Sprig looks up from his groveling and speaks. "Ye-Yeah... that's tha' thing, Ah err... did some diggin on th' punk wh-who made off with th' disk. Was rollin' with a band o' hard cases, Ah d-didn't think me 'n mah posse could take 'em by-by ourselves. Figure we-we round up some more muscle 'n hit 'em hard."
The kobold mentally prepares himself for any incoming kicks.
”And so what do you want me and my band to do ‘bout it? It’s your f@&$-up, not mine. Tell you what. Me and my band will give you two more days. Find the package and bring it back to me. If you can’t, we do it and then things get ugly for you.”
”Whadda we dew now Bawzsh?” “Gnasher” asks “Grim”.
"Well if th' platinum disk ain't important enough t' warrant additional me, Ah suppose we try'n steal it while those hardcases ain't lookin'. No way we can stand up t' a straight up fight." 'Grimm' stands up and begins to take his leave.
"Let's come up wit'a plan." The lizard says with a knowing look to his companions...
"Dragonface" says nothing out loud, but the look in his eyes through the mask say everything.
What just happened?
The orc waves Sprig away, clearly peeved by the little lizard, "Get outta here then. I don't want Bonegrinder here to get too snacky."
Sprig slinks away from the bandit camp, standing taller the farther away they were. Once they were out of earshot, Sprig huddled up with the others, checking to see they weren't followed. "Alright, looks like there's eight of 'em, mostly humans wit' a gnoll and an orc. Ah had mah face in th' ground fer almost half th' time, any of yew see what they had? Too many guns'n we'll have a disadvantage durin' the day. We wanna knock down as many as we can 'fer they come'a runnin'."
The kobold tries to draw a crude map of the bandit camp n the dirt, making note of any brush or rocks they could hide around. He's not a great artist and has to get help from the others. "That orc mentioned a boss, one above 'im. Y'all catch anythin' from any of the other bandits in the camp? Mighta overheard somethin' that could tell us what these guys 'r plannin'."
Clapping his hands together, the little lizard starts explaining his latest idea. "Alright, Ah think we wait till they send out a patrol, 'specially around nighttime. We dogpile 'em and see what we can get 'em t' tell us, then we hit the main camp. Thattaway we can cut down their numbers advantage. If we're fast an' quiet enough, we can hit th' camp proper 'fore they notice th' patrol's missing."
Then we set up and wait for the night patrol. As they pass through, Sprig and Bas confront them, trying to intimidate them into surrendering peacefully. (Bas does the heavy lifting there).
At the same time, Saraon casts obscuring mists/Fog cloud behind them so they can't be seen from the camp. While sudden fog is weird, hopefully it'll be too dark to really notice what it actually is.
Simultaneously, Ralrae casts Vanish on Brindle who sneaks up close to them while they're talking to Bas.
Ralrae will then cover us with Bas's Heavy Crossbow, since it's quieter. If he misses the first shot, then he'll go with to his regular gun, since our cover will be blown.
Sprig doesn't actually know the extents of your abilities, so feel free to role-play the planning phase
Brindle nods along as Sprig outlines the plan.
Shoundsh good. Letsh get ‘em. The one named Bonegrinder was excited to taste talking lizard...
Ralrae shakes his head dubiously. "I'm not sure how much help I will be in an ambush... My musket's a bit loud, and I'm a worse hand with a crossbow though I'm willing to try. I think we should assume hittin' the patrol is going to alert the rest of 'em. A nice surprise if it doesn't, but let's not count on it. "
Sprig shakes his head at the thought of the gnoll bandit. "Hah, well, he'd find that kobolds taste terrible. But let's not give him th' opportunity."
The lizard agrees somewhat with Ralrae's misgivings. "True, Bas's crossbow is a mite too big fer either of us t' use effectively, but with any luck they'll jet' give up peacefully. Th' less heads we gotta take th' better."
"Ah'll be honest, Ah'm probably not going t' be much use in this ambush myself. Ah'm relying on you guys. Y'all haven't let me down yet, an' this tain't gonna be no different."
