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Something Must Be Done...
Part 6:
Brainstorming
©2007
Aric Olsen, with thanks to Paul Del Vecchio
Greywarden hoped he hid his surprise well. Here was one of the De
la Vega family - a name known well all the way back to his home
in Thyatis! He had worked for the trading empire in the past as a
carpenter, but never had he worked directly for - or with - one of the
De la Vega clan. It was said that they were one of the most well
connected of the trading empires in six countries. It stood to reason,
though, that a representative from the family would be close by - there
was a huge amount of annual trade traveling through Reedle as well as
the rest of the range to the south.
"I know you. I cannot say from where...but I have the feeling I have met
you before." he said to Lucio. He could see the same look of misplaced
familiarity on the woodsman's face, and he had an odd feeling that they
would be friends - if they lived through the coming ordeal.
"I know, Greywarden. I've had the strangest feeling we've met ever since
I stepped into the common room." replied Lucio.
"You like the stew, yes?"
"'Tis a bit thin for my liking...it could do with a little more spice."
"Then Adele is suffering from these attacks, too. We should come up with
some kind of a plan. That way the food will get better!" suggested
Greywarden, shifting his attention to the slight woman on his right.
She was more of a mystery, though her question to Lucio concerning
magical residue made him wonder if she, like himself, had the gift.
Enough of appraising each other. As his father would say - they'd find
out what each other was made of after a few days on the job. The
important questions of reconnaissance out of the way, his mind began to
look forward toward what they might encounter when they found their
quarry.
"As I said, I believe the creature is armored." Lucio said, addressing
Greywarden's earlier question. "I was thinking of some kind of heavy
crossbow - maybe even a ballista. That way we could target it from a
ways away."
"I agree, but if one shot doesn't kill it, you'd be hard pressed to fire
another, given the reload time.... What if we had some kind of rope
attached to the bolt - with the other end tied off to a tree? The we
could defeat it in our own time..." Greywarden's suggestion had a huge
flaw, which even he saw right away. The lithe woman was shaking her head
negatively even as Lucio responded.
"This thing's over twelve feet long, Greywarden! The rope would break
for sure....unless maybe some kind of elven rope. It is much stronger
than normal line." She was quietly shaking her head again, and
Greywarden thought he could see where her mind might be headed.
"What if we had an enchantment laid on the rope? Made the line
unbreakable...magically" then it couldn't maneuver," floated
Greywarden.
"Then we're running the risk of it breaking the tree we tie it to."
And so it went. Several plans were talked about between the group. They
spoke of netting it - thereby negating its apparent leaping ability.
They considered a pit trap. They even considered tagging it somehow,
with an object that could be magically tracked.
"That way we can follow it back to its home, and poke it with long
sticks - from a safe distance." interjected Greywarden, who thought he
might know how to make an arrowhead traceable. The "safe distance"
comment, though, even brought a rare smile to Bentir's craggy visage.
"What if we drown it?"
"What if we burn, it?"
Finally the options were exhausted, and the quartet lapsed into silence.
As the end of the conversation neared, one thing became more and more
apparent: The party needed more information. They needed to investigate
at least one of the sites where these merchants lost their lives. Were
they up to it?
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