Shadows of Anmer IC

[mucco]

Rubido is able to sneak up to the priest without him noticing. When he jumps up and threatens the man, the priest almost lets out a cry in fear, but manages not to say anything. He freezes and looks intently at Rubido, while raising his hands. You aren't able to understand well the meaning of his stare.

[PersonMan]

Selia frowns, coming out from her hiding place around the corner. Yeah, that was a terrible idea. Instead of just, you know, coming out and saying 'hey, sorry for barging in, but we just rescued this missing kid' or something, you threaten him. I mean, we could have at least done some brainstorming before rushing into this. Go back a bit, talk it over...But whatever, that's the past, and the powerful must focus on the future.

So, ah, Mr. um...Priest. I don't know your name, but I'm quite sorry about this. We followed a tunnel from outside the town to come here, hoping to avoid goblin raiders while bringing the child to safety. Selia glances back to where the last members of the group were. I think there's no use staying behind anymore. She comments to them, hoping to find a...diplomatic solution.

OOC:

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Diplo, if needed:
(1d20+6)[22]

[mucco]

Zadsa happily comes out of the hiding place. The priest startles again as Selia enters the room with the child. "Z-Zadsa? And... a woman?" After Selia has talked, he still is quite shaken and looks around suspiciously. "So... are you the ones who are doing this to me?" he asks, in a soft and squeaky voice. It's as if he was trying to sound bold and angry, but didn't have the guts for it.

OoC note on Diplomacy:

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I am using Rich's variant for Diplomacy, so you can use it when asking something relevant from someone. It does not generally work for improving attitudes.

[Overlord Rion]

"To make a long story short, I don't like priests. Always full of themselves and that holier-than-thou attitude." Rubido shifted slightly, his sword stilled primed and ready. Today had not been a good day for him. But at the priest's words, Rubido said "Now just what do you mean by that?

[mucco]

The priest stares at the elf for a couple seconds, not saying anything. Suddenly, he screams "WILL YOU PUT DOWN THAT SWORD?" and his face turns deep red for the effort of shouting and the sheer terror the elf's inducing in him.

[PersonMan]

Selia raises an eyebrow. Yeah, I think that he's got a good idea there. Threatening him probably isn't necessary right now. She says.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia enters behind the others, silently, his intent stare focused on the priest. Briefly, a bass-pitched hum fills the room.

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Melchia manifests Attraction on the priest, expending his psionic focus. The priest is entitled to a DC 15 Will save, or find himself attracted to Melchia; if successful, the power will lend Melchia a +4 bonus on interaction skill checks with the priest for 1 hour.

[Overlord Rion]

At the priest's outburst, Rubido had to fight every urge not to laugh. He kept forgetting most people lived a normal and uneventful life. Poor them. He let his sword drop to his side, making sure it was obvious there was no urge to swing it. "My sincerest apologies. You wouldn't believe the day we've had."

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia steps forward, feeling the priest's emotions bend to his will like fresh clay. He motions for Zadsa to follow.
"Hello, sir. Please understand the position we find you in is slightly suspect. What reason does an upstanding priest have to be lurking in secret passageways? And why would innocent children be privy to these passageways? If you would be so kind as to enlighten us, I'm sure we can reach some manner of accord."
In the poor light, Melchia's focused stare and monotone, emotionless voice lend him a disturbing quality.

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Let's try an Intimidate check to shake him up a bit: (1d20+7)[13]
I'll also throw in a Sense Motive to get a better feel for what's up with this guy: (1d20+9)[12]
The bonuses from Attraction are factored into the above rolls.

[mucco]

The priest looks very, very confused. He looks at Melchia for a bit before answering. "I'm sorry, sir, what passageways are you talking about? You being able to walk through stone is very impressive, but I swear I have no part in this."

[Overlord Rion]

Wait, he can't see it? Interesting."It looks like stone to you?" Rubido tucked that tidbit of information into the back of his head. It might be pertinent later. Were they enchanted? Probably, but by who?

[PersonMan]

Selia raises an eyebrow. Well that's interesting... She murmurs to herself. A tunnel into a priest's room was one thing, a tunnel that he couldn't see...

Wait. If he can't see the tunnel, maybe we can't see the doorway? The bard considers aloud, turning towards what had appeared to be a fake door, considering now that it wasn't.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia arches his eyebrows, then looks at Zadsa.
"What do you see, Zadsa? Can you tell the priest that there is in fact a tunnel, through which we just entered?"

[mucco]

Zadsa looks a bit disoriented, but the priest's faces make him laugh. "Of course there is a tunnel, father. Can't you see it?" he says as he giggles.

The priest looks at him, then feels his forehead, checking for fever. Then he turns to Zadsa and replies in a dismissive tone "Stop messing with me, kid."

[Overlord Rion]

This is why I don't like kids. "Despite how he's saying it, he's actually telling the truth. None of us possess the power to actually move through stone."

