~Some time ago~
"When I find out who did this... Raaaagh!"
A big man in heavy metal armor and a sword as large as he was roared in the forest as he stood among his fallen brothers-in-arms. He began barking orders to survivors to beef up security and start making lights further away from the base camp. Others were dragging away corpses, each with at least two arrows, one in the chest, another going through their faces. The handiwork of the Green Orchid. What frustrated the bandits even more were that the dead were looted of their own equipment, mostly arrows, but also coin pouches and knives. This would be the third attack on their patrols just this week, and they were quickly losing members either due to the Green Orchid or rumors of the archer, causing newer members to flee for their lives.
Back at their camp the bandit chief was still stewing in anger. He was suppose to know these forests and roads in and out, yet neither he nor his men could find any trace of the Green Orchid. From the way his own men died, it was hard to pin point if the mysterious archer was working alone or not; each arrow came from a different angle, meaning that there was more than one, the Green Orchid moved around a lot, or that he moved the corpses in such a way to imply that he struck from different locations. The chief was more inclined to believe the first: The Green orchid couldn't have moved too much or else he would have left something behind, something to show he had been there. It would have been more believable to think that the Green Orchid was actually just a group of skilled archers, looking to cull the Red Bandits from their turf. Suddenly, a messenger arrived.
"B-b-boss! We found a note from the Green Orchid!"
"What? Let me see that!"
Sure enough it was a piece of parchment with a green flower (It wasn't an orchid) attached to it. Another message from the Green Orchid. "Hi. I'm going to kill you all. Tootles!" Were it anyone else the bandit chief wouldn't care. He's gotten plenty of death threats over his long career. He's certainly seen much more impressive ones. But these messages bothered him more because the Green Orchid was actually succeeding in killing them. The messenger looked up to his boss, purposely acting somewhat cowardly so he doesn't look like he's trying to challenge the chief. "What should we do boss? We don't got enough guys to send on raids and watch the camp at the same time." The chief went over to his table and looked at the map of the arena. He didn't like this. Not one bit.
"Forget the raids. Call all the boys back to the fort and bunker down. This Green Shit wants to fight us? Let him come. I killed wizards and warriors who could bend nature itself, I'm not going to be scared of fools with bows. But I have to make sure the rest of you lot don't get yourself killed either. This fort as survived everything from siege weapons to earthquakes. There's no way they'll break through our walls."
The week passed. Sure enough after the call for the Red Bandits to return to base, their deaths have gone down dramatically. A few have been killed, but they were only the ones who left the fortress. Even better, the Red Bandits managed to get an look at the Green Orchid: A orcish woman dressed in rags. The bandit chief suspects that the Green Orchids are a new bandit gang looking to infringe in their territory, using tribal orcs to clear them out. He recognized the strength of orcs because he had a few under his service as well. Most were barbarians, but he couldn't deny they were insanely strong ones.
~Currently~
"I'm... Sorry boss... This is it..."
"No! Dammit! GOD DAMMIT!"
The Bandit Chief screamed as his second-in-command convulsed and began to spew forth blood from our mouth, nose, and eyes. The Green Orchid had traded her arrows for poisons, tainting their food and water supply and slowly killing off his men. Because they had not gone out either, they could not secure the forest; even when they sent hunters to find game, they would be hard press to find any deer or rabbits. The Green Orchid had driven them away. No one in the gang knew about what was safe to eat in the forest, and those who tried were killed quickly. They were forced to rely on their own supplies, but after it was discovered that it was nearly all tainted, that almost brought down the Red bandits. Almost, because it was when their moral was broken that the Green Orchid attacked. It was early that morning as the men were eating breakfast. They ate arrows instead of apples, and before the archers could draw string they were shot down from the shadows. The sun was not quite yet up enough for anyone to see the Green Orchid when she was hidden, but there was still enough light to see their comrades die around them. Not even those who fled were spared; instead of two arrows to the chest they had two into their backs. Two orcish barbarians were shot in the face, but their rage allowed them to continue to live even though their deaths were near. They charged the location where the arrows came, decimating a stair case leading to the rampart. But jumping up onto the high ground was her; a half-orc woman in ragged clothing, armed with a bow.
"Hello! Have you prayed to your gods yet?" The orcish warriors roared at the Green Orchid, but that all they could do; they had no weapons which could reach her aside from throwing rocks. And when they tried she was easily able to just side step out of the way, picking off other bandits who were either fleeing or trying to arm their own bows. "Eleven, twelve, fourteen. Hmm. Already through half my quiver." After shooting down about eight bandits, the Green Orchid used up four more arrows to kill the two barbarians below her. That gave her 14 arrows left at her disposal. Fortunately for her, there were plenty of other dead bandits around for her to grab arrows off of. Steel tipped ones too, much better then the iron ones she had with her.
