She shyly hides her face behind her hair at your teasing.
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She looks at you briefly before looking back at Cerian and squeezing his hand. "Just come back safe."
As Oleg begins to go on about the advantages of canvas for the making of flags and pennons,Neila emerges from the house. She quietly moves to the table and seats herself next to Cerian. She is clearly still invalid but is showing good signs of recovery.
She pats your hand an yawns, "The morning will be plenty of time to make plans, and I have much more I can tell you and your friends now that I'm not so weak. I know you stayed while I was injured, stay tonight?" he smiles weakly as she lies down.
Flushing she slips out of bed and takes your hand, "That... That was... terrible... But it was very sweet and I appreciate it." She kisses you lightly on the cheek. "You have been more wonderful to me than anyone else ever. I would very much like to get to know you better, just leave the singing to the bards." She chuckles throatily and sits back down on the bed.
Your entrance does not go unnoticed. Neila sits up as you enter. She tries to hide her small smile at how nervous you look. "Welcome back, it's good to see you in one piece." She welcomes you softly. "I am going mad stuck in this bed but I'm starting to feel a lot better."
She ate slowly considering his words. In a quiet voice, "The does are worse than the bucks, if anything. They are willing and eager and all of them came to this life of their own volition. Those two are the most junior and still have spilled more blood and abused more slaves than all but the worst of the bucks." With a weak smile she adds, "Thanks you for staying last night."
Before he leaves she makes mention, "The Stag Lord hates the kobolds but never acts against the mites. I don't know if there is anything to that but anything he hates is probably worth considering."
She smiles weakly at him, "Well I... Thanks you." She takes it from his hands with a weak pull and kisses him on the cheek. "It's been a long time since I've been treated like a lady by a NICE elf." She laughs a little tiredly and lets him go.
"I'm sorry to hear about your friend. He isn't their first victim, but with any luck he will be their last." She puts her hand on his trying to comfort him. "Even losing one of the blinds, and the disappearance of the buck council will cause all sorts of disarray. I think... I think they will be too worried about other things to hurt my son. We still have time and I know you will do all you can." She smiles up at him weakly.
"2 in each blind at all times, that's a strict rule that gets enforced, even in storms, though thats where it ends. They will probably be bundled up and none too watchful in a storm."
"The Buck Council was the sum of both raiding parties. You've slaughtered them to the man save the three of us here alive. The Doe council numbers around the same, and while they might not all be at the camp when you arrive it would not be wise to assume that."
As the next day dawns Neila calls on you all before you prepare to leave.
Looking fatigued she answers what questions she can as she finishes the map, "There won't be any kids at the camp, they are all at the fort, any camp slaves with be kept close to whoever is playing master to them, but there won't be many. Only the higher ranking members get to bring slaves to the camp. The north, east, and south sides of the camp have deadfalls, pit traps and who knows what else hidden in the forest. I don't know exactly where. They are there to keep snoopers and animals out and the rest of us questionably loyal people in. The towers will still be manned in the storm though the people in them will be a lot less alert. They probably won't be watching the ambush point near the broken wagon at all. The bed of that wagon has been hollowed out so that two people can conceal themselves within the floor boards, but they are hinged so that anyone inside can easily spring out. The river is slow but you risk quicksand if you cross anywhere other than at the rocks so be careful." She hands over the map.
"If you take the merchants track, about 6 hours."
"Wouldn't be a bad time to scout them anyhow, no one will be expecting travelers in that kind of weather and it should cover your approach."
She nods, "If you burn the bodies and make enough smoke, they might not even except the raiders back until tomorrow."
Somewhat taken aback by Hella's suggestion she blinks, then tears begin to well up, "I was an orphan even before I was taken by these animals, I lived my whole life on the move caring for myself. The chance to help those kids... I couldn't say no even if I wanted to."
