Kingmaker (Pathfinder IC)

[balistafreak]

Hawke

And that very night, Hawke is visited by a horrific nightmare of dead hands reaching out from the water, and pulling him under into the darkness...

Waking with a start, Hawke bolts upright from the waist, clutching at his chest. The silver stag prods itself into his palm... and that reminder of his faith goads him into action.

"You... how dare you," he growls into the morning dawn, even though the odds of his words reaching his tormentor are nil. "We defeated the Stag Lord - is the idea of the land being free of his terror not enough for you? Must you wish for a feud? Just what do you want with his body, anyways?"

Visions of foul necromancy dance in front of his head - they involve a hangman's noose, a dancing skeleton, and, strangely enough, a set of puppets. "Get out of my head. If you insist on haunting us, you are no better than the Stag Lord at heart."

His faith surges forth - his hands stop shaking as he fingers the silver stag around his neck. In his mind's eye, a herd of charging stags beats back the grasping hands, himself desperately clinging to the leading one, with an impossibly impressive rack of antlers. "Now, if you excuse me, I've a trip to make. And make no mistake, I'll chase you out of any of our heads."

Eh, it was dawn anyways. Slipping out of his sleeping bag and tent, he walks out to last night's fire, rekindling it for the morning breakfast, nodding to the member of the last watch. When he gives him an ear-to-ear grin for no apparent reason, already there's no sign of his rude awakening.

Spoiler

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Firstly, Hawke is completely immune to fear as a Paladin. Ergo, a shaken effect shouldn't bother him at all.

Secondly, should the shaken effect happen for some reason, he can prepare and cast lesser restoration which will remove the condition. This will let him "chase down" the nightmares and mitigate their effects regardless of who is affected, although it will deprive him of his only 1st level spell per day.

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Krul had been stopped in his tracks by Zora's suggestion. Krul's idea had forced Augens to step back in shock.

And finally, in turn, Augens was able to literally floor Hawke.

The youth was coordinated, generally. There had been none of the teenage awkwardness of movement that assaulted many a growing child. He'd survived years in the forest alone, battling against various bandits; recently, he'd taken to traveling with a group for much the same cause. It took a lot to shake him - a supernatural nightmare did nothing more than wake him up, a giant centipede's venom merely left him unstable but still standing.

But this was... something in a completely different league. As such, he was able to somehow trip over thin air and land face-first.

Limbs fly in all directions as he attempts to scramble to his feet, but he settles for ending up in a sitting position, legs flopped forward and arms back to support his torso. "Oh. Oh no you don't. You're kidding, right?" Vaguely, he considers the word 'nation' - he has to throw it aside, and consider the implication of the title 'king'. "Oh, c'mon, mates. I'm too young to be a king. I mean, you never hear about a good young king, they're all... what did they call them? You-sip... your-sorp..." The word is 'usurpers', but he gives it up. "... cheaters," his limited vocabulary resorts. "And I'm not a cheater!"

[SanguinePenguin]

Krul expected Hawke to resist, but he had hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself... the half-orc continues, "I never said king, Hawke. We... we should talk of this more, but I don't think I want to see us name a king in this land. We should rule, but not by bloodline or by might, but by what is right - what is good. We need a voice, a face, an embodiment of what virtues our nation will stand for - I think you're fitting for that. You will have some power, but not absolute. The law would hold for you as much as for anyone else. You will not be a despot or a tyrant. Maybe 'king' isn't a title you should hold in your mind," Krul thought for a second and then said, "perhaps 'prolocutor' would be a better title to keep in mind. The job should go to you, because I don't think it will change you - at least... not for the worse."

[RocketMan]

Zora

"Zora she is remembering the tales of her people. Once, in days ago, there was the mighty chieftain, whose wrath was the storms of the sky and his warbands the fires that scorch all ahead. But his people they starved, for all they were having it was to go to the warriors. The old, they could not see to make the change, for this it was always the way of their lives. It was taking a man who had lived for few summers-and-winters. One day, a young brave one he challenged to the death-battle the chieftain. He was winning and making for his people the better lives."

Zora looks at Hawke, and for a fleeting moment you think she is about to challenge him to a battle to the death. Her face is inscrutable. "Hawke, Zora she thinks this tale it is to be teaching for the young the things of import. Some chieftains they make war and pillage - this is honourable, but only if too the people their lives are made rich by this. You might become king of this land to do such things."

"This tale, it is also teaching Zora this lessons: just give to Zora the armies, for she might then be the lighting and raging fire with no cries of hunger from grain-eaters." She grins.