Jaeger brought Ventress to a halt. He'd covered quite a bit of ground since his deal with Mischief, and he had a nagging feeling that he was in a good position to change his approach. Casting Bluthund, Jaeger saw the golden trail move a few paces in front of him and then stop. It seemed to waver between following the path and veering off it. He focused the ability and it went off the path with him close behind it. He had decided that instead of following the path straight ahead, he would try to approach the camp from a different direction.
“Mrrrw.” Stretching Mischief stood up, then hovered. “I'm leaving, remember to be entertaining, or I'll have to find ways to make you.” With that, the cat dissipated like gun smoke.
“Nothing has made me feel more like I'm going crazy than this cat, and it hasn't even been a full day yet.”
“That’s good, crazy is quite close and the ride will be good for you.”
Jaeger held back a retort, he knew the cat would be gone. After spending the long ride through the forest with it, he'd come to understand it better. It was best understood as a cryptic, amoral, trickster. Beseria had stories of Fae and trickster spirits, this cat was far worse than any of them. The only thing it hadn't shown itself to be was cruel. He was willing to beat that more for lack of opportunity than anything else.
He clears his mind as he makes out a clearing in the distance. Slowing Ventress, he dismounts, grabs his rifle, and moves forward on foot. Being stealthy wasn't always about not being seen, in environments like this it was also about not drawing attention to yourself. He had learned through experience that the best way to do this was to move slowly, either low to the ground or, if possible, high in the trees. The nature of these bamboo trees meant that he would take a slow, crouched approach.
It wasn't long before he spotted the first sentry, a lanky, red-skinned man. He had a surprisingly disciplined stance for a raider, keeping his head on a swivel. He paused, if this man was an average of these raiders, then he had more to worry about. Then the man did something unexpected, he called out into the forest.
“I know you are their bounty hunter. Come to my position, I have an offer for you. I give you my oath under the blade of the Bloody Handed One's axe that I wish to bargain.”
Jaeger was ready for a fight, not this one. He was even less prepared for the parchment message he received.
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An oath has been sworn under the Bloody Handed One's gaze.
The oath taker has offered his soul for punishment if he breaks the oath.
Be aware that the eyes of the Bloody Handed One are now upon you.
It was a disturbing message, for it ended not with the word eyes, but with the appearance of disturbing pools of molten bronze. They seemed to be watching him. They could only be the eyes of this Bloody Handed One and they seemed to be watching him. He hadn’t had much interaction with the gods in this world but he trusted something like this oath to be bidding so he made his way over to the man.
He stood slowly, his rifle at the ready as he spoke to the man.
“Here I am, what is your offer?”
“What else, my life. I told Crusher that eating those taxmen would be the group's undoing, but all I got for my words was a quick beating and sentry duty for life.”
“I’ve yet to hear anything about a bargain.”
“I can tell you exactly where Crusher is and where the men are if you let me go. If you pay me, I am willing to poison the camp.”
“Why?”
“The raiders in this camp are not my friends. They despise me because I am a hobgoblin, and the moment Crusher threw me out of his confidence, things got worse. These orcs are planning my death; I can feel it.”
“Then run.”
“No!” He hissed. “I will have my vengeance; The Bloody Handed One requires it.”
“Then why wait for a bounty hunter to arrive?”
“I was waiting for the right moment, I had to plan my escape. You are simply the catalyst for my escape. Do we have a deal?”
Jaeger nodded. Hatred was a wonderful thing in his line of work. A man, or a hobgoblin, with enough hate would willingly do half his work for him. He'd agree, because knowing Crusher's exact location was easily worth this hobgoblin's life. In fact, he pulled out a few gold pieces, Jaeger's finances had improved since the bandits, and gave them to the hobgoblin.
“Poison the camp, let me know when it's done, and we're good.”
With a bloodthirsty grin, the hobgoblin took the gold and hoisted a brutal-looking cleaver onto his shoulder.
“Give me a few hours. I must poison the night's food and drink. The orcs will be unconscious or dead soon enough.” Pausing, the hobgoblin ran a nail along his cleaver in thought. “Crusher doesn't eat with the others, he has them bring him his meal, all special for him. So I won't be able to get to him. Before I leave, I'll mark his yurt, yeah? I’ll throw some herbs into the main fire, when you see it flare green you will know to strike. Good luck, bounty hunter.”
For the next few hours, Jaeger hunkered down and kept watch over the camp. True to his word, the hobgoblin prepared dinner and rolled out a fat barrel of something. The camp slowly descended into chaos as the raiders drank and ate. The hobgoblin moved around the camp, stopping near the largest yurt in the camp before moving on, leaving a black X behind. Jaeger settled into the tree line to wait for the chaos to die down. The hobgoblin said no one would be coming over here, apparently the other guards were much lazier than he was, returning to camp every night for dinner. Hopefully the poison would take care of them, if not, Jaeger would have to cross that bridge when he came to it.