Fall of the Empire - IC

[Jael_Darkwood]

Seth

Angrily, aware of how he had been duped, Seth dances slightly sideways (to a flanking position), then attempts to skewer the young man.

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(1d20+5)[25] to hit, (1d6+1)[7] weapon damage, (4d6)[15] sneak attack

edit : crit possibility, i'll roll it in OOC.

[CGCL_Andy]

Round 4:

Pedram (Init 13)

Noticing the Young Man's sorcery, Pedram strikes him down with his sward.

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Attack: (1d20+13)[29]
Damage:(1d8+8)[12]

Younger Man (Init 12)

Taking a quick look around the nimble bard realizes he doesn't have many chances left. He tries to cloud Pedram's mind again but the Paladin strikes him hards as he starts ordering him again.


Jayanti (Init 11)

Moving into position she lets a stream of fire flow from his hands trying to burn the two men. But they both avoid the flames nimbly.

Matias (Init 10)

Matias hits the older man squarely in the jaw, revenging the earlier hit from him.

Older Man (Init 7)

Instead of returning Matias's punch, he turns around punching the younger man hard. "He had clouded my mind too, I am not your enemy." he yells out as he attacks the younger man.


Seth (Init 7)

Seths rapier cuts deep into the young man, who falls on the ground unconscious.


Ista (Init 2)

Ista waits praying for his comrades and ready to come to help anyone injured seriously.

[Unholier_Than_Thou]

Pedram wheels around to hold the older man at sword point, but doesn't make to strike. He glances at the rest of his team, unsure of exactly what just happened, and who might still be affected.

"Is everyone alright?"

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Pedram will concentrate on detect infidel, positioning himself so that he can encompass both men. He'll continue to concentrate for all 3 rounds.

[Jael_Darkwood]

Seth

(combat is over, right?)

Seth kneels by the young man and checks his pulse. "Ista, pray for him... we need him awake, please, but don't go to any great lengths... we don't need him happy." He looks briefly at himself, fingering the wound on his arm (5hp damage). "I'll need some minor help, but we can attend to that later." He looks at the older man, and indicates the younger man. "Tell me about him. When did he fog your mind?"

[Sxoa]

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Not that it appears to have mattered but for future reference burning hands is reflex 1/2 so they each should have taken 1 damage (mighty!) from my "spell."

Jayanti studies the man intently, searching for any quaver in his voice or tremble in his hands...

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Sense Motive: (1d20+8)[18]

[CGCL_Andy]

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@Sxoa: Thanks for the burning hands correction, it didn't make much of difference this time, but I'll keep that in mind. As for the sense motive, as you are trained I constantly roll it for you and will let you know when you discover something (You can't roll sense motive yourself.) In any case, Jayanti thinks the man is honest.

@everyone: Combat is over, unless someone wants to beat the old man up!

@Unholier: The younger man you already know is not a follower of Ahura, the older man is a believer.

A quick examination by Ista and Seth reveals that the younger man is in no serious danger, he will be out cold for a few hours if not helped but he will survive with some serious wounds and a bad headache.

The older man calmly answers Seth's questions, explaining how he was searched as he left the city with the mounts and how after the search he thought he had set out with a friend to come to you. He is particularly unhappy with himself, because as a subordinate of the spy master he had learnt about these mind-tricks but fell for them nonetheless.

He offers to bound the younger man and take him back to the spy-master for questioning. He is sure Kavuus would want to know who he is, for whom he works, and why he had targeted him.

[IAmNotJeff]

Ista prays for the old man and Seth.

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A cure light wounds for each.
Old man: (1d8+5)[7].
Seth: (1d8+5)[13].

"If any of us are still injured, please let me know, and I will pray for you.

The magician will survive without my prayers. I'd prefer that we not bring him round, in case he tries to cloud our minds again. I think we should bind him, gag him, and tie him to one of the mules, so that our new friend can take him back to Kavuus. I'd be happy to heal him if we decided that was he best course of action. "

[Jael_Darkwood]

Seth

Seth looks at the older man with slight suspicion as he speaks, trying to discern if the spell is still active. (1d20+9)[13]sense motive

[Unholier_Than_Thou]

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Sense motive for Pedram too, please: (1d20+6)[20]

Pedram lowers his sword, but does not return it to its sheath yet. He stays on guard, letting Seth and the others do the questioning.

[Sxoa]

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Do'h! I forgot that we don't make the Sense Motive checks!

[Bandededed]

Matias

Suddenly, Matias had a sneaking suspicion that the older man had woken up from the spell slightly before Matias had landed his blow. Matias scratches his head and looks at him softly as an apology, just in case.

Hearing the old man's offer to bind the younger, Matias steps up. "I have some skill with ropes as well. I can aid you"

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If Matias has more skill than the old man, he will want to tie up the young guy. Otherwise, he will go for aid another with this check UseRope - (1d20+8)[28] (Aid another DC 10, right?)

