Bandit Camp

The Quest

The PC's (consisting on this occasion of The Wizard 'Gandalf' and The Knight (who is also a werewolf) 'King Wolf') have been sent by the local King to the bandit Camp some distance outside town, to clean it up. They will be paid 5 Gold Coins for the head of every bandit, unless the bandit already has a Wanted Poster for a larger sum.

They arrive at night (which suits perfectly that the foamboard models I have been studiously working on for a week have so far only been base-coated black and not yet painted up with greys and highlights. Neither have I painted up most of the NPC miniatures yet, apart frmo some white basecoats. As a result we have white miniatures on black scenery which is somehow nicely themic given the context.)

Drama

It is night and there are many bandits in the camp, lurking in the shadows as they do. For this reason, whatever the characters do will be commented on and joked about, enthusiastically cheered or jeered, by a small crowd of voices from inevitable onlookers. Emphasis is given to plot elements through this device, by the recognition that most of the people around here are of various attitudes about various issues, some of which can be introduced through the device of hidden crowds discussing openly about those issues to bring them to the PCs attention. It is fun and it works well in this environment. 

Descriptions of 'voices looming from the shadows' also makes the PCs (and player) feel they are having more of an impact on the game world, despite being surrounded by bandits who could probably kill them off easily. As a result it becomes a quick-witted scenario about power-plays, which is what you want to be happening in a bandit camp. It breaks it away from the 'go in, kill everything, collect the booty' model of roll-playing.

The Side-Quests / NPC missions

Bandit Girl

StrongMan

Dad&Son

Goblin Bounty Hunter

Dryad tree

Bandit Queen

The Challenge

The Knight boldly walks into the bandit camp, draws his sword and approaches two women who are practicing sword-fighting and footwork. The older of the two women see's him approach, stops what she is doing and engages him into conversation. What she says is so stunning it stops the Knight dead in his tracks from his intention of attacking the nearest bandit and cutting off its head for the measly sum of 5gp's.

"Here comes one now, look at him in that tin-suit! He looks like a lobster! I bet you're all suishy and soft inside of there though, ain't ya', buddy. Hey, you want to spar with us? Teach you a think or two we will. Tell you what, you fight me and if you win, you get her as your girlfriend but if you lose, you get me as your girlfriend. What say you?"

Laughter from the shadows around.

The Knight, surprised by the bandits banter, laughs and nods and agree's to fight.

"This is a spar, mind you. No actual injuries. You wouldn't last a full minute by killing any of us, with so many unseen enemies all around. Brave you must be to walk in here brandishing a sword like that!"  

The female bandit has seized the authority of the scene by dominating the narrative. By which it is quickly established through mental-emotional manipulation of the player using combination derision (lobster, squishy), use of a mate-phrase (buddy), respectful empowerment (brave), warning (shadows have arrows), comedy and a challenge; that this level is not simply going to be an all out bloodshed.  It reveals also this female bandit is socially intelligent, confident and has charisma.

The two women are called Winona and Louise which is GamesMaster short-hand for 'win and lose', names to be assigned depending on which of the NPCs wins or loses the Challenge. Wizard is happy because potentially he's going to get a girlfriend out of this (whether he likes it or not).

The battle lasts three rounds, in which the Knight wins one, loses one, wins one. Louise, the bawdy bandit with whom he has been sparring, disappears into the shadows after pointing to the younger bandit girl and reminding him she is now his girlfriend. She smiles and sidles up to him and tells him she is pleased he won. 

Her name is Winona. She came to the bandit camp after traveling from the plains where her people are a tribe of nomadic barbarians. She survives how she has to, is not used to urban ways yet but knows how to live wild.

With that, the Wizard and StrongMan approach them.

The Twist

The Wizard boldly walks toward a different rogue, this one a huge man with a bare chest. He is jovial and sincerely does not believe the Wizard is going to kill him. Thus he behaves entirely confidently, even when an armoured knight rushes at him from the darkness.

"You're not going to kill me!" is the first thing the StrongMan says. "You're too feeble to hold a sword right and I don't even believe in magic!" He laughs. He adds; "Besides, you'd be a fool to."

Re-affirmation to the other player/character this is not a level about rushing in and killing everything to collect a bounty. It is the Bandit Camp and bandits have a culture, ways and wiles, to be explored here. 

"I'm going to try." Says the Wizard. StrongMan laughs heartily.

Wizard slashes StrongMan diagonally across his chest with his sword. "Bastard!" He laughs as if the pain is nothing.

