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Civil war, King Erwind.
In the country of Daraccia it has always been so that the Eldest son of the king, be it bastard or rightborn, is to inherit the throne. When the late king Arwul died Prince Erwind declared himself Crown-prince and started preparations for his crowning. But then merely a few days before the crowning a young man came to the castle claiming to be a bastard son of the late king and claimant to the throne! He even had proof to back it up!
There was one thing, however, who made even Erwinds fiercest enemies shift. The man was half black dragon.
Erwind had the man beaten and exiled to the swamplands in the western parts of the realm, and was crowned king a week later.
Rumors of what had happened spread and many men and women of stature thought that what the King had done was wrong. and that the half-dragon should be king regardless of his ... black half. The king would have none of this and made all talk about it illegal.
three years later a medium sized army or goblins, orcs, hobgoblins and humans attacked the castle Korag-Urut.
Many people rallied to Gyradan's banner. Young Knights with ideals of honour and justice, people who simply didnt like Erwind, People which held the law above all else and people who was considered monsters by humanity and was promised better lives by Gyradan. as time passed he also got the assistance of the Drow pirates, the Kobolds and even a few tieflings! the halflings still remain neutral.
On the other side of the war, King Erwind and his followers knew that the relam could never be given to a half-dragon. a half BLACK dragon! he would make the realm a living hell for humans and invade the neighboring countries! And gods know what evils he would unleash upon the world.
Many shared the views of their king, and even some beyond his borders. The dwarfs and the elves of S'az-kaz, the cervidals, the centaurs and even the Thri-keen who lived south-east of Daraccia came to help.
the halflings remains neutral.
Now, both Gyradan and King Erwind is each organizing their own group of elite commandos to sabotage their enemy and subtly break them down!
They would accept only the best of the best and YOU have answered the summons. gold, glory, justice, honour or whatever other reason you might have, YOU will fight to the bitter end for your king!
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You all wait eagerly in a tent at the caste grounds in Wilwind castle. The original plans had involved a reception inside the castle and a ceremony but alas, things dont always go as planned. And then the king himself entered the tent. "No need to kneel" he quickly said " we have little time. It touches me deeply to see that you all, the best warriors in the land, was able to answer my summons so quickly. well, as i said ... or did i? hm... anyways! You have a important job to do! Just north of the halfling city there is a old ruin holding a magical artifact. Gyradan the usurper has sent some men to obtain it. and i will have none of that! i want you to go to Therwer and report to the city guards. they will take you to a boat that will take yoy to your destination. questions?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valence looks up from sharpening one of his daggers and says "What's my pay for this assignment? The others may be here because of loyalty but I have never been one of your subjects and am only here for pay."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"ever the mercenary. you will be paid accordingly to how well you acomplish the task. anything else?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Falwell Colms
Falwell looks around taking in his other now compatriots. Hearing Valence's greed insults the code that Falwell has pledged to uphold; Fight to protect the rightful king of the land, be it pure blood or bastard, in whatever way possible, be that combat or subterfuge.
I am here of my own accord to serve you, King Erwind. I have fought for many kings, including your father, King Arwul, and I cannot and will not believe that he would have created such an abomination of our lands, this black dragon bastard. I will do anything to clear your rightful name in our glorious history! I can only hope all of you are here for the same reasons.
Falwell seems to be very proud of his speech, hoping to influence some of his new found "friends", which is a very loose term, and does not sit right in Falwell's mind. As he is giving this speech you see his bright green eyes almost begin to glow, and his sliver hair that is usually hidden under his helm, become more iridescent.
Falwell then kneels anyway, even if the king had told him it was not necessary, there is always time for respect. Falwell drops his head and looks at his feet, waiting for Erwind's blessing to rise and prepare himself.
[ooc]
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Well... there is our first taste of Falwell... He doesn't care how things get done, but he knows what side he stands for and for what reasons. I don't know if we were going to start an OOC thread, but this is another easy way to make comments to each other and such without clogging the thread. I'm just used to doing it this way, so I did real quick here, but if we do start an OOC, let me know! I may still comment on my actions here, or make rolls and stuff in these [spoiler ] blocks. FOR THE KING!!