The bandit chief sat in his room, drinking away his sorrows. He had survived the war between the mages and lords, and has led a successful bandit group since than. Indeed, it was so successful that even if he was to fall, there were still plenty of other Red Bandit chapters around to take back what was lost. It was unfortunate that it was his chapter than had to fall. Blood curdling screams of his dying men spurned the warrior into action. Tossing his bottle away he opened up a chest and took out a different bottle: An alchemical potion.
As the life of the final bandit was squeeze out from his body, Orchid dropped his body onto the floor and searched him. A silver ring, twenty silver pieces, a couple of daggers, and his sword. If she had to guess they must have been made of iron. Not really impressive, but worth melting down. Orchid walked over to a surprisingly female bandit, one who tried to cast magics at her. Orchid didn't know what she had tried to do aside from blasting her with a green energy, but Orchid guessed it didn't work since she was still alive and the bandit mage had two arrows in her abdomen. She only had a dagger, but also two potions. Orchid didn't know what they did since they were just glass vials with some dull blue liquid, but she could head back to Waeldeshore to get them appraised. Looking around there wasn't anyone else to kill except maybe the bandit chief. Orchid was actually considering skipping him; she had a decent haul thus far and could always come back later to finish the job. As she walked through the fortress she came across the mess hall, tempted to grab a bite to eat. However she also remembered how she tainted the supply but shooting a diseased rat into their larder, so Orchid wasn't sure if there was anything safe to eat. That was unfortunate because she was a bit peckish at the moment.
But as she was about to head into the next room she head the sound of running. Anticipating an attack Orchid got low to the ground and took out her bow. Sure enough crashing through the door was a big man with a big sword dressed in heavy armor. He looked much more intimidating than the rest of the bandits; while they were mostly fur-and-leather ruffians with big weapons, this man looked like a bonefide warrior. Immediately Orchid fired two arrows at his chest, but of course they didn't really do anything as they bounced off his chestplate. The warrior in turn slashed at Orchid, who was far away enough to avoid it easily. However she knew that she couldn't stay and fight, not here; too cramp and her arrows wouldn't do her any good against his kind of armor. Maybe if she could shoot him in the eyes, but that will be hard considering that it's his only weak spot and he's trying to kill her right now. So Orchid turn tail and ran, but not before grabbing what she guessed was a bottle of cooking oil and breaking it underneath the door as she escaped. When the warrior gave chase he didn't notice the oil, causing him to slip and stumble. Orchid laughed, but was glad that her little prank also gave her some time to make more space.
The base wasn't that big, but unlike most bandit forts they had great stone walls. Also unlike most bandit forts they had a sewerage drainage system, which was their downfall as Orchid had used that drainage to get into the base. Of course it wasn't easy finding it since she had to go into a lake first, but if she didn't know about it she was almost certain the other bandits didn't either. The courtyard, though littered with bodies, had much more space for Orchid to maneuver. She guessed that she had about a minute or two before the metal warrior came out to fight her so she needed to think quickly. She didn't have any more oil to make a slippery surface. But there were some rakes and hoes around. "Guess bandits like to be tidy as well. It'll have to do!" Orchid grabbed these ranks and spread them around the area, making sure that nothing heavy was on the shafts themselves. A few she tricked out a bit by stabbing a looted dagger through, and the ones that didn't break now had a pointy bit sticking out. Another crash and Orchid knew her time was up.
She had tried to bar the doors by closing them and putting a table in front of it, but the warrior was able to tackle it and the crude barricade down with one shoulder tackle. He had his arm up to cover his face which forced Orchid to hold her fire, knowing that she couldn't really shoot the arrows anywhere meaningful. He was covered head to two in beaten full plate armor, carrying a two-handed sword with a jagged edge. "I'm going to stick your head on a pike, green shit!" Getting ready to shoot on the run Orchid smirked to herself. "Well that's not nice..." Orchid began to retreat, firing an arrow at the warrior. He was able to take a step to the side and dodge it easily, charging forward to chase after Orchid. Then he stepped on a rake, causing a knife to plunge into his shoulder. It was more of an annoyance than actually painful, but his short pause was all Orchid needed to line up a shot and aim for his helmeted head. Her arrow struck true, but instead of killing the man it instead knocked his helmet off, saving his life for just the moment.
