Alton shakes his head at the situation feeling a bit disappointed and hands a silver over to the halfling, "That's the second time I've had something stolen. Thanks for the information." He then turns to his new companions giving them a smile, "Well, I guess they needed it more than we do. On the bright side we can get a new horse and cart. Oh, maybe even two horses and a covered wagon; those always looked fun to ride in. Though we might have to get that in Zadash or another big city, but we could get lucky at the bandit camp. Besides, if I really want to know what's going on I can just talk to them." He does take a moment to dig through his backpack, making sure everything is there. 

Balassar, Kef shrugs. "They've started training me in all sorts, but I guess I've used leather most." His eyes go wide when you say 400 gold - that's obviously a fortune for this kid.

The smith looks up from her work, scowls, and gets back to it. Her partner's eyes also go wide. "We don't have anything expensive like chain. I have an old set of scale I could fix up in an hour or so, or we have studded leather."

(Kef is a fighter; he's technically proficient in all martial weapons, armour and shields, though he's less confident with medium and heavy armours. He favours dexterity rather than strength. He's happy to let you select his kit.)

Alton, nothing has been stolen from your backpack.

Balassar just nods "If you're comfortable in light then that's what you wear. If it's up to me, you seem comfortable with that shortsword. So we'll grab some daggers to function as secondary weapons and a second shortsword just in case it breaks. I'll let you decide if you use the shield or not, but I just want to make sure you have everything you'll need kid."

He just looks at the blacksmiths and nods as he notices the look "We'll take that studded leather then, two daggers, a shield, and can you throw in a freshly made short sword. Does 65 sound good for all of that?" he says reaching into his pouch and pulling out the gold amount he mentioned.

Alton lets out a sigh of relief as he finds all his belongings are still there. He closes up his backpack and swings it back on, "Alright, lets go meet up with Balassr and the kid. Unless, you two have stops you'd like to make first."

“No stops for me. Thought I was looking forward ta not havin’ ta walk.” Darren says as he waits for Alton to continue leading the way. 

You all meet up - Alton, Balassar, Darren and Swin, outside the blacksmith's shop. Kef is with you, wearing his new armour and carrying his weapons.

Are you ready to head out?

Balassar just waves at his companions as he pats Kef on the should “Looks more like a town hero now doesn’t he.” He just squeezes Kef’s shoulder as he looks at his companions “Are we all ready to go?”

Swin, a bit skeptical of the young one that wants to join the foray, nods. She asks for someone to let her know when they near the place. She snaps and a small ruffled screech owl appears in her shoulder. It darts ahead of the party to scout, maybe 100-200 feet depending on terrain.

Alton nods, "That he does. Now lets get this show on the road." 

Alton and Balassar have vague directions, and Swin has an owl familiar scouting ahead. You leave the town and head in the right direction, and after almost a full day's travel, Alton and Balassar would recognise the landmark, a rock formation that looks - vaguely - like a hawk, if approached directly from the town.

You don't yet see the bandit's base directly, but Swin's owl can swoop overhead and get a view of a large, single-storied building in the centre of a wooden palisade; give me a Perception check for the owl to spot any additional details.

Let me know if you're making any preparations, and how you want to approach this place.

Darren would recommend taking advantage of any terrain features to mask their approach and only get close enough to have a visual of the building. (I assume it’s close to sunset at this point) So they can keep an eye on who comes and goes and the owl familiar has a good chance during the night to get a fairly accurate head count. 

It's late afternoon; you have an hour before sunset. You are currently crouched behind some bushes, and don't think you will get a clear view of the building from this side of the palisade. You can't be sure unless you get a bit closer, but any movement towards the compound will now require a stealth check, unless you're approaching openly.

Balassar just looks at his companions and keeps his voice low “I’m not really sneaky. If you all want to scout, Kef and I will stay back until needed.”

He just looks at Kef, keeping his voice low as he talks “Battle plan is gonna be real simple when we start fighting, you stay behind me, and help deal with whoever gets by me. If you find yourself in front of me somehow, try to get back near me. If you end up needing help shout. Finally, remember your fundamentals, they’ll save your life.” With that he takes out a health potion and hands it to Kef “Only use this when you absolutely need to.”

Swin has the owl, Brodi, do a loop of the building inside the palisade. She offers to have Brodi perch just inside so that he can see everything and get a headcount and guard protocol read for the next hour or more, with Swin looking through the owl’s eyes, while also looking for people who seem to be in charge that she could disguise herself as.

Perception: 16

She thinks an attack or infiltration will be better at night.

Balassar, Kef nods, takes the healing potion, and readies his two daggers to throw from range.

Swin, what Brodi sees is a large building within only one visible door. Surrounding it is a large green yard area, with a stable - Brodi cannot see any horses, a small pond, and a path leading from the door to the main gate, in the western wall of the palisade. If there are other gate, Brodi does not seem them.

Dotted around the palisade are tall round platforms for defenders to stand upon. Two of these - the two either side of the gate - are occupied by men wearing leather armour. There is a third man, walking around the yard in what might generously be called a patrol. None appear to bear any symbol of rank that Brodi would understand.

Brodi sets up position to watch. Are you all going to wait an hour until the sun set? Anyone doing anything else?

As the scouting is going on, Alton pulls out two healing potions from a pouch on his belt and hands one to Darren and the other to Swin. "Hopefully we won't have to use these, but just in case we should all have one. So, does the owl come back and tells what it sees or maybe draw a little dirt map with its beak?" 

Her eyes gone milky white, Swin gives as detailed a narrative of what she sees for the assembled group in a low monotone. She is fine with popping in and out of Brodi's head while he observes from his perch to get a feel for their assets and risks. And any obvious place aa prisoner would be held.

"Do we want to rush in, or find the right moment? The goal here's to just mess them up, right? And get our friend, if he's here. Or are you talking mass graves?" she says, looking at the others. "Also, I can mold earth to create some holes, if someone had a way to cover or hide them, if we had a way to set a trap. And I could make a tiny hut for a safe place to hide in if things go bad, but I can't leave it. Ideas?"

She does cast mage armor on herself.

Swin thanks Alton for the potion, and will draw a map in the dirt of what she sees from Brodi.

(Sorry, posts got crossed)

Balassar just comes over and looks at the map "That tiny hut idea might be good if things are getting bad. Maybe we could cause a bit of panic and cause some fires drawing out people, then begin to pick them off from a distance. Once they catch on we charge in?" he just looks at Swin "Our goal is to get your friend and at least get the head of the snake. These brigands need to be stopped though and that might require a mass grave."