D&D 5E [D&D 5e] Greyhawk, City of Thieves

[Herobizkit]

Despite her annoyed demeanor, Samara feels a rush of adrenaline at the prospect of danger on the road. She watches the two newcomers and (who she thought was) the more sensible "rogue" dart after one of the fleeing... what, exactly? Humans?

She struggles to steady herself, the sound of blood rushing in her ears. She hears Davis and Helmut advise against pursuit; she beings to consciously slow her breathing, as her mother had taught her. A calm mind and steady hand will always triumph over recklessness.

"As you command, Helmut. The road will continue without us; perhaps we could follow the others at our own pace? I feel the half-orc... Horse... could likely catch the interloper on his own, and we should not be separated should the other observers have a camp nearby."

 

[Schmoe]

To Samara, Helmut says with a rueful smile, "I don't command anyone Samara. We're all here of our own free will."

He looks back at the unfolding chase and scowls in disgust. "Bah. I'd rather not chase those men at all. John has run off looking for trouble where we need none, and has jeopardized our mission and the safety of those who followed him. If it were just him, I'd let him go, but it looks like Horse and Mialee have given chase as well. We should pursue, as quickly as we can without being reckless." With that, Helmut heads off the road, following John.

[sblock=Mini Stat Block]Helmut Krauthammer
Passive Perception = 11
Initiative Modifier = +1
[/sblock]

 

[Schmoe]

OOC: Whoops, forgot the Dexterity check. Here it is: [roll0]

 

[Sezarious]

John bites his lip at the trouble he had caused. "Is this what it means to be a Paladin? Causing a party to separate? Endangering the lives of his companions? All because he felt the need to uphold the values of the MIGHTY paladin..." Doubt flooded his mind and he stopped. Looking back towards the others. "I, I am a fool", he whispered to himself. "Trithereon, what the HELL do you want me to do? Why in the blazes did you pick ME for this task?" "She's not listening Johnny boy! Why don't you just pray to the bottle? It knows what you need! Good ol'.... Reliable" The voice of doubt whispered malevolently in his ear, you could almost picture it... Smiling, if a voice could smile". This was John's demon. His self doubt, that same doubt which had plagued his mind for generations, as a similar voice had plagued his father, then his father before that...

He looked again to the water-skin he had produced earlier, about to drink at the great delight of his feelings of self-doubt, he paused, looking upward at Horse who had just caught up with him, a big grin on his face, then at Mialee behind him, then at Helmut and Samara following behind. With a sigh, he decided to take a moment for the others to catch-up. He shrugged at Horse, as he approaches, offering him a swig from his skin. "Whiskey"?

[sblock=OOC] If I'm actually annoying anyone out of game, I apologise. I know Paladins can be painful to play with sometimes, but as John is conflicted, he's actually paused at this point to potentially not pursue these men. He presently sees Helmut as the party leader, so whether John now commits to the chase or not will hinge on Helmut's decision as well as Samara's input as he values the cleric's input too. I know a Trithereon Paladin isn't normally about authority and all about individuality, but I like this idea that John's "No good pretending I'm something I'm not" ideal and his "Vices" flaw are currently hindering that, so he's doubting himself.

If Helmut wants to pursue, I'll roll my dexterity now for post progression [roll0]
If Helmut doesn't want to pursue, John will back down. [/sblock]

 

[Schmoe]

OOC: No worries about John. However, Helmut isn't likely to put up with it much.

Helmut scans the rocks around them as he approaches the spot where John, Horse, and Mialee have paused. Coming to rest on John, his eyes smolder. When he gets close enough to speak, his words barely hold back the anger in his voice. ”I don’t know what you think you were doing, but you almost had half of us killed. Look around you. What do you see? I’ll tell you what I see. I see a group of strangers who banded together on a common quest to put an end to Grob. What I don’t see is a group of people who agreed we should go chasing off after every lark and phantom threat we come across. Maybe you didn’t realize it, but when you bolted after those men, you decided for all of us. We’re not cutthroats, at least not all of us, and you should have known at least some of the group would follow. Your decision spoke for the group, but you don’t have that right.” He pauses as he considers his words, then finishes, “None of us do.”

Helmut looks around again, keenly aware that they may be watched by hostile eyes. “Now, I agree those men may have been bandits. If it means that much to you to hunt them down and find out for sure, then put it to the group. But if you don’t want to be part of this group and abide by our common cause, or if you want to run off on your own, then be off with you. Either way let’s decide quickly. I’m not like to stay here any longer than we must.”

[sblock=Mini Stat Block]Helmut Krauthammer
Passive Perception = 11
Initiative Modifier = +1
[/sblock]

 

[Sezarious]

"Uh, ohhh, heee looks mad Johnny Boy!" The voice cackled in his head. "Go on boy, RUN, RUN away from him. Ohhhh the disappointment on everyone's faces. Johhhn, the mighty Paladin is not a bastion of reason, or of Justice, but a fool." As Helmut approached and started speaking to John, he began drifting away, nodding at regular intervals with his head bowed, the voice cackling in his head was getting louder.

