The Wrong Guys IC II

[Strawberries]

"Thank you" Audric nods in acknowledgement to both Felix and Morten, relaxing his posture just a tiny bit. As for Kurag... he glares to the orc, part in annoyance and part in disdain. He shakes his head "Which humans? The one on your side? No, I am not satisfied. Promise me the same things Felix and Morten did: that you will not take arms against this country and its people." He keeps looking straight into Kurag's eyes.

[Ajadea]

"Your humans, my allies, all of them," Kurag says, sweeping his arm expansively. "I will not raise my weapons against any of them as long as I draw breath." He glares, as if daring one of you to speak up against such an oath.

[Strawberries]

"And just to be absolutely, perfectly clear, by "humans" you mean "denizens of this country", which includes dwarves and halflings, am I correct?" Audric launches an half-exasperated look to Morten By Aldaran, he is worse than Antal. he thinks, with a pang of sympathy for the dwarf "And by "weapons" I take you are including your magic as well. Are you?"

[Ajadea]

Mortren sighs, but says nothing. "I know no such spells, sadly," Kurag says with a grimace. Clearly, he doesn't think much of his inability to kill people with magic. "And yes, dwarves and halflings too. No harm to the people." His grimace transforms into a cold smile seamlessly. "And in return, our lives and freedom, of course."

[Jallorn]

While all this may be very noble and generous, I feel like we're getting ahead of ourselves. I don't deny the wisdom of thinking about the future, but when the next few days are this uncertain, looking beyond them seems like a fools hope. Antal pauses, That said, remember us. Remember what we're trying to do here and... remember that sometimes those you think of as enemies are just trying to do the same as you: survive. Now, what's our next move?

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Yeah, being around Audric is definitely bringing out Antal's more honorable and altruistic features.

[Strawberries]

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Yeah, being around Audric is definitely bringing out Antal's more honorable and altruistic features.

((
Also, Ajadea, just for the hell of it sense motive - (1d20+9)[15]))

Audric nods at Kurag's request "To the best of my ability and influence, yes." Which, admittedly, may not be that much. But it is the best he can do. "I thought that was pretty much implied."

He listens at Antal's speech trying to avoid to appear too surprised Are we sure this is the same halfling that flung open trapped books? he thinks to himself, somewhat amused, but he is serious when he answers "Connor and Sandra need to be brought to safety. Arheilt's situation has to be dealt with. We need to find Iil'ssaran first, in order to stop her. And...we still do not know where Ranias is." He makes a gesture, as if to say 'take your pick'.

[Jallorn]

Do... do we have to go after the witch? I mean, shouldn't her magic just blow up in her face eventually?

[Savannah]

"Can we afford to wait? Remember what she's done to people already."

[Strawberries]

Audric nods in agreement with Rana "She is harming people now, and she needs to be stopped as soon as possible. I am afraid we need to go after her."

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

Locking his hands into place on his hips, Llaars fires a disapproving look toward Antal after his last question. "She's tough now, but it's only gonna get worse the longer we wait. I think what we need now is to figure out what we do from here..."

[Strawberries]

"Yes. Yes, we do." Audric replies. He is silent for a moment, to make a little order in his thoughts, then starts again, turning towards Sandra and the two sorcerers. Better to address one issue at a time "Sandra... I suppose Michael has your situation under control, since he seems to have been doing this for a while, but here is my advice if you will take it. For how I see it, you can exit the city in two ways. The safest, I think, is to blend with the rest of the people, using one of the most crowded exit. The Sailor Gate, for instance. The other…you could try to exit through one of the less-guarded passage. I know of one where I could direct you, but the risk of being noticed would be greater, I think. ”

He hesitates, then adds what he feels is the most important piece of advice “Above all, if you see a paladin, try not to act like you did when I entered this room. Any of us will recognize Connor as a sorcerer, if we scan him for magic, but you do not need to give us a reason to look. If you act like you have something to hide, you will draw attention to yourself. If you behave naturally…you are not unusual enough to warrant a second glance. "

He turns to look at Arheilt, then “Antal, Morten, if one of you will make me the courtesy to translate… I need to tell something to Arheilt, too.”

[Ajadea]

Sandra nods, still looking very nervous. "Normal. Right..." She squeezes Connor's hand.

Mortren groans. "Yes, yes, I can translate," he grumbles.

[Strawberries]

Audric nods in thanks "Very well" he says, keeping his gaze on Arheilt all the tine "As I was saying before, the Order could be able to help. But he has to be very careful in how he describes the situation. If he says that he made the pact of his own will, just to save himself...well, not everybody will consider that he regrets what he has done and forgive him. It is best if he makes it look like he had no choice. Like he was threatened, or forced into what he did.". He does his best to avoid thinking that he is advicing a failed would-be warlock on the best ways to lie to the Order, and keeps talking "He should avoid a young paladin named Keon. He... he is very zealous in doing his duty, he may not react well regardless of what the tale is. And now that I think about it, he should probably stay away from Jarett and his sidekicks, too, I suppose". He adds the last sentence almost as if it was an afterthought.

