DM themed play-by-post D&D game : STORY THREAD

[ian_scho]

"Yes, well, that certainly clears all of that up then" was the best the half-orc could do. He thought that it was said Theron was an alright dude. Yet, if Westian was right and that brief tussle with the nervous, jumpy guy with the lightning fingers, he had changed substantially... Which had happened to the gnome's situation as well.

There he was smiling as if nothing had happened with literally his finger on the button. It was that of a new grak-grak, but it was the same thing as he was free now. "So, what's going on then?" said Haynuus nervously as much to himself as to Westian and Brighteyes/Soorec/Seeroc/ShortWierdyDude.

[money]

Falkor cried out, the pain had been terrible, but the experiance had taught him lots... He put the cloak away, pulled out the black wand and again examined it in detail... Using all the experiance he had learned form being turned to stone himself, and the previous knowledge he was sure the Wand would now be usefull to him... He examined it closely (1d20=11).

Now he turned to other matters.... Facing Seeroc, "Ok Seeroc... Soorec.., lets talk... Hopefully we have proven ourselves to you, hopefully you understand that we all have our reasons for being here. Now - what do you want from us?"

OOC - Sense Motive on Seeroc (1d20=12)

[beowuuf]

It's actually the white wand that turns thing to stone. And are you sure you want to put that cloak away...?

[ian_scho]

Haynuus discreetly pulled one of the brown potion bottles out of his backpack, and attempted to divine it's function (1d20=9) using as many senses as he could. Taste, smell, touch, and sight.

[Lord_BoNes]

Seeing Theron appear and then disappear again made Aurek freeze in shock. When the archmaster yelled out about him, his feet almost glued themselves to the floor. He briefly examined the situation before him and decided that his "good-ly powers" might do him some good, (sense evil 1d20 = 12). He felt a small surge of evil seemingly coming from "Soorek/Seerok", but waited as the picture became clear in his mind.

OOC: Sorry for the delay in my posting I had issues that stopped me getting online for a day.

[oh_brother]

"Seeroc, Brighteyes, whatever you wish to be called, I agree we should speak. Now, things have not gone very well between us, some of your friends killed me - and you did not survive unscathed either" he added, hoping to cut short any list of complaints emanating from the gnome.

"You complained loudly when we did not reveal our professions to you, even though this was an easy omission, while at the same time you deliberately concealed your identity from us. And then sprung a trap on us. I know we were looking for "Seeroc", but we had our reasons."

"But this is no time to list past grievances. We came with a purpose. To find and free young Ardur, and to find Brother Deephold. When you had Ardur caged like an animal you can understand our anger. But we have him now. All we need to do is find Deephold, there is no need for further bloodshed. You will find that we can be good allies, but terrible enemies."

"So really I need to know how to find Deephold. And I need to know I can trust you. Other than that, we both have an interest in Theron and Gholst, although they seem more interested in us than in you. At the same time you must know more about them. You tell us what you know, and when we meet them again - and mark my words we will meet them again - we may have more information to share with you."


OOC: Diplomacy was 19 + 13 = 32

[beowuuf]

"Indeed!" agreed Soorec to the half-orc's first comment. While the group then spoke, Haynuus's investigation of his potions yielded mixed results. It still loked like earthy water that would not settle, with a hint of sludge. It smelled like what was left after a curry. The tiny dab of potion did indeed taste vile on his tongue, however almost instantly there was a wonderful tingle and his tongue felt bigger and stronger than it ever had. This lasted barely any time though before his tongue then felt a bad sort of numb, and Haynuus felt a little shaken. This did not seem to be a good potion, but perhaps that was because he barely had any of it. Or maybe it just didn't like half-orcs.

Aurek meanwhile had tried to focus his senses on the figure before him when Theron has come forward. He did not need his senses to know that a powerful evil was in the room. His senses confirmed, a moment later, that a great evil had indeed disappeared. Although there was still enough evil around apparently. Five auras were close, of moderate intensity at worst. As before, once the paladin's senses finally tuned themselves to the room, the gnome seemed to only register as a faint evil. It was the four grak-graks that possessed auras of moderate evil. After all, they were undead with a dark murderous will of their own - this was not unexpected. Ameena - if it was her - gave off no aura at all. Whoever she was, and hopefully she was the murafu they knew - she had no evil intent within herself. Similarly, neither Farel nor Ardur nor any of Aurek's other companions radiated anything of concern, a welcome relief surely.


I'm going to assume you keep using the power after Theron goes LB. You don't need a die roll for Detect Evil itself, just sufficient time for it to give full details.


Falkor's distracted checking of the wand did not help him too much - he knew how the effect felt now, he really needed to simply try the wand itself. As with all magic, study alone was never enough. Still, at least - for whatever reason - it had been Theron himself and not Soorec that had helped put the final piece of the puzzle together for the cloak.

Sorry if I didn't make this clear before, I meant to, but you'll have to use the wand in some way - risking using up a charge - to fully get this. Since you now have first hand experience of the effect, it's more likely to work when you try it. For the knowledge check you just did (since it was over DC10) I'll give you a further +2 bonus if/when you try the wand later, but you'll really need to check when using the wand. You know what it does, but unlike last time with the glove you've never cast this effect using the item nor cast the spell itself before - you'll need to actually practice with the wand. Or use it as a hail mary pass during a combat!

Meanwhile, as mentioned, you do now have everything you need to activate the cloak. All you required was the command word, and Theron just gave you that. If you do use it, still post in the main thread. I want to avoid so many PM situations just to make sure you guys have all the information as players you need for a while. Here's the description again if you need it.


Soorec listened to Falkor's statement with a small sigh and sad shake of his head, but seemed to cheer up as Westian spoke. "Indeed, the past is the past! In all my hundreds of years that's the biggest lesson I have learned, the past is unnecessary baggage. I know I forget so many things - too much to do, too much do to. More now!" Soorec seemed to realise he was distracting himself, and unlike his previous Brighteyes persona was able to shrug it off.

"I'm so glad we can finally discuss these troubling, confusing matters in a civilised manner! My name, by the way, is Soorec Moongold. Humans have such a terrible way with names, so I leave them to their fallacies when it suits me, but your rattish friend was correct." Soorec then seemed to regard Ameena again. "Hmm, perhaps a little too 'upright' to be a pain rat, are you an outsider too?" Again Soorec realised he was distracting himself and slowed down. He addressed Ameena and then Westian. "You can call me Brighteyes if you wish, I always had a fondness for that nick-name."

Soorec stroked his chin, as if contemplting things. He did not seem to be scheming to Falkor, merely working things out - however Falkor was aware it was hard to read the odd little gnome.

