So much for the thought of them being neutral merchants we can ally with. Perhaps, then, we can match their suspicions and relieve them of their cargo instead. Figuring it best to leave the talking to Wes for now, Adrian instead takes a closer look at the current caravan guard, hoping to glean some insight into which side they fight for.
The woman looks the six of you up and down for a moment. "You look like you can handle yourselves," She says, her tone less standoffish than before. "We're headed for Gresham. We should arrive before nightfall, but as you say there are armies about and it get's more likely you'll run into them the further West you go," she adds before pausing, clearly thinking your offer over.
"What would the price of this aid be?" She asks with a hint of suspicion. "You don't often come across many groups of armed strangers offering their services to you, especially not in times like these."
Letting Wes continue the charade, Brannik leans closer to Adrian, nodding toward the city as a misdirected gesture. "Seems a ripe chance to deny Lorkan supplies and gain them for our own plight," he whispers nonchalantly, keeping a calm demeanor.
Uncorking his waterskin and taking a quick pull from it, he meets the man's eyes. "Your call, Wind Dancer."
"Might not be worth the hassle if we can get a good deal on the protection," Adrian responds to the man, quietly as well. "We may already be enemies of Lorkhan, but an entire caravan going missing is much more likely to draw attention than simply a few scouts. Let's see what sort of deal Wes can make first." As he talks keeps a bored look on his face, looking towards the direction Brannik had nodded, in hopes that the lack of interest in his face helps to avoid suspicion.
Brannik grunts in agreement, turning his feigned focus back to Wes and the caravan members. Let's hope this is worth it, either way.
"What might you offer?" Wes mentions, unaware of how much their services might be worth. "We don't wish to empty your coffers, after all," he adds, hopeful that the woman will name a reasonable payment.
"Hmmm... There's what, six of you?" The woman asks rhetorically looking over the party with a thoughtful expression. "As I said we should reach Gresham by nightfall, so does fifteen pieces of gold each sound fair?" She asks looking to Wes.
"Aye," Brannik juts in with a curt nod. "Fifteen'll do. Is everyone ready?" he asks, both to his own companions and the caravan.
Adrian nods as well. "Yes, that is an agreeable sum," he says, eager to get on their way. I don't like helping those 'Kings,' but these folk seem innocent enough. No need to cause them harm.
"Indeed, that will do," Wes remarks with a beaming smile. "Might we be on our way, then? Lingering about the road for too long invites trouble." And gods know we'd like to avoid that if we can. Especially with any of the kings' armies involved.
Your companions respond in the affirmative. The caravan master gives you a firm nod. "I'd shake on it but you've already not robbed us, so that's enough for me,'" she says as she picks up the reins and starts the cart moving again. The rest of the caravan quickly following suit as it sets off at the pace of a slow walk.
Sharing an uneasy but civil-for-the-moment sentiment with the caravan, Brannik settles in for the long walk ahead. He's quiet at first, listening in on the conversations of the strangers. Just as much as we were questioning their allegiances, I am sure they are questioning ours. Let's play this carefully, he reminds himself.
As they walk, Adrian reminisces quietly about his many past jaunts as a caravan guard, and the vast array of personalities and cargoes he's helped protect over the years. Though the circumstances differ now as to how and why he came to protect this specific group, the procedure is still the same - a lot of walking, not much of anything else.
He keeps conversation to a minimum as they go, not wanting to risk revealing anything to their potential prey, or give them cause for alarm. He does as he always does, and listens in to anything they may be speaking about. In the past this was simply a way to pick up new business leads, but now there is the war effort and their camp to thing about as well. As he does he occasionally glances over to Chloë to see how she is doing, and makes sure to keep an eye on their surroundings as well for danger.
Wes offers a subtle smile, somewhat surprised the woman had agreed to hire on such a peculiar set of guards so easily. Seeing this as an opportunity to get information, he asks the leader, "I would imagine you've been traveling for some time. Have you any news from the rest of the realm?"
"We're from the capital originally, so we've mostly just been ferrying supplies between there and the Steppe. Fairly safe for the most part. The news of the battle of Parth didn't go down too well with people in Kingsport though. Most people were expecting an easy victory for the King, but it's starting to look like this war might last some time. Still, it's unlikely the war will go on long enough to put a dent in the city's grain reserves, especially if the fighting stays in the Steppe and doesn't move into the Valley. The city folk won't complain as long as they don't go without," the caravan master says to Wes as he strikes up conversation."What about you folks? What brings six well armed people out into the wilderness offering to protect caravans that pass by?"
