IC VI Stormy Seas

[CoffeeIncluded]

Let him call her Nuts. Let Lucius call her addled, imbecile, a brain-damaged troglodyte. The words sear like hot knives cut into her skin, but they're not true, because she knows it and the people who really care about her know otherwise.

"How dare you? How dare you?! Turn over drow for answers by torture?! Surrender promised safety!" She steps forward and thrusts out one finger at the rogue--and at Brander too. "I know they wouldn't! I snuck forward, discovered traps and bombs in shadows! If they caught me...even if surrendered, I dead! Dead and dumped to find! But we don't do in return. We better!" Her lips curl and she spits out her final statement. "You torture because easier, because easier answers than magic questions, or truth by evidence. But...easier not right! Do you...even regret? Or enjoy it?!" She starts breathing more heavily, fury and rage and pain and despair at herself and Mithril and all this in her voice. "I know when bad things needed, but...this not needed! There another way--you just finding easiest!" And how dare Lucius suggest dragging Mithril and themselves down to his level!

[CWater]

No.. Not more of this kind. He could argue with the wizard, and her dwarven friend got her to stop. But if there are more who think that way.. Would the dwarves allow it? He knows harsh methods in interrogation are not unknown..

But it makes him sick. Fighting or even killing is another thing, the world is what it is. But deliberately hurting another living being, it makes him sick.

[Cavelcade]

Kurt's eyes burn holes into people as he stares, those that still care at least. His teeth grind together as the others speak, until he can no longer hold back from saying something, the blood of the drow pushing him forward.

"If he is tortured here, I am leaving. If I have to go alone, and fight the horde on my own, and ****ing die on my own, I am leaving. Do what you think is necessary, and I'll do the same," he says, in a deep, growling tone no-one in the group has heard from him. As soon as the last word comes spitting out of his mouth, he turns on his heels and leaves, pausing at the door. "But first, when I see it start, I'll kill him myself." He leaves the room then, Daybreaker in his sheath, his hand in a white knuckle grip around his belt.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia watches Kurt leave, horrified and yet...and yet...

They all agree. They all feel the same way. She's not alone.

"He won't be alone," she says, carefully, loud enough for even Kurt storming off to hear.

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Cavelcade, when you said "I'll kill him myself," did you mean Kurt would kill Lucius, or the drow?

[Admiral]

"This is not for us to decide," says Brander quietly.

The group moves forward, and after a few minutes of marching, including passing by the bodies of other dwarven guards now covered by bedsheets, comes to a crossroads. Stanton heads on the downward-sloping tunnel, his prisoner held tightly and cruelly in his grasp, a few guards following him, and another dwarf guard turns towards the party.

"Stanton'll be putting the drow in a cell. But it sounds like there's some question of what to do with 'im... That'll be up to the mayor of Deldon. Sounds like they're having an emergency meeting; Orders are that I be bringing anyone who wants to have a say."

Brander turns to his party and gives a few instructions, after which Brander and Lucius head up towards the mayor's council, while Ezra and Calric Jr. walk down towards the cells to help guard the drow.

Spoiler

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Any player can choose whether they want to head down to follow the drow or up towards the mayor: or, for that matter, to storm off to your rooms for the night (if you like). Only those who head towards the mayor will be included in the resulting conversation. (But then some of you did consider guarding the drow, so I wanted to leave the option available).

Those who climb the stairs upward walk for what feels like an eternity, climbing step after step. Rhenner had been to the mayor's council chambers only once before, when the siege of Deldon had first begun and the mayor had assembled all the non-residents to break the news that they were trapped inside. He knows that the mayor's office is at the highest point in Deldon, not too far from the summit of the mountain they inhabit. The drop from the mayor's office at its highest peak to Moradin's Forge at its deepest is almost half a mile long.

Finally they reach the chambers, and outside stands a guard next to a table bearing a number of weapons. "No weapons in the council, I'm afraid,", says the dwarf politely. Brander drops his greatsword on the table with a clang, and Lucius draws a disturbing number of daggers, followed by a thin, strong wire, before entering the heavy doors.

