Thursday 12 July 1280, Afternoon (Decision, Oustide the Cave, Down the Path)

DECISION

After a hurried discussion, the company decides to hole up and wait until the reinforcements arrive. For security's sake it is decided to pull back a bit from the cave to try and meet the reinforcements out of earshot of the cave entrance. It is decided that Oloc will take the hirelings and wait farther back to brief the reinforcements, while the rest of the party keeps an eye on the cave. Varros also feeds Karnak and sends the bird scouting every hour or so. Everyone moves into the agreed upon positions, and the six-hour wait commences.

*****

OUTSIDE THE CAVE

Karnak takes off and begins his first patrol, as Gaven, Varros and Duran settle into their hiding places to keep an eye on the mouth of the cave. The cloaked man finishes pulling the bodies inside the cave, and then disappears within.

*****

DOWN THE PATH

Oloc and the henchmen take up their concealed positions some distance away down the bandits' trail. You see Karnak sweep overhead, then curve away above the trees on his designated flight path. The woods are silent and still and you detect neither man nor beast for nearly an hour. Then a gruff humanoid voice speaks quietly in common from some hidden spot, lost in the foliage: "You are surrounded, and my fellows have a dozen bows trained on you. Don't move or make a sound, and you just might live."

Ollie and Bill go white with fear. Stan, Gweneth and Jack move their hands to their weapons, and look to Oloc. "I wouldn't do that," says the gruff voice softly. "Now, lay down your weapons, and tell me what you are doing here."

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OOC:  Actions?

Remember that only Oloc and the hirelings are aware of the gruff voice. You have no indication if the owner of the voice is aware of Gaven, Duran and Varros further up the trail. I assumed Oloc and the hirelings are facing west, away from the cave. As far as Oloc can tell, the voice is coming from the south (his left). Neither Oloc nor the hirelings have seen or heard any other movement.

Player knowledge vs. character knowledge for the next post: If anyone in the cave-watching group can come up with a truly compelling reason why his character might step away from cave-watch to go talk to Oloc and the hirelings, I'll allow it (but it needs to be really good!).  That said, I will allow OOC hints/suggestions from all of you to sonofotho -- a kind of retroactive PbB patch to compensate for the less elaborate opportunity for detailed advance tactical planning conversations allowed by the PbB format.

Dice transparency: Karnak, on his first hourly patrol, did not spot the owner of the voice (I gave it a 1-4 on d6 chance that Karnak would spot him/them; Karnak failed the roll; then the other guy(s) made a successful surprise roll against Oloc and the hirelings). As the voice speaks it is roughly an hour since Karnak's first patrol.

Time is just after 2:00 p.m.