What if we're not satisfied being a bandit?

>>6167249
Well I, unlike some other quest OP's, am not one to railroad. If you want to go down some other path, I'll roll with that.

Oh that's cool.

Ok then, for starters, listen to some of the other peoples.

Find out more about our locations, and the goings on of this town/city.

I'd like to swap the aspirations in my head for the sword in my hand.

>>6167270

You become Burt Reynolds, The Swordmind

>>6167270

>I'd like to swap the aspirations in my head for the Penis in my hand.

FTFY

>>6167292

You become Penis Reynolds, The Swordburt

This could be fun, but you're probably better off starting it another time. There's already an established Quest thread on the front page, so you probably won't get many serious replies (plus you might get a few butthurt sagefags trolling you into the bargain) until it's over.

>>6167327

>Penis Reynolds

>>6167265
You were born in this city, and grew up here. Stormgarde is a standard small port city the likes of which you'd find in any feudal age story. Close to 500 inhabitants, mostly good people; a few brigands, but much less now, after the demise of the Shadow. The local count lives in a manor in the north of town. The tavern in which you're drinking is at the most southern point, along the docks.

Most inside are men, and most are merchants and dockside laborers. They're talking of standard things one would expect: the day's work, other men's wives, what they're expecting to do once they get money.

There are a handful of city guard drinking at a table, talking still about the battle against the Shadow the week prior. Their claims are exaggerated and their voices loud.

The rest are drinking quietly. A few thieves you recognize are sitting as you are, alone and in deep thought.

>>6167270
You already have a sword. Would you like to unsheath it?

>>6167344
Could, but I'm hoping Burt brings in a crowd.

Yea, a better time *would* be better I think.

But this sounds like as good a quest if any, perhaps better, starting with such freedom. So to speak.

>>6167378
I'll take this story wherever the players want it to go. And I plan to be up for more than a few more hours.

Hmm... interesting.

Is there any way of knowing if the dockworkers and sailors are happy with their lot in life?

I mean yes, they lead happy and productive lives, but can we find out if they are satisfied with just that? Surely not ALL of them look forward to manual labor?

I enquire discreetly with the few faces I know about possible jobs, OR if they want things as they were some time back.

>>6167412
Most of the workmen are drunk and happy, talking to each other with merriment, and clearly happy in their lives.

You spy two men sitting amongst them who remain quiet though. While the others talk and occasionally sing, they only drink. As to whether or not they're unhappy in their work, you do not know, but there is clearly things upsetting them.

>>6167424
There are three other thieves here who you know. They are all sitting seperately in different parts of the bar.

Velstag is a tall, Nordic looking man who you know to be crafty and well versed in the use of a sword.

Aaron is of average size and looks rather unremarkable. He is a bit of a gambler and has an eye for scams and intrigue.

Markor is sitting near the door. You never knew him well, as he always seemed a bit aloof. Regardless, you've seen him use a crossbow with practiced skill.

>>6167469

Hmm, well I didn't mean happy as in drunk, but I guess that doesn't matter.

Converse with the familiar thieves then, at the very least they can serve as errants.

>>6167469
I walk up to Aaron and order drinks for both of us (provided I have the cash for them). Sitting down, I ask him if he would be interested in partnering up to raise some cash.

>>6167485
The three of them are sitting alone. If you want to gather them together to speak, you could do so.

>>6167491
You move and sit next to Aaron with your own drink in hand. You are entirely out of money, but he already has a drink of his own. You ask him if he'd be interested in working together. He shifts his gaze and looks around, "Aye, yer' a ballsy bastard. The guard right across the bar." He smirks and drinks from his cup. "What've you in mind?"

On that note, what should your name be?

>>6167533

Narp, this guy >>6167491 seems to have things going good. I think my ambitions were too far-fetched for this.

Name? How about Victor something, I don't know about a last name.

Victor Von Strupp shall be our name.

I tell Aaron we have to get the old gang back together, at the same time avoiding possible turncoats.

Victor Frost.