[Athedia]

The journey up the steps seemed to take forever, Mithril had walked further distances than these but the shear fact that she was going up steps made this exhausting.

Mithril popped the dagger from her wrist sheath. Her crossbow was still in her pack and she had no more weapons. As she lowered her hand to put the dagger on the table her wrist bumped against one of the wands arrayed around her belt. With a look from a guard and a sheepish look back from her she dropped the wands on the table next to the dagger.

She was still armed, but it wasn't something she could give up.

[CoffeeIncluded]

If it's up to the mayor, then Natalia's got to be there to make her case, as best she can. And even if that's not enough, and she knows she can't do it on her own, she needs to tell them about the gunpowder and the bomb. She knows the most about them both, and she'll know more after taking this powder to Rosla immediately after the meeting.

So Natalia finishes shoving the soaked gunpowder into the haversack, finishes the half-done job, and races to catch up with the others. She winces as they pass by the covered bodies of the dwarves they failed to save, but focuses on the one they did, and the food they saved. She has to.

When the dwarf guard gives their options and Stanton gesticulates, drow still in hand, Natalia doesn't take long to make her decision. Especially when Ezra and Calric go to guard the drow. "I make case, tell what happened. Give my knowledge. Rhenner, Shiny, Kurt...Mithril...please, come with."

It's a long hike up to the chambers, and Natalia finds herself breathing a bit more heavily as they make the final ascent. As they reach the chambers, Natalia sighs and hands off her blades, her bow, her wands. Though she keeps her wire. Her eyes widen at the ridiculous number of daggers Lucius hands over, and somehow she doubts that's all of them. She vows to keep an eye on Lucius during the meeting.

Finally, Natalia heads inside, sitting by Mithril and waiting for everyone else to come in and for the meeting to begin.

[CWater]

Just before they start their long way up, Rhenner taps Natalia on the shoulder. "When you and your firend make your mad dash out of the gates...", there is a short pause, "If you would like to have a healer along, and maybe live a few minutes longer.. Tell me before you leave."

"But I have hope it will not come to that. I can't say I would know the mayor of Deldon, but I have a reasonably high opinion of it's people, and I would not like to think I'll have to change it." He sighs and looks up the stairs. "But better get started, it's a long climb."

At the top, Rhenner places his morningstar on the table, along with the fireball necklace. As an afterthought he starts to rummage through his bag, and produces a small sickle which he also lays on the table.

"Remembered this time", he says to the guard with an apologetic smile.

[Cavelcade]

Kurt moves silently to follow the drow, his face a thundercloud as he does. When the cell is chosen, he sits silently against the wall opposite it, Daybreaker placed across his knees. However, slowly the fire of his anger subsides and the fury of the day catches up to him as, slowly at first, his head starts to droop, gradually drifting into unconsciousness.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Just before they start their long way up, Rhenner taps Natalia on the shoulder. "When you and your firend make your mad dash out of the gates...", there is a short pause, "If you would like to have a healer along, and maybe live a few minutes longer.. Tell me before you leave."

"Thanks. Probably yes," Natalia says, pleased that Rhenner holds the same stance. She likes the half-elf, and now more of her is wishing that he will come along no matter what happens. And, as for her friends... "Hope Shiny and Mithril come too. Especially Mithril. She..." She clenches her eyes shut and crosses her arms tight, pained.

"But I have hope it will not come to that. I can't say I would know the mayor of Deldon, but I have a reasonably high opinion of it's people, and I would not like to think I'll have to change it." He sighs and looks up the stairs. "But better get started, it's a long climb."

"They seem good. Hopefully anger won't change." She looks up at the spiraling stairs and then back to Rhenner. "You been there before?"

At the top, Rhenner places his morningstar on the table, along with the fireball necklace. As an afterthought he starts to rummage through his bag, and produces a small sickle which he also lays on the table.

"Remembered this time", he says to the guard with an apologetic smile.

This time. Looks like he has been. Natalia drums her fingers on the table, running them over her necklace and the coiled bumps of her wire, pinching, squeezing, and pressing them as well. She looks troubled, scared, angry. And seems like she has a lot to say.

