Trefalgr\'s Secret...

[Wormtail_]

Rantal followed the others out into the open. He was wondering what to do next when he heard Kinoss shout something about thugs basking in glory. He suddenly came up with an idea, and said, \"Maybe we should create an ambush with Aruneko as the bait, if he doesn\'t mind. Aruneko, as he has the only horse, will race out to get the thugs to chase him, by taunting, and will ride back to the city. There should be an ambush with the rest of us hidden away, and when the thugs reach the area we are to attack the thugs, we attaack them. If they attack us on horseback, then we must trip the horses and slaughter the thugs or shoot them on horseback. We should hide in those bushes along hte road over there,\" Rantal indicated to a clump of bushes near the southern road, \"and spring our ambush in between those. Or we can continue on without the horses, thereby not dealing the villains any justice. What do you say?\" Rantal took out his longbow and with his hand, hung them limply at his side, though ready to shoot if a command was shouted or given.

[Ravenmaster]

Zahtek thinks for a moment and says, \"You know, it is getting late.  Whether we attack the bandits and reclaim our horses, thus wasting a good deal of time, or continue on foot, I don\'t think we will make it to Letranech by nightfall.  Also, I do not feel it would be right to submit the humble inhabitants of this small town to the wrath of a horde of demons.  We must leave the vicinity of this town and get some rest while there is still a bit of daylight left.  Tonight we will do battle, whatever we do, but I think it a bit of sleep first would be nice.\" He pauses for a moment, \"Oh, we do still have one of our horses.  Look.\" He points to a horse standing a little ways out of town. \"Remember, we had five horses. They only took four. That one must have gotten away.\"

[Wormtail_]

Rantal considered the options carefully. If
they did attack the thugs and regain their
horses, it would help them gradually regain
their lost time than if they were on foot, and
it would aid them in the long run. The problem
was that the time for a battle was
unpredictable, and the fact that they were
cowards made mattesr worse if they simply ran
away. Unless they were drawn to them, like he
already suggested, by insulting them in some
way with a rider on either the fifth horse or
Arunekos horse. However, the time for a battle
might force them to rest in the town and
therefore cause destruction to it because the
demons were waiting for their chance to seize
the Haziknon.

 After pndering for a while, Rantal then said,
\"I really think that we should eliminate the
thugs with an ambush as our horses will help us
in terms of speed and defense overall, and deal
justice to those lawless thieves. We can travel
in the night, with short intervals of sleep or
rest with a person on guard, different every
interval, and thus make our way to the next
city. The only problem is that of being
overwhelmed by the horde of demons, but we
might be able to outride them if our horses
aren\'t too tired. If we continue to the next
city now, we might not make it anyway, so we
can probably be able to forsake some time that
will be regained anyway. What do you think?\"
Rantal began fingering the medallion from
Dandor nervously after making his comment, but
not using the medallion in such a way as to
call him. Remembering Dandor, he added, \"Dandor
will probably be expecting us there, at the
city, by nightfall. Any ideas as to what to do
now?\"

[Trefalgr]

\"With those two horses I think we can pull this off.\" Trefalgr turns to the group. \"Rantal the ambush was your idea, you can help Aruneko be bait. You and Aruneko will ride by the bandits and since you have bows you can attack and run at the same time. Try not the kill anyone we only want to take our hourses back. We don\'t need to spill unnessicery blood. Kinoss, Zahtek and I will be waiting by that group of rocks and bushes there.\" Trefalgr points to a spot up the road a ways. \"When they get to us, they will be out numbered. Let us hope they don\'t want to fight after that. We don\'t have time for a full blown fight. Now, all we need is Aruneko to get back here.\"

[Aruneko]

The group waited silently for any sign of Aruneko\'s return.  Within a few minutes to sound of hooves grew louder and soon Aruneko came up to them, riding a tall brown horse with a bright yellow mane.  He came to a stop and jumped down from his mount.  \"So, what\'s the plan?\" Aruneko asked, wondering why they had not already departed.   Rantal came up to him and told him of his role in the upcoming battle.   \"Any of them got bows?\" asked Aruneko.