He regarded Westian fully. "Hmm, maybe its your priestly training, that's mighteb the problem here, you think because "Larethain's voice" tells you to kill the unbelievers you can do it wherever you like. Yet I have hope for you! You are unlike so many I have dealt with!" Soorec's voice and face almost took on a paternal air. "I'm afraid this is the Grey Lord's domain, and I'm afraid that means Theron is in charge, and that if you are here without his permission, then you are actually doing Something Wrong." The capital letters were clearly audible when Soorec used his parental tone. Soorec had an expectant, kindly air as if awaiting an answer. However, he continued quite quickly.

"You can't kill the people who are allowed to be here all the time just because it's fun. In the end, I hope you'll realise how boring pointless violence can be, and how much more rewarding creation is. I'm very forgiving, but the soldiers and Theron aren't as understanding. Oh my no. I do hope you can curb your impulses for violence and threats."

Soorec nodded encounragingly to Westian, as if looking for a sign of the cleric following along. The gnome continued. "Now, I know you might be tempted to think that what you do not know, others couldn't possibly know, again I think its the problem with being priestly. However, I know Theron, and Theron allows me to be here, and has even asked me to take care of you. Regrettably that includes killing your halfling - so much wasted time because of the lack of communication these days! However, Therom only seemed angry about your message, not you, so I think I can work with you if you can be reasonable. And I'm afraid I've known Gholst since he was a glint in the eyes of his young grandfather. His father was perhaps not the nicest of men, not a patch on his grandfather, but at least that means I know Gholst as if he were my own child. I taught him anything he could not teach himself, after all!"

Again, Soorec nods encounragingly, as if hoping Westian will indicate he is following along. "Now, the young man you were looking for was in my care to make sure nothing happened to him. And one regrettable incident you forced me in to aside, he has remained safe. The knight truly was ignored by Theron, and I have no care for him, so I so far do not see any issue between us, nor on Theron's behalf!"

"Then let us leave. Now," said a voice breaking Soorec's train of thought. "Prove your words and earn Westian's trust!" The words came from Farel unexpectedly. Soorec seemed to react with amusement at the thought of earning Westian's trust, but then his gaze grew calculating as he looked back to Westian.

"Understand that while this is Theron's realm, and I am loyal to Gholst, that does not mean all is well here. Our own priest, as with all priests, really does not understand his place. And so while this is indeed Theron's realm, and while I am indeed loyal to Gholst, that does not mean we cannot be of use to one another. The priest is A Problem. And you, going down to rescue your comrade, could solve this problem.

Once more, Soorec's eyes were calculating.

"I think ... Theron ... has clearly shown he does not want to speak to you. And the priest has never had Gholst's interests at heart, even if - for the moment - Gholst cannot see it. So if I let the two of your friends go - as a sign of good faith - and if you leave two of yours here, as a sign of yours, perhaps I can tell you the quick and secret ways down, down, down to find the priest's domain and his own cells. If your friend Deephold still lives - and he certainly seemed to have the arrogance and tall thinking of the dwarfs that would make this a possibility - then you can recover him, come back, and leave. Of course, you'll need to kill the priest. I hope that part was very clear."

Soorec stood a moment. "What do you think? I let your knight and squire go free, one of my little ones to watch out for them and ensure they go. I let you and your priest friend go deal with our priest - and as followers of Larethian, I have every confidence you will wish him dead. A little one of mine can go with you to guide you around, and he can hold the shape of your half-orc so you know nothing untoward is happening to him in your absense. I'm not quite sure what to do with him to be honest, I do not think...Gholst...would be the best person to send him down to. Oh my no. So I will keep your rattish friend and your half-orc here, you will kill the plague of the infernal priest downstairs, recover your dwarven comrade, and then come back. And reuinte with your friends. And then I will let you all leave this place."

Soorec looked at Westian expectantly. "Does this sound acceptable?" He shrugged. "No need for bloodshed - well, not ours. Nor any threats. Nor seeing how terrible enemies can be." Again, Soorec paused a moment, then shrugged. "How about we watch the halfling die for his combined trechery of us all, while you see if there is anything I have not thought of. I'm sure we have an accord here!" Soorec grinned a very 'Brighteyes' smile as he casually gestured for a grak-grak to go towards the hlafling mage.


Heh, still haven't nailed it, but then there's alot to get in there and yet still hit Soorec's tone. Anyway, Westian's been patronised, you've all been given an offer, and oh yes, did anyone miss the fact Falkor's supposed to die?

What's the word then? What's everyone doing? I would hope Falkor's next move might involve a cloak, but if there's anything I have learned, it's not to assume you guys will do anything obvious, just you'll end up doing it well and it will be glorious and fun to watch.

Have a good weekend! Hopefully posting will be back to normal next week on my end!

[Ameena]

The murafu seems to relax ever so slightly once Theron is gone. She turns to regard the conversation between Soorec and the rest of the group, clearly listening but saying nothing.
At least, up till the point where Soorec mentions killing Falkor and subsequently gestures for a grak-grak to move toward him.
At this point, she moves to interpose herself between Falkor and the approaching grak-grak. She moves to position herself between Falkor and the advancing grak-grak. She remains upright but doesn't draw her weapon, and flicks her gaze between Soorec and the grak-grak as she begins to speak to the gnome.
"We can each speak for ourselves." she says. "We work together - it's better that way. We know each other. You seem to be telling us what to do, or at least assuming we'll just do what you say. Well, I don't like what you say, so I won't do it."
She speaks in a fairly calm, level voice. She doesn't seem particularly angry or upset - either that's because she isn't, or because she is really a murafu and therefore doesn't really get angry, as such.
"Anyway," she continues, "I don't have any reason to believe you will stick to what you say. Your grak-graks are strong - they can hurt us easily. If we're separated, they'll be able to hurt us more easily. You said you're loyal to Gholst - I don't think he wants us around, so I think you might try to get rid of us for him. I know you're a mage so you can throw fire and...that kind of thing, and you have these...undead...creatures, who do whatever you want them to do because you control them. And I'm only a murafu. But you're trying to kill my friend, and I'm not going to just let that happen. I think you'd better come up with another suggestion."
It seems she's being fairly calm about the situation, somehow. It seems likely that she's rather expecting Soorec to just ignore her words and have her killed for saying them. But she remains in position, keeping herself between the grak-grak and Falkor - it will have to come through (or reach over) her in order to get to the halfling.

[ian_scho]

Was all of this Ameena's fault? She should never have got him to throw that unnatural gnome's corpse onto the magic table. Yet, she was obviously fighting for what she thought was the right thing to do. Watching her once more throw herself in front of danger was almost inspiring. Fighting was not going to be the way they got out of this situation - they were a spent force. If they could persuade the gnome to let the halfling live, and take no more prisoners, then it may be the way to go...

He turned to Farel's squire. From his appearance he was not the adventurer the rest of them were. "Tell us, Ardur... How does Brighteyes the gnome treat his prisoners? What happened to you while he looked after you?"

