Who will hold us accountable? Is it vengeance? Does anyone care? We're taking this guy to our future uncle-in-law to be tried in his courts friendly to us, and a little roughing up is pursuant to his instructions. Ain't no codified and humane laws yet, and I bet the Duke is an old rascal with his own enemies groaning and moaning down in the depths of his dungeon.
We free the prisoners, and its worth it. I'm sick of playing Twenty-First Century Lawyer.
1: The plan requires us to kidnap a prominent merchant, apparently in his home, in the midst of a city. As far as I know, we don't have a written permit, and the Count's city guards haven't got any reason to be friendly.
2: The guards and Count probably care about an armed forced rudely intruding in their city. And remember, "accidents" happen.
3: The Count's harbour likely have some defenses, and will certainly have some guards
I don't have any problems with arresting the man, but remember that we don't have any written permit, and that the Count won't be cooperative. We can't just barge in and take someone prisoner. That'll probably get us thrown in the local jail, or worse. (Captain of guard didn't "know" us, so normal procedure for organised attack on a perfectly fine merchant).
As soon as you guys get a plan to capture a man in his own house, without upsetting or alarming any of the surroundings, or find a way to lure them away, then I'll help you.
What we could do, is apprehend the wool merchant, speed away on our boat with a few soldiers, and let Alan rescue the hostages with what troops we leave behind. This fulfills both our need for speed and our need to rescue the prisoners.
Do I really need to point out all the flaws in this plan?
The Rat probably has some thugs that he can throw at the situation. We just tip him off to the location. Alan ought to ride back to the fief to ready our troops, and send warning to our friendly neighbor knights that something bad might be coming.
As far as we know, this merchant doesn't live in a small town. It's save to assume that he lives in a city, and that his house will be moderatly guarded. (He'd be an idiot if he didn't after attempting assination 2 times)