Chapter 12 - Bandit Family?

Main Character gains +1 to language proficiency. Language Proficiency has reached a beginner level. You are now able to speak and understand simple terms in Common.

Main Character gains +1 to Tracking. You are now able to hunt and locate creatures based on the trails that they leave behind.

You step out from the forest, nothing but your leather garbs and rusted dagger to accompany you. The few hours in the forest had left you in a worse state than you expected but with food in your belly, you find the strength.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" You shout at the bandits, pointing towards the direction of the armed soldiers. The gang looks up at you and brandishes their weapons before sparing a glance at the location that you are pointing in.

A little bit of sign language later and a scout returns in a panic, quickly informing the bandits of what you could see from above. They immediately wrap up the raid on the caravan.

Decisively deciding to leave behind the loot, they started to run off in a separate direction from the road. For some reason, you actually decide to follow them.

As you sprinted through the forest, you would sometimes lose track of where the bandit gang would go but by looking at the broken branches and footprints in the ground, you could at least follow them generally enough to make it to their hideout.

The sun was nearing the end of the sky when you stumble tiredly into their encampment. A single man wearing an emblem on his chest tells the rest of the men to back off before instructing one of them to help me.

Over the course of the day, you quickly pick up and understand the words that they are saying. It would appear that they were grateful to you for helping serve as their lookout.

"Are you alright? You've done us a great service." The emblemed man said in an honorable tone. You gaze at him in silence, not ready to speak just yet.

"We will house you for free only until tomorrow comes, then you must decide, join us, or die. Now that you know where our base is, we cannot let you go." He quickly informs me.

The water from the bandits was the most welcomed change from running around in the forest with no direction in mind. The stew that the bandits made in a large put tasted delicious too.

You look around and wonder what you should do. Truth be told, you wouldn't know where else to go. Joining the bandits would give you a purpose and a goal. But at the same time, you don't exactly appreciate the fact that the only options were joining or death. You certainly don't appreciate having your life threatened by the people you accidentally saved.

As you lay on your back looking at the ceiling of the tent that they provided you with as a guest and minor savior, you toss and turn until a light squish could be heard.

The blackberries in your pocket were still mostly intact. You could use them to knock out the bandits and get away...or maybe do something else while they were knocked out.

On the other hand, there was a possibility of joining the crew and becoming a professional bandit, you had seen the life that they lead and it was decently luxurious.

Before you went to sleep, they did regale you with some of their more notable exploits like robbing from the treasury of a town far away or bringing back a chest full of gold and jewels like their claim would be at the end of a pirates treasure hunt. The descriptions of riches did intrigue you.

You toss and you turn until you eventually make a decision at the end.

Join the Bandits (Chapter 24) or Kill the Bandits (Chapter 25).