Chapter 1 - Hennion's hideout

Since arriving in town a week ago, I'd been staying at the Hide and Horn tavern. It's my favourite place to stay when I'm in Shark Gate. The owner Sebastian is a blast, and I can always count on a good time with the locals and a decent bed once I've have my fill of ale.

Seb told me that Kynan sent word early in the morning, requesting my attendance at his place. I hoped he had some work for me, my reserves were running low.

I went to see him and we discussed a problem he wants my help with over coffee. Apparently some bandit group had been causing trouble, more so than usual and merchants were facing a bit of a gauntlet between here and Daggerhaven. Supposedly the Alderman all a fluster over the declining trade, wanted it sorting and was not happy about the current state of affairs. I was glad Kynan is the one to deal with her, the haughty types, he always could play the game better than me. Anyway, it sounded like the Alderman was willing to pay well for the trouble to get resolved, so I promised to look in to it.

Kynan didn't know where exactly the Bandits are hiding, so I went back to Seb's and asked around if any of the patrons had heard anything.

Nobody was speaking up. I got the impression most folk are too intimidated to be seen talking. It looked like I was going to have to figure it out on my own. I planned to walk the banks of the river, the usual traffic flow between Shark Gate and Daggerhaven. With any luck, I'd be able to pick up a trail on the way, otherwise I could ask in Daggerhaven.

Unfortunately just outside town, before I'd even got in to my stride, someone accosted me. It seems that perhaps some folk have a vested interest in the local bandits sticking around and didn't take kindly to me asking around.

I managed to convince the idiot that I was looking to join up with the gang and had some information that their leader might be interested in.

By the time I finished bullshitting him, he told me how find the place, and who the leader was. It looks like I have date with Solana Hennion. He did mention that the compound is well defended, with a recent arrival of more people, it is now patrolled around the clock. It looks like a frontal assault is unlikely to be successful.

Feeling slightly buoyed by my success in bullshitting my way out of scuffle with the goon, I headed out towards the compound. Apparently I needed to follow the river until I see a fallen tree marked by cuts, then head east in to the Brightwoods until I see the clearing.

The first part of the journey passed largely uneventfully. It was mostly devoid of traffic save for a hunter I spotted hunting deeper in the woods. I made sure to keep out of his way and not spook his quarry which delayed me a bit. Perhaps the trouble with the bandits had not been quite so exaggerated as I had assumed. I stopped for lunch near the river, enjoying the tranquility of the day which seemed destined not to last.

I came across a rather gaunt looking goon along the trail. Initially he acted casually, pretending to be repacking his gear, however it was clear from his repeated glances in my direction that he was waiting for me to get closer. Unfortunately I had been distracted on my approach, otherwise I would have sneaked around him and avoided him all together. As it was, it looked like this was heading for a show down.

Instead of blundering in to his very obvious trap, I decided to try to turn the tables. I dived behind a tree, goading him to that position, then made for another tree near by. I hoped I could get the drop on him.

As I hoped, the stupid goon didn't take kindly to me disappearing. He approached with all the stealth of a stabbed boar, yealling that he was going to gut me when he gets hold of me. I must remember to thank Kynan again for teaching me well, he told me that any stupid goon will always come to investigate when his stupid plan doesn't go according to plan. Once he found that I wasn't behind the tree, he started looking down at the ground to try to track my movements, which was nice of him. As he traced my footsteps to the tree I was in, he just managed to put a goofly look of surprise on his face as I dropped out of the branches on to him with my dagger.

As my dagger drove through his eye socket in to his brain, he let out a small wimper before crumpling to the ground. I dare say the world will be a slightly safer place with him no longer in it, though only very slightly. I hope to dispatch much more impressive quarry before this journey is done.

After travelling for another couple of hours, I finally had to accept that I had gotten turned around somewhere. Really, how difficult should it be to follow a river? I kep thinking that I must be close to where I need to spot the fallen tree that indicates where to turn from the river, and kept going off track to find it. I decided to rest for a hile while I figure out which direction to head next.

Well, it wasn't where I was intending to head to, but now I knew I was near Surrender's End I at least knew roughly where I was. No way I was going anywhere near that place though. Plenty of people have gone in there over the years looking for abandoned riches, never to be seen again. Gives me the kreeps. From there, assuming that goon outside Sharks Rest wasn't bullshitting me, it shouldn't be much further north. Now I was back on track, I didn't mind taking some time to try to forrage some more supplies up.

