Aconite wasn't so sure about what to expect. They had been hired to free a couple people from a camp, one that was storing Red Rogues. Being a fan of causing problems and also hating how these people were basically holding others hostage because they were mad, Aconite agreed to do the job. So here they were, out in the cold and the middle of Stargazers Field. The cloak that had been given to them by Sylvari was being worn, keeping them from freezing. Thankfully, it was working well, offering them protection from the wind. Now to find the camp. The person said it would be around this area, far from others. 

Tugging the cloak tighter around themselves, Aconite continued their trek. Somewhere around here, it had to be. Aconite wasn't the type to just give up, especially when it seemed hard. That just gave them more spite and determination to finish. Powering through, thats what they were good at. 

Flurries of snow dropped to the ground, swirling through the sky. Soon enough, they'd be leaving footprints. Fine by them. Aconite could easily carry people and run really fast, if it came to running away with the Red Rogues. Although there were multiple of them. Might add some difficulty. No matter, Aconite was going to get those people out if it meant poisoning someone else. 

Lights were appearing through the snow. Boot prints could be seen in the light covering of snow, a few guards patrolling. Aconite grabbed a stick and started swishing it through the snow to get rid of their footprints. They started to walk around the makeshift camp, thankful for the dark night and thick snow to cover them. 

Almost time to start the action.

Quest name	Free the Red Rogue	Guard the Red Rogue
Participants	Exactly two  (Other person can do the other quest)	Exactly two (Other person can do the other quest)
Location	Anywhere	Anywhere
Post requirements	6 posts 200 words	6 posts 200 words
Reward	2 renown Access to listed shop	May choose 1 Rare Crafting material Access to listed shop
Description	Popular red rogues from past years have been assaulted and kidnapped by hired goons, nobles wanting to keep them until after winter. Many of these rogues are being held captive in camps all across Charon, and need to be rescued. If the Night of the Red Rogue is to happen this year, then those rogues need to be freed! Help us by going in, fighting off the hired mercenaries, and freeing the Red Rouges before Winter's Crown!	You have been hired by a local member of the upper class, someone who has been targeted by the rogues in the past. Your job is to watch over and defend a camp which is currently housing a suspected Red Rogue. The job itself should be easy. However, it is believed that some followers of the tradition may try to set them free, so stay on guard.

There were few things so vengeful on Charon as scorned nobility, and Granth was fortunate to have had eyes and ears in the right places to take advantage of that.

The boss of the Devils gang was watching over a tied up elven woman in red leather armor, her hood having long since been ripped off. The thief was strapped to a tree several feet off the ground, and her face was bloody from the beating she'd received. She breathed, but only in a weak and tortured fashion.

Truthfully, Granth had no love for the nobility. They'd all hang if it were up to him. Unfortunately, his small army of murderers and ne'er-do-wells wouldn't feed itself, and he needed to get money and supplies where he could in order to keep the lot of them together. So, when he heard there was a noble that wanted a pair of Red Rogues "dealt with," Granth had offered his services. He could remove a few Red Rogues from the picture. Piece of cake.

Of course, the bandit king was always looking out for more opportunities to make money. He'd originally caught two Red Rogues and had killed one of them, but the other - an elf - confessed to being an actual noblewoman herself, the daughter of some Prince something-or-other. It scarcely mattered whose brat she was, so far as Granth was concerned. What matter is how much such a brat was worth.

So, the bandits had kept her alive, and Granth had sent a few men to deliver a ransom note to the Prince. The potential payoff was huge.

"I sure hope you weren't lying about who you are, princess," mused Granth as he sharpened his arrowheads. He was seated comfortably on an old stump near his prisoner's tree. "For both our sakes, of course. Ain't like I enjoy executing prisoners, but it'd be bad for my reputation to let you slip outta my fingers without making a profit off you. You know how it is."

The rogue made angry muffled noises and writhed about in her bonds. Granth glanced up from his work to see her furious glare. He also couldn't help but notice the little spider - a common wood spider, nothing out of the ordinary - that was climbing up the tree next to her face.

