Hunt Or Be Hunted

[Revenant]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNgEDAKSKUs

"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured."
~ Mark Twain

The Boneshaker sat by his fire and poured the runed bones out onto the ground before him. Some fell away towards the fire, others towards his booted feet and yet more fell pointing east. Gravewhisper had been right. He grinned as he once again gathered up his bones and returned them to the leather bag that was their home. The one that he had been paid for was going east. So he rose and drowned his fire and started east.

The wind felt good as you rode into the lands of House Gallowhawk and as if to greet your entrance, a hawk high in the sky called out, whether at your intrusion or the sight of prey, you are unsure. You left behind your friends, going their separate ways some hours past, and had made good progress despite several of the horses carrying two riders, Kade riding behind Mave on her grey mare Ghost. Vari astride Thunder, behind Bryne, the two rangers taking the lead. While Ruskin rode behind Thena on Manmar, which left Wilwarin with the leather clad warrior prisoner on Shadow and Torvik with the would-be escapee on Claude. Both prisoners are bound and gagged.

This part of Gallowhawk is somewhat desolate, mostly copses of small trees and thickets and rocky barren land. The farmlands of House Gallowhawk, lie ahead to east and to the south the shoreline of the sea. You slow your ride when Bryne waves back for you to stop, while she and Vari scout a bit ahead, having caught sight of smoke from a fire not far ahead. They dismount and both creep forward using the trees and thickets as cover to catch sight of who lies ahead. You see the campsite below:

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There are two men armed with bows standing at the large rock and an additional six men in various armors and with weapons laying near them, sitting around the campfire cooking a large boar. As you look it over you hear a woman scream in the larger tent which causes raucous laughter amongst the men by the fire.

They do not catch sight of you, and their guards appear mostly bored and talking to themselves on not very attentive. You can easily leave and ride around the campsite if you choose to.

[Rex]

Bryne

Bryne silently signals to move to cover and dismount. Trying to remain hidden from them.

[Darithe]

Mave

Mave and Kade dismount tying Ghost to nearby brush before moving to take cover. She whispers to Bryne, "Is it safe for me to go take a look?"

[Revenant]

The party is overlooking the campsite to the left of the picture slightly elevated above the campsite. So you can easily see within. The campsite itself is slightly higher than the ground around it and a heavy brush surrounds it save for the opening near the guarded large rock. So if you were to enter it from anywhere but that opening, you would need to cut through the brush and up a small incline to reach it. From your vantage point you can see the two guards just outside of camp and six within seated around the fire. The smell of cooking boar is quite enticing and your stomachs rumble at the aroma. As you watch you get a better look at the six men...which you now realize isn't actually true. What you at first thought was a rather short man with his back to you, you now see as he rises that he is in fact dwarven with long reddish-brown hair tied back and a long bristly beard even redder in appearance. You note two hand axes strapped to either side of his waist as he stirs a pot on the fire near the boar. His companions are a nearly as short as the dwarf, human with long blonde hair and wearing dusty leathers. He rises and begins to gather more wood to toss on the fire. Three other men remain seated, two dark-haired wearing equally dusty leathers and another man wearing chain mail with close-cropped red hair. He is smoking a long-stemmed pipe and whittling a piece of wood. The sixth *man* is not really a man at all, you now can see, but a stocky woman with dark hair worn in dreadlocks. She moves to the far corner of the tent and you can now see she is carrying a bale of hay to some horses tied to trees just beyond the tent. You count 8 horses but there may more. As your gaze follows her, you see the flap of the large tent thrown back and two men emerge....

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One of the half-orc's hands glisten with blood and in the other he holds a large serrated dagger. The other is a man Bryne (as well as Wilwarin, Mave and Thena) have seen before. Back in Lupre he was one of the seven riders who were in Thena's father's inn and he is the one who spoke to Reggie. The two talk outside the tent though it is too far away for you to hear what they say.

[Rex]

Bryne

Bryne will try and remain hidden and see what is going on.

[The Bindoner]

Wilwayaisawén


Wilwarin watches the campsite, and its occupants, carefully. She does not like what she sees.

I do not like the look of these people, and I do not like to think what has been done out of our sight.

That man… Reggie gave him a message, and was sent with a reply, in order to pay a debt. She obviously despised the man, and the job. Another black mark.

