Dungeon Master Forum

Haynuus agreed to the paladin's final comment. "I still say we just push the soldier through the blue stuff.", he mused. "But rest is important as well." His wounds were starting to remind him that he was feeling weaker than the last time he'd rested, and he'd seen how fragile his mortality was enough times already today.

"To answer your question, Awreck, I hit things. This is the first time though that someone has invited to pay me for it, though. Where Westian goes, I go. Of course, I'm not bounded by honour or God unlike yourself. But in it's place I have a sense of righteousness that drives me, and I believe in our cleric's good intentions."

Farel looks concerned. "I fear the way the soldier spoke, that means the a guard we may have let escape will have moved in the diretcion of the mage. A direction I think I...or we...must go."

Helm seems uncomfortable when asked what he can do. "I...well, I can... do normal things people would ask someone like me to do. I can find you...switches. Open doors. I...I found the switch earlier for the door by the mummy hall!" He seems a little defensive.

Farel shrugs when attention is turned to him. "You don't have to worry about my skills. However, I am not one for battle - I think I shall leave the strategy to yourselves. Though I think speed will be our greatest asset. Eventually one of those soldiers might report their missing prisoners to this mage.


Ok, that's me addressed anything that needed addressed, I believe. Nothing to stop you guys from posting for tomorrow's update!

Hopefully OB will be back tomorrow all ready for some healing and planning

Haynuus answered to himself, Farel's concern. "One guard escaped from back where we came, the Captain it was. He opened up a pit stopping us from returning back through the corridoors where the webbing was..." Haynuus mused for a second. "Then the one holding Helm hostage went this way. There is a choice of corridoor here too... A Staff of Fire Tomb or burial place of Kings you mentioned?... Then also of course, you said earlier you yourselves were held captive in cells and that would be from where you came from back the other way."

"I wonder if this mage and cleric that Westian is looking for are together? Someone can explain to me how they are linked..."

The half-orc then took off his back-pack and laid back. He noted the bits of armour sticking out of the top he'd forgotten about and started to put on the greaves. "Don't mind if I borrow these from you do you Mr. Soldier?"

On hearing Haynuus describe the events regarding the escaped Captain, whom she remembers to be Drommal, Ameena opens one eye.
"No, Drommal went the other way." she says. "I didn't see him, but one guard passed me and went back the way we came. I heard footsteps go in the other direction - that must have been Drommal. He went down the corridor that now has the pit. I looked at it and I think I could probably jump over it now, though I couldn't at the time because of my leg."
She closes her eye again and sighs.
"But I just want to get out of here. I prefer exploring a place when I know I have a way out - then I know where to go if things go wrong."
She openes both eyes, briefly, and looks around.
"And things have gone very wrong, here."
She then resumes her eyes-closed, snuggled position against Helm's side.

The half-orc glanced over to Ameena who had returned to resting against the some-what-damaged human. He grunted to himself at the Murafu's very correct description of the situation.

"There is the essence of absolute evil here" he sighed. "If we escape now, it will perhaps eventually follow us all out of here and affect those things we love as well." He hated sounding like a cleric, but Haynuus had a feeling that someone or something needed a good smacking down here, and fate had chosen them to be the whackers.

Ameena was right to be concerned at not having an escape route, yet... He glanced at the two doors in the room, confirmed that they were closed. Here, in this place, having a closed door meant so much! It was safety, albeit temporary, and a chance to rest or recuperate. He even had happy memories of closing the things on top of Screamers once. How he and his friends laughed when after 3 minutes of their kicking and punching of these vegetative beasts it was the power of the finger came to their ultimate demise. One tiny door switch and POOF - screamer tempora for all!

Yes, resting with your back against a closed door down here meant so much more than anywhere else he knew. No other place could imitate the magic of security - hearing the door clunking down it's runner to the bottom.

As the other spoke Westian took the time to get Aurek's attention, and show him the runes he could remember. He etched them on the dust on the floor, pronouncing each one in turn.

Turning his attention back to the others it was clear that the mental state of some of the party was at a low ebb. Falkor had retreated into himself, and looked around with distrust or fear. Ameena was still recovering from the trauma of the encounter, and seemed to have a mild case of shock. He readied himself to prepare healing potions when he could summon enough mana; maybe if the physical wounds could be healed at least then the mental ones would seem less troublesome.