"Rhenner, do you...have speaking magic?"

[Admiral]

The party enters the council chambers. At the center of the room is a wide, round table, carved out of the stone of the room itself and yet perfectly smooth. Around it sits about a dozen dwarves, some of whom Rhenner recognizes as various guards and influential citizens in Deldon,

At the head of the room is a large wooden table that overlooks the room, where the Mayor and his advisers watch over the room. Since the party arrived in the fortress they have seen little that was made of wood, most of the furniture being made of stone, but this is a grand piece that surely took several oaks to build. On one side sits a female dwarf wearing intricate mithril armor, though without her usual weapons: Rhenner recognizes her as Cordrey, the chief of the Iron Guard. She had been at the other entrance they had used as a decoy, holding it singlehandedly against the attacking orc forces. On the other side sits Rogan, the high priest of Deldon, wearing his usual robes and bearing an expression just as serious as they had seen at the funeral.

In the center sits Marcos Stoneslammer, the oldest dwarf in Deldon, and the mayor of the fortress. His tangled white beard reaches down across the table and spills out onto the floor in an impractical heap, and he glowers out at the crowd with eyes that seem entirely present and infinitely angry. For some unfathomable reason, in his right hand he bears a tremendous dwarven waraxe of flawless steel with an intimidating black handle: the only weapon present in the room. He waves the axe in the air absent-mindedly as he quietly argues with Cordrey and Rogan.

Once everyone has entered, Marcos chops his axe directly into the the table in front of him like a gavel, making a loud knocking sound. The party can see that the table is lined with a thousand gashes, some deeper than others.

"All right now!!" He bellows in a voice that sounds ancient and yet strangely commanding. "It's eight hours ago we set our scene. I'm seeing drunken fools singing like sailors in the galleries and hearing the Iron Guard bray about the battle, and it fools me into thinking the front gates were closed and the worst business of this blasted siege behind us, and that I can finally get some damn sleep. But then I hear some drow don't be taking well to my hibernation. But all is not lost for my repose, because the good news is that at this meeting I'll be hearing some very good answers about how they got in, and some very good solutions that'll ensure that I get the sleep an old mean dwarf deserves." He waves his axe out towards the assembly to emphasize the threat.

"Now, who was it found the drow? I'll be hearing from you first."

Spoiler

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If no one else wants to give the explanation, Shiny will.

[Athedia]

"We did." Mithril gestured to Natalia, Shiny and Rhenner. "We followed their path. It led to a storeroom and they were prepared, this attack was carefully planned." She stopped not knowing how much people wanted to reveal about the gunpowder and drow.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia, who jumped as Marcos slammed his axe into the table, swallows and speaks up. She snuck ahead, she knows what happened when she snuck ahead.

"I best sneaker, went ahead. Saw another dwarf, throat stabbed, but alive. Tried to give potion, but invisible. So he attacked, scared. I left, he found my friends. Friends saved. Ask him later.

"Saw drow girl first. Two blades, one snake. Silenced both before she knew. Then traps along path, many traps, made by expert. Dark alarms and crossbows. Maybe poisoned arrows too. Then...storeroom. When arrived, saw live and dead drow...and all dwarves dead." Natalia closes her eyes in pain, still unable to forgive herself for not being able to get to the dwarves in time. But she was nearly a minute too late. She continues as best she can, not giving too many details so as to avoid being bogged down by her own speech impediment.

"Too many to fight. So returned to friends, just behind. We fought, beat. Archers and wizards and fighters and sneakers. Killed all but...captured wizard and escaped familiar. Kurt, dwarf friend guarding him now. But, in back, where food..."

Natalia falters. How can she say this? They have to know. But if they don't know what gunpowder is, how can she describe it? Tick tock tick tock boom won't work.

"Sorry. Need moment. Words..."

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sorry, shopping for dinner more later!

