Radomir waits as well
Sticking to the edge of the treeline as you follow the muddy tracks along the riverside, Alexander and Soren eventually come to what they may assume is a bandit camp. Even with his lack of perception, Soren cannot fail to notice several tents and one large, pavilion style tent. With his sharper eyes, Soren is able to count out a total of six bandits. Though those are all out in the open, going about various camp duties and he has no idea right now who else may be in the tents.
The camp remains quiet as the two of you try to spy upon it, so you guess your presence has not been noted yet.
Alexander waits patiently as Soren observes the camp, trying in vain to see what the other man sees. He seems in no rush, willing to wait and watch the camp for a time. Once finished, he'll make his way back to the others and guide them forward to a place out of sight from the camp. He lets Soren explain what they saw.
Soren will keep watching and pointing out things he sees to Alexander, until the man is ready to head back.
Dusk has now fallen while the two men watch the camp. No one had yet to come or leave from the camp while you spied upon it. At least not until the sun was laying upon the horizon. Then a group of four bandits gathered in the middle of camp and appeared to have a brief discussion that involved pointing in four different directions. Once they appear to reach a decision, each bandit heads off in one of four directions. One of them appears to be heading towards the riverside trail that you two followed to the camp.
Andrea waits anxiously back with the others, her finger tracing her tattoos.
Soren bumps Alexandwr with his elbow, and points.
Those bandits, they are more scouts. I bet they are heading on the same routes the others were. We need to return.
As the two men slowly back out of sight of the camp, Soren whispers again.
We should wait until we are farther from the camp, and take that one out before confronting him. Hell, we could even track him to the others and everyone take him out together. Your call on how we do it.
He's almost certainly relieving the man that we killed. We'll have to take this one out as well. We may need to attack the camp soon. Otherwise they'll worry about their man not coming back.
Alexander nods grimly to Soren, and follows him after the criminal.
Alexander whispers some magic words as they start moving.
Alexander splits off from Soren as they stalk their prey. He patiently waits for the other man to take aim and attack first, leaving the timing to the expert.
Soren waits until both distance and geography serve as barriers against the man's screams reaching the bandit camp before firing his bow, either by using thick copses of trees or waiting until the man has gone down some semblance of hill.
Then, he studies the man, identifying his style of movement, his armor, and his predilections. Once satisfied that he has all of the bandit's weaknesses identified, he finds Alexander in the trees and nods. Then, he fires.
Alexander nods and lets an arrow fly following Soren's.
Alexander lets loose with another arrow if the bandit is moving or making noise. Otherwise he approaches slowly to finish the man off.
Soren continues firing at the man if the first volley doesn't kill him. He calmly walks forward out of the cover as he does so, his eyes remorseless.
Both of your arrows fly true and you have a dead bandit on the ground before he even knows that you two are there.
A closer inspection of the dead shows him to have been a male half orc. He is wearing a hardened leather helm shaped like a wolf's head, wolf's hide armor and other gear includes a battle axe and a heavy crossbow with 20 bolts and a necklace of animal teeth on a cord of sinew.
You two are able to strip the man of his gear if you want and make it back to the rest of the group without any problems.
Alexander strips the man quickly and quietly. Let's get back to the others. We'll need to attack soon.
He follows the other man back to the group, tossing the bundle of gear down as he approaches. They sent out relief for the lookouts they had placed.
He looks around the group, We should move quickly. We need to take out those at the camp. We'll wait till the other three return and attack right afterward before they get too suspicious. Then we'll need to track down the three sent out.
Alexander frowns, Unfortunately it means we won't have time to go back and get the horses. Soren and I will make our way to the other side of the camp and attack as the four of you approach. It will be dark as we approach. They'll be near fires so use that to your advantage.
He waits a moment to see if there are any questions, then sets out back towards the camp.
Soren stays silent as Alexander speaks and nods.
He's right. They'll expect the reliefs to return, and when one doesn't they'll be on edge, if not downright defensive.
He goes on to describe the layout of the camp, the amount of bandits seen, and the general topography of the area.
Strike fast, and hard my friends. Should I see any of you in trouble, I'll send an arrow your way.
Let's move out.
He then begins to lead the group back to the camp.
Andrea listens to the report and nods. Good luck. She will follow with the others as they approach the bandit camp.
By the time you all have gotten back to the camp, it seems to have gotten a bit louder and busier as they are now cooking pots of something over the firepits and there is some obvious drinking and gambling going on now.
Radomir nods, and follows the group. He feels incomplete without Czernabog beside him, but he has trained for this situation. He will be fine. H e looks out through his helm at the woods around him, silently willing his eyes to see what cannot be seen, his armor to be impossibly quiet in the woods.
Alexander starts to circle the camp with Soren, watching to see if any of the bandits become aware of his allies. Ready to let loose an arrow, just in case.
From the movement occurring in the camp, you may guess that Radomir wasn't quite as stealthy as everyone else. A group of four bandits with weapons drawn are towards him now to investigate, while another bandit has rushed into the big tent.
Alexander steps out from behind a tree and raises his bow. He speaks casually, but his voice carries throughout the clearing, You, my fine friends, are surrounded. Surrender. Die. He shrugs and smiles, I have a preference, but you won't like it.
Soren crouches, using the tree beside him as cover. He takes aim at one of the bandits rushing toward Radomir. After a brief moment of watching his prey, he lets loose an arrow.
Soren crouches, using the tree beside him as cover. He takes aim at one of the bandits rushing toward Radomir. After a brief moment of watching his prey, he lets loose an arrow.
[dice=Attack]1d20+6
[dice=Damage]1d8+7
Andrea keeps her crossbow aimed at the bandits approaching them, ready to fire if they don't surrender.
Radomir grimaces in quiet rage. He has failed in his duty. He alerted the bandits to his presence, and jeopardized the mission. He is a flawed tool, useless in the hands of his lord. He shakes his head and steels his mind. He will make a better showing for his lord, and correct himself later. He grips his badiche and grimly stalks forward. The bandits know he's here; Alexander has announced their presence. It is better that he shows himself and distracts the outlaws. He can take the shots his comrades cannot.
He steps out into the open. "As he said, you are surrounded. There is no escape, surrender or die."
Radomir swings his bardiche at the nearest bandit
Seeing the approaching group of bandits, Eduard begins to cast a Sleep spell centered on whatever appears to be the leader of the group.
Alexander uses Inspire Courage
Sorin shoots and drops one of the bandit heading towards Radomir
The four bandits had been attempting to form a rough semi-circle around, but have only made it to 20 and 25 feet away from him when they suddenly find them numbers reduced to 3 by an unseen bowman.
Thus begins this round of battle at Radomir steps out to meet the oncoming bandits and lands a solid hit upon one of them.
Angered, the bandits close around Radomir, ignoring the unseen foe for now in favor of killing the one they can see.
And the bandits are unable to make any contact at all with this armored foe.
Though they do manage to shout out that there is more than one intruder and that they need help.
Eduard angles his sleeping spell to avoid hitting Radomir, but only hits two of the bandits.
Both bandits fall fast asleep and there is just one wounded opponent still standing beside him.
Alexander drops his bow and unstraps his shield. He waves his free hand in the direction of the tent and a puddle of grease appears on the ground in front of the entrance.
Whoever is in that tent, I suggest you come out an surrender like your fellows! They seem to have seen the light.