Thursday 12 July 1280, Afternoon (The Mouth of the Serpent)

Oloc scratches his head as he ponders the new complications to the situation.

"As for Swede's news, I say we keep an eye out for the 'reinforcements'. He may be telling the truth, but to be honest, I am more concerned with saving my skin than being a judge of Alanna's previous love interests."

"First priority has got to be getting Ollie back. He must have been jumped by a bandit patrol." Oloc looks at the torn piece of cloth again. "I'm no hero but we can't leave the boy - that wouldn't be right."

He looks at the others. "So, our hand seems to be forced. I say we go in after Ollie."

"It does indeed look like Ollie has been taken," says Duran.  "If our ... friend ... here is willing to join us I think we stand an even better chance to getting Ollie back," Duran continues gesturing to the hobgoblin. "Either way we need to get Ollie back."

Varros agrees that the group's top priority should be finding Ollie, as does Gaven: "Yes, we must rescue Ollie."

Oloc then looks at the hobgoblin. "Can we count on you to fight?"

Swede nods and says: "You bested me, and I've got nowhere else to go. You can count on me."

"Swede, we will see if you are a hobgoblin of your word," Gaven says patting his club head in his hand. "However, if you move to betray us, I will smite you."

The bounty hunter grunts.

Gaven adds: "We will have to be on guard. The villains have had time to re-fortify."

*****

The party cautiously advances toward the mouth of the cave that serves the Red Serpent as a hideout. As you approach the opening, you see that the bandit who was previously ordered to clean up the area did his job relatively well. A path has been cleared through the rubble, and the dead bandits have been laid off to the side, all in a row, cloaks draped over their faces.

As you move past them, Swede lets out an almost inaudible whistle. "You boys don't fool around do you? I imagine there can't be too many left inside."

Entering the cave mouth, it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the dim light inside. Bill quickly lights a torch, enabling you to see a bit better.

The cave you've entered is quite large, about 50-60' wide across its narrowest dimensions, and curving around to the north.

About 40-50' in, you spot Ollie lying immobile on the cave floor. Much to your relief, you discover that he is merely unconscious, albeit with a rather nasty bruise on his forehead. 

You note a rather large puddle of blood on the floor next to him. Beside the puddle is a long, thin, extremely sharp shard of stone – similar in texture and color to that of the stone which you made fall in the entrance. The dagger-like fragment of stone also glistens with blood on its sharp end, from the pointed tip and continuing several inches up its length. The puddle of blood on the floor smears off into a streaked blood trail around the corner leading to the northern area of the cavern.

Quietly following the blood trail, you notice an extinguished campfire in the middle of the cavern, a stack of firewood along the west wall, and about a half dozen unused torches leaning against the wall nearby.

The blood trail itself leads to the curled up figure of a bandit on the floor next to the pile of firewood. Your first reaction is that he might be dead.

Getting a better look at the rest of the cavern, you note that there are tunnels leading out of the area to the east and to the north. The air to the east seems particularly damp and cool.

Suddenly from the position of the bandit you initially assumed was dead, you hear a sob and a weak voice that wimpers: "I don't want to die."

Approaching the fetal form of the bleeding bandit, you notice that he has an extremely deep gash on the inside of his thigh. It seems fairly clear to you that a major artery has been severed and that the bandit doesn't have much time. Looking at his face you see that he is very young – perhaps no more than fifteen or sixteen years old – and his skin is pale as death itself. He appears to be the one Mackey was ordering around earlier to get the mess in front of the cave cleaned up.

The dying bandit suddenly notices your presence. "Mackey?" he addresses you. "I got one of 'em. One of them as killed our men." His breath gets shorter. "I did good, right?" he asks. "I tried to do good." A sob catches in the young bandit's throat once more. "I wanna go home," he says. "I want my mum." He grits his teeth and tears stream down his cheeks.

*************************

OOC: Actions?

Sorry I didn't post a bit sooner, guys. Work has been especially unkind this week.