The Three Bandits
In playtesting the Knights of Kaldor campaign, three of the Bandits of
Chyle managed to escape the final conflict at Vorsten. After a sorrow-filled negotiation with the Sheriff's
knights-forester, the three outlaws struck out toward Tashal across the Kirsta
and Lonemar forests. For the first time in a long time, they are aimless. While
they might fade into the background, they might also present the chance for
recurring NPCs with a continued plot line for the GM to us.
The key to the Three Bandits (Galdyk, Garis, and
Crial) is that they are men ruled by passion. Each is in his current situation
because he followed his passion and accepted the
consequences.
Galdyk's passion is, of course, Lysella. He has lost his position, been
disowned by his family, and is now an outlaw because of his love
for her. The fact that she ran away from Emerule with him confirms that she
loves him but, at the same time, has shown him that he needs
to be able to provide more for her than the life of a bandit. He is now more
committed than ever to steal her father's treasury and ride
off to live in another kingdom with her.
As he is plotting his future with Lysella, he has also been having a sort of
spiritual revival. With Garis' help, Galdyk is returning to
the Laranian lessons that he learned as a boy. He is especially sensitive to the
White Lady's lessons about protecting those that are
weaker. The trip west from Vorsten has provided the opportunity for him to put
these lessons into practice.
With Galdyk thinking ahead and being more mature and less impetuous, I think
that he needs to adopt some sort of disguise or persona.
The Sheriff of Neph is happy to let everyone know that the renegade Squire
Galdyk is gone, so it is in Galdyk's best interests to let
the Sheriff be lulled into a false sense of security. Because Galdyk has spent
years in Fethael Hundred, he has heard stories about the
Black Bandit of Blixth. My thought is that Galdyk might add a mask and a black
cape to become the new Black Bandit. Or we can come up
with a better sobriquet. This persona is going to become important in Tashal
because I can't see a newcomer romping around a city as
small as Tashal without gaining a lot of unwanted attention. Galdyk's plan is to
play the bumpkin who has come to the city seeking work.
By day, he plays the hayseed. By night, he is the Black Bandit and the protector
of the weak.
Garis is probably the least developed character of the trio. His passion
is for life and living in the moment. Good food, good wine, and
raucous company are his expressions of his credo, "Live for today for tomorrow
we may be in Dolithar". The hard life of a bandit has
sharpened his love of Larani and he has become Galdyk's mentor as the boy
becomes a man. Garis is the source of Galdyk's resurgent
spirituality, especially as it gets channeled into protecting the poor and the
weak. The trio no longer steals from serfs. Now, they
take what they want from tithe barns and, when possible, from manor houses.
Life for Garis has taken on a new meaning and he has no desires to return to the
cloister, not that he thinks for a moment that they
would ever take him back. He is happy to move to Eastside and minister to the
poor; not as a Peonian might peach humility and accepting
one's lot in life, but as a Laranian who protects his charges and teaches them
to stand up for what is right.
I was thinking about the new personas as I drove into work this morning. I had
the idea that there would be a children's fable about a
fox, a badger, and a bear. The story, like most fables, has a moral lesson about
working together to use each other's skills and strong
points to overcome incredible odds. The Three Bandits take this idea and assume
the roles of the characters in the fable. Galdyk is
called the Fox. Garis is the Badger and Crial becomes the Bear. I will develop
this more as I go along.
Crial has suffered the most for his passion.
His love for Penele drove him to murder and exile. When he was possessed
by the ghost of Saint Freden, he killed her and was desolated. Although healed
in body, his spirit is shattered. Garis has worked hard to keep Crial from
sinking into depression but the priest knows that the young yeoman feels that he
has nothing left to live for. The answer, as Garis sees it, is to give Crial a
new purpose - protecting Galdyk and supporting this burgeoning crusade to help
the poor and downtrodden.
Crial is slow to warm to the priest's crusade but is less depressed when he has
a purpose and things to occupy his mind. The noise and bustle of Tashal are not
comfortable for him but he stays to protect Galdyk and help Garis; they are his
family now. The persona of the Bear is very suitable for Crial's powerful,
silent demeanor. He was never talkative but, since Penele's death, he has become
grim.
The Trip to Tashal
The Three Bandits' trip to Tashal begins at Vorsten. Garis has convinced Galdyk
to let Lysella return with the PCs to her father. The deal with the PCs was that
Galdyk would leave the Hundred, if not the Shire, to deflect Sir Chimin Indama's
wrath. Crial, who killed his wife Penele while possessed by the ghost of Saint
Freden, is a shell of a man. Once energetic, he now shuffles behind the other
two bandits as they hike west through the Lonemor Forest. A quick hit and run
raid on an iron mine yields supplies and horses to speed their escape. They ride
west and north, robbing clergy on the road and raiding small manors on their
way.
Crial's mood has become violent during the trip. He alternates between morose
silence and berserker-like violence. Garis is not concerned that Crial would
attack him or Galdyk but he worries that Crial's instability might draw the
attention of the authorities. Garis takes him to the Peonian temple in Querina.
He explains to the priestess that Crial has suffered a great loss (omitting the
part about being an outlaw, of course) and is now slipping into madness. The
priestess performs a healing ritual on Crial, restoring the yeoman's sanity. She
tells the trio that Crial is no longer standing on the cliff of lunacy but has
to find his own way back to happiness.
With Crial healed, Galdyk's attention turns back to the calendar. Kelen has slid
into Nolus and Galdyk is worried that the Indamas may already be in Tashal. He
leads the group to Heru, traveling fast and only stealing when they need to. The
spend a few days poking around and find out that the Baron has not been to Heru
yet. Gladyk has to be very careful in Heru, as he might be recognized by
servants and squires in the keep. There does not seem to be a hue and cry, so
the trio take to the road again and go to Tashal.
The Three Bandits enter the city around the 15th of Nolus and manage to find
lodgings in Eastside (I recommend using Kerry's fanon article here). They find
jobs in a small tavern as laborers. The pay is almost nothing but food is
included. Galdyk and the others commit a little petit larceny no and then to
cover the rent. While Garis and Crial are trying to make a new life in Tashal,
Galdyk is planning his next move. His plan is to run off with Lysella and her
father's treasury. Having been reunited with his love and secured enough wealth
to see them safely and comfortably to Chybisa, Galdyk plans to take passage on a
talbar to Jedes and then ride hard, cross country if necessary, to get to
Burzyn.
While in Tashal, however, the group assume the personas of the Fox, the Badger,
and the Bear. Maybe they actually wear masks of the animal characters. They do
some good deeds in the neighborhood and gain a small reputation as vigilantes,
rather than robbers. The poor start to like them. The Lia Kavair want to know
who they are and why they are not "bumping up" tribute. The Guard want them to
stop interfering.
In Tashal: Galdyk has been in the city for several
ten days before the Baron arrives. He may have made some underground contacts (he
has to be earning a living somehow) and he is going to be looking out for the
Barons arrival to see about making a grab for Lady Lysella again, but I was thinking
that some other element will get in the way, to help foil his plans again. By
the way there must be a limit to how far he will keep going after her, before he
gives up?
Side Plots in Tashal
- The trio slips back into its old ways and mugs a Laranian priest. There
is an outcry from the Temple and the Guard starts a manhunt.
- Crial protects a street waif from a Lia Kavair collector. The criminal's
retribution draws Galdyk into a fight with Brulin (from Kerry's Eastside
article). Brulin is the local gang enforcer. Escalation leads to a conflict
with Lady Perl [Tashal #E7] but Firan (Eastside article #2) plays the Three
Bandits off against Lady Perl to see what he can pick up out of the fight.
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