In the meantime he replied to Haynuus's last comment "Well put! I believe it is incumbent on us to find out what is the source of this evil. I realise that not everyone may feel this way - and I do not plan to be a dictator and tell people what they should do. If anyone wishes to search for the exit, this tomb of the King's, then they can do so without any judgement being passed. But I have work that I must do. Even if I found an exit, what could I do but come back and try again to complete my task? For me there is no exit until I find Brother Deephold." And possibly find the Grey Lord too. The thoughts of future glory still motivated Westian, and helped push the thoughts of a painful death in this dungeon to the back of his mind.

"So I will travel to find this mage with whoever else will join me. Clearly from what we have heard he is a sadistic torturer and murder. Fortunately now we will not go to this mage in chains, as lambs to the slaughter, but we will meet him on our own terms." He nodded in the direction of Falkor as he spoke, hoping that he could try and explain the motivations the halfling must have had.

"Now in the frantic action I lost track of who went where. This soldier that escaped has run towards the mage? In which direction did he run?"

Haynuus reached into his pack and pulled out a set of greaves and poleyn for the cleric. It all fell with a clatter at Westian's feet, much to Haynuus's embarrassment that he had probably woken someone up from their dozing.

"Here. That heroic talk requires a little more weight behind it!" And with that he started putting on the last set of poleyn. He stood up and checked that it was all comfortable, straps all done up and no chafing would occur. OOC - Forgot, what additional AC do we get with these?

Pleased with his new apparel he asked "Which way to the wizard and death, please Mr Soldier?"

Westian accepted Haynuus's gift with a grin. He had never used greaves in battle before, but he knew that if he was going to face a powerful mage it would help if he strapped on a pair. Next he attached the poleyn, and took the spare sword in place of his club.

The chill of the dungeon air lessened as the companions spoke together. Perhaps it was the fact the doors - through their magical creation - sealed the party perfectly into the corridor, allowing them to warm the air with their presence. Or perhaps it was simply the brave and decisive words that allowed their minds to ignore the cold - for now.

Sir Farel stirred as Haynuus addressed the soldier. "The man seemed to indicate we just had to go down the opposite corridor." Sir Farle sighed. "Where Aurek and I were held, there was another way to go. I fear it is not too far away in that direction that we might find this mage, or at least the route to him." Sir Farel turned around to look at the soldier again, and then spoke on. "The priest that has been spoken of - the one that might hold the lost Brother - I fear he is further down in the depths of this dungeon. The way the soldier spoke, we would have to go towards the mage's dwelling anyway to find this priest."

Sir Farel looked as if he were going to say something more, but then spotted himself. INstead he drew his blade. "I was ready to leave this place, but your words and what I have learned make it clear. If my squire is out of danger, he can survive longer. If he has been captured, my duty would lie in confronting the mage anyway. My arm, heart and mind are yours if you seek out the root of the evil in this place." Sir Farel gives a small bow of his head to Westian, and tips his blade.

After Westian had made his speech, the casual looking around of the room had dizzied him slightly. Seeing Falkor, and hearing Haynuus's powerful words brought back memories of similar discussions in a tavern in Viborg. Of course, there it had merely been a task to find a missing cleric, one that was hopefully safe inside Mount Anaias.

Helm had shifted uncomfortably as the speeches had gone on. He finally asked a question that had seemed to bother him.

"If you plan to go back again, is the door still open?" he asked. "The switches are only present on one side. I...were you expecting me to pick the lock? Or does someone have a key?"

Time to move, sounds like everyone will be going mage-wise. Decide how long you want to heal up in the room first, and so forth. Then let's put you back in harm's way... I meant... plot's way...

"I agree with going after this mage. But, I definately still think that we need to heal up before progressing further."

"Agreed." was the half-orc's reply to the paladin. He sat down again, this time hard on his backside like an infant might do.

With Sir Farel clarifying a few things Haynuus was happier. Perhaps he was mistaken but it also seemed that as he related the information the whole group would know where they were going and what they were doing now. We would follow Westian, and Westian was hunting for the missing priest, and the mage probably knew where he was, and he most likely needed clubbing on the way past.

It was then Haynuus realised that he had acquired the armour set with the spooky face on it. He unbuckled one and took a long hard look at it. He loathed the unnatural shapes and symbols some of his orc siblings carried, and was determined to work out if this was one of them. He looked up to Aurek and asked "What do you think of these? Are they magical? Just plain evil?"