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"ah, yes you've been a loyal subject and a noble warrior for so long, the kingdom owes you much, uhm, you may rise... tell me, what order was it belonged to?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valence seems unphased by Falwell's speech and says "Gyradan could easily be King Arwul's bastard, magic can bewitch people or make a dragon appear to be a very pretty maiden."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
" and that exactly why such a bastard would be and should be considered illegitimate AND unfit for the throne!" the king snaps at the merc. "Ahem. if that was all..."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance calmly looks at the king and says "I never said he was legitimate or that he was fit for the throne. I was pointing out a flaw in the young knights reasoning. Just like I am now pointing out that you should control your temper better. You are a king, you can never afford to appear to be in less than total command of a situation or the kingdom. The first step to that appearence is keeping yourself under control. Which means you don't loose your temper when a hired assassin points out a flaw in a young knights statement."
Valance stares at the king for a second before continuing "A king in the middle of a civil war against a usurper who he considers to be pure evil might also consider it a good idea to bring body guards with him when he meets with armed, mercenary assassins. Kings who die old an in their beds don't make mistakes like that. Now while the rest of my associates ask their questions I have some royal bodyguards to instruct in their duties."
Valance gives a deep bow to the king and walks out of the tent looking for the royal bodyguards.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
the king looks at the other men with a surprised face "does that guy... even have a soul? he sounded like a machine... and what did he mean about 'young knight'. sure, time has been kind to you, dear Colms, but youre older than me!" he looks to the tent opening and back again " dont tell him, but i dont need bodyguards" the king whispers with a wink and puts his hand on his sword, which those who knows even a little of the kingdoms history knows is quite special.
Domina Rex. the kings sword.
outside, the merc with a mouth meets two VERY large and angry looking silver golems.
"GOING SOMEWHERE,BUB?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance looks up at the golems and says "That would be none of your concern as your king hasn't ordered me detained. But if you must know, I am off to find some competent bodyguards for the king. The ones he has now are far to large."
Valance walks past the golems and looks around for a good master sergeant.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
The golems stare intently at him before one rumbles to the other "man... i think he just called us fat."
"that's a insult"
"Law nr.37, paragraph III: and if he shalt insult thy servant, he might be smothen."
"does that mean shoot to kill?"
"not yet... for now we may just break one of his bones."
"sweet"
The golems lean forward...
"Stand down!" someone shouts. "hmph... yes." the golems say with clear disappointment in their voices. A young woman dressed in very fine wizard garbs approaches " excuse them. seems like mixing human souls with golems want that smart after all." she smiles " they get bored to quickly. but its almost worth it. i mean because of the intelligence bonus." she brushes some hair back behind her ear " I- I helped making them."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance nods to the women and says "You don't want soldiers who are too smart, it tends to cause problems." Valance thinks for a bit before saying "Could you make golems who are significantly smaller, man sized say? Your king could use bodyguards who can actually fit inside buildings or tents. Oh, and is what they quoted actually a law?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"oh, the king is capable of defending himself. he does, after all, wield Domina Rex." she says with a slight giggle " and yes, it is a law. eh, was! in civilized lands atleast. nowdays a king servant may only whip anyone who insults him. but, heh, i accidentally installed the old law in them." you cant help but feel that this is a girl that is used to make 'minor' mistakes such as that.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance looks off at the horizon as he says "And if a mage put an assassin who specializes in non magical attacks inside a Smokey Confinement spell, cast Time Stop, teleported into the kings chamber, released the assassin next to the king, and then created an antimagic field that covered the king? That would neutralize all of the kings magical defenses and weapons, allowing the assassin to make an unhindered attack on the king. This is what I do, and the king needs guards who are always vigilant and prepared to attack anyone who just pops in instantly."
Valance turns and looks at the girl as he continues "So who are you and what is your position in the kings court anyways?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"wow, you talk as much as me sometimes." she smiles. "oh, i am the kings daughter. My name is Arrabellona."
...
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance bows and says "A pleasure to meet your princess. may I inquire as to why you are out in this god forsaken camp instead of back at the palace?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"oh well, the palace isn't THAT far away." she says with a mild blush "and besides, its so boring there." she sighs and fidgets with her staff " I overheard that dad would greet some secret commando group and i just wanted to see them."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance smiles at the child and says "I'm sure you could make the palace quite exciting if you were inclined. As for the commandos, one of them is speaking to you."
