Nodding, "Sounds like a plan to me."
Though a good plan, the sheer rock walls of the canyon would prove to be a difficult climb. A hard and potentially climb could get them up right away, though a better route may exist further down the canyon.
Saraon remembers seeing reference to a dry creekbed leading up to the ridge in a map of the area that Old Pete had in his office. However, there also seemed to be an indication of a bandit guard post right behind it.
"There may be another way. A creekbed dried into a road to the ridge...but it may lead right to a post for the bandits."
Brindle nods.
"Dry creekz are trackz, and when wet, become riverz. Can cut a path like a knife."
She pauses for thought.
"Might be worth taking out the guard poszt firsht any way."
Ralrae is unfamiliar with this particular bit of the land, not having scavenged near bandit camps as a general rule of "staying alive". "Is the guard post close enough to the camp that they will hear weapons fire? I'm all for not leaving a group of enemies to sneak up behind us, but bringing the main camp down on us before we are ready doesn't exactly appeal either..."
"Any of us able to take 'em out silently? My spells can do a lot of things, but subtlety ain't one o' them." Sprig scratches absentmindedly at his side and continues.
"With a little dirt, Ah might be able to fake a landslide. Might be distractin' enough to sneak up or by 'em without blowing our cover. Heck, if there's some dirt still in this cliffside maybe Ah can make a real one."
The kobold shrugs his tiny shoulders and digs through his pack, pulling out a bear trap.
"Otherwise, ah say we get our sharpshooters on the cliffside, coverin' the team goin in. If yah stay low they shudden see yew till yer start firin'. Then th' other team head on in an' make a ruckus. Yew make a big scene an get 'em chasin' yah up th' pass. And right into our trap. We funnel 'em through the creek an' cut down their numbers."
Sprig looks down the valley and swallows noisily. "I-I If y'all don't mind Ah'll stay right 'ere. M-make sure th' traps are set right.
Brindle swallows, clearly thinking hard.
”Shimple is usually beszt. If we could hold the outpost, that might be better, having high ground and a vantage point. If not, letsh jusht go with the sh...simple plan.”
Ralrae pats the musket at his side. "I'm up for a good old fashioned shoot out, but it won't be a quiet one if I start firing. Perhaps if the close-in types made a go for the outpost? If they can surprise them without a shot being fired, we are good to go. If they don't, the rest of us come in, help clean up, and prep for the counter attack? Cover is a good thing to have, and an outpost is likely to have that." Ralrae pulls out a small rag and starts polishing the stock of his musket, keeping it clean and well-oiled. Until they decide what to do, there's some time to take care of the basics.
Brindle nods.
”Yeszh. High ground. Vantage point. Cover. A point for them to attempt, and thush drawn toward and out of their camp. It might work. Or not. But good to try.”
Sprig claps his hands together and hollers,"Alright, Let's get this done! Bill, Big Bill, y'all guard th' wagon. Ah assignin' y'all double coffee rations, yew'll need it. Take it off the road a ways, no need to attract more trouble 'fore we start some."
He waves his boys off and turns to the party, a much more nervous expression on his face. "A-alright, Ah can accompany the melee types iff'n y-yew feel the need. L-Like Ah said 'fore, no-nobody's sneakier than a k-kobold." The lizard is clearly scared, but also worried about Bas and Brindle's safety.
He cracked his neck and nodded to Sprig. He knew the little kobold did't like fighting, but he was sure glad he always offered to chip in. He shot a glance over to the gnoll woman and smiled with a nod. He still wasnt entirely sure of her mettle, but when the crazy lady tried to cleave her in twain she hadnt flinched so it was probably solid.
" Like I said, I've heard they are pretty inept. if we keep it quiet me might be able to walk right into their guard post and shut it down with no shots fired eh, Following you m'am."
He said with a nod to the gnoll woman as he checked his weapons and gear one more time.
Saraon walks up to join Bas and Brindle, drawing his curve blade and giving it a small twirl.
"I'm with you two. The three of us could take down a man right quick, especially with my magic added to the mix."
His eyes display the smile hidden by his mask.