He will, of course, accept the older man's help if he is less skilled than Matias

[CGCL_Andy]

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@everyone with sense motive: I've already made you checks, you all think the man is honest and don't think he is under anyone else's control at this point.

The Old man and Matias work together and Tie up the Younger man. The older man then gladly accepts the offer to sit and have a meal with you and rest a while before you each go on your way.

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Please indicate if you have anything else to do with them. Otherwise my next post will move thing along, he will tie the younger man to his horse, and take him back to town while you travel towards Ctesiphon.

[Jael_Darkwood]

Seth

His suspicions abated, Seth nods to the old man. "Make sure to take care re-entering town. If they were suspicious enough to set this guy on you on your way out, they likely will be waiting for his return." He pauses, and looks the old man in the eye. "It's important he not be able to give them any information if that happens."

[IAmNotJeff]

"Seth, I'm sorry I misunderstood you earlier. Did you want me to rouse the younger man, so that we can question him?"

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Ista will heal the younger man until he is conscious, if Seth, or anyone else, asks him to.

[Jael_Darkwood]

Seth

Seth considers for a moment. "I think it may be useful to make sure nothing else waits for us later along our travels. So... yes.. Do you know any prayers that might encourage him to talk?"

[Sxoa]

"As they say, dead men tell no tales."

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I've got nothing in particular I need to do with them. I guess we'll loot the younger one.

[CGCL_Andy]

The older man confirms that he understands the importance of getting the prisoner back in the city without anyone noticing. However he is uneasy with the idea of killing him if he is caught going in.

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You understand what's going on here, killing an agent of the king (anushiravan agents are considered king's agents) is bad enough, killing one while others are looking is suicidal.

After a light meal, Ista successfully rouses the bard for questioning. His deep brown eyes stares at you with a hatred, that can't simply be the result of an order from a superior.

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Ista uses up one CLW for bringing him about.

Who is questioning him, what is being asked and how are you convincing him to answer (he will definitely not answer just because you asked.)

[IAmNotJeff]

Ista suggests that Pedram guard the prisoner for a few minutes while the rest of us discuss what to do with him, on the other side of the camp, so that we won't be heard. He volunteers to guard the young man for a few minutes afterwards, so that Pedram can discuss our plans with the others. Ista thinks that he and Pedram are least likely to have a good plan to immediately question the prisoner.

When he's too far to be heard by the younger man, Ista says

"If we waited until tomorrow, I would have some prayers that might help. I can sense his thoughts, and I can prevent him from lying. I'm not sure it's worth taking the time though. On the other hand, I'm not sure our friend will be able to return, with the young man, unnoticed, so it might not be a bad idea if we bring him with us for a day anyway.

Even if we do not keep him, we could ask him some questions. He might not answer, but some of you are keen judges of people, so you might be able to get information just from his reactions. We should ask if any of our equipment has been stolen or sabotaged, if our food has been poisoned, if we will be ambushed, if he works the Arabs, if he knows our mission, if he works for whoever it was who wanted to meet with us. We should stick with yes or no questions. It will not be possible to get a response from open ended questions. "

[spoiler]From the next day on, Ista will take Zone of Truth, instead of restoration. So far today, Ista has cast 3 CLW and 1dispel magic.[\spoiler]

[Sxoa]

"Ista has the right of it. I say we haul is sorry body with us for a day and question him with holy sorcery on the morrow. It may be awkward to explain if we are caught but I have faith in our abilities to avoid detection, talk our way out of a situation and if need be arm and steel are known for being particularly good at discouraging snoopers.

It is vitally important that we get as much truthful information out of this man as we can. I think it is worth the risk. Before we have access to spells we could threaten torture. Of course that has the rather distasteful requirement of actually torturing him if he refuses. Another option is the sun is high and hot and he will grow thirsty. A fearsome thirst is a terrible thing to behold. In my time in the deserts I have seen men fight us rabid dogs for the last few drops in a dusty wineskin. Perhaps we can turn that desire to something more productive..." Jayanti trails off and shrugs.

[Unholier_Than_Thou]

Pedram gladly agrees to perform guard duty. He positions himself so as to keep everyone in sight.

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Holding another non-lethal attack on condition that the captive attempts to escape or cast a spell.

[CGCL_Andy]

The prisoner is quite and doesn't attempt anything under Pedram's watch.

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I can't really say much until you make a decision on what to do with the prisoner, and whether or not to question him today. Until then, I'll post my normal one a day post but there won't be much content to them.

[IAmNotJeff]

"We should not torture the man.

I think we should ask a few questions today and have our experts try to read his reactions. Then let's continue with our days ride and question him again tomorrow. I'm not sure we'll be able to get much from him then, since we will still be unable to compel him to speak, only to tell the truth if he does speak."

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I suggest Jiyanti and Seth ask what questions they want to today, and then we move on.