He was happy to ask the soldier as well. "What does this face mean to you, Mr Soldier?". He focussed on it again and his vision formed a tunnel that the face would fill. OOC - Perception check on the armour. (1d20+2=9).

Ameena opens her eyes again and glances around somewhat nervously at the group's apparent decision to find the mage which the guards had been taking them (or at least, Falkor and Haynuus) to see before.
"So...you want to find the mage...the one that you didn't want to be taken to before?" she asks of the group in general. "And what...I mean, supposing he's a...a fire-thrower too? Or some other type of magic that hurts people. And if he's not, what are you going to do to him?"
She somehow has a fairly firm idea of what kind of things are likely to happen when they meet this mage, given what's gone before, and she wants no part in it. But not to go with these people would be to isolate herself in this dark place, something she already knows she can't do. Not without knowing how she can get out. This is no place for a murafu, she knows. These aren't the type of things her kind life for.

Haynuus was holding a Poleyn just 5 centimetres from his nose in a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to divine it's thaumaturgic properties using his senses of sight, smell, touch and dribbling mucus on it simultaneously. So far he had worked out that the face was androgynous.

"Well perhaps the dude can tell us where this priest chap is that Westian is looking for, then when we find him we can all get paid and go home!" Haynuus had yet to think about if Westian was actually carrying any money, or that every one else would ally themselves with the cleric without needing just a little coin for an incentive. He assumed this out of habit - he'd been mixing with the wrong people for a long time.

He thought a little more, and finally worked out why Ameena was so frightened of fire. "Ohh, so fire is super-bad for you then? If you see the wizard then wrap that cloak around you... There's no anti-fire spell that they can cast on you is there?"

"Haynuus, I don't know if I'll be able to ascertain much with my senses, but I'll try." and the paladin tried to use Detect Evil(OOC: not just on the armor but the whole room, like I did before... so 3 rounds worth) to determine what, if any, evil remained in the room, paying special attention to the soldier.

Afterwards, Aurek had a thought "what is that man up to?" meaning the soldier... and he decided that it was time to try and find out. (sense motive 1d20 = 20! OOC: F**King ROFL! I guess that this counteracts that evil 1 that I got before )

Westian did not make eye contact with anyone when Haynuus mentioned payment, but rather he seemed to take a sudden intense interest in the armour he was putting on. Clearly he had no money to pay anyone. Probably the order would reward them if they helped though. Yes, that was probably it.

"Yes Ameena, the same mage we were being brought to before. But before we would not have stood a chance, we were going to see him with a large group of armoured warriors leading us in chains. Metaphorical chains that is. Except for Helm, he had actual chains. As for fire, to be honest I expect that he will be a firethrower. I used to know a spell to protect against fire, but it will not come to my mind now. I must be missing some runes, but I have no idea what they are. The best I can suggest is that if we find a drinking fountain anywhere we saturate your fur with water."

Responding to Aurek's comment Westian simply answered "I don't know. I don't know what to do with him either. To some extent that will depend on how much useful information he gives us. Any ideas?"

"I think we should let him go"...... Falkor took a look at the others, he had said little - but listened quietly... "for now, this prisoner can do no harm and we should show him mercy"

"Falkor, showing him mercy now may come back to bite us. We have already let 3 of the 6 opposing soldiers escape, even though 1 of them shouldn't show any more of a threat, the other two most likely will want to finish what was started."

"Ameena, I agree with Westian. I think that this 'mage' will be a threat, especially to you. You don't seem to have a very durable body, that can be trained and conditioned, but the fur.... now, that could be an extreme problem when facing a person that can manipulate fire. From what I've heard so far of this mage, he's not to be reasoned with. He takes prisoners and tortures them, what more is there to know? It must be stopped. And we're the only ones here to do so. I believe that Haynuus has a point, this evil will most likely simply follow us, if we don't put a stop to it here and now. I hate violence, just as you do, but I'm afraid that the other options are dwindling quickly."

At that he returned to sensing the room around him, trying to detect any remaining evil that might be here.

For Aurek the use of his ability to sense evil - an ability that seemed to take a lifetime to focus when in the heat of combat - came to him within moments. Interestingly enough, the soldier that Haynuus was waving the armour at did not generate much of an aura. The man was tainted by evil, but it was the lesser evil of men who do not stand up against good. The man had probably stood idly by when great harm was done, but it was hard to know how much he had done himself. Not enough to register. for all his bluster, the man was probably weak willed.