Saraon nods.
"I can cover our advance with fog, and entangle the enemy to root them."
"You smaller folk at least should be able to get off one good shot at least with it. Reloading could take a bit. Just dont hesistate to step behind me once the fracas' starts Mr.Sprig"
He began in regards to his crossbow. He wasnt fully sold on the plan, but it was as good as any really.
The party finds a place to bed down a ways from the Iron Tree, in a thicket of dry and gnarled bushes.
Night rolls around, and the glow of campfires can be seen in the distance. Additionally, what seems to be about four torches leaves the camp and starts making rounds. This may be the party's chance.
Sprig looked around, trying to make out where the others were hiding, but his eyesight was never that good. He hoped they were hidden enough that they wouldn't be noticed.
As the bandit's patrol approached, he counted the torches. One, two, there were more than he expected. The kobold looked to Bas nervously. This was it, time to make their move...
Try as he might, the lizard couldn't keep the shakes down. The bandits were all bigger than him and he felt very exposed. He just hoped that Bas could keep steady.
Saraon mutters a chant in Druidic, and a thick bank of fog begins to settle over the camp.
Seeing Sprigs trepidation and mistaking it for abandonment he set teeth then he sighed. Would have been better to just lead off with an ambush.
"Oy there boss thinks he may have found something better than that trinket the dwarf had, Wealth for us all, well for you if you take our side if not well, it will be the axe for ya."
He held up his Bardich and cracked his neck readying the large polearm onto his shoulder waiting.
Brindle feels a chill down her spine as the fiend-shaman makes her disappear. Suitably cloaked the gnoll slinks behind the patrol...
[-1 armor, -1 shield]
As the fog kicks up a general commotion can be heard around the camp. Brindle, through her scouting, is able to find the night guard posted up in a small, dry pond bed, a few dregs of water left in the bottom. There are four of them, all of them the the rough-looking sort the party is used to with bandits.
One of the bandits, a woman with a crossbow, chuckles when Bas talks, "From what we heard, y'all ain't too tough. I'm thinkin' we'll just take it for ourselves. Knock out two birds with one bullet."
With that, the bandits unsheathe their weapons. The crossbow wielder draws back and shoots a bolt at Sprig, hitting the little lizard for 4 damage. Another one, this one wielding a mace with a shield made from scrap steps forward and swings at Bas, slamming into the burned man for seven damage. The others advance as well. One of them throws a punch at Bas, but swinging wide. Another one swings a scapmade pick at Ralrae, but the tiefling is able to dodge out of the way.
Sprig grunts heavily as he takes a bolt to the flank, but doesn't fall. Seems he might be a bit tougher than the average kobold. The little lizard takes a step back behind Bas, as he instructed.
Focusing elemental energy in one claw, Sprig hurls a snowball at the one threatening Ralrae, hoping to take pressure off of the gunman.
He grunt as the man struck him solidly.
"I'll get to you in a second, prick. Honey Brindle is going to love snacking on you."
He said first to the man that hit him and then called out to the bandit wench who shot Sprig. She would pay for that for sure. He reared back with his weapon bringing it crashing down on the man who tried to punch him. So Saraon wouldnt have to worry about that man closing in him. F*#! his ribs hurt.
Seeing negotiations are proceeding swimmingly, Brindle steps forward to have a conversation with the crossbow wielder. From behind. With a gunstock club. By surprise.
[+2 BAB, +3 Str] [+4 THF]
Saraon steps up and strikes at the bandit before him to prevent Bas from getting flanked.
Ralrae casts Vanish on Brindle, smiling as the gnoll disappears from sight. He himself takes care to hide from the oncoming patrol, readying the unfamiliar crossbow for a surprise attack.
Taking the woman by surprise, Brindle smacks her upside the head with the club. She stumbles, hurt and taken off guard, but not ready to fall. That is, until Ralrae's crossbow bolt hits her in the chest. Her eyes widen and the collapses.
