"I don't want to let the Sootscale go hungry. I've got some rations I could trade."
Sergei breaks out the packets of rations to show them.
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"Oh good," Sergei breathes out in relief. "That makes this easier. To start we're looking for some of those radishes. The lady back at the trading post wants them."
As the kobolds rise, Sergei stands still, his hands spread open and empty. "I don't suppose any of you speak common?" If that fails, as I expect it will, he'll gesture to the radishes and, slowly, pull out one of his packets of rations and offer it in trade.
"Well, I think we should talk to them. They've eating some of those radishes Svetlana wanted. Maybe we can talk them out of some of them. They'll probably know more about the area too.
Assuming no one objects or has another plan, Sergei will take some of his rations from his saddlebag and head back to the kobold clearing, giving the others a little time to get into position.
After waiting a minute to be sure the kobolds aren't likely to suddenly move and to give Andrej the chance to act if he's going to, Sergei slips back to the party and quietly tells them what he's found.
Sergei slides off his horse, points to Catfoot, gestures to the right of the stand of trees and then fades into the undergrowth to the left, trying to circle and get a look at whatever's making the noises.
Sergei is apparently asleep in the saddle.
Well, I've been a scout up north and I've had some experience dealing with bandits. I can get in and out of most places quiet-like and talk my way out of the rest. I'm not as good in a stand up fight as I'd like to be, but that'll change with more practice.
"Well, mighty hunters we are not. We'll never catch that on foot. We could try to track it down, I suppose, but I doubt it'll return to bother us." If Andrej or Egan want to continue another round or two, Sergei will stick with him, otherwise he'll return to the camp and the others.
Sergei will give chase, moving and firing if he has a shot.
Sergei closes up behind Andrej, drawing his bow and peering where he'd shot.
If he sees anything, he'll fire.
If not, he'll move closer, bow ready to fire if he catches sight of it.
"Is there really any need? This is a forest. There are predators. We should keep an eye out while we explore, but I don't think we need to track down every predator we come across."
Sergei stands, drawing his rapier and a throwing knife, waiting for a clear glimpse of whatever is in the bushes.
Sergei sleeps in, taking advantage of the luxury of a safe bed while he has it, but his bags are packed and he's ready to leave a few minutes after rising. With a smile and a quick thanks to Svetlana he grabs something hot that can be eaten in the saddle. "Off to the woods we go."
Is anyone claiming any of the gear? I'll take the chain shirt if no one else wants it, though it'll probably sit in the saddle bags most of the time. We should pass out the alchemist's fire too. I'll take one of them. I'll also pick up a winter blanket for 5 sp.
Edit: Also do we need to explore this hex? Or is it assumed that Oleg's hex is already mapped?
Lets draw a line under the last couple of weeks and start out afresh. Not to bog us down again, but did Egan (or anyone) actually give an oath to let Happs live? I don't remember seeing that. If he's just throwing out an accusation to trouble us, that's cool.I do remember suggestions that cooperating was his best chance, but nothing as strong as an oath. If that kind of thing is treated as "Oathbreakers Die", I'd like to be clear about it for future reference.
Sergei will help with the hangings and burials. Then when we turn to planning:
The bandits had six horses, right? And there are 6 of us. Egan has a mount. I don't think the rest of us did. So that's only one to sell anyway.
Well part of the delay is that people were/are away and no one wanted to commit without hearing everyone.
Well, I won't pretend to know the motives of the Sword Lords. Or of the King, for that matter. The actual words of the charter don't say anything about claiming the land. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's their long-term plan, but it's not our job. I just don't think most of the locals will be too happy about us announcing they're now part of Brevoy. If we're here to help out, deal with some threats, get the lay of the land, they'll be friendly. If we announce we're taking over, we'd better have an army to back us up.
One thing knowledge:local would tell you is that the local do take oaths seriously. "Oathbreakers die" is one of the core River Freedoms. Bandits are probably less reliable than more honest people, but it's still serious business.
I've got no illusions they're actually Robin Hood types. No evil oppressor to resist, for one thing. But yes, I just wanted to state my reasoning, along with my vote, especially since both had changed.
We accepted his surrender and he gave us the information we asked for. As I've said before, I want to encourage that.
Our charter commands punishment of unrepentant banditry by the sword or rope. If they'll take an oath, they are not unrepentant. That's how Sergei will vote, assuming they're willing to take such an oath. It would also have to include not warning their former partners. I don't think we need to choose a formal leader at this stage. Nor do I think our Charter includes claiming the Stolen Lands for Brevoy. Dom: We should keep real world analogies out of this, I think. If not, I'd argue against the death penalty. And even more strongly against vigilante "adventurers" carrying it out.