The man himself seemed a mystery infact. While it was obvious he was still listening in, despite Aurek's threats, there was alack of something to his actions. It was a lack of fear. Yet not a lack of fear as Aurek understood it, a confidence in ones abilities, situation, god and companions leading to the knowledge a situation could be turned. No, it seemed to be a lack of fear due to acceptance. The man seemed to be without hope, and so was no longer afraid of the worst happeneing. Given that the group had thrown around their alignment to the forces of right, and given Farel's manner had appeared unthreateneing, Aurekl couuld not see how his own aggressions alone could make the man feel hopeless in his situation. There was some other reason for it... something external that meant the man assumed he was doomed?

Meanwhile, Haynuus did not see what Aurek saw when looking to the armour, and so had no idea why the enemy soldier actively shuffled back. As far as Haynuus was concerned, the sudden chill in the air was probably because he was close to the door.

"It means you have no idea what where you are or who you face," said the soldier. However, his voice was not filled with mocking - it seemed a mix of wonder and dispair.

Aurek saw quite clearly that the armour glowed with an aura of evil. Artifacts handled by an evil power, or that had once channelled evil power sometimes retained a faint aura for a few moments after the departure of their owner. However, this armour actually still carried an aura. The armour itself was evil, perhaps not a powerful evil, but certainly evil without a wearer. Aurek's own armour, and Westian's plain armour, thankfully seemed to have no aura. However, everything with the face embossed on it metaphorically screamed its dark nature. Of course, that lead to a disquietening question - had the auras Aurek felt earlier come from the sergeants, or merely their armour?

Aurek cast his gaze around the room, and was thankful to see that none of his companions, nor any of their possessions, bore an aura of evil. Certainly it could have been suspected that any of the others - the knight Farel, the thief Helm, or the apparent wizard Falkor - could have been false companions. and it would have been easy to pick up a possession of evil in this place.


LB, you can let me know if - in future - you want the results of your sense evil to be given in private. Plotwise and feel wise, I don't think revealing this in private is necessary for my storytelling, but let me know for your side


Farel stirred at Ameena's question regarding the fate of the mage. "If the man possesses prisoners, they must be freed. And if the man practices evil, then he must be arrested and tried for his crimes by the good people of Viborg. I would not be surprised if he did not know - perhaps even have a hand - in the evil that is afoot here!" Sir Farel walks over to the murafu, and as he had done before, knelt down beside he to try to be closer eye to eye, using his sword like a staff to lean on. Helm shifted nervously for some reason.

"I promise on my honour, and by the Rose of Varette and the Oak of Banville, that I shall not allow you to come to harm in this place. As to violence, I agre it is sometimes a necessary evil, but always a last resort. And always its application must be tempered by mercy."


Roll me a perception roll please Ameena


The soldier's exression did not brighten any as he was treated to the sight of the half orc engaging in the perfectly natural investigation of his new possessions. at Haynuus's general question, the soldier tried to sneer. "The priest dwells deep in the place, near to the heart of things. You will not find him, for you will not survive the journey passed the mage."

There was a pause, and under his breath - but audible to the half-orc's hearing - he murmered, "none of us will."

The soldier overheard Westian's comments on his fate, and rolled his eyes back in his head and leant back against the wall again. To all intents and purposes, he looked like he was asleep again. It was the comment of the halfling that made the man's eyes flick open again, and Passin leant forward as if trying to see round to Falkor from where the soldier was forced to sit. The soldier's eyes flicked dangerous as Aurek mantioned the amount of men that had managed to escape. "Who else did you murder?" he asked the half-orc.


Cool, full house - nice to have all the players back to posting! Hopefully money, you can catch up ok - I'll be around - and we can move on to some fun murder.

Don't forget Helm did ask the room in general about what his roll was supposed to be

"Helm, I'm sorry for being so pushy about your abilities. You obviously seem to be good with your hands. And that was what I needed to know."

Then, he moved over to the soldier, and spoke privately with him. "Now... I mentioned before that I'm a paladin, or a holy warrior. I've just used an ability that allows me to peer into the souls of those around me. I see that you are in despair." at these words, his demeanour eased, and he continued "I can sense no fear in you. You've obviously been put through alot. But, you've also let others do what evil THEY wish to do, without stopping them. I can't hold that against you, and now, I'm willing to let you stay with us, should you wish to do so. However, should you wish to stay in league with those that would do great evil, then I pity you." he paused for a moment, "You can say that you don't want my pity. But, honestly, from what I've seen, you need it." (diplomacy 1d20... before I say this, I must say that probably must love me or something... AGAIN! My missus even reckons that my d20 loves me tonight... LOL! 20!)