While forraging for supplies, I not only managed to replenish my supplies woth some nice looking mushrooms and berries, I also found a patch of Puff Bulbs.I almost stumbled in to them, would have made a right mess. Thankfully I was able to snag 4 of them and store them safely. They may well come in handy for the the coming encounter. Couldn't believe my luck with that!

As I was getting closer to where I expected the camp to be it started raining. While it sucks to be trapsing around in the wet, it should have helped with my approach, muffling any sounds I made.

Unfortunately the lousy weather also managed to obscure the ground somewhat. I felt a sudden sickening lurch as the ground gave way beneath me, depositing me unceremoniously in to a pit trap. While it didn't hurt too much, it didn't seem like the best position to be in.

I had to try to get out of there before the next bandit patrol happened this way. I reckoned I could climb out using a rope.

I quickly tied the rope around a loose rock from the bottom of the pit. It only took a few attempts to get it to latch around a tree near the top of the pit and I was able to climb out quite easily. I managed to quickly forrage some long sticks and dense folliage to cover the top of the pit. With any luck some of the patrol would fall in there while I enter the camp.

After a while of trudging on in the rain I came across a steep bluff. As I peered over the edge looking for the easiest way down the ground gave way. Hurtling down emongst rubble and boulders I desperately tried to get out of the way of the landslide. i managed to get behind a massive tree and shelter from the relentless tide of destruction. Honestly, that shook me up, I could so easily have died in that.

Once I'd recovered I set of for the final push to the camp.

Finally I reached the camp. I was hidden well enough, giving me chance to observe the camp and check for the best approach. While I was watching them, I saw that the leader had fucking pet Trog! Who has a pet Trog?! The beast looked formidable enough that I was determined to avoid it if at all possible. Thankfully he only appeared to have one.

My first task was to get inside the compound. It was surrounded by a palisade wall, I could scale it with a rope given enough time, but the chances of doing so unnoticed was quite slim, especially with the guards stationed in the lookout towers. There may have been a weakness in the wall, somewhere where I could eaither bust myself through or perhaps slip through unnoticed. I thought my best bet woud likely be a distraction, it's my preferred method usually, but comes with a significant downside of them knowing that something is afoot.

As luck would have it, I found a loose section of the wall. Making an animal sound near the front entrance most of the goons on lookout went clamouring after it, presumably hoping for a succulent supper. I quickly slinked round the side and through the loose section of wall. Once inside I took a moment to get my bearings, noticed a well hidden path around 2 buildings that should have kept me in cover while I made my way towards the larger building in the middle, assuming that that is where the leader would be. As luck would have it, as soon as I got round the corner of the first building the pathe was blocked. It looked like at some point a large tree has collapsed through the outer wall and these idots just rebuilt the wall around it and left it there. I could only imagine the state of their dwellings in here. Peeking around the corner across the camp grounds, it was looking tricky to get past unnoticed. It was time to get creative.

The building I was moving around was very close to the outer wall. With a swift leap and powerful push off against the wall, I launched myself upward, twisting in the air and reached out for the rough edge of the low roof of the building.

Like a graceful cat traversing high ground while stalking it's prey, I pulled myself up on to the roof. I really whish I could have seen it for myself, I bet I looked like such a badass.

I planned to wait on there like a cool gargoyle watching until someone happened to wonder around the corner out of sight of the others. After a few minutes it occured to me how naive I was being, as the passage was blocked it was unlikely anyone would wonder that way. I picked up a branch that had fallen on to the roof and threw it at the fence, hoping to lure the nearest goon over to investigate.

As the branch clattered down the side of the wall a rather disheveld looking goon looked up from coring and apple with his knife. He looked like he was probably on the bottom rung of the bandit ladder, dressed in a simle leather tunic for protection, equipped with a short sord attached to his belt via a loop of leather. I almost felt sorry for him, he was unlikely to live a fruitful full life of banditry. Almost.

Silently I stepped over the edge of the roof with my dagger gribbed pointing downwards. As if sensing my approach the poor bandit looked up just in time to see the business end of dagger head too far in to his eye. Driving the dagger home further in to his brain we crumpled together in a heap, him letting out a quiet crying wimper as died almost instantly. Only after disentangling myself from the now corpse of a bandit did I notice that his sword had sliced my leg slightly. Must be better next time, can't afford to make silly mistakes like that.

