Harthar's Kingmaker Part One: The Stolen Lands

[PhilMeyer]

Dhovanu grins while she lines up her shot at the fleeing bandit.

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ATK: (1d20+9)[23] PBS (+1), FavEnemy (+2), Bless (+1)
Damage: (1d8+3)[4] PBS (+1), FavEnemy (+2)

It's a good shot, but the arrow does not penetrate deeply.

[PhilMeyer]

Seeing the bandit still standing, she orders her hawk to once more give pursuit. "Sevelli i' devenlen!"

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Fly out to the bandit.
ATK: (1d20+6)[25] Bless, FavEnemy
Talon DAM: (1d4+2)[3]

[PhilMeyer]

The elf jumps down from the wagon, moving to position herself as close as she can to the horse. She'll move between him and his horse, if possible.

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Acrobatics: (1d20+3)[14]

[PhilMeyer]

Dhovanu yells. "Stop now, or my next shot will take your life!"

[North_Ranger]

Bandit One:
”I surrender, please don’t kill me.”

"A wise choice", Vasili says as he reloads his dented pistol and levels it at the man. He climbs down from the roof, taking stock of the situation. The last bandit on the run is too far away and behind the wagon, so he cannot shoot him. But by the sound of the shouting, Dhov's got the situation well at hand. And if need be, Ged's only a dismount away from lending assistance.

"Keep your hands where I can see them", he growls at the bandit. "If you so much as think of doing anything other than breathe, I'll send you to see how he's doing in the Boneyard", he adds, nodding towards the body of the dead bandit leader, the man's leg still twitching.

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OOC: Rolling Intimidate, in case the bandit thinks to pull a hidden blade or anything.

(1d20+6)[11]

"Elanore", he then calls out, his eyes never leaving the bandit. "Go fetch Oleg and Svetlana. Tell them to bring rope. We've got some tying up to do."

Having said that, Vasili returns to watching the bandit he has on gunpoint. In the heat of the battle he had not stopped to look at the people he shot. Now that the battle is almost over, he takes a closer look at the man before him, trying to figure out what sort of a person he is dealing with.

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If a roll is needed... then, Perception and Sense Motive, I guess?

Perception:
(1d20+6)[15]

Sense Motive:
(1d20+2)[10]

[Harthar]

Gedriwyn was well aware of the importance of stopping the bandit from escaping. If he got away then he would tell the rest of the bandits at their camp and then a whole horde of them would fall upon the fort. This fort, with the amount of people to defend it, would fall for sure under such an attack. He had to act quickly, knowing that he and his horse could not fit through the gap between the wagon and the gates he knew that he had to dismount and attempt to follow on foot. Leaping from the horse he moved as swiftly as he could toward the gap, literally throwing himself at the gap he attempted to squeeze between through shear strength. If he managed such a feat he would continue onward until he was within striking distance of the bandit, bringing his sword up and then down in an overarching two handed strike toward the man’s head.

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Ok, so I’m going to do a dex check to get between the wagon and the gate.
(1d20+2)[20] If that is more than 15, I’ll proceed to attack, if not I’ll be stuck and need to do a strength check to escape :P.

Attack: (1d20+6)[14]
Damage: (1d8+4)[6]

EDIT: Damage x1.5 for two-handed strike. Sorry forgot to put that in, not that I needed it anyways...

[Harthar]

Elanore:
Stood up from the almost completely healed Winter, only the memory of the pain was all that remained of the woman’s injury amazingly enough. She took stock of the situation, turning as Vasili spoke to her. She nodded once, it was a good order and one she would follow, though she was definitely not used to following orders at all. Moving inside she called out to Oleg and Svetlana, “Come quickly, the ambush is over but we need some rope to tie up the prisoners. And something to fashion some bandages out of to staunch their wounds.” She added the latter, knowing that the others had not considered the condition of the bandits, only she who was used to treating wounds had thought of it.

