Ch21: The Bandit Camp

A few thin pillars of smoke rise into the night sky, almost impossible to see if not for the countless stars serving as a beautiful backdrop.

Some unfinished log palisades stand ahead of Krvavy, and behind them lay a bunch of tents.

This place has ‘early game encounter’ written all over it.

But there is one problem with it: the camp is a lot bigger than Krvavy expected. She can count twelve triangular tents scattered inside the unfinished outer wall, along with a significantly larger and more rectangular one in the very center.

On top of that... the ‘outer wall’ also has three watchtowers built into it. Granted, calling them ‘watchtowers’ is actually pretty generous. They are really little more than small platforms raised up behind the unfinished palisade.

But the important part is that all three platforms are manned: the one far to her right has two bandits playing some sort of card game together, another bandit is holding a torch out and pacing back and forth on the one across the camp, and the third has a bandit seemingly asleep in a chair on it.

Hopefully that last bandit isn’t just pretending, as Krvavy is currently creeping her way towards his section of the wall. It is quite convenient, really, as not only is that section the closest to her, but it also looks like it is the least finished. Either that or the gap in the wall directly beside the platform is meant to be the entrance...

Sneaking her way into the camp undetected, Krvavy decides to begin her attack by finishing off the sleeping guard. How she handles the rest of the camp will depend on how that goes. She’d rather not fight them all head on, but that might not be as hard as it sounds. After all, most of the bandits in here are almost certainly asleep or drunk. Or both. And that is saying nothing of their rather low quality weapons and armour.

The more she sees the more certain she is that the Orcs were a higher level encounter...

Still, just because Krvavy thinks she might be able to take this whole camp on at once doesn’t mean she should do that. It’ll be a lot easier to just stealth kill as many as she can before the alarm gets raised. Not necessarily as fun, but dying isn’t fun either.

Creeping up the few steps towards the back of the sleeping guard, Krvavy raises her axe high above her head before swinging it down towards his collarbone.

Critical Hit! 419.2 damage dealt to [Sleeping Bandit Watchman]

[Sleeping Bandit Watchman] has been slain!+175 Experience

The axe head digs deeply into the torso of this now deceased bandit, but rather than try to immediately pull it free Krvavy instead reaches towards the candle beside him and snuffs it out. Hopefully if any other bandits look this way they’ll just see his silhouette and think he is sleeping.

Actually, maybe that wasn’t the best idea... That candle didn’t exactly make a lot of light, so unless someone was really close by they probably wouldn’t have even been able to tell he was dead...

Well, too late for that. Krvavy hastily extracts her weapon from the corpse and gets back onto the ground, sighing in relief as she glances at the other two platforms. It doesn’t look like either of them noticed what she did.

Thinking for a moment, Krvavy decides to continue along the edge towards the pacing watchman. He’ll be easier to stealthily deal with than the two that are playing cards. She doesn’t head directly towards him though, as she has to pass by quite a few tents on the way there.

And she’d best take advantage of that fact.

The tents are pretty basic, being little more than some sort of canvas slung over a wooden frame. Someone could enter from either end by simply lifting up the flaps. Which is quite convenient. There are a few dying campfires lighting up the fronts of these tents, but nothing back here in the darkness behind them.

The stale smell of sweat and alcohol hits Krvavy before she can even finish carefully lifting up the flap of the nearest tent. Inside she is met by the sleeping face of a rather ugly bandit. That makes this so much easier.

Critical Hit! 500 damage dealt to [Sleeping Bandit Drunkard]

[Sleeping Bandit Drunkard] has been slain!+150 Experience

With the bandits head right there in front of her it took almost no effort at all to position her axe above his neck and simply press down on it, decapitating him with little noise. It is quite the dick move, killing a man in his sleep, but at least it was quick. Besides, the first one of these bandits that she killed died while pissing. This is a bit more dignified than that.