As I wasn't exactly going to fit in with the goons with me travel outfit, I decided to swap clothe with the poor bastard in heap in front of me. As the fight ended so quickly, thankfully I manage to not ruin his armour, in fact I couldn't see a single mark on it. I stashed my armour near the make shift entrance and put his on. While doing so I saw a pretty nice metalic emblem he was wearing. Peeking at the other goons in the couryard I saw they were all similarly adorned. I guess goon turnover is quite high given their line of work, so using an emblem that they control is probably a good security measure and helps when you don't know eveyrone by sight. This boded well for me getting away with my ruse.

Next came the fun part. Every time i do it I get a slight flutter in my stomach. That inticapation of the utter nerve it takes to march out in from of a bunch of people that want you dead like you belong there, and get away with it. I started to feel antsy as the adrelneline built, springing up an down on the balls of my feet I mentally psyched myself up. Closing my eyes, I told myself repeatedly "I am Sharrow. I am a bandit. I live the wild life. I take the moral life".

It's funnny how I always used the same alter ego for similar personality types. Sharrow is a scum bag, no morals, the lowest of the low. Happy to kill for for resource or just for fun, she revels in the depravity of a life without remourse or repurcusion. In some ways I envy her sometimes. Without remourse what I do would not cause such frequent sleepless nights.

Repeating the mantra over and over in my mind transformed the anxiety in to a calm, centered surety. I was safe in the knowledge that Sharrow belongs here, she exists amongst these types of people, she commands respect and takes it when it is not proffered. Eventually the anxiety subsided and the calm was absolute. I marched out of that alley as if I hadn't a care in the world.

"Oi, welp! Where've you been hiding? shirking you duties are you?"

A big bastard near the fire pit in the middle of the grounds yelled at me. He was tending to a small gash on his arm, he seemed quite competant from what I could tell. I decided to push my luck, glancing back to where I had come from and back to him I thumbed in the direction of the collapsed tree and played up a slight hobble with my leg.

"fuck off! I went to see what that noise was. It was just some falling tree shit back there. Some of it fell on me and fucked my leg up. When are we going to sort that shit out?!"

For such a big mean looking guy, he seemed to switch quickly to a caring paternal like role as soon as he saw my leg.

"Oh, I'm sorry whelp, I was just ragging on you. You're right, we should sort that out, you should suggest it as an idle task to Hennion, it'll get you in his good graces if he sees you wanted to sort shit out like that. Come here, let me patch you up. I'm Iomhar by the way, don't think we've talked before"

I spent ten minutes with him while he tended my wounded leg. He seemed like a nice guy for a bandit. I really hoped I didn't have to kill him. Having integrated myself in to their numbers, I should have a much easier time skulking around here now.

Once my leg was taken care of I told them that I should test it out, walk around the camp for a bit. They seemed to agree it was a good idea, giving me an excuse to check the buildings out. I entered a large wooden structure on the edge of the grounds.

As soon as I entered I reaslised I should have skipped this door. Weapons and armour adourned racks throughout the large hall, it looked like some sort of armoury. Normally that would be a good find, but here stood 2 bandits arguing with each other about who would win in a fight against a Bear. I clearly interrupted them as they both turned their ire towards me

"What are you doing in here? You know whelps aren't allowed in the armoury"
"Yeah, who the hell do you think you are? I think she might need teaching a lesson Siorra"
"Think you're right on that Knud. unless she has a damn good reason?"

They both stared at me expectantly. It was time to turn on the charm.

"err, sorry! Shit sorry, I know I'm not supposed to be in the armoury, I was told on day one that I'm not supposed to be in the armoury and that if I needed something then I should ask someone more senior to get it for me. I know that, but what the idiots didn't tell me, was which fucking bulding was the armoury! Can you beleive that shit?"

They both exchanged glances with each other, trying to keep up as rambled. I find that with certain sorts of people, if you can run your mouth off faster than they can keep up, you can get away persuading them of trivial justifications just to get you to stop yammering on.

"So yeah, sorry, I didn't know this was the armoury. I'm after the stores. Iomhar was kind enought fixup my leg for me, I busted it up outside, you know near that old collapsed tree round the back wall?"

I looked at them expectantly

"err … yeah, right mess"
"yeah, aint it. Well, anyway I was round there checking out a sound, making sure the area is secure and all that. Turned out it was just more tree detritus falling, but more dropped and it dislodged a bunch of shit that fell on me. Cut my leg up pretty fierce it did. As I've now been responsible for using up some of Iomhar's med supplies, I thought I'd see if I could replenish them for him. You know, one good turn and all that eh? So, can you point me to the stores?"

