"Ta be honest the easiest and simplest thing to do would be as ye say, frontier justice. Yet there may be times when the easiest thing to do is not the right one, I am not sure this is one of those times but I am willing to listen to Sil and try to see if there is another option."
Strovan then casts a spell and stares intently on Nigel. After a few seconds he narrows his eyes and starts asking the former bandit a few questions.
"Ahh that was a simple spell that lets me gaze at the hearts of men, nothing to worry bout. Now I have a few questions for ye."
"So why did ye become part of the Stag Lords bandits?"
"Did ye enjoy the life of a bandit?"
"Do ye have any skills that doesn't involve robbing folks?"
"What would ye do with your life if we let ye go?"
Sense Motive -1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Strovan will be trying to see if he is being truthful with his answers and hoping the spell cast instantly before will put him off guard
Detect evil was memorized today, it replaces Doom. Hopefully I can see if he has a strong tint of evil or just a very mild one, not sure how you work detect spells.
Strovan's eyes narrow slightly as he mulls over Silstaren's words. After a few moments of thought he slowly responds to the elf, as if trying to carefully pick his words. "I canna say I disagree with ye, at least to some extent. I have no ways ta tell if he lies or not, though let me rest on it and I will try to find out if he truly enjoyed the evil he did or if maybe he regrets. I warn ye though tis no exact science, I canna read men's minds twill still be guesswork involved."
The dwarf then sighs deeply and sits down in a chair. "Ye know there isn't an easy answer, if I find no evil I will agree we shouldn't send him to a trial, but if I do, as I suspect I will it really doesn't answer the question one way or another. It isn't the sort of thing that just goes away in a day. People can change, for both better and worse, but it takes time, it won't be an overnight change. We both know what sort of things he has done, and sure he was helpful, but that may have been less a true desire to change his ways and more fear for his life, and as they say, no loyalty among thieves. Still I also don't want to think of myself as a hunting dog for the nobles while they sit in their townhouses."
Strovan will memorize Detect Evil in place of Doom for the next morning, and will then cast it on Nigel and concentrate hoping to glean any clue to his true spirit.
The long trek back to Oleg's sees Strovan in a cheerful mood. He spends the journey talking with his comrades about the fine weather they seem to be having, how enjoyable getting back to the comforts of the trading post will be, and about the battle. He complements Sil and Cale on their bravery against the bandits, but reminds them "Ware lest ye let bravery turn into foolhardiness, the last thing I want to do is return to civilization to tell tales about a fallen hero. Trust in the rest of us, we will come to yer aid, if ye really want to die a valiant hero save it for a more worthy foe than these scum."
The only time his spirits seem to cool is when he looks over at the captive. He says nothing about the fate of Nigel but when he looks at the captive his brows furrow. Should I allow Cale to turn our captives over to the authorities? I assume the punishment will be harsh, but probably not undeserved. Yet their actions alone brought this fate down upon them, and I have little mercy for those who would prey upon the weak. Still will sending them off to be part of a show execution put on to restore peoples faith in the nobility be justice? Is this whole little expedition just a whole lot of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons?
Once they reach the relative security of Oleg's he settles down near the fireplace and spends the evening doing his part to tell the tale.
"Oleg another ale for me, my throat be dry from all these tales."
"Ah the battle wouldn't have gone nearly as smooth without Sil and Garyn scouting the place out. Ghosts I tell ye, they were ghosts. They got so close they were able to warn us which bandits had bad breath so as we knew which ones to feather with arrows."
"Oy, sure they outnumbered us near two to one, but I really was never nervous, well except when Greehr over there started lobbing his..." Strovan's story pauses for a second "I've been meaning to ask what are th... ye know what maybe tis better I don't know I will probably feel a lot safer."
"As always the food is excellent. And I do love me a good honest ale, the liqueur we found was fair, but ale, now that is what ye should be drinking with friends while sitting around a fire. Ah thank ye Oleg how did ye know I wanted another one."
Strovan watches Cale's antics bemusedly, I'm not sure if ye can tell from that show but the lad is a heck of a swordsman. I fer one am glad that he was there fighting with us."
"I agree, tis no reason to head after this Stag Lord right now. Fer now I say we return to Oleg's and figure out a plan from there." Strovan looks up at the nights sky "As much as I would like to set off for Oleg's now I fear that blundering about these woods at night is likely to land us in a heap of hot water. It might be best if we rested up and set out at daybreak."
His eyes narrow as he looks over all of the corpses. "Yet we might want to be careful tis sure to be lots of predators in these woods, we might want to move the bodies away from our camp. Downwind I reckon, Sil, Garyn, do ye agree?"