Next he turned to Brighteyes directly. "You have already seen how effective our diminutive wizard is. He will fight for and with us, and so as a team we will be more effective with his help. Let him go down to help Westian, and maybe then your troubles with the priest will end forever, or at least we'll be out of your way." He pleaded with the gnome. "Is this room the only way out of here from below? Then you will definitely know what happens down there eventually. We come out with the priests head, or it will be our very souls that inform you of our ending."

[beowuuf]

Ooh, nice last line there Ian - throw me a Diplomacy check, would you?

[ian_scho]

Haynuus was not the best person you want to try to talk your way out of a situation. However his survival instinct sometimes overruled that of his somewhat damaged brain, and diplomacy occasionally worked (1d20-2=18).

[oh_brother]

"Brighteyes, much of that sounds acceptable. It is impressive to see such wisdom in such a small little body. I appreciate your willingness to keep the past - and the emotions tied up with the past - out of our current debate.” He nodded in the direction of the gnome as he spoke.

“But you must understand that the past will not really be behind us if you insist on keeping some of our group as prisoners – regardless of how well you treat them in our absence. Besides, Haynuus is right, we will need everyone if we are to get this priest. We need to get Deephold back – there is no avoiding that. And this priest is unlikely to simply hand him over into our care. So a confrontation is inevitable.”

“As for the Halfling, unfortunately that is out of the question. Even if I were willing to hand him over we would have a mutiny on our hands, and that would benefit no one. No, I think it best that the halfling comes with me.”

OOC: Aid another on Haynuus's diplomacy was 1 + 13 = 14

[ian_scho]

Haynuus had delivered a fine oratory, perhaps the best in his life, but while Westian had tried to help the action of him spitting his top set of false teeth onto the cold stone floor did not add that finale what they were hoping for. The half-orc thought the cleric had better pick them up quickly or a grak-grak might find some use with them.

[money]

Falkor was saddened by what he heard, he knew in his heart of hearts he had always tried to fight for the good of the group, and yet many times he had doubted his own actions, considering them to be no better than that of a cold blooded murderer.. Falkor sighed, and turned to Soorec... "Why are you and Gholst so threatened by me? What benefit would my death bring to you... Gholst of Theron?"

He pulled the cloak from his back pack, put it over his shoulders and slipped his arms through, then re-focused on the Gnome.. "so, you have failed to answer my questions, at least not without a riddle or even some mis-direction thrown in for good measure, now is the time to come clean - more so if this is indeed to be the last words i hear...."

Falkor was not optimistic he would get a reply, and readied himself with his cloak in case the diplomacy of the others failed, or Ameena had a change of heart allowing the grak grak to have it's fun.

[beowuuf]

Soorec seems surprised at the murafu's movement, perhaps moreso at the words. "Perish the though - in all senses!"says Soorec with apparent delight. "I know you are all free agents - after all, you most certainly were not invited here!" Soorec scratches his chin, bowing to the murafu who is - for once - at eye level. "I should have known it would be the seer who would lead the group, but forgive me for assuming the priest's tall mentality would have meant you relegated to a lesser roll!" Soorec slaps his forehead, shaking his head. "Of course you allowed the others to go on ahead, tracking my little ones as they tracked your group. Most ingenious."

Soorec then gets back to the matter at hand as Ameena carries on. "Well, it must be so nice to be able to follow your own whims. I, regrettably, am no leader myself. I cannot allow someone to live - no matter how interesting they are, even if they are so very untrustworthy - if my masters indicate most strongly they should die. I'm sorry, the death of halfling you think is your friend was left in my care by Theron, not his life. My hands are tied, oh my yes. I probably should not have agreed to let your priest friend walk around, but I find his strange thoughts and ways so very facinating!"

Soorec spreads his arms wide. "Please, if you doubt my words in any way, just use your sight. Just 'shhhhh', don't tell anyone what you see!" Soorec put his fingers to his lips, winked and gave an encouraging smile. "Regrettably in the current situation, I know about as much as you on how everyone feels about the halfling and your priest - probably less, since none of you are inclined to tell me why you are wanted dead by two such powerful men." Soorec shrugs.

Soorec looks eagerly at Haynuus coming forward, as if at least the half-orc might wish to come clean about why Gholst was interested in him. He then looked surprised that Haynuus was actually moving to speak to Farel and the squire.

"He's a monster! He tortured the scorpion! You saw him! And the man, the man did nothing wrong! And yet one of his creatures turned into him when the scorpion caught it, and, and, I don't think I saw the man move again!"

Farel's brow furrowed, and he gave the gnome an evil look. However, even as he placed a reassuring hand on his squire's shoulder, he reluctantly asked the question. "As Haynuus asks thought - did the ...gnome...harm you in any way."

It took a few tries for the squire to admit that the gnome had pretty much left the boy alone, other than the occasional attempts to speak.

"Well I'm not sure exactly what you think it is I do," said the gnome, slightly hurt. "The boy is delightfully lacking in tall thinking, and had been abandoned in the sadly quite dangerous dungeon. If you had rather he was left to run to the trolins or be attacked by the scorpions everyone seems so upset about. I kept him in custody in safety here."

The gnome seemed very interested by the speech of Haynuus, although looks a little saddened by his initial comments on Falkor. However, obviously the words made Soorec think a little. Soorec even appreciatively raised an eyebrow at Haynuus's final declarations, and Soorec had not actually raised a single eyebrow around the party before. Not really. The gnome looked back and forth between Haynuus and Ameena as the two had rallied to Falkor's defence.

Of course, then Westian's words - which had been so promising before and had opened the debate - seemed to sour the gnome's mood a little. Then he signed, and turned back to Ameena. "I almost forget your priest is still a priest. I'm sorry you have to put up with his tall thinking. I must admit, I am becoming dizzy keeping up with it." Soorec put on a brittle smile, and smiled and nodded encouragingly, as if a child had just said something grossly insulting without realising it. Still, Westian's phrasing and fundamental nature ensured he was still diplomatic enough to state the situation in a way that Soorec seemed to appreciate and nod with. Westian's final comments seemed to illicit more of a smile than anything, and Soorec tried to share a knowing look with Ameena.

"Don't get me wrong, he's an excellent spokesman," said Soorec to Ameena, "but I think you've let him speak up a little too many times. If you do ever speak to Gholst, I think you might want to make sure he doesn't say anything. Some people - I'm afraid Gholst being one - aren't as forgiving as me. No. No no no."

Soorec was again distracted and surprised by a comment, perhaps by Falkor speaking up. Instead of looking angry, Soorec seemed genuinely sad. "I have no real wish to kill you, life seems to be far more interesting - if dangerous - with you around. And I do understand how hard it is to live without the strange deformity of 'conscience' that everyone else has. Please though, have the courage to live with the consequences of your actions, or at least keep your lies straight in your head. Really, telling the truth is so much easier."

