The three rescued women sat on the back of a supply wagon, wrapped in woolen blankets provided by the Golden Boar healers. Nathaniel personally made sure they had clean water and bread, watching over the wagon and keeping other mercenaries away. After everything he had seen in the cave cage, he refused to leave their side until they were safe.
Captain Rodrik stood outside his command tent when the Calamity Squad and Scout Officer Mara rode into camp.
"Got all three captives out alive," Mara said, tossing Rodrik the official report. "Cave's cleared. The kid Mataranas took the raider boss in a duel, broke his neck right on the stone."
Rodrik looked at Matty, taking in the blood-stained cavalry shield and the dented iron flange mace. A genuine, rough smirk broke across Rodrik's weathered face.
"Damn fine work, Calamity Squad," Rodrik grunted. "Osric logged your silver and chainmail. Go grab some food and sort out your gear."
Their UI screens flashed as the system logged the completion of the hideout contract.
[Quest Complete: Clear Coastal Hideout] [Renown Gained: +15 | Total Renown: 30] [Influence Gained: +5] [Party Morale: +15 Boost]
Word of the duel spread through the camp fast.
While the squad sat around their campfire eating stew, half a dozen burly Golden Boar mercenaries crowded over, shouting and clapping Matty on the shoulders.
Garek stood right beside Matty with his left arm in a sling, grinning wildly and waving his good hand as he loudly exaggerated the fight to the gathering crowd.
"I'm telling you, the raider boss was eight feet tall!" Garek bellowed, gesturing wildly with his arm. "Had a battle axe the size of a wagon wheel! Then Matty Boy here tackles him straight off his knees, drives him ten feet back, and snaps his neck like a dry twig on the stone floor!"
"Look at the quiet ox!" another veteran cheered, slamming a clay mug against his chest. "Way to go, Mace Boy!"
"Hey, Matty Boy!" a third mercenary shouted, flexing a scarred arm. "Give us an arm-wrestle! Let's see if that farm boy grip can pin a real sellsword!"
Nathaniel and Yuzon stood near the supply wagon, cringing hard at Garek's ridiculous story.
"Ten feet into the air?" Nathaniel muttered, shaking his head. "He literally just tackled the guy from his knees."
"Let Garek have his moment," Yuzon said dryly. "At least he's not calling us manure-shovelers anymore."
Mataranas sat on his wooden crate holding his stew bowl, completely frozen. His face went blank as the mercenaries shouted, clapped his back, and threw questions at him all at once. Matty hated loud crowds and had no idea how to respond to all the noise and attention. He looked over at Jade with a helpless, overwhelmed expression, his mouth opening and closing without a word coming out.
Numerius burst out laughing, shoving a mercenary's arm away. "Back off, boys! Matty Boy only breaks raider necks on contract!"
Jade chuckled, stepping in to wave the mercenaries off so Matty could finish his stew in peace.
Back at their campfire, the squad divided the two salvaged chainmail vests.
Jade and Mataranas took the heavy chainmail vests for front-line protection. Jade gave his padded gambeson to Numerius, upgrading Numerius's defense, while Yuzon and Nathaniel adjusted their leather jacks.
With the hideout cleared and the contract complete, their UI notifications flashed in unison.
[Level Up Available: Level 5]
The five friends brought up their character screens to allocate their points.
Jade put his attribute point into Vigor, raising his health pool, and put his focus point into Leadership.
[Jade - Level 5 Peasant] Health: 130/130 One-Handed: 35 | Polearm: 55 | Leadership: 40 | Athletics: 30
Numerius put his point into Vigor, increasing his raw physical toughness, and chose a two-handed blunt weapon perk to increase his mace damage.
[Numerius - Level 5 Peasant] Health: 140/140 Two-Handed: 40 | One-Handed: 32 | Athletics: 28
Yuzon put his attribute point into Control, boosting his bow precision, and picked a marksman perk to reduce accuracy penalties while shooting on horseback.
[Yuzon - Level 5 Peasant] Health: 110/110 Bow: 38 | Tactics: 25 | Scouting: 20
Mataranas put his point into Endurance, raising his stamina and health, while taking a shield perk that reduced block stun from heavy weapon impacts.
[Mataranas - Level 5 Peasant] Health: 150/150 Shield: 40 | One-Handed: 35 | Athletics: 30
Nathaniel put his attribute point into Social, pushing his Trade stat to 38, and chose a crossbow perk that increased reload speed while mounted.
[Nathaniel - Level 5 Peasant] Health: 110/110 Crossbow: 25 | Trade: 38 | Charm: 25
"Level five," Nathaniel said with a quiet laugh, adjusting his crossbow strap. "Look at us. We're almost an actual squad now instead of five dead peasants in a ditch."
"Don't get cocky," Yuzon said, testing his bowstring. "We hit the Imperial border tomorrow. Those raiders won't care about our level."
The next morning, the Golden Boar company broke camp and began the march east toward Verond Crossing, a fortified stone bridge controlling entry into Imperial territory. The Calamity Squad rode point half a mile ahead on their Vlandian work horses, accompanied by Scout Officer Mara.
The road climbed into high, rocky ridges overlooking a wide valley. Dense pine thickets lined the cliffs.