The next tent in her path has no one sleeping inside of it. But there does appear to be a little bit of loot inside it. More specifically, there is an open pouch of coins. Sadly, she’ll have to leave that where it is for now. Krvavy doesn’t really have anywhere to store the coins on her. Nor does she want the clinking sound to give her away.

Continuing on towards the pacing watchman, Krvavy checks out the next two tents. Both had sleeping bandits in them, and both bandits were quickly killed.

[Sleeping Bandit A] has been slain!+185 Experience

[Sleeping Bandit B] has been slain!+170 Experience

Approaching the platform with the pacing watchman, Krvavy carefully raises her axe and gets ready to strike. It won’t be as clean a kill as the sleeping guard, but if she is quick–

Level Up! You have reached Level 5. As a Drakling blessed by a divine power, you have 5 attribute points to allocate and have gained +2 to Might & Toughness. If not allocated by the time you fall asleep it will be done automatically.

That notification startles Krvavy and messes up her swing. Instead of striking the back of the bandits neck like she intended, her axe crashes into his lightly armoured back with as much force as she can muster.

238.15 damage dealt to [Pacing Bandit Watchman]

Krvavy’s strike forces the air from his lungs in a wheeze, preventing him from shouting out in alarm and giving her the chance to rush forwards to finish him off with her knife.

Critical Hit! 150 damage dealt to [Pacing Bandit Watchman]

[Pacing Bandit Watchman] has been slain!+210 Experience

Pulling the blade from his throat, and her axe from his back, Krvavy lets the body fall to the ground as quietly as she can. There isn’t anything she can use to put the torch out, so she just drops it over the palisade wall onto some rocks before quickly getting back on the ground and into the shadows.

Looking at her notifications, it seems that her Stealth skill was what caused her to level up. A bit ironic that it almost ruined her attempt at being stealthy... But she doesn’t have time to dwell on that, or to allocate her attribute points, as she needs to be quick. If any bandit happens to look this way they’ll notice this missing guard right away.

That said, she doesn’t just rush straight towards the two card playing watchmen. Krvavy doubts that she will be able to kill them both without alarming the rest of the camp, so it would be best to continue thinning the bandits out. In other words, she continues going tent to tent killing the bandits in their sleep.

[Sleeping Bandit C] has been slain!+165 Experience

Unfortunately, out of the four tents she looked inside only one had a bandit. But that isn’t too bad. Krvavy figures that, in the worst case scenario where she alerts the entire camp, she will only have to fight around five other bandits. There could be more, as Krvavy has just been assuming that the big tent in the middle of the camp is housing the bandit chief, but there could be others inside there for all she knows.

Either way, it is time for her to take out the card players now. They are facing each other at an angle, and seem rather engrossed in their game, so there is a chance that she could catch one by surprise... Krvavy doesn’t need to keep being stealthy, but she is actually having a bit of fun with it. And with her combat focused build – and her far from subtle physique – this might be the only chance she’ll get to creep around like some sort of assassin.

The wooded step up to the platform creaks under Krvavy’s weight, causing the left watchman to turn his head towards her. Deciding to act now, Krvavy swings her axe towards his face.

Critical Hit! 600 damage dealt to [Bandit Watchman, Left]

[Bandit Watchman, Left] has been slain!+205 Experience

Her axe crashes directly into his eyes, cutting deeply into his skull. But not all the way through... The other watchman makes a surprised noise as he jumps to his feet, knocking his chair back and off the platform before shouting out.

His shout doesn’t last for long though, as Krvavy jerks her axe free and swings it towards him in one motion, slamming the backside into his stomach.

36.81 damage dealt to [Bandit Watchman, Right]

The hit forces air from his lungs and abruptly cuts his warning cry off with a gasp. Staggering back from the force, he trips on the uneven wood of the platform and falls off of it, landing onto the chair with a loud crash. On the inside of the palisade walls, luckily.

Krvavy doesn’t waste that opportunity, quickly jumping off the platform and landing beside him. She simply brings her bloodied axe down onto him as he struggles to get up.