Crimson and Bandit One:
He stood up, moving over to the bandit that had surrendered to Gedriwyn (Bandit One) and kicked him in the back, rocketting the man face first into the ground. He quickly bent down and brought his knife to the man’s throat. “Now you listen here,” He whispered into the man’s ear, “If you don’t tell me everything you need to know, I’m going to cut each and every little extremity of your body off until you do tell me. I’m going to start with your eye lids so that you can’t sleep and you can see everything I’m doing... then I’ll cut off your fingers, one... by... one... and then your toes. Then I’ll work my way up slowly to your most private parts. I’m sure you’ll talk by then, but if not I’ll continue to your nose and your ears...” He let the threat and bluff hang in the air for a moment before continuing, “After that... well... you don’t want to know what I’ll move onto after cutting off all your extremities... but let me tell you. I’ve heard that a man’s insides, when stretched out, are a hundred times his height in length. I don’t believe it... I need to see it for myself.”

The bandit paused for a moment, his eyes wide as his mind filled in the blanks of Crimson’s words. Then he spoke in a trembling voice, ”I’ll tell you everything you need to know, just please don’t... don’t hurt me... What do you want to know?”

Dhovanu:
Apparantly the elf’s threat was not heeded and so she fired and her bird attacked also. The arrow scored a hit into the man’s leg, slowing him but not stopping him from reaching his horse. The bird’s attack only served to cause several deep gashes on the man’s arms, not enough to stop the fellow but without treatment he would bleed out in a few short hours.

Bandit Six:
The bandit stood, watching in horror as one of his fellows was kicked to the ground by the Halfling. He did not know what exchanged between the two but he did see the other bandit’s eyes open wide in horror. He decided it would be best to just stand there and wait, not angering their captors any further than they were already.

Vasili and Bandit Two:
The gunman is an imposing figure, especially with the still smoking pistol aimed at the bandits head. The man does nothing untoward, he merely kneels there holding his still bleeding side, his gaze flitting between the gun and Happs, their dead leader. Vasili could sense that the man was defeated, he would not be resisting any longer, not unless by some miracle he happened to be mounted and outside the fort’s walls; which wasn’t going to happen. Vasili could perceive though that the man kept looking toward their leader and a particular thing upon the man’s body, a silver amulet on a chain that, upon closer inspection, was a gilded stag head. It seemed that these bandits were men who served the mysterious and elusive Stag Lord.

Gedriwyn and Bandit Three:
The man had reached his horse, his hands grasped firmly on the saddle and reigns, a foot secure in the foot rest he was a moment away from launching himself upward into the saddle. That was until Gedriwyn’s sword crashed down upon his head, cleaving it in two and most of his torso as well until the momentum and strength of the blow had ceased. The Horseman pulled the blade free and grasped the reigns, holding the horse steady so that it didn’t flee and no doubt return to the bandit camp with the decimated bandit dragging behind.

Winter:
Still recovering from the mental pain of her once physical wounds, moved over to one of the wooden benches to take a seat, though her eyes scanned the market yard in case one of the bandits decided to flee.

END OF ENGAGEMENT

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Ok, so your all free to Role Play freely now. I assume looting will ensue as well as interrogations. So continue, when I think it is appropriate I’ll move the story along and get everyone started on the main feature of the Kingmaker Adventure Path. When that does happen the newest members of our group will join us and there will be a short time of interaction between all the players to rearrange the party and then decide what to do next. So, good luck and carry on. I’ll obviously post randomly to tell you what is looted and what the bandits replies are.

[North_Ranger]

The sight of the gilded stag head might have caused some other bravo to snatch it before his companions could see it, but in Vasili that little piece of jewelry awakened something else. Painful memories of fire and smoke, of trying to breathe as the barn burned. Of flashing blades and spilt blood.

"The first Moonday of Kuthona, last year", Vasili snarled at the bandit, his gaze fixing on the man as he stepped closer. "Where were you and these two?" he demanded, pointing towards the other two survivors currently being bundled up and interrogated. His voice seethed with pent-up rage, terrifyingly fitting to the heat and sulphurous smell rising from his pistol. "Where were you?!" he demanded again, the pistol's muzzle pressing against the bandit's forehead. "Answer me or by the gods I'll blow your dog-rutting brains out right here, right now!"

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OOC:
That date is three months ago, essentially the first week of December - when his adoptive parents died in the bandit raid.

[PhilMeyer]

Dhovanu returns to the inside of the fort, nimbly hopping over the wagon.

She arrives in time to hear the gunslinger demanding an answer, but not the question.