I would prefer not to leave them behind, free to continue whatever malfeasance they are engaged in.

However, we are a diminished band, and the site is well-chosen for defence. Assaulting would be… bold.

Perhaps we can draw them out?

[GreyWolfVT]

Torvik makes his way quietly to where Bryne and Wilwayaisawén are located and watches the campsite with them quietly. "So some of ya seen them before? They bad guys er good guys er somethin inbetween?" he asks them in a low tone.

[Rex]

Bryne

Whispering, "Bad guys. I agree Wilwayaisawén. I could set up and try sniping with my bow. They would have to come out to deal with me and then you could ambush them."

[GreyWolfVT]

Torvik

"Well I do got a crossbow, and Vari is a heck of a shot herself ya know. So we got options."

the dwarf offers his 2 coppers worth in a quiet tone.

[Rex]

Bryne

Whispering, "Sniping from multiple locations at once would sow chaos."

[Darithe]

Mave

"Interlopers on my family's lands," she mutters under her breath. "We must deal with this threat, though the odds are against us and we don't know if more reside in the tents." She thinks, "There is a village not far from here called...(Mr DM help please). If need be we could journey there and muster additional troops. But if you think we can route them by sniping attacks, I'll ready my bow also."

[Revenant]

Mave mentions the village of Haldin which lies about an hour and a half due east. This village is poor and barely ekes out a living since it so far from the King's Way road and on the edge of House Gallowhawk's lands. There is a blacksmith and general store but little else. The population is mostly made up of farmers and some huntsmen. There may be one or two soldiers in the employ of the Gallowhawk family stationed there but nothing in the way of a militia. It's also possible there might be an adventurer or two passing through on their way to Gull's Landing or Belay as it lies on a more direct route than taking the King's Way.

[GreyWolfVT]

So basically going to that village for guards to aid us is basically pointless. In other words this is on us to handle or locate a larger town with more reinforcements. But really with the recruits with us don't we stand a fair chance?

[Rex]

Bryne

"The village is close enough we could see what is available. Huntsmen and a blacksmith might be a big help. Anyone who can use a hunting implement really."

[GreyWolfVT]

Torvik "That don't quite strike me wit confidence. Sounds ta me like we're on our own either way. I ain't about ta get farmers killed tryin ta take these thugs down. We got tha recruits an they're pretty darned good in a fight."

[Revenant]

Thena nods at Torvik's words, "I agree, I don't like the idea of endangering any from town we might enlist. In battle, they might be more of a hindrance than help and whoever is in that tent needs our help now.. Tempus' has blessed us thus far and I see no reason we won't prevail with the rangers of the Horn at our side and the element of surprise to wreak havoc on our enemies."

Kade adds, "We aren't the green recruits we started out as no more. The commander clearly sees that, and a sneak attack is always the best. The longer we wait the less the odds favor us." Vari grins, "I'm ready to plug some fools captain." Ruskin fingers his throwing knives, "Point me towards a target commander."


Well no, a trip to town wouldn't be pointless as you could conscript one or more soldiers (Depending on the dice). And yes you do stand a good chance alone...again depending on the dice. I like giving options to the players.

[Darithe]

Mave

"Well said Thena," Mave says while nocking an arrow in her bow, "We can't afford to delay considering the scream we heard earlier. Commander Torvik, I say you take lead and tell us where you want us to be in position."

[GreyWolfVT]

I'll have to take a look at the map and mark some positions and see what we think for the fight.

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Torvik grabs a stick and stars drawing a rough map and marks some x's and draws arrows. "Alright I'm thinkin these exes are those of us with ranged we plink at em from these locations since they provide us wit cover, our meleers go in ere and ere one goes left tha other goes right towards that smaller tent. Once we see more come outta them tends ranged folks fire at em, then we move in, stick ta cover fire where we can and switch ta melee once we are in close enough, if we can sneak in ta those spots we should be able ta surround em good enogh if anyone of em starts chantin er soundin like they castin spells target them first with yer arrows. Meleers see if ya can get tha jump on them lazy guards first. Us ranged folk will cover yer arses. Thoughts?"

[Rex]

Bryne

"It looks good to me. Once out of arrows I will storm forward and join the melee."

[GreyWolfVT]

Torvik "Hmm how bout those of us with ranged fire until we've used up half our bolts an arrows then storm in? Best ta save what we can incase we need it afore we can resupply."