Age of Ruin OOC: Facing down destiny

[Lycar]

Well, it is time to gross out some bounty hunters.

Is it some kind of check to make the choice of head appear random?

Sleight of hand maybe?

If so: (1d20+10)[26]

And just to 'keep appearances', here is what Orin the Dar Ven mercenary wants to do now. Maybe post after the others had a chance to post a reaction to the tale too.

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The Dar Ven mercenary listens to the replies of the strangers. Then he speaks again. "There is more. I and Tharok, we were guided here by vision. We also met some people... uh.. not. We met... Mind Flayer who had killed people. Tharok kills Mind Flayer. We wonder if people are part of destiny?"

The mercenary goes on and takes off his backpack. He opens it and pulls out something from it, putting it down on the table in front of you.

To your horror, it is a human head. The head of a Mokai woman to be exact...

###
Feel free to improvise on them realizing it is Livina's head.

Orin so wants to see the look on those thrice accursed bounty hunters faces...

Lycar

[Lycar]

Hm... Orin wears the Steel Amulet, the one that Tharok has was identified as an Amber Amulet. Is that the gold one?

If so, then Orin will say so:

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The Dar Ven mercenary regards Draven's show of emotion with the same stoic expression he displayed so far.

"We travelled to ancient ruins. Vision told us to. We come across Mind Flayer. Is buisy eating brains of people, so Tharok kills it. There were four. We could not carry bodies, so we took heads and all we could carry."

Looking over at Tharok, he continues "You took other amulet, right? Maybe is the one?"

Of course Tharok is supposed to show the amulet to the others.

Oh and Orin still lugs the elven quarterstaff around. Since he can't exactly stuff it down his pants or into the backpack, Sumner might recognize it from the time he travleed through the ash desert with Orin and Gareth.

As for his weapons layout, he is keeping the barbed mace at his side along with the scourge. He doesn't know what it does but Orin hopes it involves not-nice things for everybody he hits with it.

Er.. he knows the mace seems to have adverse effects on people above and beyond the crushing of bones but he doesn't know what the scourge does, because he didn't see it perform in combat. But since bards are apparently proficient with whips, he hold on to it.

Oh and he keeps the short sword concealed on his body again. Probably along a tight or something.

Livina's acidic mace and Krashnix flaming mace ought to be in Tharoks backpack as far as i remember.

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Looked up the old post:

Okay, let's see... Orin carries about 31 p of gear about now, including Livina's backpack : CS

He would like to equip Krashnix's shield (if they meet a mind flayer, they are dead anyway. For everything else, the shield may offer protection and Orin can use shields.) 20 p.

He would also like to wield the Cruel (barbed) Mace, since he saw it mess up Livina. Heck, that might even mess up a single mind flayer with lots of luck! 12 p

He would also like to wear the scourge at his belt. It has reach, as a bard he can use it (don't ask where he learned to though) and maybe it does nasty things to stuff he hits with it. 2 p

Livian wants her tools back: 1 p (or 2 if masterwork)

And she might miss her flute too. ? p

Orin also takes all of Livina's jewelry, magic or otherwise. ? p

He will offer Tharok to wear the Amber Amulet, the Golden Death Head Ring, and the slightly singed Vest.

Orin wants to equip the Boots, the Catseye Gloves, the Cobra Hood Ring, the Steel Amulet and the Hat of Disguise (the blood gets disguised too). ? p

He will stuff into the backpack the heads of Krashnix, Rego and Livina.

This should bring him to 89 p, or maybe a bit more, depending on the boots and stuff having weigth that needs taking into account.

So he can still carry 11 p worth of coins for max. load.

Ozzy_G: What exactly do you want Tharok to carry?

Lycar: What i want him to carry ? Every damn thing he can !


So actually the 'slightly alien head' is actually supposed to be in Tharok's backpack.

Lycar

[Lycar]

Yeah well, time for Orin to keep playing the part then.

Off out come the heads..

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The Dar Ven nods. "So she was with you. Then her fate is not sealed yet. Do you know those too?"

He proceeds to put 3 more heads on the table...

