In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 847):

Shit, sorry, typo.  Xander, same one.

Move along.

Move along!

In reply to GM (msg # 848):

I'm having a hard time visualizing this scene.

So there's an abandoned village, parts of which are or were recently on fire.

And there's lots of horse tracks (Jon, how many is lots? Probably a score of horsemen? More?)

And we have this dude, wearing normal farmer clothes, undamaged, but bound and splayed by ropes and stakes to the ground. How'd they get him staked there without hitting him or manhandling him?

But there are no bodies or blood splatters or fallen horses, so he did not damage the raiders during his capture (or the raiders buried/took their fallen with them and the villagers).

And the man was gagged, which suggests either that his danger is in his words, or that they did not want him to call for help.

Given all this, we are asked to believe that the raiders corralled the villagers and took them away "for their safety" (or for slaves), and will be back to finish the job of killing this guy. Why? Why not just kill him and be done with it? Is he going to explode? Is he possessed by something that will escape if it isn't disposed of properly?

So. Many. Questions.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:26, Wed 10 Feb 2016.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 849):

There is nothing factually inaccurate about your statements.  :)

You'd guess twenty to thirty horsemen.  Horses are likely not as big as warhorses, but neither are they small.

No bodies, no visible damage to this man.  If you peek into homes you will see that there is a lot missing and a lot in disarray, but apart from one or two burned homes no damage to the others.

As to exactly what happened to the villagers and why this man was left....

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 849):

... what he said.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 851):

Are we leaving visible tracks?

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 852):

The ground within town is well walked enough to not worry about footprints.  The same applies to the road leading in.

Undoing the restraints will take a few moments if you all work at it, and does not require a roll.

Re-tying them to look like Duncan slipped out... is trickier.  Let's use Escape Artist as the roll for that.

Whoever is best can roll.

In reply to GM (msg # 853):

My guess is that would be me.

I have D6.  Anyone top that?

this is a terrible plan and I object to being made part of it.  on the bright side, if they decide to kill you all I'll get off scott free.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 855):

Just to make sure I understand:

1. Duncan hides in a house
2. "phantom" Duncan on a horse rides south
3. Enrei chases phantom Duncan
4. Titus rides north
5. Titus meets whoever is coming and claims Duncan stole a horse and fled south?

In reply to GM (msg # 856):

No.

1. Group waits until the riders are close enough to see the illusion
2. While group waits Duncan hides in a house
3. Enrei and hopefully others chase phantom Duncan screaming like maniacs
4. Just as the main rider is entering the main area to see the chaos group running around chasing illusions Titus approaches him claiming Duncan stole their horse... while an illusionary rump is darting in and out and around corners.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:54, Thu 11 Feb 2016.

So titus gets trampled and the party chases an illusion on foot while a group of mounted riders chase us and the illusion.  like I said, terrible plan.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 857):

... we are so gonna die.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 859):

@Enrei you didn't have a better one.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 860):

That's because I'm an idiot who doesn't understand why this is even a problem.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 861):

Most people underestimate the ingenuity of complete idiots.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 862):

We could've just hidden duncan, met the raiders, told them the bonds were empty when we got here and that we're sellswords loyal to no one.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 863):

You see.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 864):

I lay this one at Brennan's feet.  He's the brains of the operation.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 863):

That's still my plan. We're just sellswords loyal to no one who begin by chasing down a dangerous criminal who stole a horse. They'd be unlikely to believe we just happened by and didn't do something to the guy who was trussed up there.

Best case? They offer a bounty for finding Duncan!

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 866):

Either way I'm just glad to be well out of town when they burn the rest of it with you guys inside.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 867):

Wait... so how many illusions, just the one of Duncan riding a horse away?

1. Duncan hides
2. When riders enter town, illusionary Duncan rides off... where?
3. Enrei and Brennan chase illusion
4. Titus talks to horsemen

Do I have it now?

In reply to GM (msg # 868):

Yeah, the Illusory Duncan will be zig zagging his way through as many obstacles as possible giving itself as much cover as possible riding south.  Eventually the goal would be he's always a bit further ahead until he is finally lost.

Other than that yes.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 869):

Think lots of pointing and screaming

HES RIGHT THERE!

NOW HES OVER THERE!

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 870):

except Enrei was told to catch the horse, so he's going to be less distracting and more making a beeline across the zigzag to close with the phantom horse as quickly as possible

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 871):

Oh this will go well...