Vina jumped into the tent, spear in hand. To her surprise there were two men inside. The two men looked at her in equal shock. For a second neither group moved.
One of the men began to speak, “Adventur…” but before he could finish, Vina swung her spear around and whacked him in the head with the shaft as hard as she could. The man staggered and fell to the ground. The other man had stood up and drew a rusty sword from his scabbard. Vina swung her spear around again, trying to hit him as well. But he raised his weapon to deflect the shaft.
Vina grabbed a knife from her bandolier and threw it as fast as she could to distract the man. It didn’t go where she aimed, but it lodged itself into the man’s thigh. He looked down in pain and surprise. As he momentarily stopped looking at her, Vina took her opportunity to slip her spear shaft over the sword and brought it down on the man’s neck. He fell forward, but tried to get up. She swung the shaft down once more on his head and he fell flat.
Vina stood there, shaking from the adrenaline. Both men now lay on the ground, unmoving. “That was easier than I expected”, she said between breaths. Vina hadn’t received any experience points, so she assumed she hadn’t killed them. However, the one with a knife in his thigh was bleeding profusely. She had no doubts he would die if the bleeding wasn’t stopped.
She removed the knife from the man’s leg and did her best to stop the bleeding with Jan's spare bandages. Vina still didn’t have a bandaging skill, so she wasn’t sure if it was effective. She applied pressure until she felt the bleeding had slowed. Thankfully, Vina had extra rope in her backpack and quickly tied up the two men. Once she had secured their hands, Vina further tied up their feet and legs. She wasn’t taking any chances with escapes.
While she was working, Vina’s runed lantern was whispering to her the entire time. It asked for the man’s blood, and she let it lick the still bloody knife to quiet it. She suddenly felt like she had woken up from a dream. She looked at the lantern in surprise. Did she really see the lantern lick the blade? Vina dismissed it almost immediately. “You’re imagining things. Just focus!” she told herself.
Soon she had both men secured and the bleeding slowed. The man who caught her knife looked a little pale, but she thought he would recover soon enough with proper treatment. From inside the tent, Vina heard the fourth man returning to the camp. She quickly hid to the side of the tent flap and when the man entered, Vina hit this one over the head as well using all of her strength, and he crumpled like a sack of potatoes. Vina tied him up as well.
She moved all three men to the edge of the camp where she could keep an eye on them. They were heavy and according to her strength she could only lift about 66 pounds. However, she found she could drag much more than that. Vina then tied each man to a tree with more rope. As the men were still unconscious, Vina sat down and reviewed her skill progress.
New Skill Learned: Staves. Progress to next skill level 88%. You have learned how to use wooden staves as weapons. Quest updated: Learn Skills 2 21/25
Skill Level Up: Knots have reached level 3. Any knots you make are 6% less likely to be undone and your ropes are 6% more resistant to breaking or cutting. Skill Level Up: Throwing has reached level 6. Your current throwing distance is 22.5 feet. You can throw harder and faster. You have gained 145 experience from leveling skills.
Vina was surprised when she saw Staves on her list. It made sense though. She had not used her spear as it was intended, but as a bludgeoning device instead. She began to see her elegant spear in a new light. She admired the utility it could provide her. It was a wonderful tool capable of both killing and disabling. She appreciated just how dangerous a strong piece of wood was now though. She could probably kill even with just the shaft if she tried.
Vina waited, considering what to do. She could not transport three full persons on her own. One of them was injured and probably couldn’t even walk. "Even if I try to move them, they'll probably find an opportunity to attack me", she said to herself. Then she would be forced to kill them, and she really didn’t want to do that. The pilidar were inhuman enough for her, but killing an actual person felt like a bridge too far for her.
The bandit leader was the first to wake up.“Who are you?” He groaned. His eyes seemed heavy and Vina worried she had really damaged his head.
Vina did not answer him immediately. She was still trying to come up with a plan. Soon the other two woke up and posed their own questions to her. The man with the injured leg begged for help, and seemed equally groggy as the leader. The other one glared at her silently before saying “Where’s Toler?” His words were slurred and Vina began to suspect she might have really messed these people up.
Vina decided to answer that, “Toler is safe. I took him back to Prosit.” Vina walked to the injured man and told him to open his mouth. “I have something that will heal your leg faster. It might clear your head too, I don’t really know. Will you eat it?”
The silent man eyed her before finally speaking, still slurring, “How do I know you’re not going to poison me?”
Vina sighed, “Look you guys. I could have killed you all at any point in time when you were napping. I could kill you all right now, tied to a tree as you are. Trust me or not. Your choice.”
The man considered for a second and opened his mouth. Vina placed a berry inside and the man chewed. His eyes seemed to be staring at something and then he said, “Thanks for that.”
Vina nodded. She passed a foraged item to the other men as well, hoping she could reverse any lasting damage she did to them. She had also decided on a course of action. “So… I have a bounty to bring in your leader, dead or alive.” Vina looked at the man, “I hope to bring you in alive. But I’ll accept dead if you make things difficult for me.” Vina looked at the other two men, “Here’s the deal, I’m going to take your leader to the town now. I’ll bring you two in later when I come back with the town guard.”
The bandit leader scoffed and said, “They’ll break free by then. Then they’ll break me free. We’ll find you and kill you for this indignity.”
Vina sighed dramatically, “Yeah. I thought you would say that. They won’t break free. Do you know why? This lantern will keep them here.” Vina lied and tapped her lantern. She flicked the lantern on and it cast a weakened red glow in the daylight. “This is my blood lantern. If you move from your place, it’ll take your blood.” Vina lied again, but she could see the fear in their eyes. The red glow she loved so much about the lantern clearly freaked out the bandits.
