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Coloua is able to pinpoint the location of the offending sleeping noises. Once she has done so, she makes her way back noting that she did not see the locks she thought she saw earlier. Perhaps they were an illusion, perhaps the GM was an idiot for a moment. She gets back and shares the information.
Svetlana shook her head "Now Miss, you're blowing hot air my way. I can tell just by you showing up in that carriage that you've lived the fanciful life and a horse trough is hardly matching to what you might be used to...but I appreciate it all the same." she said smiling brightly. "I'll consider this down payment on how much I'll owe you when you two manage to get rid of those bandits." she said chuckling a bit but then instantly her mood dampening some. "I'll leave you to enjoying bath Miss." she said before excusing herself and making her way to make sure Daniella didn't have anything she could help with.
Triss follows along behind the others quietly. When they make it to the armory, she looks over the armor and the like and lets out a light scoff that one can only assume that she'd be caught dead wearing such armor. Coloua makes her way out into the hallway and quickly discovers that it in an L shaped hallway. Thankfully it seems that no one is posted to guard the Armory or to be in this hallway. Looking around the corner, she can see clearly there is two doors on each side of the hallway and one at the end. Two doors have hooks on them in which locks hang from, presumably for locking their quarters when their owners are not here. Coloua can faintly hear the sound of snoring coming from one of the rooms closer to the end but can't quite make out which room without moving closer.
Ileosa when the group is ready heads up the ladder and pauses to listen in on the trap door. Ileosa:
As far as you can hear, there is nothing about. When the group moves forwards and opens the trap door: (See Room 2 close to the top of the map.) It appears that the group has stumbled upon the Armory. A fully functional forge sits here and vents its smoke through a crude chimney out over the River Tyburn. However, as Godfrey would be able to point out, the vents are smaller than they should be causing a fair amount of smoke to billow into the room through prolonged use. On the racks along the wall are twenty halberds, twenty longswords, twenty breastplates on armor stands, and twenty heavy steel shields. All bear the marks of the Talirean military.
The group has had much to speak about and time is slowly growing shorter for their assault to begin. With a day of rest and reflection, the dinner they held in secrecy bought the troop of Villains back to bear the spear at the throat of Balentyne. Their nights will be wroght with potential danger and their days may be tainted with schemes and rest. Triss speaks up once it seems the group has settled into heading into the Tower. "Sounds like you lot have got a plan in mind, apologies I haven't been offering up much voice in your scheming but I'm just a pretty face." she said with a wink. She checked her weapons and made sure her bolts were prepped. "Alright then, iffin we gonna do this, best get started yah?" she said offering some encouragement and showing that she planned to back them up. Night quickly fell upon the sleepy little town, but the group remained up waiting to hear the sounds of activity fade away. When the moon was high, they took their chance to check out the lower level and sure enough, the inn had been deserted and the familiar signs of the doors to the inn having been locked. Coloua being the best choice to check it out, slipped into the kitchen to see that the Innkeeper and his wife had indeed headed to bed. She saw nothing, not even a cupboard mouse stirring. With a signal, the rest of the group followed into the cellar of the Lord's Dalliance and soon they crept into the passage of the old dwarven vault. They opened up the door to the tower's side of the secret passage and soon carefully made their way into the Vault proper. A quick casing of the vault, partially to make sure no one else was hidden down here with them, reveals thousands of days worth of iron rations, barrels filled with potable water, and other provisions. A surprise is found though as they find a few boxes off to the side. Opening it, it is clear that there are some fine spirits inside. A careful eyeing however surmises that only one box is carrying the contents it originally held, twelve bottle of sweet elven wine made from honey and raspberries. The other two cases contain surprisingly well made forgeries of more common sweet wine. Looking around, they find no door out of the room save for the one in the ceiling, making this place a perfect spot to store things away from the rats and other vermin. A well used, but well maintained ladder connects to the trap door.
