Into the castle!

[Breila]

"Under du-wess? I don#t know what that means." Erika looks at Christopher somewhat confused.
"But i will tell you what happened. Volcker and I were at the abbey and returned a little late, after everyone else. Where the road passes a copse, suddenly men came running out, an old one and four young. They grabbed us hard, Volcker struggled and tried to defend me, but the old man grabbed me by my plaits and held me fast. »She's the one we want« he said and showed the younger men to Volcker. »Cripple him, but don't kill him. Yet« he told them.
The men threw Volcker on the ground. Three sat on him, and one of them drew a knife and cut the tendons in the hollow of his knee." Erika's voice had grown thick, and now tears are spilling from her eyes.
She swallows hard, and after a moment, she can continue to speak, but her voice is faint now. "They brought me here, and told me to brew beer for them. If I didn't what they told me, they would finf Volcker and kill him, they said."

[Stik]

Christopher smiles at Erica's unfamiliarity with the word "duress", the smile of an adult looking at a confused child, despite the fact that he is only a few years older than she. But those few years have been long ones, indeed.

His smile turns into one of righteous wrath as he hears the rest of the story. It lines up exactly with what Volker said in town. The men are guilty of kidnapping and assault.
"That is all I needed to hear, girl. We shall take you home."

To the others in the group, Christopher says. "You all heard her. We have criminals to bring to justice.
"I suppose we need a way to bring them back to the village. We can not leave them locked up here, lest they escape, but I fear we lack the manpower to guard them all on the walk back.
"Any suggestions?"

[Jenara]

"That must have been horrible." Eloise says as she listens, "We will take them back to town, others will decide thier fate." Taking one of Erica's hands she turns back to Christopher.

"Could we not tie them all together? We have enough rope here, let's tie them up and March them back in."

[Stik]

"Two of them are wounded, one badly. If we put him in a litter, I see no way to tie the men carrying it.
"And that old man, Gisbert, is a madman. Who knows what he will try?"

[Breila]

"You could try to get help from the monks in the Abbey, they are the one who are our judges now anyway, since the Valckenburgs died" Erika suggests.

[Ismaels-Legacy]

From his vantage point at the door, Saul inquires, "How far is it to the monastery? If you do not mind striking camp for the night, I will retrieve them."

[Breila]

"You need three hours to walk from the village to the monastery, two and a half if you hurry" Erika tells Saul. "So you wpn't be able to come back before nightfall if you leave now. but Sir" she says, turning to Christopher, you look like a knight, do you not have a horse?"

[Stik]

"Not a knight. Not yet. But I do have a horse.
"I am leery, though, of leaving my companions here with these prisoners. And unsure whether Apollo would take kindly to another rider."

Christopher ponders and then says: "Perhaps we could leave the wounded man here with Matthias, bind the rest in a coffle, and march them into town. Perhaps even bag their heads to keep them under control.
"If only we had a wheelbarrow that would be something."

[Breila]

"What do you want to do with the prisoners in the village? There is no safe place to put them, the prison cells are here" Erika tells Christopher. "it might be better to bring people up here to guard them than to take them down to the village."

[Jenara]

(ooc: "Where did we put that wheelbarrow the albino had?", Haha..)

"A wheelbarrow? That would be useful I guess.." Eloise grins, "Someone needs to go and get them, bring them here, I'd ride there if could." She sighs putting her hand through her hair. "Cant you just ride there? The others can watch the men while I go back to the inn with Thelma."

[Stik]

[OOC] I'm glad someone got that reference. It would really help, though, if we had a wheelbarrow or hand cart or some such.[/OOC]

"I need to stay wherever these men are, to ensure that they are not a threat to the rest of you. I am also concerned that their compatriots might show up here and find the men imprisoned. That would be unfortunate for everyone involved.
"Best we go, all of us together."

[Breila]

"How many men did you capture? The group who took me was small, and they seemed to be related, and sworn to secrecy" Erika tries to be helpful.

[Stik]

"Five. One is near to death. Another has a broken arm, I believe. Two are hale. And then there's the old man. I expect he shall recover soon, but there shall be no doubt that he has been in a fight."

[Breila]

"The old man is vicious" Erika says with hatred in her voice. "He was the one who ordered to make Volcker lame. The others are his sons, or nephews, I think. I never saw anyone else here, even when they ordered me out to oversee the brewing."

[Jenara]

"He didn't much like having on a bucket in his head!" Eloise jokes trying to lighten the situation, "So what are we going to do?" She stamps her feet looking at Christopher. "We have to do something."