Bekka seemed destined for the bandit life. She was born in the Tassimar Reach to a human father and an orc mother who both could not hold a steady employment aside from being hired for odd jobs by the local mafia. At least the pair had passed on their skills to her before meeting their end during a job gone bad when she reached her thirteenth year. It was a painful loss, but by then, Bekka had already known it was a typical end in the rogue-ruled outland.
Naturally, Bekka quickly ended up following her late parents' profession; it was the only way for her to survive, after all. Nonetheless, the girl had no desire to end up with their same grisly fate. So, once she had saved up enough coin, she got the hells out of Tassimar and made her way east. Word was spreading around that the Viridian Marches were once more free pickings for those with the wit, skills, and daring to seize them, and Bekka was not alone in making the journey to those untamed lands.
The venture started off well-enough for the first few months. Through wit and skill, Bekka had managed to gather a small bandit of freelancers, and they had fun stealing and threatening the locals or travelers to gain what they needed to survive. It was a hard life, but they were free to control it. Until the Stag Lord made his presence known.
It did not take Bekka long to throw in her lot with the would-be bandit king of the Evergreen. She was there when all of the bandit groups of the Evegreen were called to his banner. Three other petty leaders like her decided that the resources the giant man held were better in their hands. The way the Stag Lord casually slaughtered them with powers out of fairy tales impaled a stake of fear in her heart. And that creepy, smelly old man he held on a chain did not even need to use his own foul power to help.
So this was how Bekka found herself becoming a lieutenant in the Stag bandits. Fortunately for her, not being to the Stag Lord's unsavory tastes, unlike some of the other more comely bandit girls, helped her avoid the newly minted bandit lord's predatory attention. Meanwhile, her competence, and a looted crate of high quality Lurindori liquor, gained her a posting far away from the terrifying man.
It was a good gig, all things considered. She got to enjoy the Evergreen's wilderness, control her own band, and the local trappers and hunters were easy pickings. Bekka hardly even had to deal with the Stag Lord; most of her contact with the main group was with his chief lieutenant Acteon. Unlike their common leader, Acteonwas a serious, disciplined man, a professional Bekka much preferred to deal with.
So, all in all, things were going well, with the only occasional fairy prank to deal with. Until word reached her of a new group of players in the region. It would not be the first time some fools tried to horn in on the Stag Lord's turf. But then she caught wind that Ravenna's group got wiped out at Onestrio's. Bekka could only wonder what kind of fools would dare to challenge a man as powerful as the Stag Lord?
Bekka was about to find that out for herself.
Upon their leader's command, the bandits of Camp Gnarlwood leaped out of their hiding spots from the bushes and shacks. Armed with bows with arrows already nocked, they rained pain upon the Company.
"You'll rue the day you crossed swords with Bekka's Blades!" shouted their leader, an urukhan woman. Her shot slammed up into Arina's gut.
"I'm already regretting it!" Arina choked out, fighting against the pain. And so will you, she immediately thought right after. The young woman jumped down from the empty shack she was investigating. Mister Angelcakes, I need you, she willed, and focused on a nearby bandit.
Always at your service, my dear, was the suave, familiar voice's reply. A red haze lifted off Arina's shoulders, and quickly snaked towards Arina's target. The rough-looking man stared in horror as the haze surrounded him, then screamed horrifically as his blood was ripped from his skin. The mist of crimson droplets snaked back to Arina who had extracted the arrow from her abdomen. the mist seeped into her wound and sealed it, ceasing her bleeding
Knowing how vulnerable his position was, Sky hurriedly backed away from the bandits. However, he had no intention of staying out of the fight. "Here's a parting gift from I to you!" yelled Sky to the urukhan woman he presumed to be Bekka herself. The sylph strained his acute mind in order to rapidly recalculate his memorized arcane formula. From an outstretched hard, he unleashed an overcharged volley of magic missiles that slammed into the bandit leader, sending her flying back.