[Admiral]

"Are ye out of breath from the climb up, lassie," says Marcos curtly as Natalia speaks, "or has my brain gone so rotten I've forgotten how to understand the common tongue? For I can't make a buggerin' bit of sense of what yer saying." His tone sounds much more impatient than cruel, though his absent-minded waving of the axe lends a certain sharpness to his words.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia winces and shakes her head. "I'm sorry," she says. "Tangled words. Always spoken, always ever known..." She looks around the table, decidedly not at Lucius and Brander, and also looks at the three dwarves at the grand oak table at the head of the room. She pleads, "Can anyone...speaking magic? Or understand words? Please? I...know most of what happened, most of what in food room."

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Also, Natalia took a look to see if Lucius actually gave up all his weapons at the start of the meeting?

Nutspeak is fun. It's also "fun" too.

[Athedia]

"Sir, she was the one who went ahead. She spotted the drow's scout and killed her. They had alarms set to warn of anyone approaching. She got to the storeroom before the rest of us, the dwarves were already dead, but they had managed to take a few of the drow with them. She came back to warn us, and then we took over. Kurt is guarding the drow we took prisoner. I believe him to be a mage and I know he has a familiar out there somewhere. So I believe his masters know he is captured." Mithril was used to stepping in as translator and did so with ease. She had an idea of what to do with the drow, but was going to wait until the others spoke.

[CoffeeIncluded]

"Sir, she was the one who went ahead. She spotted the drow's scout and killed her. They had alarms set to warn of anyone approaching. She got to the storeroom before the rest of us, the dwarves were already dead, but they had managed to take a few of the drow with them. She came back to warn us, and then we took over. Kurt is guarding the drow we took prisoner. I believe him to be a mage and I know he has a familiar out there somewhere. So I believe his masters know he is captured." Mithril was used to stepping in as translator and did so with ease. She had an idea of what to do with the drow, but was going to wait until the others spoke.

Natalia smiles and sighs in relief as Mithril translates for her. "That what happened," she says to the mayor. She still hasn't changed so much, she's still Mithril underneath the sudden darkness.

"Thank you." She pauses and runs her fingers over each other. "Mithril, how tell about gunpowder bomb? If they don't know boom? They...need knowing."

[Admiral]

"She couldn't have said that in the first place?" says Marcos grumpily. His patience appears to be razor thin.

Shiny chooses this moment to step in and give his summary of the events that followed; the same summary he had given to the guards in the storeroom. Once again he gives his best explanation of gunpowder, and much like last time he leaves out the attempted interrogation of the prisoner. The whole time Marcos watches with a frown, occasionally twirling his axe.

Spoiler

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Diplomacy check: (1d20+18)[30]

Natalia can roll a Spot check to look for hidden weapons on Lucius if she likes.

[CoffeeIncluded]

"Im sorry," she says. "I can't. Try but can't. ...Nutspeak."

She takes a look at everyone, including Lucius, and then describes the bomb and how she disarmed it as best she can.

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id post more details about the bomb but I'm making ratatouille for dinner right now. Can I please post about the details of the bomb and how she disarmed it later?

EDIT: Nevermind, see below.

Spot: (d20+12)[26]

EDIT: As Shiny describes the effects of the gunpowder, and how it's incredibly destructive but not magical at all, Natalia explains the bomb, as best she can. "Gunpowder on timer. More gunpowder all around. Tick tock tick tock boom. Very big boom. Destroy all food, us, maybe even...that part Deldon fall. It was...good trap. Very good trap. No guild marks on any, but very good. Not made swift. Bomb took time...to make. Attack was planned, not impulse haste.

"Many traps on bomb, but I stopped many. And we...destroyed bomb. Saved powder to study, but bomb gone. All safe...for now. If...want proof, I have gunpowder sample."

She then falls silent, and allows Shiny to finish.

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Compared to the gunpowder on the Horde shop, how much gunpowder was in the storeroom?

If someone wants to shut Natalia up, you can do so.

[CWater]

Rhenner lets the others make the report of what happened, only speaking to add some detail, if he thinks it's important.

