Getting Started

Getting Started

                "I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this," the blonde, curly-haired girl said. She was just shy of womanhood - seventeen years of age and near her birthday - but she looked several years younger. It made her seem innocent and sweet, and was the entire reason she had been recruited into the conspiracy (though she had proven to be a deft hand with a knife).

                "No turning back now," replied a man in his forties. He was a short man, and though he seemed predisposed towards having a large paunch he barely had one. His head was sparcely covered with gray hair; the result of many stressful years. He laid his hand on the pommel of his sword, and peered at the road.

                The man's name was Benjamin, and he was the owner of an inn in the nearby village of Grayarc. The girl, Bronwyn, was also from the village; as was every member of the ambush party - a brown-haired twenty-something man named Ned who had no trade; a red-haired thirty year-old local hunter named Eustace, barred from hunting following an accident; and a black-haired but graying spinster of uncertain age called Lisa who had been a weaver, but whose hands had begun to shake too much to weave properly.

                They were a sorry bunch; poor or tradeless. Even Benjamin, the inn owner and mastermind of the group, had hit upon hard times - a key trade route had been moved to completely bypass the Black Arc in his father's day, and his inn had become a rundown hovel. And Bronwyn; her parents had left the village two years ago to seek their fortune, and she had not heard from them since. Even worse, a rumour had spread that her family was cursed, and so despite her age no-one would apprentice her, nor would anyone ask her hand in marriage.

                They had been brought together by Benjamin, who had a plan for them all to make some money: robbing people. They would wait by the trade road and ambush the first good target that wandered past. A few minutes ago the hunter, Eustace, had whistled a bird call from up ahead to signal an incoming mark.

                "Time to go, girl," said Benjamin, pushing Bronwyn onto the road.

                Bronwyn stumbled out, but managed to stand up properly before a close-topped carriage rounded the bend up ahead. "Bastard," she grumbled under her breath.

                The plan was pretty simple. Bronwyn was to make the target stop, giving a story about someone wounded just off the road. After they stopped, Benjamin would topple a prepared tree across the path and come out of hiding along with Ned and Lisa. Benjamin would demand their valuables, and after receiving them the group would leave along with any horses to head back to their hide out. If anyone resisted, they'd kill them to establish a reputation.

                "Help! Help!" shouted Bronwyn, as the carriage approached. It slowed down and came to a stop right in front of her, as she flailed her arms up and down. The driver of the carriage was a neatly dressed but very tough looking man, armed with a cutlass.

                "What's the problem, lass?" asked the man, eyeing the forest warily. Noticing the tree beginning to fall, he swore and leapt down from the carriage, tapping on it as he dropped.

                Bronwyn backed up as the rest of the group emerged from the woods, weapons readied. Benjamin had a sword and wore some light mail that had been kept by his family after a knight had keft it in their inn, but Ned only had a spear and Lisa a club. The door of the carriage opened and a youthful, well-dressed man stepped out.

                "A hold up, is it, Barry?" asked the young man. His voice was calm, but his body language betrayed his nervousness.

                "Yes, your lordship," answered the driver. "I've no doubt they've another man or two watching us, likely with bows," he added.

                "I see," the noble replied.

                "That's enough chit chat from you two," said Benjamin. "Hand over your valuables and we'll let you live!"

                "I'm not carrying anything of value," replied the nobleman.

                Benjamin glared angrily at the man. "Tell your driver to drop his cutlass, then both of you get away from the carriage. L, check out the carriage when they've moved, and B, I want you to pat down the driver. Stab him if he gives you any trouble," he commanded.

                The nobleman and his driver obliged, and the members of Benjamin's group did as he ordered. "You, nobleman; strip," Benjamin added.

                As Bronwyn patted down the driver, Lisa's voice came from the caravan. "It's very nice in here, but I can't see anything beyond the remnants of some food in here. Looks like he's taking some kind of day trip, probably visiting some rich friend of his," she said, sounding a little envious.

                "Check for hidden compartments and the like," said Bejamin.

                As Benjamin spoke, the driver made attempted to grab Bronwyn. She had been patting down his pants for hidden coins in the seams or hidden pockets; and he attempted to wrap his arm around her neck. But just as his arm looped around her neck, he screamed in pain. Bronwyn stepped back from him as he tottered forwards, a bloody knife in her right hand.

                "You bitch!" the driver said, grabbing at his leg.

                "You shouldn't have tried to grab me, knobface," retorted Bronwyn. Benjamin laughed, but kept his eyes on the disrobing nobleman.

                "N, get the horses," Benjamin said, as he grabbed the nobleman's clothes.

                Ned cut the horses free, and started to lead them away. "You're going to leave us out here with no horses?" the nobleman asked, shocked.

                "Yep. Don't worry, people come up and down this road all the time. Someone'll find you before nightfall," Benjamin said. "Y'know, maybe, just maybe, this road shouldn't go through abandoned regions so the only travellers are rich bastards, patrols, and merchants? That'd sure make it harder for bandits like us to get away with this kind of thing, don't you think?"

                "Like I have any control over that. It was the old Duke's bloody plan to straighten out the roads, and it is no fault of any if your village refused to move," the nobleman said, angry and full of pomp despite his state of undress.

                Benjamin started going red at the nobleman's response, but Lisa interrupted him. She had just hopped out of the carriage, her search complete. "Nothing!" she said grumpily.

                "Time for us to leave," Benjamin said. He pointed his sword at the pair of victims, and said, "You try to follow us and we'll kill you. Let's go."

                The group backed into the woods, keeping their eyes on their victims until they were quite distant. "Two horses and some pretty clothes. That'll keep us going," said Ned, sarcastically.

                "The driver had some coins on him and we've got his cutlass too," Bronwyn said.

                Ned gave a harrumph, and continued leading the horses. Now that they were out of sight, Eustace rejoined the group. "I overheard you lot talking about the haul," he said. "I guess we should head further up the road and try again?"

                "Can't risk running into a patrol that's looking for us," said Benjamin. "More to the point, that fucker. I can't believe he doesn't know that the land around here's useless for farming. 'Move the village'. Fucking arsehole."

                Bronwyn giggled, and Ned laughed heartily, lightening up. "That's why you went red! Hah! It's not exactly the first thing that comes to mind," said Lisa, laughing as well. "It's a damn shame the old Duke didn't realise the cost to some villages when he made his plan."

                "Oh, he realised," said Eustace. "But the potential profit swayed him. It's bad for some, but good for the Duchy. And truth be told, only you can blame your poor fortune on the road. The rest of us... We'd probably be in the same situation anyway."

                Benjamin grimaced and ground his teeth, but remained silent. "Well, this was good! We managed to rob someone without having to kill them," Bronwyn said with a smile, seeking to brighten the mood.

                "Except you stabbed the driver!" rebutted Ned.

                "I only did it because I had to," Bronwyn replied, smiling viciously.

                The mood lightened, the group made their way back to the place they had chosen to be their hideout.