Ouray returns to her arm, she strokes its feathers before instructing her to go find some food for itself. Roam Trick

She watches the scene with Vasili and the bandit with interest.

[Harthar]

Vasili:
The bandit took a deep breath and nodded slowly to indicate he would speak. As he did Oleg and Svetlana came forth from the house with rope, they helped the companions tie up the bandits and bring them all together near the bandit Vasili was interrogating. ”We... we were north of here, on a raid of some pitiful cottage. Happs thought we could get some food and something to sell or bargain with. All we found was a small family of three people; one of them had weapons like yours. We wounded one, burnt the house, and chased off the others before raiding it. Heh.” He gave a small chuckle at the thought of it, ”We took the man prisoner and had him carry all the gear we had stolen back to our camp.”

Crimson, once his bandit had been relocated, whispered to Vasili who was, for the moment, doing the interrogation. “This guy is ready to spill the beans as well, you can lead the interrogation.” Then the Halfling stepped back, but kept a watchful eye on the bandits, his knife still drawn despite them being tied up.

Dhovanu:
The hawk peels off into the sky, ranging south toward the forest in search of food.

[North_Ranger]

Vasili's eyes widen for a second. Alive? They took him alive? He had never dared hope...

"And what happened to the man?" the young man demanded, though he feared the worst. But if there was even the slightest chance...

"And where is your camp?", he then continued. He had to know what had happened... but there were pressing concerns. They would need to find the camp, before the rest of the outlaws learned what had become of Happs and his men. "Speak up", he urged the prisoners on, his free hand now moving to slowly draw his blade from its sheath. Gennadi's sword, his conscience reminded him. Patience. Do not dishonor him by striking in anger... Patience...

[Mari01]

Perhaps you'd get some answers out of him if you made an example of him. , Winter chimed in with a raspy voice. She held her hand steadily over her chest, where the arrow that had almost claimed her life had rested mere moments ago.

I'd be more than happy to find out where your camp is from one of the others, and then send you back in pieces.

[North_Ranger]

"Better start talking, fellows", Vasili remarked after hearing Winter's offer. "She's in a foul mood. Arrow to the lungs will do that... that and the fact that she hasn't killed anyone today."

"You wouldn't want me to... oblige her, now would you?"

[Harthar]

The bandit glanced from Vasili to Winter and then back again, taking another deep breath before continuing, "We... used him for menial work. He essentially became a slave, that is after Kessel broke him. He is now her servant, does whatever he can to help her. Our camp is south of here, I can show you on a map if you have one..."

[Harthar]

Gedriwyn:
The horseman lifted up the corpse of the bandit and draped it over the saddle of the horse he had been trying to mount. Then, after gathering the rest of the horses he led them back into the trading post, waiting outside until Renly and Gregory had pushed the wagon back out of the way. He tied the horses up to one of the many poles and then began gathering the corpses of the bandits. They would need to dispose of the corpses in some fashion, but until they decided how and where he would pile them up next to the quarters. Whilst he piled them up he removed most of their possessions and threw them into a pile, leaving the corpses clothed.

Once this was all accomplished he waited patiently as the gunslinger interrogated the bandits.

[North_Ranger]

Vasili's finger tightened on the trigger, eager to squeeze it. No. Patience... His eyes studied the bandit, to see if he was telling the truth. Look in the eyes, Gennadi had said. A man can lie with his tongue and with his deeds, but only a few know how to lie with their eyes.

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Rolling Sense Motive...

(1d20+2)[16]

Also, I've been meaning to ask what kind of men these survivors are, age- and appearance-wise? Are we dealing with hardened frontiersmen or half-starved youths with fuzzy upper lips?

[Harthar]

The bandits that still remain alive are all younger, in their late teens to early twenties and without the hardness that is seen in veterans or men who take pleasure in this sort of work. Of all the bandits that had been involved in the raid only about four of them, including Happs, looked to have this hardened quality. The man that Vasili was interrogating was the second youngest, whilst the bandit that Crimson had intimidated was the youngest. They each appeared to be terrified of their captors, as yet unaware of what you all might do to them.

Whilst the bandit had been telling the truth regarding Vasili's adopted father, he did seem like he was hiding something, perhaps leaving out something that might cause them anger and thus result in his punishment.

