"A pleasure to meet you, Mam," Joey answers with a smile and a bow, "And the little one too.  My name is Joseph Aldori, but I prefer Joey.  May I ask your name?"

  Monk Scott has found it worth more to be surprised over more jarring things, like 'why is your skin plaid?' and 'stop trying to bite me'.  Or would that be that such things are more surprising anyways?  Outdoors Voice Pro Edition is somewhat attention getting at least.  "Hello, Eli, Lady.  I'm Scott, I have not been traveling too long but hopefully this is something I can help wit."

  He also nods in greeting to Joey,  "Even if it costs a bit more, a fresh hot meal indoors can be worth it after time on the road."  Then again, living in a temple hadn't really been a showcase of frequent hot meals for him either.

Tread blushes some. "Oh... sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tread." she goes to the doorway and knocks, her gauntleted hand making a sound like someone slamming a hammer on the door.

A pretty woman answers the fortress door, smiles, and opens it wide for the group.

http://photon1966.files.wordpr.../svetlanaleveton.jpg

"Welcome!  Welcome!  Please, come in!  Make yourselves at home."

Meanwhile, the sound of hammering can be heard from a roof of one of the buildings beyond.

"And a pleasure to meet you too, sir," Joey answers.

"Thank you for the warm welcome, mam," he says to the lady.

  Scott waves hello to the nice lady.  "Thank you, a kind face is always a welcome sight at the end of the road."  Well, anywhere really come to think of it.  But you don't really see as many of them between locations.

  He does not yet comment on how quiet Eli has been, which has nothing to do with overcoming an idiotic incapability to use personal pronounce or a real name, that would be crazy.

Has more to do with the fact Eli is shy, so it takes a bit for him to get conversational with someone. Tread enters and follows the lady. "Wow, such a warm greeting, thank you!"

Eli blinks in surprise. Most people at least have a slight nervous quake in their voice when they first meet Tread. Eli doesn't count because he has a nervous tone no matter who he meets. This pretty lady isn't afraid of Tread. And neither are the two men with the same vouchers. Could this be a bad sign the lady is used to much scarier things than just a very tall human? Or is he over-thinking this and the lady is as nice as she is pretty?

Tread says, "We're here to help clear the bandits from the area. I suppose you already knew that..."

As the group enters, they can see a gruff, unwelcoming looking man is busy repairing the roof.  http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...206/oleg_leveton.png  He eyes the newcomers with suspicion, managing to not hammer his thumb while distracted.  He stops his work and begins climbing down the ladder.

"Oh my," the lady say, hands on her blushing cheeks in reply to Tread and the others, "You're most welcome!  It's the least I could do to show courtesy to the heroes here to help with the bandits.  Please, have a seat."

She motions to some nearby picknick tables and benches.

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...-OlegTradingPost.jpg

"Obliged," Joey answers, taking a seat, "I take it the bandits have been a direct problem for you, then?"

  Scott understands why the man perched on a broken roof holding both a blunt object and pile of sharp objects does not wave hello, he thinks.  "It would probably be wishful thinking at this point to assume the hold in the roof is just weather damage.  I'm flattered you think so, I did intend to but I have hardly done anything to help there just yet."  This last in regards to the bandit problem solving.

Tread takes Eli off her shoulders and gently sets him down. She then daintily sits, though makes sure she is at the center of a bench. The wood can be heard creaking from the weight. Eli goes to sit beside Tread. The two look on at Svetlana in anticipation to her answer to Joey's question.

"Would you be so kind as to bring out the food for these kind people, dear?" the lady coos at the sweaty man, "I'll be a while answering their question.

He grunts with a frown and disappears into the house.

Exposition time!

The PCs should arrive at the trading post the day
before the bandits are scheduled to arrive for their
monthly “tax collection.” Once the PCs agree to help
with the bandits, the Levetons can tell them what they
know about the thugs.
• The bandits’ first visit was 3 months ago—they
threatened to burn down the trading post and abduct
Svetlana for their own amusements back at their camp
if the Levetons didn’t agree to hand over all of the furs
and trade goods they’d accumulated over the past month
from hunters and trappers.
• Since then, the bandits have returned twice more, each time
within an hour of sunrise on the first day of the month.
The Levetons have learned to have their “taxes” ready and
hand them over quickly—the bandits usually seem eager
to return to their camp somewhere in the Greenbelt,
which makes Svetlana think their camp is about a day’s
ride away.
• The first time the bandits visited, there were a dozen
of them—10 lower-ranking thugs led by a cloaked man
armed with a bow, and a woman who carried two small
hatchets. The woman did the majority of the talking
on that first trip, and her black sense of humor and
the way she smiled when she spoke of what fate would
await Svetlana if the Levetons didn’t comply frightened
Svetlana all the more. The woman also seemed to be
particularly sharp and observant, whereas the man
seemed to be a bit more crude and foolish. This, plus the
fact that the woman quite nearly lopped off Oleg’s right
hand with one of her hatchets in a cruel bit of mockery,
convinced the Levetons that she was the most dangerous
of the bandits. As it was, the woman took Svetlana’s
wedding ring right off her hand and tossed it to one of
her men as payment for “not shortening Oleg’s reach.”
• On the second and third visit, only the crude hooded
man accompanied the bandits. The second visit, he
came with only six other men, while on the third he only
came with four. The Levetons suspect that the bandits
have let down their guard and think the owners of the
trading post are completely cowed. Hopefully, when
they visit tomorrow they’ll be even fewer in number, and
hopefully the scary woman with the hatchets won’t be
with them.