Answering Ravbooms multitude of questions as best she can, "Other than the trails used by the merchants and travelers in the region we didn't exactly see much of the area. I wasn't exactly allowed to wander. I do know that we were told never to leave the road approaching the redoubt once we reached the base of the hill it stands on. don't know why but even the officers never strayed, hell they'd snap at anyone who even got close to the roads edge so something made them jumpy up there. The camp is located in a sheltered clearing just off the Thorn River trail. It overlooks the trail and has a number of blinds built up in the trees as watch posts. A number of deadfall's are set up to catch anyone sneaking through the woods and within the cover they have logs piled as a defensive half wall. It's well stocked so if they abandon it entirely I suspect they will have to leave much behind." She takes a drink from a mug of water left for her at the bedside. Continuing she furrows her brow as if trying to remember all the details she can, " The fort will be a tough nut to crack, It's built on some ruins and the lower parts of the wall are mostly stone, with only a few places they had to fill holes. In those places they used whole logs sun deep into the ground. There are a series of spikes around the base to make it difficult to approach. A couple of towers inside that are always manned by archers too. Then there's the Stag Lord's pet, a vicious owlbear. They feed anyone who displeases them to it, but otherwise keep it starved to make it mean. The slaves are kept outside the walls in makeshift huts and there are a few towers always manned by archers around those as well. The children are kept inside but i've never seen that creche. It's overseen by his witch. I was only inside once and that was a long time ago I'm sorry."
"The camp doesn't bother with passwords, if they don't recognize you then you are prey. I know there is a password for the redoubt but I don't know what it is. I do know that the code phrase to use if you are compromised and being used to try and get in is'And so the stink marks the jackal in a den of wolves' so if you manage to take ap risoner if they tell you that's the phrase to get in they are trying to get you killed." She thinks a moment, "I know there's a tower to the south east of the territory the Stag Lord claims, but we were warned never to go there. actually that's nearly exactly the direction his parents went." She points at Cerian.
She frowns a moment considering Cerians question, "Were they in the company of a pair of humans and a tiefling? They match the description of a group that passed through the region a few months back, never saw them myself but the Doe Council lost 4 members trying to rob them. They were headed south west last we spotted them but they left the region the Stag Lord claims." Turning her head to look at Aluxion she answers his outrage, "I don't honestly know, no one seems to know his real name. He wears a horrible mask with the likeness of a Stag. His witch is devoted to Gyronna though so it wouldn't surprise me if it was some twisting of faith. I'm not exactly in anyone's good graces so they didn't exactly share their life stories with me." Looking somewhat better for having people around she doesn't need to fear she asks, "Do you have a map of the area? I can point out the camp location and the Redoubt. With the Buck Council not returning I'm not sure what will happen exactly but they will probably pull back to those spots while they regroup."
The look of hate at Elset's name answers your question clearly as to why she didn't hesitate to kill him. "He had no intention of helping you, or anyone. He was trying to get free to join on their side. He was the lowest scum and you were my opportunity to be free of him. I could not speak sooner for fear he would escape. The horrors he would visit on our son if my betrayal were to be known..."
She nods, "My son... I wasn't always a bandit, before they took me I was an entertainer. I traveled with a fair and we were honest folk. We were passing from Pitax to Brevoy nearly 8 years ago when our caravan was raided. Anyone who resisted was killed. There weren't many of us left after the bloodshed. Those who survived were mostly us women and the children. The kids were taken away and I only learned their fate after. The women, we were giving options. Not good ones either. Join them or be used by them. None of us chose to join them that day. They weren't, gentle..." Clearly talking about those days is hard on her as she fights back the tears. As she continues her eyes go cold as she fights to control the emotion, "Most of us didn't last long. I think of all of us only I am still alive. After 2 years of their, care, Elset decided he wanted to keep me for himself. At first he almost courted me, it was such a change with a protector that I couldn't help but fall for him. After a few months I was ready to agree to anything. He made me an offer, join the Doe Council, be his wife, and I'd never have to suffer again. How could I say no? For the first few months it was ok. I wasn't trusted enough to go on raids so it was mostly camp work. I did my duty though as time went on he became less and less a gentleman. It became clear I was a prize, a trophy, and property. He got abusive and I contemplated running away. But then I got pregnant. I couldn't go anywhere in that state and he became ever more watchful of me. I must have not hidden my intent well enough because when the child was born he was taken from me. Taken to the Stag Lords Redoubt to be school with the other children, to be turned into a new devotee of his Lordship. That was 3 years ago now. I want my son, I want to be free, and most of all I want to see this bedamned lot all put in the ground."
The last of the magical healing washes over her as she lies in Oleg's bed. While the magical healing reduces the scarring, it does not remove it entirely, though it recedes from her face and neck. The dark skinned half-elf stirs, and blinks.
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