In Search of Sanctuary II

[Moon Jae-Seong]

TIMESTAMP: Sundered Rise 17, Searing 123
NOTES: continuation of this.

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Of the original band of nine bandits, all had been subdued. The two which Enver shot were unsalvageable– dead through and through. Of the five that were subdued by bladework and other weapons, two were conscious, one alive but not awake, and two dead. Of the two that tried to flee, both were alive, but one had to wonder if they perhaps wished they weren’t.

Jae-Seong himself didn’t bother with restraints on those that they’d subdued, and following his lead, neither did his two companions. Frankly, he didn’t see the point. If any of them tried to run or fight again, they’d be taken down again with even more ease than the first time.

The group of refugees consisted of four men and a woman befitting the description of the missing half of the two families they’d spoken to back in Kalzasi. Two of them had rudimentary weapons but it was evident that they were not fighters and, when being assailed by nine bandits, they wouldn’t have otherwise stood a chance. Their current dispositions ranged from the waning buzz of adrenaline to the sort of calm one had when they’d yet to process exactly what had just happened.

Jae-Seong nodded to Marcella, his gaze flitting over to the rounded up bandits, and the woman, wordlessly, moved in their direction. Enver stood by with his bow still drawn, sending an obvious message: ‘run and get shot.’

Quietly to Shuai, “I suppose we ought to show mercy to the bandits that still breathe lest we look like the northern savages the Zaichaeir ‘elite’ paint us as.”

His words were brief and in passing as the patrician moved over to approach the spooked refugees; he stated his affiliations and the names of those who had sent him. Jae-Seong knowing the names of their kin seemed to put them as much at ease as they could be, given the circumstances. Next, he asked them if any were injured and luckily, none of them were battered too severely.

“I think they just wanted to rob us, though we’ve little to nothing to take–” one of the men began.

“–aye, we’ve the bare minimum for the road and some sentimental bits and bobs…but they didn’t believe us,” the woman interjected.

That sounded par for the course when it came to roadside bandits.

Jae-Seong proceeded to offer them the ability to use some of the medical supplies he’d brought should they need them, and then when they accepted, he moved to collect and distribute them from the pack that Enver still wore.

Two of the men seemed a bit distrusting still, but the other two chastised them for looking a gift horse in the mouth. They acquiesced without incident, and then the woman apologized saying they had nothing with which they could offer in terms of repayment. The swordsman shrugged.

“I didn’t come out here expecting a reward–” Jae-Seong started, then turning his head to look at his companions, “...though I suppose we could pick the pockets of your would-be robbers before we leave.”

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"Synskrit"

"Common"

"Inandoth"

[Shuai Chisuo]

It would be no surprise if the two who tried to escaped would have wished themselves dead instead of obeying Shuai's commands as these two in particular were the sole focus of Shuai and his entourage of fleshcrafted bodyguards. It was nothing as petty as because of the extra effort Shuai had to put into nabbing them alive or, that the just nearly escaped to make the noble look bad in his efforts to protect the people from those accursed opportunistic bandits. It was because of the surviving bandits, the two were the only one still whole and capable of actually understanding Shuai's queries and to answer them without having him get annoyed at the chore of also having to interpret some half dead bandit's murmuring. As it were Shuai could only assume that Jae-Seong was more concerned with the refugees- he supposed one of them would have to. As the noble left Shuai to his own devices, Shuai was suddenly struck with an amusing idea he wanted to try. Of course he knew what Jae-Seong had told him and knew the other noble had a point but since he pointed it out... the bandits might as well have thought...

"He said if anything has happened to the refugees, it will be returned to you tenfold and since you guys probably had an hour before we actually got to intervene..." He looked around. Jae-Seong was already far enough away and far too occupied to listen in and his own companions seem to be too busy in securing the campsite. Shuai's own bodyguards were with them too. Guess they did not want to be a part of their master's mischief especially considering who else is involved and they were not out of the woods yet, quite literally. Shuai gave the bandit a few moments to consider what he had just suggested before he continued "I assume you'd still want to keep your kneecaps and some of your limbs still intact so you can live properly right. Right? No?" The more frustrated of the bandits with him seemed to be intent on calling the noble's bluff and while Shuai could have nipped it in the bud with some violence, he should at least heed the Novalys desire to not appear as some barbarian and decided to shut the bandit by pinching the man's lips together as he worked on his companion instead. Hey, a savage would at least give the vulgar jackass who did not know his place a few slaps to the cheeks if not some hard punches to the face!

Shuai continued on with his questioning of the bandit "so of all your picks from those travelling the road, you chose these guys. How? Why? With your gear and numbers you could have probably gotten to that fatcat I ran into yesterday. He only had two guards. Or you could have gotten at that courier. One lone man probably delivering something juicy. Sure he was on a horse but you'd only need to jump him. Once. And can I ask who is it your friend keeps yelling about?" Shuai was getting rather tired of Scarface and what was going to be done to the nobles' butts. Just what sort of a seld respecting bandit would call himself Scarface anyway? Normally the bandits of note would call themselves something more descriptive and intimidating according to their abilities or claim to fame like John Hammers, Timmie the Skinner and Cowfu- ok maybe not Cowfucker Pete. Scarface sounded more like some made up personality to scare the noble. After he had processed the information from what may truthful and what was more likely fluff, Shuai believed he had the rough idea and headed back to the group.

"...Well if we are going to going to pick their pockets, we better do it quickly because it isn't getting any warmer. We also need to decide if we want to leave the bodies or string them up so the beasts can't get at them until their someone else's problem. I'm not keen of having to bury some fucking bandits. The boys aren't either. They don't need it. Also Jae-Seong, a word?" Actually many words as Shuai quickly went through what he had learned. The targets not too random, the bandits have been following them for a day or two now and found something- though the something was under the orders of their leader who sent them and may or may not be close by observing. At least as far as Shuai could gather, the bandit group was not a big one so unless they were suicidal they would not try anything with the noble's group but still "not our problem. We can grab everything we can, escort the refugees back, toss the bandits to the first patrol we see and, you can tell your people how unsafe these roads are and get an effort done or something. Me? I'm just cold. I want to go back, draw a hot bath and get a nice meal, or we can stop by that inn we saw two days back for one. Those refugees look like they could use a rest too and I guess those bandits are paying..." with their lives! Or not. That joke did not seem proper at the time.