They both looked at me for a few beats, then at each other, shrugging

"Huh, yeah, that's fair enough."
"yeah, we really should be telling the whelps better."
"yeah. Anyway, sorry about that, we have to be hard on the whelps you know, it's like a tradition or something."
"yeah, we had it when we were whelps. It get's passed on don't it. Anyway, next building over is the stores. Should find what you need in there."
"yah, and you can go in there fine as a whelp. In fact most whelps spend a lot of time in there tidying and whatnot. See you around"

Thanking them over my shoulder, not wanting to give them time to think more about it, I made a hasty retreat from the armoury and headed to the stores. I figured that now I knew they were there, I might as well go see if I can snag something good while I was there. I quietly made my way across to the next building and slipped through the door.

Before my eyes could adjust to the gloomy air in there I heard a quiet yelp from furhter in the room. I stood still and silent for a few beats, trying to confirm whether I heard a person or some sort of animal loose in there.

"err, hello?" someone asked timidly from that back of the room

It seemed like fate was not with me on this excursion, I didn't seem to be able to catch a break anywhere so far. I decided to lean in to the whelp bandit persona.

"Hey, who's there? I'm just adter some med supplies" I offered as way of an explanation.
"oh, err, sure. I think they are over here", sniff, "I, err, I am allowed in here aren't I? Please, I don't mean to be where I shouldn't"

I heared sniffing between words. Clearly this was a yound new whelp who didn't seem happy with their new home. I should have just left them to it, none of my business after all and definitely not my responsibility to look after them. I almost just turned around and left, but something niggled at me. Perhaps I could persuade them to abandon such a clearly unsuitable lifestyle, go back to whatever squallid lifestyle they were living previously that made them think that this shithole would be an upgrade. With any luck, it would at least keep them alive, I didn't fancy their changes of staying in that state if they stayed here.

"Hey, hey, no worries. I think we are allowed in here, the guys in the armoury just told me that us whelps are allowed in here", I tried to calm them down.
"Oh, good, okay. I've been yelled at in so many different places so far, yet noone tells me where I am allowed to be. They just seem to like to yell at me or throw things at me instead of helping", they breathed in a shuddering breath as I approached closer.
"Are you okay?", I asked, "anything I can do to help?"
"Oh, you know, I'll be okay. I was just hiding in here while I get my shit together", they gulped more air seemingly using it to force down more cries and perhaps tears. "I'm beginning to think maybe I might have made a mistake coming here, I don't think I'm up to this", a sad pensive look settling on thier face. "I've bene on one patrol so far. Scared away some prey which the others weren't happy about. Since then I've mostly been told to keep out of the way and do shitty jobs."
"well, maybe you just need time to get better? learn the trade and all that, isn't that the point of being a whelp?", I offered hoping to encourage them if at all possible.
"Yeah, I don't think so, I nearly puked my guts out when I saw them butchering dinner last night. Honestly I don't think I'll be able to handle killing people for their stuff, you know?", they looked at me pleadingly, as if I could offer them something to make it all better. "I thohght maybe I could stick around, be helpful in other ways. I assume they need people back at the camp to handle jobs around the place, but after experiencing their hospitality, I don't like that idea either. I really don't know what to do now", their eyes became dewy. I thought they might actually cray at that point.
"Well, sure, the bandit life is not for everyone you know. It's a fucking hard life, initially for not a lot of reward. Most do it thinking they will become the next great bandit feared throughout the lands, making their riches while living large lives. Most are dissapointed as they meat their end though". I looked them straight in their eyes, trying to get a measure of their resolve. "Are you sure you want to stick around? You could just leave, go back to wherever you came from".
They looked around conspiratorially, a slight glimmer of hope in their eyes, before crashing back down with a look of grief an regret on their face. "Really? do you really think Hennion would let anyone leave once they have seen this place. I think all I have to look forward to is a short cruel life from here". At this they seemed resigned and deeply sad.
I looked around, mimicking the conspriatorial glances that they made, "don't tell anyone, but I have a way out for you if you want it"

I told them about the hole in the outer wall that I used to get in to the camp. Their eyes gained a spark of hope once more, but it was clear that they now knew something was not right with me. Making it clear that they had two options from this point, to either accept the guidance and dissappear wonce the carnage started in the night, or die right here and now, they sensibly decided on the former. They did hace one request though. By the sound of it they had been rather cruelly bullied by one particular bandit called Wena ever since they got here. They ask that if I happened across her, that I end her sorry existance and prevent them from treating any future whelp like they had treated them. I'm not sure why, I really didn't owe them anything, but I agreed to to unleash revenge on their behalf if I happened to come across them. For now I told them to stay here until they heaed trouble starting later on, then make a swift exit through the wall and never look back. Meanwhile I checked the stores for anything useful.

