Woe glances about suspiciously, sensing a sudden change on the wind. A tingling in his mind, a feeling not unlike a dream with a dash of déjà vu.
Did we just slip through a fold between space and time? Did we teleport? Shift between planes? Did we drift into a parallel world with a similar timeline, nearly identical in nature yet at its core truly a different instance of reality?
Realization dawns on the warrior and a sigh escapes him. Once more he is at ease.
Oh, wait. That’s right. I’m just starting to get drunk after finishing that Gaolean moonshine this morning.
Palindrome's mage hand appears and extends the Digit of Disrespect at both Woe and Arnest...and Atreus, for good measure. "I'm not leaving until Meatshield shows up with my ****** monkey! I told her that I wanted a ****** ******* attack monkey! She ****** said that she would ******* bring the ******* monkey. I am not going to ******* engage in ******* combat until I ***** have my ******* monkey! So, ****** all of you, except for Tander! I'm including you half-orc ***** in the general ***** you! So have a nice ***** day, you incompetent, half-bred, in-bred, pig-looking hick ******** ******* ******!"
Palindrome's Good Hand speaks. "Ahem. Mr. Arnest, first let me apologize for the Palindrome's behavior."
"Oh, yeah, that's ****** brilliant! Apologize to the ****** ******! Yeah, I'm sorry I ever met you, *******!"
The hand slaps Palindrome. Hard.
"And I agree that this, by and large, with the exception of Tander, is an untrustworthy and unscrupulous collection of villains and misanthropes, truly heteroclitic--a sycophant, a pervert, and a maniac. However, I believe that our alliance to destroy the Closed Eye cult would deal a blow to the forces of evil and make the world safe for innocents everywhere. Thus, I beg you, sir. Please give Palindrome the gold he requests. It would go far towards soothing his mental instability and perhaps lead to his being a more agreeable ally. It might even cause him to forget about the monkey. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to prevent him and his companions from harming you and your lady love."
Arnest shakes his head. "No," he says emphatically. "You have my word that I will pay you when the job is done. I have never given you reason to doubt my word. On the other hand, I have every reason to believe that without threats or bribes, preferably both, you and your comrades will turn on me as soon as it suits your temporary convenience. I'll pay you after, or not at all."
Atreus, who has been standing silently listening to the others finally steps fourth and joins the conversation. " Aren't we wasting precious time which we could use to much better means " and he turns to face Arnest " It's not like you lack capacity to pay us now but, as you stated and correctly assumed, we wouldn't hesitate to slay you and your toads if we got the opportunity for some easy earnings " he says coldly and continues " And I have every reason to doubt your words, since you are indeed one fanatic yourself, a cultist without a soul and is corrupted by what ever master you serve. Luckily for you this matter with the Closed Eye seems to be a bigger threat than the darkness you have brought upon yourself and must be dealt with. and Atreus takes a step towards Arnest with a grin " It is in your interest to have us on our good side, I care not what ever scheme you have in store for us if you do not return from this business. To cut it short, if you want us to work for you, I suggest that in order to seal the deal, we should at least have half of the promised payment upfront, which is at least 500 gold pieces"
OOC
Aid another check to palindrome: got 9
I am still experiencing internet problems. I will try to write as often I can.
Arnest stares at Palindrome's hand with nearly as much surprise as the mage himself. He hardly appears to hear Atreus, but at least some of his speech must have gotten through.
"You are right about one thing; we are wasting time. However, I do not, as you appear to assume possess the ability to pull endless amounts of gold from my nether regions. Here is what I carry: one hundred gold pieces. I confess that the thought of soothing this one's insanity is a better use of that sum than... but never mind. One hundred now, the rest after. Now, will you share what you know, so that we can be about it? Every minute we waste increases the chance that we are too late."
Arnest draws a small leather purse from an inner pocket to his robe and holds it.
Woe snatches the purse from Arnest's hand, counting and splitting the gold up evenly among the party.
“Gosh and gee, would you like at that treasure trove, fellas!” he exclaims sarcastically. “For such a generous upfront payment, we'll let you know that we got a destination to your Reverend Rivals.”
Once again, Woe gestures with his spear at the gate.
“You and your tusky boytoys keep marching ahead, and we'll give you directions as we go.”
Arnest steps back, pulling the purse out of reach. The half orc with the gold tusk caps smoothly blocks Woe's path to Arnest, smirking calmly, hands ready on the haft of his axe.
"The gold is for the in-for-ma-tion," Arnest explains slowly, as if to a child. "I've already agreed to pay you part of the fee now rather than once your tale has been proved true. I'm surely not going to pay you before you even tell me."
Palindrome steps in front of Woe. "Step back. I'm the one who discovered the information. I'm the one who made the deal for the money. Therefore, I'm the one that gets the money."
He turns to Arnest. "Our fearless leader just lied to you, so that he can grab the gold before I do. The cult is located at Whiteside Barrows, a set of ancient tomb mounds atop one of the low cliffs to the north of Daunton Harbor. I found the information in a hidden text at the base of the Screamer."
Palindrome holds out his hand. Once he receives the gold, it goes in his bag of holding.
Standing his ground, Woe laughs as Palindrome tries to muscle in and get the gold.
“Right, you're going to trust the - by your own account - insane wizard with directions?”
“You know, the one who snapped your finger bone, kicked you repeatedly in the head, obliterated the foot of your beloved Tsasha (after also kicking her in the head), and have been trying to kill you ever since your granny breathed your name with even more vigor than he tries to kill the rest of us?”
“I recommend you hand the dough over to Tan-Man there, our man of moral integrity who actually stands up for you. Let him sort it out, then we'll be on our way.”
“You know, the one who snapped your finger bone, kicked you repeatedly in the head, obliterated the foot of your beloved Tsasha (after also kicking her in the head), and have been trying to kill you ever since your granny breathed your name with even more vigor than he tries to kill the rest of us?”
"Yeah. So? He knows where he stands with me. I only did what you lacked the ***** to do. And like the Hand says, it improves my mental well-being."
Tander looks from Woe back to Palindrome and then back to Woe again. He can't be sure who is telling the truth (OOC: Perception 8), but he has his suspicions.
"No more games, boys. We need the truth, and we need it now. Would whichever one of you is fibbing please retract your statement and we'll just pretend this little disagreement never happened, ok? It's time to get a move on"
Arnest watches suspiciously as Palindrome reveals the secret inscription on the Screamer, but after a moment he nods and tosses Palindrome the pouch. "I see. Prestidigitation indeed, but not the sort of gestures to produce illusory writings. It seems that, for once, you aren't lying. Shall we be off, then?"
ooc: arcana check: 23. Aww, I was really hoping he'd roll low.
Linear Mode
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