I motion for Aaron to come outside, away from prying eyes, so we can continue our discussion...

On a sidenote, what are our competences? Do we know how to fight in close combat? Bare-handed? Shooting bows/crossbows?
Do we know how to pick a lock? How to sneak? How to cut somebody's purse? How to act convincingly?
What about magic (in the setting)?

>>6167591
>>6167570
You are Victor Von Strupp.

"Get the ol' shadows together again 'eh? Heh heh heh. Balsy bastard." He finishes his drink and flips a coin onto the table. "I like your style, Vic."

You both move to your old table near the back. "You see Velstag ovah there?" You do. "He's a good fellow. I trust 'im, 'swhat I'm sayin'. Markor though. I dunno 'bout him."

Velstag sees the two of you sitting together and slides his empty cup to the barman and appears to be coming towards you. Markor is still sitting on his own. Do you want to invite him to join you?

>>6167625
For abiliiesy, there's a three tiered system. Tier 1 is minor skill, someone who knows a bit about a subject. Tier 2 is someone who is well versed. Tier 3 is a mastery.

You're somewhat skilled with a sword, putting it at tier 1. You can have 1 point to upgrade your combat ability to start. This can be used to either upgrade your sword ability to tier 2, or to bring another combat form to tier 1 as well.

You've also got a tier 1 abilities in the minor tools of the thief's trade: pickpocketting, breaking and entering, things you'd expect.

>>6167672

Invite Markor and tell Velstag to piss off. Not literally, but some excuse to get rid of him.

He seems too forward for my tastes. He doesn't even know what we were talking about.

>>6167702

I think you mean invite Velstag and send Markor off...

>>6167702
Nah, invite Velstag, talk with him, then send him away and do the same with Markor.
Afterwards, compare opinions with Aaron.
All the while watch him for odd reactions.

>>6167702
>>6167728
>>6167741
I need some kind of consensus here.

>>6167728
>>6167702
I say we invite both of them over, if we're going to get our business up and running again, we need manpower. If someone is a traitor, oh well; we're BANDITS, shit happens.

>>6167728
>>6167741

How do we know Velstag isn't a mole now? Don't you find it a little suspicious that he's the first to jump on any new action without knowing the details?

I don't know if Markor is any better, but at least he seems to be acting in style with someone who just lost their gang and basically their income.

Then again, can we trust Aaron? There's no *real* way to find out...

I dunno, just offering my opinion. Don't take anything I say into account when actually deciding what to do next, Bandit.

Here's my proposition. We invite both of them. In the next weeks we use to of them to monitor the third (i.e. Aaron to monitor Markor and Velstag, Markor to monitor Aaron and Velstag, etc)

To clarify things, all three of these men were part of your old gang, just as you were.

Velstag joins you at the table, and once you motion to him, Markor does as well. He has a bottle of liquor that he's sipping from. "Whaddya wan' Strupp?"

What do you propose to these three men?

>>6167792
I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Also, what form of combat would you like to invest in? You are currently tier 1 in use of a sword, and have 1 upgrade available.

>>6167804
I'd like to hear opinions on that ability points. I say we take a tier in some form of ranged attack, or (if we can) take a tier in something like "scheming".

>>6167834
You can use this upgrade point to increase your combat ability. Sword, blunt, bow, hand to hand, etc. This is an ability to start with.

Increases to other skills will be obtained according to how you choose to play. Well thought out plans and success will net you more skills.

Anyway, I ask if they'd be interested in creating a small criminal organization.
Shadow's death is bound to have left a power vacuum.

>>6167860
Indeed it has. They all seem willing to work together, and for the time being, defer to you.

"So what's yer plan then, huh?"

The city of Stormgarde, as stated before, is a good sized town of around 500 people. The city is surrounded by a rudimentary stone wall, and the southern side by the bay that leads to a great sea.

Outside the walls and to the west and south is a forrest that goes on for miles and miles. A trade route cuts through it to a similar sized city two weeks away. The road is well traveled, and it was in these woods that your former band had called home.