On the last word he flourishes a hand and disappears, only to reappear behind Arrabellona when he pokes her in the back.
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Using Cloak of Deception to get greater invisibility until the end of my turn and taking a move action to get behind the princess and poke her
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Arrabellona squeals and giggle at the prank.
"is that...legal?" one golem whispers
"im not even sure what I'm looking at" the other replied.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance turns to the golem and says "Why wouldn't it be?" before popping up to the golems shoulder as he speaks the final word.
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Using Shadow Jaunt to teleport up to the golems shoulder.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"uuuhr... because... you... its the princess... there are certain rules about how to act around her." the golem stutters
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance grins and calls down to the princess "Princess, didn't you order me to poke you? This golems hearing seems to be defective."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"why, certainly, mister .... eh... i dont know your name..." the princess giggles.
"Uhh... my hearing units appear to be malfunctioning." the golem stressed.
"i told you should have upgraded to linux." the other golem sighs.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance laughs and tumbles down from his perch on the golem before saying "You may call me Valance, Princess. And I see that even with your upgrades to their intelligence those golems can still get themselves quite confused."
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Jump and Tumble to reduce the distance of the fall. I auto make the checks if it is less than 30 feet, taking no damage. If its more than that I need a roll of 13 to reduce it by another 10 feet.
[roll]1d20[/roll]
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"yes, Valance. that appears to be a side-effect to the intelligence." she smiles.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance says "Yes, but that is quite a problem in body guards. Care to help me find some humans who don't get quite so confused to keep your father alive?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"oh, sure." she says, mildly flushed "i'll walk with you."
The golems look at each other with as much concern as their move-less faces could muster.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Dresil looks up from softly playing a tune when the king walks in, and listens to him speak intently. He puts his ocarina away, and bows slightly.
Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, but two questions I have of you. One, will this boat have enough room for our mounts? And two, what sort of magical artifact would we be looking for?
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance turns to the golems and says "Now keep the king safe, we wouldn't want him dieing while you were on guard. I'm afraid that we would have to melt you down for scrap if that were to happen. Oh, and jump up and down 3 times when the rest of my party comes out so I will know to come back. The king would be ever so disappointed if I couldn't complete the mission that he is paying me for because his guards didn't notify me."
Turning back to the princess Valance says "So princess, do you know any old master sergeants. Preferable ones who have seen combat?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
" ah, the boat is quite large, yes. so your horses will find plenty of room. as for the artifact... all i DO know is that it has the shape of a animal skull or something like that. the details are vague, but its powerful! thats why you cant let it fall into wrong claws." The king takes a deep breath "i suggest that when you reach the ruin you let the team Gyradan sent get the artifact. and as they come out, you assault them." :)
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Emperor Tippy
Valance turns to the golems and says "Now keep the king safe, we wouldn't want him dieing while you were on guard. I'm afraid that we would have to melt you down for scrap if that were to happen. Oh, and jump up and down 3 times when the rest of my party comes out so I will know to come back. The king would be ever so disappointed if I couldn't complete the mission that he is paying me for because his guards didn't notify me."
Turning back to the princess Valance says "So princess, do you know any old master sergeants. Preferable ones who have seen combat?"
"uhh... ooo...key..." the golems stutter.
"oh, plenty" the princess says "why dont we start looking in the stables?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance says "Fine with me Princess."
Once they arrive at the stables Valance says "So who should we speak to hear?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"oh, maybe Patch, Leons or Killgar. they're all very experienced fighters." she says and enters the stable "but who knows who we find? we're juust looking..."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance shrugs and says "Whoever is fine with me so long as they are competent and know how to train up young officers." He then follows the princess into the stable.
As he enters he calls out "Stable boy!!!"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Dresil strokes his chin, deep in thought.
What about anything else we should find on this trip? Shall it go to you as well, or if I should find any sort of item worth my own while may I accept it as payment?
OOC
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Bardic Knowledge roll to see if I've heard of such an item?
Bardic Knowledge +10. I dunno if you made a diceroll thead, or you will roll for us or what.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dresil
Dresil strokes his chin, deep in thought.
What about anything else we should find on this trip? Shall it go to you as well, or if I should find any sort of item worth my own while may I accept it as payment?
