Thia and Corti are looking to me again. Even Arc is showing a bit more leniency here. I think Brandt would still be with me on this, though—this isn’t our job. We’re supposed to be running interference on Arceneaux, not building goodwill. But we won’t be doing anything if this crew falls apart. ‘Being a good leader means more than just issuing orders.’

Tarian sighed. “We shouldn’t be taking side-jobs. Our time passing through here was supposed to be limited.” Tarian nodded to Arc. “But I think ‘by today’ would be fair. Mister Pete has filled us in on the gang’s numbers and composition, but we’ll need their location and a plan on how to deal with them. If we don’t have both of these, then we would just be putting ourselves in the same position that Carl and Jack are in. I’m not going to put people in danger just because I had some poorly thought-out decision to help others ever again.”

For a moment Tarian remembered her dream from earlier, and the reality behind it. Her face flickered from stern to morose and then to resolute.

“I’ll start working on plans now. Since I’m still learning your strengths, I’ll trust you to gather information or help me with these plans as you see fit.”

Kathy quickly steps up to Tarian, seeing her as the person in the group likely in charge. "If y'all are lookin' fer Belkar an' his fellas, they's likely to be hidin' out near the woods further down the road. There's an ol' mill down there. Folks ain't used it for a generation now, at least, but could be tha's where they're hidin' out. At any rate, it's where they said they wanted the ransom delivered to. Don't think they figured you lot would show up" and with a look at Brandt, whose rifle, though under a cloak, still made for an easily identifiable shape "with a dragoon no less. "

At that, a small boy squirmed his way around Kathy. "I knows the woods, I can take Yous all there!" Kathy immediately intervened :"Shush John, this ain't nothin' for kids to get tangled up with! Go back inside an' play nice wit' yer sister. Go on now!" Little John grudgingly obliged his mother, and stepped back inside. Kathy carried on: "Now, I know we can't repay you in any way, but there's also no way we can take 'em bandits on ourselves. Best we can offer is to give y'all some feed an' provisions fer yer trek. Where is y'all headed to anyways?"

"Oh, I'm not a dragoon. They just hired me to help guard the wagon. The gun was something that I made myself." Brandt says, clarifying Kathy's mistake in regards to his affiliations, or in this case, the lack thereof.

"Oh, well, in any case, I sure as hell donnnae think that they's got any guns, so you have'em beat there. An' if I think yer a dragoon, they mite do so too." Kathy replies to Brandt's correction.

Arc casually adds in, clearly bored with this discussion, "If guns are all we need, I have a few. I can also pull out a canon if they need some extra convincing." 

Thia would look to both of the boys, then to Kathy, back to the boys, then to Tarian and Corti. She’d rub her face for a second and look up to the sky before adjusting her bag on her shoulder. “So it’s decided then?”

Corti nods in response to Thia's glance, then looks to Tarian as well.

Tarian nodded. “If young John knows where it’s at, it can’t be too far. Plus the fact that they wanted this ransom delivered tonight—I think this is doable within the day. The only problem is—” Tarian folded her arms, “—we still have no plan. If this could be a trap for these village folk, I don’t want to stumble into it.”

"Well..." Thia would pat her nose for a moment, "If we expect a trap, how about we counter with one?" She'd pull up her hood to shadow her face to demonstrate as she thought out loud, "How about, you and Corti bait them out as damsels looking to pay their ransom, and the boys and I pick them off from cover?" She'll motion with finger guns before quickly tucking her hands into her pockets.

“Hmm.” Tarian pondered a moment, staring blankly at the dirt, retreating into her own mind. She tried to envision the layout at the mill, and where Thia, Arc, and Brandt might hide, but to no avail.

If it’s a man-powered millstone, the mill could be anywhere. Maybe there’d be some trees or underbrush to hide behind. If it’s powered by a water wheel, having them on the river side of the building wouldn’t be practical, but there might still be something to hide behind nearby. The problem comes if it’s a windmill: a windmill in a forest would probably be built on top of a hill, with an area of trees cleared out around it, so it’s less likely to have good cover. Then again, it has been abandoned for a generation. Maybe it’s overgrown. But if someone’s living there now, they might have cleared it out again. And if they’re bandits, maybe they’ve made it defensible. There’s too much I don’t know here.

Tarian frowned, frustrated, and shelved that thought.

Okay, so Corti and I are disguised as the two sent to pay the ransom. The ransom was livestock and feed. That might be a problem. If just the two of us show up, then clearly we don’t have a bunch of livestock and feed to pay a ransom. What about money, though? No, if they wanted money they probably would have asked for that to begin with. Either that or left this trail to practice their banditry somewhere more profitable. There’s something else going on here.

Tarian sighed. She wasn’t getting anywhere. Her thoughts returned, and she looked to Thia. “A counter-trap is a good idea, but we’d be making a bet before we knew what the game was. It’s possible the mill might not have cover. Further, with the size of Belkar's gang, he might send one or two out to scout. If they see five approach but only two arrive, they'd expect something. But I do think it’s the right idea to keep Corti and me up front. However,” Tarian shook her head, “they’ll know something’s up if we arrive without what they asked for.” She raised a hand. “But before anyone suggests it, I don’t think offering coin will do, even as a bluff. If they wanted that then that would’ve been the ransom.”

Tarian looked to the group. “So, if we can solve the cover and ransom problems, I think we’ll have a plan.”