Soorec perhaps addresses the comments as much to the rest as to Falkor. "I have no idea why Gholst was interested in you. It's too hard to speak these days, so much happening, people running in so many directions. 'There is a halfling I spoke to and a half-orc in the Hall of Kakaluca, bring them to me.' I mean if I knew why he wanted you, I would have just sent one of my little ones to kill you. Instead I had to rely on soldiers, and they apparently couldn't find you. Oh, or you murdered them in cold blood. I hadn't really thought to wonder which ones you killed in cold blood to get your outfits."

Soorec waived that matter away as apparently very trivia. "Oh, of course Gholst may well have been as fooled as your friends, assuming you to be useful. Perhaps he only wished you dead when he saw what you did to me, or the fact you were allied to the friends you probably promised him too you'd betray. That's information you are withholding from everyone, not me. Never me."

Soorec scratched his chin, as if working out something after the deviation in thought. Again Falkor's words interrupted the mage. He smiled sadly. "I don't know whether to be amused, or saddened by your words. You desperately practise what you accuse me of, when I have been forthcoming on everything."

Soorec again turned to the Ameena at first. "You heard your friend's first words to me when I was trapped. Hmm, what did he say...'Only a powerful mage with no morality sits idly by when his friends are threatened by stone monsters? Something like that. You were not there, but your friends can vouch for the fact that the halfling did just that. He was giving me a message, you see - even when I was trapped, he was still hedging his bets, letting me know he was not the 'good' friend he was pretending to be." Soorec turned to Westian then Aurek. "He was quite, quite eager for me - even when he thoguht I was just 'Brighteyes' alone - to aid him in seeing you killed. Hoping to lure you downstairs, and later trying to ensure 'Seeroc' would kill you." Soorec shrugged, and looked to Haynuus. "To be honest, Gholst did ask for you too. And the mage never did ask for me to kill you. Perhaps he does like you. Afetr all, he's let you keep my necklace." Soorec gives a sad shrug. "However, he seemed happy for you to fight me alone, and even allow you to become petrified. He only attacked me when it was convenient for himself."

Soorec again turned to Ameena. "The halfling you vouch for so strongly was trying to wrestle my little ones from me when he turned on your group. And I suspect when I told him they were something he couldn't simply 'use', as he used the poor scoprion and your group, he couldn't quite understand and killed me, assuming he could wrest control of them. Perhaps he's known all along who I am. Perhaps that was why he wished your priest frieds dead, so they could not destroy the creatures he wished to use. And I do not doubt he'll drive us to attack each other, so he can concuer the weakest. Look at how oddly he holds his cloak to himself, and then wonder to yourself where all the items I once possessed now are. And ask yourself why a powerful mage as he admitted to being would still be standing here in this room."

Soorec again looked sadly to Falkor. "I do not think I can answer your questions, because I think the real questions you wish to ask are not ones you can understand the answer to. You still try to lie and obvuscate and wriggle even when these people have obviously chosen to defend you with their lives, because you cannot understand that bond. Just as you, with your loneliness of mind, cannot understand my bond with my littles ones. And I do understand you, I was you so very, very many years ago. I know that you will betray these people, or me, or Gholst, or anyone else you 'ally' yourself with. And while it leads to a very interesting atmosphere, and while I could hope you might grow bored of it - and be entertaining while you get it out of your system, I have bonds to other people I have chosen to honour, that I won't break."

Suddenly there was a scream. Ardur had spotted somethign, and then Farel called a warning. However, it was too late. Another four grak-graks had flooded into the room, two from each corner near Farel, and four more perversely smiling farel faces looked onwards.

"Anyway, enough of such things," said Soorec, turning back to the group and especially addressing Ameena, Westian and Haynuus. "From your words, and from the halflng's, I know exactly what must be done."

Soorec grinned a very Brighteyes grin.

"It seems that I must come with you."



Wow, alot of words again. Sorry! Anyway, you now have a counter offer. Apparently you guys can stay together if you let the gnome - and, of course, a few of his grak-graks - tag along. How could you possibly refuse?

Anyway, there you go, choices, choices. Well, the surprise attack is probably out of the question now. Accept his 'offer' (more a compromise), pretend to accept his offer to get in a position to run/attack him with better odds, or perhaps a third amusing option seem to be the order of the day. Which will you go for? Will you finally get out of this darn room and see more cool stuff? Who knows! Not me!


Oh, for those interested, the actual quote Soorec is either perverting, or completely misunderstood(?) from Falkor was "An all powerfull mage is quite happy to sit back and watch everyone be threatend by Stone monsters and spirits also brings his morality into question."

So there you go.

[Ameena]

Ameena listens to Soorec's words with quite a large amount of confusion. He seems to think she's the leader of the group. But she's a murafu - they don't have leaders. Everyone just tends to work with and around each other to the greatest benefit and convenience to the group, without any one individual really taking charge. But she doesn't say that. She listens as Soorec talks himself into silence, finishing up with the suggestion that he, and several grak-graks, accompany the party.
Ameena is somewhat startled by this suggestion, which at least makes a change from the vast amount of confusion she's been experiencing throughout the rest of what he's been saying. He seems to think that Falkor is some kind of...cold-hearted, uncaring murderer. And that Ameena is in charge of everyone else. And...lots of other stuff. But it seems that maybe he won't try to kill Falkor just yet. But she can't be sure - even if he says he won't, she can't be sure. Why do other species use this dishonesty thing? It makes life so complicated and unpleasant. Unpleasantly complicated. Complicatedly unpleasant. Either. Both. Never mind.
Anyway.
Ameena glances around in the direction of a few of the grak-graks, making sure that she keeps an eye on any that might attempt to move toward Falkor. Then she speaks to Soorec. No need to tell him she's not in charge. If he wants to assume that, she supposes, she might as well let him.
"Umm...so..." she begins, feeling slightly clueless about the whole thing. "Umm...if you come with us, with your umm...friends...umm, well...we know they're a bit...I mean, I know you control them, but that's sort of the point. I mean, if you come with us, with all your grak-graks, you might just...try to kill us. Or Falkor, at least. There are lots of you. I suppose if you were really going to kill us you probably would have done it already..."
She realises she isn't really getting anywhere. She has an idea, something that murafu often use when they want something.
"Maybe we can...trade." she says. "You like knowledge, don't you? Information? Maybe I can tell you things about...about the outside world. I've travelled around - I know things about...things. I mean, I learn as I travel. About creatures, plants, taht sort of thing. I suppose...I suppose I have a different umm...perspective on other races. I mean, on races like humans. Maybe I could tell you things about them. I mean...I think, in some ways, gnomes are quite like murafu. That is, occasionally in the past I've met gnomes. They seem to like talking. And learning. So they're sort of similar to murafu in that way. Maybe we could talk about things. You might find it interesting."
Even as she says this, an idea is forming in her mind.
"Yes..."she says, thinking it over. "Maybe my friends could go and look for their priest. They...they might end up fighting. I don't really like doing that, but sometimes it seems...necessary. Against the kinds of creaturs down here. I mean, there are other creatures who are undead like your grak-graks, but they're not the same because no-one seems to be controlling them - they're like your grak-graks are when you're dead. They just destroy things. So we have to fight them because there's nothing else we can do with them unless we trap them somewhere, which hardly ever seems to be something we can do because it's always in a big open room or umm...an empty corridor, or something."
Ameena lets her rate of speech increase slightly - when in full-flowing conversation amongst each other, murafu tend to speak at a considerably faster speed than she has been. Due to the fact that this is a little too fast for many races, murafu learn to consciously adopt a somewhat slower tone when speaking to non-murafu.
"Sorry, I'm distracting myself, I think." she says. "Umm...so maybe the others can go. Let them go. They can deal with the priest. They know what they're doing - how to fight, that sort of thing. They won't need your grak-graks. I mean, the priest might get umm...scared, if he sees them. That is, if he knows you don't like him. Do you? Oh, well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. So umm...meanwhile, I could stay up here. We can talk. We can talk while we wait for them to come back. I can tell you things. I've been to plenty of places - maybe I know something you'd be interested in. And then when my friends get back, I can rejoin them and you'll know they succeeded. That's all you want, isn't it? For the priest to be dealt with? And if anything...bad...happens to them...well, to Falkor...then you won't have to kill him, will you?"
Ameena ends this rather rambling and extensive speech with a quizzical whisker-twitch and head tilt, awaiting Soorec's response.