Meanwhile, at least one arrow found its way past Argus' psionic armor, stabbing deep into his shoulder. The imposing soldier-for-hire grunted. Seems like these bandits are better trained, he evaluated. As much as he would have liked to charge into them and return the favor, he had a job to do.
Hustling forward to fill the space voided by Sky, Argus made himself a living, and very deadly, wall between his allies and the bandits charging at them. He managed to smash the ribs of one bandit, but another sliced through his armor and into his chest. That was when Argus noticed the faint, mystical sheen on their weapons.
"Shit, they have enchanted weapons!" Argus warned the others, biting through the pain. Cethin rushed to his back, and whistled a tune of healing magic, stemming Argus' bleeding.
"Thanks!" Argus shouted. Free from worrying about his wound, the psionic soldier proceeded to smash bandit ribs with his maul.
"C'mon, you dogs! Keep it up, we can take'em!" the urakhan yelled to her people. She led the charge with a pair of sharp, short blades in her hands. However, the bandit leader's zeal would quickly be crushed.
Encouraged by Cethin's sweet lute skills (at least to his mind), the Company tore into their attackers. Sky wove spells of protection, followed rays of ice, even summoning a hound from the heavens to aid them. Meanwhile, Arina inflicted Mister Angelcake's curse upon the bandits, leeching their blood in exchange for every wound they levied upon her. And then there was Argus.
Encased in armor of psychic force, the mercenary warrior waded into the bulk of the bandits. Without having to worry about his companions, Argus could focus on his defense, and the bandits could barely make a mark on him if they somehow survived the twirling maul he wielded. His bone-breaking tornado culminated with lopping off a man's head like a golf ball.
"Oh shit…" Bekka muttered at the grim display of strength. Her dread grew at the screams of her minions from having their blood drained by a crimson mist. What in the Seven Hells were they fighting against?! With her bandits dropping like flies, the urukhan followed her instincts.
"We give up! Everyone drop stop, we give up!" she shouted with all her strength over the din of battle. She threw her blades to the ground and raised her empty hands in the air. Her surviving bandits quickly followed suit, all two remaining of them.
Fortunately for them, the Evergreen Company were not bloodthirsty conquerors. The adventurers remained wary, but the odds were firmly in their favor. They quickly collected the bandits' weapons, and tied them up. They were pleased to see no resistance from the bandits, and had them sit down to be interrogated. Sky first asked them if there were any other bandits in this camp.
"No, it was just us! We threw everything we had against you," Bekka hurriedly replied, then paused to think. "Well… we did have some patrolling the north part of the forest, and another group out in the plains, though… we haven't heard back from them in a while…"
Argus smirked as Bekka's eyes widened in realization. "Yeah, we took care of them. You're not very good at this banditry stuff, you know."
"Well, we never really met any opposition like you guys before," Bekka admitted. "I guess you're the new players who took out Ravenna's group?"
Arina was about to ask 'who?' before Argus nudged her, and whispered "play along".
Arina cleared her throat, and cracked her knuckles. "That's right! Our people took care of her. You're looking at the new power in the Evergreen Plains."
Bekka grunted. "Well, you kicked our asses easily enough, I'll give you that. But word of advice, you better watch out for the Stag Lord if you plan on moving into his turf."
"Thank you for the warning, but the Stag Lord will go down just as easily," Arina scoffed.
"I don't know about that, that man gives me the willies. I saw him kill over two dozen armed men with just his fists." Bekka shuddered at the memory.
"And where can we find the Stag Lord, then?" Sky asked.
Bekka hesitated for a moment. The Stag Lord will already be pretty unhappy with her for surrendering, but if he found out she gave his enemies actual aid… "Um, just for my peace of mind, what happens when I answer you?"
"You play fair, we'll treat you fair," Argus told her. He nodded his head towards Cethin who was in the process of healing even the bandits' wounds while whistling a jaunty tune. He could tell Bekka was surprised that they were extending this much care towards them. "All part of our rehabilitation program."