Fair enough.
I'm not trying to get out of the moral dilemma. I just realized that I don't really know, out of character, what the local expectation would be. I get that they're sympathetic to bandits. Sergei's got a bit of that himself. But what do they normally do with bandits or any kind of thief, that surrenders? Apparently it's not kill them. I find it hard to believe they just let them go on their way either. With no centralized government there's no prisons. Slavery is out. What's left? The stocks? Public spankings? The comfy chair?Mind you, I'm not saying I'd go along with whatever it is. It just seems like something we would know. I can ask in character if you'd rather, but I'm not really looking for any of their opinions as to what should be done.
I'm back early. And I see the debate goes on. Reading through this, I have a question: What normally happens to captured bandits under River Kingdom rules? I know the "have what you can hold" bit, but how does it work in practice?
If we're changing the rules here, I'd like to actually understand where we're starting from. If Sergei doesn't know how it works, he can ask the locals. The River Freedoms put a strong emphasis on Oath breaking. If these guys live by that code, maybe we can get a trustworthy oath out of them?
Hardly seems needed. We're getting answers. DM, should I be rolling Sense Motive on any of this. Sergei is looking for lies.
As far as killing the captives, he'd rather not. As long as they talk, we want to encourage that. The question of course, is what can we do with them. It basically comes down to:
By the way, we should make sure to question the other 2 as well, to make sure they confirm his story. As I said earlier, I'm going to be away most of next week, probably without internet access.
"It's nice to see you can be cooperative, when you're not busy terrifying merchants. So, while we're waiting for the map - Who's running the show? Is the big boss at the main northern camp you mentioned or down south? How many men are at each camp? That'll do for a start. Oh, we'll also need a good description of the northern camp. Layout, defenses, anything else that might be useful."
"Then talk and talk well, Happs. Prove your value and you won't swing."
I was staying out of the actual interrogation for now, due to my current lack of intimidate.
If you have to burn someone, burn one of the flunkies. Question them first though.
My schedule varies enough it's hard to commit to a specific time. And as a head's up, I'm going to be mostly (or entirely) out of touch next week. Camping out, so little to no internet access. I'll post if I can, but otherwise, do with Sergei as you need to. Starting Saturday morning, most likely.
Technically that's a AC penalty anyway, so the GM applies it. He can't get away at this point anyway. Andrej and I can stay on top of him, charging to attack. If he turns and fights or if you guys get mounted, you'll ride him down.
No Combat Reflexes, sadly and the Bless is counted. I assume you only get the Prone AC penalty when actually prone, not while standing up but I could be wrong about that. No sneak attack either.
As the bandit leader struggles to his feet, Sergei is waiting.
I didn't put one because I wasn't sure which square the bandit ended up in. I intended to be one square up from him, which I think would be X22.
Sergei races up the ladder onto the wall, glances over the edge to see the bandit, steps down a few paces, flips over the edge, hangs a second and drops down next to the bandit, ready to strike.
I'm a little more confused by the +11 (+5 +6) climb check, but I guess he's got some bonus I don't see. Other questions: How long to unbar the gate and open it enough to get out? And does he get the +4 AC vs ranged attacks for being prone, if I'm shooting from the top of the wall, almost directly above him?
Sergei will charge to V19 and attack the leader, leaping easily over the sleeping bandit on his way.
In general I think posting out of initiative order is normal in PbP. It speeds things up, since many people have fairly limited windows to post in.
I know my flanked target got dropped, but I can't flank the other one without taking an AoO (or 2 Acrobatics checks) so I just tried to hit him.
As Andrej moves into P18, Sergei follows, moving to N18 to flank.
Sergei is delaying, hoping for a chance for a flank. He will still move before the bandits do, no matter what.
As the bandit leader reacts, Sergei draws his dagger and throws it at the nearest bandit, then tosses his rapier back to his good hand. "Didn't think they'd take the offer. Too bad."
As I said, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't have a completely wrong out of game understanding of how it would go down. I assumed they wouldn't be able to respond until they had an action, at which point we'd be right into hand to hand. If I'd realized how you were going to run it I would have had the bow out, delayed, and fired in both rounds. But, yeah, I guess I can throw a dagger.
I'd assumed that we wouldn't get a response to the surrender offer until their action and thus I wouldn't be attacking while they were still flat-footed. Since that's not the case, can I retcon my action to have my bow out instead of the rapier?
So are we changing the plan now? Cause I'll want to change my action. Or are offering them surrender and then killing them? Even I'm not happy with that. Word gets around and then people stop surrendering to you.
Then why am I not using the surprise round for sneak attacks? :)
Sergei pushes the gate to and puts his back to it, drawing his rapier and smiling at the bandits.
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