Battle for the Five Nations - Ajani

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A side thread for Ajani in Fort Light

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The mob of Thrane soldiers surround you, take your weapons and grab a hold of you. They usher you through the gatehouse to stand before an officer in chain mail and shield and carrying a magnificent longsword of some silvery metal. "I am Sacrosanct Tobias Whitelight," he announces, "Who, pray tell, are you and what are you doing here?"

[Siege Tower]

Ajani does not resist as he is relieved of his weapons. The cleric had expected hostilities upon revealing himself and had no plans of physical confrontation.

"I am Ajani Beleren, Templar of The Silver Flame. My business here is that of protection and healing as it is everywhere."

Ajani makes no effort at further explanation and instead waits for more questioning from the officer.

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"Never heard of you, " Sacrosanct Whitelight is a small man, around 5 ft. 3 in, he wears a platinum badge and five silver badges on his collar denoting his rank. "What order are you from? Which army?" His questioning is in full view of the rest of his troops and you've gathered quite a crowd.

[Siege Tower]

As others gather to overhear the line of questioning, Ajani does not break his gaze at Sacrosanct.

"I serve in the city of Sharn at the Cathedral of the Cleansing Flame. I bear no political alliance although I am under the jurisdiction of Breland. The ruling body in my home is of no importance to me. I only care for my god and for peace. I have come here for that very reason.

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"I must pray on this" he clasps the holy symbol worn about his neck in both hands and mutters a prayer for truth. "Are you a turncloak? Answer me truthfully." He stares at you intently, as if he's trying to look right into your soul. "Are you a spy? How did you come to be here? Did you come here alone?"

[Siege Tower]

Unlike with the other questions, Ajani takes a moment to consider before responding.

"I am not a traitor. To betray I would need to change alliances. I can not betray that which I have never sworn to. I have served and may in fact still be serving the Breland but I am doing just that. I am serving them but have no loyalties to them. If Thrane had been the rulers of my home I would serve Thrane. My only purpose is to protect and heal. At this time that was best accomplished by serving as a bodyguard in the military.

I assure you, I am no spy. I did come with others but I am no longer working with them as you can clearly see. Your scouts will no doubt find them lurking in the woods surrounding this place. I'm sure it is not uncommon to find scouts performing reconnaissance around your territory so this is not new information to you I'm sure.

The reason that group and I myself have come here is not to spill blood. The information that has been given to us is that there are prisoners of war within these walls. As a protector I must know that these prisoners are being treated fairly and if possible can be relieved of their confinement and safely escorted home. If they are not warriors attempting to cause you harm they should be permitted to return to their homes to continue their lives. Non-combatants and pacified soldiers are not attempting to hinder you so they should not be punished for something they have no part in. Wars are fought by rulers and their military and all others are innocent bystanders.

This is why I am here. I require the knowledge of which prisoners are being kept here, how, and why. I must also know why they, as innocence, have yet to be returned to their homeland. If it has not been feasible for them to be returned due to limited resources, I myself may escort them to their authorities. I can also make contact with the others I have come here with to assist in this. For this war to continue with as little suffering as possible, chivalry must be continued even between enemies. Let the opposing side collect their dead, wounded, ill, or otherwise civilian peoples and they shall do the same for you.

So what say you Sacrosanct? Have my words spoken true and my intentions made clear? Will you let the prisoners you are keeping return peacefully back to their homes?"

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"I would be a fool to allow prisoners to return to their armies and fight Thrane again. Do you think I'm a fool?" He signals to two men, "If this chevalier wishes to see the prisoners then take him there." They grab you and lead you roughly towards the keep. "He can see their conditions first hand."

[Siege Tower]

As the guards begin to forcibly move Ajani, the towering man only resists for a moment to say one last thing to Sacrosanct.

"I never thought of you as a fool. I believed you so to be a follower of the Silver Flame and the soul of Tira. As one should only seek to destroy evil in any of its forms and not care for petty politics."

With that Ajani ends his resistance and allows the guards to do with him as they wish.

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Ajani is taken to the keep. The ground floor is a guard room where all of your equipment except clothing is taken. Stairs go up revealing six floors of prisoners, all allowed to wander freely but not to leave. Occasionally guards walk about, search possessions for weapons or bring you food and water. Most of the prisoners are Breland or Aundair troops. Nobody seems to have been mistreated and you can even see that injuries have been well cared for.

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I'm going to see what happens in the other thread before continuing, in case the others contact you or do something "heroic".

[Siege Tower]

OOC:

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There are four ways I could see this going that have interesting results for the RP.

One is that Raja performs an act of kindness on Ajani by freeing him or something therefore giving him a reason to not be a jerk. Just freeing him won't do that though since he can still be a mean idiot if Raja is rude when rescuing him.

Another thing that could happen to Ajani is that he somehow does betray everyone. I'm not sure how he would do that from inside a prison cell but it's possible. the bard with valuable information can be freed and join the party later.

The ways the bard could come into play is that the bard steals Ajani's identity and then goes with the party in his place. S/he would be outed pretty quickly because s/he would act incorrectly but then the bard can be integrated into the party easily.

A way I see the bard being freed by the party is that s/he is held separately from the other prisoners because of its obnoxious behavior and ability to escape in certain ways. The party would come across the bard and he would lie and say vague things like "Oh you're looking for that...man. The tallish one. He wore armour? What was his name? Oh yes I know him". S/he would state that s/he could lead them to him but instead just run away once he is freed. He could then disguise himself as a guard, find Ajani, then assume Ajani's identity as before.

