An Unchanging Reality

[Morbis Meh]

Dagan pouts "Killing people while they sleep is not as fun but I suppose we could do it your way Ballsac old pal, just because it is your birthday! They'll be on edge due to our last escapade so catching them off guard will be a little more difficult so it would be best to strike at a later time in their travels so they grow complacent that nothing is going to happen. Also getting them to split up would simplify matters, maybe drug them with some sleeping poison?"

[meemaas]

"They likely wouldn't make camp until at least half a day out based on their projected time to leave. Ultimately, I trust your judgement and discretion in this situation. I can put you in command of a few of my newer folks to back you up, and leave the rest up to you. As for the civilians, they seem to be shopkeepers or shopworkers that were brought to work for them."

[Starbin]

Balrik paused for a moment, staring at Thea, then looking back at Dagan. Since they were alone, he decided to be blunt. "Is this going to be a problem?" At whatever looks he got, he would simply stare back for a moment then speak again. "You had plans to ambush a caravan. I must presume you were not going to send your newest members by themselves, if at all. Why would you send green recruits to 'aid' us in aiding you? Either you have overconfidence in our abilities, or you're stepping back because of this." He pointed to the two again.

"He is a psychotic killer who feeds off discord; but he will not touch you without permission - there is too much at stake for him. But if you cannot be professional and ignore his endless invective, then tell me now."

Spoiler: Heh

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Dagan is not the only charismatic winner here

[Morbis Meh]

Dagan's face contorts with offence "HEY, wait a minute, you forgot sadistic and borderline narcissist. I have a certificate for that one and if you are going to list my achievements then get it right otherwise you will simply embarrass me. You are right, we can't let our passionate romance cloud our true purpose here." He looks to Thea with sad eyes "I am sorry my sweet but until I have successfully slaughtered everyone I am told to I will have to deny you my intoxicating man musk and hypnotizing presence for the good of the cause. I know this will cause you immeasurable pain but for the sake of true love you must bear this pain for the lives of our future children are at stake... or future dogs because at least you can legally eat dogs if you are bored, starving or sick of them making noise but we will discuss that after our honeymoon."

[meemaas]

"It has nothing to do with him. I'm starting to get used to his meaningless prattle. Or rather, I tune it out and pretend like i'm not hearing it. As for why I wish to send some of my green recruits with you, rather than some of my best. It is because your abilities have already impressed me. You took out one of the higher ranking captains in the Gestorn army and didn't come out with much in the way of injuries. There aren't many among us that could fight one on equal terms. Much less him and his entire squad at the same time. The green recruits I was thinking of sending with you are ones I feel would learn a lot from serving with powerful warriors like yourself. I'd love to group them up with some of my other powerful folks, but myself and Syntax have duties we need to attend to that can't handle unready backup." She smiles at Balrik, brushing off everything that Dagan has said. After a second though, she decides to turn on Dagan and speak to him instead. "I can believe narcissistic, since every word that comes out of your mouth seems to be centered in a completely different reality from the one we actually live in."

[Starbin]

Balrik simply shrugged expressionlessly. "We are both accomplished and experienced, but a stray arrow can still kill and numbers can be a great equalizer. We'll use your green recruits, but only send those willing to be held accountable."

Balrik will study the maps and review the troops and their equipment before they go. Initial idea is to have the main body of the folks head out well in advance and lay in wait at standard/likely camp sites ... with a couple of scouts who can report back when the caravan gets closer (of if its gone a completely different way).

[meemaas]

The squad you get is a group of very eager recruits, excited to show their stuff to the powerful Balrik and Dagan that they have already heard great stories about. The group contains a single wizard, who shares his prepared magic with Balrik, an archer, a rogue, and their de facto leader, who travels with a wolf by his side.

The leader introduces himself to you as Warren, but neglects to give the name of his other guys. He tells you that they were adventurers until they found themselves framed by the government and joined the resistance. You two go over the map together while Dagan scares the bajeezus out of the lady rogue, and find six different places along their expected path where they might make camp. You pick one that seems reasonable, and send the squad ahead of you while you make your own preparations. How long do you plan to wait before going after the caravan?

Spoiler

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The Wizard is still only able to cast first level spells. He has Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp, and Shield memorized.
The archer is a fighter specialized in archery. He carries a longbow and has two dozen arrows in his quiver.
The Rogue is focused mostly on trapfinding and stealth, and carries a few daggers and a rapier for her combat.
Warren is a Ranger with martial training, he fights with unarmed strikes alongside his pet wolf.

I look forward to seeing what Dagan does to the girl, since I know he would.

Also, I realize this isn't what you expected, but the resistance doesn't exactly have a ton of people to draw from.