Bill gives a characteristic silent nod, and Big Bill gives a thumbs up and a smile, "Sure thing boss! Stay safe, ya here?"
Saraon, Bas, and Brindle start to head down the canyon, with Casey, Sprig, and Ralrae sticking behind a bit.
As the three melee-types get further down the canyon, they see a low stockade with four figures standing on top. Sure enough, a dry creekbed runs in front of it, cutting a steep but manageable path up into the ridge. A rickety wooden bridge crosses the creekbed, leading to a low gate.
Brindle crouches low, and whispers to Bas and Saraon.
"Shubterfuge or shtealth? she whispers. "I could go and collapshe at the front, prompting them to inveshtigate? she continues with a glint in her eye.
Casey double checks his gun to make sure it's loaded and then checks his sight thoroughly before lowering his musket. A toothpick sits calmly between his lips as he watches the others from a distance. "Ten to one this goes south quicker than a jackrabbit runnin' scared," he states plainly to no one in particular.
"L-let's hope not. I'd like an e-easy payday." Sprig makes sure to stay behind Casey, hopefully he'd just have to follow the gunslinger's lead. "How're you gettin' along R-Ralrae?"
Ralrae pauses and sights down his musket at the distant guard post, then continues walking and replies to Sprig. "Been better. Been worse. Not too bad, all else considered. If things go south, we're here to turn it back 'round. It could be worse. We could be down there doing the close-in work. He offers a wry smile to his companions, and then turns back to the outpost, not wanting to lose track of the objective. Besides, he promised to provide backup to the melee types - he wasn't going to get distracted from keeping that promise.
Brindle crouches low, and whispers to Bas and Saraon.
"Shubterfuge or shtealth? she whispers. "I could go and collapshe at the front, prompting them to inveshtigate? she continues with a glint in her eye.
"If you are confident you may do so without our aid. I lack the talent for camouflage you've mastered," Saraon replies quietly.
Brindle gulps.
"Eh. They probably jusht shoot me to be shure before coming to investigate. We need to make sure they have no meansh of communicating with their fellowz at the camp..."
Brindle gulps.
"Eh. They probably jusht shoot me to be shure before coming to investigate. We need to make sure they have no meansh of communicating with their fellowz at the camp..."
"True, and if that be the case, I'll go with you so they'll have a more obvious target to shoot at," Saraon replies.
Sprig squints down at the others down in the canyon. His eyes weren't great on the best of nights, but the daylight was debilitating. "What are they up to down there? They capture it yet?"
"I think a trick might be too tricky. " Brindle looks back from their low position, cognizant of the rear group's likely concern.
"Without ranged attacks, we need them to come out. We could shet fire to the front of the stockade. We could climb up, but that would be bad for ush. Bash, got any ideas?"
Sprig squints down at the others down in the canyon. His eyes weren't great on the best of nights, but the daylight was debilitating. "What are they up to down there? They capture it yet?"
Casey shakes his head, "Nope. Looks like there's a handful of them raiders on top of a wall. They're fairly high up. Not sure how they're gonna get to 'em from down below. I'm thinkin' we might need to move on in and give 'em a hand. Whaddaya think, pardners?"
Saraon turns and looks towards Bas, wondering if he has an answer to Brindle's question. He knew the true warriors had to take the lead in this situation. While was not afraid to fight, tactics were not something his education had covered.
Sprig squints down at the others down in the canyon. His eyes weren't great on the best of nights, but the daylight was debilitating. "What are they up to down there? They capture it yet?"Casey shakes his head, "Nope. Looks like there's a handful of them raiders on top of a wall. They're fairly high up. Not sure how they're gonna get to 'em from down below. I'm thinkin' we might need to move on in and give 'em a hand. Whaddaya think, pardners?"
Ralrae shakes his head at Casey's words. "Let's not ruin their play before they get a chance to lay it out... If they need help, we will react but we should let them call the shots right now."
"See anything' else? Last thing we need is one o them runnin' and getting the whole nest down on our 'eads. Keep an eye out fer any horses or nuttin'." Sprig shifted on his feet, this whole thing made him nervous. Pacing back and forth, the kobold suddenly stops and snaps his teeth together.