OOC - Aaand the fast-talking murafu actually gets to talk fast for once. And yes, that idea she had did actually come to me at the time of writing - it's not something I had planned in advance. I'm not deliberately trying to get Ameena separated from the group yet again - this just seemed like a good idea at the time .
Incidentally, Ameena's logic is as follows - Soorec thinks she's the leader, therefore she's valuable enough that the group definitely will come back for her, therefore she's a useful hostage/prisoner/collateral-thingy to be left behind. Therefore the group can be trusted (well, maybe not Falkor...from Soorec's PoV that is, not Ameena's ) to go ahead with no grak-graks, deal with the priest, and come back to report, then take Ameena with them and leave or whatever comes next. Meanwhile Ameena can indulge Soorec's inquisitive nature by whittering away with him about all manner of subjects which might normally be considered boring/dull/irrelevant by other species. As long as it doesn't get too morbid/sadistic (etc), Ameena will probably be okay with it. Anything she might want to say to various members of the party in private will have to wait. Well, unless Soorec will let her have a word with them before they part. That is, if he even accepts her offer. And sticks to it.

[oh_brother]

Westian was used to dealing with verbose people in his daily work, however the gnome and the murafu seemed to be operating on a different level. His head swung around from one to the other as they chatted, and he did his best to keep up.

The gnome had advised Ameena to keep Westian quiet, and maybe that was not a bad move. Things seemed to be progressing reasonably well, no need to upset the apple cart. Also, it might add to the impression of the murafu being in charge of the group and ruling with an iron fist, which would in turn increase her bargaining power. Westian merely folded his arms and stood expressionless near Ameena.

He ignored for now Soorec’s comments about Falkor; despite having more information on that topic he decided now was not the time to share it. So two main options seemed to be appearing. He did not want the gnome and his hideous grak-graks to follow them around; neither did he want to hand Ameena over to him. Still, it looked like one of those things was about to transpire. “Are you sure about this Ameena? You are offering the gnome a great deal. And all we get in return is the right to do his dirty work unmolested.”

[ian_scho]

Haynuus had blanked out at one point with all of the 'chat' going on. Outnumbered, and quite simply out thought, he perked up:

"So we can rest a while first, right?" He really needed some of Westian's TLC. And Farel was suffering merely by wearing his armour.

Next Ameena offered herself as a trade and a story-teller. He didn't like the idea, but then he didn't like the idea of travelling with grak-graks either.

"I'm not sure Brighteyes would want to miss any action though Ameena?.. Maybe you can tell him some children's stories on the way!" He had completely missed the point of the Murafu's offer to sacrifice herself for the others. Alas, another low 'roll' on his intelligence score.

Why does this Gholst fella want HIM though? Something to do with the SAR rune emblazoned in his mind? If so it would be better to find a way out of this place and start that screamer farming business he had always dreamed of.

[money]

Discussions continued between Ameena and the Gnome, Falkor understood what was being said and, like the others, kept back from intefering. He focuses on the replies from Soorec, he wasn't sure if he was being honest to Ameena, or just trying to pasify her long enough to enact revenge OOC: Sense Motive (19)

Falkor, still aware of the danger imminent, continued his checks on the other equiptment he had taken from the Gnome... he started with the Compass, examining it using all his dungeoneering experiance (12), he next turned his attention to the ring, well the parts that made up the ring. He could not recall having seen anything like this before, but focused hard in a bid to understand its workings (8)

[beowuuf]

Soorec seemed to nod in agreement as Ameena realised that indeed the gnome could have apparently killed them - or at least tried - if he had meant to.

"Murafu!" he said suddenly in reaction to her invoking the name of her people. "I knew I should know you if you weren't indiginous! Ah, my brother would have known right away if he were still alive. So knowledgeable in his ways!" Soorec did indeed seem interested in the murafu, and hesitated with new thoughts and calculations coming to him.

"Undead," said Soorec, being distracted from his thoughts by Ameena's stream of words. "Indeed, priests seem to like to hate my little ones, and yet they try to create their own, without any love for their creations. You can see the monsters they create! Yes, there are horrors Lord Chaos raised down further, and horrors the priest tries to control himself."

Soorec however, went on to shake his head at the comment the grak-graks would not be necessary. "Do I recall 'murafu' having a lax attitude to personal property? I think I do. I'm afraid in other societies, we do not allow tresspassers to walk around free." The gnome leaned forward, and said with a carrying whisper, "especially murderers." He shook his head and subtly pointed to Westian then Aurek then back to Westian again. He then ensured he turned around, smiled brightly and gave a reassuring smile to the paladin and the cleric, before quickly shooting a concerned look to Ameena again and a head shake. "I'm afraid your half-orc friend is quite correct, I can't in good conscience let your friends wander where they wish. And I'm afraid your priest friend is quite wrong. I cannot guarantee they can move around unmolested. You do not have to worry about the grak-graks scaring the priest, that will not be an issue. I'm afraid my protection, and the protection of my little ones, ends at the start of the priest's domain. That is The Understanding. Your friends will be quite, quite on their own when rescuing your other friend. And of course, quite free from my inteference. Yes, that seems the way of it - you and I can stay at the edge of the priest's domain while your friends do what they must. If Falkor is not dead by someone's hand by then - and you are right, he could easily die in this endeavour, meaning I would not have to do something so regrettable - then it can be your choice whether he goes with your friends or stays with us. In the priest's domain, I am sure I can rely on your own priests to kill the halfling if he tires to make a deal there. Oh yes!"