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When the matter of what to do with the drow comes up, he will probably state his opinion, though likely only to counter an argument. He doesn't have any particular ideas of what to do with the drow, merely what not to do with him. Am I making sense?

I'll be away until Sunday maybe. I'll see if I can post somehow during my visit, but you don't need to wait for me.

[Admiral]

As Natalia starts to describe the "Tick tick tick boom,", he looks at her with a scathing expression that grows to disbelief as she continues, tapping his axe on the table.

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Don't take it personally. He's impatient and I'm being realistic with strangers' responses to Nutspeak.

Natalia doesn't spot a weapon on Lucius.

When Shiny finishes, the mayor seems to appreciate his description and considers it for a bit, before growing unexpectedly agitated for a moment, pointing the axe straight at him. "And only you lot saw any of this, eh? Six dwarves dead, including one of the Iron Guard, and no other witnesses?"

Another dwarf behind the group steps up, and the party is surprised to see the purple-belted samurai captain Dresden is in the room. "Mr. Mayor, I speak for the samurai village of Soshima when I vouch for these adventurers' honor. In previous missions they earned the absolute trust of the samurai, and would never be party to these heinous crimes. I have also heard that they do indeed have experience with this powder..."

The mayor snorts. "Gunpowder, eh? I guess it would be news to you surface-dwellers. We've well heard of it- seems like it's every month the Firm sends a messenger urging us to look into its production. Clueless buggers think that if you squeeze a mountain hard enough, you can mine any old damn thing you ask for."

The mayor scratches his beard. "Maybe my ears be stuffed up with wax, but I don't recall hearing how these eight elven rascals got into the city. And let me be clear, that is the first and foremost obstacle to me getting a damn bit of rest."

At this point Lucius stands up. "Mr. Mayor," he says in his usual rasp, "we came here to help the city of Deldon. In this case I have the means to do so. The prisoner holds the information we need: how the drow entered the fortress, who sent them and why, and whether we can expect more. All that remains is to extract this information. I have experience interrogating hostile subjects. In one hour you could know everything he does."

[CoffeeIncluded]

As Natalia starts to describe the "Tick tick tick boom,", he looks at her with a scathing expression that grows to disbelief as she continues, tapping his axe on the table.

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Don't take it personally. He's impatient and I'm being realistic with strangers' responses to Nutspeak.

Natalia doesn't spot a weapon on Lucius.

When Shiny finishes, the mayor seems to appreciate his description and considers it for a bit, before growing unexpectedly agitated for a moment, pointing the axe straight at him. "And only you lot saw any of this, eh? Six dwarves dead, including one of the Iron Guard, and no other witnesses?"

"And dwarf we saved!" Natalia blurts out of her humiliated silence."Stabbed in throat, ask him. He...warned friends of drow...when I ahead."

The mayor snorts. "Gunpowder, eh? I guess it would be news to you surface-dwellers. We've well heard of it- seems like it's every month the Firm sends a messenger urging us to look into its production. Clueless buggers think that if you squeeze a mountain hard enough, you can mine any old damn thing you ask for."

"I have sample!" Natalia says, digging a small scoop out. Still soaked, it's like wet sand in her hand. "Sparks when dry. It...wet, so safe. But here, dry!"

Digging through another pouch in her haversack, Natalia comes up with a pinch, just a pinch, of dry gunpowder. She lays it out on the table at arm's length from everyone, and then, gingerly, lights it with a burning splinter of wood. The gunpowder flares and explodes with a loud POP!

"And that a pinch," Natalia says, more for the benefit of everyone who hadn't seen the powder before. "But...what do you know of powder?" she asks the mayor of Deldon.

The mayor scratches his beard. "Maybe my ears be stuffed up with wax, but I don't recall hearing how these eight elven rascals got into the city. And let me be clear, that is the first and foremost obstacle to me getting a damn bit of rest."

At this point Lucius stands up. "Mr. Mayor," he says in his usual rasp, "we came here to help the city of Deldon. In this case I have the means to do so. The prisoner holds the information we need: how the drow entered the fortress, who sent them and why, and whether we can expect more. All that remains is to extract this information. I have experience interrogating hostile subjects. In one hour you could know everything he does."

