WESTIAN'S, FALKOR'S AND AUREK'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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WESTIAN'S, FALKOR'S AND AUREK'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by beowuuf »

There was an ominous silence. Westian was very confident that his banging would have been heard on the door. There was more silence. Where was Soorec?

And then, a faint voice came through from the other side, apparently a distance away.

"Westian? Is that you?"


It was a familiar voice, although alarming for coming from the other side of the door. For the mn should be elsewhere by now. It was the voice of Sir Farel.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by oh_brother »

Westian was taken off-guard by the familiar voice. "Farel? Is that you? What in the hells are you doing here?"

Without waiting for a response he continued. "Yes, it is Westian. We need to pass through. Open the door."
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Westian thought he heard another voice, and then heard Farel reply, although it sounded strange, as if he were not talking to Westian.

"Falkor too?" asks Farel. "Is this a trick? " he said with a different tone. "No, I am sorry, yes, I can hear you," he corrected. "Westian is at the other door, I beleive it is locked. The gnome was distracted when he left. His necklace that activates the doors is on the table here. And Ardur and myself are trapped behind the magical walls of force."

Farel's voice then got louder. "Westian, hold tight! Falkor has managed to get through from the other side. He should be able to let you in, and free me!"


While Westian might start puzzling at the strange dialogue, it was nothing compared to the reactions of the Trolins behind him.

"What trick this?" asked Tosca, taking a step back and then finding crossbow bolts and a Trolin sword pointed in his direction. "You trick me! You not speaking to mage! You talk to human"

Umack angrily turned around. "You were trickster," he says in common for Westian's benefit, "you want come through here. He prove he can come throughhere. He already dealt with mage, must already be dead! He have many friends in this place killing blackskulls!"

Uumack gave Westian an odd look though, perhaps also amazed that - for all Westian's warning words - the cleric seems to have already arranged passage through the domain of Soorec.


Money will hopefully be joining you in this thread OB. Incase you both forgot (very understandable) Farel had left before the whole Falkor disappearing act, so would obviously assume you guys are acting in concert rather than this being the comically weird timing it is :D
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by money »

"Westian, are you there?" cried Falkor, he was a little unsure what to do, but indeed his senses told him that when Seeroc was away the Grak Grak's struggled to hold form, let along speak with the accent of their shapely creation.

"Farrel, what do i need to do?" Falkor made his way towards the table, to the necklace positioned rather too nicely for his likeing. Concerned that this may be a trap - perhaps following his "looting" of Seeroc, Seeroc had considered this an easy way to trap him. He quickly checked both the Necklace (9) and the surrounding table/area (10) for any traps.

OOC: Think i need to speak with you about leveling up! and Hey OB :)
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Yes, yes you do :D I'l do a cut down list of stuff soon for you!


The table had not changed too much from when Falkor had left, oddly. There was still a mess of papers, with odd squiggles - some bearing Falkor's name, and strange diagrams that seems to be to do with folding space, time, space/time, and subtance for disappearing and becoming invisible. There did not seem to be much more around.

The gem that Haynuus had grabbed from Soorec seemed fairly unremarkable, although Falkor knew that it probably hid more powers than its simple form let on.

"Falkor, it is you!" said Farel with relief. The knight looked no more the worse for wear than last they had met. Ardur was huddled closeby, looking just as miserable as he had been previously. "When we left the last time, it was as simple as placing the gem into the hole by the door. Didn't the gnome say something about one door locking the other door, though?"

Farel then pointed to the red cross that was still on the wall, though wonderfully clear of grak-graks resembling his friends. "The cross button still works, and there is nothing else trapped in here. Free us, and let us depart!"


Too good to be true, or is there something worrying going on that isn't a trap? Who knows - but woohoo, I've got to of you back together! I'll have all five of you reunited before you can say 'Happy Hallowe'en 2011!"
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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"Falkor?" Westian shouted out, his level of confusion growing rapidly. "Yes, I am here with Aurek. Let us in, we need to get through." He knocked again on the door with his staff for good measure.

He faced Tosca and the others. "Trick?" he hissed. "You brought us here. No sign of Soorec, maybe lucky for you."

