Empires of Ashes

*Skip to them arriving at the next town.*

Kenshin: I...need a drink

Joachim: Ugh. More of that sake....very well. Let's tie the horses up.

after they do they find a sake den and sit
mako orders everyone a round

*And cue rather slow and hesitant sips from the Brigardi.*

kenshin hears a noise and turns. seeing a woman crying at a nearby table he goes over to her and starts talking to her. the brigardi cannot hear what is said

*Joachim keeps an eye on the exchange.*

he puts an arm around the woman

*He arches an eyebrow.*

they keep talking

*More eye keeping.*

he comes back over and grabs his naginata

Joachim: Problem?

"Her little girl just got kidnapped by bandits"

Joachim: What?

"And I told her I'd track them down"

Joachim: You're serious? How can you be sure it's not a trap?

"....by who?"

Joachim: The bandits, of course? A sob story is always good bait.

"That's why I was going to ask you to come along, watch my back and counter-ambush if necessary"

Joachim: *Sighs* You're going to do this whether I say "no" or not, so fine. I'll have my men in reserve. Just in case.

"Thankyou"

*Joachim orders his men to ready themselves.*

Joachim *to Kenshin*: Look, if this is an ambush, we'll need to end it quickly. I've already had to bury three of my men. I don't wish to bury more.

"I understand"
Mako is also ready

Joachim: Lead the way.

Kenshin: well first I want to ask the guards. she would have herself but.....she's not exactly respected by the locals

Joachim: Why's that?

"She's...a prostitute"

Joachim: I see...

"what?"

Joachim: Nothing. Let's just get this done.

*Having slaughtered the nobles the Cymriacs proceed to loot everything and soon have to steal several wagons to carry all of the stuff they nicked. Realising that carrying a ton of loot is not a particularly smart choice should the enemy decide to do something, the Prince orders his men to return to the freshly captured town near Trajan so they can dump everything.*

he nods

Joachim: Let's hurry. Lead the way.

he does so, heading for the guardpost

*The expedition follows.*

once they get there
Kenshin: Gādo o sumimasen. Anata wa koko o `tōzoku' no pasu no gurūpu o mita koto ga arimasu ka?
(Excuse me, guard. Have you seen a group of 'bandits' pass through here?)
Guard: U ̄ n... Hayaku tsūka shita aka no te no gurūpu ga arimashita
(Well...there was the red hand group who passed through earlier)
Kenshin: Akai te? Sore wa osoraku, sorera o suru kotodeshou. Karera wa mezurashī... Nani o shoji shite imashita ka?
(The red hand? That'll probably be them. Were they in possession of anything...unusual?)
Guard: *thinks* U ̄ n... Karera wa fukuro o motte imashita
(Well...they had a sack)
Kenshin: Kibo wa dono teido? Uchigawa... To iu ko ga osamaru hodo no biggu?
(How big? Big enough to fit say...a child inside?)
Guard: *puzzed* ... Hai. Sore wa bitto koyūdesu
(...yes. That's a bit specific)
Kenshin: Karera wa dochira no michi o iku nodesu ka?
(Which way did they go?)
Guard: *points* Sono hōhō. Yuiitsu no koto watashi wa kangaeru koto ga dekiru sono hōhō wa, wareware wa karera ga mae ni shiyō shite mitekita kyanpude su
(That way. Only thing that way I can think of is a camp we've seen them use before)
Kenshin: Arigatō *turns back to the brigardi* We have a lead
(Thankyou)

Joachim: Then let's go gut the bastards.

"So seems these are no 'bandits'. They're the Red hand. Mercenary group made of former voldamian warriors"

Joachim: How does that changes things then?

"They're actually professional, and definitly skilled"

/A few hours later at nightfall\

*The Cymraic force marches back through the canyon and around to the captured settlement, where they drop off everything they looted and set up camp for the night. Doing on the food they stole and some they bought*

Joachim: Damn it..So what's the plan then?

"First we track them. Then remain unseen, assess the situation"

Joachim: That's the easy part. When it comes to fighting them....Would there be any way to break their morale?

"Unlikely. Would be best to assess the situation once we've found them"

Joachim: Then we should hurry.

he nods and leads the way
unless Joachim or the others have any questionss onn the way, time skip to almost being there?

*Yes*

they get very close to the camp, having followed a path through the forest

*They begin to observe the mercenaries.*