[Starbin]

Even if the 'leader' didn't share names, Balrik would ask for them. He ignored any praises, waving them off as unnecessary and distracting. "Be focused on the task and staying alive. We will do the same. Who has experience caravan operations?"

After ensuring the group seems competent enough, he arranges for the rogue and one other to scout ahead (the wizard would work if he's got message, otherwise maybe the archer). The rest would travel with them in a few hours time - enough to let the caravan set up camp and be settling in.

Spoiler: OOC

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I understand if you don't have names for them ... Balrik would ask for the regardless, so we can make them up if you like

[Morbis Meh]

Dagan quickly forgets pestering Thea, especially now that she has become resistant to his antics, in favour of his newest plaything.... To be honest he could care less about the gender of the sneak thief and was more concerned with evaluating her abilities since she had the luck of having the skill set that was closest to Dagan's. He started out simply by sneaking up behind her and waiting for her to notice then graduated to hiding the dead bodies of small animals in her gear or left traps. Yes it was a **** move but in his own sick and twisted way Dagan was attempting to be a mentor of sorts, it had been years since he had met anyone with any form of potential so if he could train someone in his image he would be utterly delighted. As far as the plans were concerned, Dagan voiced that he would prefer to strike during night time since he was not phased with the lack of light and that he would personally go on the scouting mission. The new recruits needed a chaperon and it would be harmful if they were discovered then horrendously murdered before they gave any useful intel.

[meemaas]

The Rogue and Wizard go on ahead and do their scouting. Once you expect them to be in place, the rest of you move after the caravan, following the very clear path the caravan was using, you make good time and catch the caravan already in camp and setting up a guard. You scout around the edges, keeping a good ways out of sight of the guards until you hear a silent message in your head. "We're in place over on the far side. We'll strike on your command."

Spoiler

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Yea, i didn't make any names for them. There's only so much creativity in my mind sometimes, lol.

[Starbin]

Balrik glanced at Warren and Peece, motioning for them to relax. While the members of the caravan were potentially distracted, he wanted to use the time to count the total number of targets, least they miss something important. He 'thought' back, "Hold for now. Count numbers, report back. When we attack, minimal collateral damage."

To his rookies, he tasked them to count as well, while he did so himself. He looked for obvious (and not so obvious) leaders, total number of guards, positions (stationary, roving, etc), where the 'civilians' were, and anything else that looked like it might be an issue.

Spoiler: OOC

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Named for you - sorry for all the questions ... guess it's the nature of a two player game

[Morbis Meh]

Dagan skulked merrily through the darkness, knowing fully well that his protege, the poor girl didn't know this to be the case, would more than likely screw up and get caught if she went any closer. Leaning in eerily close to Buffete he whispers "Stay here with jazz fingers over there and I will go in for a closer look. If anything goes wrong you two high tail it back to the rendezvous, understand?" Not waiting for a reply the odd man scampers off silently into the night, edging closer towards the camp from a direction that is not in the immediate field of vision of any look out.

Spoiler: Scouting rolls!

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stealth (1d20+15)[20]
perception (1d20+10)[19]

[meemaas]

Between the six of you on the opposite sides to each other, you come to the conclusion that there are roughly 16 soldiers, three casters, four civilians kept under guard in the center. There also stand out two extra soldiers who wear slightly more distinguishing uniforms than the others, and a final person who appears to have already fallen asleep against a tree. Of the soldiers, roughly ten of them are already prepared to rest, while the remainder appear to be keeping watch.

Spoiler

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I kinda assumed that you would keep going back and forth to try and get an accurate count and assumed through all the hard work.

[Starbin]

Balrik considered the numbers arrayed against them. Sixteen standard guards. Three obvious mages. Four civilians being kept under guard in the center. And three individuals he could not identify yet - two that might be additional support from the general's personal guard ... and one that was already asleep - an indication of extreme confidence, pi$$-poor professionalism, or absolute pragmatism.

Looking about at the rookies, Balrik considered the best options. Warren and Buffette were both specialized for close-in combat, Bayti's spells required him to be in close for any measure of effectiveness, and Peece was an archer - not exactly an optimal mix but it was what they had to work with. Looking to Warren, he whispered, "Can you keep the horses quiet and lead them away?"

If they could at least remove the horses from the mix, it provided an option to keep the men locked down here. However, he also wanted to take out as many of the guards as possible ... once they were halfway into their rest period.

Spoiler: OOC

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Basic ideas - kill guards in the middle of their shift (somewhere between halfway to 3/4); steal the horses; then figure out what's next. Initial targets will be furthest guards, but if any of the specials are there, Dagan and I should totally attack them first.

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