(to be described by GM)

Then he goes on to add some words about each of the heads. He points to the red-haired head first. "This one was warrior. Had scale armour and shield, it had picture of fire bird on it. Also had mace."

He points to the young man next. "This one was naked when we found him. Dunno why."

Finally, he indicates the alien head. "She was wearing robes. Didn't have much stuff on her. She looks strange, you know who she is?" His tone suggests that he rather means to ask 'what' she is though.

He furrows his brows and goes on. "There was also dead mule. But not brain eaten. Dunno what killed it. There was chest on mule with much coins. We think, we take coins to pay priests to raise one of dead to learn if they part of destiny. Or just to spite Mind Flayer. That good reason all by itself."

To demonstrate, the mercenary pulls out a few platinum coins from the backpack (with bloody stains on some of them) and shows them around.

Lycar

[Lycar]

Lady Ismal Pennefar, eh? Now that we have a name on the bounty huntres, let's see if Orin's heraldic knowledge is up to the task, shall we?

Knowledge Nobility: (1d20+10)[21]

And just to see if Orin remembers any stories floating around:

Bardic Knowledge: (1d20+10)[24]

About the maces. We only took the magic ones. I suppose, the mace that Livina was lugging around is the one the dragon clansman is asking about.

Well, that one is in Tharok's backpack. So it's up to him to show it forth.

Of course, 'Bren' could say something like:

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The Dar Ven turns to his fellow barbarian and asks "That mace we found on girl, maybe is the one?"

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

The Pennifars are a small noble house with a high concentration of draconic blood and little in the way of demonic blood. They are quite isolationist, rarely leaving their main estate.

[MattKatt]

I RETURN

What did I miss?

[Lycar]

What, the dragon man feels excitedly generous? Now let us seize up on that opportunity then.

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The mercenary looks at Draven for a few seconds, his expression as unreadable as before. Then he says: "Why does weapon mean so much to you? Is just tool. You want to show gratitude? Help bring those four back to life then."

He then turns to Azakan. "Azakan, you are man of destiny but also of honour. You understand i must keep word i gave to have them raised if i can do so. We going to see priests? If not, show me the way, give me a horse. Tell me where to meet you. This is something i need to do. I promised."

The Dar Ven pauses for a moment before he continues "This is important. I could have left them behind, made off with the loot. But that is .... the resonable thing to do. What wolf would do. But wolf is evil. Bring them back? Is foolish, wolf would scoff. So is right thing to do. I lost my strength of arm, fighting demon. I was strong man once. But maybe i need find .. other kind of strength. Strength to do things because they are right. Not because they are reasonable."

(I promised i would raise you. All of you. Even Lucidae. Even if it's only so i can throttle her for killing that poor mule. Yes, i could easily argue that the fate of the empire is more important then 4 lives. But i have had quite enough of such arguing for the rest of my life. That is just the way a tyrant would argue. What are these four compared to the empire? Well, these four are part of the empire too. The empire of life, the only one that really counts. And i owe it to them and myself to keep the promise i gave, foolish or not.)

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Orin can still hear Sumner's thoughts. He seems to be having some sort of strange conversation while the rest of you talk:

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Did you know the Emperor, spirit?
[pause]
Then maybe you can tell me; that vision I had in Goramesh...was that reality? Did I truly meet the Sire of the Empire?
[pause]
...Tell me, how long have you been...aware? Was it in Goramesh?
[pause]
I will; it is good that the Revered Zere is avenged. But let me give Ismal and Draven a moment.

Also, when they talk about a "prophecy", you get the memory of listening to the woman, Ismal Pennifar, reciting it to everyone. In addition, the memory of feeling great evil from an amulet around a neck, which she still wears now.
The prophecy:

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The King of Devils will attack his own Empire three days after he meets his companion in death.
One day later, the Dog that bit its Master will die, by the machinations of the Master's son.
The Master's son will try and take the world himself, but he has a choice. Justice or Tyranny? And his self-appointed advisor is the Host of the Demon-God, you shall know him for he is the One Who Seeks Justice.
Yet the Demon-God would have him be a Tyrant.
The Day before this day, the youngest son of the Master will die, his war over by the hand of the Double of the Lorekeeper. This leaves the door for his brother to take the world.
This is the future. You do not have much time.