Falkor throughout the speech observed Soorec. Amazingly, Soorec seemed genuinine - although the mood shifting gnome seemed hard to read, his words were consistent so far. And certainly he did not seem angry with Falkor anymore, simply...sad? His talks of people killing Falkor, while disturbing, seemed to be very matter of fact.

Falkor subtly tried to check the compass. If he twisted a little, one of the pointers seemed to stay roughly where it was on the compass, while the other moved, always pointed to the direction of the red button area. Sadly, Falkor had lost his sense of direction in the dungeon. However, he recalled some odd thing he had noticed when he had researched Anaias. For some reason the Grey Lord had kept the dungeon very direactionally oriented. The maps were always showing such that walls were perpendicular and parallel. The compass was not quite pointing in line with the wall. It couldn't be indicating a compass direction.Or if it was, it was broken. Looking at the symbols, they were a little hard to make out. However, some of them seemed to be elemental in nature - if one were to squint. And Falkor got the feeling that dungeon maps used some of the other symbols - symbols for unusual walls, and precious metal deposits. Again, if one were to squint.

The compass had a glass front to it, but it did seem as if this could be removed...


Meanwhile, the ring had an unusual structure. It seemed the silver was altered from its natural state, much more brittle, as if some property of the silver had been 'used up'. It was possible it had been a ring of power, but Falkor could not find any indication of what had been stored inside it. Of course, if such a ring had once been attuned to a certain type of magic, it may be possible that if the ring were restored, it might be 'recharged' with the same magic again.


Decent roll on the compass, hope that's enough to whet your appetite. The ring slightly less so, so you get no indiaction what it used to be, just its probably useless now. Well, in a magical sense, at least. Perhaps it had sentimental value?



Meanwhile, Soorec had apparently been finished, and nodded encouragingly to Ameena, offering his hand to her. "Do we have a deal, then? I will personally show you to the edge of the priest's domain, and tell you what you will need to know to succeed. You will stay behind, with Falkor if you desire, and your friends will go off alone to rescue the dwarf and kill the priest."

Soorec paused for a moment, and then looked intently to Westian. "Oh, and if the half-orc falls, please bring his soul back aswell as his body! He promised, and I would so hate for the priest to claim it." Soorec nodded encouragingly for aggreement, and then smiled and grinned 'reassuringly' towards Haynuus, quickly sharing a worried look with Westian afterwards. "Of course you can rest first!" said Soorec to Haynuus's comment, "My room is your room - if your room is the sort of place where you let things remain where they are and don't take anything from anywhere at any time!"



So there we go, you might just have barginned your way out of this...who knows. Well, you guys do for a start. Does it sound like an acceptable state of affairs for you to work under, or to pull some fun hijinks from later? I'll be interested to see!

If not, or you want some more wiggle room, carry on the discorse, or just attack the gnome already. If you think it's acceptable, join me in the OOC thread where I point out a few last sticking points in the way of declaring this encounter officially over, and giving you guys some down time! If the sticking points are sticking points, we can RP those bits and see where it goes. If it's all acceptable, then woohoo! Post a few RP reactions, and next update I can push us forward a little! And, you know, award you another level each for kicking ass, taking names, dying, coming back, insulting the evil little gnome that's patronising you, and somehow getting away with it to get led down to the next boss!

[Ameena]

Ameena listens as Soorec makes his own suggestion. This reminds her of numerous incidents she's observed in various large settlements she's visited - where people want to trade but are trying to get away with giving away things of the least value to them in exchange for whatever they want which they consider more valuable. Sometimes it even results in arguments or fights, usually over the small pieces of metal that so many people seem to value so highly (though she doesn't understand why, since she can't see any practical use for small pieces of metal).
She considers Soorec's latest offer. She guesses it's probably going to be about the best they'll get from him. A shame - she was hoping to persuade him to fully leave the group alone. Ah, well. Maybe this will work out somehow. She might even enjoy their conversation, provided it doesn't spend too much time occupying itself with death and undead things and...other such unpleasant things which Soorec seems to like.
When the gnome holds out his hand, a gesture Ameena recognises as being either a greeting or one to confirm a deal (and in this case, she can instantly recognise which it is), she politely holds up a declining paw.
"I think your suggestion is probably the best arrangement we can reach." she says. "I'd like to check with my friends first, though, before I accept it, since it involves them and not just me. Anyway, as I think you can probably tell, we've all been a bit...busy, lately. Walking around and...fighting...and all that. Do you think we could...rest here, just for a while? I mean...since I didn't arrive here at the same time as the others, I might have missed something. I'd like to ask my friends about that kind of thing. If you know about my kind, you might know that we like to catch up on that sort of thing. And since I've been apart from them for a while, even though it wasn't very long, I'd like to say hello to them properly. And I think we all definitely need to rest for a while. Would that be alright? Maybe we can...sit ourselves in a corner, somewhere, out of your way, until we're ready to leave. Of course, your grak-graks can stand by the doors in case you think we're going to escape. But I won't do that. That would be stupid. I don't know how much you know about the Murafu...maybe we can talk about that later...but we don't lie. That's something we learn about from other species - we never do it ourselves."

OOC - Heh, typically long-winded but basically it's "Your idea sounds cool but I don't want to agree to it on behalf of everyone else in case they have objections. And we're all knackered and injured and stuff so can we squat in a corner somewhere and have a little cathing-up/healing/eating/drinking/snoozing session?". I know you (Wuffy) said in OOC that Soorec probably wouldn't allow that, but Ameena doesn't know that, does she? And she's trying to phrase it as politely as possible.

[beowuuf]

But you asked so politely, roll a diplomacy - and of course someone else can try to make a parallel plea too or aid her request.

[Ameena]

OOC - Ooh yes, I did briefly think of that, then forgot...Diplomacy = (yaaay) 25 (18+7). I'm hoping that should be pretty good by itself. If anyone wants to try helping out, just try not to roll low .

[oh_brother]

"Yes, we have a common enemy, so I am glad to see that we can work together. You bring us down there, and we remove a problem for you. Everybody wins, no?" Westian smiled broadly as he spoke.

