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  1. - Top - End - #601
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    "Enough," Faien says, letting his blade fade away. It was never more than a breath away, should he have need of it again, but if he did, this ambush would have gained them little. Justice was essential, but so too must the greater justice subordinate the smaller in times of need. "I accept your surrender, Koth, and will honour it." Making the matter clear seemed wise, given the proclivities of certain of his travelling companions.

    The magistrate remains mounted, watching Koth dispassionately. "The penalty for banditry is death, as I was forced to remind some of your subordinates, but it is clear enough by now that your troops - and those of your superiors - have something more than mere banditry in mind. Speak, and stay your execution. What do you intend here? A force of the magnitude suggested by your vanguard suggests something dangerously akin to an invasion. Is it war you seek?"
    Last edited by Sallera; 2015-04-19 at 03:32 PM.
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  2. - Top - End - #602
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Vaeri, having remained hidden while most of the attack and conversation took place, steps out from her hiding place and walks silently up, to stand behind Roni.

    ~Fireheart

  3. - Top - End - #603
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Koth merely nods at Faien's acceptance of his surrender, and for a few long moments he sits in silence--not the silence of an obstinate prisoner who refuses to talk, but that of one who is deciding how much, and what, to say. "It's...not an invasion," he finally admits, "not exactly. Starting a war ourselves would gain us only the attention and swift retribution of the Five Nations, all of whom would unite to crush us at the merest hint that the smoldering embers of the Last War might blaze to life again. But provoking some of those nations into initiating hostilities against each other, so that they will weaken each other and be too preoccupied to deal with...other events? That is a much more achievable goal"
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    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
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  4. - Top - End - #604
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Vaeri frowns, "What other events?"

    Quietly, she whispers to her brother, "He's right though, if we don't heal him, he's likely to bleed to death before us."

  5. - Top - End - #605
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    "Events related to a ritual of some sort," Koth answers, then shakes his head in self-recrimination. "I still can't believe I ever thought you a priestess of Tiamat. I should have known when...ah, but that is all in the past.

    "I suppose next you'll want to know what this ritual involves. Unfortunately, I can't give you any useful details about it, as I do not know myself. I am the most junior Wyrmlord, and not a true believer like the others,"
    he says with a bit of a sneer, "so I was only informed that I will be participating in the ritual--most likely as the Azure celebrant, as I was the one who reclaimed the Azure relic--and will be, as they said, 'handsomely rewarded for my devotion, in this life and the next'. Or, I should say, that was the plan, unless you plan to turn me back over to the Red Hand unharmed." This last is said with as much sarcasm as the weakened Koth can manage to put into his tone.
    Better to DM in Baator than play in Celestia
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    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
    Darn you PoDL for making me care about a bunch of NPC Commoners!
    Quote Originally Posted by Chambers View Post
    I'm pretty sure turning Waterdeep into a sheet of glass wasn't the best win condition for that fight. We lived though!
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  6. - Top - End - #606
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    Though the Wyrmlord speaks with sarcasm, it triggers a thought in Roni's mind: What if we did turn him back over to the Red Hand? Do we have any leverage we could maintain over him or incentive we could provide to run him as a double agent, staying one step ahead of the gobs?What is this ritual, and what is an Azure Celebrant anyways? He makes a mental note to ask the others about it outside of Koth's earshot, but they would need somewhere more private than a busy road to sequester Koth and continue the discussion. He was dangling too many threads in front of them to grasp them all at once, here & now. Roni turns his attention to all the shady inns, taverns, and backrooms he knew of, where the amount of coin transferred and the amount of questions asked were in an inverse relationship.

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    Where could they take Koth? What was he a part of? And would he need medical attention to keep him conscious and talking?
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  7. - Top - End - #607
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    Roni's mental search of backwater hideouts comes up empty-handed, unfortunately. You're almost on top of the Breland-Darguun border, where not even the shadiest of innkeepers would be able to turn enough of a profit to tempt him; most of said shady taverns cluster closer to cities or other highly-populated areas, the nearest of which are Sterngate and New Cyre, both over two days' travel away. Unless he happens to know any crazy hermits, solitary mountain men, or the like, you're all out of luck for a more private place to take your captive.