OOC
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Bardic Knowledge roll to see if I've heard of such an item?
Bardic Knowledge +10. I dunno if you made a diceroll thead, or you will roll for us or what.
"oh, yes. feel free to loot whatever you want from the fallen. do not jeopardize the mission for loot though. " the king says and nods.
Spoiler
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just roll in a spoiler tag
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Emperor Tippy
Valance shrugs and says "Whoever is fine with me so long as they are competent and know how to train up young officers." He then follows the princess into the stable.
As he enters he calls out "Stable boy!!!"
"i think we're alone.." the princess whispers "would you... close the door?"
sense motive check,stud +3circumstance bonus.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance smiles and says "I'm afraid not princess. Perhaps some other time. I really do need to find a competent body guard for your father. And I much prefer beds for my liaisons. I also prefer more time than the ten minutes or so we have before your father is done briefing my associates and we are off."
Valance heads back out of the Stable and says "So were would Patch, Leons or Killgar be?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"uuhm..." the princess blushes "i suppose we can find them at the abbey of Pelor near the gatehouse. they like to stand there and talk about past battles..." awkward.
im just saying it. awkward.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance smiles and says "Very well, let's go off to the abby of Pelor."
Once there Valance says to one of the soldiers standing around "Hey Solider, where is anyone of the following: Patch, Leons, or Killgar?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Of course, my leige.
Dresil bows once more, and with that, he gathers up his things, hefting his pack over his shoulder and goes to take in the outside air, sitting just outside the tent.
Bardic Knowledge
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[roll0]
(Musings to self) Hope I do this right... still can't seem to get the knack of the roller.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dresil
Of course, my leige.
Dresil bows once more, and with that, he gathers up his things, hefting his pack over his shoulder and goes to take in the outside air, sitting just outside the tent.
Bardic Knowledge
Spoiler
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[roll0]
(Musings to self) Hope I do this right... still can't seem to get the knack of the roller.
He meets to huge silver golems. "ehhh... are we supposed to jump now?"
"i...dont remember..." they stutter.
Searching your memories you find the story of the Corpse king, who wielded the mighty ramstaff. a staff with the head of some dead divine ram. he lost it in battle with the famous mercenary and later city builder Luciano Seaside. the location was unknown but it might very well have been the island you're heading to now.
Quote:
Valance smiles and says "Very well, let's go off to the abby of Pelor."
Once there Valance says to one of the soldiers standing around "Hey Solider, where is anyone of the following: Patch, Leons, or Killgar?"
"eh, theyre behind the abbey." the soldier says and salutes. he seems rather unsure what to think...
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance nods and says "Thanks"
He then heads back behind the abbey and says to the princess "So which is which?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"patch wears a eye patch, Killgar has a huge beard and Leons ... is different." she smiles "I think i should go now. come see me some time." she says and walks towards the palace.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Dresil pulls out his ocarina again and begins to play softly, basically just waiting for the rest of his compatriots.
Perform Check for the heck of it.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance says "Very well, it was a pleasure talking with you. I hope events conspire to give us more time to communicate when circumstances are better." As he says the last word he winks and then walks up to the 3 veterans.
Valance looks them over and then says "Attention!"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"is ...is he playing music to make us jump?" one of the golem asks "i dont think so..." the other replies.
after playing for a little while he notice that someone is standing in front of him. "hello there."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Emperor Tippy
Valance says "Very well, it was a pleasure talking with you. I hope events conspire to give us more time to communicate when circumstances are better." As he says the last word he winks and then walks up to the 3 veterans.
Valance looks them over and then says "Attention!"
Patch jumps up from the bench they were sitting at. "HEPP!" he says and atnd at attention, so does Killgar and Leons...well he saluted with two of his four arms.
"eh... youre no officer!" Patch growls...
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
The young human stands up, and offers a courtesy bow.
Good morrow, how may I be of service to you?
