Bandit Bait

[at]

Seeing that there numbers were few Bishop inquires of Beth, "unless the numbers of bandits are truely few we would likely need the help of the guard to deal with them. If that is not possible then perhaps this matter at Winterhaven you mentioned?"

[Jasmine]

"Markelhay didn't give the impression that the Winterhaven job was urgent," says Beth. "If these bandits are a clear and present danger to travelers, it makes sense to deal with them first, before they can hurt anyone else. Hopefully it won't take more than a day or two, and we can head to Winterhaven afterwards. It would be a good idea to get some backup just to be safe, though, if K.D. isn't coming. Let's head back to the guardhouse--I bet we can find at least one volunteer there, and if not, we can at least pick up those extra shackles I requisitioned."

[falconis]

Feb 3, 2016 20:29:26 GMT -5 Jasmine said:

"Markelhay didn't give the impression that the Winterhaven job was urgent," says Beth. "If these bandits are a clear and present danger to travelers, it makes sense to deal with them first, before they can hurt anyone else. Hopefully it won't take more than a day or two, and we can head to Winterhaven afterwards. It would be a good idea to get some backup just to be safe, though, if K.D. isn't coming. Let's head back to the guardhouse--I bet we can find at least one volunteer there, and if not, we can at least pick up those extra shackles I requisitioned."

Aegis was a little concerned that they had lost two party members to what he had thought was a solid party, but supposed that Beth was right.  "If there aren't any spare guards, perhaps we could go to the temple of Palor.  While I admir Bishop's ability to heal, I think we should have two people with that capacity, just in case.  Additionally, someone who can cure potential poisons would also be a blessing.  Its too bad that Kamon-do left, I'm sure we'll do less well without her"

[at]

Bishop nods, "the guardhouse then"

[falconis]

Feb 4, 2016 4:46:42 GMT -5 at said:

Bishop nods, "the guardhouse then"

"To the guard house" Aegis said, "after you"

[harknail]

Bishop, Aegis, and Beth head for Moonstone Keep, which contains the barracks for off-duty guards as well as the home and offices for the Lord Warden himself.

Once there, they find that additional guards are not available. While Beth is authorized to travel far from town, the rest of the guards are not. However, one young soldier trying to be helpful suggests that they visit the Temple of Erathis. He thinks he saw Paladin hanging around the Temple of the goddess of civilization.

[falconis]

Aegis was a little disappointed that nothing pointed visiting the Temple of Palor in town, but he supposed if they were going after bandits, a Paladin of Civilization might be for the best. Traveling with the rest of the party, he knocked on the door to the temple, not wanting to barge in. "Hello?  Anyone here?"

[harknail]

It was the old Dwarf at the Temple of the Sun (Pelor) that told Bishop about the bandits in the first place.

The door is answered by an human woman who appeared to be around 60 years of age. "Hello." she said with a clear resonant voice. "Welcome to the Temple of Erathis. How may I assist you in rebuilding civilization?"

[falconis]

Aegis was suddenly a little nervous. What did it look like, with a Tiefling at civilization's front door? "Well, we're looking for a paladin of Erathis to help us deal with some local bandits.  Are you the paladin, or is the paladin inside?" he asked, trying to be as nice as possible regarding the whole "looks like a demon, asking for a priest" sort of thing.

[harknail]

"Me, I'm just an old cleric," said the woman. "But we do have a paladin living here. Come inside." The woman moves aside allowing the group into the temple. The door opens directly into the ceremonial hall, which is large enough to hold a good fraction of the population of Fallcrest. At the alter are two other priests working to prepare for the next ceremony. One is a middle aged woman, the other a young man. Both are human.

The old woman calls out, "Adelina, these people are intersted in talking to your daughter. Go fetch her please."

The middle aged woman leaves the alter and heads deeper into the temple, replying "At once High Priest Mornbrow."

The old woman turns back to the tiefling and asks, "Tell me more about these bandits you want help dealing with."

Bishop notices (with passive insight) that the High Priest seems to have no reservations at all with dealing with a tiefling. No signs of restrained hostility or concern (common when deailing with tieflings), no indication that she'd rather be talking to another member of the group.