    The phrase "Azure celebrant" doesn't immediately bring any particular obscure rituals to mind, but Roni does know that cults of minor gods tend to really love their symbolism and do everything they can to reflect aspects of their gods in their ceremonies, and Tiamat's cult in particular would probably be fixated on the chromatic symbolism of the Dark Lady's five-headed draconic depiction, classifying lots of things into groups of red, green, blue, black, and white. It's likely, then, that this ritual--whatever it is--would be performed with five main celebrants, each doing something symbolizing or somehow related to one of those five colors, with the "Azure celebrant" being the one in the blue role. He also recalls Koth mentioning to "Priestess Vaeri" something about usurping his position as Azure celebrant due to her trying to take credit for recovery of the "Azure relic," in reference to the Key you've been seeking, which is supposed to be one of five to Tiamat's prison.

    Five colors, five Keys, an Azure celebrant for an Azure relic...Roni can probably connect the dots as to what this ritual might be.

    As for Koth's desire for healing, he'll probably be fine. Hobgoblins are made of sterner stuff than humans, and if humans can walk for miles on a wounded leg Koth should be able to do the same with his more serious wound. In fact, Roni's long experience with con artists tells him that Koth might very well be attempting to play on your sympathies for a poor, wounded prisoner in lots of pain to get you to underestimate him.
    Better to DM in Baator than play in Celestia
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    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
    Darn you PoDL for making me care about a bunch of NPC Commoners!
    Quote Originally Posted by Chambers View Post
    I'm pretty sure turning Waterdeep into a sheet of glass wasn't the best win condition for that fight. We lived though!
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  8. - Top - End - #608
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    "Cheese it, sis," Roni grunts at Vaeri. "That leg's got naught but a scratch. Don't let him play on your sympathies; that makes whatever comes next more difficult to deal with." With that, he squats in front of Koth and narrows his eyes to slits.

    "Try again," he sneers. "Azure...Sapphire. Sapphire, Sanguine, Sprouting, Starless, Snowy. Five colors--five heads of Tiamat? Five celebrants, five relics to function as five keys to five locks holding Tiamat in her prison? If I can figure that symbolism out, I'm sure that you've been able to piece together more of the ritual. So keep talking. Otherwise, my friend Warklegnaw here will make sure that leg wound is the least of your worries."

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    Last edited by OMG PONIES; 2015-04-25 at 06:42 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Vaz View Post
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  9. - Top - End - #609
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Koth's lip twitches when Roni denies his need for healing, probably in irritation at his subterfuge being found out. The look of irritation remains stuck on his face until the mention of Tiamat's prison, at which point it shifts into an expression of skepticism and growing intrigue. "I could certainly have discovered more about the ritual, had I known that the relic was one of the keys to her prison. At the very least, I would have pressed the other Wyrmlords regarding what they planned to do with a tool for releasing a goddess."

    He looks off to the side, contemplating. "I had always pictured the Keys as carved dragonshards, like those that bind elementals to elemental vessels, but more massive and intricately shaped to contain a being of much greater power...but now that I consider it, I suppose these relics could function on different principles entirely. And what better way to protect them than to make them small and unassuming, as well. Are you sure that the relic was one of the Keys?"

    Roni is fairly sure that Koth is telling the truth about his ignorance; the hobgoblin's tone contains enough regret at passing along such a powerful item to his superiors to make it clear enough that he'd have kept it if he knew its true purpose. More importantly, though, Koth's mention of a tool to release Tiamat jogs his memory: O'Toole, the crazy survivalist he met in the Mournland, probably lives somewhere in the area--not terribly close by, but much closer to here than to New Cyre, and certainly closer than anyone else who might be able to help you all with Koth. If he could get Warklegnaw to lift him up the cliff and help him get his bearings, he's pretty sure he could figure out how to get to the old conspiracy theorist's shack.
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    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
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  10. - Top - End - #610
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Vaeri rolls her eyes behind Koth's back but keeps quiet.

  11. - Top - End - #611
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    "Tsk, tsk, tsk," Roni clucks his tongue in mock disdain at Koth. "Me, questions. You, answers." Suddenly, a thought comes over him and shakes him out of his interrogation. "...Ole Hux," he mutters, more to himself than anyone else. "Warklegnaw," he asks the giant, "any chance you could give me a boost up that cliff? I may know a place we can hole up...if you don't mind a splash of doomsday and a heaping spoonful of paranoid old man."
    Quote Originally Posted by Vaz View Post
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  12. - Top - End - #612
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    The old forest giant twitches one long ear and turns from his scanning of the forest. "Old Warklegnaw wouldn't mind that, no, he wouldn't mind at all," he says as he strides back to the cliff, leans down with the symphony of creaking and popping joints one would expect from an old man but that seem incongruous coming from someone you just saw chucking tree stumps through the air, and hefts Roni up the cliff with a light-for-a-giant tug that nevertheless sends him lurching up and over the clifftop by a good three or four feet. "I have been called a paranoid old man in my time," he continues in a somewhat more lucid tone as Roni regains his footing, "and would not begrudge another feeling the same way. So long as the miserable child-slaying worm has no chance to flee when we go to this friend of yours, old Warklegnaw would be happy to follow."
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  13. - Top - End - #613
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Auran prodded him with the butt of his spear.