Wizard slashes StrongMan diagonally across his chest the other way. Strongman laughs. "That looks amazing!" He says as he observes he now has a unique scar on his body. "Hey look everyone, X marks the spot!" He laughs loud and turns around for everyone to see, while laughter from the shadows and comments such as; "x marks the spot hey that's a good one" and "Hey looks like StrongMan has met his match."

StrongMan puts his back to the Wizard and then preceded by a quiet 'ffft!' sound, StrognMan topples backwards and almost crashes into the Wizard. "Oh, bugger." He says and collapses at the Wizards feet. There is a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, the bolt has hit the bullseye of his 'X marks the spot' wound. He has been shot from the shadows! 

"Sniper!" Exclaims the Wizard.

StrongMan reaches up toward the Wizard. "My... friend..." He clutches the air, trying to grab him. "I had no argument with you, and now .... (he coughs up some blood) ... now it is the end for me. I need to tell you ... need to ask you ... important ... most impor... (he coughs up some more blood)."

"I didn't want that to happen!" Says the Wizard who is feeling awful about Strongman being assassinated and his own involvement in it. Wizard player checks his character sheet. "I have a healing spell! I cast healing on the StrongMan!" 

"He is dying, he's been injured pretty bad." says the GM. "How much Power does your Wizard have?"

"2 points." 

"Not really enough." 

Tense moment. 

"Three with the Power in his +1 Staff."

"That might do it. Roll Three or less on 1 dice." 

"I rolled a 1!" Elation from the Player.

"Good enough. The crossbow bolt plops out of StrongMans chest and the wound scars over. He stirs slightly and says;"

"That bloody Goblin bounty hunter, it has been after me for awhile because the 500 gold coin reward on my head. I'm going to kill it!" StrongMan stands up. "I'm going to chop its bloody head off I swear it!" Then he looks down at the scar on his chest and he looks up at the Wizard. "I told you already, I have no argument with you. And now you have saved my life, and convinced me to believe in the power of magic..." He places a large hand on the Wizards shoulder and looks into his eyes. "I owe you a life debt, my friend. I will travel with you until such time as I might someday have to save your life in exchange, after which I will be freed. For such is an ancient code of honor."  

Bonus. 

"Why do you have a 500 gold cin reward on your head?" Asks the Wizard, quite sensibly wanting to know what he is getting himself involved with here. 

StrongMan explains. "I was in the tavern, quietly minding my own business, having a drink and a friendly chat with some of the locals, and some crazy young adventurer came in all hostile and waving an axe in my face trying to prove himself, and he attacked me. I swung my fist to defend myself and without meaning to do it, I punched him so hard he dropped dead. So the stupid King put a price on my head and I had to escape the town and come up here to the bandit camp to live because I don't have anywhere else to go. Pretty much most people up here have similar stories, through no fault of their own they have ended up being outcasts from society, turning to stealing because there is no other way they can make a living." 

This important awareness sinks in. They might be bandits with prices on their heads, but they are also people, and they all have unique stories to tell which if true, or even vaguely true, or nearly but not quite totally true, do a lot to justify that they did not turn to a life of banditry for no reason. They are not all by default bad guys simply because the King and his minions say so. "I mean, we're not goblins, right?' StrongMan adds loudly, promoting hatred toward Goblins.

A lot of cheering and agreement, affirming comments from the shadows in response to StrongMan's profound speech.

"I'm not like that." Says one nasty villain who walks past the characters. "I really like killing people, slowly and painfully." emphasizing every word for added drama.

Another nasty walks past, saying "I love stealing, taking things from people. Steal milk from a baby I would." 

The StrongMan rolls his eyes. "Okay so not everyone in the bandit camp is like that. Some of them..."

"A lot of us!" from the shadows. 

"Quite a few of them up here are perverts and psychopaths." Says StrongMan.

"And nasty!" voice from shadows. Followed by snickering.

"And scum." voice from shadows over by there. 

"And skullduggerers." voice from shadows over by there. Followed by giggling.

"Rob your grave, I would." Each voice is in a different voice to add character. 

"Spit in you as soon as look at you, I would." Wicked laughter.

"Kill you in your sleep, he would." More laughter.

"Not sleeping with you no more then!" Even more laughter.

"Shtole my gwammies false teefs, I did."

StrongMan: "Set them all off now, haven't I. I was just saying. C'mon, lets get going." 

The Wizard follows StrongMan into the next clearing, where they encounter The Knight and The Bandit Girl.

