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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RedTonic" data-source="post: 5695269" data-attributes="member: 98994">This is a pretty sleepy campaign & storyhour, huh? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> A short update, dealing with tactics.edit: I originally posted this update slightly out of order. The new update for this Saturday has been edited into the previous post.*****As the night settled in, Cael sat on his bedroll, beside the fire. The  past two days were still swirling around his head as he poked the flames  with a long stick. The others were milling about, some eating, others  setting up their bedding. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his  stomach. The shadow of Shuj’s bother-in-law’s death hung over him as he  watched the embers swirl. He was not sure what felt worse, being  powerless to save a man from his wounds, or being powerless from saving a  man from his death. With his free hand, he took a swig from his flask. He looked across the fire to Houshang al'Pacem. He had been oddly quiet  during the day’s ride, not chiming in during their discussion. Maybe he  was upset about allowing the thief to live, or maybe this was a test for  Mikealus. The young paladin seemed new to this group and a bit shaken  after the past few days’ events as well. He thought back to the day’s  discussion on how best to catch this mysterious figure. A few ideas had  been posited, but none agreed to. Perhaps with food in their stomachs  and legs out of the saddle they could all come to an accord.“Well,” Cael spoke, breaking the silence of the night, “Shall we finally  come to an agreement on how to best catch our ringleader? Now we have  each given plausible ideas and each has been refuted by one person or  another. At the very least, I find the general consensus to be we will  somehow try to use Shuj to lure the man into a meeting, if at all  possible.”“As far as capturing the man, it is a difficult affair. Now, the use of  human remains suggests he may be dealing in some dark art, possibly  necromancy. If we attempt to capture him in the town, he may injure  townsfolk as well as damage their livelihood. Attempting to lead him  away from town or capture him en route seems like the best option, but  we do not know which direction he will come from, or whether he will  flee if we try to get him to follow us. Either of these options will  mean we will need to spread our forces to be effective.”“The final and less appealing option,” he said as he glanced sharply at  Khader, “Would be to hang Shuj for his crimes and try to find this man  on our own, but as we discussed earlier this would squander the chance  given to us by the gods to catch this miscreant. Now that we have this  laid out, let us choose one course of action and refine it to a point.  It is better to go in with one fully thought out plan, then two sloppily  made, unfinished ones.”"Are you just being slow on purpose?" Khader retorted. "If we fail,  is what I said! I'm not sayin we let a bone-thief run around free if we  can catch him--gods help me, that's not what I said." Borche chuckled.  It was rare to see Khader so worked up. But after a day of being  misunderstood, the warrior was a bit riled.Ravi snorted. As Cael framed it, the last idea was the most appealing to  him, personally. Al'Pacem watched them all evenly over the crackling  fire. Some fog was beginning to settle, as it did every night. A few  clouds scudded over the moon. The captain was repairing tears in his  bedroll while the others discussed plans. Shuj was staked nearby through  an ankle binding, hobbled so he couldn't flee. He wasn't healthy enough  at the moment to tear free."Did you say necromancy?" Mikealus blinked at Cael from across  the fire. He looked at Khader, apparently unwilling after such a long  two days to even consider such a thing. He'd trade words with his fellow  Order member instead - the one that was the most irate at the moment  would at least be first to think up an idea."I don't like the idea of our friend priest hinging our success on his  deceptions. It is too much to gamble on a single thing. I say we let him  come to us."Nothing more fanciful than a young priest and nothing more idealistic  than a new paladin it seemed. Belsea made small efficient motions as she  ate her share of dinner. She preferred when Khader cooked but her face  didn’t register the preference. Between two spoonfuls, Belsea spoke but  her face remained pointed downward. “What do you have that the man will  come looking for? A hobbled tool?”Agniprava sat quietly, listening to the exchange, not eating much, as  was his way. He was more focused on conducting a breathing exercise to  bring him some measure of focus. The silence of their leader was deafening, and the absence of his  seasoned opinion was felt. Agni was not quite clear yet on why he so  willingly withheld himself from a discussion such as this, but the way  he often seemed to examine Mikealus gave some clue.That was a distraction at best though. Agniprava brought himself back to  center, and heard Belsea's comment. It was one he sympathized with,  especially given how well this man had protected his anonymity - there  was no reason for him to show himself if he even smelled a trap. But  then..."This man we are searching for," Agni began, "Even Shuj doesn't have a  tremendously clear recollection of him. And given his instructions, he  had arranged it so that Shuj wouldn't have a chance to see him again. So  I think we are making this too complicated. We need the bodies - the  bones. It is those we must track. There must be a way we can do that  even if we never set foot in the town, no? If we can, then our quarry  will make a target of himself for our benefit."Cael nodded as he poked the fire. Now they were getting somewhere.  "Listen, my friends, I think the day's travel has made us all weary.  Upon reflection, I think a trap is the best option. We allow Shuj to  enter the town and make contact with the buyer. He will tell them man he  has hidden the bones and will take him to the bones. Once Shuj leads  the man to us, we will attempt to capture him, and if need be... dispose  of him..." Cael said the last word with a contemplative tone. He had  been on his own for less than a week’s time and already had one death on  his conscience. Shuj would most certainly be put to the sword after he  aided them and now this man, as detestable as his character seemed. "As  insurance, to watch over both Shuj and this man, I say we send a small  group into town to watch over them. I think Mikealus has the best chance  of riding this fellow down if he flees, and Belsea would be the best  tracker if on foot. Agniprava and I can pose as simple holy men, and no  one should give us a second glance. I would leave the setting of the  trap to you, al'Pacem." As he finished he took a swig from his flask.  "What say you all?" Mikealus folded his hands together. "I think it has some of the best  options. We have a back-up plan if we fail... and less of a chance to  make our prey suspicious. Which leaves those who go into town under  Belsea's care. I am still worried about any of us riding into town -  armor and all we will be a bit too obvious, and easy to notice. We will  follow your plan - we just need to decide how to remain unnoticed in  town. I would leave that to you, I think,” he suggested to the tracker.</blockquote>

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