Xolkin shakes his head and laughs. "There's not a faction in the North that will stand for you and your...friends...so brazenly and foolishly laying claim to this village."

He pauses for a moment and says something to the six riders near him who begin, slowly, to ride south. Xolkin then says, "And your winged serpent merely assures your doom, you fool. Today we seven stand at this gate. Tomorrow there will seven times that number. Nightstone shall be your gravestone; so drink up tonight while you can!"

He then turns his horse abruptly and gallops past the other riders as they all head to the south. 

"Well," I say to my comrades in the south tower, "I think that went well."

"Well done friend" Carrow calls to Rixton "we may yet have to defend this town after all, we should work with the guards to make further preparations, i have a few in mind lets wait for the guards before we prepare further"  The ranger looks about the town, torch fires could make the attackers think we are more numerous, a few fallback positions would be needed, his eye lands on the keep, sturdy, defend-able and perhaps full of useful weapons. . "We will need access to the keep and its stores if we are to defend these homes"

Andor

"I will stay and keep a watch, they may have ridden out for now but may just wait for us to go back down and try to gain entrance another way.  I have no wish to hand this place over to the Zhentarim, but also I will keep an eye out for any of the villagers, maybe they haven't all gone north."

Torem and Sydiri return to the village square. With them are two additional guards: Jorrick and Simeon.

After being informed of what just occurred at the gate with the seven riders, Simeon grumbles aloud. "So, we've effectively trapped ourselves within the village walls. Brilliant."

Torem barks, "Shut your mouth, Sim! For some reason you think the best approach to every problem is to complain." 

"No doubt Xolkin is wondering about the fate of the Zhentarim woman that was here in Nightstone," comments Sydiri. "He didn't dare to ask about her and, therefore, reveal something about who he is. So, now what?"

Rixton:

I climb down the ladder and cross the village to the square. After introductions, I say, "We don't have the luxury of time, now. You can leave now and the Zhentarim will be no threat to you. You could join the townspeople, if they indeed fled to shelter nearby. Or seek your relatives in another village. I fear the Zhentarim want possession of the town, even with no villagers.  Why was the Zhentarim woman here? And when did she arrive?" I think for a minute, then say, "One more question. Are there any letters or documents the Lady may have received that could offer us some clues? I mean no disrespect to the deceased, but if she has answers among her effects, we could use those answers right now."

Ladrian

"You absolute madman" Ladrian chucles while clapping on Rixton's shoulder "That will either work amazingly or catastrophically. But I'll be damn if I don't want to see how that turns out" Ladrian continues to the group. "How many are we after all? It seems unlikely we have enough to defend the perimeter, but at the same time they don't know how many of us are left" Ladrian then turns to Torem: "Alright, you heard my mate, right now you have a choice to make: either make a stand here or leave before they come back. Remember that we don't know who they are and what intentions they have. Hells, they might even be related to the original attack somehow. Make up your mind and give your other soldiers the same choice: stay and be rewarded or leave before the fight. We would love your help!"

Persuasion check if required to try to further enlist Torem and whatever manpower he has: 21

Ladrian then continues walking to Carrow, Vigan, Ricton and Andor, and speaks just to them: "Rixton here has some balls and we need to decide if we want to back up his play or not. The rewards are... interesting if we're able to actually keep this village as our center of operations." He continues "Regardless, if we stay we need to make arrangements:

1. Determine the manpower he have. Torem will be able to help us with that, then we need to assign tasks fast
2. If some of the men want to leave, at least task them with getting help from the nearby towns, saying the Zhentarim and the goblins are attacking this place, but have found some resistance.
3. Decide if the numbers we have are enough to defend the full perimeter (highly doubt it). Or if we want to defend just the keep since there's only one way in and we can remove it/block it.
4. If we stay in the keep, we need to prepare for a siege: that includes scavenge everything from the village that is remotely useful and haul it back to the keep: I'm talking about food, water, weapons, ammunitions. Basically everything we need or that they can use against us we need to have on our side.
5. Then we need to close our village perimeter and barricade all points of entry. Decide if we want to harass them when they are approaching the walls (with arrows, burning oil, any other thing), or if it's too risky and we just want to stay in the keep. If they lose their siege equipment to fire, they might give up
6. Obviously we also need to barricade the keep itself, the better we can!
7. We should also bring the body of the dead Zhentarim we found, might be useful if they have an interest with it.
8. If we can find a way to have a legitimate claim to this village would also be great... maybe something related to the deceased Lady?
9. Next, we should consider the fact that we're going to get breached and will need to make a final stand in the keep. As such we should leave some surprises in the village... maybe we spread something inflammable in the roofs of the houses, and when they are attacking us in the Keep, we  can start a huge fire? We should be protected by the water around the Keep and with some luck they all get crispy... And then this place can rightly be called Shadowhole!
   
   
10. Last but not least, even with all that preparation we won't be able to last for long, we need to find a way to exit. I'm thinking about that grappling hook... If we have a crossbow or something, if we feel we're overwhelmed we can try to use the grapplehook with rope for a promptly exit (like throwing it to X47) and just leave. If we have something to smokescreen that area it will be great, perhaps even leaving those 5 horses nearby that area, just in case?
    