    "On your feet foul priest."

    He cast an appraising glance at Roni. The young spellscale had more than proven his resourcefulness by now, if only he could stay the course of a moral compass.

    "I was right about you young Quickwing. You may always have an angle, but I cannot deny their efficacy."

  14. - Top - End - #614
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    The hobgoblin levers himself to his feet with a wince of pain that he can't quite hide. He can't stand completely straight after the number Auran and Vaeri did on his legs, but he keeps his head up and refuses to let you see any more weakness in him than is absolutely necessary. "I take it you're going to drag me to the spellscale's hideout and torture more information out of me, is that it?" he sneers.
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    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chambers View Post
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  15. - Top - End - #615
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    "You may choose to walk if you wish. If you insist on being dragged, I am certain Warklegnaw would gladly oblige you..."
    Last edited by TekHed; 2015-04-29 at 12:00 AM.

  16. - Top - End - #616
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    "I would certainly hope torture to be unnecessary," Faien says calmly, roused from his musings on the implications of Koth's - or evidently, Koth's superiors' - plan. They were not quite the fools he had feared, not warmongering directly, but provoking even moderate hostilities could be just as destructive, quite aside from whatever results their ritual would produce. Ridiculous as it seemed, Auran's dire prophecies might contain a grain of truth. "While it can produce useful results, the most common outcome is merely a large mess. You have given your answers willingly enough so far; why provoke such troublesome methods?"

    The real problem was what they could do to stop it. Drellin's Ferry was likely too small to possess Sivis facilities, and whatever provocation the hobgoblins had in mind would occur faster than they could ride news out - or, at least, faster than said news would actually reach people who mattered through the proper channels. If the plan was to incite others to fight... they would need to carry out brutal, destructive attacks without leaving witnesses. Hence the 'cleansing' of Drellin's Ferry. However they planned to pin the attack on Breland, Thrane, or even someone more remote (and indeed, someone remote made sense, if their goal was to divert the eyes of their neighbours), instead of Darguun, thus became a secondary concern compared to preventing that first strike.

    "Hm," he adds after a pause. "How many have been gathered for this plan? An campaign this ambitious would no doubt require forces well in excess of the vanguard you brought to Vraath Keep." How Koth reacted to Faien probing military matters would, he hoped, be insightful in and of itself, revealing how confident he was in the initial plan and how fragile it might be.
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  17. - Top - End - #617
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    Quote Originally Posted by PairO'Dice Lost View Post
    The old forest giant twitches one long ear and turns from his scanning of the forest. "Old Warklegnaw wouldn't mind that, no, he wouldn't mind at all," he says as he strides back to the cliff, leans down with the symphony of creaking and popping joints one would expect from an old man but that seem incongruous coming from someone you just saw chucking tree stumps through the air, and hefts Roni up the cliff with a light-for-a-giant tug that nevertheless sends him lurching up and over the clifftop by a good three or four feet. "I have been called a paranoid old man in my time," he continues in a somewhat more lucid tone as Roni regains his footing, "and would not begrudge another feeling the same way. So long as the miserable child-slaying worm has no chance to flee when we go to this friend of yours, old Warklegnaw would be happy to follow."
    Roni can't help but be surprised at the additional loft, but he tries to compensate with a tuck and roll as he contacts the clifftop. The flourishing maneuver is a bit over-the-top, but for Roni that's par for the course. In trying to dampen the impact of the fall, though, Roni winds up scraping his shoulder on the jagged rocks at the top. He has half a mind to shout down a vulgar insult at Warklegnaw, but thinks better of insulting any creature that has the strength to toss him up cliffs.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TekHed View Post
    He cast an appraising glance at Roni. The young spellscale had more than proven his resourcefulness by now, if only he could stay the course of a moral compass.