Bekka found herself genuinely curious about this, and asked about it. Arina explained about how they were teaching their current bandit prisoners how to live honestly by having them help with the chores, the farming and gardening, feeding the livestock, and so on. The Company provided them with a small, regular pay for their work, and while they kept them under guard, the Company kept an eye on their progress. Argus mentioned that if they proved themselves with good behavior, the reformed bandits would be granted a plot of land in the new nation.
"'Honest living', eh?" Bekka seemed intrigued with the notion, as if encountering the concept for the first time in her life.
"It's far less dangerous than getting your ass kicked out in the wild," Argus remarked.
Bekka huffed. "Well, for a long while, we were the ones kicking asses!"
"And look where it got you now."
Glancing at the headless corpse nearby, Bekka deflated. "Yeah…"
"Sorry about your friend," Argus offered.
Bekka shrugged. "Not really my friend, and we all knew the risks of our profession."
Nonetheless, the Company buried the bodies in a decent enough grave, after lifting anything of value from them first, of course. They also looted the rest of the camp. The bandits did not seem to mind, 'c'est la vie' as the lucklyn saying went. They found crates full of different types of supplies, such as furs. One crate contained a large number of bottles of green herbal liquor. Cethin claimed the liquor.
"I know a friend who'd want some," he said.
"Is that friend you?" Argus remarked with a raised eyebrow. "How about we share one with the prisoners, they seem to be having a shitty day."
The prisoners greatly appreciated the offer, and they gave a toast to their fallen companions. They and Company made camp in this fortified area, and Argus cooked up a field dinner for them.
"By the way, Bekka, this seems important," Arina asked, presenting an amulet of a stag's head shaped in silver. They had taken this off of the urukhan.
"Oh, that? That marks me as one of the Stag Lord's lieutenants. Have to show that when we enter camp." Bekka explained that the Stag Lord was headquartered at an old fort southeast of their current position, on the north shore of Lake Iridescense, just west of the creepy Old Arborfane forest. The Company marked the location on their map.
Bekka went on to recount how the Evergreen Plains was broken up into different gang territories. When the Stag Lord appeared, he united them all under his rule, or wiped them out completely. One time, she saw him fire a powerful longbow and hit a target dead on over a thousand feet away, and he was stinking drunk too!
The next day, the away team escorted their new prisoners back to the trade post.
Back at said trade post, the lone survivor of Ravenna's group finally fully recovered. Another bandit taken prisoner from the group under Vico, a man named Mick, identified him as Taggart. The Company now wished to interrogate him.
Davona dragged the man out of their improvised holding cell (the trade post's shed). Since losing her grace, and still dealing with the malaise that came from its loss, the young woman was unsympathetic and harsh towards Taggart. With a shove, she pushed him into the middle of the trade post's yard.
Taggart jumped and yelped as a gunshot cracked in the air, with a bullet slamming into the ground at his feet. The malephilim bounty hunter Rishoi coolly blew the smoke from her pistol. "You better talk, or you can enjoy some broken thumbs," she told the prisoner.
"And don't expect us to waste any healing on the likes of you," Davona grumbled.
At this point, a frustrated Ayaki stepped in. This was getting out of hand, and was completely unbecoming of future lords. "Rishoi, please put your weapon away." It was technically a request, but Ayaki's tone and look made the order clear.
After getting Rishoi and Davona to stand down, Ayaki gently placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. She adopted a soft expression, one that even a human can pick up on a kitsune's face. She guided the prisoner to one of the long tables, and offered him a simple meal with water. Ayaki sat across from the bandit, and gave him a few minutes to savor his meal.
"Now, Mister Taggart, if you would be so kind as to tell us everything you know about your bandit operations," Ayaki sweetly asked.
"Or else we won't give you the antidote," Rishoi added with a grin, pointing at the man's food. Taggart dropped his spoon, looking at the plate aghast. Ayaki pinched the bridge of her snout.
"Rishoi, please cease your jesting. And you can leave us now."
