R1: Hired Hands (nimisgod judging)

[Patlin]

Tor comes to a rapid halt, hoping to avoid any immediate notice. Quickly, he tries to calculate the odds.

Do the four large figures carry sources of light? If not, they may have Darkvision, which would be unfortunate.

How large are the figures? Large as a term of art (ogre sized) or large as Tor is himself, perhaps Orcs or the like?

Tor speaks Common, Draconic, and Giant, and one would expect Ogres to speak Giant, so that at least is of some comfort.... Also, Tor is wielding his chain and has both combat reflexes and uncanny dodge, so he should be able to get some licks in even if the badguys get the drop on him.

 

[Dungannon]

ooc:

Do the four large figures carry sources of light?

No.

How large are the figures?

Man-size, approximately 6 ft. tall.

Tor immediately halts and hunkers down to avoid notice. It appears to work, as after several seconds the trailing figure says something and the group continues on as before.

 

[Patlin]

Tor will look around for a rock or large stick, in case he wants to throw something in order to create a distraction later. He also listens carefully, trying to tell how close the others are to catching up. (Listen +5.)

 

[Dungannon]

ooc: Quick update so everyone knows where they are.

Tor is approx. 2 minutes into a pursuit of an unknown group. The unknown group is within Tor's limited sight, approx. 50 ft. ahead of him.

Gideon, Kerrz, & Ragnikyr are also in pursuit of the group. They are approx. 200 ft. behind Tor, but they don't know where his exact position is.

Valan is back at the party's campsite, gathering equipment and preparing BusterJack for travel.

Tor glances around the ground briefly, picking up a fair-sized rock that he feels can be used to make a decent distraction if needed. He pauses for a handful of seconds, trying to hear if his companions are anywhere close to him. He can make out some faint sounds behind him. They don't sound natural, but he can't be sure what or how far away the source is.

 

[Patlin]

Reassured to hear what he hopes is reinforcements on the way, Tor will avoid taking any precipitate action until his companions catch up... unless the captive seems to be under some immediate threat, in which case he is willing to charge in against all four of them if need be.

He secures the rock in his belt, so as to keep both hands available for the chain.

 

[LogicsFate]

(OOC: Clarification)

Valan returns to the campsite with all possible haste, grabbing his pack and his armor and putting them onto the horse anyway possible. He draws his sickle, cuts BJ's Rope, replaces his weapon and mounts his horse.

Riding back to the attacksite, Valan stops BJ, and glances around for anything useful/incriminating. Riding closer he climbs off, reins still in hand. Picking up the torch Valan waves it around to light up the area a little better.

After around 10 seconds if he hasn't seen anything that might be important he will re-mount BJ and ride off in the direction that his allies took.

 

[Dungannon]

After a few hectic minutes, Valan has collected his gear and BusterJack and returned to the site of the attack. He retrieves the torch and quickly scans the area, but the only thing of possible interest he sees are the black crossbow bolts protruding from the dead horses.

ooc: you estimate the torch is about 3/4 gone.

 

[LogicsFate]

I'll have to do Valan turns Buster Jack and rides off in the direction his friends took, using the avilible light from the torch to avoid trees and such.

 

[Dungannon]

Tor continues to follow the brigands for a few more minutes when the tail figure suddenly stops again and turns around. He shouts another command, and the lead brigand immediately takes off in a run while the remaining three pick up their pace as much as they can with their burden. Tor looks behind him to find out what could've spooked the bandits and he sees the unmistakable glow of a torch in the distance.

Valan collects the bolts and remounts BusterJack. After a minute or two of picking his way through the grass & brush at a trot without falling off, not an easy feat for a man unacustomed to riding, he catches up to Ragnikyr, Kerrz, and Gideon.

 

[LogicsFate]

Valan attempts to adjust to their speed, with mixed results and asks in an unsteady tone "Where's Tor?!"