    "I was right about you young Quickwing. You may always have an angle, but I cannot deny their efficacy."
    "Don't sweat it, Soldaddy," Roni calls down with his usual swagger. "Efficacy's my middle name. Actually, that's not true; it's Zamar. Regardless, all that goes to say I've always been a bigger fan of ends than means, yeah?" While the spellscale cracks wise, this time it feels decidedly put on.

    Quote Originally Posted by PairO'Dice Lost View Post
    "I take it you're going to drag me to the spellscale's hideout and torture more information out of me, is that it?" he sneers.
    Quote Originally Posted by TekHed View Post
    "You may choose to walk if you wish. If you insist on being dragged, I am certain Warklegnaw would gladly oblige you..."
    "I suppose that's always Plan B, Koth," Roni says coolly. "If I had it my way, though, we'd go with Plan A (or as I like to call it, 'The Plan Where Koth Complies Peacefully, Speaks Openly, and Maybe We All Enjoy a Nice Glass of Lemonade'). But it's ultimately your choice. I'm just the guy who makes your choices a reality." Roni pauses for a moment, hoping that the silence will give time for that to settle in with Koth. Son of a basilisk, he thinks to himself, now I could really go for some lemonade. Hope Hux has some brewing.

    Roni has Warklegnaw help him back down the cliffside, and as he gets to the bottom he brushes the dust and grass off of his pantlegs. "So, it sounds like everyone agrees and we're off to see the wizard? Except he's not quite a wizard; more like...some kind of tinkerer. Oh, that reminds me: don't stare at the arm."
    Quote Originally Posted by Vaz View Post
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  18. - Top - End - #618
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    Koth seems to accept--for now--that you're planning to treat him relatively well; at least, he doesn't make any smart remarks about that. He does give Roni an odd look as he mentions not staring at the arm of whoever you're going to see, but doesn't comment on that either. "We're off to see this wizard, yes," Warklegnaw confirms to Roni, "this wonderful wizard friend of yours. But first, the child-murderer must be bound." The giant glares at Koth, and though he doesn't look like he wants to do any immediate harm to the hobgoblin, he is still a giant, and Koth shakes his head. "I've given my word, and I don't trust some glorified Xen'drik war machine to decide how to treat a prisoner." Warklegnaw growls loudly and reaches for another tree stump, so Koth hurriedly adds, "I will submit to one of the others restraining me, however; I understand your need for peace of mind." The giant restrains himself with effort and allows someone else to tie Koth up, but doesn't take his eyes off the prisoner.

    Baden offers the use of his mount to carry Koth, and soon you're all on your way, though not before Warklegnaw clears the tree trunks out of the road so as not to indicate to any soldiers in the area that anyone was here. The giant also insists that you four ride in pairs on either side of Baden's mount and he take up the rear, to ensure that Koth has no easy way to escape. The hour or so of riding goes by in relative silence--Koth isn't volunteering any information right now, and active questioning would best wait for once you're not on the move--until Roni calls you all to a halt: you've reached your destination (he's pretty sure), a small ramshackle hut built into the side of a hill. The door is wider than it is tall and formed of many thick boards plated with iron and copper; a row of six locks of several different designs run down one side of the door to keep it tightly closed, and a small slot in the middle of the door looks like it can be opened to let someone see out without unlocking the door. The rest of the hut is similarly constructed, with no windows or other openings unless some of the metal plates can be opened from the inside. There are no windows in the hill itself, either, so it's not clear whether the hut extends under the hill or just uses the hill as one of its walls.

    When you get within a few feet of the hut, the slot in the door opens a crack to reveal a pair of warforged eyes, and an angry voice issues out: "What sort o' varmint thinks they can walk all over mah garden wit'out even a by-yer-leave!? Y'all better not be more Dark Lanterns tryin'a take me in! Go on, git! 'Fore Ah fry y'all wit' lightnin'! An' acid! An' lightnin'-acid! That stuff I invented mah-own-self, an' believe me, buck-o, it's right painful! So if'n y'all don' wanna end up flatter'na gnome's nose is round, Ah say again: go on, git!"

    Knowledge (History) DC 15
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    Giants--true giants, that is, not ogres or trolls or the like--are not native to Khorvaire; the only giants seen on the continent before the Last War were handfuls of giants hired by various Khorvarian interests and taken across the sea, usually for dubiously-legal construction projects whose directors didn't want to involve House Cannith or hired muscle for illicit activities that House Deneith would not have approved of.