Dad & Son

This scene is interjected with a curious young boy creeping out of the shadows and his more cautious dad calling and pulling him back into the shadows, lurking close by in the bandits camp, watching what is happening here. This little part of the story is to indicate that children are growing up in this environment and that there are parents who care about those children trying to prevent them from getting caught up in any trouble. 

Goblin Bounty Hunter

A curious little miniature of a snarling goblin wielding a crossbow happened along and into the story. The Goblin Bounty Hunter is specifically trying to claim the price on the head of Strongman, who knows he is being hunted by said Goblin and finds it irritating in the extreme. The Goblin is waiting for StrongMan to happen along, and is sitting on top of a wall behind a pit trap, crossbow loaded and ready. He fires it as soon as he see's Strongman approach (and hits). StrongMan reacts by swearing an oath to behead the troublesome scum (which he does).

The Traps

Thankfully the characters are able to avoid the trap involved in this mission because the Goblin is too busy trying to reload his crossbow to remember to use it. It will most probably feature in a future adventure. 

The trap consists of a pit in a narrow connecting tunnel section, on top of which is a trapdoor, with a rope&pulley system connecting it to a vantage point on top of the wall where the Goblin Bounty Hunter lurks with his crossbow. 

Dryad Tree

The tree is miserable looking. Bandits keep snapping its branches off to use as firewood, or the trunk as target practice with their arrows and daggers. The Wizard immediately senses there is something about this tree, it is not a normal tree. It is in great pain.

There is a freshly decapitated goblin head nestling in the branches. It is not the cause of the tree's misery. The Wizard bothers to ask the tree if it is alright and a Dryad appears amidst its broken branches! The group are amazed.

Bandit voices from the darkness;

"I told you its a ghost tree!"

"We should chop it down!" 

Wizard establishes the tree is a Dryad and it is being drained because close to here is a place where magic energy comes up through the earth but, it is all being channeled syphoned off by someone using it for themselves. The Dryad needs this energy to make a beautiful glade here and thrive, however her roots cannot tap the stream of magic which is diverted away from her. On top of this, the bandits keep wounding her body and she is slowly dying. She breaks down into tears and sobs. The Wizard asks if there is anything he can do. The Dryad replies, depressed and pessimistic; no there is nothing. She continues crying and returns into her tree.

"C'mon, lets keep moving. We need to see the bandit Queen." StrongMan encourages the group to keep moving.


Bandit Queen

In the center of a square ruin with wide entrances facing each other, is a crudely built square slab upon which the bandit Queen has placed various artifacts. This is her altar, harnessing the raw magickal energy which flows up throughout the hillside and has been concentrated on this spot by her placement of several crystaline rocks supporting the altar slab. Instead of dissipating all over the area, or randomly surfacing at different times in specific locations, all the magickal energy is now harnessed into the area where there is an altar.

The Bandit Queen stands next to it. She is currently bossing around some of the Bandits who respect her bossiness, who are being laughed at by other more independent minded Bandits who do not respect her bossiness. She is asking her henchmen what is the latest story with the Farm? One of her henchmen is explaining that the farm has hired additional guards, funded by the King. Raiding it in future is going to be more difficult than was raiding it in the past.

The Adventurers approach and introduce themselves. They explain they have been sent by the King to clean up the bandit Camp and there is a 5 gold coin price on the head of every bandit, except since they got here they have decided they actually quite like some of the bandits and having heard their stories decided these are normal people who fell upon hard times, or were otherwise pushed out of society through no real fault of their own. The adventurers have decided to take a Humanitarian approach to their dealings with the bandits and resolve this in some other better way than all out massacre. Also, there is the small but important factor of many hidden arrows lurking in the dark, and the adventurers would not survive more than a few minutes were they to wade in and start killing anyone and everyone here.

The Bandiot Queen laughs. "Ye be double agents then? Aye, true banditry that be n'all. Kay ye may join us here and we decide yer path. Either me men loot ye and feed yer bodies to the crows, or ye can be of help to us. Ye go back to yer King and tell him there be no bandits here, for a good start. Then ye be working for me, a part of the Crimson Flag."

Laughter from the darkness. "Crimson flag, she's mad she is."

"She thinks she can unite all the bandits into a single gang with her as its boss. She's mad." 

"Everyone here is out for themselves. Stab you in the back while smiling in your face."

"Aye, the bandit way.. Never trust them." 

The Bandit Queen listens to the gossip and then says to the adventurers; "You see what I have to put up with? I am attempting to organise ourselves into a functional group so we can all survive. Its one thing being wiped out by the Kings men because we cannot do that simple thing, its another thing fighting amongst ourselves. What this rabble need is strong leadership." 

