Trolls and Trinkets 2e

"If we don't move, something's telling me this won't end well for us." Octavion says.

Dezenn's response came by way of waiting another minute or so before carefully rising from her position lying on the ground, making sure the guards didn't see her, and then beginning to move silently.

Octavion and Anastasia follow her lead.

After a few minutes of sneaking, Dezenn decided they were far enough away and poked her head momentarily above the foliage to see if they were being followed...

"OK, which way did they go?" David asked the tracker.

"Well, give me just a little time to figure this out."

"He still hasn't figured out where we are, it looks like. Should I take the shot?" Dezenn wondered aloud, absently fitting a spike into her sling.

"Ah, I think I know where they hid. They must have jumped of about here, and then hid while we ran past them."

"So they went back along the path? We've got them now" David sneered.

"Not necessarily, they could have moved that way [pointing to the right], that way [180 rotation], or perhaps they did backtrack."

"Just find them already" David said, sounding very impatient.

Dezenn made up her mind and the spike arrowed forward through the evening air...

The member 'Mycrodeeth' has done the following action : Roll dice

'd20' : 5

The spike missed, though it made only a slight thunk as it hit a nearby tree. Dezenn quickly resummoned it, lest they find the spike in the tree and figure out what happened; as it was they'd probably mistake the noise for one of the prisoners.

The knife buried itself in a tree next to the tracker "well, I guess I know which direction they went."

David wasn't listening and was issuing commands to saddle up and chase the criminals down. David and the Tracker followed the guards from behind.

Dezenn quietly relocated while the guards headed in their general direction.

"Guards, spread out, they can't be far now!" David instructed "Tracker, keep doing whatever you do to find them."

"Well, it will be hard tracking with people runnign all over"

"Do I care? NO" David replied "maybe if you work faster, you'd actually have results."

Dezenn, seeing the tracker moving relatively slowly, took careful aim this time and attacked again.

[Rolling]

The member 'Mycrodeeth' has done the following action : Roll dice

'd20' : 11

The spike punched through the man's collarbone and out his back, the force of the impact throwing him to the forest floor as blood spouted from the wound.

[Not fatal...if treated right the hell away by someone who has healing magic.]

[That could be problematic]

This time the guards spotted the prisoners and charged after them.

David took the tracker and rode into the city for a healer.

[Surprising that David didn't charge at them...the guard won't survive a ride into town, he should know that.]

Dezenn decided that relocation was the better course of valor at the moment and ran. Again.

(Has our party been formally introduced?)

Malachai follows Dezenn, but as they go, he whispers to the party.

"Listen. I know that Judge. And that Vampire. But if they're the same person, it begins to make a lot more sense. I used to work as the executioner around here. 

I never really cared much about who I killed, until one day a local cleric came up on the chopping block. The funny thing was, she was accused of witchcraft. With her dying breath, she asked her god to curse me, until the day justice reigned in the land again. And that he did.

The one thing that can hold my curse at bay was stolen from me by a vampire, and if she stole that, I have no doubt she might posses other treasure. Probably enough to climb to the top of your... 'association'... miss. 

For your part Spartan, I'm surprised you'd turn down a challenge like this. And I'd think you'd want revenge, Anastasia.
 
What's more, if that Judge stayed in power, I think we'd all be back in jail before long. If not worse. Finding her is more than worth the risk."

[David's duty is to protect his co-workers even with little to no chance of success.]

The guards chase the group, repeatedly shouting for the group to stop.

Dezenn's eyes glazed over slightly as she realized what exactly Malachai was talking about. Being Guildmaster of her field didn't appeal to her so much as possessing so much treasure...

The tracker was brought to a healer, and David left again to find his guards.

"Well," Octavion says, "I heard about Spartans who have left to fight vampires and were never heard from again. Most likely because they had no idea what they were doing. So I was trying not to make that same mistake."

"And do you know how to kill a vampire?" Dezenn asked pointedly as they ran from the guards.

Rather than returning to the pursuit, which another guard now commands, David returned to the guardhouse and held a meeting with the top city guards "Where would the prisoners run? It will be dusk soon and there tends to be nasty stuff as well as robbers at night."

The commanders glanced at a map and choose five villages that were close to the area of pursuit "Perhaps in one of these villages. We will send the birds with messages to alert their guards and people."

"Just when they thought they'd get away, they find themselves back in this prison" laughed the commander of the east gate.

"I don't know, our escapees have proven themselves to be incredibly resourceful, but it is the best we can do for the moment" replied David "Don't just stand there! Send the messages already!"