He faced Uumack "Falkor is a mage, he has killed blackskulls with his magic before. He will be useful when I go hunting the priest." He avoided mentioning Farel, as some part of him wondered how the knight would react to the sight of a bunch of Trolins.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by money »

Falkor picked up the Gem and made his way across to the strange looking lock mechanism that had opened/closed the doors. "I'm opening the door Westian" with this he engaged the jewel into the recess on the wall with a "click" - it fitted snugly and all too quickly the doors began to move.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Farel was relieved when he saw Falkor moving around. If he was a little put out that Falkor had gone to open the door first, he did not mention it, instead rousing Ardur from his sullen sitting and standing at attention.

Tosca had been cowed by Westian's barking, but not quite so much as when the door rattled open. The fat Trolin took a step back. Even Uumack took a shuffled step, perhaps a little intimidated at the powerful friends Westian possessed. The other two crossbow wielding Trolins half-trained their bows on the door. Aurek glowered at them, and took a meaningful step infront to look for Falkor.

"Falkor, is is you!" said the paladin when the door opened with ease. The Trolins were perhaps confused as the powerful elf or human mage resolved into a small mage, and that small mage was not Soorec.


And there we go. I'll give you guys a little breathing room without NPCs in the way to say hey and stuff :D

Money - to catch up, Westian is currently holding a certain twisted snake staff, and is armoured in some makeshift Trolin gear. He has Aurek with him in the flamebain, a fat reluctant Trolin called Tosca, a proud 'leader' Trolin called Uumack, and two as yet unnamed Trolin crossbow wielders - one male, one female.

OB - Falkor is pretty much as you left him, perhaps a slight bruise here or there.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Westian strode into the room behind Aurek with a confident air. “Falkor! Good to see you. You left in a most…surprising way last time. Clearly your power has grown.” He arched an eyebrow as he spoke.

He shook hands with the halfling and patted him on the back. “Ameena and Haynuus have begun infiltrating the soldiers' lair, Aurek and I will launch our attack soon. We are going to bring down their leader. Perhaps with the help of an army of Trolins.” He nodded in Uumack’s direction as he spoke. “We would be glad to have your magic on our side when we fight, if you wish to join us.”

Remembering himself he spun around, looking for Farel. Seeing him and Ardur behind the screen he ran over to press the release switch.

“Sir Farel, Ardur, are you all right?” He examined them to see if anyone needed healing. “Did that damn gnome put you here? He will face a terrible reckoning soon I tell you…I have had enough of his viciousness and his hideous swift-deaths.” Whether the anger was real or opportunistic was not immediately obvious. Perhaps it was both. But either way it was an easy option to verbally attack Soorec; not only did everyone in the room have good reason to hate him, but more importantly he did not appear to be around to defend himself.

Hey Money, welcome back to non-solo play!
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Seeing all the bodies behind the door at first startled Falkor, he and Westian had not always seen eye to eye and he was a little worried he may have taken his dissapearance earlier as an act of cowardice. As Westian entered the room he had a different aura about him, he seemed somewhat mightier than before, walking with more confidence and his talk to the army of Trolins sounded almost leadership like... still, Westian had made a habbit of sounding like a leader - perhaps he was bluffing? Falkor decided not to look too hard at him though, he needed to rebuild trust and spending the first few moments of their reunion quizzing and stareing in equal measures did not seem the right course of action. "It is with great pleasure that we meet again. Although only a small amount of time has passed I feel like it's been so much longer and I feel far wearier than before. You have to tell me what has happened? What happened to the others?"

Falkor returned the hand shake from Westian, and listened to his offer... "I, I would be willing to stand along side you. I have a little side quest i would like some help with along the way, but by all means - I believe our destiny is closely aligned"

As he spoke Westian made his way towards the release mechanism, "Westian, one minute..." He moved towards him and spoke quietly "are you sure Farel and Ardur are really behind this field? I would hate for us to release someone we wish not through a clever deception? Last I saw Farel he was heading away. You know him best, if you are sure release but please, be sure"
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by beowuuf »

A good question, well asked :) And I'm thoroughly enjoying Westian able to go in off full fevour!
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Westian nodded when Falkor asked for a description of what had happened.

“Haynuus – our orc guard – took Ameena and went into the lair of the blackskulls. We plan to take down their leader, and elven priest who commands undead creatures, and holds a colleague of mine hostage. Aurek and I in the meantime went a different route so as not to draw attention. We have asked the Trolins for aid in the assault. They are brave warriors, and honourable. They would make worthy allies. Most of them, at least” he finished, making a point of looking at the fat Trolin as he spoke.

He stopped dead in his tracks just before pressing the button when Falkor interjected. “You are right, of course,” he said to the halfling. “We must be sure, that damn gnome is a master of illusion.”

