Adriana’s Diary – Part 3

Kingmaker Diary – Part 3 (August 2, 2018)

Day 9 – south of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 4, 4710)

It's mid-morning before we're rested. Ulgan does combat drills, Carax joins in for part of them, and we discuss our next move. Johann is still very quiet, but his confidence is slowly growing. I give him a ration for the day so he has something to chew on.

Led by Amos, we head to the spot on the Thorn River where the path leads into the forest toward the camp, to take up position there. After 2 hours we get closer to our goal: 5 riders come out of the forest and set off south.

Carax tries to draw the riders' attention to us with a magical birdcall, which unfortunately has no effect. We don't pursue the riders, since they're riding on the other side of the Thorn River.

We hide there in the forest again, in 2 groups, and after another 2 hours or so, a total of 5 bandits on horseback come from the direction of the camp. The riders at the back spot our first group, and the fight breaks out. Ulgan, Amos, and Bruin hit the bandits hard, Gannokh fights astride Stagmere, and Carax and I can help with our mystic powers. 3 bandits die, 2 escape, one of them badly wounded, since Gannokh, Amos, and briefly Ulgan give chase to no avail. We take the belongings of the 3 dead and tie them onto one of the 3 horses we bring along. Our route takes us through the forest in a semicircle off the path, and after a good 20 minutes we hear many hooves on the path in the distance. We make the snap decision to head straight for the path.

Once we're back on the path, we realize they've taken up the chase and are still in the forest. So after a short discussion we take the route toward the camp, hoping to find only a few enemies there and to use the platforms to our advantage.

We're greeted by arrows, with 2 bandits on each of the 2 raised platforms making good use of their 20-foot-high position. Gannokh is wounded by 3 arrows and then sits unconscious on his horse. I then put the 2 bandits on one platform to sleep, danger averted there. Another bandit appears with a greatsword and crosses the river to take on Ulgan. Meanwhile, Amos, Bruin, and Carax try to attack the other 2 bandits, which unfortunately doesn't go so well. Suddenly the wild bandit charges in and drops Ulgan outright with a mighty blow, but we hit back: first Gannokh, then Johann, and with a third and final arrow from me, the fighter is killed.

The others then finally take out the second platform, while, with a heavy heart, I kill the 2 sleeping bandits with my rapier. I don't see any horses in the distance, but with the robbers and Kressle closing in, we decide to flee.

Even though we drive all the horses except Stagmere off in every direction to cover our tracks a bit, they catch up with us in the forest before long. The last fight with the bandits breaks out, and we find ourselves facing 10 plus Kressle. The gods, fate, and the mystic energy are with us, because the fight is on a knife's edge, and Gannokh and Ulgan go down unconscious more than once. Together we kill Kressle, so that the last 2 bandits give up and flee.

We pour Kressle's healing potion down Gannokh's throat; he has only narrowly escaped death. We gather up the belongings of the dead and bring them to the camp. After prayers to Gorum and Erastil, we turn in for the night, with our watch rotation already settling into a routine. Luckily, the night passes quietly.