"No!" Natalia shouts, shooting to her feet and glaring at the spy. "Not torture! Other ways to know! Mind reading, spells to make friendly! Spells to talk to dead drow! Speak to trapsmith! Not torture, other ways! We...better than that!" She snarls at the words. "You say easy, but not right! And may not...be true anyway!"

[Admiral]

Sleep comes to Kurt, and fury follows with it.

His rage is ugly and bitter now, born not of thrilling anger but of cruel necessity. His surroundings are familiar: the storeroom, with Natalia working carefully on the contraption in the center as Rhenner fills the floor with water. He raises his axe and starts his work.

The first keg breaks easily, just as it always had. Powder spills onto the floor, quickly moistening in the puddles, and he continues. The second, third and fourth smash just as easily in the face of his anger. Thoughts of the lives in Deldon he may save with this desperate ploy come to mind, but they are soon overtaken by his overwhelming need to destroy.

The fifth keg is not so easy... hasn't this happened before... Daybreaker glances off of it and simply knocks it to the wet floor intact. In fury he raises his blade once more-

But something catches his eye first- a reflection in the water that should not be there- a tall figure in armor standing behind the dwarf, his hand on Kurt's shoulder. He'd seen the same figure in his last dream... and somewhere else, but where? Kurt twists around in panic, but nothing is there: nothing save Natalia working furiously on the contraption while others watch.

Finally he looks back down at the last keg, the rage returns and he swings- he just barely has time to see the spark of the blade against the metal hoop before the blast begins-

and Kurt gasps awake in a panic on the floor of the stone tunnel, with Calric Jr. rushing towards him in surprise and concern. He sees the cleric's lips move, but cannot hear a word: the deafening noise of the explosion still rings in his ears.

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Cavelcade, please replace 1 of Kurt's existing levels of barbarian with 1 level of crusader. Kurt also gains 50 bonus XP. His journey is just beginning.

(If you're curious, the above is my interpretation of Kurt's natural 1 on the 6th swing here. Kurt didn't have a chance to take that sixth swing in real life because he had to help Natalia).

[Admiral]

"And dwarf we saved!" Natalia blurts out of her humiliated silence."Stabbed in throat, ask him. He...warned friends of drow...when I ahead."

The mayor rolls his eyes at Natalia's outburst, but another dwarf guard does step forward. "That's true, sir. Camden felt too ill to make it up here, but the story he told confirms much of this account."

"I have sample!" Natalia says, digging a small scoop out. Still soaked, it's like wet sand in her hand. "Sparks when dry. It...wet, so safe. But here, dry!"

Digging through another pouch in her haversack, Natalia comes up with a pinch, just a pinch, of dry gunpowder. She lays it out on the table at arm's length from everyone, and then, gingerly, lights it with a burning splinter of wood. The gunpowder flares and explodes with a loud POP!

"And that a pinch," Natalia says, more for the benefit of everyone who hadn't seen the powder before. "But...what do you know of powder?" she asks the mayor of Deldon.

"I'm not here to give lessons in mineralogy to humans," says the mayor, looking more tired than ever. But he had seemed somewhat interested in Natalia's demonstration.

"No!" Natalia shouts, shooting to her feet and glaring at the spy. "Not torture! Other ways to know! Mind reading, spells to make friendly! Spells to talk to dead drow! Speak to trapsmith! Not torture, other ways! We...better than that!" She snarls at the words. "You say easy, but not right! And may not...be true anyway!"

The sound of an axe slamming hard into a wooden table makes the room jump a bit. The mayor leans forward and glares at Natalia. "Just like there's only one person allowed to carry a weapon in this room," he says in a loud growl, "there's only one person allowed to raise his voice, and it ain't you."

Rhenner stands up, and seconds Natalia's opinion, calling for wisdom rather than anger. But Lucius turns to them and raises his eyebrows. "And how long would it take for these spells to be ready?" he asks. "Information gathered too late is worthless. How do you know that our enemy isn't preparing to strike again tonight? Would you take responsibility if they did?"