    A few years into the Last War, before the warforged titan was developed, several nations began importing giants in larger numbers to serve as living siege weapons. Each nation brought over one or two entire clans at once, as the giant warriors tended to be unwilling to leave their families and children behind in dangerous Xen'drik without their protection. After the warforged titan was introduced, use of giants fell out of favor due to their relative vulnerability (and independence; Karrnath never employed any giants due to their refusal to fight alongside the undead), and the giant clans--or what was left of them--were given unoccupied territories near national borders, left alone to live their lives while still placing them in areas prone to invasion so as to serve as "free" border defense.

    Calling a giant a "Xen'drik war machine" as Koth did Warklegnaw, therefore, is an incredible slur, reminding the giant of its people's servitude in the humanoids' War and of all the family members lost in said war, and on top of that reminding them how their proud warrior traditions were rendered obsolete by contraptions of wood and metal and how they were discarded by their former employers in an unknown land, far from home. Leaving Koth and Warklegnaw alone at this point would likely result in Koth experiencing a slow, painful demonstration of Warklegnaw's best war machine impression, one the hobgoblin probably wouldn't survive.
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    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
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    I'm pretty sure turning Waterdeep into a sheet of glass wasn't the best win condition for that fight. We lived though!
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Vaeri raises an eyebrow. "Lightning Acid? That's a new one."





    OOC: I read that in the voice of Foghom Leghom. I don't know why.

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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    "Your friend is...eccentric." Auran observed dryly. "Perhaps you could reassure him of our intentions young Quickwing?" The paladin gave an appreciative glance up at their giant companion before remarking, "enlisting allies does seem to be something of your speciality."

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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    "Listen Koth, I like you," Roni says as they walk through the woods. "You and I, we're not so different if you strip away your mindless devotion to Tiamat despite little empirical evidence that doing so will get you anything but royally boned in the end. At the end of the day, we're just two guys trying to figure out what all these dragons want us to do in this crazy, mixed-up world, amiright? So I'm only going to say this once...

    You'll either check that racist tongue now and forever or I'll leave you alone with Old Warklegnaw to personally demonstrate every way they taught him to torture, maim, and destroy. Alphabetically and back again. Savvy?"


    As they approach the hut, Roni's countenance lightens and he turns toward Auran. "I wouldn't quite use the 'F' word, but any businessman worth his salt knows how to network..." Roni mutters to the dragonborn before pasting a smile on his face twice as wide as it was disingenuous. "Hux!" the spellscale calls out, "it's the Kid! No Brelish spies here, bud. We're actually looking to stay off the grid ourselves and I figured you knew most about that. I made sure to cover our tracks so there's no need to fear. We've got a prisoner we need to question away from prying eyes, but I want to stay out of your hair too. Do you still have that old empty shed we could use for a few hours? You know, for old times' sake?"

    Roni pauses and clenches his eyes shut, hoping that today "old times' sake" meant the handful of times that Roni had saved Huxley's hide from an angry mob of anti-grafting cleric activists, rather than the other handful of times that Huxley had thrown silverware at Roni's head and blamed him personally for orchestrating the conspiracy behind most of the global catastrophes in recent history. With Hux, the odds were usually somewhere around fifty-fifty...but today sounded like more of a forty-sixty.

    Knowledge History - (1d20+7)[26] for the above spoiler
    Diplomacy - (1d20+17)[22] pretty please?
    Bluff - (1d20+16)[19] I'm sure something above is false, between the forced rapport and mostly bluffing intimidation of Koth, the fake smile routine, or the fact that he actually did little to cover tracks that include dragging a prisoner and a freaking giant.
    Last edited by OMG PONIES; 2015-05-16 at 07:06 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Vaz View Post
    Ponies, the Kim Karsdashian of GITP.
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  22. - Top - End - #622
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Warklegnaw cracks his knuckles to back up Roni's threat, the sound of which echoes through the trees around you. Koth starts to say something, stops, visibly thinks better of it, and offers a grudging nod-shrug; his pride compels him to not give in, but he's obviously not going to say anything that could get him in deeper trouble with a very angry giant. "It's not mindless devotion," he growls, addressing the first part of Roni's threat instead. "It's...never mind. I'm sure you'll question me about that later, anyways."

