Duendewood: Children of Ruin, part sixteen

"Okay, so the gnolls aren't raiding farms to eat the people living there, or to sacrifice them some dark god. They're basically kidnapping farmers and using them as slave labor." Tybalt looked frustrated. "That means that if we start moving against them, they could easily turn their captive labor force into hostages."

Jacques nodded agreement. "A direct attack could go very badly, and if we set to picking them off by stealth... we'd have move carefully and make no mistakes."

"Not all of us are that stealthy," Julien remarked, and Tybalt nodded. They could shed some armor and be quieter, but none of them were dedicated rogues and Jacques suspected that he was one of the stealthier ones there. Skyflower would be good at it, and Risk and Rose could manage... 

"Well," said Tybalt. "We might actually have to fall back on diplomacy. M'lord?"

Jacques nodded. He was unquestionably the best suited for that -- the golden half-dragon sorcerer Scar was compelling in his way, but lacked training in diplomacy and information-gathering. 

"I'd very much like to know what they're doing," Ash (the true elf paladin) said. She sounded frustrated, and Jacques couldn't blame her. 

"The gnolls..." said the golden half-dragon cleric Sun, "...are the descendants of the Formorians, who held a sizeable and magically-powerful empire in what is now the forgotten desert, between Wellfort and Fort Dedo. The champions of Fort Dedo were said to have discovered powerful magical artifacts in the ruins there, artifacts which the Dark Army later claimed and used."

Jacques had a vague memory of that as well. "Yes... crossbows that fired magic missiles, and... ballistae that loosed bolts of lightning? Something like that, anyway. Maybe some Flame Blade swords as well."

"So do we think they're looking for weapons?" asked Ash. "If so, they may want to murder their prisoners to keep anyone else from learning about them." 

"They might just be after magical secrets," suggested Azrael. "Who knows what's buried down there?"

"The gnolls do, apparently," observed Skyflower darkly.

"Very well," said Jacques. "Do we have any way of learning more without approaching them, one way or another?"

Sun shook her head, looking frustrated. "I'm too new to this."

Scar looked around the group, grinned, and said, "Well, I propose that we just go ask them. We've a large enough group. If we walk out to the edge of bow range, and wait for somebody to come talk to us, they'll likely send someone. If they swarm us, they're away from the prisoners -- and they'd need most or all of their group for that, according to Rose and Skyflower and Morrigan's count of their numbers. We could take them out without risking the prisoners. If they ignore us, they have to worry that we could just walk away and come back with a bigger force. They'll know we know where they are."

"It's a gamble," said Yvette, but she was thinking hard. "They might already have some of those weapons."

Scar nodded. "It is, but I don't think it's a foolish one. And I think we're safest -- and most threatening -- if we move together." He glanced at Jacques. "No offense, new friend, but you had a look in your eye as if you were thinking of going to talk to them alone. I think you should do that, just... with the rest of us standing ready at your back."

Jacques chuckled. "When you put it that way..." and Tybalt nodded.