Strovan stares off into the distance for a minute wondering if they were the right group for this job. It was obvious now that it was a whole lot more complicated than killing a couple of bandits, getting revenge for a few deaths, and returning honest folks their property. What reason did everyone have for seeing this through to its completion. Cale and Sil had their revenge, had Garyn's bloodlust been sated, and finally why was Greehr even here. In fact Strovan was wondering why he was here, and while doing this had seemed like a good and righteous idea at the time, now he wasn't sure. It has been years since he had spent more than a couple of nights in one place, and he wasn't sure how invested he wanted to become in this land.
All these questions flashed though his mind and he realized he had no answers for any of them. He looked back at the bandit and was happy that there were more immediate problems with simple solutions. "Tell us what you know of the bandits in the area? Are there any other groups close, will anyone notice the fact that yer band has disappeared? Finally who is this Stag character that we have heard about, are ye actually organized and he is yer leader?"
Strovan coldly looks down at Nigel. It hurts doesn't it? What did ye expect that ye would be able to lead a life stealing from hard working folks forever, that yer deeds would never come back to haunt you? Why should I help ye, have ye ever done anything that didn't just help yerself?"
He then walks over to Cale looking the young man up and down Not bad for his first battle other than training exercises. Though when things were looking grim he did lose his head a bit, still the thought of death approaching can do that to any man. He lightly punches Cale on the shoulder and then starts walking back to Nigel. "Twas a fine night of work friend, come lets see if this bandit knows anything that might help us."
He then stands over Nigel looking expectantly.
Regardless of the answers given by Nigel Stroval will use his final Channel Energy, though first making sure than anyone else who is injured is close, I think just Cale and Sil at this point.
Channel Energy -1d6 ⇒ 6
"It isn't what yer actions deserve, but I'll not stand by and watch a man suffer regardless of the crimes he has committed." Looking around at the rest of the party. "Is anyone handy with rope he should be fine to move, and tie up."
Lets see what the lad can do, I think he deserves a chance for this blow, but it isn't like the storybooks, there are no honorable duels in wilderness. No there is just blood and dirt, those who live and those who die. Strovan deftly doges the bandits swing, jumping back slightly which allows Cale time to swing.
Delaying action till just after Cale goes, but if she isn't down.
Attack Roll -1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21Applying the +1 from Guidance to this attack.
Ignore that entire last post of mine I finally figured out that the perception check wasn't to see her, ahh the downfalls of PbP, and then the comprehension after drinking 6 pints of Guinness
Actually since I think I go before Cale, and not sure when/if Greehr is going to be able to post I might as well go.
Strovan again bathes the battlefield in a feeling of restoration and then with an amazing grace rushes after Kressle.
Channeling energy again(once again Nigel doesn't get healed), and then using Agile Feet ability and my 40' move I will run to where I think Kressle might be. Moving 3 spaces diagonally to the SE which should cost me 20', then 4 spaces east for another 20' ignoring all difficult terrain. That should put me at E19 let me know if I can make another perception check.
Awww hell this isn't looking so good. At this point I canna say falling back would do any good, for better or worse we are neck deep. Strovan then lifts up a battered wooden mug concentrates briefly and a quick pulse of power bathes the battle. he then drops his crossbow and draws his rapier.
Standard action Channel Positive Energy (using selective channeling to only heal our party members.) Free action drop the crossbow. Move action draw my rapier.
Channel Energy -1d6 ⇒ 3
If I have to make a 5' step forward to reach everyone with the channel I will
That location is fine, didn't realize the water part on my first move I think I might have been one off on my hexes. But no I didn't want to be standing in a river. I do like how you don't even bother giving the non-humans names, just dwarf or elf.
That was humor of course, I constantly have to remind myself that my sarcastic quips don't always translate well in text.
Strovan winces as he sees the dagger hit Cale, then moves to stand behind Cale and quickly casts a spell on him. "Ach boy, careful with her, I have a spell that will help but ye needs to stay alive."
Strovan moves to I11 and casts Cure Light Wounds using up his Doom spell.
Actually a dwarf with the travel domain can be quite amazing. The first level domain spell is longstrider so suddenly you have a speed 40' dwarf. Since a dwarf never has their speed modified by armor or encumbrance you could for example take the heavy armor feat, and wear full plate mail, while running around at 40' for 1 hr/level(it is possible I have considered this).