"And she thinks that's herself. High and mighty, self-styled 'the bandit queen'. Its a joke name. Who does she think she is?"

"Got a chip on her shoulder that one. Thinks she's more important than the rest of us."

"Everyone knows we ain;t important. None of us here. We are all scum, the dregs of society, outcasts and with a price on our heads."

"I'm worth five gold coins, I'm important."

"You're worth five dead, you're worthless while alive. Shut up or I'll colelct he booty on ye meself." 

"That's fighting talk that is. Take this!"

"Ouch! That hurt."

"Ouch! Don't you hit me back, you villainous scum or I'll..."

"Ye'll what?"

"SILENCE!" screams the Bandit Queen and in full credit to her, everyone shuts up.

Nearly everyone: "Did you see that? Everyone obeyed her command. That's authority that is. She really is a leader if ye ask me."

"Shut up." 

Everyone listens to the bandit Queen.

"Whether we like it or not, food just got harder to acquire and we are all going to starve this winter. The Farm is soon to be heavily guarded because the King has paid for extra guards. My best advice is the toughest of you find employment working there as guards, to help the rest of us sneak in while our men are on guard duty."

A lot of mumbling goes around the camp about what a terrific good idea that is and how with a genius brain like that, the bandit Queen truly does deserve her position of authority. A lot of encouraging sounds of agreement about the plan.

"So anyone who wants to become one of ouyr agents working as a farm guard, please step forward now."

Nobody does.

"Do you see my problem?" The Bandit Queen asks the adventurers.

"So you have all chosen to starve to death this winter then. Alright that's your decision." The Bandit Queen turns around, signifying she is turning her back on the bandits.

"I'll do it." Says a gruff voice. "Better than starving to death and getting eaten by one of you foul lot."

"Ye, count me in too."

A small handful of bandits step forward, offering to get work as farm guards.

"Good, my trusted men. Each of you is now a hero, helping to ensure all of us here will have food this winter." 

Bandit Queen turns to the adventurers. "These men here, have been sent by the King to collect the bounty on all our heads. Instead, they have recognized the King to be a bad King and they have joined forces with the Crimson Flag!"

Nearby Bandits look at the adventurers and respect their magic and strength. The little boy from earlier comes close and touches the Knights armour before his dad hisses at him to get back here into the safety of the shadows.

Several more bandits step forward. "We wish to join the Red Flag Gang." They say.

"Congratulations." Says Bandit Queen. "And thank you." She explains to the adventurers that their presence is helping her, and basically they should consider themselves to be founders of the Crimson Flag and her generals. "I am confident we will not only survive this winter, but also we have some protection from the King's men." She establishes that the adventurers should return to the King and tell him there are no bandits in the Bandits Camp.

The adventurers agree to do this.

The Bandit Queen takes the adventurers aside and shows them a map. "You are my trusted generals, so I will have no secrets from you. This is what I am really after." It is a map of a dungeon. "This is several weeks journey from here. I require a capable party to help secure it as a base. It is an ancient wizards lair. There is a lot of magickal stuff to be had. It will help us." The adventurers agree to join her mission.

"There is something else we should discuss." Says the Wizard. "That tree back there... it is not a normal tree. It is a Dryad. And it is hurt, because your altar is syphoning the magickal energy of this hill and the bandits are snapping off its branches."

"What? Really? I didn't know. Show me." Replies Bandit Queen.

They go to see the bedraggled tree, and persuade the Dryad to appear. The Bandit Queen is horrified at what she is doing, unknowingly, by consequence of her actions. "I came to this place to tap the magickal energy here, I had no idea it would harm someone like you." She says. "I have an idea. Can you untap your roots?" 

"I can try." replies Dryad in a weak voice.

The Crimson Flag gang help to relocate the tree, replacing the altar with the tree who snuggles her roots directly down into the focus core of the magickal well. Immediately she seems full of life, much happier. A blissful, healthy energy fills the area and affects everybody with optimism.

"Thank you!" the Dryad smiles. "You have saved my life and made me strong and I will always help you!" 

Unfortunately, during the moving of the Dryad Tree, the Knight/Werewolf accidentally dropped his moonstone (under the roots of the tree), which he was using to tame his wild nature and control himself from becoming a werewolf.



NEXT: A KNIGHT INN

Future Quests

The Crimson Flag (aka 'the red rag gang')

Farm

Wizards Tower