"Opportunity," Brannik admits truthfully. Though perhaps not quite the same sort they'd expect. He doesn't elaborate, instead trusting his companions to assure the caravaneers.
"Safety in numbers is always good when traveling, especially in such trying times," Adrian responds to the woman. "We travel in a group for our own safety, and you offer your own host of armed men to travel alongside. A little extra coin for our efforts is merely icing on the cake," he continues, use to speaking with merchants and knowing they understand the value of a little coin here and there.
"Indeed. We've been across the Steppe for some time now, aiding the King's people where we can. Gresham was to be our next stop when we chanced upon your caravan," Wes remarks, electing to leave out their deserter status and letting their noble intentions bear the heavy lifting. "With most trained folk on the frontlines, someone has to help those at home. And such a duty falls to us."
"All very true," she replies. "Hopefully I didn't need to hire you, but I'd still rather the protection over nothing else - and it's good to know everyone in the Steppe hasn't immediately started robbing every one that passes by. It's all too common in wartime. It even happens when there's small border skirmishes between Lords. I don't suppose you've heard of any bandit or troop movements in the Steppe? It'd be useful to know for our next journey."
It's sure been difficult to separate bandit from troop these last few weeks, Brannik considers. They wear the colors of their King, but if it looks like shit, smells like shit, and feels like shit... He snorts to himself. Course, I might've been thinking to take their plunder an hour ago, though I'd like to think there's a difference between those pigheaded brutes burning crops and what our cause is truly for.
"Nothing specific, no," Adrian responds. "We've had our own run-ins with brutes looking to make a quick haul of some peasantry, but not frequently enough or consistent enough to get any sort of idea of their patterns, if there even area any. We'd not be offering our services as readily to strangers if we weren't already aware of the dangers of wartime travel, though. As I said, we benefit nearly as much from your company as you do. We may not have wares to lose, but we still have our lives."
"It's as my friend says," Wes replies to the woman, giving a quick nod to both her and Adrian. "We've too little information to go on. That's part of why we elected to pay Gresham a visit. There's sure to be someone there with this sort of knowledge."
"You're probably right about that. Rumours are easy to come by in war time, although the closer you are to the source the more reliable the information," the caravan master agrees.
"The name's Vanora by the way," she adds after a pause. "If we're spending most of the day together we should probably know each others' names. What are yours?" She asks.
Brannik opens his mouth to offer a false name, when the familiar sound of a warhorn sends his mind racing.
"Did you hear that?" he asks the others, the dwarf gazing afar to catch sight of any trouble. No matter who it is, I don't like the sound of that.
"Wesley," Wes remarks with a smile and a nod. He sees no point in being dishonest about something as simple as names, though elects to choose his full name for formality's sake. "A pleasure to meet you. Then again, it's a pleasure to meet anyone not looking to rob or kill you on these roads." As he hears the horn, he stops for a moment, looking towards its source. At the dwarf's words, he nods, replying, "Aye, I heard it. A warhorn, perhaps?"
"I am Adrian," responds Adrian, as he too turns to listen more closely to the sound. "Warhorn seems most likely," he continues in response to Wes, once the sound of the horn is heard. "Who else would so readily want to announce their position during a war?"
"Single rider, but more coming," Brannik says. He turns to his companions, drawing close. "Prepare for a storm of shit to start raining down on us."
"Doesn't seem to be a bandit if he's carrying around a warhorn to announce his position," Adrian adds. "Likely a scouting or raiding party, and given their response to spotting us I'd wager a different army. We should prepare for combat," he continues as he draws his blade and faces west in anticipation of the others to follow. Depending on how this goes we may be able to weaken two armies at once. We'll see what happens.
Wes can't help rolling his eyes as his companions alert the caravan to the warhorn's source. "Traveling can never just be uneventful, can it? At least those fools alerted us to their presence before attacking."
"I'm suddenly very glad we ran into you lot, hopefully you're worth the coin," Vanora says as the lone rider to the West is joined by four more men on horseback.
The five Western riders form up before spurring their horses forward, charging towards you. As they ride, the leader sounds his horn once more. Again the blast of the horn is answered by another to the East after a few seconds, this time much closer than before. As the five riders near, you can see one of them holds a banner emblazoned with the Griffin of house Fulsen.
"I think you'll find that we're quite the bargain," Brannik grunts, unraveling his warhammer from its straps on his back and hefting it between his hands. Turning to his mentee, he slaps on the wooden cart with a gloved hand to get her attention.