[North_Ranger]

"I see. And I think you're being honest with me. That's a start", Vasili spoke calmly yet firmly, nodding to Oleg to bring the young man a map. After that, the gunslinger took a knee before the three sitting and bound captives, and clicked the hammer of his pistol down. "Keep telling me the truth, you three, and there will be no trouble. But the moment even one of you decides to be clever and starts feeding me horse crap... I'll let the halfling and the lady over there have a word with you. All of you", he continued without breaking eye contact, nodding towards Vill and Winter.

"If we have an understanding about that... Tell me everything. How many there are left, how many will be on guard at any given time. Leave nothing out. Starting with your names."

They've had a taste of the stick, the young man mused as he waited for the young men to start talking. Now let's see if they prefer the honey instead. It was the same tactic Gennadi had used to coax captured brigands to talk in that Pitax cell seven years ago. Hard words to break the defenses, then offer quarter and kindness to those who agree to co-operate... with the gallows waiting for those who didn't. Vasili couldn't help but wonder whether or not the cavalier was already tightening nooses and looking for a nice, sturdy beam.

[PhilMeyer]

Dhovanu tenses a bit at Visili's promises. These men are soon to be hung, telling them lies of safe conduct seems somewhat cruel.

She stands over by the wagon, listening in. The elf is not particularly worried about needing the details, but no reason not to use any advantage.

[Mari01]

These ones do seem to be a bit young. They're not much younger than we are. Well, some of us anyway, nodding at the elf and dwarf. If we put these idiots to use around here, I'm sure that would be reason enough to let them keep breathing. I mean look around us, no offense Oleg and Svetlana. What else is there to do to stay alive in this horrid place?

[Harthar]

The young man, once his hands are untied so that he can point on the map, shows the companions where the camp is that he came from. ”I’m Jeof. I don’t know how many are left there, probably ten, maybe more. There are men constantly leaving and returning... and I never really stopped to count... A few on guard duty, maybe three or four, I couldn’t say with any certainty... I’m no leader.” The other two inform the companions that they are Hansel and Bran. ”Kessel, the woman who leads us, usually directs everyone and knows all that sort of information; we just do what she says.” The bandits turn and look at Winter nodding slowly, ”Aye, we can help out around here, just don’t kill us!” The young man looks sincere whilst the other two hang their heads and wait to be addressed.

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OOC: One more round of questioning and then we’ll move on.

[North_Ranger]

"Jeof, Hansel and Bran, huh? Aren't you all... a little young to be running with the likes of him?" Vasili asked and moved over to Happs's corpse, unceremoniously lifting the man by his hair, the broken spine making the dead brigand's neck bend at an unnatural angle. Unceremoniously Vasili removes the stag's-head pendant and wipes it clean of blood on the corpse's coat. "Consider that, I'll have your answers when we come back - with Kessel's head. But there are two things I need knowing: where do you keep the man, Kessel's slave? And would any of your mates back at the camp have one of these on him?" he asks, pulling out his pistol for the men to see.

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OOC:
After questioning, loot the corpses, get the horses... and if possible, pick up a bow and a quiver of arrows for back-up.

[Harthar]

Walker, Walters and Dern
Walker, Walters and Dern all arrived a day late to the Mayor’s estates for reasons that varied and mattered little at this stage; regardless they were still admitted into a second briefing on the Charter to the Stolen Lands. It appeared that the Mayor and the Swordlords of Restov were greatly motivated to do what was needed to bring those lands into the fold, however that may come about. First came the exploration and in their experience it was much easier with many people. Each proceeded through the same interview process and were assigned to a group that would leave in the morning once everything was assembled. This group was smaller than the one that had left that very morning; it consisted of just the three of them. Their group was assigned to escort a party of guardsmen who were being sent to the border of Brevoy and the Stolen Lands to reinforce some backward trading post that had been requesting aide for the last three months. That small party of soldiers was led by a man named Kesten Garess, a noble from the same family though not very high on the order of succession. For some reason the noble wants to leave Restov as quickly as possible and as such he, and his men, are all mounted. He manages to convince a merchant to rent out three additional horses for Walker, Walters and Dern so that they will not slow them down. The merchant will be arriving at the Trading Post, a place called Oleg’s, in a few weeks and will take back his horses then.

