Where the Bandits Live

We watched the bandits all day yesterday, and well into the night.  As Barr and Daran had been carrying out most of the observation activities, the rest of us set about setting a camp.  We found a place where the ground is low, in a small depression, topped at the southern edge by some gorse and other bushes.  With winter now upon us, the branches look quite bare, but they provide shelter from the eyes of the bandit camp.

Not that they were watching us.  It looks like they've been busy out making raids - a small group of six or so rode in on horses as dusk fell.  We could tell very little of them from this distance, but they carried heavy sacks, and unloaded food.  Either they traded for this, or they've just raided one of the settlements.  There were some cut sides of meat that I could see among their booty, these were probably from a large pig, but it was really hard to see over such a distance in the failing light.

As they dismounted, one of the men had a heavy limp - he was clearly injured, which suggests further that they had raided this stuff, and had met some resistance.  When it was fully dark we all retired to the camp to discuss what we'd seen.

Barr informed us that he'd seen at least twenty different individuals in the camp.  There were another six who had been out raiding, and probably half as many again were inside the caves and out of sight.  We'd be expecting maybe thirty five of them in total, and all would be experienced swordsmen.  This is out of our league - unless we can catch them a few at a time by surprise.  That's unlikely to happen.  We may catch one small raiding party or patrol, but the alarm would then be raised.  If their patrol didn't come back to the cam, they others would probably blame the local settlements, and take retribution.

It was a difficult decision to make, especially in the face of Kenner's enthusiasm, but Elenhugh was clear and adamant - we need more help.  Greater numbers will be vital if we are to stand any chance of winning a fight with these people, and the back-up of the local law enforcement people would also really help.  This may be considered 'out of their jurisdiction' though, and leave it up to mercenaries hired by the traders.  Personally, I find I don't care where the men come from or who is paying for them (as long as it's not me) as long as we can assault this place and deal out justice.

If the Kings Guard don't want to be involved - and the only excuse they'll have that is valid is one of jurisdiction - then we'll be free to impose whatever justice we (or, more likely, the traders and settlers) want.  If they do get involved, then this will be official and we'll have to take prisoners into custody.  Again, I'm ambivalent to the choice here - either option suits me.

We stayed and watched the camp for a couple of hours more after sunrise today.  We watched a patrol leave and return an hour later, they appeared to do a circuit of the camp site, but they didn't spot us.  We did get a closer look at them as they rode past, though.  Barr was right about their armour - its a mix of leather armour and leather armour with metal studs, some also carried shields, but all seemed to have a bow of one kind or another, and they all had long-swords.  We moved out after they'd returned to the camp.

We dropped by the settlers once more on the way back and let them know what we'd seen.  When we told them of the group of mounted men returning at dusk, they told us that one of their small farmsteads to the south had been raided yesterday lunchtime.  They'd taken food supplies, including some livestock.

After a short discussion, we told the settlers of our plan to raise more help from among the traders around Loudman.  We asked if they had any volunteers from among their own people that would be willing to lift a sword and end their misery.  They couldn't, of course, make promises for the other settlements, but they had four young men among their own that wanted to take care of this matter.  I urged them to send word to the other settlements nearby to see if any other volunteers could be mustered - and that they should meet back at this same farmstead in two days.  I asked if they could find at least ten men willing to help defend their homes.  They were very eager to try and organise this.

The farmers helped us with some more food before we set out for Loudman.  The town was much closer to the farmsteads than I'd thought, and we were back there by nightfall.  We've been spending a little time with the traders, especially those in the last caravan that arrived - the one that had been attacked.  When they heard that there was a group of the bandits nearby, those that had a livelihood working these caravans were happy to help.

As a result, we've had several offers of the use of caravan guards to aid our fight.  We've asked everyone to keep this as quiet as possible, but the guards are assembling tomorrow lunchtime on one of the caravan assembly fields.  We've had promises of up to forty men - but we're not going to rely on all those turning up.

We'll speak to the Kings Guard tomorrow.  From what the traders told us, we'd be very lucky if they wanted to become involved.  We can only try, however.