There is a feat to increase your speed by 5', but it only applies if you have light or no armor. I suppose it could be decent for a dwarf rogue, but probably not worth spending a feat on.
From a purely min/max perspective it is almost worth it to take one level of clerc for most dwarf PC's just for the free movement. I would suggest Abadar for the Travel/Protection domains. If only because protection gives you +1 to all saves and another +1 for every 5 levels, and I am not sure if it is intended but it doesn't specify cleric levels like other powers so as written you get +1 to all saving throws at 5/10/15/20 even if you only took 1 level of cleric. Possibly there is some errata but I am having trouble tracking down the errata.
Oh, and see now look what you have done, released my inner powergamer :P
Hrmmmm now that I think about it luck wouldn't be a bad domain either I can see some absolutely absurd combos with their 1st lvl power and a class that has a ton of attacks as a full round action.
Strovan quickly blesses himself, and then moves up to a position where he can support either Cale or Silstaren. The first salvo went well, but now we are way too spread out, we need to support each other.
Strovan casts guidance on himself, and then moves up to F10
Yes I will take the attack roll, sorry I misunderstood your post. I think I realize now, you were offering me the chance of a charge on one of the patrol members because of my movement? Lets just go with as soon as I saw Sil lose an arrow I fired with my crossbow.
Strovan moves up to behind the broken down cart, using one side as cover and a stabilizing platform for his crossbow shot. He looks quickly at the two patrol members then at the bandit shot by Silstaren.
If the bandit shot by Stilstaren looks to be still living, and Strovan has a clear shot at him he will shoot at him. If not he will shoot at the closest patrol, I think the one at J12.
Strovan waits quietly cradling his crossbow carefully watching the woods ahead. As the seconds drag on he seems to be if anything more calm than at any previous time this night. I am glad those two are on our side, tis near impossible to see them if they set their mind to it. Now we just need to see if the spoiled brat and I can hold up our end of this ambush. Maybe I am being too hard on him, I guess we will see this night.
Strovan is waiting about 40' away from the wagon putting him about 10'-15' off the map if he can see either of the two stand and fire he will use that as his cue to move.
Just to mention, again, my base speed is 30' and right now I am buffed for a base speed of 40', finally I can move through difficult terrain like the logs and underbrush without penalty, and I have darkvision. Oddly it makes me the most mobile combatant in this fight, even if I do sound like a bull in a china shop when I move.
With that being said I am not planning on sneaking on to the map for a surprise attack, but once you guys loose your arrows I will be up to you in a flash.
I would modify it as such, have Garyn and Silstaren move up 20 feet under cover so they are in los of where the patrol will patrol and can stand up and have good los to the tower while Cale and Strovan wait back a little outside of los. When the patrol is in the ambush position the two of us(and greehr if he is around) move up to where they are and then hit the ambush. Any thing we can do to make sure that Strovan doesn't have to make important stealth checks is a win for us. Garyn and Silstaren would probably lose the benefit of the guidance spell on anything other than their initial stealth check, but with the way orisons work now Strovan could keep guidance up on the other 3 and fresh for when combat starts. The signal by the two sneaky ones will be easy to see because of Strovan's darkvision, please poke holes in this modification if there are holes that you see.
"Well once again right before we leave I can bless us all with a touch of extra luck hopefully it will allow our first salvo to hit our targets. I would say Garyn takes the shot on the lookout, that appears to be the most difficult of the initial targets."
Looking at Greehr "Do ye even have a bow of some sort, or do you just use yer bombs? I dunno, will ye have the arm strength to reach the patrol with them? I think rushing in for the first attack will be our best option the fact is I have a feeling that while the sentries missed these two sneaking around they will hardly miss the rest of us.
Strovan looks at the area they are currently in, trying to see if he sees a good defensive location near their current location. "Now if with the aid of surprise we could make a quick strike eliminate the western sentry and the 2 patrolling and then retreat to here we may be able to have a significant advantage. They won't know exactly what they are facing our numbers will be even and between myself and Silstaren we have better vision in this darkness."
As the minutes slowly tick by for the first time in the entire journey Strovan appears to be tense, and not his usual jovial relaxed self. He checks his weapons, looks over his crossbow and is constantly scanning the woods.
"Tis the waiting that bothers me." He whispers "I hate just wish there was something we could do but I guess we have to trust in their skill."'
When the two finally return he breaths a silent sigh of relief and his demeanor visibly brightens. Quickly he whispers. "Ahh tis good to see you two, what is the situation is it exactly like Calvin discribed? Will our plan work? Were you able to kill any sentries? Forgive the onslaught of questions friends, it is times like this that I wish I worth a dang at the sneaky stuff."