"Ah got it!" The little lizard once again digs through his pack pulling out an odd looking twig."This lil' thang sprays out a cloud o' smoke. Brindle and our boys can toss it out front t' cover their advance. Meanwhile, yew two train yer guns on th' boys up top. Once the smoke appears, y'all take one each! We'll run in 'round the side and get th' stragglers. We jes' gotta climb out the riverbed!" Sprig looks rather proud of himself and make ready to run down to the others.
"Its a dumb idea, but uh... let me approach and talk with them a bit. Just go along with my play will ya I dont bring it up often, I used to be a bit of a bandit. I might be able to get them to think we are looking to join up."
He frowned and looked at the wall.
"If I wave at y'all with my right hand, Saroan approach me and Brindle head back to the others and tell them to come forward with the wagon. If I use my left hand... well they didnt buy it."
He told the other two and with a deep sigh, stood up and trudgeed torwards the wall doing his best to not look like a man about to lop any person's heads off.
Bas walks towards the stockade and one of the people on the stockade pipes up, a burly half-orc woman holding a sap, ”Oi, you! Hells are you doin ‘ere? Don’t recognize ya from ‘round camp.”
Brindle chews her lip, nervous and unsure. She looks abck to their hidden friends, then back to the woman on the stockade. She looks to Saraon, then back to the stockade, ready to head back to the others or...well, she isn't sure, but her paws grip her 'rang and club tight.
"we're new.We were supposed to come relieve you guys but we got a little lost. Im terrible with directions. A long wagon was spotted further south, boss wanted you guys part of the team to attack it, Were supposed to relieve you on the wall here."
He lied, shrugging up to the bandits on the wall.
The half-orc woman narrows her eys and says, ”Thing is, I didn’t see ya leave camp.” She then motions to two of the other raiders on the wall, pointing at Bas and clenches her hand into a fist before flattening it and making a sideways chop. She then calls down to Bas, ”My associates here are gonna bring you to the boss, make sure we can smooth this over.”
Though he’s not quite sure of the nature of it, Bas feels like something isn’t quite right.
The two bandits make their way off the stockade and open the gate.
Ralrae nudges Sprig with his elbow. "Ey. Something's going on down there. Looks like Bas is walking towards the gate, and there's a couple of the bandits dropping down from the stockade towards the ground... I don't like the look of this. If he walks in alone he may not get back out."
Ralrae gets down prone, sighting along his rifle towards the two remaining bandits visible at the top of the stockade.
Seeing the ruse has...worked...Brindle charges, issuing a guttural gnoll ululation as she scampers down the hill. Quick as a flash she touches one paw to her left eye and then swings two handed at a bandit.
Free Action: Enter Rampage
Swift Action: Use auspicious mark.
[+2BAB, +3 Str, +2 charge, +1d6 auspicious mark]
[+4 THF]
"Aw hell." After Ralrae's warning, Sprig hears Brindle's rumbling cry and breaks into a run, rushing down to the riverbed with a "Yeeeeargh!"
Brindle charges forward, her club slamming into one of the bandits. Though it doesn't drop the man, it certainly hits him hard.
"We will let ourselves in I guess."
He said to no one in paticular
Not much of a charger himself, Saraon strides after Brindle, moving into position next to her.
At her side, he artfully swings his sword at the bandit Brindle has bashed!
Saraon's blade flashes in the sunlight as it cuts into the bandit. Despite several blows, he stands, but only barely. Bas charges in, but the other bandit just manages to dodge out of the way of his bardiche.
The half-orc on the ramparts yells to the last bandit, "Kill that dog!" With that, she runs to just before the bridge. The bandit still on the stockade pulls out a bow and lets and arrow fly at Brindle. However, it misses the gnoll. The other two bandits press the assault, one swinging at Brindle, the other at Bas. However, the reputation of incompetence proceeds them, and they both miss badly.
"SHE IS A PERSON, NOT AN BEAST!" Saraon calls to the half-orc.
As the battle commences, "Time ta move!" Casey takes off toward the others, attempting to get in range to fire.