Cautiously, those of you that wish to represent the party move forward to the clearing.

The campfire you saw glimmers of still burns, surrounded by sitting logs.

A man in chainmail sits, over which hangs a pot of stew.

Kalandra sits on one of the logs, her hands are tied behind her back and her ankles as well. He's seems to trying to feed her the stew.

"You're sure, dear? I put enough salt in this time..."

Behind him are four mounted warriors wearing chain mail and carrying shields and lances. You see no sign of the archers.

The man looks up - a fellow with a red beard and crooked teeth.

"Ah, you have a Knight leading you! Lovely!"

He stands and bows.

"Please enjoy my meager lodgings! I do have some rabbit stew ready, shall I serve? Perhaps a bottle of wine to wash it down? Then we can begin negotiations...
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:21, Wed 19 Feb 2020.

Brother Brodd follows Einhard to the meeting. "Are they treating you well Kalandra?" Brodd asks her, not paying much attention to the bearded soldier.

Kalandra spits the soup in the direction of the leader. "They're sort of boring. And this one thinks he's hilarious. They have rooks under that black of their shields, making them fallen Braunstein's finest. Lastly, they are definitely fixated on a nearby ogre."
Kalandra blinks a few times. "That's my full report."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Wed 19 Feb 2020.

Cautious of the other party's intentions, Gorn follows those headed to the meeting but stops at the edge of the woods, bow in hand with a notched arrow. He pays very little attention to the events by the fireplace, instead his eyes are scanning the edge of the woods as well as the actions of those on horseback. "Lances aren't of much use in these woods so they are merely there to intimidate. Where are the rest of them" he thinks to himself.

Brodd nods. "Where are your friends?" Brodd asks the leader, "there are more of you."

"Oh, they're around. I assume you have snipers as well. That's how these standoffs usually go...very well or very messy. Let me get to the point..."

He lifts up Kalandra's boathook.

"No pun intended. Now, why someone carry a boathook unless they have a boat? That's an unusual thing to haul with you up a mountain range, isn't it? Unless you have a boat. Which is the most plausible way you got up this high after the floods..."

"Why would you want a boat in the woods?" Brodd asked. "That's a boathook? I wondered what she carried when we found her in the woods yesterday. She has been with us less than a day."

Manaku shoulders his bow and slips the arrow back to his quiver. He follows Einhard and Brodd to the clearing but remains silent letting Brodd and Einhard do talking for now.

He pulls the ribbon out of Kalandra's hair and uses it to wipe off the stew she spit on his armor.

"That's the point, Brother. We want to get out of these woods and sail as far away from the chaos north of us as possible. Give us the boat and in return you get your little comedian back. If you really want her back, that is. We might even leave a couple horses behind depending on how many people we can fit on the ship."

He leans in.

"And in return, we won't tell any of the Barons that you're working for the Druids. They've wanted that gnomish dam destroyed for centuries. People call me a bandit and a brigand, but I've never killed a peasant! But here you are..."

He points to Brodd's symbol.

"A man of the Solar Faith? Drowning farms and villages wholesale? Who's going to pay your tithes now?"

He shakes his head in disgust.

Brodd looks with concern at what the man says, "Many farms and villages were drowned? We didn't know that. Einhard, you have anything to add?"

Leohart remains behind with his comrades who don't venture to the clearing, his eyes scanning the foliage, and a wand in his hand.

Amalrik stands at the rear, looking rearwards. His sword is out and held across a shoulder with one hand. Visible, but not immediately menacing. He only mutters in a low voice Knights with others hiding about and talking knights at that. Theres something fishy here'bouts.

The foppish one joined the conversation at that point, lute in hand as he approached the parley.

"Hello all, fine evening is it not? Harald the Herald I am known. Hail and wellness to you!" He approached the fire and attempted to warm himself, seemingly oblivious of the concerned looks on both sides.

"Seems like there's some misunderstanding here. I'm a bit of a scholar of history myself, and I daresay this isn't the first time two well-meaning groups have arrived at an impasse. No, certainly not the first. The thing is, this particular story affects US. Stories, tales, ballads, they're all wonderful to listen to, inspiring and so forth, but here we are tonight with our blades and our bows... Yes, we've certainly got to sort this out."

"Now our side has been struggling just to stay alive for some time now, that's the truth of it. There's a flying manticore in the region that seems to plague our every step, no doubt your lot has seen it, but it drove us beneath the mountain. There were no druids, in fact the very last of the gnomes is one we've rescued from an icy entombment - poor fellow still suffers I'm afraid."

"The dam you speak of was in total disrepair and, in fact, broke when we tried to escape the mountain. Having no idea what the dam even was nor what the consequence might be other than our own survival, we, admittedly, did the region a great harm..."

"Fine."

"Your lot, you say, wish to depart the region safely and quickly. You've blacked your shields to protect yourselves in this time of trouble, we can certainly appreciate that. Pointing the finger at us for having harmed folks is a bit hypocritical considering you all ransacked a village in order to get supplies..."

"Fine."

"Let's settle upon an agreement which costs neither of us anything. Why don't you come back to the river, board the ship you suppose is there, and we drop you off at a safe location? To be honest, the reason we stopped at yonder dock was to investigate your handiwork on the village. If you accompany us back without a fuss, we'll notify the King as to the need of the villagers, and we'll all be on our way happily downstream!"

"But if you're heart is set upon further violence this evening or upon the morn, then I propose each side choose a champion and we do this honorably, Knight versus Knight, the defeated acquiesces to the triumphant!"

"That seems to be an amicable solution, I might also add the release of Kalandra, we've grown fond of her...what say ye?"

Alietra did not advance to the clearing -  there were plenty others who had better credibility, not to mention far better manners, than she did.

Even without being much of a tactician, it only made sense to her that a band this size would post snipers for such a meeting.   She strung her short bow, and began trying to see if she could spot any of them.    And if she in turn might have a clear shot.

Spot them while being stealthy, it went without saying.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:36, Thu 20 Feb 2020.

Jarvak stood near Leohart and had his shield out.

Coughing for a second, he bent his head down.

Ah.. that’s a great plan but... the boat is gone.  It’s not on the dock anymore. When I looked back as we were coming in the woods it was no longer where we left it - an I tied such a good knot too! If you all go quickly you may find it downstream.

But wait - before you go - who burned that last village and what happened to all the people?