As the situation continued to resolve, Signod began to piece together a better picture of what was going on here.  Though he didn't have a perfectly clear view of the spectacle, the garbled words filtering back to him seemed to indicate that the elf and her friends had assaulted another fellow traveler and were seemingly in the process of tying him up.  Somewhere in there he could have sworn the name 'Barnaby Brothers' had come up.  So [i]these[/i] were the notorious band of brigands.  It struck him as a bit odd that the one who seemed to lead the others was an elven maiden (not very brother-like at all), but he supposed she might just be some sort of enforcer or lesser officer in the gang.  

Silently offering a prayer to every dwarven god he could call to mind, he profusely thanked them for giving him that brilliant stroke of inspiration in convincing this band of outlaws that he was part of a larger group and thus not worth their trouble.  If it were not for that bit of quick-thinking, it was almost certain that he would be the one on the ground right now being tied up by a deceitful elf.  Now that it came it it, perhaps the elf wasn't mistaken at all- maybe the elf had been the one to start all those false rumors about animals disappearing in the first place so she could lure hapless adventurers into her clutches!  It did seem to be the nefarious sort of thing he might expect from her.

Fortunately, the unfortunate adventurer that the elven maiden had assaulted was not alone, as became quickly apparent with the sound of weapons being drawn all around the small band of bandits.  Surrounded, the elf and her band of brigands now found themselves in danger of being brought to justice by this mysterious new group of nameless heroes.  That is, unless this nameless group of heroes was a second rival band of bandits here to put an end to the Barnaby Brothers.

That thought in mind and crossbow still in hand, Signod began to slowly move away from the burgeoning brawl, ready to fire off a few arrows if any of these thieves came his way.


[hider=Actions]
Signod moves away from the two groups of bandits and readies an action to fire his bow at anyone from either group who approaches him.
[/hider]

@The Harbinger of Ferocity tis your turn.