"Just in case ye hadn't noticed with that boar incident sublty isn't one of my strengths. I assume our plan is when we get close we circle around and let one of you move up stealthily and take out the sentries. I just want to make sure that we stop a ways out so as they don't notice me. And don't worry bout me getting to the fight I can make myself move twice as fast as yer average dwarf and this terrain doesn't bother me a bit."
Stovan tilts his head to the side, listens a bit, "Then again I am not the only one who can be a bit on the noisy side." He then grins over at Cale.
That roll of 5 was a channel positive energy I keep forgetting the name.
"Well I don't know that much bout infections, but far as I can tell it looks good for now. We will know more in a day or so but I healed much of it, how do ye feel now? Good to go?"
Strovan looks around warily and turns to Garyn. "How close are we to their camp, is there any chance someone might have heard that I don't want to be ambushed while mulling over a boar."
"Tis true, cept for that one nasty gore it twas well done. Here let me look at it."
Healing surge -1d6 ⇒ 5
Strovan looks it over, noting that most of the bleeding has stopped but that it could still use a little more patching up. "Ye want for me to finish the job or do ye have faith that ye will be able dodge the next few blows?"
If he says wait Strovan will wrap it tightly with a bandage.
Blast of all the stupid luck, to get attacked by a slab of bacon.
If I can make if a 5' step to flank with someone I will(if it is difficult terrain I can move through it with no hindrance just let me know because I can only do it a few times a day)
"Bah, any plan that requires stealth out of me is doomed for failure."
I assume Strovan was unmounted if so he will delay action until someone else charges the boar or the boar charges in which case Strovan will attack with his rapier.
Strovan draws to a halt and whispers, I think I see something, but I'll take yer word for it. Is there any way we can avoid it, I bet we are close to the bandits and if we fight we could alert them. I will follow your leads on this one, keep in mind I aint the sneaky type.
"Thanks ye for the good wishes. And as fer ye, ye should be thanking every god ye can name that yer still alive."
Strovan stretches a little and sets off with the rest of the group. "Ahhh tis good to be off and it will be nice to see this part through."
Sorry if you had been waiting for me to post my spells, I always update them on Strovan's alias but I can update them in the post if you would prefer that. As for enlarge person I didn't take it because I asked in character and ooc and no one responded.
Finally because one of my domains is travel, and a dwarf's racial is the ability to not have armor reduce his speed my base speed is 30'
I can enlarge person as a domain power, I don't like it myself so I usually don't have it memorized, but I can change it to enlarge person if you want.
"So then it is agreed we head out first thing tomorrow morn? And when we get there we are trying to divide and conquer possibly take a few out before they know we are there and hopefully hit them unawares? Sounds like a solid plan ta me."
He looks over at the captive glares a little and says. "I've got no more use for the wretch, but if either of you two" pointing at Garyn and Silstaren, "have more questions feel free to keep interrogating. I for one am going to rest in preparation for tomorrow. Oh one last thing, I have the ability to enlarge a single person for about a minute, would that be helpful to anyone, because I usually don't bother with it."
I will update with the spells I plan on memorizing later tonight.
"Ahhh so we have a day longer than I first guessed. This truly is good news. Twill allow myself, to change my spells, and perhaps let our friend Greehr brew up something equally spectacular as today's fireworks were.
Strovan turns to Oleg. "Good sir do you still have any special supplies that you might have hidden from these bandits? Maybe something we could use against them. If they be expensive I promise if you give us time we will repay you for their cost. Anything that might give us the edge in this upcoming fight."
Looking back at the group. "Well I don't know that any spells I have would be great at taking down a camp full of bandits, but when push comes to shove I have a spell or two that might help neutralize their leader, but I will need a nights rest before it tis available."
"I think they would be able to see through any subterfuge with a dead body, not to mention the fact that I look nothing like any of the bandits. I Silstaren, you and Garyn are going to play the major part in this plan I think."
"Calvin is there any regular time that maybe a group of bandits leaves the camp for something, say to get more water, or check hunting traps?"
I am going to watch him carefully to see if he seems to be withholding information or maybe telling half truths.
Strovan leans against the side of the building lost in thought for a second. I hope winning the battle hasn't cost us the war. The fact we have a fixed location we have to defend in addition to needing to go forth and root them out makes this a lot trickier. I wonder if the lad is right maybe recklessness is the right move.
