Brass the Bandit Hunter: Sadly... they never listen

„Just a tiny bit further… you’re almost in the perfect position for an ambush.” Brass whispered to himself, while kneeling atop a small cliff, one hand on the ground to feel his targets movements.

The bandit leader he’s been chasing for the last few days was just walking towards the narrow pass at the foot of the cliff he was standing atop, for some reason quite a bit of distance away from his group, which made for a perfect opportunity to take him out.

How he knew that? Quite simple – he always had an affinity for earth, it helped him forge metals in his early days, it helped him tinker around on his gear many times and now it helps him track the movement of the bandit leader of the gang that plagued the roads around the nearby town for far too long, feeling the tiny shaking of the ground caused by every step he took. Some people would probably call his affinity magic… he just calls it the legacy of his ancestors, that’s coursing through his blood.

“Damnit, why can’t you move just a bit faster… if you keep walking that slowly, your gang is gonna catch up to you and this whole thing is gonna become a mess.” He whispered to himself, still waiting for the leader to finally get into position. If he left his hiding too early, he’d risk the leader seeing him before coming into range of his gun, which would make this whole thing a lot harder, than it should have been from the start. He should have modified it for a longer range to make this whole task a lot easier, but he just loves getting in the midst of combat, even though close quarters combat isn’t his biggest strength.

Would he wait too long, on the other hand, he’d risk the leaders gang closing up to him and he would really prefer not to fight against the whole gang at the same time, all by himself.

“Finally, perfect… just gotta make this quick and this bounty is mine.” He whispered, before jumping down the small cliff, cutting the leaders escape route backwards, clutching his trusty gun, modified as a kind of shotgun with a shield for better defense in melee combat with both his hands. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way… either you get to the ground and give up now, let me bring you to the city guards and let them sort out this whole mess, or…” the bandit leader took the opportunity of Brass’s monologue to get a first strike in and charged him, ramming his elbow right towards his face. “…OK, you choose the hard way” Brass proclaimed, while pulling up the shield to block the blow. “You really shouldn’t underestimate me just because I’m shorter than you,” he continued, while taking aim at the bandit. “Ha, who do you think you are? Put that thing down and I’ll probably spare your life, kid.” The bandit leader chuckled, while looking at Brass, clearly not expecting the small gnoll to be a seasoned adventurer.

After some further exchanges of words, blows and shot, Brass finally got the bandit cornered, both of them clearly exhausted by now. Knelling on the ground, his gun pointed at the bandit in the corner in front of him, Brass decided to give him one last chance: “So, I repeat my offer from earlier… give up and turn yourself over to the townsguard… and I will let you live… I don’t wanna kill you, but I will, if I must.” But then, before the scoundrel could had an opportunity to answer, he felt it… steps, roughly ten people, right behind his back… probably about 100 steps behind him, getting closer.

“Damnit! I really wanted to give you another chance, but seems like your friends are gonna be here soon, goodbye.” He proclaimed, pulling the trigger and ridding the world of yet another parasite, before quickly getting up, grabbing what he could quickly get from the corpse and breaking into a sprint towards the nearby forest, he clearly wasn’t into any shape for another fight right away, but he got done, what he came for and that’s what counts for even… even though he had preferred to solve this whole situation a bit more… peacefully.

He always had a soft spot for bandits, thinking about what forced them to fall back on thievery, the families that they still probably had waiting for them somewhere back at home, in desperate need for the money they brought, unquestioning of its origion, just happy to have something to eat.

A small tear rolled down his cheek, he felt genuinely bad for what he did, but it was for the best… all the lifes those bandits ruined, probably not even thinking about what they did to those they took from, forcing them into the ruin and hunger they themselves tried to escape from.

He was a bandit himself, before he took on more honest adventuring duties, he knows how life sometimes forces you into being a bad person without any real ability to do anything about it… still they, he cashed in the bounty for this bandit leader, it was just one of many he took out by this point, traveling through the lands and trying to make up for the terrible things he did in his own past… sadly the fewest of them actually listen to him and the chance he offers them to turn their life around.