It was getting later in the day by the time Zarius and Heian, riding tandom upon the back of Heian's flaming steed, made their way back up the road towards the outpost. Some buzzing biting insects were starting to swarm in the air, but luckily the heat wafting off Cerber kept them at bay. 

From what they could gather, the bandits remaining in the outpost had yet to catch on to the fact that two random adventurers on the road had jumped their friends and were now going to burst down their door and beat them to a pulp. 

Zarius trusts that Heian has something up his sleeve. More than what is in his coat at least.

Approaching the outpost once more, the gates are still closed. They have a rough idea of how many goons were holed up in the outpost. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

It would have been great to get more specific details out of the bandit they interrogated. They were mostly in the dark about what abilities the remaining brigands might have. If they were as weak as the first bunch, then they could easily dispatch them. There was the possibility that the mage leader was there, but considering the goon had never seen him, it wasn't likely. 

For some reason they approached the same outpost again. Was it really the center of their operation, or their web was more complex that they suspected?

-How do you want to do that? - Heian gave the lead to his companion, it would be easier for him to adapt to the demon than the other way around. - those doors won't open silently if I will knock

His mind went back to the leader of the group. If they would get their hands on him, the job is done. If it's not the leader, but rather some lower "clerk", they will have to climb the ladder all the way to the top, which would take a lot more time and effort.

They dismounted Cerber in basically the same place as before. The hour was getting late, with sun setting behind their backs, so night attack became an option. Not much of a valid one however, opening the gate without a key is not a silent thing and the palisade was regularly watched. If it would be shorter or unguarded, sure, they could try to climb.

-Those bandits we met before probably had to get back before sunset. We could've take their clothes

Well, nothing they could do about it now.

"I do not think the front door is our only access point. Few forts, even one as small as this outpost, only have one entrance as that turns their defensive walls into a corral." Zarius looks ahead and hops off Ceber just before they get within sight of the outpost. 

"Follow me and try to keep quiet." He says, then stalks off through the groves of trees that provide them some cover especially with the fading daylight. Zarius ensures to pick the most optimal path through the underbrush to limit the amount of sound they make. 

Torches begin to be lit around the fort to provide light for the watchmen along the walls. The sound of voices rises from the outpost as the sun sets behind the low lying hills that the outpost is nestled amongst. Jeering and laughter ring out, it sounds like they are celebrating some sort of achievement. 

Skulking around to the other side of the outpost, there is indeed another entrance, a smaller single door which is currently propped open with firelight streaming through it. A bandit is walking away from the door on the outside of the wall over to some bushes. There is the subtlest sound of a belt buckle clinking as this individual relieves himself. 

Zarius looks at Heian and points towards the bandit then makes a choking motion. The tiefling then silently creeps up behind the bandit after a patrol on the top of the wall passes. He strikes quickly and grabs the bandit in a chokehold. There's a few moments of muffled surprise and feeble struggling before the bandit's arms drop limply at his sides and Zarius drags his unconscious body into some nearby bushes. 

The lit doorway was now clear for infiltration on their side. 

There actually was a second entrance and it was opened. Couldn't get much better than that.

So far Zarius proved himself to be a great companion, maybe this was the moment to tighen their pertnership?

Heian silenced the pointed bandit in a similar manner as Zarius and they both went inside. The feasting noises became louder and louder as they approached.

-Let's let them celebrate for now. We may as well check if they got something intresing around hier - Heian whispered. But bandits probably couldn't hear anyway.

There were a couple house like buildings standing alongside the palisade, with stairs going from roof to roof all the way up to the tower.

-Go check the tower, while we go interfere their privacy

Heian, or rather Wood, entered the first house from the left. The room seemed almost luxury, with a big chest standing opposite to bed, a table, accompanied by a chair and a lamp, opposing the door, and even a small carpet in the middle. And there was plenty of space left, for like another two chests at least.

Speaking of, obviously the container was at the top of the list. Heian soon opened it, but there was nothing of value inside. A couple sheets of cloth mixed together and that was it. He looked around, but there just was no other place to hide something in. The situation repeated in the second house and Heian left it just in time to see Zarius coming downstairs.