Svetlana nods. "Hmm, well I don't see any harm in letting you all have full range of the place. If you're gonna try and take the bandits on for us, that's the least we can do. As for a place to overlook the gate...well the catwalks are still useable though I don't think it'll be very comfortable to take a nap up there. Still, I can fetch a blanket from one of the unused beds if you like to let you spread out." she said before she began getting busy with the pots for heating up some bath water. She calls out from the kitchen "I'm afraid we haven't had enough business yet to expand to install a permanent bathing area. But, I've got a spare horse trough in the stockroom that I keep clean for soaking and washing clothes." she said offering as best of hospitality as she could. Once she got a few large pots on the stove to start heating up some bath water, she walks out wiping her hands on her apron. "Come on, I'll show you girls to where the beds are. We have plans to eventually build a proper set of rooms for privacy but we are having to make do with what this old fort has at the moment." she said, a small bit of wanderlust in her voice over the possibilities of the future. Despite the conditions and the hardships, she does her job well and happily and does her best to accommodate the two women's requests. Once the twosome are shown where the beds are, Svetlana folds up a blanket real quick and walks outside, pointing over to a set of stairs "If you go up there, you'll be able tot get to a spot where you can lay down and not be seen. You can also ask and I'll have Oleg bring you a chair up there if you like to watch for them in." she offered. If she was asked nothing else, she went about cleaning up the sleeping quarters and making the beds nice and tidy. Once the water was heated up enough, she'd call out to Colette and take her into the storage room where the hot water had already been poured in and two barrels are room temperature water stood by for Svetlana to pour into the bath to get it to the temperature Colette wanted.
After a bit of fun, the Villains decide it's time to make their way back to civilization. It would have been a shame to waste a good camp, so Draa'lick and his Wolf were set to clearing the camp and with a bit of Prestidigitation on Godfrey's part, the group had a reasonably comfortable night's sleep thanks to the hard work of the slain knights. Upon morning, the group awoke to their horses rounded up, groomed, and fed and as much of the loot that wouldn't be conspicuous packed in a pack. Draa'lick himself was snoring in a leftover tent with his wolf on a rather odd looking fresh mound. One could suspect that he had buried all the gear that the group couldn't take with them at the moment. The guard's horses were fine steeds indeed, except for the branding depicting them to be of the militia's use. With everyone mounted back up, they head back to town on a fast clip making it back just as the sun starts to set. With the horses given back to their owner, the group heads back to the tavern for some much needed pampering in varying forms.
Svetlana looked around a bit nervously as she was asked about the bandits. She seemed to think for a moment before speaking up "I can't say that they'd be so quick as to be able to swoop in this evening. But I can only imagine that if they have any eyes in the area, they'll be here within the day or two." she offered. Jessepe looked around all the goods that were offered to their aid. He made a quick list of them on a bit of parchment with some charcoal so that his employers might be able to easily look over it all at their leisure without drawing any attention to it all. Svetlana wiped her clammy hands on her apron and looked at the three of them. "Come, please. It must have been hard on the body to journey here. The least I can offer is a warm bath and a bed. I'll do my best if you have any ideas to get Oleg to help, but the man can be a bit sour at times so I can't guarantee any. I can make sure though, that he'll let you do as you please." she offered, trying her best to show that she valued her job and wouldn't let even the current situation deter her too much from being a good hostess.
The kobold seems perturbed by the ration and gives it a small lick before throwing it in the fire in disgusts. "Humans create terrible food." he said simply and wondered off towards the horses. He began eyeing them up and down.
The man whimpers and moans in his unconscious state once the centipede takes a small bite out of his neck. The swarm enjoys their food as Coloua directs them with gentle prods of her wand of misery. Ella goes about finding bodies and is indeed satisfied that there is a horse per each dead body in the camp. Draa'lick pokes his head in from the treeline to look about and finds that the scene before him is sufficient. He doesn't allow the wolf to come in so that the horses don't get unnerved. He starts going through the camp finding all the oddities, bits, bobbles, and gear and makes a sufficient horde pile of them close to the fire. He looks at one of the ration bricks with curiosity, sniffing it.
Before the man could get his bearings, Ileosa lets loose another bolt. However, the man lurched at just the right time that the shot barely missed him. He almost threw up right there and then. Godfrey spied the unengaged guard and his eyes gleamed with cruelty. His actions happened before the guard could even register it. Two slices just inside the thigh on both sides and the man falls to the ground as blood sprays behind Godfrey. He doesn't even scream as he falls unconscious and starts bleeding out. The guard swallowed his lunch and lurched towards Coloua who was closer. He had to at least take out one of the villains!
He manages to remember his training and maintains his discipline, striking Coloua as hard as he's able. He blood sprays and flows from the wound. But he is shocked as insects pour from the wound and bite at him!
His screams echo into the night as Ella's clawed fingers grab purchase in the man's flesh and he looks at her in shock as he goes limp only held up by her hand in his stomach. The night goes quiet, as the final guard lays on the floor screaming in agony as the insects bite at his flesh and eyes.
Ileosa fires her crossbow and lands a nasty bolt into the poor man's lung barely missing the heart. His eyes widen in pain but adrenaline keep the man in the fight, however he appears to be breathing heavily. Coloua turns her attention to the man and attempts to curse him!