[Bandededed]

Matias

After Ista speaks, Matias says simply "I agree,"

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I agree too

[Jael_Darkwood]

Seth

"Though I could likely get some sort of answers out of him... I feel my skills aren't exactly matched to this task." He smiles. "If I had known we would be doing interrogations, I may have packed differently. Jayanti, I think your skills may be more appropriate to the task.... ." Briefly he stops, and looks in the direction they are headed. " I want to get underway as soon as possible, but there may be suprises further down the road, and he may know something."

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yeh, I kinda wanna get the plot rolling, so my only concern is upcoming ambushes.

[Sxoa]

"Very well, is there anything else I should ask of him?"

[Jael_Darkwood]

Seth

Seth smiles, and shrugs. "I'm sure you've gotten people to open up to you before... Just ask anything that occurs to you, on any topic you think relevant... but make sure not to give any information with your questions."

[CGCL_Andy]

Once it become clear that the party is thinking about taking the prisoner along with them the older man offers his view. "He seems to be well trained as an infiltrator, and neither Master Seth here nor I have never met him before. It is likely then that the spy-master also is unaware of him and his training. The existence of such well trained spies and whatever organization they may have will be of great interest to the spy-master and the king. I believe, the best course of action is for me to take him back to Susa. Question him all you want today, but I am afraid I should return before tomorrow and deliver him along with my report." To put your mind at ease about being caught he suggests disguising the prisoner as an arab fighter being transfered into town for questioning. He can forge the documents while you question the young man, and with Some help from Jayanti the disguise is easy to prepare.

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Last chance to pose questions, and methods for getting him to answer them. In my next post I will give you his answers (if any) have the older man take him away and you will ride towards Ctesiphon.

[Sxoa]

Jayanti goes about asking him the questions posited by Ista, keeping an eye out on his reactions even if he is unwilling to speak. She treats with him offering him food and disarming him with gentle friendly touches, to induce a subconscious sense of comradery in the man.

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"We should ask if any of our equipment has been stolen or sabotaged, if our food has been poisoned, if we will be ambushed, if he works the Arabs, if he knows our mission, if he works for whoever it was who wanted to meet with us."

Diplomacy roll (I don't know what the modifiers are but I will posit my theories. They won't be included in my roll.)
I think this guy is an enemy (+5 Enemy: Someone on an opposed team, with whom you have no personal relationship.) since we have no previous experience with him but he's pretty clearly opposed to us.
The reward I'm less sure about. We'll offer him food and more importantly as we're sitting him out in the hot sun, water, and promise him fair treatment if he cooperates. Jayanti tells him we will write a letter to our superiors (not mentioning who they are) requesting leniency and telling him how the man cooperated. Its possible that they will even hire him since we'll describe his obvious talent. If he refuses we will recommend to have him brutally and horrifically tortured without mercy for as long as he can be kept alive. Every effort will be made to track down his family if he has one and them brought in and tortured in front of him. No mercy will be shown to any of them even women and children.

So hopefully that can get at least an even (0 modifier) if not favorable (-5 DC). At worst I think it would be unfavorable because it certainly doesn't seem horrible. He's already been captured with little hope of escape (since we'll be binding and gagging him) so he doesn't really have much to gain.

Now the actual roll to get him to tell us: (1d20+30)[47]
Remember that I'm also keeping an eye out (sense motive) when I'm asking him questions to see if I can discern anything.

Disguise check for making him up to be a captured Arabic soldier: I'll take 10 which gives 28 (though that's based of my charisma of +5).

[CGCL_Andy]

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How did Jayanti's diplomacy check get a +30 instead of a +20 (as it is on your character sheet)?

Regardless:

The young man proves to be a hard subject for interrogation. Jayanti works hard to get answers out of him, and eventually gets him talking about his mission. He was sent to gather information about you and your mission, not to sabotage it. So your equipment and supplies are fine and his bosses haven't set any traps on you way. But he is completely uncompromising on the issue of who he works for.

After a couple of hours of talking back and forth, threatening and even sometimes hitting the prisoner. Jayanti gives up, realizing that she can't get him to tell her anything about his superiors and their motives.

Meanwhile The older man is at work forging the paperwork needed to get him inside the town, once the interrogation is over he knocks the young man unconscious, and helps Jayanti disguise him as an arab warrior. Then they tie him to a mule and the old man rides away taking the prisoner with him.

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I assume you paid the old man for the provisions after all. Please subtract the money from your sheets.

The young man was searched, if someone casts detect magic let me know. Equipment:

A very well made Rapier, buckler and an extremely fine chain-shirt (the workmanship equals the best chain-shirt you've ever come across, very light and decorated to a degree it looks more like ceremonial armor than normal armor.)

On his left middle finger he is wearing a fine gold ring set with a large blue stone.

In his belt pouch, and saddle bags about 400 gold pieces, in different denominations.

[IAmNotJeff]

Ista casts detect magic to determine if any of the stuff is magic.

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To avoid complications, let's just say that we pay the 360gp from the money taken from the young man, and keep 8gp each from what was taken. Ista then gives 4gp from his share to Remo as danger pay.