Zarius nods and takes to a ladder leading up onto the walkway which lines the inside of the outpost's walls. He creeps along the wall over to the watch tower and tucks in behind the doorway. Lantern light streams out of the threshold and a few voices speak from within. 

"Got any aces?"

"Nah."

"...You sure there?"

"You accusin' me of cheatin'?"

"Seems like you should."

Zarius takes a small mirror out of his bag and uses it to see around the corner. He catches two bandits inside the structure sitting at a table in the corner playing cards in the reflection. He would certainly be seen if he just walked up to the two. An alternative entrance point. Tilting the mirror around, he spots another ladder that goes to a hatch in the top of the tower's roof. That would have to do.

He tucks the mirror away and then scales the side of the tower up onto the roof. The hatch is on the other side. Silently stepping over to it, he lifts on it carefully. It does lift up a bit but then it stops as a locked chain on the other side pulls tight. The gap isn't that wide, but it was just enough to see the lock. No problem. Zarius takes out some lockpicking tools and gets to work. It doesn't take him long to get it to click open. 

"Hey. Did you hear that?"

Zarius freezes. There is a moment of silence aside from the celebrating down below in the outpost's center. 

"Oh, I see what you're tryin' to pull. Tryin' to check my cards aren't you?"

"Sod off."

Zarius breathes and slowly lifts the hatch and peers down at the two. One gets up. 

"I'm done with your attitude."

"Fine then, go patrol."

"Don't tell me what to-GAH!"

Zarius lands on the first guy from above and drops him to the floor. He quickly knocks him out with a punch to the head then dashes over to the other as he reaches for his weapon and slams his fist into his face, knocking him off his feet. He grabs the bandit by the front of his leather vest to keep him from loudly knocking over the chair.

A moment of tension passes with no alarm from the rest of the outpost. Zarius lets out a breath before setting the bandit down and raiding the tower. He doesn't find anything of note on the bandits or in the few crates of torches and ammunition stored there. 

Still no signs of this mysterious mage. Time to rejoin Heian. 

He finds Heian in one of the buildings in the interior of the outpost. Seems he hadn't found anything of merit either. 

"The two watchmen are down for the count. Seems all that is left are those making all the ruckus."

So far neither of them found anything intresing. There was no point in checking on the remaining two houses, Heian doubted they would differ very much from the previous pair.

-Guess it's time to go deeper into the lair

They stumbled upon a promising building in the very middle of a camp, seemingly the prior reason of it existence in the first place. It looked like a ruined base of round tower, "renovated" by bandits by adding a couple tactical wooden scaffoldings and a similar roof, to protect the insides from the weather.

A good place to hold stolen goods in.

-We might've found our piggy bank

The main problem was that the bandits were now finished with their feast. And walked in lines too straight for drunk person.

Of course they had to meet abstinent bandits.

And they couldn't just wait for them to go to sleep, because Heian left a bit of a mess behind and they would know someone was there. Or still is.

-They have to be ambushed before they reach those houses, I might have left them a little messy

Zarius and himself were for now covered by the wall of a former tower. Four was an acceptable number.

Zarius nods in agreement with Heian's plan to take out the bandits before they reach the rooms he tossed. Silently, he darts around the other side of the tower to cut off the two headed opposite of where Heian is hidden. It didn't seem like there were many other bandits left in this outpost seeing how the two buildings Heian checked were vacant. If they made a bit of noise now, they probably could handle whoever was left. 

With that in mind, Zarius waits around a blind corner for the two bandits to walk past before striking out at the nearest one and pulling him roughly towards him. 

"AH WHAT?!"

SLAM. 

Zarius drives the bandit's skull into the structure's wall and his body drops to the ground limply. The other bandit springs back and draws his weapon. 

"HEY! We got trouble here!" He shouts and then charges at Zarius with the short sword raised. 

Zarius waits for him to close the gap then ducks under the swipe of the blade which sparks as it scratches against the stone wall. He pops up from under the bandit and slams his fist into his gut then nails him in the back of the head with his elbow, dropping him.