To the north are flat plains with several villages scattered for miles until you reach a range of mountains.

To the East is several miles of plains that reach to the coast of the ocean.

>>6167850
We need more infos about the government. Do we have an above-the-law ruler? Or does he have to follow the law.
What about the local government?
Numbers and training of the guards?

>>6167967
Stormgarde itself is very far to the north, near the border of the empire. The mountain range and ocean are the borders, though what is on the other sides of either is unknown to you.

The city is run by Count Otto, a hard, but generally fair man. He resides in manor in the north part of the city. He defers to a Duke, who defers to the emperor of the land.

The Duke resides in the city you've never been to, far far away, and the Emperor even further.

The Guards number somewhat between 30 and 40 men, you're not sure of exact amounts. There are some archers who usually patrol the city's wall. The rest of the guards are trained with the use of swords at a second tier level, though some may be skilled with other weapons.

These numbers don't include three guardsmen who operate the town's jail, or Count Otto's personal guard.

I propose to start a "protection" scheme in the villages. The people there should be fairly easy to intimidate (they being farmers), and the guards shouldn't have too strong a presence.
At the same time, we have to find if old comrades other than us are still alive and around town.

>>6168128
What is your course of action?

I say we get out of the town and head to the closest village. Shake it down Mafia style. Demand cash and good clothes and shit.

>>6168164
We travel to one of the villages, each of us separately or in pairs so we aren't obvious.
Once there, we stay there for a while, scouting the city: we note down the various businesses (if any), who is richer, who could fight us, who could help us, etc.

>>6168224
>>6168254
The villages are all small, a few dozen people at most. Farmers mostly. A blacksmith, tailor, teacher maybe. Small time towns.

The four of you leave the tavern and enter into the night air. The closest village is five miles to the north. On foot you could get their by dawn. Proceed?

>>6168296
We do. Of course we do our best to avoid city-guards.
By the way, I'd take that upgrade to tier up unarmed fighting (boxeur style).

>>6168370
Alright, you're a bit of a pugilist as well. Markor is tier 2 with a crossbow, Velstag is tier 2 with a sword, and Aaron is tier 1 with knives and daggers.

You leave the city in the dark of night and head north. Hours pass and the sun breaks the horizon in the east. Soon you can see a small cluster of builds in the center of rolling fields. Smoke is pouring from chimneys, and as you get closer you can see several men standing near an open air lean too that appears to act as a small market. The three men are talking to each other while small children fill stands with fresh vegetables. As you draw nearer you hear the sound of hammer on metal, a blacksmith, somewhere at work.

You enter into the town, passing several small homes. A child turns from his stall of potato's and points to you, "Papa, look." The three men all stop talking and look to the four of you.

One of them takes a few steps forward. "Uh, hello. Don't see too many visitors this time of year." He looks across the group with some hesitation. "Can I, uh, help you? Need directions to Stormgarde?"

>>6168458
We need weapons, we offer you protection. I hope we can become good friends and business partners. It would be so very tragic if anything were to happen to your son, good sir.

>>6168498
You all have weapons already. You have a shortsword, Vel a longsword, Markor a crossbow, and Aaron a dagger.

The villager stumbles back. "Wha.." He turns back, "Michael, run home, now!" One of the children drops the tomatoes he was holding and runs down the street. The other children run after him. The two other men fall back and hurry away.

The man in front of you turns back. "I don't know who you are, but you'd better get out of here right now, or I swear I'll kill you myself!" He turns to run.

I punch him in the kidneys as he turns.

>>6168556
You hit him and he stumbles forward onto the ground, yelping and reaching at his back. "Damn you!" He spits.

"Oi!" You hear another voice from down the way. A large man you haven't seen before is standing in the middle of the street, holding a hammer in one hand and a glowing red sword in the other. The town blacksmith you heard hammering a few moments before. "Get away from Oliver, 'for I kick your bloody arse!" He starts marching forward at a steady pace and getting faster.