Around noon, Yuzon pulled his horse to a halt on a high rocky ledge, unslinging his brass spyglass. He squinted through the lens at the valley road below.
[+1 Scouting]
"Smoke up ahead," Yuzon called out, lowering his spyglass. "Caravan's burning. Guards are down."
Jade rode up beside him, short spear ready. "How many attackers?"
"At least twenty mountain raiders," Yuzon muttered, adjusting the lens. "Hold on. Look at the road."
Down in the valley, two riders on horses burst out from the burning caravan at a frantic gallop.
One rider was a sharp-eyed young man in a worn tunic. Beside him rode an older, broader warrior with a dark beard. Dozens of broadhead arrows whizzed and swirled through the air around their heads as raiders fired from the roadside rocks.
The two men were shouting desperately to each other, constantly turning in their saddles to look back at the burning caravan. They were calling out for their two younger siblings, a boy and a girl, not realizing that a split group of raiders had already loaded the children onto horses and hauled them away miles down the southern trail.
Behind the two fleeing brothers, ten armed raiders on foot and horseback were chasing them, firing arrows and brandishing axes.
"They're dead if those raiders corner them at the creek," Yuzon said.
Jade looked over at Scout Officer Mara for approval.
Mara looked down at the burning caravan, then back at Jade, giving a sharp nod. "Go. I'll follow."
"Calamity Squad, ride!" Jade yelled, drawing his steel arming sword. "Cut off the pursuers!"
The five of them kicked their horses into a gallop, charging down the steep ridge trail with Mara right behind them.
Fighting from horseback at full speed was still awkward and messy. Their low Riding stats showed as their wooden saddles bounced violently, making clean attacks hard. But three weeks of constant blood, sieges, and hideout brawls had changed them completely. Three weeks ago in the Pravend fields, they had been terrified farm boys flailing with rusty sickles and tripping over buckets. Now, even with their saddles bouncing, they moved as a coordinated five-man team, covering each other's angles without hesitation.
Yuzon drew his hunting bow at full gallop, taking aim at the leading mounted pursuer's chest. The horse's heavy bouncing threw his balance off, and when he released, the arrow dipped sharply.
Snap!
The broadhead arrow missed the chest entirely and buried itself straight into the raider's thigh. The raider shrieked, falling sideways off his saddle and screaming in agony,
"MY LEGS!"
[+1 Bow]
Yuzon immediately absorbed the saddle recoil, pulled a second arrow, and shot the trailing raider's horse in the shoulder, sending mount and rider tumbling into the dirt.
Nathaniel rode in right behind Yuzon. Back in the village fields, Nathaniel had whimpered and dropped his farm tools. Now, he braced his boots in his stirrups, aimed his Vlandian light crossbow, and fired a bolt straight into a charging raider's shield, the heavy impact disarming the raider's axe.
[+1 Crossbow]
Mataranas and Numerius hit the raider line like a two-man wedge. Matty braced his heavy cavalry shield, letting his horse's momentum slam directly into a raider on foot and sending the man airborne into the brush. Numerius rode beside him, using his iron-banded mace to smash an iron hatchet out of another raider's hand before shoving the man off his mount with his shield.
[+1 One-Handed]
Jade rode past the second mounted raider, thrusting his short spear. The tip caught the raider's shoulder, popping the man out of his saddle. When a stray javelin whistled past his head, Jade ducked low over his horse's neck, raising his round shield to take the grazing impact.
[+1 Polearm] [+1 One-Handed]
Despite their clumsy horseback handling, the Calamity Squad's aggressive coordination and Mara's assistance broke the pursuers. Within two minutes, they eliminated seven of the raiders, while the remaining three bolted on horseback and escaped into the timber. With the road secured, they saved three surviving caravan workers who had been pinned behind an overturned cart.
The two fleeing brothers pulled their horses to a hard stop, their mounts panting and lathered in sweat.
The older, bearded brother dismounted quickly, his hand still gripping a bloodied broadsword. He ran over toward Jade, his face pale with grief and exhaustion.
"Thanks for the assist," the older guy wheezed, wiping blood from his forehead with his sleeve. "I'm Nathanos. This is my brother."
Jade sheathed his sword, looking at the smoke rising from the valley. "You two alright? What happened to the caravan?"
Nathanos's face twisted with rage. "It's gone. The whole thing. A band of raiders hit us at the creek."
"Any other survivors?" Jade asked.
"Just us two," Nathanos spat, slamming his fist against his saddle. "They butchered our parents right in the dirt. Then some bastard named Radagos dragged my little brother and sister away in chains."
The sharp-eyed younger brother dismounted, staring back at the burning wagons with hollow, furious eyes.
"We tried to go back for them," Nathanos said, his voice cracking. "But there were too many. We're going to hunt Radagos down and get our family back, or die trying."
Jade stood frozen, staring at Nathanos and his younger brother.
The details clicked together in Jade's mind.
Two dead parents in a burning caravan. Two younger siblings taken in chains by Radagos. Two older brothers on the run. And the name Nathanos.
This isn't a random encounter, Jade thought, his heart pounding against his ribs. This is the starting tutorial campaign of Bannerlord.
Jade looked at the sharp-eyed younger brother standing beside Nathanos.
He was staring directly at the main protagonist of the entire game.