"Things are about to get dicey. Stay by me," the dwarf commands her.
"True, but we've also yet to face men on horseback. That is nothing to scoff at," Adrian responds to his companions, as he moves towards the back of the caravan to protect Chloë. "We should focus on dismounting them if possible. Their horses will be useful, much more so than killing them," he adds, as he adopts his usual fighting stance.
Chloë Combat Block
- [SHOW]
"Myself, I don't quite have the reach to bring the fuckers off their horses," Brannik admits, cracking his knuckles and spinning his hammer. "But that's what I've got you for, eh?" he smiles across the cart at his spear-wielding mentee.
As the riders approach the caravan several of the men driving the carts hop down from their seats and pull out weapons hidden in the carts, Vanora included. A couple of old swords and some sharpened farm equipment - they are clearly not seasoned warriors but they form up to defend the caravan alongside you.
Round 1
Go: Kass, Wes, Adrian
As the men come into view, Adrian realized they are much too far away and too clustered together to make his usual tactic of rushing in of much use. Instead he opts to shift to a more defensive stance, ready to dodge or deflect their blows as they approach. These men are in for a rude awakening. Hope they are more reasonable than the last soliders, maybe we can avoid killing them.
Combat Block - Chloë
- [SHOW]
As you move forward, the Commander of the riders spurs his horse forward, leading he charge. The horse and rider thunder towards Wes and Kass, he brings up his sword and brings it down on Wes, however the young knight manages to parry the attack away harmlessly.
Go: Brannik, Chloe
Brannik takes off at a dead sprint, a few lengths behind the others. "On your right!" he calls out, barreling torward the commander. Sorry for this, you poor bastard. The dwarf slams his greatmaul into the soldier's horse with bone-breaking might, sweeping both mount and rider off their feet and onto the grass.
The Commander's horse whinnies in pain as it crashes to the ground, throwing its rider to the ground. However the commander's men are not far behind him, following his charge. Two of the riders charge in from either side of their downed commander, swinging at Wes and Brannik. However both knights are able to dodge or parry away the attacks.
A third rider is close behind, seeing an opening and swooping in towards Brannik. Wes Pushes past the Bull and meets the rider's sword before making his own counterattack as the two parry each other's attacks.
The merchants also begin to push up, although they clearly lack the confidence of trained warriors.
Go: Gemma
Vanora and one of the other merchants charge into the fray, with Vanora striking a light blow against a rider. The last of the riders decides not to join the main fight and instead turns his horse towards the merchants in the middle of the caravan, charging into them.
Round 2
Go: Kass, Wes, Adrian
As Kass conjures her signature black mist, Wes leaps into battle. He lunges at one of the riders, the foe dodging his blade. Emboldened by the failure, Wes unleashes a flurry of thunderous magic, its booming force echoing across the battlefield. "I should hope your horses don't frighten easily, or you're in for a rough ride!" the Menoran shouts over the claps of arcane thunder.
Adrian smirks as he notice one of riders split off from its companions. Bad move, he says to himself as he rushes the man. Drawing near, he first lands a powerful blow against the rider's steed, causing it to lose its footing and topple over. The rider falls to the ground, and before he can stand Adrian is already upon him, landing another powerful blow against the scrambling man. "You picked the wrong caravan to attack, friend."
Combat Block - Chloë
- [SHOW]
The commander stands and charges into the fray, striking Wes who doesn't see the man coming in time to block the attack. His horse also stands and, clearly in pain and enraged, it lashes out at Brannik with a kick which strikes the dwarf firmly in his head, luckily with his helmet easily absorbing most of the impact.
Go: Brannik, Chloe
Brannik groans after having his bell rung with a horseshoe to the helmet. "It's time to slow down a bit," he shouts, spitting on his maul and slamming it into the earth. The ground around his enemies cracks, releasing a spray of groundwater into the air that cools and freezes their feet in place. "Don't go anywhere just yet."
Brannik's icy blast finishes off two of the wounded horses, sending one of the riders tumbling to the ground as his mount collapses beneath him. The rider thrown from his horse manages to stand but Brannik's attack leaves him unable to rejoin the fight immediately. The two other riders attack back, hitting both Wes and the Bull.
Meanwhile in the smaller fight, the two merchants move to assist Adrian as they close in on the dismounted rider, after one of them puts his crippled horse out of its misery with a quick plunge of his rusty sword into its skull.
Go: Gemma
