"We need to be on the look our for the faeries as well. We can probably overpower these humans if we plan this right, but a single faerie could throw all our plans into disarray."
"Alright," Lief answers with a nod, "what do we do with this one then? Kill him? If we let him go he'll go right to them and ruin any planning we do..."
“Nobody will be killed without a trial! We bind them and leave some food. Then we tell the authorities!“
"Ah, yes! Killing in cold blood is frowned upon in civilized society. And we are at least close to civilized around here. But I agree that the risk is large."
Turning his attention to the man, he adds to the intimidate factor by adding his own threat. "Run to town, find a tavern and stay there. Do not talk to anyone about any of this. If you are lucky, you can stay under the radar and save your sorry soul. If we see you or hear about you talking about us, you will not live for long."
"Very well," Lief says with a shrug as the man runs away. "What is the plan then? We were fortunate to sneak up on these men, but I doubt we can count on that next time. Do we dare try to storm their building or should we try to lure them out in groups and ambush them?"
Runeson lets out a long exasperated sigh as he watches the bandit run back out into the wilderness.
"You southerners are far too soft with your criminals. Best case scenario that man goes back to attacking people on the road, murdering them and stealing their s*+@. We should have hanged him from this tree"
To punctuate his point he taps on a nearby tree as he speaks before turning to address Lief
"I think we should try to sneak in. If we attempt to lure them out they might figure out whats important to us and leverage their hostage against us. I think we need to hit them quick, quiet and before they realize who we are."
Aye. Then make what every little preparation you think prudent. And let us be on our way.
As you move, you come to the spot H1 on the road. . .
After climbing at least a hundred feet into the hills, the snowy trail finally levels off. In a clearing among the trees, a large wooden lodge overlooks a ravine spanned by a long rope bridge. Smoke rises from the lodge’s two snow-covered chimneys, and large woodpile is stacked against the outer wall. A small outbuilding stands east of the lodge, and a stone well nearly blanketed by snow is barely recognizable to the north. Several tracks lead southwest toward a detached stable.
"Sneaky just isn't my forte, but I will play along."
As you approach, you spot a trap- it is rigged to both trigger an alarm and to fire a crossbow bolt if tripped!
DC 20 Disable Device to disable it, or you can avoid it by going off the path and around.
Kolaach and Voolk step off the path and around the trap.
Lief turns to quietly ask what to do about the trap. When he sees Kolaach and Voolk beginning to make their way around it, he follows suit.
Sidestepping around the trap, but leaving it in place, you appear not to have been noticed yet.
I would say move around and back on the path.
Runeson nods his head down towards the tracks before whispering
"I think we should follow these tracks, hopefully catch the men unaware, might make our entrance into the building smoother
Lief shrugs then begins quietly following the footprints as instructed.
Troy also follows.
You can follow them easy enough through the snow.
Twin doors open into this low stable, where five stalls hold three horses and a mix of loose straw. A rack of riding gear hangs on the east wall, and a cast-iron tub sits empty in the corner.
A wooden roof extends over this wide porch. Double doors provide access to the lodge itself. Two small glass windows are set in the walls to either side of the doors.
There are tracks here as well, exiting this back door, crossing to the stable, then returning, as though a bandit checks the stable periodically from here.
Troy slowly walks into the stables.
Lief continues toward the stables with Troy.
When they arrive and find horses, he whispers, "In this weather they must be checking on the animals regularly... you'd have to give them water a little at a time or else it would just freeze, and they may be warming it first to help the horses not to freeze... if we set an ambush here, we might be able to kill a couple of them before we try to storm the building?"
Runeson tracks after the rest of the party, nodding when he hears Liefs plan, speaking softly "Sounds like a plan"
Doc shrugs and follows along. He seems more distracted by trying to follow in specific footprints in the snow than looking around for danger.
Kolaach follows and keeps an eye out for the inevitable trouble.
Troy sees the horses and tries to calm them down.
"Easy ... easy .." he whispers.
Doctor Gareau works with Troy to help keep the animals calm.
Lief moves to help with the horses, but decides that Troy and the Doctor have things under control. Instead, he finds a place to hide near the door and does his best to squeeze himself into it.
runeson finds a space in the stable to try to hide himself.
You get into position and wait, and sure enough after 15 or 20 very cold, quiet minutes, the door to the stable swings open and two bandits appear to be checking on the horses.
Right at this moment, Runeson decides to let out a massive sneeze:
And sure enough the bandits hear you!
Realizing the chance for surprise is gone here, you prepare to strike. . .
Turn Order:
1. Kolaach 18
2. Lief 17
3. Bandits 14
4. Troy 12
5. Gareau 11
6. Runeson 11
sh!t... better try to clear the door in case someone has to run down the other guard before he gets to the main building...
Stepping over to where he is a clear angle to attack from, Lief raises his greatsword and hacks at the guard in front of him.
"I mean, what are the odds" Runeson mutters to himself as he aims his crossbow at the bandit on his left.
Kolaach aims towards the first guard and fires the crossbow
Round 1
Kolaach misses with his crossbow, but the wolf bites the bandit and trips him.
Lief misses.
The bandit on the ground curses, pulling his short sword and stabbing at the wolf.
The other bandit draws his short bow, and tracking back fires at Lief.
Runeson fires, and misses.
1. Kolaach 18
2. Lief 17
3. Bandits 14
4. Troy 12
5. Gareau 11
6. Runeson 11
Blue bandit: -6, prone
Troy walks out of the other door and hits the bandit!
"Wrong choice of profession"
Gareau pulls out a small branch and plucks off some green to start waving it at Lief.
firing at the fleeing bandit
Voolk bites prone bandit