Knocking the trap aside the man noticed the other ranks scattered about the courtyard. He gritted his teeth in anger and looked at Orchid, who just gave him a grin that implied that she was not taking him seriously (She was, but she also enjoyed mocking him). He roared and attacked as the half-orc fired another arrow at him, and without his helmet the warrior had to use his sword to shield his head. it was broad enough to survey that purpose but also cut off his vision, causing him to run into a few more rake traps. They hardly slowed him down, though the ones with knives did occasionally cut his face or found a fold in his armor to lodge themselves into. Orchid herself kept on the move, staying in place only to shoot. Eventually however she ran out of arrows, much to her displeasure. There were more arrows she could get from the dead bandits, but they were on the same level as the armored warrior was. "Really? Always down to a melee..."
The warrior finally caught up with Orchid. He was breathing hard but hardly wounded. His face was had visible veins, his eyes glowing an unnatural red. Orchid was quite casual however. Most of her belongings were now in a neat pile behind her, with only her weapons on her person, sans her bow and empty quiver.
"I'm going to kill you for killing my men!"
"That's it? I was hoping for more witty banter. Ah well! I guess I'll turn this Red Bandit into a Dead Bandit!"
With her staff in hand Orchid waited the warrior's charge, and when he did she anticipated his attacks so she could dodge them. She had to fight defensively knowing that his potion, whatever it was, probably dulled his sense of pain. Smacking him about the head won't really hurt him until after the potion wears off, and Orchid might be dead by than. As she dodged, Orchid noticed that the warrior's slashes where strong enough to cut through the stone work as if they weren't even there. Instead of "Clipping" off of them like one would normally expect, he just cut straight through them. Orchid was fairly certain that she wouldn't fair any better. "That sword is going to be a problem. Let's fix that!"
The warriors attacks were fast and devastating, but predictable. He was focused only on attacking her instead of trying to do something tactical with his immense power. As long as Orchid was aware of her surroundings she could continue to dodge and wait. And her moment came when the warrior tried to switch holding his sword with his other hand. That's when Orchid lunged out, jabbing her staff between the handle of the sword and the warrior's hand. "I'll be taking this!" Popping the hilt of the sword out of the warriors' grasp Orchid traded her staff for the two-handed weapon, noting it's immense weight compared to her oak stick. The warrior threw the staff back at Orchid, who just slashed it in half with a swing of the blade. She didn't know how to use such a sword properly, but as long as the warrior didn't have it that was fine with her. He charged with the intent of beating her to death, but disarmed Orchid could easily take him down. As he swung to take off her head Orchid moved low to the ground and swung the sword as hard as she could to knock the feet out from underneath the warrior. However she underestimated the strength of the warriors' armor, because instead of tripping him, the sword shattered. "Oh sod!"
With a shattered sword in hand the warrior gave Orchid a mean kick straight into the chest, knocking her into a low wall. Hearing a crack Orchid was almost certain that she just broke a rib, but now was not the time for a medical check up. She rolled off to the side just in time to avoid getting stomped and got back onto her feet. She looked at the broken blade in her hand and tossed it over the rampart. "Alright big guy. Let's wrestle!" Adopting a grabbing style orchid waited for the warrior to inevitably charge, trying to throw a punch that was very obviously telegraphed. Orchid waited for him to throw the punch and then deflected it off her arm guards, and shortly after captured it into a very tight lock. "You're probably not going to feel this, but welcome to pain!" Forcing the arm to end at the elbow Orchid pinned the warriors' own fist into his chest. He tried to strike at Orchid with his other hand, but he was too big and bulky to make his strikes effective, least of all with his own arm in the way. Orchid then took the warrior to the ground, continuing to pin him there. Once stuck, Orchid grabbed the dagger out from one of the folds of the warrior's armor, and stabbed him in the neck. Sure enough, whatever potion he drank allowed him to ignore the normally lethal blow, forcing Orchid to stab him again. And again. And again.
The sun was coming up and showered Orchid in a ray of light. Her body glisten with a crimson sheen. She wore new gauntlets and boots, and on her back was full of loot. Potions, weapons, gold, and gems. Bolts of cloth and jewelry were within. More importantly however was a pendant in her pocket; it was a symbol of the Red Bandits, given only to their chapter leaders. Orchid hopes to turn it into authorities and cash in on the bounty. Or perhaps she could hold onto it and assume leadership for herself? It was a funny thought, but not one she was seriously considering. First thing's first: She needed to trade in this loot.