150 feet away.

>>6168540
Well... when and if we get more accomplices, won't we need a steady source of weaponry to supply our mercenaries? Also, this was not the effect I had in mind; I kinda want this man on our side, can we keep from killing him if at all possible? He could be useful.

I motion for Vel to step forward, sword drawn, to meet the blacksmith.
Markor points his crossbow at the man, and I shout for him to stop or we'll fucking kill him.
At the same time I draw my sword and put my foot on the prone man's back, pinning him to the ground.

>>6168623
Sure. I think a no-killing policy is the best.

>>6168623
Threatening a man's son isn't the best way to get him on your side.

>>6168635
You pin the man down and place the tip of your sword at the back of his neck. Vel draws his own and stands ready while Markor aims his crossbow. You yell, "STAND THE FUCK BACK!"

The smith stops dead and stares at you with fire in his eyes. "Get away from 'im, damn you!" He's rocking on the balls of his feet 100 feet away.

The two men from earlier return from their homes and stand in the street 60 feet away. One has a sword in his hand and the other a bow. "Leave us alone!"

>>6168685
My bad, I thought a small bluff would scare him enough to be more cooperative, it seems the men of this village are made of sterner stuff.

>>6168722
Well they live pretty close to a well sized city whose guard practically wiped out the local bandits the week prior. Figures he'd be standing pretty tall right about now.

>>6168685
"Listen guys, we started with the wrong foot here. We aren't looking for a fight with anybody. We're here to just conduct some business of ours."
Waiting for an answer, I mutter to Aaron if he knows how to throw those knives.
I never move my sword from my hostage's neck.

Do these armed men look like good, or at least competent, fighters? Are their weapons in good repair?

>>6168749
Aaron can't throw his knife, no. He's not much of a fighter.

The smith is holding a hammer, which in his massive arms would be devastating. The sword he's holding still has a faint glow, as he was obviously in the process of folding the metal. It's clearly not combat ready, but being a club of hot metal would still be damaging.

The sword in the townsman's hand looks a bit old, in the family for years, probably. The bow looks like it was made by the man wielding it. Maybe he's a hunter?

The two men are slowly moving forward, their bow and sword raised. "We don't want nuffin to do with you!"

"Yeah, get out! Or else!" They're 55 feet away now. The smith has started to move forward a bit and is close to 90 feet away.

You hear voices and a woman screaming. You can see her standing in the doorway. "Oliver!" Clearly his wife. The child is standing by her leg, holding her tight.

"Ok, listen. You take another step or don't put those weapons on the ground, I'll fucking kill Oliver here. And nobody wants that, correct?" I look at Oliver's family as I say the last part.

>>6168806
We do not intend to harm this man any more than we have already, we merely wish to talk. Oliver will be released when you lower your weapons, we want no trouble with you.

>>6168857
>>6168860
The men stop and hesitate. Oliver's wife continues to scream, his son cries. You hear stirring as other doors open and a few faces pop out to see what's going on.

"Oliver," one of the men yells. "What should we do?"

"Put down your weapons, God damn! Put them down!"

"Please! Harold, Davis! Put them down! Please!" Oliver's wife implores. The two men look at each other and lower their weapons. But they don't drop them.

"Ah, to hell with you!" You hear the smith bellow. He starts running towards you, his hammer and half finished sword raised. He's moving faster than you'd expect, and is 80 feet away.

>>6168892
"STOP RIGHT THERE YOU SON OF A BITCH OR I'M THIS PIG HERE!"
To reinforce the point, I plunge my sword in his hand.

>>6168892
Quickly tell Vel, and Markor to disarm and subdue the man.

>>6168892
kill hostage, kill others, loot corpses, rape wives.

>>6168924
>>*I'M KILLING
Goddamn

>>6168924
>>6168925
>>6168932
Let's get a consensus here.

The blacksmith looks like he's gonna put up a bitch of a fight, especially supported by his two friends. Better to stop him without a fight, no?