While they talk of assassins trying to kill Sumner, you get the memory of men wearing dark blue suits coming up over the side of a ship and trying to stab Sumner to death, and a picture of him in their possession, showing him in his current, young form, but without the green skin or feathers. Then there is the memory of Khorik scaring one of them into talking, and the assassin admitting they were hired by a Mokai man.
When Azakan asks them about the prophecy and assassinations, Sumner thinks:
What game are you playing at, Azakan? Why are you still running from your responsibilities? Will I have to be watchdog on both fronts? And did you think to cut down Sumner Kesh before he could try and lead you to your throne? Troubling.





All the italic speech between characters is them talking telepathically. This gets fed into Sumner's mind somehow, even when they're talking privately not to him, and then Orin can pick it up from there.
And obviously, any italic thinking from Sumner Orin will hear. The spell lasts a minute a level.

[Lycar]

Well well well... what a useful spell Detect Thoughts turns out to be...

And this also explains Orin's impenetrable pokerface: His mind is reeling with all the new information flooding it that he can't spare a cycle to twitch a muscle...

([i]Okay, let's see if we can make head and tails of this (or however that saying goes). Apparently my old friends and their new bountyhunter scum friends (yes, Orin can hold a grudge against people he doesn't like. Says so in his background ) are somehow telephatic. Good to know. So if they exchange 'knowing looks', they really know...

And lo and behold... another prophecy. This one even genuine i believe.

Hmm... [i])

"The King of Devils will attack his own Empire three days after he meets his companion in death."

(Whatever that means.. unless Gothul is supposed to be the King of Devils.. na, doesn't make sense... )

"One day later, the Dog that bit its Master will die, by the machinations of the Master's son."

(Ohh... but i know that. Azakan killed the servant who betrayed and assasinated his father. Which was.. yesterday? Two days ago? Then the King of Devils is already marching!)

"The Master's son will try and take the world himself, but he has a choice. Justice or Tyranny? And his self-appointed advisor is the Host of the Demon-God, you shall know him for he is the One Who Seeks Justice.
Yet the Demon-God would have him be a Tyrant."

(Self-appointed advisor? But... heck *i* wouldn't mind giving Azakan a few clues... or rather, i'd have Sumner Kesh be emperor. But who is the one who seeks justice? Erk... Orin you fool.. did you cast your 'wolf' in the role of the would-be-deceiver? With yellow eyes, just like yourself? Hah, stop flattering yourself... uhm, this is awkward...)

"The Day before this day, the youngest son of the Master will die, his war over by the hand of the Double of the Lorekeeper. This leaves the door for his brother to take the world.
This is the future. You do not have much time."

(Hm... isn't Ravan supposed to be a younger brother of Azakan? Maybe even the youngest? But that would mean Ravan zere is already dead, slain by the double of the ... lorekeeper... oh yes... of all the people in the vault that fateful day, who would qualify to be called a 'lorekeeper' ... *sigh* why, so my peace loving alter-ego is now a .. what, a king-slayer? Resistance hero? Seems like the Qusan put his talents to good use after all. Ugh, i just hope he's well and alive. And not dominated or something...

I better not show my face around Ravan's domain... although i suppose other-Orin ought to know better then to let his true self be seen. Either way...

But... did Sumner just ask Azakan how he would go about slaying the pretender? Heh, they don't realize that the pretender is dead already. And then, by extension, you don't realize that the demon king's army is marching either, do you... better give you a hint then.)

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Bren exchanges a glance with Tharok, then he nods.
"Very well. You are man of honour. You slew the dog that bit it's master to avenge your father, like a good son should do. And you will slay this .. pretender... who is this man anyway? How could he seize the throne?"

"But if you give your word, this is good enough for me."

[Sorry, colour tags don't work right now.]

(Poor Kizima. If i even had but a speck of dust from you, your fate might not be sealed yet. Oh well, she probably would be mad at me for pulling her out off her well-deserved afterlife anyway.

So, let's hope Sumner gets the hint. Otherwise i'll just have to have another 'vision'. I watched how it worked for Tharok, i'll just do as he did. And hope he shuts up long enough for me to explain things to him later.)