It felt good to have helped someone out. It also felt good to fill my supplies from the bandit's stores. They had nothing particularly noteworthy, but after a while of picking through, I found enough that should last a good while now. As the ruse with the welp had worked so well, i decided to stick with it. Taking some bandages from a crate, I headed out and back to where Iomhar was still sitting by the fire. He had finished tending his own wounds and was now sorting out what looked to be a dice game in a small box.

"Here you go, Iomhar" I said as I tossed the bandages to him. He glanced up and with quick reflexes caught them from the air, looking them over appreciatively.
"Thanks welp! You didn't need to do that, but I appreciate it all the same. You're alright you are".
I smiled back at him, continuing the conversation. We chatted small talk for ten minutes while I hoped I was being amiable and building trust. As it happened, he was from out east way, ended up here after failing misserably at the adventurer lifestyle - it turns out being pigheaed and stubborn does not really do you any favours when dealing with fickle patrons, I made a mental note to more often tell Kynan how much appreciate him having handled that side of the life for us both for so long.

As converstion lulled, two other goons came and sat by the fire, appearing to appreciate the defence from the damp cold air that the fire provided. One of them was complaing that he was being bossed around to do menial tasks
"Fuck, why the hell does he rag on me to do this shit? Do I look like a welp?"
"Heh, go on then big man, go tell Hennion you aint gonna do it, see where that gets you"
The others chuckled, knowing full well that he was just belly aching, and had no intention of defying the boss.
"What's he got you doing now?" Iomhar asked, trying haard not to smirk.
"He wants me to go get him food from the kitchen, fucking welps job that is. He knows it too, he's just alway like to piss me off like that."
"Well, you do make it easy for him. If you didn't let it get to you, he wouldn't keep doing it would he?"
"I'll do it if you like?" I interjects, playing the sheepish welp.
"Really? Why?"
"Like you said, welps job aint it? Besides, I get to curry favour with Hennion, and you get to later say that you showed initiative by delegating. Should be a win, win." I looked up at him, trying to seem the ever dutiful little welp, eager to please.
"Well lardy fucking dar! Listen her and her big words. 'delegating', oooh! Sure welp, if you want to suck up that badly, you go and do the shitty work I can't be arsed doing, like a good little welp" he upnodded his friend and they both sniggered, thinking themselves far superior to a lowly welp. I really didn't feel any desire to spare these two if came down to it.
"Okay" I said meekly, rising to my feet, "where is he and what does he want?"

"He wants stewed rabbit, but the kitchen is out, so 'someone'" he said arching his eyebrows at me "needs to go out and hunt, then go cook, then go and take it to hime like a good little welp". The two of them creased up laughing.

Motherfuckers.

Deciding that I didn't want to spend all night amongst these dolts, I decided to use some of my own supplies. If it would get me in the same room as him, it would be worth spending them.

Thankfully I had some rabbit with me. I headed to the hut with the smoke venting from a chimney, presuming it was the Kitchen.

As I made my way through the door of the kitchen, distracted while rooting in my bag for supplies to cook with, someone startled and spun around to face me as the door shut behind me. I froze in place, gulping not just just because I thought I was stood in a room with Hennion earlier than I was anticipating, but also I nearly panicked. On the one hand my mind raced a million miles per hour, adreneline coursing through me. On the other hand, if I played it right, I had had a convenient opportunity to end him right here, right now. Thankfully my dumbfounded expression probably played nicely in to my welp ruse as I stood there like a rabbit started by a clumsy hunter.

After what felt like far too long standing there like an idiot, I finally snapped out of it and jumped in to action. Quickly scanning the room showed that Hennion was alone in here, perfect.

"Oh, shit, oh, err, hey boss! Sorry, I was just coming in to make you some food" I said as I approached him. Just as I entered lunging range, I casually toss the rabbit to him with my left hand, "got this, should work nicely".