"Hmmm," the hooded man murmured. He casually reached on down for his longbow, inspecting it appraisingly. Then he looked over at bound woman again.

"Since you're so conversational, maybe you'd like to help me figure something out?" The archer stood up, slowing nocking an arrow to the bow. "I was hoping you could tell me if this arrow's sharp enough...?"

Granth raised the bow. He drew the bowstring back, and the wood creaked gently. The Red Rogue struggled to break free, eyes closed tightly, not knowing what sort of nightmarish place the archer was about to shoot her in. She-

THUNK!

The Red Rogue flinched... but there was no pain, though she had felt that impact against the wood. She opened her eyes tentatively.

Impaled next to the elven woman's face was the little spider, the center of its body staked to the tree by Granth's arrow.

"Try not to make me any more trouble," Granth told the woman, casually yanking the arrow free from the tree. "Next one I shoot might just be aimed at you."

---

The camp was nestled in the snow-covered woods of the Moon Glade. There were multiple bandits throughout the camp, though most could be avoided without too much difficulty. The spiked wooden barricade at the entrance offered a little bit of cover on approach for someone like Aconite, but the patrol near it posed a challenge.

A skinny man with a red mop for hair was keeping watch, a sling wrapped about his hand like a glove, another tied about his forehead like a bandanna. He had a pouch of stones at his side, too. But the bandit slinger was the lesser threat. Far more dangerous for a mission like Aconite's was the wolfdog that the bandit kept near him, a vicious beast that undoubtedly had a strong sense of smell and was trained in tracking. If the bandits had wolves, that could make sneaking into the camp much more difficult...

There was, at least, some terrain that could be useful. There were barrels and crates of stolen goods not too far from the outskirts, some of which were undoubtedly empty. There were a few tents as well, probably belonging to less important members of the camp. Finally, there was an open crate of cabbages of questionable quality that the guard was snacking on. The smell coming from those was... pungent.

Aconite saw the bandit and his wolf just in time to not get closer. These idiots think they can keep me out, huh? Aconite gave a devilish little grin and then took a couple quiet steps back. Then, they dove down into the snow, and kept going into the ground [1]. 

Moving through the dirt and judging their distance was a little tricky, but they've done it before. Pausing occasionally to listen to the footsteps above, Aconite slowly moved up closer to the top of the dirt. They didn't have much of a plan, just to get up there and get out. 

Quickly, they burst through the soil, right in the middle of the camp. Holding up a finger (you can guess which one), they let a spark dance over it [2]. Aconite grabbed a stick off the ground and placed the spark onto it, then chucked it at a flammable looking tent. Holding a hand in front of them, Aconite started manipulating the fire to spread [3]. The bigger they could get it, the better. The snow would drown it out eventually, but if they could get it going and get it bigger it might stand a chance to last a while. 

As they did this, Aconite pulled out their dagger from the cloak in their open hand. Defending themselves while doing this would be hard. Might as well have a knife to make it a little easier. 

---

[1] - Soil surfing
[2] - Create spark
[3] - Control flames

Unsurprisingly, Aconite's fiery ruse drew a lot of attention. It also drew out more colorful curse words and foul phrases than any fourteen year old spiderboy had any right to know.

"#$&^ing %$%#^*$(%#!! The ^*($ did you start a ^*$@ing fire for?!" shouted one bandit in expletives that didn't belong anywhere near children, which was probably why the foul mouthed bandits were relegated to living in the middle of some terrible place in the middle of nowhere in the first place.

"&#@$ your #$%^#$ $^%@, Bram! Just get the boys over here!" replied his oh so well spoken compatriot. And before long, there was a small group of bandits desperately trying to put out the fire in whatever way they could. Dirt, water, snow; they were trying anything to get it under control. It was working, but it didn't exactly paint the bandits in the finest of lights. They were distracted...

But the wolves that the bandits kept? Those were not distracted. The wolf by the entrance followed her master back to the flames, and then she started sniffing and growling. Soon, a second wolf joined her, and they were heading straight for Aconite!