Lycar

[Lycar]

Ooookay... silly question: If they died, went to hell and subsequently got outta there WITHOUT being raised from the dead... doesn't that technically make them some sort of undead?

Wiedergänger?

An inquisitive mind wants to know.

Maybe Bardic Knowledge helps? Or Know. Arcana maybe? Anything? No Know. Religion here, sorry.


Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Go for Bardic Knowledge. Maybe you've heard of this happening before.
They don't look undead... maybe they were raised while you were away?

[Lycar]

Ha! Those are the worst! Zombie clones from hell!

Also, Orin is paranoid as a matter of habit. Since he grew up in an environment where not being paranoid is grounds for being weeded out by natural selection...

Okay, story time:

Bardic Know: (1d20+10)[21]

Lycar

[Lycar]

For the time being:

"Orin told many stories, but I do not think he was very much of a scholar, whatever he might act."

(Hrmph, my pride would like to have a word with you about that, Oathsworn. Soo... went to hell you did, hmm. How did you get out then. Did Sumner Senior rise you? But... then where are your swords. They were interred with you. Your corpse anyway. And you would recall your alter ego a bit more fondly if he was responsibly for your return to the world of the living... how did you get out.)

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The Dar Ven frowns and stares at Sumner for a moment, then at the others.

"You say you died and went to hell? How you get out? Who raised you back to live?"

He keeps his expression neutral but his right hand feels for the handle of his mace.

Lycar

[Lycar]

So.. no story for Orin then? Pity...

Ah but there is soemthing else, isn't there.


(From the destroyed world? Oh right, didn't the crazy aelfin... the male one, from the ash desert that is, didn't he mention something about the amulet not only being a tool bridging the gap between two worlds but also the destruction of the amulet causing the destruction of the other ... existance?

Heh, well met Khalef Nefud, destroyer of worlds... Okay, one world so far but who's counting...

Coming to think of it: Didn't Khalef always claim that his god is so just because he doesn't play favourites? And then... destroying a whole world is kinda... merciles. And justice not tempred by mercy is ... tyranny...)

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The Dar Ven's gaze fianlly fixes on Khalef. He stares at the Zhan for a few long seconds, then he speaks.

"I not know what you talk about. What destroyed world? But i say, destroying a world is not merciful. Wiser man then me once said: Justice without mercy is tyranny. Do you seek justice, Zhan?"

Lycar

[Lycar]

Orin is a bit unnerved by Azakan's stare.

(Was it something i said? Is he up to me? Better keep my cool.)

(A portal, eh? That wouldn't happen to be the one i went through with Tharok? Maybe i should poke a bit...)

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The Dar Ven looks at Azakan with a surprised expression. It's about the first time he shows any real emotion since the conversation started.

"Portal? You mean portal in squid-men city that Tharok and i came through? You know how portal works?"

(Halgarth... hm yes... i could just go off and try to find information about high ranking priests... notice my surprise as i learn that a temple of Isana is supposed to be near Halgarth and that the red-haired guy may have been a disciple of Isana. 'cause he has her firebird emblazoned on his shield. Oh and i'm SO going to find out what happens when i drag your corpse to the church and have them raise you Sumner. Ideally you'll be your old, unfeathered self again. And then i can be sure you are not some undead hell-spawn imposter...)

(Ach Sumner, we all have a duty... but is yours to Azakan or all of Davethra? If Azakan is reluctant to reign, maybe it's because he knows what will come... if you were asked, Sumner, would you refuse to serve mankind? Maybe it is not so much a desire to serve but the reluctance to admit to your own responsibility? 'I follow orders!' It's so easy to say, absolves you from your crimes... not! 'I follow orders!' Said Gothuls priests as they cut out the hearts of the sacrifices. In reality, they were just happy it wasn't their own hearts being cut out. 'I follow orders!' Says the mercenary when he cuts down man, woman and child alike, not even out of hatred but out of cowardice, not having the spine to say 'No!'. 'I follow orders!' i said as i led my friend Balthus to the gallows. Figurativly speaking. I know well what i did. It haunts me to this day. I cannot undo what i did, but i can make sure i don't make the same mistake again.)