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
"you may not." the well armed knight says in a blunt tone "i must see the king so move out of my way."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance grins and says "No but I got your attention didn't I? And I'm a agent of the crown who handles special assignments for the royal family. Which makes me at least 2 steps above officers the way I see it, Master Sergeants being one step above officers. So why am I here? Because your King is full of himself and thinks that he doesn't need any body guards besides his sword and those 2 half wit golems. The Princess doesn't think this is the best idea and I agree. She recommended you three as loyal men who are excellent fighters. So I'm drafting you. You three are now the Kings personal bodyguards, one of you is to be within 5 feet of him at all times, day or night. You are to ignore any orders he gives you that would compromise his security. You will recruit other NCO's and enlisted men to form the body guard. And you will not repeat a single word you hear to anyone, if you do I will personally see to it that you die a very painful death.
Now the King is a good man but he is new to this whole business of command, you have all brought along junior officers and trained them up to snuff. It's time for you to do that for your king. So come with me now, it's time for you to start your new duty assignment. And this one lasts until I relieve you."
Valance turns and heads back towards the kings tent.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
A little taken aback by this man's rudeness, he steps aside, casually slipping his wind instrument back into his pocket before laying his hand on the hilt of his sword nonchalantly, then stepping out of the way.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
patch: ...holy ****...
Killgar: ...eh...
Leons: good grief gentlemen. i belive we have just been "had".
patch again: arright, y' 'eard 'im. to th' king! le's move!
Quote:
Valance smiles and says "Very well, let's go off to the abby of Pelor."
Once there Valance says to one of the soldiers standing around "Hey Solider, where is anyone of the following: Patch, Leons, or Killgar?"
The knight marches past him, into the tent. he speaks briefly with the king and then walks away at a rather high speed.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance and the three guards walk up to the tent, when Valance sees Dresil outside the tent he turns to the golems and says "This man was in the tent when I left it. He was still in it when I ordered you to jump 3 times if someone exited. He is now outside the tent. How come you haven't jumped?"
Valance turns to the 3 guards and says "See what I mean about a need for real guards? Whichever one of you is senior follow me, the other two stand guard out here and keep the golems from doing anything stupid."
With that Valance strides into the tent and says "Good news my king, I've found you a competent bodyguard. He comes highly recommended by your daughter and she said that she would be quite displeased if you were to send him away. So displeased in fact that she would make human sized copies of those half wit golems outside and lock them in with an order set that would keep at least 2 with you at all times."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Patch follows him.
"eeh.... okay?" the King stutters "this was.....unexpected... to say the least."
"im as confused as ye' arr m'liege." Patch growls.
"well..." the King mused "cant hurt to keep some veterans close..."
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shademan
patch: ...holy ****...
Killgar: ...eh...
Leons: good grief gentlemen. i belive we have just been "had".
patch again: arright, y' 'eard 'im. to th' king! le's move!
The knight marches past him, into the tent. he speaks briefly with the king and then walks away at a rather high speed.
Falwell Colms
Standing from his kneel, Falwell takes a seat in the tent, and begins to study the maps of the area that the king has provided. Knowing where he is bound is his only defense now.
Well sire, I am here to serve you in my own way now. The city's guard no longer needs my services, I have trained the new recruits and they should be fine on their own now.
Falwell listens the the King's conversation with the bard Dresil, taking in the details, and when he leaves to go outside, he can hear the Golems discussing jumping... he doesn't know why... and then another Knight enters the tent and Falwell listens in as he mulls over the maps.
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Falwell is going to listen in on the conversation that just took place, and if needed here is his listen check. [roll0]
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I GOT A 4!!!
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
wow. for a four you hear this:
mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble stoinking great mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble ...
after the king was done talking to the knight he turned to Falwell "what order did you say you was in again?"
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance says "Good, so thats settled. Now it's at least 3 times as hard to assassinate you as it was before."
Valance then turns and leaves the tent. He turns to the other two guards and says "Everything is settled with the king. I expect you to find the twenty most hardened, most grizzled, best fighters, and most loyal men in this army within a week. They are to work in shifts of 4, with 4 shifts per day and 1 free day every 5 days. Requisition the supplies you need on the kings order. Oh and teach these golems some skills. If they complain or don't cooperate tell them that the king could use the silver they are made of to pay for competent troops."
He then sits down and rests.
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Make a listen check every round with +13 to the check.
[roll0]
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Dresil notices all of the action with the guards entering and leaving the tent as he mutters to himself.
Way too uptight around here.
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Re: Civil war, King Erwind.
Valance glances over at the bard and says "Way to loose actually."