional equipment if possible."
Looking back to the others;
"After that we can survey the trading post to look for the best ways to defend it."
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The wooden palisade is just a simple barrier, it has no interior platform. The four corners do have unroofed quard platforms with small catapults, but they are disabled and unrepairable in the time available. The same goes for the front gate. However, there is a wagon and several crates that could be used as cover inside the courtyard. In addition, after surveying the trading post, you find a large vat of old tar that could be used to make a 30x30 area difficult terrain as well as some old bear traps that could be set up.