Lycar

[Lycar]

Orin casts a sidelong glance at Azakan.

(Uhm... Mind Flayer magic? Keep that off me, tank you very much...)

Still, he tries to figure Azakan out:

Sense Motive: (1d20+10)[12]

But then Orin seems to be distracted by something and even spaces out a bit, his eyes going blank for a few seconds.

(Halgarth, yes... i could go to the temple of Isana. Bring them Krashnix's head and gear. Well, his mace and shield anyway. They might be happy to have him back. And then... hmm... i stand before their priest or priestess maybe. And they ask me what i want form them... and then... yes... then i tell them...)

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(
A king with a beard and a stature stout
Once had a wish, nay obsession about
Being ruler of all, to be one with the world
Of being a god, or at the very least
Have the power thereof, to be thrall to no lord
But just you know it, a wish is a beast
Digs fangs in your soul and by my word:
Learn to control it or become it's feast
The king, he studied and studied and learned,
Sacrificed many for the power he yearned,
Summond demon an devil in insane fervour,
And yet none could grant, that what he wished for
So he struck a deal, with a lady of fire
'Oh be so kind to grant my desire'
'Fool' she said 'you shall yet have your wish'
And a fog made of blood sprung forth from the ground
To engulf all that stood or flew around
And one heard a terrible sound all about
Of forms and shapes, twisting and turning
Man, beast and plant, all were burning
With magic within and magic without
And the king with the beard and the stature stout
He finally felt as one with nature
But magic, i say, is a fickle beast,
Chaotic and evil, at the very least,
It turned on the king and he could not stand it,
He burst at the seams, but one good came from it
The fog disappeared and world was as before,
Except for the king, for he was no more.

And his tomb lay forgotten,
with the king dead and rotten.
But his final place of rest,
made of iron and stone,
to keep madness and bone,
safely hidden inside
was put to the test.

From the east, through the plain
came a band made of vain
scoundrels and scholars.
They weren't really fiends
but nor were they Solars.

They were, however, quite a sight:
A priest, tall and proud,
sincerely and loud,
laid waste to the serpent,
killed his servants most fervent,
saved a maiden from a fate most cruel,
and his zeal and devotion was the fuel,
that fed his desire,
to serve the lady of fire.

There were two woman, hunters of head,
meant to collect the bounty that had,
been issued by Govan, Archmage of Ralm
on a man who had, most serenly and calm,
refused to return to the mages realm,
on grounds of rejecting
his planned dissecting
for a purpose most vile.

But their plan was cut short,
when an explosion of sort,
killed off all their friends.
The amazing thing?
They meant to earn credit
by work mostly legit
to earn the right
to bring back to light
their perished companions.

And a man of learning
while not very bold,
was also yearning
to make lots of gold,
because on that day,
in this grisly display,
of the hatered of fiends,
he too lost some friends.

And let's not forget the maid,
who was snatched from the serpents maw,
in a daring and bloody raid,
on a gaggle of cultists they saw.
I mentioned the cleric, did i not?
His anger, his fury, it burned so hot,
he slew all the cultists, surrend'ring or not.

The maiden, however, turned out to be
not from this world, but an aelfin you see,
and it appears, she was quite mad
(although she had a beautiful hat).

A scholar, he led the band,
with feverent devotion he had planned,
to learn the secret of the living land.
And when the time came he laid his hand
on the tome of lore, which then he penned
down in his book.

Or so we think, that's what he found,
for he was gone, nowhere about.

Alas, as it were,
things went downhill from there.

You see, a golem, a guard of the tomb,
meant to protect the graves inner womb,
Was first pacified by the bards clever trick,
but then he suddenly developed a tick,
to crush the intruders, with his bronze fist.

The battle was fierce, many blows exchanged,
the party was very heav'ly engaged.
Poor Kizima, she bought the farm,
the golem, he brought down his arm,
on the halfling bitches head.
crush! And she was quite dead.

We finally managed to disable the threat,
thanks to the aelfin because she had,
showered with magic the golem's abode.
Many balls of fire she made explode,
cracking the golem, almost alone.
In the end, the iron brought victoy home.