Joey frowns, http://img.photobucket.com/alb...core/angry_frown.jpg  clenching his gauntleted fists.

"Those fiends!  By the goddess, they will be punished so help me!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Wed 18 Sept 2013.

  Scott nods in agreement to Joey,  "Part of me wishes they still came with four or six, but I am unsure of how much I would help when we were outnumbered by that much.  Still, any bandits we can deal with now are that much less when the rest of them come to calling in response."

  He turns back to The Lady, and asks "Has it always been just you two running this outpost alone?  I know the only thing that counts as the law out here amounts to volunteers with a piece of paper, but still."

Tread's frown is less like Joey's and more like a look of concerned hurt. "We'll stop them. When is their next visit?"

Eli seems sufficiently intimidated by the descriptions.

"Tomorrow morning," the lady says.

The man returns with stew.

"Please forgive my manners," the lady continues, serving stew to everyone, "My name is Svetlana Leveton and this is my husband Oleg."

"I have a plan," Joey says, "We don't want those who come getting away to alert the rest.  When they enter, we close the doors and demand they surrender.  If they fight, we focus on whomever looks to be in charge.  Once he is subdued, the rest may lose courage and surrender.  With them secure we can question them to find their hideout."

  Scott considers this, and thinks on the problem.  He then comes up with an answer a 4 year old might suggest.  "The bandits have to come to the front gate, right?  If we are willing to forgo asking them to give up after closing them in with us, can't we just wheel out one of those catapults and aim it at the front gate? Ready, open, fire."

  Knock knock.  Who is there?  Bandits.

  CATAPULT HATES KNOCK KNOCK JOKES.

  "Of course, I guess if it works there wouldn't be bandits left to question."

Tread says, "I like the idea of giving them the chance to surrender while also giving us a chance to spare some of them for questioning."

Eli quietly adds, "I.. don't suppose I could convince you all we can capture them all alive..."

Oleg reacts by throwing his hands in the air and cursing loudly that if the catapults worked, he would have dealt with the bandits himself.

Svetlana apologizes for her husband's outburst and assures the group that whatever plan they come up with, they will both do whatever is needed.

Joey nods to Eli. "I have trained very hard to know how to subdue enemies without killing them.  If any of them die, it won't be from my weapon."

  "I think I can understand Oleg's outlook, I was more thinking of the safety of those who live here first."   He looks over to Eli,  "Oh, it's not that I'm eager to kill them." not that he'd care if a he punched a bunch of bandits to death.  "It's that I've yet to meet a bandit who would not rather die than tell you what color the sky is."   That's just as much as your fault for having low CHA and no CHA skills, as it is modules writing bandits that way.

Tread says, "Then we have a plan. Let's hope it works."

Eli gives Joey a hopeful smile. When Scott mentions how bandits act, Eli looks confused. "....I don't understand why."

Tread pets Eli. "And I doubt you or I will ever understand bandits."

The bandits arrive as scheduled, approaching
from the south on horseback about an hour after sunrise.
They array
themselves nearby and begin calling out threats to the
Levetons to “open up or we’ll start tossing some fire in to
speed your asses up!”

Once the trading post is open to them, they arrogantly ride
in and begin making crude comments at Svetlana and
threats against Oleg while they begin loading their
horses.

If the PCs ambush the bandits, the PCs automatically
gain a surprise round—in addition, the bandits themselves
are so agog at this unexpected development that they all
suffer a –8 penalty on their Initiative checks. Oleg agrees
to serve as “bait” for this plan, but insists Svetlana hides
in the safety of their bedroom—though once the fighting
starts, Oleg runs for cover.

Joey shuts and bars the doors!  "We have you surrounded!  Surrender!"

"What?!  NO!" the bandit leader replies!

Eli casts a spell on Tread by high-fiving her.

As Tread and Scott come out and get attacked by the two bandits they face, Eli makes a gesture and says something arcane. Two of the bandits and two of the horses collapse asleep.

Tread thrusts her sword at Happs and stabs him through the side. She says nothing, looking at Happs with pure malice and concentration.

Joey throws a javelin, blunt side first, but misses by a mile.  Happs braggs that he could take the entire PC group on his own, steps back, and shots an arrow at Tread, but it deflects off an invisible barrier!  The horses who are still awake, scatter!
This message was last edited by the player at 07:32, Wed 18 Sept 2013.

  Scott isn't exactly going to complain that Eli's peaceful methods have taken out half the enemies at once (now complaining when it happens to the party, totally reserved right).  So he steps over the fallen bandit, taps Ayelese on the shoulder, and uses the ancient mysterious art of 'Ow! You broke my nose!'.

  Which was apparently so effective the bandit collapses trailing blood from their face as a second swing wildly wiffs where there used to be a bandit standing.  "Not gonna lie, I thought they would be harder to punch unconcious."

  Flurry vs Bandit.  Hit, Miss, 9 DMG = Exact takedown.

Tread walks up to Happs and grabs him in her rather large arms, restraining him. She looks down at him with a scowl.

Eli seems to slink a bit, hiding from the fight.

Joey approaches. "Surrender!"

He threatens with his spear.  Happs falls silent and struggles against the giant lady's grip but fails.