[Sunberth] Slavers And Brigands

If slavers and bandits are both 'bad' guys, are they natural alies, or?

(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role playing forum. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)

A lawless town of anarchists, built on the ruins of an ancient mining city. [Lore]

Moderator: Morose

[Sunberth] Slavers And Brigands

Postby Harman Dayis on July 22nd, 2016, 10:37 pm

Slavers And Brigands
20th Of Summer


"Why is it stopping?" Andreas asked Harman and Markus.

The three mercenaries were walking behind the cart of their employer, as they traveled through the woods outside Sunberth. All around them walked collared slaves, who were tied to the wagon in front of them by ropes that ran from their collars.

Harman, and his two compatriots had been walking for a few hours, but it was still early morning. Now however, the cart they'd been following the whole time was slowing to a halt.

"I don't know," Markus replied to Andreas.

Harman looked to his compatriots.

"Stay with the slaves, guys. Wouldn't want them running away," he suggested.

The boxer walked to the back of Byron's - the financier of the trip - covered wagon. He waited for the vehicle's wheels to completely cease their turning, and then looked into it.

Three other mercenaries sat inside. Their seniority granted them the privilege of riding inside the cart, while Harman and the two other new hires - Andreas and Markus- walked behind it.

"What's up, Jacs?" Harman inquired of one of the men inside the cart, a muscled blonde man that he had become familiar with.

Harman had talked to Jacs for some time, while the two stood sentry over the sleeping camp the night before.

"Probably nothing," Jacs answered back.

The blonde looked to the front of the wagon, to where a ginger man sat, where he was driving - or currently, stopping - the horses that were pulling the caravan along.

"Sir, there a problem?" Harman watched Jacs ask Byron.

"Dexter signaled for us to stop. Apparently, there's something up ahead," the ginger answered his hired hand.

Jacs thought for a moment.

"He coming up?" the blonde inquired.

What is going on? Harman wondered.

"Walking back here now," Byron replied.

Harman watched Byron turn away from Jacs for a moment, as if he was looking at something - or rather, someone - that was in front of the cart.

Didn't I see Dexter walking up in front of the caravan? Must be some kind of an early warning system, Harman mused.

The boxer continued to watch Byron's back from the very rear of the cart, but he couldn't get much information from trying to read a torso, and the backside of a man's head.

Through the chirping of birds, and the blowing of the breeze, Harman swore he heard Dexter beginning to speak up at the very front of the cart.

"Dammit," Harman heard Byron swear, after a moment of presumably listening to the man, on who's warning he had apparently stopped the wagon. "And what can we do about that?"

The ginger grunted.

He doesn't seem happy at all, Harman inferred.

"No we can't go around. Do you know how hard it is to not get lost in these woods, Dexter?" Byron snapped. "I mean, petch, there's no damn roads and only so many places where this cart can even just barely pass through the trees."

Harman watched as Byron didn't say anything for a moment.

The boxer saw the ginger run a hand over his face.

"Are you sure?" the man asked Dexter.

Another moment passed.

"Gods," Byron swore and began to climb down from the driver's seat, to the forest floor.

"Harman?" Andreas prodded from behind the boxer.

"Looks like somethings wrong," Harman looked back to, and replied to the blonde giant. "Byron is climbing down, and coming back here."

"Boys, get over here!" Harman heard Byron order, but did not see him do so, from the left side of the covered wagon.

"You must be right," Markus told Harman from beside Andreas.

Harman looked back into the covered wagon, and to Jacs. The two mercenaries beside the man, and Jacs himself, had begun to make their way to the back of the cart.

Harman moved out of the men's way, as they climbed down from the vehicle they were riding in, and to the soil beneath it.

The boxer glanced to his left side, to see Byron coming up around from the front of the cart, to where all the mercenaries were now standing. The ginger was flanked by another red head, Dexter.

Harman Dayis
Seeking
 
Posts: 52
Words: 53995
Joined roleplay: July 17th, 2016, 9:43 am
Location: Sunberth
Race: Human
Character sheet

[Sunberth] Slavers And Brigands

Postby Harman Dayis on July 22nd, 2016, 10:59 pm

Slavers And Brigands
20th Of Summer


"There's footprints up ahead, fresh ones," Byron informed his assembled mercenaries. "Could be nothing, could be something worse than that."

"Are you trying to say there might be bandits?" Cash, a hired sword who now stood beside Jacs, asked.

Harman watched Byron sigh.

"Now it's not like there's woman raping, hell raising brigands behind every corner in these woods," Byron explained. "But maybe."

"It's your call, sir. I'm just telling you that they're fresh prints, and there's at least eight men who made them," Dexter told his employer.

Eight, and only seven of us, not counting the slaves and Byron, Harman counted. I don't really like those odds. And me? I don't know how I match up against any kind of bandit.