400 damage dealt to [Bandit Watchman, Right]

[Bandit Watchman, Right] has been slain!+195 Experience

With how much noise she just made Krvavy assumes that the ruse is up and there is no point in her continuing her stealth. That assumption is proven right as the flap of the nearest tent opens and a groggy bandit pokes his head out.

Critical Hit! 500 damage dealt to [Groggy Bandit]

[Groggy Bandit] has been slain!+155 Experience

Before the bandit could even comprehend what is happening, her axe was swinging towards his face. She quickly checks the next three tents for bandits, confirming that each one is empty. It looks like she has cleared the bandit camp, except for whoever is inside the big tent in its center.

Krvavy tries not to let the relative ease of all this make her feel overconfident.

Yes, she one shot nearly every bandit so far. But with sneak attacks. Ones aimed mostly towards these bandits’ heads and necks. If that wasn’t enough to kill them in one hit, then she’d be really worried.

Her fingers tighten around her bone-handled axe as she steps towards the last tent. It is quite different from the others. And not just because it is a lot more house shaped, with a rectangular base and a triangular roof atop it. No, the main difference is its size. This tent isn’t massive by any means, Krvavy has to duck through the tent flap doorway, but there is enough headroom for her to stand up straight in here. Provided that she remains near the middle under the peak, that is.

Krvavy’s guard is immediately raised upon entering the tent, because there isn’t anyone in here. At least not in this part, as the back half seems to be sectioned off. To her left is a table covered in cutlery and plates with a lit lantern sitting atop it. To her right is a tall box shape covered by a sheet of rough fabric.

Unable to resist her curiosity, Krvavy reaches a hand toward the covered box and grabs onto the sheet. Quickly pulling it away uncovers a crude metal cage. A cage containing a blonde girl wearing a dirtied yet rather fancy dress. The cage is too small for the girl to lie down in, so she has instead curled up into a ball with her knees pulled to her chest and is sitting back against the bars on the far side of it.

The blonde girl’s eyes open with fear, showing their beautiful light blue colour. Her expression quickly morphs to confusion as she looks Krvavy over, before hope fills her eyes and she begins to babble out to the barbarian.

Not wanting to alert the final bandit, as there surely is one, Krvavy brings a finger to her lips and quietly shushes the girl.

But the captive blonde doesn’t seem to care, as she waves a hand dismissively and gets a bit more frantic in her babbling.

Before Krvavy can respond she hears a loud click from behind her, which is accompanied by a gruff voice. Turning, Krvavy sees a bandit wearing a dull metal breastplate over a padded gambeson, along with some other pieces of metal armour that the other bandits didn’t have, including a crude barbute helmet. The armour isn’t what catches Krvavy’s attention though, as that would be the very large and heavy crossbow in his hands.

She barely has a moment to take that sight in before the bolt is loosed with a heavy thwack.

-121.6 HealthYou have been inflicted with a Moderate Wound: Bleeding. You will lose 0.75 Health per minute as long as the bleeding continues.

A sharp stabbing pain erupts from her left shoulder. She can feel blood dripping down the front of her chest and down her back. The bolt is still inside of her and seems to have hit just beneath her collarbone.

For some reason, her mind focuses on the fact that the bolt is pretty close to where the Orc archer’s arrow hit her. That annoys her, as she has a rather large body so why is everyone aiming at that spot?! The fact that her heart lays nearby doesn’t even occur to Krvavy as rage fills her mind, blocking out any further thoughts on that matter.

With her vision blurring and going red, Krvavy doesn’t register the shock on the bandit chiefs face as he drops his crossbow and draws a sword. She simply charges him, holding her axe in one hand and swinging at his left side in a wide horizontal arc.

141.8 damage dealt to [Bandit Chief]

His sword is immediately shattered as he attempts to block her strike. A bright flash of blue energy bursts out as it breaks, but neither that nor the blade was enough to stop her axe from biting deep into his left bicep.