The bandits by Ralrae curses as a magic snowball hits him in the side and he yells, "Oh I $@#%ing wish that Bonegrinder had eaten you!" He charges in at Sprig, slashing him for 5 damage.
Bas slams his bardiche into the bandit by Saraon, scoring a devastating blow and knocking the man to the ground. The bandit with the shield swings at Bas in response, but Bas is able to parry the swing of the man's mace with the haft of his weapon.
Things aren't looking too good for these bandits.
Sprig continued to back up under pressure, hoping his allies could take the fight to the remaining bandits. Courage welling up inside him, the little lizard decides to press the bandit's buttons. Reptillian smile on his face, Sprig taunts the bandit,"Sorry kid, dinner's by invitation only."
To add injury to insult, he flings a globule of acid at the bandit who attacked him.
"Brindle!See if you killed her, she seemed the leadery type."
He called out as he shifted closer to the bandit that attacked Sprig again. Damn fools would learn the hard way it seemed. With an almost over exagerrated grunt he brought his bardiche around hard torwards his new target.
Ralrae drops the crossbow to his side (being respectful of the fact that its not his crossbow), and moves away from the bandits, drawing his musket as he moves. He pulls some of his prepared magical energies into his musket, wreathing it in a fiery orange glow. He comes to a halt and shoots towards the enemy.
With the combination of a blob of acid and another mighty swing from Bas, the shield-wielding bandit falls to the ground with a mighty thud. Ralrae's bullet strikes the man in the head, spattering bone across the sand. He falls, quite dead. The night guard has been dealt with.
”Thish one? The leader? But she wash at the back?” Brindle says, clearly confused.
”At any rate, she’sh...seesh...she...ish...is...unconsh...she is not awake.” Brindle manages, shaking her head in frustration. The gnoll resists the temptation to sniff the woman. Throwing her poncho over one shoulder Brindle shrugs out of one loop of her fantastic backpack, rummaging around until she produces her masterwork manacles. With a click-clack the woman is bound, and Brindle begins to go through the captive’s belongings.
”How long do you think we have before they at the camp get sushpishioush?”
Sprig was wounded, but alive. Steadying himself on a nearby rock, the kobold grit his teeth and pulled the bolt out. Pressing a spare rag into the injury, Sprig rejoined his companions.
The little lizard fumbles with his pack, using one claw to pull out a length of rope. "Ah'd say we only have a cuppla minutes. Ah was hopin' t' take 'em quieter than that, but it taint always gonna work out thattaway. We split 'em up though, there shud only be six of 'em left. If y'all 'er thinkin' t' keep fightin' today, we shud lick our wounds 'n press into their camp. We're heading' fer a shootout."
He knew Sprig was their leader really, but fighting well that was what he did. He nodded to sprig and rubbed his gut where the bastard had struck him earlier. Glancing to Brindle he shrugged.
"Some human leaders are cowards and dont lead from the front Brindle. She was the most talktive among bandits thats sometimes a sign of who's in charge. We may have a bit more time than that, they were patrolling assuming folk didnt hear the gunshot too clearly"
He paused and looked at their prisoners then the others. Folks were liable to get a squimish.
"I might be able to get em to talk, but it wont be pleasant, You folk want to maybe head over torwards the camp for a bit while i work on em? If they get talktative i can wave you all back, if not well... No sense in you all getting blood on your hands, i've got plenty on mine already."
He offered frowning.
Brindle’s ears pick up, as she listens for sounds from the camp.
”We may not have time, but if we do, shure - you...work thrm over...and we creep closer to check out the camp...”
As the fight quickly ends, Saraon picks himself up and shakes off the dust.
"We got time to truss them up? That way we can talk to them later, when we don't require the element of surprise."
"Let's jes' tie 'em up and get rollin'. I'm sure it'll be a lot more fun t' interrogate that orc from earlier." Sprig says with a vindictive gleam in his eye. He leaves his rope for the others to use while pulling a healing potion from his pocket. With a quick motion, he quaffs the swirling potion.