"-any longer than we must.”; Helmut finished his sentence as John looked up. Though he had not been able to take in everything the warrior had said, John had absorbed enough to know that Helmut's criticism was no different to the self-criticism he had given himself only moments before. He raised his eyes up to meet the gaze of the stern warrior. "Oh, what are you going to do nooow Johnny boy? apologise? You ARE a weak minded fool"; Johnny answered back to the voice for the first time, he was calm and direct with it "Then at least I'll be a weak minded fool who looks out for others and is capable of admitting when I'm wrong". The voice stopped. Silence echoed in his mind.

"I'm, sorry Helmut"; he shifted his weight at he looked around himself for danger, before meeting the mans gaze again. "I do not wish to bring chaos to you all. I am new to this, being a Paladin; and, I do not entirely understand what it is my god requires of me. If I choose inaction over caution, I could fail to uphold aspects of the code. My teacher would have, taught me further but my training was-" He pauses for a moment, gazing now past Helmut as the memories of Varkas death sailed into his mind. He could see it now. John was chained up on one side of the old dungeon, his master on the other, stripped down naked. The cleric of Luz, a black haired woman dressed in white and red robes was cackling in front of him. Slowly, over the course of days, her dress became more and more red with the blood of John's teacher until there was no white left. In that time, she had skinned him alive, healing him just enough here and there and wearing his skin like the fur of a fox. He couldn't save him... John did the best to hide the pain he was feeling before finishing his sentence [roll0], "-cut short".

He stopped talking, indicating to Helmut he was ready again to follow. "I will leave things to party discussion from here on, by getting allies killed, I might be committing an evil of my own. I do not wish for that." He paused as a thought arose in his head, a phrase from his intended oath flowed into his mind "I choose to fight the greater evil"... "The evil within" He whispered in his mind.

 

[Radaceus]

'Horse!...' the reminiscent echo of his mother calling out, fading behind him.

Catching up with John, he accepted the whiskey,slugging back more than his share, an appropriate amount unbeknownst to him.

Before he could speak with John, Helmut's reprimanding tone snapped his attention. He shoulders slunk, he stared at his feet unwilling to make eye contact with the commanding voice. He floated away into his memories for an instant, 'Look at me Horse, when I am talking to you!' a picture of Grenda lifting his chin, her fierce gaze softening as their eyes locked, she pointed away, 'How are you ever going to make it out there without me, you have to start thinking smart with this!' she tapped his noggin,'and not with these' she prodded his biceps, 'dont have me worrying!'

'... I choose to fight the greater evil...'

looking up he fights back his urge to walk away like he always has, to avoid confrontation and possibly becoming angry with himself, with the world that doesn't understand him. Making eye contact with Helmut, 'I fight great evil too! Horse sorry, you the boss Helmut'

 

[airwalkrr]

Curly turns around with a bit of a start at all the commotion. It is almost as if he had not noticed until now. "Aye what's this then? John, Horse, Mialee, get your arses back 'ere 'afore ye get cut to ribbons by hidden bandits!"

As soon as he seems to grasp the situation, his grin turns to a look of concern for once. He is pensive, pondering, his eyes narrowed. He trots up to Helmut, tossing a knife in the air and catching it on the blade, as he is wont to do. "I think ye have the right of it, mate. This road be crawlin' with men o' the worst sort. Soon as gut ye as look ye in the eye. There's nothin' but trouble to be had runnin' off all half-cocked. If they be bandits, and I wager they are, then they are like to 'ave a camp nearby, where there might be more of them. Or worse, they want ye to follow them into a trap they've laid. If it were me, I'd have the ambush take place off-road too, so as to alert fewer potential witnesses. Then I'd take to pickin' ye off one by one..."

He stops speaking abruptly, apparently having said more than he intended. "Erm, not that I ever would or have taken part in any such kind o' business meself. What say we keep an open eye, and continue along. We've only just started out. There are many hours left in the day, and I'd like to arrive at that hostel by nightfall."

 

[hafrogman]

Davis nods at Curly's suggestion.

"Right, we push on."

OOC: Davis Grey - Passive Perception 9 - Initiative +2

 

[Spartain104]

Kail Ryon Init: +3 Pas. Perc: 15

Kail stands nearby the others, keeping himself close enough to not become a target but generally keeping himself within speaking distance of the others. He has no issue following the others over the rocks, his training had prepared his body for many of these trials. Yet the dread of leaping into the wilderness after bandits did not appeal to him. As he stood with Curly and Helmut he kept his gaze on the rocks, careful to watch for any potential threats.

[roll0]
[roll1]