Death's End IC II

[3SecondCultist]

Arran, Calia, Elara, Myr: Iphander follows the course of your conversation, with half of his mind clearly outside the realm of coherent thought. You notice his left hand twitches intermittently, a sign of suppressed shock. He's obviously still reeling from the news you gave him. "If you thi- think I can do it, I would be more than happy to. For your sake."

"You don't need to do anything. When you return to the Academy, tell whichever superior you met that you delivered the package successfully. No matter how they found us, they can't scry in here, so they won't be privy to this conversation." The soldier is as tender as she is firm now. Reaching into her bag, she pulls out a vial of smoky grey liquid. Although the flap is only open for a moment, you can see two more similar containers tucked inside the lining. "They can't know that you've been here though, talked about your wife with us. Here, take this. It will calm your nerves, allow you to successfully trick whoever it is that nothing is strange. Just let the magic do the talking for you." Iphander holds the vessel up to the light, shakes his head softly and pockets it.

Spoiler: Spellcraft DC 25

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A Spellcraft check of this level (assuming you can see the vial for roughly a minute) reveals the substance to be no less than a Potion of Glibness. Basically, you'd be able to Bluff anything short of divinations like detect thoughts, etc.

The Dead Guy: "I'm ready." Rosamund takes your hand one more time, before heading into the hall. Most of the representatives seem quite impatient, although Janos is quite content to lean back on his chair and wait for your single witness to take the stand.

[gallagher]

Ben walks into the courtroom with Rosamund, giving her hand one last squeeze for good luck, and lets go as he takes his place at the defense table. As he walks toward his place, those representatives of the gods who had been chosen to sit and decide Ben's fate reappear at the juror's bench. Ben looks over to the different representatives, trying to catch each of their eyes as he passes them. Once Ben takes his place, the judge retakes his shape from the gem suspended over the throne.

Let this court resume. Is the Defense prepared to call it's first witness?

Ben stands up; I am, Your Honor. I'd like to call Rosamund Dawnharrow to the stand.

Rosamund takes her place at the witness stand, and Ben begins his line of questioning. Can you please state your full name, including titles for this court?
Rosamund speaks up confidently as she responds with the practiced tone of a commander. My name is Rosamund Dawnharrow, Daughter of Titus Dawnharrow, who is Lord of the Dawnharrow Hall.

And under what circumstances did we come to meet? My father was expecting a large invasion force led by one Urthrax Wolfheart, a goblin with revolutionary intentions.He sent me to fetch any additional soldiers I could find to hep man our walls.

What was the plan, then, in defending the fortress? We were to withstand the siege as long as possible, and then fall back through the tunnel. The last defender to exit was to pull the lever behind us to collapse the entrance.

How many did we number, defending that fortress? You and I, your four other party members, along with an additional three adventurers joined forces alongside 24 old farmhands.

And how many invaders did we expect that night? We expected to have to defend our walls from over one hundred well-armed goblins, and several worgs.

So many against so few… Ben sighs at the recollection. As I recall, we did not expect to be able to hold the fortress through the night. But we did not give up, did we? Can you explain my activity throughout the evening? You immediately started suggesting tactics to your friends, and began discussing additional natural defenses for the fortress. At the beginning of battle, you spent your time mostly healing others defending the wall. Before long the invading force set of some sort of explosion on our north wall, allowing the invaders threaten the courtyard, and you placed yourself between the tunnel that would have served as all of our escape. You were the last defense to our escape route. You killed the first creature to get near it, a bugbear, in one slice of your sword, but the creature was so large that by his own momentum he fell into the lever, causing the entrance to our escape tunnel to begin collapsing.

Do you think there was anything more I could have done that night to defend the fortress? Well, I suppose if you were a few feet taller, you would have shot over the crenellations, but your healing kept one of the wizards up, and you acted tactically and bravely throughout the battle. You are a hero to me for helping defend my home.

As Rosamund calls Ben a hero, he looks over to the jurors once more to gauge their reaction. He then continues: In the afterlife, did you see any glimpses into the mortal world to see what happened to the leader of the army that invaded your home? As Ben finishes asking the question, he looks around his shoulder to see if Janos objects to the question involving information Rosamund learned after she died.

Spoiler

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If Janos objects, and the judge agrees with him, then I still have a final question to ask.