Brandt steps up to offer some additional strategic advice. "If we get a handcart and a tarp, Arc, Thia, and I can ride in it and you can toss the tarp over us to make it look like the two of you are bringing the supplies that the bandits are demanding. Then they wouldn't get suspicious when five people approach but only two show up for negotiations. And if things get heavy, the cart could be flipped over and the three of us could use it for cover."

Corti grinned as Thia described her plan, A performance then! I can certainly do that. She adopted a more serious expression as Tarian and Brandt continued, and then pitched in when Brandt finished speaking. "Well, as for livestock, I certainly could make it sound like we have a herd with us, but the image itself could be tricky."

Kathy joins in: "If it helps ya to sell the ruse, we can give y'all some head o' cattle to go along- we need'em back is all."

Corti nods to Kathy, "Works for me. I think we can keep track of some cattle, right all?" As she finishes she turns back to the group.

Tarian took a long moment to think about what would happen if they brought the cattle along.

I know how to manage a few heads of cattle, but that’d leave only Corti to pull the handcart. She could probably do it alone, but it might slow us down. Of course, managing the cattle would be slow work, too, so it’s not like she wouldn’t be able to keep pace.

But what happens when we get there? Kathy already said they couldn’t get the full ransom ready, so I don’t think we’d have enough cattle. I don’t know whether or not Belkar and his men would notice that there aren’t enough, but it seems like a risky proposition. Of course, Corti could just tell them that the rest are on their way, and hopefully they’d believe it. But what if they don’t? Things might come to blows. If they do, I wouldn’t be able to both manage the cattle and help in combat. Further, the cattle might flee if a fight broke out.

Well, what if someone else comes along to manage the cattle? John might work; he said he knows the area and he might be able to manage the cattle instead of me. He’s a bit young, though. He’d probably just end up another body to protect, or maybe another hostage. How about someone older, and more… durable? No, they said Pete, Carl, and Jack were the best they had, and we saw how that turned out. I like the cattle idea, but—

When Corti spoke up to Kathy, Tarian nodded, then shook her head. I think I had it right. Corti could be the answer to this.

“No, Miss Corti, I don’t think we can. Getting them there won’t be an issue, but the moment a gun is fired or they smell blood in the air, the cattle would run. They’re not trained warhorses. And a shepherd from the village trying to prevent that might end up in the same state as Carl or Jack.” Tarian stepped closer to Corti. “You’re going to have to convince them that the cattle are still coming. You’re more convincing than I am, so I leave it to you.”

That said, Tarian turned to Brandt. “I’ll leave direction of the firing squad to you, Mister Brandt. I don’t think I could call the shots near as well as a trained marksman.”

Tarian nodded to the two artificers, “Mister Cannith, Miss Thia, if you could use your engineering know-how to rig a cart to look like it’s full of feed, that would help with the ruse. A couple of strong arms is all I have, but I’ll help where I can.”

This plan seems risky, maybe foolish. But with this crew, it might also be possible. I hope that’s not just optimism sinking in. It’s hard to stay objective when you’re thinking of the best outcome.

"Oh, thank ye! We'll help however we can, juss' tell us what to do." Kathy chimed in, sensing the excitement of a plan coming together. Little John gave his mum a long look, before she gave him a curt nod and a kind smile: "John wants ta help. He'll lead ya to the edge o' the forest, so yer goin' ta find the way to the mill more easily." The other women and children, as well as some of the old had been following the exchange closely, and slowly came out of their homes, until a small congregation of about twenty villagers of all ages had gathered, all eager to help in any way possible. Martha, a rotund maid, quickly produced a handcart large enough, and Alex and Martin, Carl's boys quickly produced some woodworking tools from their father's workshop.

Thia felt relieved when Brandt would pipe up to offer his insight building on her initial idea. It sounded like they were on their way to building a decent plan.

The artificer would give Arc a little nudge, “Do you think we’d be able to rig up a visual projection of cattle that’d be believable enough? We could build it into the facade of the cart wares?” He’d been pretty quiet up until this point. Her expertise was more biology related than engineering related, but she should be able to at least be of some assistance to him. Unless she’d just get in his way. Some people do prefer to work alone.

Taking a few hours until early afternoon, you each engage in your various preparations, with Thia and Arc focusing on the cart, Thia and Brandt discussing the battle tactics for when things would get heavy, and Corti making sure to memorize the route to the windmill. Around three in the afternoon, your preparations are finished, and, by Njalgas' reckoning, you have three to four hours of sunlight left, at least one and a half of which would be needed to get to the windmill, potentially up to an hour longer for those wishing to get into positions stealthily.

Is there anything more you wish to do before heading out?

Before heading out, Corti pulls Tarian aside and, using her disguise kit, gets them both dressed in clothes that make a little more sense for inhabitants of a small town.

The disguise was a good idea and Tarian knew it, but the idea of marching in without her armor made Tarian feel naked. “I shouldn’t be out there unprotected. Do you think this might work to disguise my armor?” Tarian pulled a dark blue woolen bundle up from the bottom of her bag. She unfurled it, revealing the gold trim on the aged garment. “It wasn’t mine originally, so I wouldn’t look like me, but it’s the only thing I have beyond my everyday blouse and breeches, and I wouldn’t trust my life to just a single layer of linen.” Tarian poked at a stitched hole in her gambeson, several layers of linen thick, and remembered the scar below the stitching. “I just don’t know if it’s the right look for what we need. What do you think?” She raised the garment high.