>>6168960
The two other men are standing back, bewildered and afraid. The smith is running at your group,

What should be done? Shoot to kill, subdue? Hurt Oliver your hostage?

>>6168942
I was under the impression that killing was to be kept to an absolute minimum; avoided if at all possible. I don't think we want to start a war here guys, if any of the people survive this, they'll run back to Stormgarde and then we'll be in real shit when the guard comes by.

Wound or kill the approaching smith?

Hurt Oliver?

>>6168971
>>Hurt Oliver your hostage?
And promise more hurting if the blacksmith doesn't stop right away.
If he doesn't, hurt Oliver some more and try to subdue the smith. Maybe shoot him in the legs.

get crossbow guy to shoot oliver in the face, slit hostages throat, glare meaningfully at two other men.

You jab your sword into Oliver's hand, cutting deep. He screams out in pain. "STAY BACK OR HE'S DEAD!" You scream. "And you with him!" Markor adds, aiming his crossbow straight at the man.

He doesn't stop, raises his weapons, preparing to attack. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Markor fires, and the bolt strikes the smith in his right thigh. He stumbles and rolls in the dirt, dropping his weapons and yelping in pain, a broken man. The other two men drop their weapons and freeze.

"Stop! Please, stop!" Oliver's wife falls to the ground, "Please! Please, oh God, please!"

>>6169044
Oliver IS the hostage, moran.

>>6169066
Quickly subjugate their weapons, allow the wounded man to recieve medical treatment. Keep Oliver hostage until the situation cools down.

"All, right, now you two fucking drop your weapons and go gather the whole village. We'll wait here. Vel, pick up those weapons. And you" I point to Oliver's wife and his child. "Come here."

>>Not long ago you were a member of the Shadow

"The Shadow?"

"The SHADOW?!"

"The Shadow!"

>>6169119
>>6169110

Vel quickly gathers the bow and sword from the two men. The smiths weapons aren't worth taking and are left where they dropped. A man is tending to his leg, and he's drinking from a bottle. When the bolt is removed he screams before passing out. Most people are hiding in their homes, but a few are gathering around the smith.

Oliver is losing blood and close to losing consciousness. His wife wails, "What do you want from us!"

>>6169142
Shout for someone to get a doctor (or the closest thing to one in the village) to patch up Oliver. Ignore his wife.

Would one of us using one of the claimed weapons be more effective than now?

>>6169142
Dammit Vel, it does not matter if the smith's weapons are not worth taking, they need to be out of reach of someone else who decides to play hero.

>>6169169
The doctor is working on the smith's leg right now since you're still holding Oliver hostage. He presses cloth against the wound and comes when he's called for. "Oh my god," he mutters when he sees the hand. He wraps it in cloth and holds the hand tight. Oliver screams out in pain.

The sword is no better than what you and Vel have got. Aaron could possibly use it, though he's not trained to use a sword. None of you are very capable with a bow.

>>6169185
He throws the hammer and unfinished sword to the side, far away from anyone.

Oliver's wife still wails.

We keep the weapons anyway. I wave my hand at Oliver's wife, telling her to shut up while we wait for the village to gather.

>>6169198
Fine, call to the wife. She may be at Oliver's side as long as she doesn't try anything funny.

>>6169245
>>6169235
She sits by his side, crying quietly. Eventually the rest of the village comes out of their homes. They keep their distance, but they're all there.

>>6169251
The Shadow has faded, but it is far from dead. We exist for the sole purpose of aquiring wealth and spreading our chaos as far as the eye can see. However, we are not unreasonable. We can insure this village safety if you are all willing to cooperate.

I proceed to inform them they'll be paying a tithe to us. They won't starve, but they sure won't buy anything not strictly necessary. I then instruct Vel and Aaron to count everybody, and say that they will be counted every evening. If somebody is missing, two others will be executed. On top of this, we will need a place to stay, food, and every weapon in town.

>>6169280
They stand quietly, solemnly.

Eventually a man with a thick red beard speaks. "What do you want from us?"