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Lie Succeeded: The bandits believe your lantern can cause them harm.
Moving with exaggeratedly dramatic motions, she removed the lantern from her hip and set it down on its side near the two other bandits. The lantern seemed sad at being left switched on and alone. But she reassured it, “I’ll be back soon. Keep an eye on these two. If they try to escape, eat their blood.” She was not too concerned with leaving the lantern. The item was soulbound to her, so she doubted anyone could steal it.
She removed some of the ropes from the leader, just enough that he could walk. He stared at the lantern, fear clearly plastered on his face. As Vina led him away on a line, spear in hand, the other two bandits screamed at her. They begged to be released and to not be left alone with the lantern. Vina shook her head in disbelief. They had believed every word she had said.
As she led the bandit leader out of the trees and down the hill back to the dirt road, Vina could see the man was visibly relieved. “Why are you happy? I figured you’d be upset at being captured,” she asked him
The bandit tried to look over his shoulder, but Vina poked him with her spear and he looked forward again, “That lantern isn’t normal, lady. Whatever that thing is, it’s evil. Please never bring it near me again. I’ll gladly go to jail to get away from that thing.”
Vina couldn’t believe how effective her lie was. Was this like bartering? If you won a bartering opportunity you were forced to honor the deal. “Could a lie force someone to believe something even if it was outlandish?” She wondered. Vina was somewhat worried by that. What if she became a victim of lies? Was there a way she could protect herself? “Maybe that’s just how lies work. Lots of people make bad decisions based on believing a lie,” she pondered to herself.
Vina soon arrived back in town with the bandit leader and handed him off to the guards. The bandit was eager for the exchange and practically dragged the guard with him into town. Vina received a notification that the Bounty was finished and to return to the Town Hall for her reward. Strangely she had another popup window.
Skill Level Up: Blood Runes have reached level 6. Blood runes can be drawn 25% faster and take 25% less blood to activate or maintain. You have gained 75 experience from leveling a skill.
When the notification appeared, she had to read it twice. What had she done to gain a level in blood runes? She shrugged away the message, having no idea what triggered it. To her the system was still a mystery and she wasn’t going to question a free level.
Vina found Trip and Marit, the two guards who had let her into Prosit on her first night here. She explained the situation with the two remaining bandits and they sent four additional men with her to pick them up.
When Vina returned to the camp, she was very confused. The lantern remained where she had placed it on the ground. However, one of the bandits was sagging in his clearly loosened ropes. Blood was seeping from his leg where Vina had removed the knife, and the bandage had fallen to the ground. She ran over and checked him, but he was dead.
“What is that!” one of the guards exclaimed, pointing at the lantern.
Vina scooped up the lantern, shut it off, and returned it to her backpack. “It’s my lantern of shadow dispersion. I used it to trick these two. But this one seems to have succumbed to his wounds. I thought I had stopped his bleeding, but maybe not...” Vina’s voice trailed off as she began to feel some guilt. That’s when Vina noticed the other bandit. He was staring into the distance, not saying a word. His face was pale and his posture was languid. He did not respond when Vina questioned him.
The guards took the body and the still living bandit, seemingly eager to leave the area. They eyeballed her nervously, but Vina was getting used to that. She decided to stay behind, so they wouldn't have to walk back with her. Besides, a part of her was curious about what lay in the tents. Vina quickly headed into the largest tent. Inside she found a small lockbox. Excited, Vina took out her lock picks and got to work. Soon she had opened the basic lock and got a window popup.
Skill Level Up: Lockpicking has reached level 3. Locks are 6% easier to pick and lockpicks are 6% less likely to break. You have gained 35 experience from leveling a skill.
Vina looked inside the lockbox.
Container: Lockbox Contents: 450 Randars Fake Aspect of Trade Bandit Orders
She pocketed the Randars. There would be no way to tell who they went to, but she decided she would donate them to Trina’s Refuge when she got back. In her mind, the money was likely stolen and should be returned back to the community. Vina was surprised to find another Aspect so soon. She was beginning to get a feeling for how common these fake aspects were. She figured the bandits would have actually used it, but maybe it wasn’t safe enough for them. Vina took the aspect out and crushed it underfoot once again.
Quest Updated: Destroy the Fakes. Progress 2/5
Vina picked up the letter containing the Bandit Orders and opened it up out of curiosity.
Command Order #467
This command issues authorization to construct a camp near the Town of Prosit. We have hints that some big shipments of aspects will be coming through the area soon. Establish a command post and begin recruitment. Raids on wagon deliveries are approved per #C882. Infiltrate the Town of Prosit and gain delivery schedules within 12 days. In 60 days, send a report on your progress to the command unit in Randar.
Signed #A589
“Toler was right. This is just a beginning bandit camp.” She thought. “Even more than that, they’re just part of a more organized group.” She wondered what these strange numbers were all about. Did they have some kind of system or code? It was a good thing she had shut this down before Prosit was infiltrated. “What exactly is this organization?” Vina muttered. She stashed the letter in her backpack and decided to give it to the Town Hall. They should know about what is going on around their town.
Not finding anything else of interest, Vina exited the tent. She once again considered the two guards she left behind. Her gaze dwelled to where she had tied them up, and she saw something strange. There was no blood where the now dead bandit had been tied. “Did the lantern absorb it while I was away?” she mused to herself.
Now that she was alone, Vina took her lantern back out from her backpack. She inspected the runes and discovered it had burned basically zero energy. “It should have burned some of the stored blood while I was away.” she said to herself. She gave the lantern a straight look and turned it on, “What did you do?”