[IC] Into the Unknown

[Vektunaxa]

Alfius the Aeviternal, Fighter

Alfius strikes flint with steel to set a torch alight. "I still have six pints of oil left; you think we have enough?"

[Julius Sleazer]

Bandit with the Booming Voice

"Hold, hold! I am willing to give over this thrice-cursed noble to you. Will you let my men approach the web and hack it apart with sword, axe, and knife? When the way is clear, I will send you out this abominable aristocrat."

[thirdkingdom]

Bandit with the Booming Voice

"Hold, hold! I am willing to give over this thrice-cursed noble to you. Will you let my men approach the web and hack it apart with sword, axe, and knife? When the way is clear, I will send you out this abominable aristocrat."

Cadmus the Confused

"I have no issue with this, but to ensure your honesty we will apply oil to the floorboards here and stand ready to light it, should we be betrayed."

[Julius Sleazer]

Combat Situation

After twenty minutes of hacking and slashing with axe and dagger, a trio of bandits on the ground floor manages to break through the web. They peer out, giving looks of nervousness mixed with resolute defiance. Shortly after their success, another bandit half-drags a man towards the portal and throws him out rudely.

The thrown man lands in a rough heap. His clothes like rich and fine, although in need of a good washing. He is somewhat gaunt and pale.

"Whatever you are being paid, assassins, my family can pay more!" he utters in a trembling voice.

[Vektunaxa]

Alfius the Aeviternal, Fighter

"You are certainly correct, but there is honour involved. Do not fear, my billhook is sharp and serves as an excellent executioner's device. And speaking of honour, there are still four souls with whom we are very cross. Tacitus, my good friend, would you hold on to this man until we are ready to deal with him?"

[Julius Sleazer]

Tacitus the Adventurer

Tacitus nods grimly and collars the petrified patrician.


Bandit with the Booming Voice

"Surely your honor has been satisfied. You slew two of ours yesterday, as well as turning one traitor. Today, you have slain another. Already you have the nobleman for whom you sought. How much more can you want?"

"We ourselves are men of business, and by no means men of honor. How do you know that we did not send a man out for reinforcements during the night, or one to notify like-minded groups of freebooters in the nearby hills? Already help could be on the way. I counsel you to depart at once, counting yourselves to have done well. You now hold a man worth a rich ransom."

[MonsterMash]

Decimus

"We will take this sorry noble away to finish our mission, but we expect no resistance from you or we will return to slay you all"

[Vektunaxa]

Alfius the Aeviternal, Fighter

"That invites failure," Alfius says sternly. "We should cut off his head now." Alfius glances back at Tacitus leading the noble away, turning his back to the bandits for a moment.

"Overrule me," Alfius whispers to Decimus. "Then we are done here."

[thirdkingdom]

Cadmus the Confused

"Nay," says Cadmus, "The Lord of Law has spoken to me. Enough blood has been spilled today. Let us return him to our employers, that they may mete out justice."

[Julius Sleazer]

End Chapter One


And so did the adventurous youths from Durans Well defeat the bandits and gain custody of a noble worthy of a rich ransom, and so become known as bandit-killers, and wilderness-striders, and men not to be trifled with in the empty lands. In the days that followed, they participated in many sharp affrays, and began to glean some idea of the significance of the mithril weapon which they carried, and also learned much of the ways of the wider world, and become inured to hardship and peril. But that is a tale for another day...