The remaining two bandits turned towards fighting noises, giving Heian quite a bit of new options. He decided for the quickest one, in case Zarius would need his help.
No playing with food, just slaughter.

With his sword already pulled out, he jumped to the first bandit, cutting him through the legs. Before he touched the ground, the second bandit already had a piece of metal in his side. But due to his armor, the hit landed awkwardly and the wound was a surface one at best.
The wounded enemy turned around, with his axe already in motion. Heian had no choice but to jump back and make the fight even longer. The bantid followed him with another strike, but he stepped onto a hand of his lying friend, making them both scream. One in pain and other frim suprising balance lost.

Such an opportunity could not be wasted. Heian slammed the awkwardly standing bandit with his shoulder, sending him next to already lying one. Two stabs were enough to finish his half of the job.
He quickly circled the tower in search for Zarius, soon finding him with two bodies lying nearby.
-The vault is now unguarded. Let's rob

"Do not let your guard down. This has all been suspiciously easy." The tiefling nods at Heian and follows him into what remains of the tower. 

Heian was correct in thinking that the tower was a good place to hide supplies, for within the stone walls was certainly the culmination of several raids on the nearby settlements. Crates, barrels, and burlap sacks filled with grains, textiles, pottery, food preserves, and more were piled nearly to the ceiling. Most of the supplies were mundane, simple trade goods and provisions. All left unspoiled it seemed. 

"It does not appear that they are using any of this themselves...perhaps they intended to move it elsewhere or trade it." It did all seem a little strange to him. The bandits weren't particularly skilled, nor did they seem to have any loftier goals. Maybe this was not some big time operation. 

As they search the room, Zarius pauses and listens to Heian's footsteps against the wooden floor. They rang with a certain quality of hollowness that suggested quite a large space below their feet. He starts to pay more attention to the floor until he finds what he is looking for buried underneath a pile of crates. 

Moving the crates aside was surprisingly easy, these ones were empty and were only here to cover what would be revealed as a trapdoor with a lock on it. He inspects the lock and takes out some tools to get it to open. After a few moments...click...the trapdoor is unlocked and he carefully opens it revealing a ladder descending into a much deeper pit of darkness below the tower. 

"Well...after you." He gestures to Heian. 

-If I die down there tell Sarris that it was me who stole her comb

Heian laughed and slided down on the ladder.

All the surroundings went dark, with just a little bit of light by the trap door. All he could tell about the room was that it was raher small. Whem he moved, his leg hit something, sending electricity through his entire nervous system.

-Arbor! Are there any torches up there? - he shouted upwards, with a few soon dropping down with a loud clanking. He lit one and looked around.

Much like in the upper part the room was filled with chest. Except those were smaller and contained much more valuable things, like silk and spices. One was even full of silver coins like if they were cargo. The room also contained a door with a padlock. The door seemed solid, not suiting the rest of the outpost. Fancy door means fancy content.

But the place was built around the tower, which meant those doors were there before bandits.

Which meant it contained something even fancier.

-You may want go back up for I shall knock - a big grin appeared on Heian's face, looking ominous in the torch light.

"Sarris? Oh, her. Are you two an item or something?" He asks. He only vaguely recalls having met the woman.

Zarius starts down the ladder after Heian and peers around in the darkness at all of the stolen wares. His eyes pierce through the shadows. It was a decent sized haul considering the number of bandits and the size of this space.

When Heian calls for torches, he reaches back up and drops a few down the hole unceremoniously.

He looks at Heian. If he was confident, then no harm in letting him take the helm in this situation.

"Very well then." He replies with a nod before climbing his way back up the ladder. "Do not die, or make anything explode. This whole place does not seem very sturdy."

While Heian is doing that, Zarius checks inside some of the crates to see if there are any documents tucked away somewhere. He wasn't having any luck though, he hoped Heian was able to get that door open without any trouble. Anything of real value information wise probably was in there since it was more secure. They really wouldn't know until they got in there. He glances back at the trapdoor and listens for whatever Heian was attempting to do. 