    Ladrian is counting with his fingers while he talks: "I think I'm missing something, but what do you think?"

Rixton:

"There are 1 hunting traps in the trading post. It isn't much, but we'll need every advantage. I also wonder if we can get word to the villagers and see if any of them care to return and defend their homes."

Carrow

"i'm in, that group has no more claim to this village than anyone else, how dare he ride to the aid of a town and threaten hostilities towards the men who have already cleared it" Carrow looks to the palisade and the broken buildings. "I have an idea, as you said we should shore up our defenses but we could deter them before the attack begins, many lit torches at night and a constant visible presence on the walls of the keep could make them believe our numbers are far greater than they actually are. We could easily trap the main town and fall back to the keep as the attack begins, that fort will be designed with many fall back points, we fight and retreat all the way to the keep and then its roof" the rangers face grimaces "If i were him id have my men hidden and watching whilst they send one rider for help, if the guards were to leave they would only be captured and forced to give away our numbers and weaknesses, they may come tonight under cover of darkness and try to slip the walls we must be ready before the day ends"

Rixton:

"If they are hiding out nearby, we should draw them out now. That would be 6 less to deal with later. It also gives the villagers and guards a chance to move freely to and from Nightstone for a short time."

Andor 

"This village is empty, who owns it matters less than what happened to the people who lived here, we know some died but if the others were captured by those goblins then they may need rescuing. Can we really plan to fight dozens of men or chase seven of whose abilities we have little idea of through the surrounding countryside if it means the villagers perish. I think we should, carefully, head out and try and track them. There must have been a lot of them who ran, surely they left a sign. The guards said the giants only took the stone. Besides I doubt they have fifty men to take the village, if they did they could have taken it already, and they wouldn't have had to ask nicely."

Rixton:

"I agree that the missing villagers are a concern," I say. To the guards I ask, "I know I am asking a lot of questions, but how far are these caves they may have fled to?"

Jorrick responds, "Roughly one mile north, I would say. The hills are full of caves. Lots o' places for folks to hide."

"Lots o' places for goblins to hide as well," says Simeon. 

Torem, in response to Andor, comments, "Dozens of people runnin' for cover...there must be some clue about 'em. I agree, Andor."

Rixton:

"If we are going to go after them, now is our chance. Should we leave behind a couple of you guards to pull the drawbridge back up?"

Vigan

Leaning against the wall adjacent to the drawbridge, Vigan silently watches Rixton, Ladrian and Carrow excitedly make battle plans for their mighty host of nine warriors, shaking his head in bemusement and anger. Andor's voice cuts through the babble, and Vigan breathes a long sigh of relief. A sane voice amongst madmen..., he thought to himself. He pushes himself off the wall and joins the others.

"Andor has the right of it, we complete the task we accepted, which means heading north." Fixing the three archers with a steely gaze, he continues, his voice steadily rising. "You wish to claim this place for your own? Rename it? Rule over it like lords? Whoever this Xolkin is, whatever his allegiance, he speaks true when he says no faction would stand for it. As a servant of the Lord's Alliance, I will not stand for it." 

"I have sworn to ensure the security and safety of the people. I know not how many villagers remain alive, but our duty is to them and their homes, and you would bring these people and their homes further, unnecessary, conflict, all for your personal gain?"

Vigan turns and stomps towards the inn to collect his backpack, slamming the door as he enters.

Rixton:

"Has that guy been taking all of my jokes seriously this whole time?" I say, casting my thumb backward in the direction of the inn. "Anyway, while the guards decide what they are going to do, I'm going to saddle up a horse."

I head into the stable and prepare a horse to ride out.

The four guards gather together for a short while, holding a discussion among themselves out of earshot from the rest of the party. Torem and Simeon do most of the talking, and it is apparent the two men are having difficulty coming to an agreement. Eventually, Simeon walks away from the group, sullen.

Walking over and addressing Rixton, Carrow, and Ladrian, Torem says, "Gentlemen, the other guards and I believe we should remain in Nightstone. We will raise the bridge after your departure and face whatever may come until you...and the citizens of this place...safely return. Take provisions as needed from the trading post, please."

Carrow 

"You are right" the ranger says to Andor "i was blind to what truly matters here the people should be our first concern, homes can be replaced but lives cannot"

Carrow follows Vigan into the Inn "My friend I do not want or need any personal possession or property I belong to the wild nothing here is for personal gain here and I will stand against any who do, i do not like the idea of this man forcing his ownership of others homes, I agree with you this situation is dire, however my eyes were blinded by the promise of combat" Carrow holds his hand out for the goliath to shake. "the people must come first"

On phone 

Andor

On Carrow's heels Andor enters the Inn too, "We are agreed then, we must strike out as soon as possible, every minute we waste puts the villagers at unnecessary risk."  Looking around at the Inn he adds "I'd take anything related to healing that we haven't already picked up, even if we find the owners they may well need the resources themselves." Spying an unbroken bottle he picks it up "Nothing says we can't be well prepared though.."

(ooc: There is a healing potion on the table still. A couple people haven't taken their share of the loot yet.)