He looked at Farel and Ardur. “Sir Farel, Ardur, I am sorry but I need to be sure before I open this. I hope you understand.” He looked both of them in the eye. “Farel, a couple of hours ago I saw you in a different plane. What did I say to you?” Looking at Ardur he continued. “Ardur, when we were both behind that haze I handed a small item to you. What was it?”
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Tosca took another step backwards, but could not really argue the fact. For one, there were now many people apparently loyal to Westian in a room that should have contained a gnome mage. For another, the common speech had begun to flow so fast that even Uumack seemed to take a moment to work out what was being said. Tosca apparently had no chance to really understand how badly the tide had turned for him. Aurek stayed near the fat Trolin to ensure Tosc'a behaviour, though.

"Falkor, it is us," said Farel, his eyebrows knitting. He turned to Westian's questions. "I understand, but you speak in riddles. I have not seen you again - in this palce or another - since we departed with the gnome's accursed creature. If you have seen me since, that is the illusion you must not believe. I swear by the Rose and the Oak, upon my most sacred oaths, I am Farel." The knght poitns across the room to near the table, where his weapon is. "My blade is blunted - for I do not believe in violence being the answer to any ill." Farel gives Westian an earnest look.

Heh, you might have missed it, but Farel waved off his experiences in ressurection as a strange dream when unconscious. If you convinced him otherwise, then the lapse in memory is the memory lapse of your DM! Of cours,e conveniently that means he can't confirm your question as you asked it...if it is Farel...

Ardur looks surprised at being addressed, and shudders. "I...I woke up to the sight of you using a flask of liquid on me," says Ardur with a small voice. "Then..then I ran when the violence happened. Is that what you mean?" Ardur looks nervous at speaking and perhaps sayign the wrong thing,

This one I figure you want Ardur to say the holy symbol? But by my reckoning/trawling you didn't actually hand him the symbol during the battle before he ran off. So again, conveniently, Ardur can't quite answer your question! Though this one really might be DM messing up. Unless, of course, he wouldn't be able to answer anyway...


The female Trolin's crossbow waved from Tosca to the halfling. The motion was not lost on Uumack, the leader.

"Who you?" she asked in passable common to Falkor. "You small mage - why we trust you? One small mage already let swift death kill us! Why we trust one more!"

Uumack snarled some words in Trolin that Falkor could understand well enough. "Elf leader here say short mage is ally, then he is ally until he act without honour."

The female Trolin did not seem fully convinced, and still looked to Falkor with suspicion.


I'll leave it there for now. Funny that the questions, combined with your Dm's knowledge, don't completely rule out Farel and Ardur as being evil. And maybe there's a good reason for that anyway... whooooo knows :D
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by oh_brother »

I forgot about Farel ignoring the dream, I don't think I convinced him otherwise. As for Ardur, I was aiming for "dagger". If he does not remember, which may be understandable given what happened, I can probably work with the flask story.
oh_brother wrote:When attention in the room was focused elsewhere he quietly pulled out a knife and passed it to the squire. Perhaps a worthless gesture, given their situation, but it paid to be prepared.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by beowuuf »

Ah, missed that - and won't have flagged it as an item you gave him, just an item he has. :p I apologise for the waters being muddied not by my evil DMness, but by my crappy DMness!
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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"How did you get back here?" Westian asked the pair. "Last I saw you were leaving this place."

Based on speech patterns, phrases, character traits, and no real conflicting knowledge Westian is going to assume that they are who they say they are. Rest of post deals with opening the haze, unless Farel says something obviously wrong or someone stops me.

Westian hesitated for a second, but then continued on his original path and brought down the haze. "They seem to know what they are talking about, I think it is them" he said to the halfling. "And waiting here too long will open us to even greater risks, we need to move soon. We are going to see the Trolin king. To convince him to launch a simultaneous attack on the blackskull soldiers."

"What about you two?" he asked the recently liberated knight and squire. "Do you plan to join us?" His brow furrowed. "I do not wish to leave you both at the mercy of the dungeon."