Another guard steps out of his tent with longsword in hand as Ella spies him and charges him in a fit of rage. He sees her coming and barely brings his sword of to push the spear tip away from him. The last man exits his tent looking around with wide eyes at the horrors of the scene.
The guard manages to get out the word 'warn' as Coloua's spell goes into effect. There is a terrifying snapping and twisting that fills the air along with his blood curdling scream in pain before he drops to the ground limp. GM STUFFS:
The sounds of the camp coming to life swirl as men roll out of their beds still in their Chain shirts and trousers. [Spoiler=Initiatives]
Ileosa walks calmly into the Camp with Crossbow at the ready.
The stealthy twosome make their way from the Captain's tent and across the open field to the next tent. Inside they find another sleeping man which Ella dispatches in a single stab and twist of her spear. Nodding and gaining confidence, they move towards the next tent. It seems however that some tinder twigs had been dropped carelessly by one knight and Ella manages to step on it making a loud snap in the crisp silent air. The Knight on guard duty swirls about to look and see what made the noise but Ella had already slipped into the tent. Coloua scooted quickly into the tent as well and managed to lightly scrape some of her
The noise confirmed the man's suspicions and he goes to raise the alarm!!! GM Stuffs:
His eyes go wide and he blows his horn to rouse his companions. "CAPTAIN, QUICK RETURN TO BALENTYNE!!! WARN THE TROOPS!" he shouts as Ella's spear is hastened into the second Knight's chest by him sitting bolt straight up into it. The look of wide eyed surprise quickly dulls as the life fades from those hazel eyes staring into Ella's.
GM Secrets:
Ella slips through the camp as a cucumber placed behind a corgi. With Coloua's guidance, she quickly finds the right tent. Gleaming full plate armor sets just inside the flap as she enters. She pauses only to look over the man and lament over the waste of handsome features and she lifts her arms up with the spearhead pointed down at the mans throat. She puts her back into it and SLAM. She cuts straight through his throat and severs the spine cleanly. There is some soft gurgling noises, only faint enough to be heard right beside him as his life essence drains away. The man never felt a thing. Coloua appeared from the shadows of the tent and a spell half prepared and looks down before dismissing her magics. The biggest threat was done. Now it was just up to them to slip through and kill each and every man before the guard notices anyone.
Coloua and her familiar settle in to watch and wait. The centipede makes it's way around the clearing but finds nothing for the moment.It however seems that what the Kobold had said was true, there are evident signs of regular use of the area as a camp. The centipede makes its way up a tree at the edge of road, perfect for alerting it's master for the coming of the guards. Hours go by and the sun starts to set before the sounds of hooves begins to finally be heard.The centipede offers some mild distress to Coloua but remains hidden. Soon it becomes apparent why as a rather strapping and strong looking man atop a surprisingly muscular looking horse enters the encampment. Soon enough, his entourage arrives shortly after. Six men atop stallions make their way into the clearing as well and the group dismounts and begins tying the horses close to the road and going about setting up camp. They talk loudly and some revelry is heard as they go about setting up a fire and preparing to make a hearty meal from a doe they had shot earlier. The Captain issues orders and sets up one man to post on watch as the others set up camp. He himself joins in the work, helping with the heavy lifting and the more menial tasks. Despite the peaceable times that have become the norm, the Captain and his mean are well armed. All the men have longsword and dagger on their belts and a bow upon their backs. The Captain himself is covered in Full Plate while his mean where chain shirts.
Draa'lick turns his head towards Ella when she growls and narrows his eyes as it seems he debates for a moment. Perhaps he feels outnumbered, perhaps he accepts she is more powerful, all the same his irritance in his voice leaves for the moment. He seems to contemplate what to say when Godfrey also speaks up. Feeling that he is outnumbered and not in a position to do much else, he nods. "Draa'lick did his best to provide trail, otherwise none would find him." he said simply before he began walking forwards towards the camp site. True enough, if any of them looked...suddenly there was no trace left from the Kobold's feet. Though it seems the wolf still left some as it plodded to catch up to the kobold. He hopped onto the wolf once it came close enough and then he led the others close to the edge of the camp. He stopped about a hundred yards out. He looked to the others "Draa'lick should not go further, scent would alert them. What do?"
Draa'lick points north from the tree he was camping in. "Wind blows southward around here. Choose to camp south of their camp so that scent wouldn't likely be found." he offers with some mild irritants in his voice from having to repeat himself.
Draa'lick stands there staring for a minute trying to do math it seems. He sits down and uses his toes even as he counts. "Mmmmmm.....thirty minute ride at horse pace." he said after some ruminating.