"I thought you kitsunes were more fun. At least the other one is." Rishoi turned and left.
Finally able to reassure the bandit prisoner of his safety, Ayaki was able to get him to spill the beans. Unfortunately, it was not much beyond what the Company already knew. The only useful bit of information was that Ravenna had brought all of her remaining bandits with her. Only those three archers that managed to escape were all that remained of Ravenna's Raveners. Taggart also pointed out their camp on the Company's map. It was at the crossing between the North and Middle Arborfane, along the Thistledown River. Taggart knew that there were other bandit groups under the Stag Lord's command, but only Ravenna knew about them. However, Taggart did know that now with Ravenna's gone, the Stag Lord no longer had the northeast territory of the Evergreen Plains under his control.
Ayaki thanked Taggart for being so forthcoming. She then explained to him about their plans here, how they hope to rehabilitate the bandits into honest workers. Jupus added the potential rewards for working with them. Taggart agreed to come on board, mainly out of not having many good options open to him. Mick came by, and reassured him that things were not so bad here, despite being escorted by the Company's hired guards.
Davona rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I can't believe we're adding more scum to the pack."
"Look at it this way, Davona. If they work for us, they won't be bandits anymore!" Jupus suggested.
"Bah, semantics. Bunch of cowards…" Davona muttered before stomping in Rishoi's wake.
Ayaki turned to Jupus with a quizzical expression. The bounty hunter's attitude I could understand, but Miss Davona seems particularly agitated," she asked.
Jupus hummed. "There's history there, but not my place to say."
Ayaki nodded in complete understanding. She knew the feeling.
Over the next several days, Jupus directed their potential recruits to start building out a water reservoir for the trade post as part of their rehabilitation. Davona observed them closely with a hand on her sword hilt. Part of her was just begging for one of them to foul up. But much to her surprise, none did. Jupus and Ayaki were treating them respectfully, and the bandits were responding favorably. They each adhered to the Company's conditions, and worked hard.
Where were the bloodthirsty brigands? As try as she might, Davona could not see in their prisoners' eyes the same cold, merciless stares that haunt her nightmares. The same ones possessed by those who took her mother. No, much to her worry, these bandits just seemed like… well, still people willing to cut a throat for a coin, but not unreasonable if there was another way. As much as she did not wish it so, the experience thus far has given Davona much to think about.
The young woman's concerns were compounded with the return of the rest of the Company from their exploration, bringing a new group of bandits in tow. The former leader of this group, the urokhan woman introduced as Bekka, caught Davona's attention in particular. Davona could tell just by Bekka's build and the way she walked that she was a killer, but the way she talked and cooperated with the Company, and the way she kept the rest of the bandits in line with the Company's conditions, seemed very genuine. Bekka herself was impressed, and not just a bit relieved, that the Company were true to their word in their treatment of their prisoners.
Davona walked away deep in thought, and her sleep for many nights was filled with unbidden thoughts about her past and her future.
Fortunately, the return of the away team did provide some distraction. One of the first things they did was to inform Father Joram about the recovery of the Deianeiran temple in the Gnarlwood. The priest was ecstatic.
"This is wonderful!" the older priest exclaimed. "I cannot thank you all enough. My faith in the Lady of Seasons, and in you all, has never been truer. I must make my way there immediately!"
"Hold on there, father," Argus said, holding out his hand. "The temple may be cleared, but it's still a dangerous trek to it."
Father Joram visibly regained his composure. "Ah, yes, you are quite correct. I shall send a request to the main church in Rochefort for rangers and supplies. Wait, I have an idea. What do you say I employ some of your prisoners to help with the reconstruction?"
The Company looked amongst themselves, and all agreed that it could be a great part to their rehabilitation. They would wait for the Deianeiran followers to arrive to properly escort them, but Father Joram's ministrations to their spiritual health to this point had earned him respect from the prisoners, even a few converts!
Davona had her doubts, but she kept them to herself.