[mucco]

The priest stares at the elf, disoriented and helpless. "Alright, this must be it, I must have gone completely mad. Then I suppose I am the only one who sees these devilish patterns on the floor and I am imagining these cursed unholy symbols!" He waves nervously one of those blue sun disks you found before, and points at the floor tiles.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia returns his focused gaze to the befuddled priest, his arms folded behind his back.
"Calm down, sir. Do not begin to question your sanity just yet; there could be illusions or other trickery afoot. These odd symbols of which you speak are unfamiliar to me. Perhaps you could enlighten us as to their meaning?"

[mucco]

The priest calms. "Alright, friend. I know this is a curse cast on me by some evil creature. My lovely sun disks of Pelor have been ruined! And look at all these signs of the devil. This place has been tainted and I do not know why. I fear I will have to leave the city, or... Well, maybe these are not words a child should listen to. If you want to know more, come to me at dawn tomorrow."

[Overlord Rion]

"That works out in our favor since we need to return him anyway. Where shall we meet you?" At this point Rubido had put his weapons away. The priest was no threat. Maybe he should tone down his paranoia just a tad.


Nah.

[mucco]

"I'll wait for you in the church. It would be a good deed if you were to help me in this matter..." Finally, the priest smiles.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia slowly nods.
"Very well. Let us return Zadsa to his home, and rest. Until tomorrow... I do not believe I heard your name? You may call me Melchia."

[mucco]

"Very well, Melchia. People usually call me Father Sogol. Now if you will excuse me, I need to clean up some of this mess." The priest looks around in the room in despair.

[PersonMan]

Selia nods, turning towards what they thought was a fake door. Well, then, let's see if this works the way I think it does... She says, opening the door again. If there's a wall behind it, she slowly pokes it a few times, testing to see if it's truly solid.

[mucco]

Selia, as everyone else who passed through the illusory wall, can see it now as a translucent illusion. When you poke it you confirm that it is indeed illusory.

[mucco]

As you return the little Zadsa to Chastos Hrynn, the elf grabs it by the ear and shoves him into his room, while expressing his gratitude in a very... half-hearted way. He points to a small pouch of money and says it's your reward. He also mentions that he's going to void his debt to Selia's editor.

Spoiler

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90 platinum pieces in the pouch.

Day 2! Regain spells, rest, whatever. I'm assuming some inn that's so cheap I won't even ask you to pay money.

The sun has just risen above the hills as you enter Pelor's church. The yellow tainted glasses combined with the reddish hue of the dawn's light produce an amber-colored lightning that makes the place very homely. Father Sogol is near the altar, sweeping the floor. It is quite a big church for a single man to manage, he gives the impression to be too small a man for such a big thing.

As you enter, you startle him for a second. He swiftly turns toward the entrance. "Oh, hello friends. I thought you wouldn't show up after all."

He walks up to Melchia. "Hey, I wanted to say thanks for being so nice to me yesterday. Tonight I had a very bad dream where I didn't thank you in the morning and then you killed me! So I thought I should be very thankful today!" He seems to be as shaken as the day before.

"I've prepared some tea, if you'd like. We can discuss while drinking." He motions his arm toward a door on the side of the church.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia perks his eyebrows at the priest's odd statement.
"A dream, you say? Interesting. I have been plagued by strange dreams myself lately. Tea would be lovely, thank you."
He mildly follows the priest, feeling the confidence that only a refreshed supply of mental energy could bring.

[PersonMan]

Selia raises an eyebrow at the priest but follows him wordlessly, enjoying the feeling of her innate power flowing freely through her again. She seems to recognize a similar feeling in Melchia, and enjoys the feeling of having something in common.

[mucco]

The priest opens the door to his kitchen. It is quite small, humble, and not that clean either. As he prepares the kettle, he starts talking.

"It all started a couple months ago, when some guards brought me a woman they captured. They wanted to know if she was a witch, so they could burn her. She had a couple of medaillons, depicting a blue moon crescent.

"I knew nothing about witches, though. My faith was telling me that the night and the moon are important to Pelor, for without them we wouldn't be able to enjoy His true light. Nevertheless, I didn't have the guts to protect this woman and told the guards I could not confirm she was not a witch. A couple days later she was burned in front of the church.

"Since that day, things have gone wild in my rooms. All those creepy details... and my beloved sun disks all have turned blue now. I suspect the woman put a curse on me, maybe she really was a witch. Please, help me lift this curse!"

The tea tastes pretty good.

[PersonMan]

Selia mulls over the man's story as she drinks.

You haven't considered that this is a sign from Pelor? She asks, gazing into her tea. After all, I've heard that he's big on protecting the innocent. Perhaps he's telling you that you should have protected the woman, as you didn't know if she was innocent or not. It could be that he's just feeling like doing so in a roundabout, 'poetic justice' sort of way.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia sips his tea quietly, listening.
"...Did you happen to know a druid living in the woods nearby? It appeared that Zadsa and some of the other children knew this druid, but I do not know if there is any connection."