You leave the cave at first light and continue your lonely trek towards Lake Vorndarol. Before dawn, an icy wind swept down from the north and spread a thick blanket of frost on the trail, freezing the mud beneath. To your surprise, the going is easier and swifter than expected and, by noon, you find you have covered more than thirty miles.
During your ride you have watched the land slowly changing. The trail is now steeper and granite outcroppings have begun to appear, tinged with moss and interspersed with pine trees and grey-green underbrush. You are approaching an area littered with huge granite boulders when suddenly your Magnakai Pathsmanship skills alert you to danger; you sense there is an ambush ahead.
(I roll a 4)
Hurriedly you leave the trail, steering Bracer through the undergrowth towards the cover of a dense pine copse. Here, you quickly dismount and tie his reins to a tree before going forward to see what you can find.
You soon discover that a gang of brigands are lying in ambush, well hidden among the boulders that line both sides of the trail. Your Kai hunting skills enable you to circle around and get behind them without being seen and, from a high vantage point among the boulders, you observe their leader and three of his henchmen hiding behind the bough of a fallen tree.
(I can try to shoot the leader with a box, use Kai-Alchemy to charm him, or just wait to see what happens. I choose Kai-Alchemy)
You focus on the brigand leader as you whisper the words of the Brotherhood Spell Mind Charm. You will him to send away his henchmen and, when he is alone, you close in on him from behind without making a sound.
Like a fleeting shadow, you move through the undergrowth towards the brigand leader. As you draw closer, you hear him cursing the incompetence of his men and you see him beating his clenched fist on the trunk of the fallen bough in frustration. Then you leap upon him, covering his mouth with one hand and locking his arm behind his back with the other. He growls and struggles like an angry bear to break free from your grip, but when you whisper a threat in his ear he quickly ceases to resist. Suddenly his nerve seems to break and he begins to whimper like a frightened puppy. You ease your hand away from his mouth just enough so that he can speak and at once he pleads with you not to kill him. He offers you the contents of his satchel and free passage away from here if you will promise not to harm him.
(I choose to question him first)
You hold the brigand in a vice-tight armlock and demand to know who sent him here to ambush you.
‘No one sent me,’ he pleads, ‘no one … no one at all. I was plannin’ on robbin’ me a few acolytes, that’s all. Some of ’em has gold and trinkets that’s worth cash in Vakovar. This trail’s been good to me. It’s netted me some rich pickin’s in the past month or so. We weren’t after you in partic’lar … No, you jus’ happened to come ridin’ past, that’s all.’
Your Kai senses inform you that he is speaking the truth. He and his band of robbers have been waylaying Acolytes of Vashna who have travelled this route over the past few weeks. Without slackening your grip, you ask him what he knows about them.
‘They been preparin’ something, over on the … ’ he says, but he ceases to speak the moment he sees a group of his men emerge from the surrounding pines.
‘You’re in for it now,’ he hisses. ‘My men are goin’ to do for you good an’ proper.’
Another six of the captain’s men step from out of the trees and begin to move towards you, their swords held ready to strike. Rather than stay and fight them, you shove the captain away and take to your heels, pausing only to snatch up his satchel as you make your escape.
Screaming curses and promising you a slow death, the captain scrambles to his feet and leads his men in a chase, but you are soon lost among the dense pines and, reluctantly, he orders his henchmen to give up the pursuit.
When you sense it is safe to do so, you stop to catch your breath and examine the contents of the satchel, which you empty out onto the ground. It contains the following items:
• 80 Gold Crowns
• Enough food for 3 Meals
• Quiver (containing 3 Arrows)
• Bottle of Wine
• Spyglass
• Ruby Ring
If you wish to keep any of the above, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
(I take -1 arrow, top myself to the max 50 crowns, Ruby Ring, Spyglass, and Wine)