Long story short, not long after that,
Tharok the fighter poked in his head,
through the door to the west.
In the end it turned out, to be for the best.

Whatever madness the tomb had contained,
our friend Rego it had claimed,
drove him insane, made him drunken with power,
made his spirit and mind, fuse with the tower.

We tried to flee, i'm loathe to admit,
but escape we could not, not one little bit.
Time itself, it slowed down so much,
in a matter of hours, four days had been passed!

So we turned back,
followed the track
to the mad dwarve's tomb.

With Tharok's braveness, luck and audacity,
Rego Vel was brough back from insanity.

So we packed up and meant to return.
Glory or shame,
it was all the same
if we got back alive, and not in an urn.

But upon reaching the ruin, desaster struck!
Where it came from, we'll never know.
Illithid! The cry went up!
The fiend, it attacked and in his tow,
came death to my friends, and even Rego
who i had promised to protect and lo,
i now stand here and beseech you,
bring back my friends! Please! Do so!

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Will save for Orin please, DC 18.

[Lycar]

Orin mumbles under his breath, just loud enough for Azakan to hear (and those who make their listen checks i assume ).

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"... a sad chief who must force his tribe to obey..."

(Bah, i don't like this one bit. You don't feel like doing this but it doesn't really stop you, does it? Sorry Azakan, but if i get a word to say about it you will not get to force your will on anyone, reluctantly or otherwise. As Sumner Kesh senior said, magic corrupts. No Azakan, not another empire forged by subjugating others. It won't have a chance if it is not born out of the free will of the people to join forces. And with a devil army on the march, what better thing to rally against?)

Lycar

[Lycar]

And a will save too: (1d20+9)[20]

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Orin feels some sort of pressure on his mind, like something is trying to get in. But he concentrates, and forces it out.

[Lycar]

Invader repelled - yeah, that's right! Get out of my mind while i'm buisy getting into other people's mind!

So Orin still gets to intercept the broadcasts of the others via tapping into Sumner's surface thoughts? Neat.

Also: Azakan want who to f themselves now?

Time for another Bardic Knowledge check methinks: (1d20+10)[21]

And once again: The ability to have a chance to know a little bit about virtually everything, however small, is just such a nice feature of being a bard. I wouldn't trade it for any other class feature.

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

It is extremely useful.
However, in this case, you don't know what he's talking about. However, the language sounds like Celestial.

[Lycar]

"Do you know where Ne'sha came from, who thought it up?"

I suspect Goramesh but does Orin know?

Know. History: (1d20+10)[30]

Anyway:

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Bren looks at Azakan for a long moment. Then he speaks up:
"To use the power of the crown, it is the easy way, the reasonable way. Wolf choose this. You do not use crown? Then there will be fighting, dying, much blood flying. But do you need an empire? Your people are Davethrans. Leave the Qusan alone, and the Mokai and all others. You no longer need to quest for more souls to sacrifice. Dragon Lady is right. If Empire is only built on force and evil, is not worth it. Take the crown, show it to the archmages and destroy it. Then give them choice: Give them chance to make their live mean something. Maybe they accept. Then life is good. If they refuse, fighting will break out. But better die fighting for what you believe in then live without hope."

"Azakan, wolf preys on gazelle. So wolf is master of gazelle? But what would wolf eat without gazelle? It is predator who is at mercy of prey. Not the other way around. What would nobles do without peasant providing for them? Die they would, simply. One needs the other for living. Make sure they all learn this truth. Then life will be good again."

Turning to Ismael, Bren adds "You are talking words of wisdom. I hope, you mean true. And not only for Pennefar people."

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Um... you don't know who thought it up. Which is kind of odd. It just kind of... exists.

[Lycar]

Okay... dare i assume that the nat. 20 on this roll makes Orin unshakably certain that, in all his year of reading stuff he never, ever came upon a story or report about the origins of ne'sha?

(Well... now that you mention it? Where does this ne'sha come from anyway. Coming to think of it... damned if i know. Goramesh! One would thing that the origins of something so elemental as the noble's code of honour would be well documented... unless...)

But that is when Azakan has his fit.