He turned to examine the knight and squire briefly, his face darkening. But as he turned back to the gnome the smile was once again as clear as day. "As you said, if Sir Farel and Ardur need a guide to leave the dungeon, then they are free to take a grak-grak. One thing you mentioned earlier though stuck in my head. We spoke about leaving Haynuus here with you, and you said that you would send a doppelgänger with us to show that he was coming to no harm. Now that is fascinating. Are you saying that the grak-grak would take any of the damage that had been delivered to the half-orc? And we would see it immediately? Fascinating. So...and correct me if I am wrong...if we had a grak-grak with, say, the face of Farel or Ardur we would know immediately if something went wrong? If, for example, some soldiers ambushed them?"

"Other than that we can rest and recuperate here, and then all go deeper to meet this priest. Any advice or aid you can give us while we rest would be useful. Remember now that our interests coincide, so the enlightened course of action would be to help each other."

[ian_scho]

Haynuus offered the gnome if he wanted him to close the door with his gem... But without mentioning whether the mini wizard actually wanted it back. He WOULD give it back if asked, but liked it's shineyness and it's ability to actually get them out of here!

For Haynuus it was rest time. He'd never been in a situation like this before, where you fight folk, then 10 minutes later rest with them for a chat and a philosophical discussion. He made do with a wink and a pat on the shoulder to the gnome. "Ohh, by the way. You don't know what that Gholst giza wants with me 'n' the halfling... Do you have any idea at all? I mean look at me." He opened his arms open wide. "What do you see?!" Whispering now to the gnome now, "Our halfling friend is hiding something for sure, but he saved my butt earlier. He'll be easy to get drunk too, so maybe I can get him to teach me some of his spells one day." the half-orc dreamily squeaked.

Next thought came from Westian. He had an ingenious idea, that communicating the wellbeing of their companions though the grak-grak's you would be able to immediately see their suffering. The half-orc's head was wired up slightly differently, however. What if... Haynuus would chop his own leg off when there was a grak-grak wandering around somewhere with HIS face on. It would be this amusing contest of who would successfully murder themselves first. His head span for a moment. Maybe he should bounce that idea off someone more intelligent than him. He could always discretely stab the halfling if a grak-grak had mirrored his appearance.

[beowuuf]

Soorec's outstretched hand finds his other one, as he claps with finality of a deal done. "Of course, of course, the misunderstanding earlier has taken its toll on us all, please take the time to refresh yourselves!" The gnome addresses the whole group, not just Ameena. He then sniffs himself. "I think I shall change my clothes, they do smell rather....sooty."

He does not seem to throw this with any particular malevolence at Falkor, but Falkor does find a grak-grak standing over him most of the time.

Soorec ensures his grak graks guards the most interesting areas of the room, with two tasks to clean up discarded items.

Farel draws attention to himself when his sword is taken from the corner where he fell.

"Oh, I am sorry," said Soorec, ensuring the blade is returned, "you wished to leave your friends." Soorec gestured for two grak-graks to come across. "Of course, of course, I did promise!"

Sir Farel looks uncomfortable at trying to leave, more so trying ot say anything with Soorec standing beside him. Ardur, too, looks as if he wants to say something realising they are leavign the group, but he is equally terrified of the small gnome and cannot bring himself to say anything.

Haynuus offers to close the door, which distracts the gnome and he walks over to recover his gem. Soorec walking over to Haynuus allows Farel some last words.

"I apologise for leaving you at this time when your need is most pressing," says Farel, barely able to look them in the eye, "however, I...cannot, in good conscience, allow my charge to remain here." Farel looks to the grak-graks and Soorec, but they seem temporarily distracted with the half-orc. "Once I leave I will ensure people know what occurs here, and I will return to aid as I can. Until then - do not trust the gnome!"

Farel bids a brief farewell to each in turn, firstly his previous cell-mate Aurek who helped him escape. He again states a regret to not talk more to the pacifist murafu, and finally thanks Westian for aiding him in recovering his squire. Farel does not speak to Falkor, perhaps being swayed by the gnome's words.


And unless anyone has any last minute petitions, etc to Sir Farel, he will depart next update! Get in your final reactions if your characters have any!


Soorec, meanwhile, politely asks for his gem back from Haynuus. Haynuus offers to simple open the door, but despite the gnome's smile there is a hint of steel in his tone as he - again politely - asks for his property to be returned. Every grak-grak in the room briefly pauses whatever it was doing, or not doing, and all look towards the half-orc too until the pendant is returned. The gnome then grins good naturedly, and walks back. On the way he addresses the half-orc's comments. "Hmm, well you possess many qualities Gholst could want," says the gnome good naturedly, "your certainly formidable and decisive in battle, and yet at least think outside of it. I did note you seemed to be the one to place me on the altar. And you are certainly...inspirational...when you need to be." The gnome shrugs, as if these facts should be self evident to the half-orc. "After all, Gholst's most trusted second in command was an orc himself. Not anymore of course," says the gnome, shaking his head. "Now all rests with the strange Garax. Also a follower more than a leader, I thought, but he seems to be the second now. Certainly, he was the foolw who let the priest into our midst." Soorec shakes his head, then conspiratorially lowers his voice when Haynuus raises questions on the halfling. "Indeed, I would not trust the halfling if I were your group. Notice he was the one who raised your friend Ameena's name, when she was hiding so well. And he did try to arrange both Westian and ...whoever your strangely tongued other priest is. And he tried to kill me at least once at the RA door, by energy he apparently could control easily. Oh yes, he is tricky." Soorec then considered something. "However, I haven't seen him betray you. And certainly, your profile being raised to Gholst could be thanks to Falkor. I think of all the group, you are the person who should be...least worried. Yes, certainly least!" The gnome then grins. "And certainly, if the halfling won't teach you magic, I will happily do it. It's very easy when you understand the power below the thinking. I think it would be...exciting!"

Soorec smiles encouragingly, but then pauses as he has reached the group again, and heard Westian's words. "Hmm?" says Soorec as he realised Westian was addressing some concerns in the gnome's direction. The initial comments seem to gain Westian the previously little seen raised eyebrow, however as Westian's comments carry on, Soorec seems to relax and nod encouragingly. "I suppose it could work in reverse. Previously, I would be looking at the 'target' as it were, and so the grak-grak could passively use my focus for itself. I suppose I could actively co-ordinate the process in reverse, seeing what one of my escorts sees, and passing it to another with me. Yes, yes, I think that should be possible - I can certainly understand you think you need such assurances!"

Soorec nodded, then waved his finger. "Just do not go sneakily cutting my head off if the link temporarily breaks when one of you is being interesting. I shall need concentration to maintain such a link. And, of course, I imagine there might be some headache. Hmm, perhaps I should find some suitable herbs or a potion..."

Soorec nods to himself, and keeps speaking to the group while checking out the shelves for a remedy. If anyone were paying attention, they would spot that Soorec seems to rumage - and get his grak-grak to rumage higher - on the shelves on the left, not the right.