    After Roni calls out to his old and very close friend, the sound of clanking metal echoes out from behind the door, and the warforged eyes looking through the peephole move around a bit. "Th' kid? Th' kid...don' know no kid...wait...oh, th' Kid! The Kid what gave them Flamites what-for! How y'all doin', Kid?" The voice warms up immediately after the initial threatening anger and momentary incomprehension, and the warforged eyes move out of the way t'be replaced with...well, more warforged eyes, but these are different ones. "Good t'see y'all again, y'know it's been a right long--wait, prisoners?" The voice suddenly goes frantic, and the peephole slams shut. "No! NonononononoNOnono! Have y'all lost yer flippin' marbles, Kid!? Have y'all dropped 'em off the top o' Sharn? Lost 'em in a game o' Karrn Hold 'Em?"

    You all hear the rapid-fire sound of the six locks being unlocked with the speed one could only reach through many years of practice, and the door slams open to reveal a...well, "man" isn't a good descriptor any more, really; he obviously started off as a human at some point, but he's more machine, now, than man. One of his legs, visible under grungy grayish leather overalls that stop at his knees, is a huge, hulking patchwork iron and copper leg that looks like he must have taken it off a busted warforged titan, crunched it down to fit him, and repaired it with whatever scraps of tin and brass that he had lying around; the other leg looks like a normal human leg (albeit one covered with liver spots and oddly spaced tufts of hair) with a deconstructed warforged leg fitted around it and secured in place by screwing it right through the skin into the bone. His left arm is still human, though with a second thumb attached to it by a strange contraption around his forearm constructed of at least three different kinds of wood with copper and brass gears sticking out, and his right arm looks like three homonculus limbs reconfigured into a single arm and held together by wiring and fervent prayers.

    The warforged eyes you saw on him before now appear to be merely goggles, as he pushes them off his face onto his mostly-bald and slightly green-tinged head to reveal one cataract-clouded eye and one glowing orange lens. The other set of warforged eyes turns out to belong to a disembodied warforged head on a wooden stick that he was holding up to the peephole instead of his own, for reasons only the Host knows. "Y'all can't bring no prisoners here, Kid!" he continues ranting. "They'll find y'all! They can always find y'all! They blasted Cyre t' bits--t' bits, y'hear?--an' they can do th' same t'y'all! Par-tick-yoo-lar-ly after that stunt y'all pulled wit' that lightnin' rail derailment, don' think Ah ain't heard o' that one jus' cuz Ah'm all the way out here, I got ears everywhere! One lil' Kid an' his lil' sister an' his big brother an' some human an' a hob an' a giant can't...they can't....erm...." Huxley seems to register the rest of you for the first time, and promptly scoots back inside, re-locks all six locks with the speed of a true paranoiac, and pushes some large piece of furniture in front of the door. "Like I were sayin'," he resumes, his voice now slightly more muffled than before, "y'all can't hide from 'em! They made Karrnath blast Cyre t' bits, like Ah said, an' ain't nobody on th' Host's green Eberron what can hide from th' likes o' them."

    There is a pause, then the peephole inches open with the warforged-on-a-stick once again "looking" through it at you. "Y'know..." he drawls with the air of one who's just had a brilliant idea, "y'all could always mah ol' shed. Ain't nobody can find y'all there--it's lined with lead t'block all the divinationary magic they use, then a nice thick wall of oak boards I cut down mah-own-self t'make sure nobody did nothin' tricky wit' 'em, then lead-lined again t'block them divinations what can see right through lead. They'll tell y'all that ain't no divinations what can see through lead, y'know, but that's just what they want y'all t'think! Anyroad, if y'all swear t'be quieter'na warforged whose commandin' officer told 'im t'walk real quiet-like, y'all can use th' shed fer a piece. But if th' Dark Lanterns come askin' after y'all, Ah'm gonna turn y'all right over to 'em t'save mah own parts, y'unnerstand?"
    Better to DM in Baator than play in Celestia
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chambers View Post
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  23. - Top - End - #623
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Vaeri turns her head and begins coughing furiously to cover the sound of her giggles.

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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    "Hux! You look good..." Roni feigns as the paranoid old machineman opens the door. "New leg? It suits you. Listen, we'll be so removed from your hustle & bustle that not only will you forget we were here, but you may even forget my name. If they come around asking, you're just a quiet old man who doesn't know nothing about no spellscales. Save both of our parts and keep the donations to your Reconstruction coming, savvy?" With that, Roni tosses five gold pieces into the slot. He couldn't help it; every so often he found himself feeding into the old man's paranoia. If some faceless group was looking for Hux, chances are that they were looking for the spellscale who had spent the past few years causing a ruckus all over Khorvaire as well. It helped to have friends in low places.