>>6169301
You count 28 total. 12 men, 10 women, and 6 children. They bring you what little money they have, amounting to 24 pieces of silver. Another man spits out, "Take your money and leave us be!"

>>"Take your money and leave us be!"
I explain they'll be paying a WEEKLY tithe to us.

>>6169341
A woman answers, "Fine! Take yourselves and leave us!" In regards to weapons, the villagers bring no more. They claim they have no more.

>>6169323
We're offering to recruit this entire village into our ranks. I should suggest you accept our generosity; in the coming days, many cities will feel our fearsome power, we will take what we like and our infamy will grow. We would hate to raid this village for supplies again; next time, someone might die.

I take it you're leaving the town then?

You have 24 pieces of silver, an extra sword, bow and arrows, and a bag full of vegetables and bread. It's still early morning. Traveling by foot back to Stormgarde would take 5 hours. There are other villages further north. The forest is several hours to the west.

>>6169394
Hmmm, lets head out to the forest. If possible I'd like to set up a small base camp and then return to loot the other villages.

>>6169415
The old camp was in the forest. It's 7 hours away. You could take a look around to see if anything's left, or set up somewhere else completely.

It should be noted you have no tents, bedrolls, or other supplies except the food you were just given, and are traveling by foot.

>>6169427
Salvage old camp
Find new better protected location
Loot more villages for better supplies to fortify our new camp

>>6169445
It's close to noon when you arrive at your old camp. A week has passed since the guard's attack, and watching the site has hopefully been given up as a useless task.

The camp itself is deep in the wood, two hours from Stormgarde and an hour from the road through the forest. It was well hidden among a grove of trees, with low hanging tents, and you're still unsure of how the guard discovered it. One of the men with you could be a mole, however, being in the woods next to the city, it is possible they merely found it by chance.

The tents that are left are for the most part in shreds; in some spots stained with dried blood. A few items are scattered around the area. Clothes, utensils, standard items.

You search the area and find various forks and knives, a few bowls, enough spare clothes for the four of you. One tent is only trampled, and is relatively undamaged. There's room in it for two. You also find a few blankets, a saddle, and another sword, buried in the mud. Markor and Vel look grim as they bag up what they find.

You're currently two hours from Stormgarde, and one from the road. Where would you like to set up your new camp?

>>6169485
I'm leaning more towards a position near the road, simply for the convenience of being able to jump trading caravans at a moments notice. However, we need somewhere more secret and easier to defend. Could we sneak around to the back of the village we just raided and set up camp there? That would be most favorable as it would allow us to keep tabs on it and make sure none of them start squaling to the guard. If not, I suggest we move deeper into the forest.

>>6169524
The village is in the middle of prairies. They are around 2 hours from the edge of the forest. You could set up camp in the forest close to the village, which is known as Everglade. The distance from the village will be 2 hours, from Stormgarde 7 hours, and from the road 3 hours.

>>6169540
Sounds like a plan, Everglades it is. How far are the other villages from the Everglades?

>>6169557
There is another village four hours to the NW of Everglade, close to the forest line. And another is about seven hours to the East, close to the ocean.

You set up a camp a few hundred feet into the treeline, several hours away from Everglade by foot.

>>6169561
Well since we have this time to rest and prepare; what is the status of our little bandit brigade? How are are members feeling at this point, I know that they are no strangers to killing and looting, but do any of them voice dissent or have a different opinion on how we should handle our affairs? If anyone is planning anything or acting strangely, it'd be nice to bring it out into the open now before we start getting ourselves into deeper mischief.

>>6169597
>are are
are our even.

>>6169597
They're acting fairly normal. Once you split the silver with them, they were in better moods than before. Markor is mostly silent. Vel and Aaron joke around a bit. It's mostly quiet though.

Aaron suggests keeping an eye on Everglade.

Let's have this be the end for tonight. Archive this if you want. I'll post again sometime tomorrow.

>>6169627
cool cool
I'll have it up in a sec, if it ain't already there.