[Kinoss]

\"As far as I could tell they are just a group of barbarous theives. And I could see no bows among them, just swords, axes, and maybe a few other small hand weapons.\" Kinoss stated.

[Wormtail_]

Rantal said to Trefalgr, \"I will only be too glad to play an important part in my plan.\" He then mounted the horse, readied his longbow, and waited for Aruneko to join him and for the group to get into their positions. He began to think of suitable insults against a thug while the others got into position.

[Kinoss]

Swiftly moving into position behind the large group of rocks Kinoss sees a large leafy tree only a few feet away. Kinoss decides it would be a great advantage for him to be able to swoop down onto the enemy from the treetops than from behind a boulder. So Kinoss quickly runs to the tree and climbs it, while readying his halberd.

[Ravenmaster]

Zahtek stands for a moment and says, \"Well, if we\'re going to do this, we\'d better do it now.  They won\'t be waiting there forever, and our time is limited as it is.  Aruneko, Rantal, go!\" With that, he conceals himself in a hiding place and peers waits.

[Wormtail_]

Rantal, already on his horse with longbow and arrow ready, says to Aruneko, \"Maybe we should focus on the huge thug over there, as he is probably the leader. We can also try to insult all of them at once. We could also ensure they pursuit us all the way by shouting a few insults over our backs at them.\" Rantal rode foward in front of the ambush with Aruneko, and prepared himself to ride to the \'outskirts\' of the \'territory\' where the thugs were currently at

[Aruneko]

Aruneko climbs back up onto his horse and prepares himself for the raid on the thugs.  \"Will do,\" he replies to Rantal\'s advice.  Aruneko puts his bow at his side.  \"I\'m ready.\"  Aruneko rides forward a little bit then looks back to check if everyone else is ready.

[Wormtail_]

Rantal said nervously to Aruneko, \"I believe that everyone is ready. Perhaps we can lure them into the trap now.\" Putting his arrow back in his quiver, Rantal held the horse\'s reins and had his horse trot foward a few feet. His right hand held the reings, his left, the longbow. He looked back to check if Aruneko was ready to perform his part in the plan, as well as everybody else. Rantal felt that he himself certainly was ready; Aruneko, Kinoss, and Zahtek seemed to be ready. Trefalgr, however, still had to place himself in a hidden area within the ambush area.

[Ravenmaster]

Zahtek sees Trefalgr standing out in the open, apparently confused. He grabs him by the neck and pulls him into hiding.  Looking at his face, he says, \"Aaah, he musta dozed off, the poor buggers asleep.  I don\'t blame him , with all this stress and all.\" He lies Trefalgr down behind him, hidden from view to the outside and prepares to ambush.

[Wormtail_]

Rantal snorted with laughter as Zahtek dragged Trefalgr, of whom was apparently asleep, into a hiding place. He then turned to Aruneko and said, \"Well, we might as well get going then.\" Rantal dug his heels into the spurs of the horse the horse galloped foward, into the unwary and jubilant thugs. Or so they seemed, celebrating over the capture of the horses.

 Rantal kept riding foward, alone, and had his horse halt in the plain view of the thugs. He yelled in a drunken tone to get their attention, \"Oi, bad men! Gimme dose horsies and me will not eat you.\' The thugs stopped whatever they were doing to stare at Rantal. Rantal looked around nervously to see if Aruneko was nearby and ready to be bait.

[Aruneko]

Aruneko rode up near Rantal with a confused and worried look on his face.  He stopped his horse next to Rantal\'s and said in a voice low enough to seem discreet yet loud enough for the bandits to hear it, \"Come on, no more beer for you.  We must hurry if we want to get the jewels to the merchant\'s guild on time.\"  The bandits exchanged glances for a moment, then turned back to Rantal and Aruneko with grinning faces.