As she pulls her axe free from his now limp arm the bandit chief thrusts his broken sword forwards, stabbing her in the stomach and leaving it there. The broken blade quickly falls from her body, with its pommel and guard weighing it down.

-60.8 HealthYou have been inflicted with a Minor Wound: Light Bleeding. You will lose 0.25 Health per minute as long as the bleeding continues.

Without any hesitation, the bandit chief pulls a short dagger from his belt and strikes out towards Krvavy.

-31.47 Health-9.23 Health

Krvavy blocks the attack with her left arm, though the dagger still bites into her scaled flesh. Moving her arm like that causes a sharp pain to shoot from her back, causing the bolt sticking out of her body to cut into her moving muscles.

Gritting her teeth from the pain, Krvavy lunges forwards and slams her horned head down into the bandit chiefs helmet.

-12.45 Health44.8 damage dealt to [Bandit Chief]

Dazed by the unexpected headbutt, the bandit chief is unable to react in time as she swings her axe up and to the left, directly into his knee.

168.2 damage dealt to [Bandit Chief]

With a crunch and a pop, his knee bends at an unnatural angle and he falls to the ground. But as he falls he thrusts out with his dagger, stabbing it into her left thigh and dragging the blade down her leg.

-45.6 Health-22.89 HealthYou have been inflicted with a Moderate Wound: Bleeding. You will lose 0.75 Health per minute as long as the bleeding continues.

The bandit chief jerks his dagger from her flesh but loses his grip on it as he crashes into the ground. The pain brings Krvavy to her knees, which unfortunately for the bandit means that she slams down atop of his mangled legs.

-8.4 Health26.9 damage dealt to [Bandit Chief]

Letting go of her axe, Krvavy brings her right hand up to the bandits head and tears his helmet off. With her mind clouded by rage and pain, Krvavy once again pays no attention to the abject fear on this mans face. She simply brings her head down and slams her upper horns into said face, again and again and again.

47.32 damage dealt to [Bandit Chief]62.79 damage dealt to [Bandit Chief]71.26 damage dealt to [Bandit Chief]

[Bandit Chief] has been slain!+375 Experience

She slams her horns down into the bloody mush that was previously a face some more before a warning rings out through her mind: she has taken a lot of damage and is currently bleeding out.

That realization snaps her back into lucidity. Jerking her head to the side, glossing over the absolutely terrified captive blonde, Krvavy sees a wooden box filled with what appears to be rolls of bandages beneath the table near the tent entrance.

Scrambling over there, ignoring the sharp pain from her shoulder, Krvavy hastily begins to wrap her wounds in the bandages. She uses far more than she needed to, mostly because she doesn’t quite know what she is doing, but in just a matter of minutes she is able to bind her arm, thigh, and midsection, which just leaves the bolt beneath her shoulder.

-21.5 Health

Krvavy grits her teeth and ignores the pain of forcing the bolt through her body and out her back. With the metal no longer in her, she quickly wraps the wound up in bandages, covering most of her shoulder and neck in the process.

It would seem that her hasty first aid was successful, as she is no longer losing health to bleeding.

With a sigh she stands up and pulls out a chair, turning it slightly before sitting on it sideways and staring at the blonde in the cage. The girl seems to have gotten over the shock a bit, as she has begun frantically babbling at Krvavy again, though her voice sounds a bit shaky. Not a surprise, considering what she just witnessed.

Krvavy doesn’t mind that though, as she just needs to take a bit of a breather. That was a very close fight, all because of that crossbow and the sword that she can only assume was enchanted. That is the only explanation she cares to think of for why it exploded into blue light.

Shaking her head dismissively, Krvavy leans back against the table and listens to the incomprehensible babbling of the captive in front of her. At least she is gaining progress towards a new language while taking a break.

It’s a good thing that Krvavy went for a stealthy approach tonight. She almost certainly could have still dished out enough damage to take all these bandits out head on, but could she have handled the damage they’d return to her in kind? Probably not. This game doesn’t pull punches when it comes to combat.

She needs to keep that in mind.