The paladin then turned his attention back to Haynuus, and his spectacular display, "Haynuus, that armor that has the faces on it.... it's evil DON'T wear it."

Ameena glances up at Haynuus as he comments about the possibility of her protecting herself from fire.
"Umm...my cloak is waterproof, but not fireproof." she says. "But...I wasn't really thinking of myself."
She listens as various words are cast about between everyone. When Aurek speaks to her about fire and evil, she frowns slightly in confusion. She doesn't say anything since Aurek then appears busy looking at things, but privately she wonders again about these creatures - apparently it's assumed she'll want to fight, that she'll want to get near to this apparently hostile mage. The old assumptions about "good" and "evil" are also coming up, again and again, throughout the conversation.
"It depends how you define evil..." she mutters quietly to no-one in particular, then looks up as Serfarrel comes over and lowers himself down to talk to her. She gives another, slightly bemused frown and twitches her whiskers a few times.
"You don't have to promise me anything." she says. "Umm...I've never heard of those things you mentioned, but I'm guessing they're quite important to you. Did you plant them?"
Despite not having much knowledge of human terms, Ameena, like other murafu, does know various terms for different plants and such-like, so recognises that a rose is a type of flower and an oak is a tree. She's even encountered such things herself, here and there. She wonders at yet another peculiarity of this species - not only the act of making a promise, but doing so "by" something, or "on" it. It seems to make the promise worth more, or something. This being a race where promises seem to be necessary, since without them there remains the possibility of lying. Or something.

OOC - Perception roll = 13 (5+8).

Haynuus lowered the poleyn and turned his attention to the soldier with just a little surprise. "Murder? You assume that orcs have the same vocabulary as humans. Where I was brought up, I don't think I learnt the word murder, despite witnessing the action - perhaps even performing it." He paused for a moment, and images of those wretched goblins he used whip and beat flashed by in his mind. "It's just another word for unfortunate. And unfortunately I've forgotten their names! I only remember there was Sergeant Arbrut with his fat neck, and one called Thinpas falling... Now was it Brohur or Marhman that escaped this way while the other bravely perished attempting to let the other escape? Which leaves Drommel and you!"

Next it was shock at Aurek's observation. He removed the pieces of black armour, one by one and cast them aside. The half-orc was not happy! He was satisfied with his trusty, rusty breastplate, for now. He recalled there was no other set of armour without the faces on, so he would make do with that.

"Here, Haynuus, take these greaves and poleyn back. They are not tainted, is that correct?" The last comment had been directed at Aurek.

"Anyway Haynuus, you seem to be the one in the thick of action each time, you will need them more than I. I can take the breastplate, that way we both get some benefit from this armour."

He unbuckled the straps and handed them over to the half-orc, and then went about attaching the breast-plate they had found.

"And Helm, if you could pick the lock we would be grateful. I did not realise the mechanism was one way. We have a key that might work too, in case of emergency. Don't worry, I am sure in a place like this your skills will be very useful."

Falkor realised that his comments had been ignored, he was worried about one of their soldiers joining the group and would rather have allies that knew what power they had but also what mercy they would show... even spread the word between the other soldiers, but for now he considered this to himself. Falkor turned over, but only for a second - without warning or explanation Falkor leapt to his feet and hobbled around screaming.... then as quickly as it hard started - it stopped. Falkor looked at Ameena, "Cramp" and gestured towards his leg. He felt himslef blush and quitely returned to the area he had been resting.

"If we let him go we show mercy - the battle was for the good of us all, we have a choice how to proceed but I for one do not wish to run directly to this Wizard"

He stroked his beard and continued... "This Gholst is no nice charactor, and oddly enough he seems to have powers in ways that he shouldn't. When i wore the cloak he appeared to me in the Etheral world, and managed to inflict some spell - this is worrying and we should all be afraid of just what he will do. Mor importantly we should be concerned why he wanted us to be taken to him"

Falkor looked around the group for their reactions...

