Quest #15 "Taking Down Captain Bing"

[Urson]

Luther

Luther pauses for a moment, shocked by the speed of the attack and the overwhelming response. Moving just as quietly as before, he rejoins the others. I think we have... if not allies, at least others with the same mission. I wonder if Alordan and I could backtrail those poor women, find their tribe, and get their help?

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger is shocked as well.

They didn't even bat an eyelash, He speaks in an uncharacteristically small voice, They were expecting this. This is not the first time this happened. He then glances at the existing slaves to note, as he had not earlier, if they indeed are all male. When his horror subsides somewhat, the Hobbit nods shortly to Luther, indicating he believes the Bear-Man has the right idea, even if it means splitting the party, even if it means an entirely new plan must be hammered out, even if it means waiting here amongst the cloud of predatory insects longer. More allies means a greater chance for success and survival for all.

The Wizard, His eyes snap to of a sudden, whispering to Chauncey, He will be slightly weaker now, yes? At least for some time?

[Bluehorse]

Monocar

Watches all this and turns to look at the thinky types as if to ask, Now what? After a moment, he looks over at the black robe mage and then to Chauncy. Can you do that?

[OGRE MAGE]

When Arte looks over the group of slaves again, he does indeed determine that all of them are in fact male. Each of them appears to be between the years of 16 or so to about 40.

It seems clear that there were enough natives around these parts for the slavers to take their pick of the best workers, discarding the young, old, and weak as they saw fit.

[ChubbyPixie]

Monocar

Watches all this and turns to look at the thinky types as if to ask, Now what? After a moment, he looks over at the black robe mage and then to Chauncy. Can you do that?

”Ahem...” says Chauncey swallowing hard. His mind hurtles back to a time long ago when the upstart magician, Kokolos the Reckless, challenged his mother in a bid for power and access to the Stone of Malaise. That unwise mage had opened with a volley of three - three! - magical projectiles, which had so impressed his younger self, and then proceeded to perform feats of offensive magic so astounding it left his jaw hanging open, not the least of which being the ability to cast a ”Boom Stick” spell unaided.... In short, that impressive individual had been several orders of magnitude more powerful than Chauncey was even now. His mother, of course, drawing on the power of the Stone, had merely chortled as the spells had rained down around her, glancing harmlessly off a protective magical barrier, then, lifting a finger, had caused the unfortunate fellow to be literally turned inside out. But still, before that, an impressive fellow.

”Er... well... you see...” he continues, ”...yes? In a manner of speaking.” He wrings his hands nervously. ”What we are dealing with here is what, in arcane parlance, is known as a very powerful mage, it seems. We shall need to proceed with the utmost caution. Our only hope is to take him by complete surprise. It’s true he does have fewer spells at his disposal now, Littlefinger, but that fewer, I’m afraid is, ah, more than I currently have at my disposal... ” he trails off. Turning to Talaris he asks ”I don’t suppose it would be too much to hope you might have the divine power to magically Silence an individual?”

”As far as enlisting the aid of the remaining tribal members, I suppose it might be done. They would be so much fodder, of course, as we’ve seen demonstrated - their deaths would be certain, unless used with extreme care. Perhaps it is worth it to restore order to this island? But I would like to personally insist that we don’t kill them all in the pursuit of their freedom.”

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger considers.

They would be so much fodder, of course, as we’ve seen demonstrated - their deaths would be certain, unless used with extreme care.

Perhaps, The clever Halfling begins, Perhaps not. If they were more organized, ulitized in a different, more effective manner... Or, and I actually prefer this thought, they may be able to inform us of our foes; their intentions, methods, strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, they may be able to show us, or tell us, any way, especially a secret way, if such a way exists, to signal those performing the labor out yonder. I say this in the belief that only the strongest are selected as slaves, after what we just witnessed. I can't help but wonder why a pair of Human Females had the notion that they could free the entire slave population, and in broad daylight?? He ponders a moment.