They weren't pure wolves, really; that much was clear the closer the beasts got. They were wolfdogs, bred and trained with aggression in mind, and they had picked up the scent of a very nasty spider. They growled as they approached, but didn't wait any time circling. They just suddenly started snarling and snapping, leaping for the burrowing spiderlad in the center of the camp!

Aconite whipped around, and slashed at the wolves. They continued their main focus to expanding the fire, bigger and bigger, while using the rest of their focus to beat back the wolves. Their skills weren't the best, but they could try. Aconite started trying to swirl the fire towards the bandits, catching it on their hair. Lets hope their mothers taught them stop drop and roll. 

The wolves were being a problem. Shifting their attention back and forth, from the wolves to the fire, was proving to be harder than anticipated. So, they did the first thing that came to mind. Tell them to sit. Unfortunately, the wolves did not. Next plan, then. 

Aconite took a breath, and spit at them. A thick, sticky web came out of their mouth [1], hitting the wolves and knocking them onto the ground. Unable to move, they were no longer a problem. The bandits, however, were still a problem. They couldn't keep expanding the fire for long without draining themselves too much, so they gave one final push towards the rest of the camp and then ducked for cover. 

They pulled out their bladed whip after getting some cover, then spit onto it. That poison sac in their mouth came in handy. They drew the poison out from it, and it was laced onto the dagger and blades edge. Aconite moved back out of their cover, ready for a fight.

---

[1] = web

Passive actions 
Poison sack

Pinned though the wolves were, they kept barking and snarling as if they could still pose a threat. Their aggression left was nothing short of admirable, really. They really wanted to eat that spider!

But unfortunately for them, their barks and snarls went unnoticed for some time as the bandits fought the flames. They were actually making good progress on putting it out without Aconite actively spreading it with magic; after all, there was plenty of snow to go around, and they had a whole team of people to deal with the problem. Eventually, one of them - a short fellow with a wild mane of black hair - noticed the wolves were... acting strangely.

"What's with all this noise, pups?" the man asked, rushing over to check on them. He couldn't see well in the darkness, after all. But as soon as he got close, he saw the webs, and...

"Intruder! Intruder!" the man shouted as he started cutting the wolves loose. "Someone's here! Someone's in our camp!"

That was all the reason the bandits needed. The once bumbling oafs suddenly hardened their expressions and drew their weapons. Clubs, maces, slings; nothing elegant, but all of it effective. They were eager for a scrap.

And then Aconite stepped out from cover, whip and dagger at the ready. The team of bandits couldn't help but grin with vicious intent. They couldn't see exactly what sort of foe they were facing, but whoever it was, well... They were lean and lanky, more bone than meat. They didn't look that strong at all to the bandits.

Oh, how wrong the bandits were. But they didn't know that as they charged.

Aconite was almost hit because of surprise. Not at the force, but more at how these poor little bandits were just charging at them. Aconite quickly remembered they didn't look the most threatening in terms of muscles, and these bandits had no way of knowing their weapons were poisoned. Too bad for them. 

Striking with their whip first, Aconite was attempting to beat them back with it to keep some room. A good amount of the bandits were running off, holding their injured limbs that burned in pain. Sadly, that only made the rest fight harder. Aconite managed to get a plan going inside their head. 

They spit another web [1], hitting a few bandits and trapping them down. Then they dove back under the ground [2], coming down below them all and starting to reach their hands up and pull the bandits under the ground. Once pulled down, Aconite kicked them further down before grabbing another. 

Pushing themselves backwards, Aconite popped back up and saw the last remaining bandits standing there. Aconite pulled out their dagger and shifted their feet. The ground below one of them slid away, pushing the others back and making the one fall into a small pit [3]. Aconite shifted again, and the ground swallowed them up. 

"You guys fancy getting eaten by the ground as well?" Aconite smiled, very ready to finish off these last guys. 