Ameena gives a startled jolt as Falkor suddenly jumps up and screams. She stares at him with some concern, then continues to stare at him for a few more seconds in mild confusion at his apparent explanation for the sudden actions. She doesn't quite understand what he's talking about, the only explanation for this being that evidently there is some other meaning of the word "cramp" which she's unaware of.
These momentary thoughts are soon forgotten, however, as she considers Falkor's next words. She doesn't particularly agree with his statement that the battle was for everyone's good - it obviously wasn't for the good of the people who were...well, killed, and she herself doesn't feel as though she came off particularly well and she wasn't even there for most of it.
Then the halfling starts talking about Gholst again. The mage. Who doesn't sound like a very pleasant person. But then, to hear many people's opinions, murafu aren't very pleasant creatures. She prefers to make her own mind up about such things, meet someone herself and decide. But despite her innate sense of curiosity to discover new and exciting things, she doesn't feel any particular desire to meet this mage. Getting out. That's still her priority.
"Drommal said he only wanted you and Haynuus...didn't he?" she asks in a quiet voice. "I think maybe he won't care what happens to anyone else."
Though she's looking wearily at Falkor, all this time she's stayed huddled close against Helm's side. She isn't sure what she'll do when he decides he wants to move away or get up - right now she still feels mostly as if all she wants to do is curl up into a little ball and forget the world. She isn't really interested in lost priests or mysterious mages - she just wants to find a nice safe place, a few friends, some amiable conversation...no. Well, yes. But above that, a choice. She wants to have chosen to come here. Well, she supposes, maybe she did. But then how did she lose her memory? How did she end up in that room with Haynuus and the others? She is sure no such thing has ever fallen a murafu before. Then again, it may be that such things have occurred before, but the unfortunate murafu simply never made it back into the outer world to tell anyone about it. She rather hopes that such a fate won't befall her.

Falkor looked towards Ameena.

"Perhaps, but I have already met with Gholst and his words were not kind. I fear for us all, which is why i acted." He looked hard at Ameena... his eyes looking upwards to recall what was said... "Vermin, yes... this is what he called you. Vermin who knew her place." He continued looking round the room "Doomed - this is how he refered to Westian and Haynuus, I'm afriad his words were no better for you... A Beast with a dark heart."

"I don't know why I made the decisions i have - and at times on reflection i have concerns and worries they have been wrong, but I live on instinct and I feared that your lives would have been short lived had Gholst got a-hold of you." Looking back at Ameena, "Let us not forget, your Thief friend was not exactly treated well in their company. So many soldiers and yet the need to bound him - strange isn't it?"

Falkor took a deep breath and relaxed.

Helm uncertainly nods thanks at the comments from Aurek, and seems to reluctantly stand up at the comment from Westian. He walks across to the RA key hole, giving the soldier close a circumspect glance. He stands at an odd angle to look backwards to the man while trying to check out the keyhole. From nowhere he produce a pouch, and takes out a set of complex slivers of metal.

"Could...could someone stand close with a torch? It's hard to see here," says Helm after a moment of trying to look into the keyhole from a number of angles. He continues to do this even with the illumination. Gingerly, after another hesitation, he starts to insert a few carefully selected items and tries to do something complicated to catch the internal mechanisms. He keeps throwing nervous glances to the door, to the torch bearer, and to the soldier he can't seem to ignore.

Eventually, he says, "Sorry, it's hard to concentrate with that soldier so close....could someone...move him?" There is then another pause. "Also, I could do with a drink again."


This assumes someone bears a torch!

Meanwhile, the soldier had been giving Aurek a long look after his speech. The look did not seem aggressive, and after a few moments the soldier finally broke the gaze, looking to his feet oddly sheepish. The man said nothing, but did not look around until Haynuus had come forward.

At ther half-orc's words on the fall of Thipas, the soldier strained at his bonds and his eyes lit up in hatred at the half orc. However, something abotu the prescence of the paladin forced him to settle down, and the soldier again settled back to lying against the wall, looking to his feet. Although his stare was tense.

Across the corridor Sir Farel smiled at the words from Ameena. "The Rose is perhaps more...spiritual...than physical, and the Oak was planted many, many centuries ago by hands more noble than mine. They are indeed important symbols of all that is good. Perhaps one day you may even see the Oak yourself and understand."

