10: The Forest of Woe

[burke]

The power of Drugan's spell hurls the last rider from the saddle and he lands in a nearby thornbush. In a feat of awesome agility, Charles manages to catch the reins of the fleeing horse and bring it to a stop.

All the riders are still alive, the first two are merely stunned from being thrown, while the last two are unconscious and bleeding from their multiple wounds. Mahara-la and Varklud bring them together and tie them securely.

Two of the horses got away, one fled forward, the other back. Drugan inspects the wounded horse and gages that it would require a substantial expenditure of strength to heal the poor beast [20 points].

Meanwhile Mahara-la's interrogation bears fruit. The two conscious bandits are terrified of her savage display. They belong to a band called the Black Brigade, led by someone called "Neptune". They and their sergeant, the heavily wounded last rider, were tasked with patrolling the road in search of a trader who managed to escape them into the forest a couple of days ago. They are due back in a couple of hours, the main force (a dozen men) is camped by the fork in the road.

The bandits have 288 gold pieces between them [that's 36 gp for each of you]. They are all clad in chainmail (two suits are still undamaged) and carry target shields, spears and broadswords.

[krzyzewski99, no roll is required since you gave such a detailed and horrific description of your actions.

If I interpret the rules correctly, Alwyn's 1st level laceration cost 3 ST (-1 for him being level 2, -2 for the wand) and Drugan's 2nd level laceration cost 10 ST (original cost doubled, -2 for the wand).

I'll be MIA for this weekend and probably will not be able to post until Tuesday. Feel free to discuss and describe your plans in the meantime.]

[salass00]

Unless anyone objects Melanthios will remove the chaimail armor (one of the undamaged ones) from one of the prisoners and put it on.

[krzyzewski99]

Fantastic! Enjoy the weekend, Burke! I'll post something more substation about actions/ideas later...

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

"Hmm, well there is no point in trying to save the horse if it is so badly wounded and the others have fled"

"Lets drag it off the road and butcher it, I've a great recipe for horse meat shish-kabob"

Drugan mulls over the information Mahara wrung from the captives.

"Well it seems our good merchant is still at large in the forest"

"I say it's our first priority to recover him, the bandits would not be after him if they already had all his goods"

"Let me rest a bit and recover my strength and we'll see if my spell "Suggestive Power of Byakha" can take hold on one of these brigands"

"Not the sergeant though, he must be all gristle to have survived that beating"

"I wonder if such notorious bandits as these have a price on their heads?"

"However before we do anything else I say we pack up and head well away from here"

"As soon as they are missed ( Drugan gestures at the bound brigands ) their comrades may come looking for them and I don't feel up to taking on a dozen armed men at the moment"

OOC: If possible I say we find the merchant and see if we even need to tackle the bandits to recover the goods.

If not I say we grab him up and beat feet out of here and if we do have to take the bandits on we need to break them up into smaller groups and whittle their forces down.

If I can control one of the captured bandits he will be an excellent lure to draw small groups into traps. If not I can cast illusions of the sergeant gesturing for them to follow him, that might work as well.

As far as tracking down the merchant, maybe Mahara-la skilled in the ways of the forest can get on his track.

P.S. We should ask the captives if they have a wizard or any magical devices we need to worry about. We don't want any nasty surprises! ;D

[apeloverage]

[OOC: how many APs do we get for defeating the bandits?]

[danhem]

Charles leads the horse he so skillfully captured off the side of the road, gently patting his muzzle.

"For some reason I've always gotten along well with horses," he says as he returns to the group.

As they strip the weapons and armor from the bandits he looks at the swords and spears with regret.

"I guess I should have saved my money. I don't suppose any of these could be enchanted in any way? In any event they should fetch a good price back at the inn; unless anyone needs an extra weapon."

Charles then looks over the two damaged suits of chainmail to see if they can be salvaged. "These could serve some use in a pinch."

OOC: How many hits do the two damaged suits of mail have left?

Considering Drugan's word Charles kicks one of the trussed up bandits and spits in his face.

"Where are the silks the trader was carrying? If you're straight with us you may just get away with your life. If not...let's just say our sorcerous friends here know a few demons that love the taste of human flesh and are quite hungry."

[krzyzewski99]

"DEMONS? I've grown used to slightly raw flesh out of need here in the wilderness, no matter the source." Mahara-la smiles, then laughs at the reaction of the bandits and the inside joke among her new friends.
Mahara-la wants two actions: let's detect magic among the goods found. She ould also like the cast a faint light at one of the bandits, centered around his abdomen. ---what should I roll?

[burke]

[The damaged suits of chainmail are destroyed.

None of the bandits items are magical. There is no roll when casting spells, you only need to expend the required ST.]

You manage to drag the wounded horse off the road, but only a short way. Drugan puts the distressed animal out of its misery. You lay the wounded bandits over Charles horse and continue walking due south for half a mile until you stop to rest.

Charles and Mahara-la's continued questioning of the bandits, yields only a few more details. The bandits apparently ambushed the trader near the fork in the road, but he gave more resistance than they expected and fled with his caravan southward into the woods. The bandits followed the caravan, but had to give up the chase in fear of getting lost among the Mallorns. Since then they have been patrolling the road, looking for the caravan.

Drugan's attempt to magically enslave one of the bandits fails.

When you are done with this it is already evening, you have a couple of hours until nightfall.

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

Drugan ponders the bound brigands.

"Do you think we could turn them over to the authorities for a reward?"

[danhem]

"It is possible I suppose..." Charles says to Drugan. "But I wonder who in this land is not a brigand, bandit, or thief of one sort or another?"

"It seems the object of our mission is running and hiding off of the road. That will make it more difficult on us. Mahara, do you think you can find the tracks of our wayward caravan in the forest? In any event, we can certainly avoid a direct confrontation with the rest of these brigands. Unless they pick a fight with us, of course."

Charles mimes throwing his trident and grins.

OOC: Shall we set up a separate record sheet in the PC roster for the pack animals to keep track of equipment and loot we're not carrying ourselves?

[krzyzewski99]

Mahara-la will scout the area for any noted changes, specifically looking for signs of tracks indicating large caraan-like movements.

[apeloverage]

Alwyn suggests waiting until morning, then getting the bandits to take us to the exact place where the ambush occured. Any caravan tracks will obviously start there.

Also, he says, we should clarify if, when the bandits chased the merchant, they followed tracks, or simply went in the direction the merchant went.

[Porkbelly]

Poncho: "I believe we're heading south towards the fork where the ambush occurred. Which is also where the main force of bandits is encamped. It can't be too far ahead."

"I doubt the bandits will send out a search party for this missing patrol in the dark, but surely someone will come looking by dawn, perhaps in force."

"Either we camp out here in the woods and hope for a safe night, or we make haste back to the trading post, to return on the morrow."

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

"Hmm. good thinking Poncho"

"If we can make it back to the trading post we can get rid of these brigands ( and possibly turn a profit ) and be safe for the night"

[Hogscape]

Quinlan: "Between us I'm sure we have the skills to track the bandits back to their camp. After all, it's unlikely that their camp is far from the track - the woods are too thick to ride through.