Shiny opens his mouth to speak, but closes it, looking somewhat halfhearted. For some reason he looks over to Mithril, with a curious expression.

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I think we're all curious about Mithril's position.

[CoffeeIncluded]

The mayor rolls his eyes at Natalia's outburst, but another dwarf guard does step forward. "That's true, sir. Camden felt too ill to make it up here, but the story he told confirms much of this account."



"I'm not here to give lessons in mineralogy to humans," says the mayor, looking more tired than ever. But he had seemed somewhat interested in Natalia's demonstration.

Natalia shrinks into her seat, though she does smile and mouth a thanks at the dwarf who confirmed her story. Still, she feels humiliated. And yet she can't keep silent.

The sound of an axe slamming hard into a wooden table makes the room jump a bit. The mayor leans forward and glares at Natalia. "Just like there's only one person allowed to carry a weapon in this room," he says in a loud growl, "there's only one person allowed to raise his voice, and it ain't you."

Natalia jumps, then shrinks down further. "Sorry," she says.

Rhenner stands up, and seconds Natalia's opinion, calling for wisdom rather than anger. But Lucius turns to them and raises his eyebrows. "And how long would it take for these spells to be ready?" he asks. "Information gathered too late is worthless. How do you know that our enemy isn't preparing to strike again tonight? Would you take responsibility if they did?"

Shiny opens his mouth to speak, but closes it, looking somewhat halfhearted. For some reason he looks over to Mithril, with a curious expression.

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I think we're all curious about Mithril's position.

Natalia pauses. He does have a point, but still! "Eight hours. And...with bomb, good made bomb, more than eight hours to make...I think. Or faster time, if scrolls, spells left?" She looks to Shiny and asks, "Mind reading magic left?"

And when Shiny looks over to Mithril, Natalia does so as well, with a nervous look. Please Mithril, please be the Mithril I know...

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Oh hell yeah.

And can I just say I love Kurt's dream sequence?

Does Shiny have any Detect Thoughts spells left?

EDIT: And Natalia says to Lucius, "Then watch, guard. We ready now." She shakes her head. "Don't think they...try again anyway. Not so soon. This sneak attack, but we foiled. We now know, so no sneak attack so soon. Because...we expect it. Hard to sneak when watching. And...can't sneak the sneaky."

[Athedia]

Mithril pushed herself forward, standing at the front of the group. "I do not trust Lucius and his group. I apologize but attacks will keep coming until we find the traitor." In her current position she could feel the eyes of her friends and of Lucius on her back.

"I will stand with my friends on this. They will leave this place if torture occurs and I will follow, and the drow will be dead. This was sworn to me by a companion, and I do not doubt their word. I do have an alternate plan, though it may be... unconventional." She paused, trying to figure out how to phrase herself.

Taking a deep breath she started. "We do some minor questioning, so he doesn't suspect. But then we transport him, and let him attempt an escape. If you have a scrying lenses we could follow him."

She felt her knees shake, being unarmed in from of someone wielding a hefty axe tended to do that to her. "Finally, I will repeat someone in this mountain is a traitor. The Voice knows of all our plans, including what I have stated here and what everyone has been talking about. You have no hope of safety until the traitor is gone. The Voice will not stop."

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia squeals slightly, a short squeak of delight at Mithril's promise, and it's all she can do not to throw her arms around her. Mithril's...the darkness seems like it's fading.

She listens to Mithril's plan and grins, expressing her approval out loud, though she also whispers, "Ask...my body's shadow too, maybe." Though her smile fades at Mithril's reiteration that there is a traitor. She asks, "Wait...Mithril, how known? What if...if we can scry, they...scry back?"

Either way, it's a terrifying thought.

[Admiral]

Mithril pushed herself forward, standing at the front of the group. "I do not trust Lucius and his group. I apologize but attacks will keep coming until we find the traitor." In her current position she could feel the eyes of her friends and of Lucius on her back.