"I think there is a chance that Cale is right, if we move right now we have the initiative in this battle. But we need more information, boy, we need exact directions to your camp, and landmarks that we can recognize that will warn us when we are getting close. Also do ye keep a lookout and if so where are they placed?"
He then pulls the members of the group that are still outside and whispers to them. "I still dinna know if I entirely trust this bandit he still seems proud of his group which makes me think that he will try to hold information back. But regardless while we still have surprise on our side I think we should at least spy on their camp to see if an assault would be feasible."
"I just don't know that charging into a situation that we know very little about is the best plan. I know that right now we have the element of surprise, but blindly attacking them in their home seems like it may be a recipe for disaster. I canna imagine that they would send their entire group to chase after these five. Rather I expect they will leave some to guard their valuables at their base camp." Strovan gets a thoughtful look on his face. "The boy says there are multiple bands of bandits in these lands is there any way we could move the bodies to another location with some empty sacks from Oleg's to make it look as if they were ambushed on their way back and the loot stolen by other bandits?"
He then turns to the bandit. "Shut yer trap boy and thank ye lucky stars you are alive."
"Stay yer hand friend Oleg, I agree he deserves the blade but not like this. Ye aint the type of man to kill another in cold blood." Strovan puts a hand on Oleg's shoulder, not as a restraint but more as a calming motion. Then looking once again at the bandit. "As for you, don't be talking bout how ye had no choice. There are always choices, sometimes the right ones aren't the easy ones, and that is the true test of a man, and you do not measure up."
He then spits at the ground in front of the bandit and turns back to Cale. "Even if we get the drop on them if they are in their hideout I think eight plus the leader will be a tough match for us, we got lucky this time because of surprise and terrain. But ye know they will have guards in their camp and they will know the ground better than us. I wonder if all nine of them will come looking after these five, or will she leave some of them back in their camp? I would love to be able to take them when we had close to equal numbers."
Strovan gives a disdainful glance at the young bandit bleeding on the ground. Sighs, deeply and finally heals him.
Healing burst for 1d6 ⇒ 5
"Boy, sometimes if ye make a mistake you have to live with the consequences, and if that means yer neck gets stretched, well ye got no one to blame but yerself. Tis a lucky thing for you that you have information we need, and that my friends here believe in redemption, but make no mistake I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if you bled out."
Without a second glance Strovan turns towards Lana and Oleg. Now these two here are the reason we are out here. Revenge it is never a worthy cause, but the people, they are always worth fighting for. With a large smile on his face he walks up to Oleg and shakes his hand.
"I am glad we could help ye with yer problems. But I am no fool we know that this was but one battle and yes they will be back. I give ye my word that we will stand by ye and not leave you swinging in the wind. We will get information on their base of operations from this lad and depending on their numbers either keep ambushing them or attack them head on."
"The amulet means nothing ta me. Yes twas impressive, but it isn't that hard to defeat scum like this, especially when they don't know ye are coming."
Strovan smiles and winks at Oleg and Lana. And here I thought this was a suicide mission. The lads can sure fight, and if we can learn to fight as a team we could be very dangerous. Then he walks up to Cale and slaps him on the back.
"Twas a right nice ambush ye set. Now what, ye want us to track them back to their lair and attack them head on, or are we taking a slower rout to our eventual goal. Maybe we will use this as a home base and explore out from here and get the lay of the land first."
"If any of the poor horses lived through Greehr's explosions see if ye can round them up and bring them over to me. The sins of the riders should not extend to the horse besides we can probably use them if they aren't too traumatized."
Strovan then checks over the bandits to see if any still live.
Any bandits that are still living but at negative hp's I will cast Stabilize on.
I actually changed my spells around to include create water for this very possibility. On my next initiative assuming all bandits appear to be fairly well in hand.
"Oy, that wasn't so bad." Strovan chuckles slightly, "Ye sure do know how to make a large boom Greehr. Lets not make this bandit killing all for naught."
On my initiative I will cast Create Water which will summon 2 galons of water per round. I will create it over the fire and continue to do so every round till the fire is out.
Strovan Rushes around the corner of the building and yells at the fleeing bandit, "FALL!"
Cast the Command spell telling the bandit to fall to the ground, DC 14. Yes the bandit I am fighting will get an AOO, but I am ok with that.
If the only living bandit is the one fighting Cale and myself.:
Strovan takes a 5 foot step away from the surviving bandit and sternly says, "Fall!"
Cast the Command spell telling the bandit to fall to the ground, DC 14.
"You seem to be the last of your band of thugs alive. If you wish that to continue I suggest ye not move a muscle or my friend here will likely chop you in half."