He did have serious worries about the knight and squire. It was his duty, and his strong desire, to see that these apparent innocents should come to no harm. Still, bringing them brought its own set of worries. Falkor seemed to be comfortable with bending the rules to achieve a goal. And he could keep Aurek in check by appealing to his desire to further serve Larethian. But Farel? A man of honour was a great thing, but would his honour trump his sense of pragmatism? They were so close to achieving something truly remarkable in the name of Lord Larethian, it would be awful to lose that because of a careless word.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by money »

Falkor stayed back, he did not have a strong bond with Arudur or Farel, but meant them no harm and as always, safety in numbers was always best... unless of course the 'numbers' turn out to be batting for the other team!
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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"The captain that held your friends. We encountered him, apparently coming back to the gnome's room to report. The sight of the gnome's creature at least kept him from attacking us instantly. However, he confronted the creature, apparently seekign to speak to the gnome. The creature seemed to become passive, and the captain took us prisoner once more. I dare not fight with the lad in tow, not with the creature likely to side against us, and I had assumed the gnome would honour his agreement."

Ardur seemed to want to say something about this, but was apparently embarrassed.

"When we returned, the gnome seemed distracted. I demanded he honour the agreement, but told us it was broken and we were locked back in the celll."

Aurek had walked forwards, away from the Trolins, aparently also unsure of Farel's story. However, after a moment he walked over to Westian. "I sense nothing evil in the man," said the paladfin quietly into Westian's ear. "Infact, I sense nothing but strong good from both of them."

Aurek took another step forward, asking questions of when Farel and Aurek had first met. Farel told of waking to find Aurek appearing in the cell beside him, of the fight to escape where one soldier had been killed by Aurek and one knocked unconscious. RFarel also pointed out the fact Aurek still possessed Farel's backpack, including the assorted scrolls and copies of scroll items that had been in the cell. Aurek shrugged and nodded to Westian, satisfied.

However, Aurek gave a black look bakcwards to the Trolins, which was noted by Uumack and Tosca. As Westian opened the cell, Tosca made a comment in Uumacks ear in Trolin language.

"He not trust you, and the elf listens to him," snarled Tosca. "You not better than me in his eyes, king not better than us. They want us fight their war."


Falkor was well placed to see Uumack snarling and almost lifting a weapon to Tosca, but the Trolin did seem to have a clouded expression. While Westian and Aurek were diratced by Farel's release, Falkor had apparently been the only one to see it. Or at least the only one to see out of the non-Trolin group who spoke the language.


Meanwhile, Farel's expression furrowed. "You plan to launch a pre-emptive attack? Why, what are the soldiers doing?" Something of Westian's manner seemed to alert to Farle somethign being off. "As I said, violence is the last option - it must always be. Are we not seeking the stones the gnome spoke of? What of the Grey Lord?"

"Sire Farle, you don't have to keep protecting me!" said Ardur suddenly, and then shrunk into himself at the outburst. Farel turned ot the boy, temporarily telling his squire that his protests had nothing to do with such a thing, although he would also not risk the boy's life.


Right, will leave it there. Falkor or Westian are free to perhaps do some convincing of the others in any direction, or can perhaps throw aroudn some sense motive checks to get a lay of the land.

Or, of course, perhaps it's time to check the room, distract Farel by finding out where Soorec is, or perhaps it's time to run!
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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“The priest is protected by the soldiers. The elven priest – a dark creature, he creates undead that infect this place. And he has kidnapped my brother from the order, a dwarf named Deephold. At least I hope he is only kidnapped. Sometimes I cannot help but wonder...” he cut off abruptly, eyes glistening with sadness.

“That foul priest - worshipper of dark lords and demons - is beyond redemption. He must be killed, Farel. And I will do it, I will do it, with whoever will stand by my side.”

“His guards protect him, so it is necessary to get through them. I am going to go. Sir Aurek and Falkor have said they will join me. Ameena and Haynuus are already inside. Maybe the Trolins will use the opportunity of such an assault to overthrow the blackskulls and their leaders, that is why I am going to speak to their king. But even if no one joined me I would go on my own, whatever the cost. The cost of inaction would be far greater.”