As everyone always does, just some animalistic instinct, his hand shot up and he caught that rabbit. Of course, he was entirely unaware of what was following it. As soon as I saw his eyes start to track the rabbit through the air, I knew I had to act. In an lightning quick smooth motion my right hand unsheathed my dagger and followed behind the trajectory of the rabbit. I pushed off as hard as I could, leaping stright for his neck, the dagger smoothly coming in to place pertruding from the bottom of my right hand turned towards him. As it caught up I braced the pommel of the dagger with my left hand, keeping my entire weight inline with the dagger as I shot through the air in a blistering strike.

As he caught the rabbit my dager pierced straight through it, through his hand and with all my weight behind it, pierced through his neck. The look of utter terror and bewilderment on his face was priceless. He barely had time to gurgle "what the fu…" before he crumpled to the floor in heap, blood pooling around him like crimson ink spilled from a shattered well.
As shitty luck would have it, I hadn't spotted that behind the counter that I had leapt over he held a large kitchen knife he was using to cut a chunk of cheese. Presumably he had been tired of waiting for his underlings to make him food and had come foraging himself to tide him over. That kitchen knife was now protruding from my leg. The same leg that I hurt earlier.

Fuck it hurt!

I pulled it out and wrapped a towel around it as best as I could, tending it properly would have to wait until I got out of here. Thankfully it didn't apear to have hit anything serious, the blood was seeping, but it wasn't spraying, which is usually a good sign.
Slowly the adreneline started to subside. I practiced some calm breathing to quicken my composure. I really hadn't been ready for what happened in that kitchen. Usually I would prepare myself for such things, psyche myself up, plan my attack and execute it as best I could according to that design. There should be expertise to this, Professionalism. This was definitely not that, it was much more instictual almost ferral. I needed to come up with something that could explain this clusterfuck so I could get myself out of this mess.

Trying to come up with a plan that could work, I decided on the absurd. Often I find that the more outlandish an explanation, the more likely folk will be willing to believe it, probably because it doesn't occur to them that sonmeone would make up such an rediculous ruse. I pushed the kitchen knife in to his neck, covering the piercing I had given him with my dagger then threw the pot of boiling vegetables that had been simmering away over the floor.

Eugh, this was going to be really stupid…

Bursting through the door, I yelled out "shit! shit! He's dead! Help!"
After what felt like an eternity for those miling around the grounds to process what they had heard, check my expression and realise I was serious, then reaslise that they should probable come and investigate, I was then faced with half a dozen burly bandits sprinting towards me, with more than that further away yelling to find out what was going on.

"I think he fell, looks like he fucking fell on a knife as he fell. What the fuck?!"

Pandimonium broke out. Lots of yelling, lots of pushing and shoving, I ended up almost flowing to the outside of the crowd like a buoyant bag floating to the surface of a lake. As it slowly spread through the crowd what the situation was, that their leader was dead, confusion and concern slowly transformed to anger and accusation amongst the crowd.

As the crowd started turn on one another Iomhar rushed to me, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, hissing hurriedly in my ear. "Get to his quarters, get the seal. Whoever has that commands the group. Get the sealed box under his bed. Bring it to me now!".

"Okay, okay. I'm on it!", sure I was going to do that. Now I knew this was required, I had the perfect thing to take as proof of a job well done. I sprinted over to where Iomhar had pointed, barely stopping to unlatch the door, mostly relying on my shoulder to force it open. Wishing I had time to loot the place properly, but quickly realising that I really didn't, I scrambled for the box under his bed. It looked like it was locked, so I took the whole box, contents and all.
Now I just had to escape this place. Without that seal, this place should descend in to chaos, with any luck putting an end to the struggle facing the gentle folk of the area.

Slinking back out of Hennion's cabin, I quietly made my way to the hole in the fence that I had breached this place from. As I pushed my way through and quietly made my way to the cover of the tree line, I spared a thought for that bandit from earlier that I told about this escape. I hope they managed to get out unnoticed.
As I stalked away through the first patch of trees, I could still hear the pandemonium going on within the walls of the camp. It sounded like a riot in there. With any luck they would either kill each other, or do enough damage that it would convince the remaining lot to up sticks and leave. I really hope Iomhar made it out…

It wasn't until I had been walking for half an hour that I realised that I was still wearing my purloined bandit garb. I had left my own outer armout near hole in the wall.

Damn it!