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Dern you can make a Knowledge (nobility) check here if you’d like, but it’ll need to be very high to learn more information about Kesten.

The following morning the party leaves Restov and beings their journey into the Stolen Lands. The journey is not as long as it was made out to be, but it was definitely hard; Kesten set a gruelling pace as if something was chasing him. They managed to cut their journey down to two days and a half and finally reach the very same spot that the companions had arrived at a day earlier. They looked up at the fort that had been converted into a trading post which was perched on a hill. After moving out of the treeline, and noticing a bird of prey sore out from behind them and make its way to the fort, it did not take them long to ascend the hill and reach the gate of the fort which stood open and inviting. What awaited within was far from that however.

Vasili, Winter, Dhovanu, Gedriwyn
Bran, Hansel and Jeof don’t answer the first question, they don’t think themselves to be too young, since they are pretty much of an age with most of the companions anyway. Bran speaks up when asked about Kessel’s slave, ”Well, he sleeps with Kessel of course... in her quarters.” They each glance at the pistol and shake their heads, ”We haven’t seen a pistol like that I’m afraid.”

The companions make short work of cleaning up the mess. Oleg, Gregory and Renly dig a hole big enough for the bandit’s corpses to be dumped into a few hundred meters away from the fort itself. Svetlana and Elanore both take to cleaning up the blood as best as they could, though it did not help much. Following that they continued to take care of the prisoners’ wounds and any additional superficial wounds that the companions may have sustained.

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Alrighty, so the Ambush is over and we’ll move the Adventure a long a bit as it seems to be floundering a bit.

So total experience gained during the ambush is: 1145. Each PC will get a share which equals: 191 each, roughly. Our new PC additions can also add this number to their sheets just to make progression easier later on.

All in all the equipment and items taken from the bandits amounted to:

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• Not Normal:
  +2 x Alchemist’s Fire
  + Composite Longbow (+2 Str)
  + Silver Stag Lord Amulet (worth 20gp if sold)
  + Four additional Horses
• Normal Items:
  +105gp
  + 16 days trail rations
  + Seven Longbows
  + 145 arrows
  + Eight sets of leather armour
  + Seven shortswords
  + One Dagger

Once Oleg confirms that the companions are entitled to take all of the possessions of the bandits as a boon for defeating them and assisting the trading post; however if they do not want them they can sell them to him at full price if he has enough coin. He also presents them with 100gp, and tells them to forget about the potions that were used during the ambush, all of it as reward for assisting them. Furthermore the companions are able to stay, free of charge, in his guest house for as long as they want. He and his wife will even provide meals for them for free.

Svetlana returns from her chores with the news that after such an exhausting battle for the companions she has prepared a meal for them and that they should sit and eat whilst discussing what they should do next. The pot, with the assistance of Oleg, is secured over the fire between the two long tables and bowls and cutlery are brought out. The smell from the pot is heavenly considering the smell of blood and released bowl contents that they had smelt for the last hour that they had been cleaning up. Upon the table is the map which shows the location of the bandit hideout that Jeof had pointed out, and beside that was one of the charters that told them of what their mission was.

The Party is interrupted as they move toward the table, by the arrival of Dhovanu’s hawk that signals someone is approaching the fort. Soon enough a party of eight arrive at the gates. You have enough time to set up for a hasty ambush if that is what you want to do, but no one is in position enough to go to the extent that they did last time.

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Exploration Map:

Important Locations:
E2 - Oleg’s Trading Post
D4 - The location of the bandit camp, known as the Thorn River Camp.

Alright, so this is a good time to brief you a bit on the processes involved in the next stages of the Adventure Path. So your main objective is as the charter says, to explore the Northern Greenbelt, making a map of the region that you will be able to present to the Swordlords of Restov. Obviously there will be additional side-quests and the hunting of the bandits which will influence the directions you go in.

Below is a travelling and exploring table that pretty much tells you how long it will take you to cross each hex on the map, and how long it will take you to explore each hex on the map.



As you can see exploring takes quite a lot of time, but it is a large area and your party doesn’t want to split up in case they encounter trouble. So with the following in mind you’ll need to prepare yourselves either for lots of short journeys, or a few long journeys. You have the advantage of a wagon which can hold a lot of goods; however it will take longer for you to travel over harsh terrains with the wagon, so you need to bare that in mind also. Also events will occur at Oleg’s even while you are away so it is good to return there every now and then to find out news, meet new people, sell your loot, and stock up on better equipment if you can afford it.