The wolf is first to stand up slowly from inside the brush. It wasn't quite intimidating as perhaps some that had been told of but all the same, it looked quite vicious. It growled lowly and then a rock flies down and hits it in the head. "No! Draa'lick not give the command. This one comrad." he said quietly. Draa'lick dropped down from one of the larger branches and rolled to his feet beside the wolf. He stared at Godfrey and the others. "Yes? OH yes yes, Draa'lick has been waiting. Found wolf, managed to sneak ahead of his prey and noticed that man's scent was all over nearby camp. Came back as quickly as he could to make sure they could ambush prey at their favorite camping spot." he said nodding and grinning wickedly as he reported. His hand pointed off towards the north of the tree he was sleeping in. "Felt best not to leave potential scent to scare horses. Panicky things." he said as he yawned and stretched a bit.
GM stuffs!:
Coloua eyes begin to glow as she scans the area for magic. Alas, apart from her own party, she does not find any. It takes a while, with each of the group fanning out and searching in their own unique ways. It isn't until they begin to work together that they manage to hear something in the forest that doesn't belong. A faint snoring that almost could be mistaken for the wind. The four of them slowly manage to find the source, difficult as it was. The snoring was coming for a tree filled beyond natural with foliage. Just barely do they make out what looks like a tuft of fur from a wolf mixed in with the greenery.
The night passes completely uneventfully. In the morning, Coloua notices that there are surprisingly large spider leg like imprints in the ground and may very well be pleased that she didn't inspect the cave too much. Still, the morning comes, a bit of food is had and the camp is packed back up. Finally they are on their way once again. They travel another four hours through the thicker portions of the woods till the start to notice the trees start to thin once more causing them to slow down a little. The tracks that they had been following seem to have disappeared!
The group sets up the camp where Ileosa had suggested while Ileosa began scouting. She was rather surprised to find that the cave had had a cave in and most of the interior was covered in spider webs. Not finding any creepy crawlies of any dangerous size, she sneaks her way back before the spiders think about her 'blood' and such as being tasty. The night passes surprisingly uneventful. The river providing a respite from the dirt and grim they had been forced into enduring...provided they wished to bath of course. Watches have been set, familiars and horses have been fed and accounted for. Despite the last night's danger, their one horse made it out alive and relatively unphased surprisingly despite it's near mortal wound.
The group all agrees that it would be best to stop for the night and try to get an early morning. Each member scouts outwards a small ways, within sight of each other. Godfrey finds a cave, seemingly abandoned that the group could tie the horses to outside and protect themselves from any random weather. Meanwhile Coloua and Ella search but find nothing but good firewood. Ileosa however seems to have prevailed. Following her ears carefully, she manages to find a small river of clean water with a large clearing on their side of it. This would seem to be the safest place to rest and be able to watch for any predators to come. But that cave is awfully enticing.
The party pushes on til the day starts to wane. The Kobold seems to have taken care to make sure the path is large enough for the horses to barely make it through. After an hour, the group can no longer see any signs of the trail from the kobold's path. By the time that the sun comes closer to setting, the horses begin to show some wear. It might be wise to camp for the evening...of course, the Villains could attempt to press on!
The group begins to follow the trail that goes off the beaten path. It's a bit rough but with the others following behind Coloua at a slower pace, they manage to keep on top of the tracks made by their Kobold cohort and the random wolf prints. The trail leads deeper and deeper into the woods, every once and while the trees start to clear and you can get just a small suggestion that you might be near the road again but the tracks only seem to cross the road for a moment before continuing forwards back into the woods. Finally the tracks go straight while the road veers harshly off to the right of the direction they've been going. A quick look tells that the road goes for some time in that direction.
While Godfrey begins looking at the tracks themselves and Coloua is distracted by a pillbug she found and aptly named George, Ella walks up to the marked trees. She takes a clawed finger gives the tree a good scratch near each of the marks and begins comparing the marks based on greenness and scent. After a few moments she can conclude...That the tracks from the wolf and kobold are indeed the fresher trail by potentially a day. The footpads of the wolf are surprisingly deep too, making it easier to move at a faster pace and follow them.
Perhaps it was the fatigue of an interrupted sleep, perhaps the kobold was more aggressive in hiding his tracks for some reason. Either way, it took a bit more time and require them to double back every now and then. Still, with eyes open and ever scouring, the group finds the trail that the kobold lays for them. They were perhaps a bit confused when they saw the kobold's tracks deviate from the horses but the fresher of signs from the kobold sudden went deeper into the forest alongside prints of a large wolf.
The group continues to chat for a little while, before those who can sleep make their way back to bed. Between Ella and Coloua, the boars carcasses are rent of it's life sustaining meats. Alas the pelts end up being a mess, but the group gets some hastily put together and smoked meats to take along as rations. Upon morning, the party awakens in varying states. It takes a bit of time to reorient but quickly enough the way is found and they start back down the trail trying to follow the kobold's clues.