"I will stand with my friends on this. They will leave this place if torture occurs and I will follow, and the drow will be dead. This was sworn to me by a companion, and I do not doubt their word. I do have an alternate plan, though it may be... unconventional." She paused, trying to figure out how to phrase herself.

Taking a deep breath she started. "We do some minor questioning, so he doesn't suspect. But then we transport him, and let him attempt an escape. If you have a scrying lenses we could follow him."

At this point Rogan, the high priest, leans forward. "We can find a suitable pool to use," he says slowly, "But how long would this take? If I recall correctly, the spell takes an hour to cast, and may fail if the subject resists it. What would you do then?"

Cordrey, of the Iron Guard, interrupts as well. "Letting a prisoner escape without knowing he's being let free is no easy task, especially without putting our guards at risk. If he's a spellcaster, there's no telling what he could do to them once free. What would you suggest?"

"Aye," says the mayor, "not to mention, how do you know he'll try to escape? Perhaps his plan will be to go back to the storeroom and magick away the food, or magick open the front gates to let the orcs enter, or magick his way into my quarters and magick me into a toad."

She felt her knees shake, being unarmed in from of someone wielding a hefty axe tended to do that to her. "Finally, I will repeat someone in this mountain is a traitor. The Voice knows of all our plans, including what I have stated here and what everyone has been talking about. You have no hope of safety until the traitor is gone. The Voice will not stop."

"I haven't the first idea what voice you're going on about," growls the mayor, "but to me you're sounding as daft as the shorter one."

[CoffeeIncluded]

At this point Rogan, the high priest, leans forward. "We can find a suitable pool to use," he says slowly, "But how long would this take? If I recall correctly, the spell takes an hour to cast, and may fail if the subject resists it. What would you do then?"

Cordrey, of the Iron Guard, interrupts as well. "Letting a prisoner escape without knowing he's being let free is no easy task, especially without putting our guards at risk. If he's a spellcaster, there's no telling what he could do to them once free. What would you suggest?"

"Aye," says the mayor, "not to mention, how do you know he'll try to escape? Perhaps his plan will be to go back to the storeroom and magick away the food, or magick open the front gates to let the orcs enter, or magick his way into my quarters and magick me into a toad."

He does have a point, and she's not sure about how to make a spellcaster escape without realizing he's being allowed to do so. But about the magic, well, "He almost out," she says "Little magic, and...no spellbook, though a wizard." She bites her lip. "...His...familiar escaped. Maybe scry familiar, through fur...scales...left behind on wizard? And question master, or...the dead?"

But she leaves the rest of the questions for Mithril to answer; she's said enough.

Spoiler

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We should be able to find stray fur or scales or feathers or something on the wizard if we search his clothes thoroughly and are looking for them. Can we?

"I haven't the first idea what voice you're going on about," growls the mayor, "but to me you're sounding as daft as the shorter one."

"Not daft!" Natalia cries out, though it's not shouted at the earlier volume that made the mayor slam the desk with his axe. "Neither Mithril...nor me. Not daft, just...can't speak. And she means traitor, traitor made us change tunnel plans!"

Maybe she shouldn't have said that, but the insult to them both was too much.

EDIT: Oh. That's what he means. "Voice is Puppetmaster," she says, before realizing that wouldn't help at all. "Behind powder, Horde, it all." Maybe they shouldn't have said that, but there's nothing more that can be done about it now.

[Athedia]

Mithril pulled Natalia back. "Sir I assure you that I and my friends are far from daft. We are just not afraid to face what is in front of us, that there is somone we only know of as a Voice existing in high ranking members of the enemy and some allies, that rules their minds. At this she looked sideways at some of the samurai. "Or do you think a gathering of orcs that large, plus two giant attacks on the group arriving with supplies, the aforesaid gathering knowing of our plans and drow just happening to sneak into here are all coincidences? Surely you are not daft either."

She honestly didn't know what to do to release the drow, she had not concentrated on it much yet. "Only thing I can say about the drow mage is that without his book he is useless. That is if he is of my profession and not a fire slinger like Ezra. They are far more crude but more dangerous."

Spoiler

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She really doesn't like Ezra.