"There's really no way to go around?" Jacs asked Byron.

Harman kept his mouth shut. He didn't see that he had the seniority to say anything, and standing out really offered no benefit at the moment, unless he could offer a solution - and he couldn't.

"There might be, but I don't know it," Byron admitted. "None of you do either, I'm guessing?"

"No, sir," Markus said.

The rest of the hired swords, including Harman, agreed with their silence.

"Then we have to keep going and hope we don't get sacked, and that if we do, that there's really only eight," Byron said.

Harman looked around to the men around him. Jacs wielded two battleaxes, and he looked like he could take care of himself. Andreas had a shortsword, and was wrapped in chainmail. Everyone else wore leather armor of one kind or another, and had swords that Harman couldn't identify specifically - although Cash did also posses a shortbow, that was stored in a large quiver that was strapped to his back.

Gods, I hope it's only eight, Harman thought. What was he saying? Let's hope Dexter is bad at his job, and it's less, he mused.

"Get back in the cart, boys. Dexter, you walk on ahead. I'm going to get the horses moving again," Byron ordered.

"Sir, if I may," Jacs interrupted.

Byron looked to his mercenary.

"I think me, Cash, and Eric should walk alongside the sides of the cart. The three newbies have got the back and the slaves, and Dexter has the front. If we're stuck inside the wagon, then we're blind, and it'll take us a minute to get out and fight if we have to. I don't want to be trapped in there if someone's attacking me," Jacs requested, and suggested a plan of action.

Byron didn't consider the request for long.

"Good plan," the ginger said. "Thank you. Everyone, do as Jacs says. Let's get moving towards Zeltiva again."

"I'm impressed," Harman said to Jacs, as Byron began to walk off to the front of the cart.

Jacs shrugged at the sixteen year old's compliment.

"The thought just struck me," Jacs admitted.

"That was more timely than rain 'striking' during a drought," Harman mused aloud.
Harman Dayis
Seeking
 
Posts: 52
Words: 53995
Joined roleplay: July 17th, 2016, 9:43 am
Location: Sunberth
Race: Human
Character sheet

[Sunberth] Slavers And Brigands

Postby Harman Dayis on July 23rd, 2016, 12:29 am

Slavers And Brigands
20th Of Summer


Harman walked alongside Jacs, on the left side of the covered wagon. Like them, most of the mercenaries had split into two man teams. Cash and Andreas took up the rear of the wagon, walking among the slaves. Marcus and Eric walked to the left of the cart. Meanwhile, Dexter kept his place walking as the point man of the group, while Byron drove the horses on.

The guards had all agreed to watch their side of the forest, and to give the signal to the rest of everyone else, if they saw anything coming.

We don't even really know what to expect, Harman thought. Bandits? Maybe. Could be anything really, though - like Byron said - he mused.

The boxer glanced into the woods. So far Byron had done a good job of guiding the caravan through relatively sparsely vegetated, and flat localities, Harman surmised. Still, Harman could see the forest getting thicker, and the terrain becoming more hazardous in certain spots, as he gazed deeper into the surrounding trees.

"You think there's anything out there?" Harman asked Jacs.

The man looked around.

"Maybe. Footprints are footprints," he answered. "Reall-."

"Bandits!" Eric screamed from his side of the caravan, and interrupted the man that Harman was talking to.

No luck today, Harman thought and then swore.

"Petch," the boxer said.

Harman found himself glancing to Jacs, involuntarily. What should they do?

Jacs pulled an axe into each of his hands, from the loops at his waist.

"Get that buckler ready, Harman," the mercenary prompted.

Jacs reminder shook Harman into action. The boxer glanced about, actively looking for enemies.

"They're not here," he said.

Jacs surveyed the woods for another moment.

"Come on," the warrior said.

Jacs began to run to the front of the caravan, and Harman dashed after him.

"Stay in the wagon!" Jacs screamed to Byron, as he and Harman circled around the horses at the front of the cart.

"I'll be damned!" Byron shouted back.

Harman watched the ginger withdraw an axe from behind the bench that he was sitting on.

Damn, I didn't expect that from him, the sixteen year old thought.

The boxer glanced away from his employer, as the man started to climb down from the covered wagon with his weapon in his hand.

Harman followed Jacs and stopped in his tracks with the man, when they reached the left side of the cart. The boxer did not see Andreas and Cash at first, but did catch sight of Marcus and Eric standing their ground as a group of armed men began to burst from out of the woods.

Harman froze.

No, he thought, I have to fight.

The boxer took a step towards the impending battle, and then another, and then a faster one.

"Stop!" Jacs screamed.

Harman tripped over himself slightly, and just barely caught his step. He glanced back to his blonde friend.