Westian will have ensured he was facing Farel and Ardur, not the Trolins, when he was speaking. Also he will listen to any further talk but then begin getting people ready to leave asap. Diplomacy roll was 15 + 13 = 28. Unless bluff is more appropriate (there is a mixture of both really), in which case it would be 25.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by beowuuf »

I like to think Westian isn't even sure himself, hence the high roll :D I'll take it as diplomacy since he is tryign to convince people to come with him, not just lie about his intentions (well, maybe). I'll give money a chance to reply, so might delay the update until tomorrow morning/lunchtime.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by money »

There were plenty of discussions between Aurek, Farel and Westian. Falkor observed a sense of unrest amongst them all and perhaps some questioning of the intentions of Westian by the others, but this was not his primary focus. The Trolins interested Falkor. He had never really trusted them, Trolins, he had many story’s in his youth about their brutal attitude and willingness to fight in unfair battles - the fact they pledged to support Westian in his crusade only heightened his suspicions, perhaps they would wait until an opportune moment to sleigh Westian, him, Aurek and whoever else was travelling along with them, or perhaps they would just take the loot they desired once the battle was won (or lost) - he wasn't sure but for now they had done no harm and seemed for the moment to be supportive..
Just as he was about to turn his attention back to the discussions of Westian and friends he caught, by chance, a slight ruckus between two of them. He focused on them, quickly understand the cause of the disruption (20)

OOC: Taking liberty with the narrative with the 1d20 result :)
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by beowuuf »

Not a problem, a good roll :D

...for it was easy to tell the fat and club-wielding Trolins were night and day. The fat Trolin was unusual, for Trolins were brutish creatures that relied on fighting each other and their enemies for any power. The odd undertones of arrogance of the fat Trolin seemed strange. Somehow, he must hold some position of authority in the Trolin pecking order through means other than simply fighting for it. Of course, in that regard he would be able to indulge himself and throw his weight around, free of reprisal and care.

Meanwhile, the club wielding Trolin seemed to be again an oddity in Trolins, but at least in a more understandable direction. The creature stood proudly, rather than the cunning hunch usual to Trolins, but was obviously strong and agrressive. There was the occasional use of the word 'honour' thrown around more than Falkor would have assumed for a Trolin, but it was obvious this Trolin was part of the normal pecking order. You were strong and aggressive or you were dead.

So it was obvious to see the cause for the disruption. The fat Trolin had lost his power base - he was obviously barely following the conversations, hated Westian, and was barely being tolerated by the other Trolins. He was out of the normal flow of Trolin society in this situation. He was scrambling to keep a semblance of power, and certainly Falkor did not trust the creature as far as he could push him with a spell - if only those sorts of spells would come back to his memory. Certainly, the fat Trolin called Tosca would do anything to get back on top. Eliminating Westian could certainly be one method.

The club wielding Trolin Uumack was obviously barely bound by the fat Trolin's influence, and held disgust in his eye for the fat creature. Hiowever, when he looked to Westian...

The Trolin seemed to actually look at Westian with pride, or awe. Certainly, Westian was throwing around many powerful words. Could it be possible - rather than indulging Westin, ready to betray him, was it possible this Trolin Uumack - and the other two Trolins with crossbows he seemed to command - were actually following Westian in reality?

Of course, the conflict infront of Falkor surely hinted at the conflict the party would find. Certainly Westina's words were powerful, but still - the fat Trolin had been allowed to hold the real power in Trolin society for some reason. Therefore, was it not more likely that the fat Trolin represented how those in high office - such as the King they were making towards - would actually feel?

And thinking of Westian's behaviour, the proud and strong words that Westian was throwing out seemed unsual. Certainly, this was not like the Westian Falkor had left before. From Farel's words it didn not sound like Falkor had been asleep that long, yet Westian had changed. Was this merely Westian finally unleashed, not bound to keeping all the elements of the party together and focused? Or was there something else at work here?


Meanwhile, Westian carried on speaking. Uumack had turned at the new utterance, and although it wasn't directed towards him, the Trolin listened nonethless. He gave one final mocking snarl at Tosca, and said one word. []i"See!"[/i] The fat Trolin took another step back as the words washed around the room, apparently convincing the three Trolins willingly following the cleric of their rightness. Well, perhaps the words about killing the priest and lettign the Trolins overthrow the blackulls. The wishy-washy comments about saving lives seemed to be ignored or tolerated.

Aurek was again silent, not showing support nor discent, although he certainly stood closer to Westian. Aurek also nodded once or twice when Westian delcared the evil of the elf, and the necessity of ending the elf's life.

Farel stood listening with a neutral expression, until Weastian had stopped speaking. "I am sorry that you feel there is only one option to dealing with evil. Certainly the undead are excluded from quarter, but any life must be prescious, or none are. I put my sword and my honour in the hands of higher powers to mete out punishments. I would capture this foul priest, and ensure those whom he has wronged most could put him on trial. However, even without worrying for my charge, I do not know if I could follow you to the conclusion of your mission, given the ending you wish, and the means you wish to employ."