Coloua nods to Ileosa's direction and moves over to Ella pulling out a vial of blood. She quickly uncorks it and drips a bit onto Ella's forehead before saying a small chant in Wayang. The blood shines bright with magical energy and animates. It makes it's way down to Ella's wounds and there it begins to multiply in size to cover the entirety of her wounds over the course of a minute. While it may not have completely healed the woman, it'll at least get the healing process started. While Ileosa soothes the first horse and manages to get it back under control, Godfrey starts carefully calming each other horse in turn enough to untie them and bring them to Ileosa. Together between the two of them, the horses eventually calm down once they are led away from the boars' bodies and hitched once again.
Ella and the Dire Boar wrestle further but finally pain and ager push the woman new heights of strength. She slams a fist into the side of the creature causing it to squeal in pain from the continued assault. Her other clawed hand grips into the previous wound and she squeezes. her claws curling around ribs before a satisfying crunch is felt and sounds. The beast roars in pain but quickly loses it's voice as it's struggles get weaker and weaker then suddenly it drops onto it's belly before her. Ella standing over the slain beast. Meanwhile in Coloua's corner, the horse is fighting and attempting to struggle to it's feet despite Coloua's attempts to sooth the frightened and injured beast.
GM SECRETS:
Coloua rushes to the aid of the horse and does what little healing she knows how. The horse stirs slightly from the pulse of healing energy and starts to try to get up confused. The other horses calm down a bit as the boar moves away from them and their fallen packmate shows signs of living. Meanwhile Godfrey manages to drop two heavy slashes, one after another. Lightning sears the flesh as the first slice catches part of the creatures side and peals back the flesh causing some of the fat to bubble. The second slash follows immediately after along the same cut and the boar goes down as it's innards spill onto the campground floor. Meanwhile, the second boar locks tusks with Ella. The two powerful creatures clawing and goring each other in a bloody mess as two large claw wounds freshly appear on the boars side and a second hole punches into Ella's tough skin.
Svetlana looks around as she is asked how they could help rebuild the place but truly seems at a loss for words. Coulette would remember that on her way in, she saw some broken down catapults up on the battlements but they'd likely take longer than a day or three to repair and be useful. Svetlana does suddenly speak up after thinking about what was asked for a few minutes "I'm sorry to say I'm not sure what you'd be able to repair. I know that Oleg is patching up any holes in the buildings and the like but apart from that, time resources are what we really need...and for that we'd need to not have our resources stolen everytime we start to get ahead." she said sighing. "The first time they attacked us there were a dozen of them. Though two of them did all the talking and controlling...well apart from some rather horrid comments I'll not repeat. One, was a woman. She did most of the talking but she was a right evil one. Chilled me to the bones with what she said they'd do to me iffin Oleg resisted. She nearly took off Oleg's hand as a warning with one of her axes." she said remembering the painful memory. "But the last couple of times, there was only the one leader. Never really got a look at him, he keeps under a hood and carried a bow though. I'd imagine he's better at ambushing caravans than actually slaughtering and robbing. But they started bringing less men each time. I reckon seeing as how we're 'behaving' as they put it, they don't expect no resistance so you three might get a good chance at killing a few of em.'" she says thinking a bit, trying to be helpful. She suddenly thinks of something else "There's not much that they've not picked over themselves but we did manage to store away a small bit of goods in hopes we would be able to sell something and get back on our feet." she said before she flattened the carrying tray against her chest and took them out to the stockroom. Inside there is a set of leather armor, a heavy wooden shield, two hand axes, five javelins, a longbow, two dozen arrows, a scythe, two spears, three potions, two vials, and more typical trade goods such as rations and furs. She brought them to the next door and opened it as well, inside was two barrels of drinking water, a half full barrel of lantern oil, three lamps, a dozen candles, a stack of firewood, a hooded lantern, seventy feet of hemp rope, a tent, and some cheese, hard bread and dried venison "We've been told to put all the look for the bandits out in the pen out in the middle of the fort. Thankfully they hadn't wanted to dig too deeply the last time or we'd have likely gotten beaten for hiding away what we did." she said a bit worriedly. "I won't say no to you three finding any uses for the goods, I'm sure my husband wouldn't say the same but I'll smooth things out with him easy enough. Though killing those bandits would help smooth things over more easily." she said as an afterthought.