    "See, whaddidItellya?" Roni says, turning back to his traveling companions. "He's good people! Now, to he shed?"
    Quote Originally Posted by Vaz View Post
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Auran did his best to hide his discomfort and distaste of the old man, feeling all the while quite awkward. He'd come to accept the existence of the warforged as the legacy of the giants and draconic sorcery, but a man so insane as to be cannibalising his own body into a machine was a new form of grotesquery. Still his more noble instincts prevailed; regardless of appearances, it was still his duty as a paladin to show their host chivalry and courtly manners. Auran swept one wing down into a low bow.

    "We are very grateful for your hospitality...allow me to contribute a gift towards your ongoing transition..."

    Auran reached up and carefully undid the leather straps of his ornate masterwork mithril breastplate. To this he removed and added his helmet, and the polished vambraces and greaves that formed the matching set. Finally he added his heavy mithril shield, emblazoned with a platinum sigil of the Platinum Dragon Himself.

    "May these serve you is good stead." the dragonborn said.

    His offering complete he accompanied the others to their temporary shelter, all the while keeping one azure eye upon their prisoner.
    Last edited by TekHed; 2015-06-07 at 06:00 AM.

  26. - Top - End - #626
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    "So, Kothy," Roni chides the Wyrmlord once they reach the shed. "There are a few ways this plays out. You're smart and I'm tired, so let's take the most agreeable option, amirite? Instead of asking questions and threatening or hurting you to get the answers, how about you just talk? Tell me more about this non-mindless devotion and what's afoot, and then we can all have a bite to eat, savvy?"

    Diplomacy - (1d20+17)[36]
    Quote Originally Posted by Vaz View Post
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    "Don't y'all worry yerself, Kid, Ah've already fergot yer name," Huxley assures Roni conspiratorially as he bends down to pick up the tossed gold pieces one at a time with his delicate homonculus arm(s). "An' Ah already done fergot all about spellwhatsits. Ah done it all deliberate-like, so's t'stop th' Aundairian from mind-probin' me. Divinationaries can't see what ain't there t'be seen! Or 't'least Ah think I done it deliberate, 's kinda hard t'recollect what y'all done fergot if y'all done tried t'ferget th'recollectin' too, ain't it?" He stands back up and points to his glowing eye, though the gesture is a bit cramped to make it visible through his peephole. "Or, might be on account o' this here arcanovisiblofier Ah done stuck in mah skull after Ah done blew out th' last one runnin' from th' Lanterns. It weren't in tip-top shape when Ah scavenged th' sucker, so Ah had t'bang it in there right hard, an' Ah might've knocked a few things loose while Ah were doin' that. Now, Ah thank y'all kindly fer yer donation, but I dunno...."

    When Auran presents his own gifts, Huxley's human eye bulges comically and the door is once again rapidly unlocked, unlocked, unlocked, unlocked, unlocked, unlocked, and slammed open. "Y'all mean it!?" he exclaims, then looks around frantically for anyone who might have overheard. "Y'all mean it?" he asks more quietly, then dashes over to inspect the armor. "A real, honest-t'-th'-Host breastplate, a whole one, what ain't been buried in Mournland soil fer decades? Two arm bits what match, an' two leg bits what match th' other and what match the arm bits? An' mithral! Ah can git some o' th' good iron, alloy-ify it with th' mithral t'make it stretch a fur piece...'s perfect, Mister Dragon-Man! 'Course, now th' dwarves'll be after me fer stealin' their secrets, once Ah come up with a for-myoo-lation o' mithral platin' what's stronger an' better'n theirs, but Ah got mahself some plans fer any o' those stubby-legged bastards what come 'round here, believe-y'all-me. Ah done owe y'all a favor, Mister Dragon-Man," he says, grabbing and shaking Auran's right hand enthusiastically with his extra-fingered left hand, "an' t'y'all, Kid, fer bringin' him here. Y'all can call it in anytime, long as there ain't no Knights Arcane around when y'all do. Go ahead, use the shed, and thanks again!"