Sir Farel stood quietly for a moment. "I do not doubt you, nor the rightness of your cause, friend priest. I just cannot partake of a final execution in the dark. Evil does not end evil, I cannot believe that. " Farel looked around the room at Aurek and Falkor, then back to Ardur. The squire seemed to realise that Farel's decision seemed to rely somehow on him, and blustered about being ready to face anything and not needing protected.

Farel turned back around. "I will, at least, stand with you as you face the Trolin King. Though I will not stand by you if you are to urge them to slaughter at will. The Grey Lord's domain is no less in danger if Trolins hold sway as these soldiers. There was a balance struck once between the Grey Lord and the Trolins, it is said. That must be maintained. And I will help you regain your lost brother, and ensure you are reuinted with your able companions. As long as my own charge is not in danger."


Good roll deserved some swaying of opinion. You won't convince the knight to let you tell the Trolins 'go kill' or to kill the elf priest, but he won't abandon you, as long as he thinks he can protect Ardur well enough to still aid you and he still believes in your cause. Ish. So there you go, I don't know if you've burndened yourself with an annoying NPC there or not :D

Anyway, money, you can obviously have Falkor interrogate or monitor the Trolins as you go along, or try to subtly mine for informaiton on the king and the organisation of the Trolins.

So there we go, onwards then? Or anything else first
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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So Farel would follow them. Westian was relieved actually, despite the inconvenience of having an extra conscience to placate. He did not want to leave Farel and Ardur to look after themselves, they did not seem capable. They had been captured at least twice each. Probably coming with the group would be best; at least Westian could keep an eye on them.

Still, this situation of starting a war between the Trolins and blackskulls was becoming more and more complicated. Westian felt like he was holding a snake by the head. He had an urge to drop it, but knew that he could not. And the longer he held on, the angrier the snake was going to get. It had initially felt so right, as if Larethian himself was guiding his actions. But some doubts had never left. What about the morality of launching an attack on the soldiers? Was Farel right? Westian’s initial reaction would have been that they were evil, and that killing them was a service to the good High Lords. But meeting Trolins – supposedly also a force for evil – showed that it was difficult to judge an entire group as a single entity. In fact his initial thoughts had been that no matter who won between the soldiers and the Trolins good would be served, as a great number of evil creatures would be slain, but he could no longer accept that reasoning so easily.

But then came the counter-arguments. They needed to get into the priest’s lair without being overwhelmed by enemies. They needed to find out what had happened to the Grey Lord, and those answers were more likely to lie hidden deep in the mountain than on the surface. They needed to find Deephold, and he also was further down. All these things they were doing for good. They could not leave these things simply because they could not bear to deal with them. They could not abandon those tasks simply because some soldiers and Trolins would die. Westian was putting his own life on the line too, that is what he clung to as a sign that he was not simply unfeeling towards the life and death of others. What he had said to Farel was true, the cost of inaction would be higher. Evil would thrive if good people took no action against them. Perhaps this was a burden shared by clerics and paladins, doing unpleasant actions to prevent evil from gaining a foothold in the world. They had to do these things not because they were easy, but because they were hard.

“So let us go” he said. He wished he could talk to Falkor and Farel and Aurek normally and explain things, but doing so would show weakness in front of the Trolins. Instead he had to thread a fine line and chose each word carefully; acting in such a way so as to alienate neither Trolin fighters nor noble knights was not easy. “I will do everything in my power to keep your squire safe. But violence seems unavoidable, unless we turn back now. The soldiers will not simply hand over the priest and his prisoner without a fight. The priest will not surrender to us. We cannot let their determination mean that we will take no action against them. Justice is not just meted out in a court, often it comes from the victory of the righteous in battle.”

Okay, ready to go! :D Sorry for the long post, but Westian is trying to convince himself as much as Farel.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by beowuuf »

Lol, can you blame him? :) Anyway, let's let money catch up... next update should be a short one, depending on what Falkor does, of course!
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by money »

"We should leave then, time is never in our favour and we have much to do", Falkor readied himself he felt refreshed and a new sense of... well, he wasn't sure what it was, but it felt good.