GM secrets:
Ileosa steps back and lines up a bolt, firing it deep into the eye of the boar. It begins squealing and thrashing in pain. Ella catches the boar's good eye and it becomes even more distracted by its pain. Godfrey uses the opportunity and slips in magically with his blade in hand. He gets a good slice into the creature's side with the first attack but the boar's thick hide causes only superficial damage from the second swipe. Coloua catches the eye of the second boar as it turns it's attention towards the group. It gets distracted by the hunger running through it's mind and see Ella as a tasty morsel. It lunges towards her and despite the distractions, it slams it's tusks into her side!
GM secret stuffs:
Out of the shadows steps two massive boars with battle scars on their sides. Immediately one is hit by a bolt that sinks into it's side and causes it to squeal in pain. It stares down Ileosa before lowering it's head and closing the distance swiftly to slam it's tusks into her side. Blood splatters onto the ground nearby as it's tusks barely manage to get into her defenses. The other boar, still set on it's original target, slams into one of the horses. Before it can even let out a whinny in pain, it falls to the ground unconscious. The other three animals begin bucking and straining at their leads trying to free themselves but the ropes hold against the creatures straining muscles.
The small adventure to catch up with the Villain's little ally turns out to be a bit longer than everyone had expected. Once the moon was coming up in full though, everyone had to agree it was time to lay down camp despite the small setback that last few hours have been. But, progress was still made, or at least it feels that way. Setting up camp didn't take long as everyone began to realise that supplies were on the low side. Still, they found a decent enough spot off the main road, tied up their horses, set up a fire and find some very lack luster grub. It doesn't take long though before it's obvious they will need to set up watches and go to sleep. After a bit everyone settles in and watches begin. The humans take the two brightest watches and Ileosa has chosen to go first. GM stuffs:
Ileosa's watch slowly begins to come to an end. Perhaps staring into the night sky all night wasn't the best way to have time pass as it moved painfully slow. Still, Ileosa feels her time is finally up and as she stands she hears the sound of a branch snapping. She pauses and she can hear the sounds of a predator breathing heavily in the night. She tries to follow the sounds only to find four large eyes staring into the camp, the glow of the campfire glinting off their eyes!
Svetlana pauses and purses her lips as the conversation goes back to the bandits when she delivers her guests their food. "I'm not sure that they show up whenever they want really...I haven't been able to see any kind of pattern but I can imagine that they have someone watching to make sure their efforts are worth it as they've never come when we don't have anything to steal." she offered as an answer. He raised a hand to her mouth and looked at Daniella and Colette "I worry that your carriage showing up might entice them to come for one of their visits...please, be careful and don't provoke them. I'd rather not see my guests hurt." she said, her emotions torn between wanting to ask for help and not wanting to see people get hurt.
Jessepi leans his head out from behind the carriage and waves kind of shyly at the two human caretakers. Oleg stares at the two of them for a bit "Aye, so you think you can tame these lands. Fine, I'll believe it when I see it. As to where them Bandits are, well why don't you lot go ahead and follow the misses and set yourselves up in a room. They'll show up soon enough. Bastards been trying to bleed us dry, coming by for their 'tribute' when they get to feeling greedy." he said angrily. He spat on the ground had a rather unsavory and annoyed look on his face. He pulled up his britches and stormed back off to the area he was working on and went back to repairing. Svetlana was more than happy to help. She was quick to showcase the rooms available in the fort as well as where they might be able to tie up the animals. Once everyone was settled, she happily served the three of them some of the stew she had been making.
Ella and Godfrey find the tracks after a few minutes of searching with some help from Ileosa. Conversing between the four of them, they realize that it would be very useful to get horses if they wished to catch up to the knights on their horses. Once back in the town walls, Trish speaks up "Yea, look. I ain't too keen on doing the whole hanging out in the woods bit. Besides, someone outta stay here at home base and scouting out for any changing in, well alertness. And, I'm just the gal to do that." she said grinning. She tipped her hat at them and ran before the others could stop her and force her to join them. With all the walking about and snooping the group had done since they arrived in town, they were able to figure out where the stables were quickly enough. Once there, there were able to rent a few horses for only twenty gold. The downside was they had to leave a deposit for the value of the horses. Thus, the stable owners hold onto a bag of three hundred gold.
