Oathday, Desnus 23, 4713 night
The Osogen Grasslands, Bandit Ravine
Although the bandit hideout was a full day’s ride away, we decided not to wait and head out immediately. But rather than ride our horses we opted for magical (and quicker) means of getting there — even though it meant splitting the party to do so.
Kali used a Phantom Chariot to carry most of the team, while I used Windwalk on myself, Ivan, Radella and Olmas (even though Olmas would travel in the chariot).
Once again my friends were thrilled by the rush of air as we sped over the land like clouds before a storm. “We have got to make a wand with this!” Pookie joyously chortled.
Because we arrived hours ahead of the chariot, those of us wind-walking scouted up the ravine where Jiro had said the old fort lay. The ravine itself ran south from the plains, its walls rising up to forty feet as we followed it from above. Presently we came across a large alcove in the western wall in which the fort had been built. We swooped in for a closer look, but kept at least sixty feet away — we may look like shadowy wisps of mist in this form, but we wanted to avoid any detection by visual or magical means.
A wooden wall sealed off the alcove from the ravine, with a large gate at the southern end and a bridge crossing a swift moving stream to the north. A pair of bandits stood guard atop the gate. And we discovered another pair of guards, one on either side of the wall at the top of the ravine.
Before we had left Jiro had said the fortress once belonged to his family, but it was clear the bandits had made updates to the fortifications over the years.
Several buildings lay within the wall with a couple of chimneys from which smoke spiraled up. We hovered about for a couple of hours, but saw no signs of other bandits before we had to head back north to meet the others. We did see an odd tree filled hollow just to the north of the fortress alcove, but could not tell if it was natural or man made. Although it was close to the bandit’s hideout there was no sign of any passage connecting the two.
We met the chariot just outside the ravine and I found a secluded spot where we could set up our camp, which Kali obscured using some misty disguise spell.
Fireday, Desnus 24, 4713 morning
The Osogen Grasslands, Bandit Ravine
In addition to keeping a watch over our camp we also kept watch on the fortress, and thereby learned how long each guard shift lasted and when they changed. A couple of bands of ne’er do wells arrived and left overnight, but other than these moments it was quiet.
We’ve made plans to infiltrate the hideout tonight, using the daylight to move quietly up along the top of the western ravine wall so we will be in position by midnight.
Starday, Desnus 25, 4713 very early morning
The Osogen Grasslands, Bandit Fort
A short time after the guard changed on the northern outpost Zos, Radella and Ivan snuck up on the lone bandit, who lay prone on the ledge looking into the the valley below.
A short time later he was still there and to all appearances still on watch, but he was quite dead. The rest of us moved up and followed a stairway carved in the rock wall down to a door.
I opened the door and the others rushed in, quickly and quietly killing a pair of sleeping guards.
Out from this small room another set of steps led down to the ground floor, which we followed to a large elegant wood working shop. Or at least that’s what it had been originally, but the thugs who lived here now were using it as a stable for horses.
“It smells like horse sh…” Timber grumbled, but was interrupted by Huffy’s exclamation of, “Pony poo!”
True, the place did have a barnyard air, but for now there were no animals present. We scouted around and found several valuable wood crafting items.
| 626 | set of master work carpentry tools |
| 627 | two sacks of shellac flakes |
| 628 | ivory palm box |
| 629 | magic salve of slipperiness: 2 applications (inside 628) |
| 630 | bronze flask with 2 ounces of magical (sovereign) glue |
A large set of double doors led in from the courtyard to the south and a smaller door from the west. A stairway led up. We took the time to bar the doors and then slowly crept up the stairs.
Star gazed around the upstairs room with unbridled battle lust. It was a large dormitory with a lot of beds on which many sleeping bandits lay. Beorn began to chuckle in a most disturbingly enthusiastic way before Pookie hissed, “Hush! There’s three of them still awake.”
And suddenly there was an ice dome in the center of the room, trapping the three bandits who were standing there. Kali smirked and moved in to survey her handiwork. We followed suit with the intent of quickly and quietly finishing off the sleepers.
“Ah, okay, I get it now, Star and Beorn,” I quietly murmured as I walked over to a slumbering bandit.
But the three bandits trapped in the igloo were still free to move about, and one of them began to bang on the floor. Uh oh.
Still things went mostly our way. Even when one of the bandits managed to toss a thunderstone out the window, setting off an alarm in our vicinity, this sort of worked to our advantage. Earlier Kali had set Nihali on top of the wall above the fortress alcove with the instructions that if all hell broke loose below she was to knock off a pair of thunderstones. And while the bandit’s thunderstone did set off an alarm, it was quickly confused by the sound of two more booms coming from a different part of the compound.
It took a while, but eventually we killed all of the bandits through a combination of cloud kill and martial prowess. It also helped that I shared Groetus’ love and plans for them and when faced with this soul shaking revelation a number of the thugs had turned on their brothers or stood still, drooling uncontrollably.
And still we heard no obvious response to the thunderstones. We’ve taken this time to gather the belongings of our victims… “Ahem”, Star prompted. Alright then, our fallen foes.
| 631 | scimitar (magic) |
| 632 | composite short bow (magic) |
| 633 | breastplate (magic) |
| 634 | shield (magic) |
| 635 | 20 arrows |
| 636 | 5 whistling arrows |
| 637 | dagger |
| 638 | 15 spears (magic) |
| 639 | 15 suits of studded leather armor (magic) |
| 640 | kokouri |
| 641 | 15 flasks of oil |
| 642 | 15 potions (magic) |
| 643 | 14 thunderstones |
| 644 | 15 master work composite longbows |
| 645 | 15 x 40 arrows |