---

[1] - web
[2] - soil surfing
[3] - mold earth

Aconite's performance was incredible, and his finishing pose combined with his clever words dissuaded the bandits from approaching... but he had made a single damning error in his calculations: one of the bandits knew how to use magic, too.

To be fair, it wasn't common for bandits to have mages. They were the dregs of society, though that had to turn to crime whether due to awful circumstance or a lack of talent. Such men didn't often happen to possess any magical training... but, apparently, one of those bandits did.

A bearded, middle aged mage raised his staff up, and the earth around the buried men suddenly shifted - no, spat them out! The ground rumbled and jerked as one by one the wizard started breaking his allies free of their prisons. They gasped for breath, rose to their feet like the living dead, and clenched angry fists about their weapons.¹

Unfortunately for the spider, it seemed he was in much the same situation as before, only this time he had enemies on all sides of him and there was a wizard to deal with, too.

"Kill the wretched lad!" the wizard shouted as he whipped a thorny cord of vines at Aconite's arm in an attempt to entangle him.² The bandits surged forward like a pack of ravenous hyenas, each one of them eager to get revenge on their lanky tormentor!

It seemed this particular group of bandits still had a little fight left in them. But they were battered and winded from being stuck in the ground...

---

_{1. Mold Earth (Bandit Mage); 2. Thorn Whip (Bandit Mage)}

"Oh come ON!" Aconite shouted.

They then wiped away a little dirt from their sleeve. "Is that the best you can do? Honestly, I was expecting more." 

Aconite was acting as if this was all just a big underwhelming scene that had been hyped up by so many people. 

"Seriously, this is actually just sad. You think pulling your friends out of the ground can help you?" They sighed, almost sadly, and looked at the bandits. "Well then. Lets see how you fare against THIS!" 

Aconite took a deep breath and blew out fire [1]. Aiming it towards the bandits that couldn't run quick enough from the flames, the poor souls that got hit were pretty quickly dropping. Hopefully for the bandits, it was just stop drop and roll. Aconite was beyond caring, these bandits were a thorough pain. 

"You guys wanna see some real fighting?" The flames from earlier were still going, although much smaller. Aconite was going to fix that.

[2] Holding out their free hand and swooshing it to the side, the flames began spreading again. It was blocking off their exits, leaving the bandits pretty trapped with Aconite. To fix the problem of the thorny vine on them, they took their dagger and slashed it. 

Aconite, eyes glittering from the flames swirling around them, stepped forwards. "Last chance to leave!" They smiled and opened their hand, revealing a ball of fire growing slowly bigger [3]. 

---

[1] - fire breath
[2] - control flames
[3] - fire bolt

The bandits in the camp looked to each other with fear in their eyes. They were outclassed, and the flames around them were licking the trees and palisades that made the site defensible. They were scrambling to find an exit as the ball of fire grew larger and larger in Aconite's hands. Some of them frantically readied their weapons, preparing to face an impossible foe; others tried to hide; others tried to flee, and-

And then the sound of clapping broke the air, cutting through the shouts and the crackle of flames.

A hooded, masked man stood atop a crate, having been watching the carnage for a while. Two snarling wolfdogs stood at his side - the very same ones Aconite had trapped earlier - as he clapped his gloved hands in a slow and casual manner. He had a longbow and quiver of arrows, but he didn't have his weapons drawn. No, he was just... clapping.

"That's one Hell of a show!" the archer called out, clapping still as he regarded Aconite. "Ain't seen fighting like that in a while. Hands up, boys. I think our friend's won his prize fair and square."

The archer scratched one of his wolves behind the ear and stepped on down from his crate, waving over to Aconite. "Come on. I'll show you 'round the camp wherever you please, then I'll take you to your prisoner. She's all yours. What's your name, boy?"

It was... a little strange, wasn't it? The man was talking like he'd just walked in during a gaff at a dinner party, not like he'd stepped onto a raging battlefield. The smell of death and burned corpses was everywhere, and fire still raged inside the camp, but the masked archer didn't seem to care one damned bit.