Orin is quite shocked at what he sees, a cold shiver running down his spine.

(But...! Azakan?! Who or what is controlling you? This.. is bad... very, very bad...)

Then he calms himself down by finding something else to think about and his racing heart slows down again.

(... what did you say? The only one not brought up to believe Gothul's lies? Not quite... not quite.. i just learned early on that everybody is lying. Sometimes even to themselves. Well, actually, most of the time. Like when you tell yourself, life at the archmages court is good until you start believing it yourself. Ask me about lying of all people? Oh i could tell you stories... and a few of them would even be true.. but what do you want to tell us Azakan? Maybe there is more to you then i was giving you credit for.. maybe you truly... ah but that's just it, isn't it? Whoever it is that controls you doesn't want things to go different.. different from what? There is a demon army on the march, doesn't it need destroying? We still might want to ask the archmages for help... What hope are you talking about? Hrm... i remember a certain short and stout priest of Gothul we once met in a roadside inn... i took a stab at the dark and hit a hornet's nest.. intersting times... maybe...)

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Bren looks horrified at Azakan after his fit, it takes him several seconds to regain his composure. But then he seems to have recollected his thoughts and speaks up again.

"What is that hope you talk about? False hope? False hope for what, peace? There is no 'peace', there is eating and being eaten, being born and dying again. Some get long life with many sons and die in gloriois battle. Some do not live past first winter because hunting is bad. Still, was their lives, short as it was, not a live? What is it you are afraid of? That gods just use us as playthings in their games? Sure they can, they are gods. So? Live your live, Azakan, allow others to live theirs. If you want to fight, fight those who would deny life. Death is meaningless. Is just end of story. But even short story can be good, if you make it so. We all die. Life means dying, eventually. But does not mean we do not value life. We do. We just not afraid of being wolf and kill. And we not be afraid of being gazelle and be killed. Life is. Accept it and life is good."

"Prophecy says, demons are marching. They just want to conquer. They not alive, so they can not die. They have no place here. This is not about making empire. This is about making sure demons not become rulers again."

(Uhm.. damn it.. now i'm not quite sure what i just said myself. *sigh* I am posing as a Dar Ven cannibalistic barbarian for.. what, a few hours? And i'm already ... gah, this can't be healthy...)

Lycar

[Lycar]

Yeah well.. what does Bren Orin know about this binding stuff...


Know Arcana: (1d20+5)[17]

Aaand: Our jack-of-all-trades Bardic Knowledge: (1d20+10)[17]


Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

It's some sort of magic pact probably, where both parties are bound with certain conditions, for mutual advantage. Demons make them a lot.

[Lycar]

Well, time to move on to Halgarth and no bardic music left. How.. unfortunate... either way, Orin quickly stuffs everything back into the backpack and makes haste to join up with Azakan again. And since he needs some time to repack the heads, he's still around when Draven goes postal on some table i dare say.

Of course this also ends the Detect Thoughts. Besides, it wouldn't have lasted until the ruins anyway.

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The Dar Ven looks on impassivly as the clansman vents some pent-up agresion on innocent furniture. Still, he mumbles something under his breath as he hefts his re-packed backpack to follow the others.

"... call us barbarians.. hrmph..."

Then a thought seems to strike him and he stops to adress Draven directly.

"If Azakan made pact with spirit, then remember: Spirit always deals for profit and spirit always collects."

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Draven's waiting until everyone's left the pub.

[Lycar]

Hmm... just in case we want/need to retrieve those magical sets of armour we had to leave behind later...


As Orin watches Ismal and Darven hold hands as they walk, Orin remember Rhebin's words. Or were it Livina's.

(Hmm.. hot, dragonny sex.. that were her words... i wonder... do i even want to know... well... in the name of science... it might be very educating to watch... hehe... focus! First we need to save the world. Pfft... yeah, right.)

Spoiler

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"Azakan?" asks Bren "You can re-set this portal to where it is going now later again, yes? Red-haired warrior may want his armour back, we could not take it. Too bulky. There was scale armour too we could not take. But if money we have is not enough to bring the four back, we might get later?"

(God, keeping up this dumbed-down Davethran language is tiresome...)


Lycar