"Indeed, please, rest and gather your strength. Allow me to quickly get these horrible clothes off my back, and into something a little more suiting my dignity for going close to the priest, and I will happily tel you anything you could wish to know. And hear more from your wonderful leader - she promised!"

Soorec is almost Brighteyes like in his brittle smiles and breezy lack of care. He gathers some clothing form a pile of items in the corner, casting a set of FUL spells to light his area of the room. He happily suggests Falkor does the same.

However, as Soorec disappears away from view sudden'y walking through a wall in the corner, the focus and attention of the grak-graks standing guard is still very obvious in the dim light of the room.


And there we go, update kinda done - sorry if it's very by the numbers! Please feel free to RP around the beats, and then you guys can have a little down time to say 'hey' to Ameena, cast a few potions, etc etc.

Note that the light will be horrible unless you light torches - Farel needs his torch back, perhaps requiring a second from Haynuus, and you technically haven't nominated any light sources. No teleporters and no Soorec = no light!

That logistics niggle aside, you guys have the timne to fully recover your powers, so go ahead and use potions and powers to recover as you want. If LB comes back, remember the lay on hands power will refresh when you level up, so yeah, you can use up the previous amount.

Umm, I'm sure there's more questions, go ahead and ask them and get yourself relaxed. Soorec will eventually come back up, asking for his stuff to be retruned by then (so remember to have an idea of what and how much will be returned

[Ameena]

As Serfarrel speaks to her, displaying regret that they didn't have much more time to speak together, Ameena gives a friendly whisker-twitch.
"Maybe we'll meet again some day." she says., looking up at him. "I would have liked to speak to both of you a bit more than I have done. We weren't together very long the last time you travelled with us either - maybe one day we can make up for that. If I ever see you again, I'll be sure to step up and let you see me!"
She gives the murafu equivalent of a friendly smile and then turns to Ardur. She looks at him calmly for a moment, then steps forward to stand close to him.
"I'm sure you'll be out of here soon." she says. "It was alright to be scared, you know - it's always alright to be scared, because it means you can feel things and know danger. And you weren't so scared that you completely ran away - you still stayed close and then came back. If you ever meet any other murafu, I think they'll like you too. Well, we tend to like most people. Don't worry about being scared in the future - if you know you're scared, and you tell yourself that, it...well, usually that helps make it better, somehow. Get the scared part out of the way, and you can concentrate on doing what you want. Otherwise it keeps poking into your thoughts and you'll never get anything done. But maybe we'll meet again, and you can tell me about everything that's happened to you since we've parted. Maybe I'll find you. We'll see."
She gives a similar murafu-ish smile to the young human and twitches her whiskers again, then steps back to allow the two humans to depart.
Meanwhile, Soorec is bustling around and speaking about various things. She watches him move around the room but says nothing for a while. When he mentions that she had "promised" to tell him things, she decides she'd better mention one thing, get it out of the way now. Just in case.
"Soorec," she says, "I'd better tell you now, in case you think I'm trying to trick you later - if you ask me about something, I'll answer as best I can, but some things I just may not know about, or may not remember. If I seem to be...lacking in details about something, it doesn't mean I'm deliberately trying to hide anything from you. I just might not be able to give you all the information you want at the time."
She decides it best to cover herself in this way, just in case such an occasion does occur - with the various gaps in her memory, Soorec might think she was deliberately being evasive should she provide him with only a vague answer. Of course, this also covers her if he asks her something that she wants to be vague about - telling the truth doesn't necessarily mean telling every single detail of the truth. But, murafu that she is, she won't ever tell a direct lie or deliberately mislead him. If he misunderstands or makes a wrong assumption about something she's told him, she doesn't necessarily have to point that out. Like with his current assumption that she is the leader of the group. A murafu? In charge of something? Clearly he knows nothing, or very little, of her race.
But she won't tell him that.
She then watches Soorec as he picks up various items from about the room and finally disappears through a not-wall in the corner.

OOC - Obviously if Farel/Ardur have anything to say in response to Ameena, just have it happen after she talks to them. Likewise with Soorec.

[oh_brother]

"I understand my friend," Westian replied to Farel "I would not ask you to risk someone else's life just to aid me. May Larethian protect you both." Westian did not mention the knights offer to tell the outside world what was happening, just in case it was overheard and the gnome had second thoughts about letting them escape to safety.

When the gnome returned Westian listened politely as he spoke, nodding and smiling in all the appropriate places. Once Soorec has left he wandered over to Ameena. He spoke clearly but softly, while trying to make it look like a casual chat. "Ameena, I am glad to see you back safely. How was your time alone? If I recall correctly you had a helm with you last time I saw you, have you misplaced it?"

[Ameena]

Ameena looks up at Westian and searches through her memory briefly.
"A helm?" she asks. "One of those armour-pieces that people wear on their heads? No...not that I remember. I mean, obviously I don't use that kind of thing, and I don't see why I'd have been carrying one."
She stretches up to him a little more, trying to get her nose closer to his head (but not suceeding particularly well, given the height difference), and speaks quietly.
"I'd love to know what happened to everyone since we were split up." she says. "It looks like you all must have found each other again quite quickly. I'm glad for that."
She lowers her head a little and steps forward, rubbing the side of her body against Westian's leg briefly and making quiet grinding noises with her teeth.
"And I'm glad I found you all again too. I know we weren't apart for very long, but still...to a murafu, that's plenty long enough."
She glances around, wondering whether anyone else will step forward for a reunion. If her forelegs weren't aching so much right now, she'd have happily bounded around and leapt at her other friends too.
She looks up at Westian again.
"Umm...maybe you could...come down here?" she asks politely. "I mean...I hope you haven't forgotten that it's easier for us to talk when our heads are closer together. I want to know what happened to everyone while we were separated."
She glances around at each of the other members of the group as she says this last part, silently inviting them to all come and sit around and share in the discussion.

OOC - D20 roll = 13.

[ian_scho]

The half-orc thanks the gnome for his offer of magic training. It would be a very frustrating time for him should he ever try to teach him the arts of magic. The half-orc pulls a torch out of his bag when the gnome leaves, lights it and carelessly tosses it onto the table.

Haynuus says his goodbyes to the knight and his squire. "Hey..." And then thinks for a moment "Been fun!". He really isn't good at goodbyes or even hellos to tell the truth. He turns to the squire next. "Yes, don't be afraid of being afraid. I find that I soil my leather trousers and that's the worst of it over." He indicates to Farel's squire the stains on his trousers which are merely an indication as to the horrors that lie within.

"I'm looking for some lovin' and healin', dude." he next states to Westian. With both Ameena and the cleric have moved close together, and he couldn't help but draw himself to listen to their conversation.

"Ohh I say..."