These are just thoughts though. I don't wanna mess about with whatever you had in mind with the story. We shall see how it plays out and if any plot twists are possible. Ajani just dying or being imprisoned normally seems a tad predictable.

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Something is going to happen but I want to wait to see what the others are going to do.

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Sacrosanct Whitelight walks in and weaves his way through the crowded prison until he finds you. "Are you willing to give your parole and swear on the Silver Flame that you will not act against Thrane for the remainder of the war?" The question is direct and he looks up at you with a stony expression on his face.

A Brelish soldier shakes his head subtly in warning but otherwise the floor goes quiet.

[Siege Tower]

Ajani looks up at Whitelight from where he sits, obviously been deep in thought for some time. "I have told you this once already. I have never acted for or against Thrane, nor do I ever intend to. I only wish to do good and to serve my god. It seems however that you yourself wish to do the same thing. As long as you yourself and by extension Thrane only do good, I shall do good by you."

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"These soldiers you came here with concern me as does their plan to take our prisoners of war. It is unlikely that they will get through the walls and I have no intention of sending men out to be ambushed. I have patrols out but as soon as they return I shall lock the keep down." He seems assured that his plan cannot fail.

"What I really need is someone to carry a message to the forces in the north. There should be a battle there as we speak and men and women of Thrane will require healing and spiritual comfort. You can provide this and carry a message to the commander not to tarry as we have unknown hostile enemies in the area."

"I lose little by letting you go and could gain much. Will you do this for me? I shall write out your parole and a letter for my commander if you agree."

[Siege Tower]

Ajani ponders for a moments before nodding in agreement.

"I shall do as you ask. I shall heal and preach but I shall not fight. Before I go, I must warn you of what you are soon to be facing."

The cleric shifts uncomfortably thinking of his former allies.

"The force that was planning to overtake this fort will most likely be far larger than what your patrols find. There is a handful of us who were leading the rest while a large group of shifters were patrolling the forest. The shifters number around 20 and are led by a terrible woman. Her name is Raja'Umal Almach. Under no conditions is this shifter ever to be trusted. She's as selfish as one can get. She is the reason, as you can see, I thought it be best to continue on my own instead of dealing with that vile woman. The non-shifters of the group have shown to either be very violent or otherwise completely unfit to serve in a militia."

Ajani lets out a heavy sigh before continuing on.

"The only saving grace of that disastrous group of cutthroats is a cleric by the name of Kera. If your men ever happen upon her please do her no harm. She is the only one who wishes to do true good in her role. I gave her a cape to wear which bears the symbol of my god. Please find a way to protect her. She has a virtuous spirit. If you can offer her a way out of that army as you have me you will have my thanks."

After thinking about the others, Ajani regains his composure and begins to talk about the other's plans.

"Before I had left the group, they had all been bickering for hours. Trying to find the most effective way to break the POWs free. They had considered tunneling in with their magic but I'm rather sure that plan was voted against. They all have a basic understanding of the layout of the camp for one of them had the ability to fly over briefly. There had been two other main plans of attack mentioned while I was in there company. One was to create a diversion using illusions and magic to distract the guards while the party snuck in. This diversion was more than likely going to be a very loud noise accompanied by an illusion of some threat. The other plan was to break through that wooden wall of the fort. This would be a very easy feat for Almach for she has mastered a way to bend wood to her will. She can easily make a door form and simply walk in.

It is likely both methods could be employed when the army of shifters storm the fort. I recommend you prepare your troops to guard against an open door on the wooden wall and not be taken in by a fake threat elsewhere.

And with that, I have told you all I know. I shall take the parole you have offered and assist others elsewhere for I have done all I could here."

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He seems surprised by how much information you are willing to volunteer and thanks you for it. "I can give you a mule to ride or you can wait until tonight and take our draft horse. Some of the workers are out collecting wood for repairs and for the fires."

"Damn it, I forgot about the workers, ", a look of worry crosses his face as he says this and he marches out shouting, "Sound the alarm, bring back the wood cutters. They're in danger." Almost as an afterthought he motions you to follow. Giving orders to return your equipment he continues out into the courtyard. "Foot Priest Benson, good. Wake up the men who are off duty and get them on the walls, I'm expecting an attack. If the shifters come running let them in but check faces for anyone trying to sneak in among them. Make sure the charcoal burners are going by the palisade. I'm told that the enemy has illusionists of some kind so I want nobody venturing outside the walls or shooting until me, you or Tovain give orders. Once Ajani is out I want you to prepare to fire the moat. That should keep them back for a few hours."

"I need to write some orders and pass them to our messenger here. Have a mule and my warhorse saddled. Lock up the keep and have the civilians put on the ground floor out of harms way. The Silver Flame is with us and we need not fear."

A soldier, called a Weight in Thrane, brings out your gear and helps you to put it on while another fetches the mule. About five minutes later a flustered looking Tobias returns with several sealed envelopes and an open scroll. "This is your pass and orders for anyone you meet to assist you in reaching the Aundair front. Pass these letters to command, Sacrosants and above. They just alert them to the danger, there aren't any orders to hurt anyone, understand? If you can help with the healing after the battle please do so. Any questions?"

[Siege Tower]

"I should be leaving today. I do not wish to have any part with my former companions anymore. Direct me to my destination and I shall leave at once."

OOC:

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Ajani needs to convert over to Jace after they're done storming the fort. Jace impersonating him is a good way for him to be integrated into the group. While he's disguised as Ajani I can make Jace talk in blue text and post for him myself. While he's Jace and before he's a PC you control him. It'll be a good way to surprise the party a bit. I'll make sure to finish Jace's back story soon.