The fort itself isn't in the best of shape but it does seem to have been being repaired slowly but surely over the last few months. In fact, upon arriving at the gate and coming to a halt, the sounds of a hammer hard at work can be heard banging away from inside the fort. Mortimer stands up on the driver's seat of the carriage and barks out a greeting, hailing the occupants. It takes a couple of attempts at the greeting before the hammering stops and a gruff rebuttal in return. The gate slowly opens after another minute or two and a man well kept enough to be a bit out of place both in the wilds and in civilized society is the first thing they see. The man, a bit to seed, stands before them. The man reeking of sweat, his dusty red hair slowly peppering, wipes his hands on a handkerchief as he looks at the motley crew at his doorstep. He spits on the ground nearby "Welcome to Oleg's Trading Post. Iffin you're as smart as yah look, then you'll guess I'm Oleg." he says staring at them for a moment and taking them in. "I'm reckoning you're not the support Restov was supposed to send me bout the Bandits, so then I can only assume then you're the fools who got that charter to go out in to the wilderness and try and 'tame' the Stolen Lands. Well...GOOD LUCK" he says a bit curmudgeonly. The welcome is perhaps anything but, until the arrival of a young woman came rushing fowards wiping her hands on her apron. Despite the roughness of Oleg, this comely woman would look rather out of place in the woods. Her appearance is well kept and clean, her silky brown hair kept in a long braid down her back. Her smile practically radiates with warmth and welcoming, a perfect face for an innkeeper. "Oleg! How many times have I told you, be nicer to guests. You can't make a Trading Post survive if you act like a donkey's ass to everyone who shows up!" she says smartly at her husband. She looks at the travelers "Apologies for the welcome, I'm Svetlana, wife to this grump of a man. I don't care who you are, welcome to our humble bit of land. Apologies for the state of things, while it's not the most charming of places...it's at least cozy enough and there is a nice big pot of stew on the fire. Please, come in and Oleg will get your animals all settled in." she says happy to have guests.
With at least a plan for moment, the party makes their way to the town gates. With the sunrise in full bloom, the gates are open for traveling merchants. The guards simply nod their heads as the fivesome head out of the town and follow a trail down the main road for a few minutes before finding themselves near where Godfrey had been communicating with their kobold companion. It takes a few minutes of search to try and find any sign of Draa'lick or of a note or the like that he might have left. They manage to find something of a note but it doesn't make sense...at first. Decipher Hidden Message:
Godfrey is quick to figure out that the message must be hidden in Draconic and he manages to translate the message into Common where Ileosa is able to tear it apart over the next half hour and come up with a message that makes sense. Found Prey, prey is on delicious horses. Make tracking difficult. Will leave claw marks at base of trees to show direction. Follow
There is plenty of time between when the group meets up at the exit of Restov along the road towards Oleg's. It's a rather simple journey, though the road itself isn't in good repair and in fact mostly trodden down grasslands or simple clearings between trees through any wooded areas. Still, it's a lengthy journey and Jessepi is careful not to push the animals too hard. Either simply out of love of his own steed or knowing that you never know when you might need to push your steed beyonds it's limits, he is sure to take decent breaks every few hours so that the travel time is a bit longer than most people would take. The party travels twelve hours out of the day, from dawn to dusk with breaks in between and he is careful to set up camp himself when everyone takes a break. The actual journey takes three whole days with the group staying on pace with even the most experienced merchants. However, it's dreadfully boring along the way, each day bringing out only wildlife to see. Jessepi is more than happy to speak whenever he is asked about anything and is even a passable cook. Still, it is a welcome sight when you finally start to see the walls of Oleg's Trading Post as the sun begins to set on the third day of travel.
Jessepi nods at the suggestion to table any further conversation, seeming to take the two ladies thoughts on his people's alienation well enough. He bids them adieu and looks eager for the morning to come. Everyone spends the evening preparing for the next day and to begin the long journey to their new 'home base'. At the outskirts of Restov, Jessepi is there waiting bright and early in the morning. The small ratfolk is riding an impressively large Great Dane complete with saddle bags. He has a small sled that is laden down with gear so that the group can make their way through on the roads with some relative comfort and without having to stop each day and waste time hunting. Upon his waist and across is back is a set of four daggers and a small, heavy draw shortbow as well as a quiver of arrows over top of his studded leather.
Off to bed everyone heads with little more to say. The innkeeper awakens the next morning and goes to work as usual but notices the missing profit, I mean, guests and goes to investigate. It becomes quickly apparent that the dwarves have left in the middle of the night, a letter and two sacks of gold were all that remain in the Dwarven leaders room explaining everything (well almost everything.) Soon enough, a missive is sent to the inn before breakfast is even over due to the dwarves absence despite their punctual behavior. Gossip quickly begins to spread as everyone makes their way down to the tavern portion of the inn to enjoy some much deserved breakfast after all that happened the night before. The only one seeming worse for wear from yesterday's little bit of fun is a rather hung over Godfrey.