Jacs bolted past Harman, and even Marcus and Eric. The dual wielding man put himself between the relatively small distance that was between the party and the bandits.

"Stop!" Jacs called again, this time to the caravan's presumed enemies.

Harman stared, in a curious manner at Jacs.

"Jacob, it's me! Jacs!" the man screamed to one of the would be robbers.

There was a total of six brigands coming from the woods, and one of them froze just a second after Jacs screamed at them.

He knows that one? Harman was somewhat shocked, as he considered the possibility from back behind the rest of the men.
Harman Dayis
Seeking
 
Posts: 52
Words: 53995
Joined roleplay: July 17th, 2016, 9:43 am
Location: Sunberth
Race: Human
Character sheet

[Sunberth] Slavers And Brigands

Postby Harman Dayis on July 23rd, 2016, 12:56 am

Slavers And Brigands
20th Of Summer


The bandit that had stopped when Jacs had screamed, ordered his own men to stop now. Slowly, the distance between the slavers and the brigands became fixed, as neither side was moving towards each other any longer.

Harman looked around for Byron.

"What's going on," the short ginger called from among his men, to Jacs.

Jacs glanced to his employer.

"I know these men," he admitted to Byron.

Harman walked up to stand among the rest of the caravan guards, as they all shuffled right behind Jacs.

"Jacs?" the brigand that had ordered the others to halt inquired, and began to move towards the man he'd addressed.

The brigand, Jacob, reached his apparent friend and clasped arms with him.

"I thought you were all dead, after the storm I couldn't find you," Jacs told the man.

Jacob and Jacs' handshake became a short lived embrace.

So are we safe? Harman wondered, as he eyed the surprising site of the men's reunion.

Byron stepped from the group of mercenaries, and up to stand beside Jacs.

"I hope this means we're not going to be raided, then, eh?" the ginger inquired, and glanced between his employee and the warrior's long lost friend.

Harman continued to watch the events unfold. He was relieved that he wouldn't have to do battle, after all. He enjoyed fighting, but only when he thought he was going to win, and he counted nine armed bandits - not eight, like Dexter had thought - besides Jacob himself. The caravan was outnumbered.

"No," Jacob told Byron. "I wouldn't do that to a friend, or his friends."

Jacs smiled.

"It's been a long time," the blonde said to Jacob.

"Too long," Jacob replied and confirmed. "You're doing mercenary work again?"

Jacs nodded and gestured to the ginger who was standing beside him.

"Byron has been good to me, since I got separated from the gang," Jacs explained.

"Hm," Jacob made a humming noise, and then looked to Byron. "So, you're paying Jacs bills now."

"Aye," Byron said. "Though I'm glad I wasn't always, apparently it's saved me some headache today."

Harman watched Jacob, as he laughed. The man's ample brown locks, which draped down to his shoulders, bounced as he chuckled.

"I haven't seen my friend in a long time," he told the leader of the caravan. "Where are you all headed?"

Byron paused for a moment, before speaking.

Must not want to say, Harman thought. I wonder if he will, considering the situation. A bunch of armed men asking where he's going could be a good enough reason to lie.

"Zeltiva," Byron answered, with some hesitation. "We should probably be on our way."

Jacob nodded.

"Jacs, you should stay," Jacob offered his friend.

Byron's face contorted with shock.

He doesn't like that idea, Harman observed from among the other mercenaries. Being outnumbered by the bandits now, even if they're not our enemies apparently, just proves that he needs every man.

Jacs looked down to Byron, and then back to the bandit leader.

"I owe Byron at least this trip, and, well, I have a wife now Jacob. Back in Sunberth," Jacs explained and refused his friend's offer.

Jacob frowned.

"Byron," he looked back to the ginger. "Would you stay the night then? Syna sets in only an hour, or two. I would feed you and your men good meat. Be kind and let me catch up with my lost friend, I implore you?"

Jacs shrugged.

"It's up to you, sir," he said. "We'd have to set up camp soon, anyway, and it wouldn't be far from here."
Harman Dayis
Seeking
 
Posts: 52
Words: 53995
Joined roleplay: July 17th, 2016, 9:43 am
Location: Sunberth
Race: Human
Character sheet

[Sunberth] Slavers And Brigands

Postby Aladari Coolwater on September 23rd, 2016, 9:41 pm

Hey Harman. I already PM'd you about this, but I'm gonna need you to update your ledger with Summer expenses before I grade your threads. Let me know when you've done so and I'll finish up your grades.
Thanks.
"The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure."
- Cornelia Funke
User avatar
Aladari Coolwater
Rock the boat.
 
Posts: 477
Words: 267621
Joined roleplay: March 8th, 2016, 3:26 am
Location: Syliras
Race: Human, Vantha
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes
Medals: 3
Overlored (1) Donor (1)
Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1)


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests