Bandit's in the Forest

Nox passes unnoticed through the hideout, descending down a rude flight of wooden stairs to the basement.

The spoils of crude banditry are here. Discarded satchels and saddles from travelers, barrels of food and wine taken from caravans, even a few pieces of art that obviously couldn't be hocked for cash. She rifles through these ill-gotten gains, until something catches her eye -- a deep blue satchel with an elaborately embroidered guild crest.

It's quickly snatched up, and the contents are as described, a bundle of contracts these bandits obviously don't understand the value of, and a sealed scroll case of dull black metal.

She secures it under her cloak and turns to leave when she hears someone behind her. One of the men stands in the doorway, tapping a club into an open hand. "Well, well. What have we here?"

Crap.

She turns to face him, and her tail whips around, cracking like a whip. Before the man can even parse what's happening, she plunges the spiked tip of it into his thigh, the movement like the blur of a striking snake. When she yanks it free it leaves a silvery needle embedded in his flesh. The man howls in pain and collapses to one knee, but the sleeping toxin works quickly and he's unconscious in seconds.

Unfortunately, the alarm has been raised, and shouts echo through the hideout. A spell from Nox plunges the hall about the stairs into darkness and she flees into it as the bandits stumble about. An arrow catches her in the shoulder as she crosses the courtyard, but she doesn't stop. With a great bound, she leaps to the top of the wall and off into the darkness of the woods, heading back in the direction of the city.

Once out of sight, Nox runs, fleeing into the dying light like a shadow before the dawn. It's amazing how fast she can move without giving away her position. She makes good time through the forest, vaulting over streams and navigating obstacles with grace and ease.

Marks left by others occasionally catch her attention, a broken branch here, a muddy footprint there. The fall of night does not hamper her inhuman vision, and she presses on. A few hours later she finds herself outside an ancient stone structure. It creaks and groans under the weight of age, perhaps some fort from a war lost to time?

A few sentries assigned as an afterthought patrol on of the walls that still stands. A lapse in their attention lets her slip inside, moving from shadow to shadow, looking for her prize.

Branlin watched Nox, walk into, then disappear into the forest before turning around and heading back onto the road. He still had a few hours of daylight. He started walking towards Sundarr city.

To Sundarr City

Nox raises an eyebrow, and pulls the mask back over her face. In the dying daylight, her dark cloak seems especially shadowy and voluminous.

"Well, good luck to you, Branlin." She nods curtly and heads in quite the opposite direction.

Branlin followed Nox as she went to the dead men, and put something into their mouths before saying, "Well these men weren't really my business to begin with, I was just on my up to Sundarr City. Like I said, I saw them attacking someone and I intervened. I'll be happy to never see another one of these thugs again. Now, I'm going to get going, I'm not far from the city and I wish to make it before nightfall."

With that he turned around and started back towards the road.

The young woman lets one hand fall to her side, and rests the other on her hip.

"I'm Nox," she says, approaching slowly and looking him over. "I have business with these men too -- well, the guilds do, but they're paying me to make it my business."

She kneels beside the first dead man, turns him over, and without remark or ceremony forces his mouth open and puts a coin on his tongue. She repeats the process for the second. The she stands again and turns to face him.

Maybe we can help each other," she says, "before they decide to come back in force?"

Branlin lowered his guard; some, before saying, "They weren't really my enemies until they decided to attack and rob an old man. But the names Branlin, who are you?"

Nox steps out of the woods, she cuts a slim figure, a few inches shorter then he is. Her clothes are simple and unassuming, all black, though the quality of the material is fine, and it is clearly tailored. She wears a pair of short swords at her hips on a belt of tooled black leather, and deliberately raises her hands away from them.

Slowly, she reaches up and pulls the mask down with a free hand. Her features are youthful, her face framed by the curls of soft black hair, but also sharp and inhuman. There is a grey cast to her skin.

"Easy there," she says, "it looks like we have similar enemies, friend."

Branlin was wiping his sword down when he heard movement from behind him. He quickly dropped his now bloody rag, and lifted his sword to the new threat. All he could see was that the person was a hooded figure, and he felt a little uneasy as they approached. "Who are you and what do you want with me? As you can see I've already bloodied my blade and I'm not afraid to do it again!"

Concealed some distance off in the woods, Nox narrows her eyes quietly as the scene plays out. She crouches in the crook of a tree's branches, perhaps thirty feet up, her face obscured by a mask of black silk.

She'd been contracted by a guild-master, some days before. The man believed that these bandits ambushed a guild caravan and stole their payroll. It was a simple thing to track them here and tail them, waiting for them to show some sign of the stolen gold.

Now this... adventurer is killing them all. Wonderful, they'll be on the run now, and even more paranoid.

...maybe it's not all bad, any confrontation with these ruffians would benefit from the help of a strong arm. She loosens her grip on the branch and swings downward, introductions are in order.

Branlin readied his sword as the three men attacked. When the first one swung Branlin was ready. He quickly side stepped out of the way of the blade and thrust his blade into the chest of the first bandit, killing him instantly.

The next bandit took a swing and Branlin ducked underneath the blade and leg sweeped taking the bandit to the ground. Branlin quickly stood up to deflect a blow from the leader. As Branlin went to strike he was punched in the side of the jaw. He shook his head side to side then went back into the fray. He took a swing cutting the chest of the leader but was sliced in the arm between two pieces of plate by the second bandit.

Branlin had had enough he jumped forward lunging with his blade sending it directly into the second bandit's chest, then pulled his blade out and made an arc narrowly missing the leader. The leader looked at his two dead men and started running. He looked back and shouted, "You'll pay for this, you bastard!"

As Branlin was walking through the Donamy Forest he heard some sounds coming from off the road. He shrugged and thought to himself: "Might as well investigate, not like I'm doing anything important..." So he headed off the road towards the sounds.

As he got closer to the sounds he heard the noise getting louder and more distinct. It sounded like battle! He unsheathed his bastard sword and ran forward. When he got close to the sounds he realized it was a group of bandits attacking a hopelessly outmatched man. Three bandits had surrounded the man and were taking turns swinging at him. He was blocking the blows but Branlin could tell the bandits weren't really trying. He stepped out from behind the tree he was behind and shouted, "Hey, how about you mess with someone who can actually defend themselves!"

One of the bandits stopped mid-swing and turned to face Branlin. The bandit was a tall man with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was also wearing black leather armor and held a badly worn longsword.

The other two bandits were wearing similar armor and similar swords. The one who stopped mid-swing said to his buddies, "Look's like we got us a hero boys, let's see what kind of treasure he's got on em!" With that the three of them charged forward.