With regards to Selling and Buying at the Trading Post. Oleg has only a small amount of stock that can be purchased and a small amount of coin that can be used to purchase the Companion’s items. Oleg does have an agent in Restov who is able to provide him with a loan which would arrive in a week. So you shouldn’t worry too much about too much gear to sell, as eventually it will be sold. As for buying things from Oleg, he has a very basic list of items that hunters and trappers might need, but if the Companions want anything special he can place a special order and it will be available for purchase in a week.

So, what you all need to think of now, after sorting out the introductions with Kesten and the new PCs, is what you’re going to do. Obviously you have a time frame in dealing with the bandits, but you also don’t want to rush in without a great deal of knowledge and without being prepared.

[PhilMeyer]

Dhovanu takes a look at the composite longbow. She pulls it back to her ear, but only with great effort. Her elven build is a little too slight for a bow with such heavy tension.

"Too bad, but could be better for you, Ged."

She replenishes her arrows from the horde, choosing the ones that look to have been best fletched. She then consults with Oleg.

"Sir, I've come to realize I've been neglecting the safety of my hawk. This day she has demonstrated her ability to draw blood when it is needed. What I require is a small leather device to protect her torso. Something light and which would not obstruct her flight."

The elf makes a crude drawing in the dirt with her knife of what she needs.

"It won't do any good if a bandit manages to connect full on, but glancing blows and arrows might be turned aside. We've got leather armor from the humans we defeated here. Could one be cut down and reshaped for this purpose? I'd pay, of course."

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Just trying to squeeze this in before the others arrive.

[Angstrom]

The hard pace Kesten set took some getting used to. Walker, like his name would suggest, has always preferred his own two feet over the clumsy hooves of a poorly trained mount. By the time they reach Olegs, his legs ache, but he hadn't complained once so far and wasn't about to start.

Riding alongside one of Kesten's guardsmen he segues the conversation away from tales of the man's family upon spotting the trading post. "Your home for the next few weeks. Intimidating place, with those walls, hardly a soft target. Its surprising they're troubled by bandits."

[ProudGrognard]

Dern

Dern was in a great mood during the journey, despite the grueling pace. He was a good horseman and he enjoyed the ride even if he was tired. Dern was just too excited to leave the Orlovsky holdings and even more happy to be selected to come to the Stolen Lands. During the trip, joking with the soldiers and tried to learn a bit about his other fellow travelers. He did not make a fuss about his religious beliefs, praying discreetly at dawn. Noone would have guessed his calling and he acted more like another professional mercenary than anything else.

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Walker and Walters, did we have chats while we were coming? Did we get to know a bit of each other?

As Oleg 's post comes into view, Dern stops his horse to get a better look and then trots to join the others. He is an imposing figure in his shining but unadorned chain mail, the huge axe in the saddle sheath and his dashing boots and belt. With practiced ease, he takes of his helmet and lets his long black hair free, in the Brevyan style. His grey eyes seem to sparkle with mischief as he turns to the commander of the column and says

"Not bad, is it? With a bit of redecoration it can really show its beauty.I mean, style is everything. How can we expect to claim the wilderness without silk curtains in the windows. Tsk tsk tsk what has Brevoyan culture fallen in to..."

Flashing his signature easy smile, the handsome man begins his ride into Oleg 's, his armor and axe jingling.

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Harthar, I have no ranks in Nobility! Not enough skill points. But I will put some come next level. So far, it is latent knowledge. Knowledge checks cannot be made untrained if the DC is more than 10, correct?

[North_Ranger]

Having asked his questions, Vasili had turned to Oleg and asked him to keep the captives locked up until they returned. Jeof would need patching up, and even if the gallows were his fate, there was no need to keep the boy in pain. Perhaps Svetlana could see to that. To discourage running away, he had also suggested taking their clothes save for trousers and a shirt. And of course keeping them bound and, if possible, gagged.