-Oh well now it's too late

He laughed and released a death wave. Everything in the room was sent flying against walls, boxes shattering, insides pouring out and mixing together. The walls trembled, but remained in place, as well as the doors that were his main target.

Guess he had to try again.

Another wave finally moved the door, launching them into the other room with a loud hitting sound. But the second blast was too much for walls to handle and the ceiling collapsed, pieces of stone and wood covering the mess down the hatch. Suprisingly the ladder somehow survived, breaking only in half.

Heian, now entirely covered in white dust, laughed even harder.

-Someone left the doors open it seems. A very irresponsible behaviour if you ask me

The room behind was approximately twice the size of previous one and seemed like a trophy hall. Four long shelves, two on each of opposite walls, were filled with various goodies, like strange shaped skulls, pieces of colorful crystals and several more that Heian couldn't name. In the center there was a broken pedestal, with familiar looking doors lying nearby. Everything seemed old, with dust covering all surfaces.

Except where Heian's blast washed it deeper into the room, revealing a marble floor beneath.

Zarius staggers and braces as the structure shakes from Heian's choice of lockpicking. Several crates topple over and clatter to the floor before the floor itself collapses down into the hole. Zarius springs back and clings to the wall until the shaking stops. A cloud of dust rises up from the debris hitting the bottom of the pit. Zarius coughs and waves the dust out of his face with an unimpressed expression. 

"Irresponsible indeed." He mutters under his breath after Heian calls up to him. He slowly scales the wall around to a place he can stand before hopping down and landing behind Heian. 

"That was reckless." He states bluntly before peering inside the next chamber. "Strange. I wonder what this chamber was originally used for or why it was constructed."

He looks down at the marble floors. It was a sharp contrast from the dirt floor back in the previous chamber and the now destroyed wooden floor of the ground floor of the tower. Perhaps the tower was built after this room, but then how was one supposed to have gotten down here in the first place?

The tiefling carefully steps around and starts investigating the wares hidden in this chamber. Much of it was very valuable and foreign in make. The layer of dust suggested this was a hoard not originally collected by the bandits. He finds a few scrolls and takes a glance through them but found he could not read the language they were written in. None of this helped them narrow down who the mad bandit mage was.

He sighs and looks back at Heian. "Find anything on our mystery man?"

Nothing in the room seemed familiar to Heian, he probably wouldn't be much of a help in investigating, so he just got back to previous place and started searching through debris, looking for souvenirs. That's how Zarius met him.

-You know. Madness obliges

With Zarius commenting on the scroll, Heian took it from his hands. While he too was unable to read it, the symbols seemed familiar...

-Oh I know what that is. There's a cult around Charon, trying to get its hands on Solstone or whatever it's called. A waste of time in my opinion, but I'm sure those could get pricey if we find a correct person. Hoarding with you was a great experience

They spent some time packing themselves, with Heian grabbing a huge, horned skull, with six eyeholes and one of each crystal shard, as well as some more minor things like a padlock that tried to stop them.

Each of them also grabbed half of the scrolls.

With the ladder broken, they had to improwise a little. Heian simply summoned Cerber and they climbed up using the giant horse. When they were back on ground level, Cerber got resummoned and they rode back to the village.

When they were close, Heian looked back at Zarius.

-What would you say for continuing our cooperacion?

Zarius looks at Heian with a curious head tilt. "You think the mad mage is part of this cult?" He thinks about that, it was possible, and it might be worth looking into further. "I suppose it is possible." 

He rummages around a bit more then finds something near the pedestal, it's a small golden bracelet that looks like a broken shackle. Hadn't one of the bandits mentioned something about a clasp? If this was related, maybe he could use it to figure out who the mysterious leader actually is. But that would have to wait for another time. He contemplates showing Heian what he found, but then decides to just quietly tuck it away in his bag instead. 

After Heian is done plundering and they are back in the village, Zarius informs the locals that the outpost is clear and their wares are safe to retrieve. He does not mention what they took, but most of that was from the hidden vault anyway. The mundane supplies were all still there.

He looks at the half-demon and considers his question. "We will see. I have other matters that need my attention. If I have need of your skills, I will reach out."

With that, the two go their separate ways.