At the words from Falkor, Farel stood again and nodded. "I agree, showing a foe mercy is the highest duty of the just. It sets us apart from that which we seek to fight. I do not think we can simply release the man, for we have left him vulnerable and unarmed. I do not believe this is very safe. We should probably take the man with us. Whether we can release him to the custody of his own fellows later is something that the High Lords will surely reveal to us in time. However, to leave him to wander now seems to be a gamble with his life."

Sir Farel looked to the group to see the final decision. "I am afraid I know nothing of this 'Gholst', but then sorcerers were not my strong suit."

"Gholst is no wizard, even though he has his pet mage, and now has allied himself with the pet of the Grey Lord," said Passin suddenly, surprising even himself. "I doubt you encountered Gholst. I think your own pet mage lies." The solder then looked back at his feet again, but did glance up to the group occasionally.

Again despite himself, the soldier comments on Ameena's words, though he seems to give Falkor a new look of respect and nods to the halfling;s words. "Of course Gholst will not care what happens to anyone else." There was a dangerous pause, although the soldier did not seem to be about to threaten, merely about to state a sad fact. Perhaps a fact he himself was now included in. "As long as they are dead, he cares not the means."


Ok, update done. Today's one later on in the evening will advance us further (I hope) timewise to you all being healed. So I really need decisions on a) if you are taking the soldier or kicking him loose, b) if you guys will help Helm if he can't get the door open (like boosting up Ameena to try and help) of if you will risk the RA key in the lock, and c) if you want to go straight to the mage, or if you want to go as far as Aurek and Farel's cell and make firm plan of attack there based on anything you might find.

Edit: Lol, money has posted again,so will adjust my post accordingly! Hmm, actually it's now 9am, so I can't really alter the post too much - sorry money! Assume your words had more of an impression on the soldier than I can spin just now. Certainly he will seem uncomfortable with what is being said about Drommal and Gholst, but will be agreeing. Aurek can probabably tell that after his own words, the soldier may be a little uncomfortable on whom he was allied with. Perhaps. Then again, you did kill his sergeant

"Sir Farel, thank you for your support in the search. I promise you that as soon as I find Deephold I will aid you in the search for your squire." He bowed in return to the knight.

As the conversation continued Westian began to prepare some more potions. As he made one he handed it out to whoever looked the most incapacitated. He also made a point of asking how people were feeling and responding with the most reassuring words he could manage. The sudden scream of Falkor made him jump, but when he realised that it was simply cramp he relaxed again.

Responding to the deliberations of Falkor and Sir Farel, Westian began "I still say how we treat this soldier depends heavily on how he treats us."

OOC: bluff roll = 16 + 5 = 21

"Tell us what you know. Not in drips like you have been, but rather a detailed explanation of everything you know. I guessed that Gholst was not a mage - Falkor, I think he is right, you must have seen his lieutenant. Anyway, soldier, you said we did not know what we faced. Tell us, and explain the significance of this armour. And anything else that could be of interest to us. I am sorry for being hard on you, but you must realise that bringing you with us is both an inconvenience and a danger. Before we do that we must see your worth, and also how far we can trust you."

Westian knew he could not harm the soldier, or leave him to die, and so to an extent his vague threats were empty. He just hoped that Passin was not aware of that.

Haynuus, gratefully, received the armour and started to strap himself in once more. His fingers were not only fat but the large warts on his thumb made the operation a little more finicky than he liked.

Next up was Ameena, who indicated that this Gholst fella not only wanted the halfling but Haynuus as well. He'd forgotten that. Was it the captain that had said that? Either way the only thing out of ordinary of this half-orc, Haynuus thought, was that he was extremely stupid and... Oh eeek. That SAR rune stuck in his head - why was it there? Hopefully nobody needed one to end the world or anything. If they did, Haynuus for some bizarre reason could have the key. Only someone with an extremely twisted sense of humour would do that to him... A low-born warrior with a flare for cooking screamers might well turn this world into a chaos-coloured-gloup if he wasn't careful. Best keep his mouth shut if he remembered anything else about it.

"Gholst suddenly sounds really bad..." he said to Ameena with his voice trailing off.

So the soldier had an attachment to Thinpas. This would not make him Mr Popular any brothers or comrades he might have had. He didn't want to drop the wizard in it that he was probably the one flying the balls of fire around toasting soldiers but still... "The way you talk you sounded doomed with your comrades before whether you stayed or ran from this Gholst... We could give you a sword and leave you to your luck, but why not answer Westian here and help us all?"