I agree with Chauncey, this Black Mage is the most dangerous among our quarry. I fear he is far more adept than our own esteemed Wizard, and as such, could toast us all before we could get within arrow shot. Does he really possess a stick like yours, from which he is able to toss lightning? At any rate, if one of our Rangers could track the unfortunate Females to whence they came, we may be able to communicate with them well enough to, once again, enlist their aid in one form or another. It may be wise for only a few of us to venture forth, and for one Ranger to remain with the main host, if only to prevent our stationary force from being set upon by surprise. Arte turns to peer at Alordan and Luther. Precisely how do you Rangers perform this particular sorcery? It's a constant source of consternation to we Thieves. Regardless, this way we could still monitor the happenings here. I am willing to accompany he who tracks these Females. Women in general are favorably inclined toward me. He shows his dimples briefly.

[Urson]

Luther
He can't help grinning. Yes, we've seen how you have that old woman at the store charmed.
Jokes aside, I'd be glad of the help. And, just maybe, I'll tell you how Rangers are so hard to surprise.

[ravenn4544]

Or, and I actually prefer this thought, they may be able to inform us of our foes; their intentions, methods, strengths and weaknesses

Alordan shakes his head, "I'm thinking they don't know any thing about the strength of this place - if they did, why would they have attacked in such a way? Making tons of noise, attacking a wizard head on from a distance? No way. Would they attack us if they saw us try to approach I wonder?"

[Urson]

Luther
Ranger Jax used to talk about his time in the border wars. He mentioned a thing he called a probing attack. If the natives are watching, they learned something about how these slavers react to an attack. OR he grins. There may be some native saboteurs who just slipped into the camp from the other side. He moves to observe the camp.

[Bluehorse]

Monocar

Perks up. Did somebody say toast? I like mine with peanut butter... or honey...

[Urson]

Luther

I was posting from my phone before, so it was a little awkward.

If the locals _did_ manage to slip some one into the camp, they might need our help.

After suggesting that there may be natives who have infiltrated the camp, Luther climbs back to his observation point in the tree. He's watching for any sign that his hypothetical saboteurs are at work in the camp.

[OGRE MAGE]

Emancipation Time
Now What?
Starday, The 6th of Goodmonth
Late Afternooon, Hot, Sunny, Buggy

After seeing the display of power from the mage and his brutish ogres, the party is glad that they took the advice of Wes seriously and didn't simply blunder directly into this camp. Taking a step or two back into the foliage again, they discuss a few more ideas and options. Luther is convinced that the noises were some kind of communication between the female and the male natives, unfortunately picked up on somehow by the dumb ogres. Though this incident might have been planned out, it is also very possible that it could have gone totally awry due to something as simple as bad timing, especially once the dark wizard showed up.

Arte suggests that the group could use the female natives, if there are still any around, to their advantage, if he could only use his Halfling charm upon them. He agrees to help the rangers search them out and follow them around through the bush, but Alordan doesn't seem convinced that the others theory's are sound.

Chauncey agrees that the black wizard will be a bit less powerful with one less spell at his disposal, but it is obvious to the others that the mage is nervous about what else his adversary might be powerful enough to do to them. Talaris just shrugs when asked about the ability to silence the evil wizard, now wishing that he never came to this damned island in the first place. Lerrick seems willing to help out, though she starts to get a little turned around with all the different suggestions being made. Do they attempt to find these natives now, or is the plan still to wait until the cover of darkness? Both clerics know that their skills will be needed before this is all over with, either for healing, or to administer last rites upon their new friends.

As they watch and talk, the action in the fields continues. The black robed mage speaks with the biggest ogre, noticing that all of them are pointing into the jungle, just west of the hiding group. Eventually their fingers and attention gets drawn even closer to the groups hiding spot. You all spot the mage eventually dismiss the pointing, assumingly confident that he has scared off any future attempts by the women to save their men.

He commands his large bodyguard to hoist a huge bushel barrel of freshly picked fruits and vegetables that was waiting for them inside of the ogres sleeping pavilion. After a few more commands to the ogres, the pair of humans eventually start walking back towards the camp with their assortment of vittles. Lightfinger can see that the basket is filled with huge carrots, cabbages, and other delicious faire, everything a hungry hobbit would need to make a nice big pot of mushroom stew. He can tell, even from a distance, that these vegetables are some of the biggest and best looking food he has ever seen grown, putting some of the most famousest of hobbit farmers to shame back home.