But anyone can answer, no need to stay silent. Just keeping things moving rather than waiting for everyone to post since I didn't think there was any controversy on what to do next.

[at]

Bishop chips in, "we have been told that bandits in the area of Raven Roost have been attacking travelers beyond the guards patrols, and killing those who resist."

[harknail]

The High Priest answers, "Commerce is essential for civilization, so making commerce safer falls under the purview of Erathis. Mika may join you if she wishes."

Adelina returns with who is presumably her daughter. Dressed in Armor, the symbol of Erathis on her shield, she looks like a Paladin. Except for one little detail. She's a young tiefling with red skin, horns, and tail.

The newcomers is a bit started to see Aegis, but approaches and says, "Hello, I'm Mika. My mother said you'd like to talk to me?"

She's addressing the entire group, so anyone can respond.

[falconis]

"Yes, I do believe that we wanted to talk to the Paladin of Erathis, here at this temple.  Which would indeed be you" Aegis said, a little tongue-tied as a result of shock.  "We're dealing with bandits on the road between here and another town.  We are down a member of our party due to a disagreement and they've gone out on their own.  We would like to invite you to come out with us to defeat those who would defile our roads and harm the citizens of our towns.  Ma'm.  Mika." Aegis finally said, apparently not over the shock that there was A. Another Tiefling in town unrelated to him and B. That a Cleric of Erathis had a Tiefling child.  Was probably a long story, but not one he would ask about any time soon.

[harknail]

Mika looked down and shifted her weight, her tail twitching as well. She was clearly as surprised by Aegis as Aegis was by her. "Bandits. Bandits attacking travelers. Yes, this is bad. I will help you go and slay these bandits."

OOC: It seems Thrack isn't the only one who thinks Bandits should be killed :-) Beth might want to mention that she wants to bring the bandits in alive.

[Jasmine]

"Excellent," says Beth. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Mika." Beth introduces herself and the rest of the team.

"So, I propose we find their hideout, stake it out to gain some idea of their numbers, and then hopefully we'll be able to catch them by surprise so we can subdue and capture them before they know what's happening," she says once introductions have been made. "We're authorized to use lethal force, but even criminals deserve a fair trial, so nonlethal is preferred if possible."

[falconis]

Aegis nodded at that, considering that he agreed with the sentiment.  While he would be absolutely fine with killing them, he preferred to do this for good reasons and not blind malice or greed.  He had spoken his heart at the inn, when he pointed out that the relatives of the bandits were likely to seek them out for revenge if they were definitely killed, but some death was inevitable.  Hopefully they could mitigate that problem.

[at]

"If that is acceptable to you", added Bishop, "we are prepared to leave as soon as we have gathered food and provisions for the journey"

[harknail]

Mika frowns, "I'm guessing these bandits are more than a day away, otherwise the guard would have been sent to deal with them. That means you'll be trying to transport a large number of unwilling people across country. Do you have any plans of how to keep them moving and keep them from escaping?" The tone of her questions made it clear that she wasn't opposed to the idea of bringing them in alive, but doubted that it was practical.

OOC: Not saying it couldn't be done, just pointing out that it won't be easy and trying to start discussion on the issue.

[falconis]

Thinking on it, Aegis used his years of sailing and transporting goods to know how to deal with that. "Well, Mika, I assume that these bandits have waylaid quite a number of travelers.  This would include those that used horses and wagons, or at least some sort of transport vehicle. I would wager that we'd have a good chance of having the supplies to hog tie them and throw the survivors into the back of one of these wagons.  If not that, then I suppose we'll do the prisoner line technique, which is admittingly risky.  We would have to threaten to kill any of them whom tried to escape, albeit that it quite cruel" Aegis mused, waiting on the party, and Mika's, reactions.

[at]

"We should bring what additional manacles we can". Bishop considers for a moment, "perhaps there is a guard post or town closer to Raven Roost. We needn't return any prisoners here, the bandits are a threat to all who travel the roads."