Jessepi looks rather pleased standing in his chair as the server comes over and asks what he wants. He orders a rather weak beer, very inexpensive. Still, when it comes, he looks rather grateful. He smiles as they offer to speak about themselves and ask each other questions. It seems that he wasn't too far behind his employers as far as knowing each other. "I'm always curious about how people live in the cities. We typically make small movable villages a bit into the forest when we settle down so that we can still find work without people coming after us just because we look like rodents." he said in curiosity. A servant of the Lord Mayor comes over before the ladies have a chance to answer his curiosity. She has in her hands a writ of employment that she asks the three of them to sign so that Jessepi can be formally paid. Jessepi waits till after the two employers sign it and tries to not look excited about getting any money.
Ella's hand slides in. The benefit of half plate is that the plates overlap making it difficult for rigid weapons to slip in and find the vitals. But Ella's choice of weapons aren't rigid, and she takes advantage of them to slip those claws between the plates near the chest. There is a squelch and a screech of claws on metal as her second claw barely misses it's mark. The greatsword swings feebly, but the Dwarves grasp fails him completely midstroke and it goes rolling across the ground. Suddenly, he coughs up blood and the eyes lose their light and goes glassy. His body shudders slightly before, he goes crashing to the ground with a loud clatter. A look of crazed laughter on the dead man's face, as if this was the type of death he'd been chasing since he retired to the life of a craftsman. The forest goes quiet and then the dwarves stand up one by one and pull off their hats and bow their heads. Each one walks up in turn and upends a sack of coin upon the body. The final one does so and then looks up at the two of you "It's me duty to go gather our belongings, I'll not ask for any kind of mercy. The doddering old fool would've killed me for doing so. Still, take the gold and his belongings but allow up to carry away his body back to the mountains." he says simply and doesn't wait for the answer to his request as he goes to fulfill his job. GM Secrets:
Ella continues thrashing against the elder Dwarf, he first blow glancing off his armor as she aims for the joint. The second claw comes close to breaking the bone clean in two, the arm threatening to fall off. GM secrets:
The elder dwarf is looking worse for wear to be sure, and his arm starts to fail him as he takes another swipe, this time his blade going very wide. He pants slightly as he tries to keep his vision from blurring. Blood is flowing freely on the battlefield and the soil is having a hard time soaking it all up.
The applicants are relaxing but not really speaking to each other as they wait for the return of their potential employers. They watch a bit curiously as one of the two women breaks off to go to the barkeep to order drinks but their attention snaps back to Colette as she speaks up. The dwarf breaks of into grumbling about the decision but doesn't break out into any kind of argument or the like. He waves off his hand as if to say that's fine to her offer "Ay, though I doubt that'll be the case. I've got to head back towards the dwarven cities nearby since this job didn't pan out." he mentioned before standing up and taking his leave. The human stares blankly at Jessepi for a moment before the Osprey is the one who breaks the silence, letting out an indignant squawk. The woman turns back towards Colette and Daniella and bows before them before leaving silently. Jessepi stands there in his seat a bit shocked looking, he rubs one foot over the other in a meek sense of shyness. "Thank you kindly ladies for the chance, it is greatly appreciated. I will work hard to prove I was the correct choice!" he said in a mixture of embarrassment and eagerness. The barkeeper is quick to provide the drinks that Daniella orders and walks them over to their table, setting them down so that Daniella doesn't have to carry them. She quickly excuses herself but notes what has been ordered and is quick to provide a new glass as the first are finished.
GM Secrets:
The innkeeper's wife watches you with earnest for a bit. She is able to see that Coloua's words are true in that she is but a young maiden learning the art. She sighs in something like that of a old matron watching her charge stumble through her first trials. She nods as she instructs and shows Coloua how to make the cuts for the vegetables even and how to know when something has rotted beyond use even in broth. Because of her care and focus in showing the girl the proper ways of the kitchen...Coloua is able to find a moment to carefully slip the keys back onto their holder. Still, the lesson is quite inspiring, despite all the work that the Innkeeper's wife has to do to make up for Coloua's inexperience. ====================================================================== Back on the battlefield! Ella's claws find the faults in the man's choice in armor. For her many battles, Ella had learned that the more armor covers a man, the better it is to target the joints! And she does just that, claws ripping open the protective layer and digging deep into the flesh beneath. The man snarls and swipes with his arm to remove Ella's claws from his skin and takes a few steps before he finds his next moment to strike! GM secrets!:
This time though, the man's greatsword finds it's way under Ella's defenses. The tip of the blade digging deep into the muscles of her abdomen! Apart from the warriors growls of anger and grunts of pain, the forest is eerily silent. The dwarves watching their foreman have kept completely silent and carefully watching their master in battle as if they were afraid to speak up for fear the greatsword might try to find purchase in them instead.
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