Horrifically, one of the yellow ogres grabs up the 2 dead bodies of the female natives in its huge arms like cordwood and trudges them all the way to the back of the jungle's edge, well over a mile away. He appears to uncaringly toss them into the jungle there before turning around to rejoin the others. By this time, Luther has climbed back up into his tree to watch out for any other incursions into the smugglers camp. Though his idea was sound, he doesn't spot any obvious infiltration or chaos near or around the buildings or river of the camp. The dark mage disappears into his shack again as the bushel of food is brought into the large barracks building. Life around camp continues on as normal, with about 3 hours of daylight remaining until the really bad swarms of insects return again. Soon the smell of boiling vegetables on the afternoon breeze hits your senses, indicating that dinner for the workers cant be too far off.

Actions?

Could one of you just sneeze or fart really loud or something so we can get this party started?

Luther R3 26/26
Lightfinger T4 19/19
Talaris C1 9/9 3/3 first
Monocar F3 30/31
Chauncey MU3 16/16 CL, DM, RM 2/2 first 1/1 second
Lerrick C1 8/8 3/3 first
Alordan R3 18/18

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger fidgets a bit, trying to disguise his SBD.

We must decide now, The tall Hobbit explains the obvious, Do we follow the girls, or do we take advantage of the lengthening shadows? Soon the bulk of Humans will again be about the barracks; we need to get Clancey close enough to work his miracles.

[ChubbyPixie]

"We know which shack the mage resides in," says Chauncey. "If I could get close enough, while he sleeps, and take him by surprise, he may never have a chance to use one of his spells against us..." he muses.

[ChubbyPixie]

After pausing for a moment in thought, Chauncey’s eyes light up once again in shocked realization. ”Lightfinger!” he stage whispers, ”You old so and so! The natives! We can’t operate at night because of the Boccob forsaken bugs. Who would logically know how to deal with the bugs, of necessity?” He taps his foot, hand on hips, waiting for a response. Finally, before anyone can actually answer he says ”The natives! You’ll need me on the mission to communicate with them, of course.” He begins gathering up his things to go.

[Urson]

Luther

After a short, fruitless time watching for chaos to erupt, Luther re-joins the others. You're right, Hobbit. We need to do something- and I'm pretty sure we wouldn't find the locals unless they want us to. I say we get in position and do this when it gets full dark. Enough waiting and watching.

[ravenn4544]

Alordan ponders, amid the difficult situation, how nice those fruits and vegetables would be for the town. Must not be too difficult to grow seeing how nice and big they are. Something for later. For now? Probably pain....

[Bluehorse]

Monocar

Looks between all the talky thinky types and holds out his hand. Monocar smash?

[OGRE MAGE]

Emancipation Time
Now What?
Starday, The 6th of Goodmonth
Late Afternooon, Hot, Sunny, Buggy

Alordan gets an idea after seeing the huge vegetables. He looks out over the incredibly fertile landscape and notices that everything growing in the fields looks almost perfect, as if all of the land here was somehow designed solely for growing things. He cant explain it, but he wonders how much the good land like this would help the poor starving farmers back in Beachtown.

Chauncey seems to be spinning his wheels a bit while trying to make a decision as to what the group will do next. Talaris, Lerrick, and a couple of others seem content to stay here until dark, but Lightfinger and the mage seem to think that they should seek out the native women now, hoping that they will ally with the group somehow.

With no trails through the rough jungle, it might be nearly impossible to track down these natives, if they are even still around. When the awkward mage starts moving towards their last position, he finds that it will be impossible to do so quietly without the leadership of one of the rangers. Then Luther points out that the natives might not want to be found, and that their skills in the jungle will most assuredly allow them to avoid the group if they so desired.

After a bit more debate and a bit more time passes, the workers begin to assemble in the large barracks again, likely for their evening meal.

Actions?

Luther R3 26/26
Lightfinger T4 19/19
Talaris C1 9/9 3/3 first
Monocar F3 30/31
Chauncey MU3 16/16 CL, DM, RM 2/2 first 1/1 second
Lerrick C1 8/8 3/3 first
Alordan R3 18/18

[Urson]

Luther

Luther grins- a cold, angry grin that's all teeth and no joy.

Looks like it's time to do somethin'. Chauncey, where do you need to be? Get your shit and let's go.

The bristling ranger will lead and break trail for Chauncey.