Brigands and Autognomes

20th Rosemoon 4639
 
We arrived at Peridot and were summoned to the Captain's quarters to receive orders. Our orders were to go down to the planet and assist in tracking down the bandits which have been plaguing the settlers as they embark on their journey to find and establish new homes. Once we reported to the base commander and learned of the most recent attack we gathered mounts and headed out to investigate. Thanks to Crowley's superior sense of smell we were able to track the bandits to the beach where their ship was floundering in the bay. Travelling through the thick jungle from the road to the shore was a slow and arduous journey as we neither knew the terrain nor what types of creatures inhabited it.
 
Once we reached the shore we noticed there were three lifeboats on the shore and knowing the type of ship they originated from knew there was one missing. This did not mean that our investigation was over. We figured we had found the brigands ship but still needed to find the brigands and bring them to justice one way or another. Not only that but we still needed to check out the ship itself to see if we could find any clues as to the nature of the brigands. So splitting the party with Crowley and Yazma heading back to the base to collect reinforcements should we need them, I led a small reconnoitre party to the ship with the Staff Sgt, Xerxes and Vonvin leaving Lt. Selene, Arden and Ruavel on the shore as lookouts. Once we reached the ship it appeared to be abandoned except for the fact that someone was working the bilge pumps. We entered the ship through the window of the captain's cabin and began our search. The ship was indeed abandoned except for the odd metallic gnome locked in the hold working the pumps. We couldn't leave him there. We released him. About this time Crowley and Yazma returned with the marine reinforcements.
 
The metallic gnome's name is Luwraek and we found his missing gear which we returned to him. Also, we devised a plan to bring the brigands to justice and so we laid a trap and waited for them. We learned that they went out in bands of about twelve and that there were about two dozen of them in total. They considered Luwraek a golem and not a living being.
 
The marines took their ships around the headland to hide their presence from the returning brigands. The first group returned and a battle ensued. We were able to capture three of them. About an hour after we reset everything to how we thought it was the next group returned, led by the Capt. of the ship which we learned was named The Sweet Tart. After another short but brutal battle, we captured the captain and 3 members of her crew giving us a total of seven captives.
 
Vonvin and the LT. were able to heal the damage to the helm and the hull making us somewhat seaworthy again, so we limped the ship back to base.