[Ajadea]

Mortren translates slowly, a frown etched onto his face. He seems to stumble with finding the translation for a few words - not all human concepts translate well to dwarven, or vice versa for that matter.

Arheilt asks a few questions - you can catch a rather mangled version of Keon's name in one of them, and Mortren mutters something that almost certainly does not need to be translated in response to another.

"So, what does this Keon person look like anyways? And, I am not sure I translated this right, but, are you asking Arheilt to lie to your Order?" Mortren asks. Just by tone of voice, you'd guess that he thinks he screwed up the translation.

[Strawberries]

Audric doesn't answer immediately. Anyone looking at him can see he has paled a bit. "Keon...young, dark hair and eyes, almost...almost as tall as me." he says. His voice breaks a couple of times, like he is making an effort to keep a calm demeanor while being obviously very upset by something "And I was...I am tr-trying to save his life." He pauses, clenching his hands. His breathing is a little faster than normal "I'm sorry, I don't think I can..." He doesn't finish the sentence. Instead, he turns and all but runs outside the door, leaving the room without looking back.

[Savannah]

Rana turns and runs after him, "Audric!"

Shadow, who had been leaning into her side, getting his ears rubbed, gives a surprised snort and hurries after his mistress, looking rather put out.

[Ajadea]

Felix stares at the door, which is hanging slightly ajar. "Is he normally like this?" he asks no one in particular.

Mortren frowns at the description. "So, the person Arheilt should be avoiding is Audric's crazy and evil twin brother? Guess... well... heh. Long time since I saw someone who was more concerned about lives than ideological purity. On any side."

[Strawberries]

Rana (and whoever should decide to follow her, I suppose )

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You find Audric standing still at the bottom of the stairway. Apparently he hadn't planned very much in advance where he was going. He is leaning a bit against the wall, still looking quite pale: his eyes are squeezed shut, and he seems to be shaking slightly. He has almost surely heard you, but he doesn't make any gesture to acknowledge your presence.

[Savannah]

Audric

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Rana hesitates for only a second before stepping close to Audric's side and putting a hand on his shoulder.

[Strawberries]

Rana

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Audric opens his eyes and looks at her. He seems to be on the verge of tears. "What am I doing?" he asks, very quietly, almost in a whisper. It seems the question is addressed more to himself than to Rana.

[Savannah]

Audric

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Rana slips one arm around him and squeezes gently (Shadow grumbles slightly), "What is necessary for survival and to defeat the witch."

[Strawberries]

Rana

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Audric gives a little crooked smile, seemingly grateful for the comfort, but he shakes his head "That was exactly what you were accusing me not to do just yesterday" he says. "Trying to help Ar-Arheilt doesn't have anything to do with that. Rana-" he swallows, closing his eyes again, briefly "I am... I am not sure what I am supposed to do anymore." To be about anymore, he wanted to say, but he doesn't seem to have the courage to put it in words.

[Savannah]

Audric

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Rana flinches slightly when Audric points out her change in attitude. She replies firmly enough, however, "What you are supposed to do is stop the witch and her spirit friends. They are an abomination and a danger to everything."

[Strawberries]

Rana

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"It is not that. I-I know that." Nonetheless, he stops leaning on the wall, standing a little bit straighter "This is about everything...everything else." He bites his lips, unsure of how he can explain "What do you know about us? P-paladins, I mean?"

[Savannah]

Audric

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She shivers, hard. "You kill magic users. Even when they aren't a danger. Like me." Her voice is flat.

[Strawberries]

Rana

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Audric winces. The accusation is a true one. "That's not everything we are about, you know." he says quietly "We...we are..." He seems to be groping for words to explain "Our main duty is to protect people." That's Kalan talking, and he knows: in his nervousness, he has fall back to his mentor's words "Mercy has a part in it, even if some of us tend-tend to forget that all too often. Integrity, honor, lo-loyalty to our brethren. And..." another pause "...and we can do what we do because Aldaran is with us. I never stopped to think what it meant. But upstairs, before..." He doesn't continue the sentence, instead passing an hand over his eyes.

[Savannah]

Audric

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Rana starts to open her mouth, but seems to think better of it. She waits for Audric to finish his sentence.

[Strawberries]

Rana

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Audric takes a while to finish that sentence. He seems to need a little time to compose himself "Upstairs, before" he finally starts again "I-I felt something. It had never happened to me before. It was...a force, I think it's the best way to describe it. Asking...asking me if I was sure. What I was doing. And...and I have no idea how to answer. Morten is right, I was advicing Arheilt to lie to my brethren. What sort of paladin does this make me?"

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((For the record, I'm not making that up by myself. Ajadea sent me a PM. ))

[Savannah]

Audric

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Rana doesn't say anything for a long time. "The non-murderous kind? I don't--I can't--I don't know."

[Strawberries]

Rana

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Audric nods, putting an hand on Rana's shoulder and squeezing slightly. "Of course you can't know. That's something I have to figure out by myself. But thank you for listening." He makes another small smile. It is a bit less faint than the first, but not by much. "It's just... I am not sure I can keep doing what I am doing now. Kalan...he asked me the same question. He told me that I was putting everything at risk. He asked me if I wanted to go on, and I said yes, but now...now I do not know anymore."