OOC: Sorry for delay, ready to progress when you are :)
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Argh! I need to do something time-sensitive at work. Sorry, update as soon as I get home! :(
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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In reflection, Westian found a little voice in his mind glad to have Falkor around. Falkor, Falkor...he dwelt on the halfling for a moment, as if he had forgotten all about the mage. The fancy passed. Westian had been a little uncertain over the stricter code and black and white view of Aurek. And of course, the very black view of the Trolins. Farel and Ardur...Westian felt a strange shiver of pity for the two of them. Farel had his even more blakc and white view of the world, and yet seemed bound to his mortal codes and whomever his leige ultimately was.

Some voice in Westian's head reminded him that the elders of his order often acted this way. They had to make difficult choices, without a clear master. Only the subtle will of Larethian and his lingering words to guide them. No, Falkro was a good companion, for the mage too had apparently made difficult choices with conviction. And he had skirted lines, such as the attack on the soldiers, and the deception of Soorec. Ah yes, the gnome's name was Soorec. Odd, Westian had forgotten that fact. Another momentery fancy passed, and Westian was focused once more.

Yes, the way would be difficult. However, if the serpent was released, who knew where it would strike. The only course, surely, was to commit to action - ensure if the serpent had to lash out, it was directed accordingly. And if not by him, who else, really, had the combination of talents to do it?


Teehee. You've maybe suspected some subtle nudging, I thought I would start to make it obvious just to start some narrative build up. Though I would have enjoyed seeing you go it alone with Westian's conscience and justified actions. Anyway, so as well the cool balance Westian is struggling to find as he starts to find some freedom of action, there may well be a little devil on his shoulder suggesting some modes of thought to him. Perhaps.


There was no real time for Falkor to investigate the room of Soorec, now the mage was apparently gone - where, no one had said yet. Still, there was probably little chance to read the various scrolls infront of the Trolins, and more importantly Falkor probably had some of the most important items - Soorec's own possessions - still to puzzle over.


Uumack, the Trolin leader nodded at halfling warily in agreement, and turned to Westian, and then slowly to Tosca as if remembering something.

"So, where we go now?" asked Uumack of the fat Trolin. Tosca looked a little bewildered.

"Why you ask me. Elf lead you," said Tosca nastily.

"You lead us here. Gnome mage not issue. So where we go now?" said Uumack.

Tosca realised that, indeed, he had been the one pushign the group this way. Perhaps he had not expected things to go liek this - the balance of non-Trolins and Trolins shifted sufficiently that the Trolins were now the minority.

"Out that way!" said Tosca, pointign to where the other door was hidden down the corridor out. At the very least, Tosca showed he had been in or through this place, then.

Farel took his battle blade, and everyone made ready. Uumack barked some orders, and the two crossbow wielding Trolins came forward to him. They were checking and double checking their own bolts and side weapons.

"Bad things are that way. Bad things," said Uumack.


Ok, so the plan right now seems to be Tosca and the other Trolins would lead you guys forward down the way you've been, and to the crossroads and beyond. If you are happy to let them lead, I can let you react and we can move on.

Of course, both Westian and Falkor have different knowledge about alternative routes that branch off from that corridor outside that could short-cut having to go through what is essentially level 10. You know, level 10, with all the scoprions and high-concept Chaos traps :D

Up to you guys. Also, of course, with the Trolins taking the lead you have a better opportunity to observe them, or to talk behind their back!
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by oh_brother »

Westian felt somewhat comforted, something told him he was making the right choice. And yes, Falkor’s willingness to do what was necessary meant that at least one non-Trolin person would be on his side.

I won’t have time to post a full action/reaction, sorry! Monday will be next post, but Westian is happy to move on. I don’t know how well Westian knows level 10 tbh, the only way he will have gone is out that door and down to the waterfall, basically back the way they came. So I am happy to keep moving so long as Falkor doesn’t have a different plan. Have a good weekend guys!
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

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Not an issue, that will let money post and we can see if an update will get you onwards. By 'knowing level 10' I mean Westian knows that grak-grak created short-cut to get back to where he met the Trolins, and of course Falkor has parallel experience in finding what might be a short cut... So either of you guys could suggest it to the Trolins as an alternative route.
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Re: WESTIAN AND FALKOR'S EXCELLENT CRUSADE

Post by money »

OOC: I'm guessing Falkor would not know where he ended up via his blue haze trip - and he also knows there are some scorpians who would be happy to meet him... so I'm thinking he would be more than happy to go down to the waterfall???? and in the same way convince the trolins that going through the Haze would be a bad idea!

I'm a bit manic this w/e and Monday/Tuesday also but happy to move on and will try and post when possible.
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