Egil
Egil agrees with the plan and sends Reinhart to prepare the men for departure adding: "I will also have Leila stay back to see to the woodcutter. Dont want to see an innocent man hang for murders he didnt commit." though if he does that to prove what a kind soul he is or if he has other plans is anyones guess.
He will give Leila 150 gold for some bribes and the best attorney she can find. "Here, make sure he gets out of this mess in one piece. I want to talk to him once we are back."
Egil does not object having his men guard the rear and will join Taerad in the front, leaving Reinhart in the back with the Rouge Raiders.
Leila quickly discovers that Avauntar is a small town and attorneys are not exactly in demand. There is no one willing or able to serve as a lawyer for the accused.
However, the local officials are unnerved by both the mere presence of Godric and the storm that followed his arrival. They see it as some sort of sign that the gods are angry with them. Godric is unavailable but Leila is able to convince Cenric to speak to the authorities in his place.
The cleric speaks with the authority of the Wonderworker, and the respect accorded to him (+5) equals out the heinousness of the crime (-5). Cenric is not an attorney but is able to quote chapter and verse quite convincingly, having one rank in Theology, and this makes him the equivalent of a Rank 1 attorney (+1). The bribe is enough for a +1 bonus, though not enough for +2.
Cenric is able to convince the local court (the High Mayor, the Lieutenant-Colonel in charge of the Lancers, and Madono of Istreus) that there isn't enough evidence to convict. The woodcutter goes free!
When asked, Mikyun relates that he knows of two routes across the hills to the sea.
One is direct through the hills, around hexes 05.28 and 06.28 on Vinric's map, but it tends to get swarmed by orcs. The other, which loops around the hills to the north, then cuts though 08.27 to the river, is safer from an orc perspective but sees more ogre activity.
Mikyun does not know where the orc or ogre villages are. "We know where they tend to attack but I've never traveled with anyone who's tracked them back to their homes."
Alistar & Co
After a brief huddle with his cohorts. "I still believe that exterminating an orc clan would be the best start, and the Summer Knight says the men prefer to fight enemies their own size, so I vote we skip the ogre road for now."
Arnolt
"My men in the vanguard care not whether we fight orcs or ogres. The justice of Ammonar will be visited upon both eventually."
Vinric Lahes
The venturer consults his map and thinks, pursing his lips and pulling his mustaches. "I say we try and capture us some orcs, first," he opines, "but the trick will be to appear to be vulnerable enough that they will attack us: if we march forth in full strength there is no doubt in my mind that any orc warband with a modicum of intelligence will forgo attacking us for juicier targets. Therefore, I propose the following: let us take only a fraction of our mercenaries but as many of our people as possible, especially spellcasters. We should then disguise our mercenaries in some manner -- perhaps we can pose as a caravan of slavers (us) and our poor captives (the mercenaries) who can carry bows and blades under their rags. Thus, we will appear to relatively unarmed and laden with wealth, to better sucker any orcs who see us. How say you all to my cunning plan!"
Taerad Orc-bane
"There's nothing wrong with your stratagem on the face of it, good Vinric, but I like not the foundation of leaving our troops behind. We will find that an orc attack is many days from Avauntar, and I would not leave our strength so far behind. Best, I think, to bring our full force into the Badlands, make encampment, and then if we choose crafty devices to lure our prey to us, we can do so from a base of operations embedded in the wildlands. Should we run into trouble, our full force will be no more than a day away."
"It is known that orcs raid caravans passing through the hills here. Let us then make our encampment here, employ Vinric's stratagem through the pass, track the orcs to their lair, and dominate the region."
Encamp at 5.27. Foray onto the pass path between 5.28 and 6.28, and see what happens. We should probably bring supplies from here (or gathered on the way) to fortify a temporary encampment.
Sulldawga, what is the scale of the hexes on the map? Can we get a legend? I read 1.24, etc. as marshland and 5.28, etc. as hills, but don't know what 5.27 and the rest are.
Location: Avauntar
Date: Fourthmonth 9, 300 YE
Weather: 62 degrees, clear
The adventurers continue to discuss their plans for adventuring.
The map has no legend but Mikyun takes a look.
"The top left corner is a mix of grassland and hills. To the east and south of that is the shrubland where the nomads roam. Below that is the Badlands. And below that are hills where orcs and ogres reign."
Six mile hexes.
Alistar
"I agree! Subterfuge and obfustication will not serve our purposes. Let us, as we discussed, begin by cutting a swath through them."
Alistar packs up and heads out, riding along the path towards 6.28.
We just need to head along the main road until we find fresh-ish orc tracks or scents and then our wilderness experts can follow them to a settlement. Easy peasy. Heck, even if it's the wrong option, it's probably not wrong enough to be worth spending time optimizing.
Vinric Lahes
Vinric purses his lips. "Very well," he says, "it seems I am outvoted. I will therefore change my vote to the majority decision so that we may put the plan to action without further ado!"