'People coming,' Kajetan thinks to himself as a chill of terror moves up his spine. He looks South toward the people approaching, then at the body of the man he has just slain, then at the forest. He then makes his move.
Kajetan has been standing as if in a fog since killing the black clad soldier, but now, with others approaching, he is galvanised into action. Judging that he still has a few moments before the people approaching round the bend in the path, and having already gathered up his crossbow, he hastily grabs the dead man’s legs and drags him off the path, before concealing himself in an area of deep shadow between too gnarled tree trunks.
Not a moment too soon; scant seconds after the mage secrets himself into the hiding spot, the leader of the approaching men rounds the bend. Watching closely, Kajetan sees the scar-faced man from the village, a long, curved bow held in one hand, and a large bird of prey resting on his other wrist. Closely following him are five black clad mercenaries. The men walk carefully but quickly, intent on their northern destination. From the way that a few of them check weapons and tighten buckles on leather armour and scabbards as they walk, Kajetan gets the sense that they are preparing for battle.
There is a tense moment as Kajetan suddenly notices the soldier’s discarded short sword lying amongst the autumn leaves on the path, but in the dark none of the passing men seem to notice it, and fortunately none of them tread on it.
After several seconds the men have passed, but Kajetan can still hear and see them hurrying along the path to the north.
Kajetan crouches in the dark behind the tree for several moments, his mind empty of ideas. Once the voices recede North, he realizes that his trespass and the man’s death went unnoticed. He breaths a large sigh of relief and feels a drop of sweat fall from his brow and onto his nose. Wiping the droplet away, he slowly slinks back on to the path and grabs the sword that almost gave him away. Moving back to his hiding spot, the scholar takes his crossbow and loads it. Then he uses the man’s clothing to clean off his Morningstar before he puts that away. Although he finds the task distasteful, the situation he is now in overshadows the task, and he is able to complete it without feeling noxious.
‘ They need to defeat those men or all is lost,’ Kajetan thinks to himself. Concluding that he might be more of a distraction than an asset since the companions have no idea who he is, Kajetan decides to wait. Moving North into the dark forest is not something he would excel at. The scholar is counting on his faith in the companions’ ability to overcome the ambush and follow this path. Then Kajetan will warn them of the coming dangers.
Kajetan:
From a metagame point of view, you might be waiting a little while if you wait, as they are just getting involved in a combat which may take two weeks or so of real time to resolve. But it’s really up to you. Nothing to say you can’t wait for a while then change your mind…
After sitting in the dark for several minuets, a chill starts to set in making Kajetan anxious. He starts to rethink his options. ‘I might be of some assistance. If I can get to them before they are ambushed, maybe I could warn them. If not, maybe I could just make a lot of noise, making them aware that they are not alone. I probably do not even need to try to make a lot of noise. Well, I can’t just sit here. If I can help, then I will.’
Now determined, Kajetan moves back on the path, and as quietly as possible, moves Northward with his loaded crossbow in hand. He keeps his eyes and ears alert for any enemies and also any allies.
Once the soldiers have passed, Kajetan quietly searches the body of the man he killed, trying to avoid looking at the dead man’s face, or inhaling the stench of blood and death.
The man’s weapons and armour are well made, but not exceptional. His dark clothing is fashioned like a uniform, but bears no markings or insignia. He wears a plain copper ring on one finger, and a wooden star around his neck, as do many in these lands who wish to profess their faith. Pinned inside the lapel of his shirt is a small silver medal, fashioned in the shape of a morningstar, it’s head a stylised Star of Arton.
Soon enough, Kajetan continues on his way, trailing a distance behind the armed men. The forest is dark, but this close to it’s edge there is just enough light for him to find his way without stumbling. He continues up the path to the north…
Kajetan:
DM Mothman:
Moving from tree to tree, the scholar, slowly turning warrior, advances North.
DM Mothman:
Kajetan, realizing that his movements will surely be noticed, decides to attempt a trick he used so many times back in the libraries in Lorin. Setting down his crossbow momentarily he retrieves a bit of wool from his pouch. Performing particular hand gestures and mouthing the words of an ancient tongue generates the spark of talent that, to this day, still confuses the scholar. He uses this ability to project a shouting voice of a man, he is recalling from memory and only heard once, in the middle of the path. Stop this! This is Inquisitor Vorn. Arton has shown me the light, and Oldsun and his companions are not our enemy. Sheathe your swords, unstring your bows, and withdraw from combat.
Kajetan hopes that this will cause the mercenaries to pause, even if it is just momentarily.
Utak, sorry to hear about your mother, I hope she’s ok.
Utak, sorry to hear about your mother, I hope she’s ok.
Kajetan:
A moment later there is an answering shout, seemingly a little closer to you:
“Come out to where I can see you, and throw your weapons down. Then we can talk – resolve this thing without further deaths.”
DM Mothman:
DM Mothman:
Kajetan tilts his head and peaks around the tree he hides behind to better determine what is happening.
Kajetan:
DM Mothman:
Kajetan is getting a bad feeling about this. He knows that these men were sent to take the Bard and his companions out of the equation. He has little hope that this parlay will work out good for the Bard.
’But what if it does work without any more loss of life? If the parlay works, I can still attempt to make contact with the Bard before they make it back to Barg, And if it does go bad, then I can try my ruse.’ he thinks to himself.
Listening to the mercenaries words, Kajetan attempts to remove all hope so he feels the need to act immediately and not wait teetering on the edge of action any longer.
DM Mothman:
Utak:
DM Mothman:
Utak:
From your vantage point, you can spot one soldier hiding nearby – about 30 feet from you – who inadvertently loosed his readied arrow when “Vorn’s” voice shouted out from behind him. He is looking around wildly but doesn’t seem to have spotted you yet. There are likely others hiding out here, but you can’t see them. The edge of the clearing is 50 feet away down the trail.
DM Mothman:
The crossbow bolt buries itself harmlessly into a tree trunk not far from the archer. He looks around in confusion, seemingly unaware where the arrow might have come from.
After seeing his bolt go wide, Kajetan ducks back behind the tree hoping that he was not seen or heard. Cursing silently to himself while reloading his crossbow he thinks, 'I am not cut out for this. There has to be some tricks I can learn to take out these bad guys.'
DM Mothman:
After reloading his crossbow, Kajetan turns back to the bowman. Taking a deep breath, the scholar concentrates on his target and lets the bolt fly.
The man searches in the dark, but is unable to locate the source of the bolt. He begins moving up the trail, looking around – until a moment later when Kajetan’s second bolt hits him heavily in the chest, knocking him to the ground with a gurgled grunt.