    With that, O'Toole promptly ignores all of you to drag Auran's gifts inside, muttering all the while about the wonderful inventions he'll make with them. Koth, who has worn an expression of amusement and contempt since the crazy man started blathering about "lightning-acid," is shoved along by Warklegnaw as you all head over to the shed. Calling it a "shed" is perhaps giving it too much credit, as it, like the tinker's "house," is essentially a hole dug out of the hill with material haphazardly thrown together to cover it. The unlocked door opens easily to reveal a small clear area just large enough for everyone except Warklegnaw to squeeze in, surrounded by random piles of random bits of scraps in random places, with only enough space between them to indicate that they are separate piles and not one large junk heap; there might be some overarching organization to them, but only a madman would be able to see it. The back of the shed is mostly door, and this one has twelve locks on it to protect whatever might be hidden deeper within the hill.

    Koth sits down gingerly in the cleared area, careful not to snag his clothing on a sharp bit of metal sticking out from somewhere, while the rest of you circle around him and Warklegnaw sits down outside and keeps watching, immediately blending in with the surrounding trees. Once settled, the hobgoblin turns to Roni. "I suppose I'm not going to get a better offer out of you people. Very well, I'll 'just talk', starting with my lack of devotion, since you asked so very nicely. To begin, I am not, as I'm sure you've already gathered, a priest. I am a gharlen'kärthaar...the title does not have an exact Common translation, but essentially I am an officer in the Darguul military who practices our ancient Dhakaani war-magic traditions; our rank is equivalent to an undergeneral in times of war and commandant otherwise, but it falls outside the normal command structure because we also possess civil authority equivalent to a mayor over whatever town we might be stationed in. In short, I do not derive any of my my magical, military, or political power from Tiamat. I gained my position not because of any devotion on my part, but because the gharlen'sheklac were approached by one of the existing Wyrmlords--I assume Kul himself, but I was not present for that--and they decided that a show of support would be prudent in case the Wyrmlords' scheme bore fruit. Now that I know that they aim to release a goddess on the world, I can see why my superiors wished to hedge their bets.

    "And so I was officially placed on leave and unofficially attached to the Wyrmlords and ordered to do my utmost to see the plan to its conclusion. I was given two weeks to study Tiamatian doctrine to the point that I could pass as a priest to the lay followers and to lay the foundation for what I would need to know later to carry out their grand rite. I had nowhere near enough time to study to the point of fooling any clergy, but the Wyrmlords knew I wasn't a true believer--hence my status as "junior Wyrmlord"--and so they assigned me to the Red Hand to ensure that I was unlikely to run into any, with the warning that any clergy I encountered might be angered by my false belief. Thus, when I did encounter a priestess, completely unexpectedly and in a place where none should have appeared even after our conquest of Drellin's Ferry, I was focused on portraying who I was supposed to be and not as diligent as I should have been in determining whether she herself was who she was supposed to be."


    Koth stretches his neck to loosen it from having been looking up at Roni and the rest of you for so long. "I hope that satisfies you on that point. What else did you want to know?"
    Better to DM in Baator than play in Celestia
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    Spoiler: Sig of Holding
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    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Auran bowed to their host, then accompanied the others to their ramshackle accommodations. He leaned against a wall, wings folded about him like a cloak, while Koth confessed.

    "And now that you know the truth hobgoblin? What do you think will happen should the Wyrmlord succeed? Should he awaken this ancient archfiend, what do you think it will do? Will it lavish reward upon you and your people, in all it's benevolent gratitude? No...I believe you are smart enough to realize when you are being used for a pawn...expendable."

    Spoiler: Diplomacy
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    (1d20+17)[32]
    Last edited by TekHed; 2015-06-17 at 04:02 AM.

  29. - Top - End - #629
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    Faien raises an eyebrow at Auran's exceedingly generous gift to someone who was providing no more than the use of an outbuilding, but what the paladin did with his money was not worth questioning at a time like this.

    One corner of the magistrate's mouth turns up at Koth's reasoning behind falling for Vaeri's act, although he makes nothing more of it. It was helpful to know that Koth was not directly part of the group that was, it seemed, to be their enemies. If he had civil and political connections, perhaps a ransom on behalf of the Ferry would resolve the matter of his disposition without inconvenient demands for the execution of a prisoner... but he was getting ahead of himself.

    "What is the size of the Red Hand's forces, and where is their main body currently located?" he asks firmly, trying to redirect the conversation, for the moment, away from the paladin's threats. "Time, at the moment, is on neither your side nor ours."
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  30. - Top - End - #630
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    Default Re: Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

    "Aye, and what exactly are they planning to DO with all these forces...for instance, the dragon and his buddies you were galloping to meet? I'm famished, so if you can talk fast we can get to lunch."
    Quote Originally Posted by Vaz View Post
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