During the grisly work of clean-up, Vasili was disturbingly quiet as he pat down the corpses for any hidden valuables, stripped them of any usable goods and then helped carrying or dragging the half-naked corpses to the burial pit. For such a young man, he didn't seem squeamish to do such work. Of course, he had said he had grown up in the frontier, but the ease in which he cut off purses and handled the corpses when removing their leathers spoke of a man who had done this before. He even tests the dead men's weapons as he pulls them of the corpses, picking up one of the longbows and a score of arrows. Happs's amulet he has already pocketed.

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OOC:
Dibs on the following:
- Longbow and 20 arrows
- The Stag Lord amulet

And if nobody else wants to take them, the two vials of Alchemist's Fire.

And just in case there's something else of interest on the corpses: Perception check. Seems appropriate...

(1d20+6)[12]

Still, after the work is done and the gore has been washed off, the young frontiersman seems to lighten up a bit. Especially when the delicious aroma of Svetlana's stew fills his nostrils. And just as if on cue, his stomach lets out a deep, almost ursine growl. There hadn't been much time for breaking fast before the ambush, so the stew is a heaven-sent.

Still, there are matters that need saying before they plan their next move. Moving closer to the cavalier, Vasili coughs a little. "Gedriwyn... about what we're going to at the bandits' camp. There's something you all should..."

Before the young man can tell what is wrong, the shrill call of Dhovanu's hawk cuts over the hustle and bustle in the courtyard, followed by the thud of approaching hooves. "Horsemen", Vasili hisses as his hand moves to the handle of his pistol.

[shugyosha]

Walters

The pace was faster than Walters had expected. Horsemanship was not his best skill. If he was uncomfortable he did not show it.

The travel was made enjoyable by the company of his fellow companions. He found Dern not too preachy and Walker of similar mind.

As they approached the fort Walters scanned it with his eyes looking for activity; wondering if the bandits got here first.

Sitting atop his worse, Walters shifts his grip on his fauchard. "You think we'll be treated as friends or foe," he asks no one in particular.

[ProudGrognard]

Dern

Hearing Walters' somewhat rhetorical question, Dern, still riding his excitement, turns to the heavily armored man:

"My dear companion, nobody would treat such a likeable fellow as myself as enemy, not at first glance. Nor someone carrying such a heavy blade as you. Such impoliteness is weeded out early on in life, usually in an abrupt and terminal manner . I am sure there are just deliberating on how they should approach such wonderful guests such as us"

Again, he turns his gaze to the fortress, but pits his helmet back on and unobtrusively unfastens his axe.

"Still, no fires, screams of maidens or circling crows. This I take to be a good sign"

[Harthar]

Gedriwyn nodded slowly to the elf as he took the offered composite longbow from her, feeling its weight before drawing back the string and finding it easy enough. Obviously it was harder to pull than the shortbow he was used to and he wouldn’t be able to wield the bow whilst in the saddle, but it would be good for those long range targets that he usually couldn’t hit. He nodded, “Thank you.” He said graciously to Dhovanu, before differing to the others with, “If you all don’t mind my using it?” He removed his shortbow and placed it into the pile of weapons and equipment that they had taken from the bandits.

Gedriwyn helped to dispose of the bodies by tying the corpses of a few bandits together with a rope and attaching it to the back of his horse’s saddle, and then he dragged them out of the fort and to the mass grave. There he untied them and threw them into the pit. Once all of the corpses had been placed within he assisted the other men in filling in the grave. When finally they returned to the trading post they were hungry and it was indeed time for a hearty meal. His stomach growled its agreement when he smelt Svetlana’s stew; however he had to push his hunger aside as Vasili hissed the arrival of someone at the fort. “You all see if you can take cover, I’ll greet them with Oleg.” He was the most damage resistant of the group, the least squishy, and thus if they were once more under attack he was the most likely to be able to stand up to any punishment that could be dealt to him. His companions would then be able to take the attackers by surprise.

He moved out into the middle of the courtyard, one hand on the hilt of his still sheathed longsword and put a hand up in the universal sign for ‘halt’. Even if the newest arrivals were not blind he would follow this sign with words spoken loudly and clearly, deeply toned, “Hold on there, from where do you hail and who, or what, do you seek?” Gedriwyn was not about to give away that they were on edge because not hours before they had been under attack, he wanted to present to them as convincing a sight as any; pretending to be some sort of guard captain for the moment until he learnt of their intentions.