D&D 5E (IC) Fitz's Folly

[Fradak]

"I'll tell you why it's not a good idea to shoot it into the river. This thing has its own will and it wants to be used, for evil doing preferably. It will find its way to a finger. And we don't know who's finger it will be. Now we have the choice. The choice to take it for ourselves or to give it back to the guy who kept it safe for one hundred years.

But to speak the truth, I don't care if you carry it. I don't care if you toss it or give it back. I don't want to hear any more about this goddamn ring! I want YOU to be part of the solution, not the problem. I don't blame you for what you did but do not play solo on this.

We are the Sticks, remember?. It was your idea. If this means anything to you, come down that tree and let's decide together what we gonna do, as a team. But be sure I'll not let this ring stand any longer between us. I want you back, even if I have to cut down the whole jungle!"

The last words sounded more like a desperate act of love than an ultimatum.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Miss Imogen is frustrated. She feels manipulated by her friend, even if his passion is appreciated.

"Chrysagon, that's fine to say, but we weren't the Sticks a few minutes ago. I had control, and I told you I had control, and I took off the ring, and still I wasn't believed. You yourself held Cimber equal in life to you.

"And now you tell me the ring wants to find a finger? Frankly, you can't know that. And if it's true, your proposal is to give it back to a finger who will put it on and has done so for a century.

"I have every reason to fear for my safety if I descend. The situation is no different than it was before."

She pauses.

"Give me your word -- swear to me, by Kelevmor and your Order -- that if i come down, I shall be free to leave if I choose. That my trust in you is not misplaced."

 

[Fradak]

I didn't come here to lie to you and I don't need to swear anything. You know very well that as long as I'm alive, I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. You or any member of this group are my priority, over anything else. Even over this ring and where it will end. If you want to talk about what happened, I'll tell you what I saw.

What I understand, is that you were possessed by the ring. I'm sorry to say that but at this very moment, you became a threat. Harb tried to neutralize you. He can be more lethal, I know it and you know it. But when you took off the ring, no more harm was done to you. Only doubt remained. A legitimate doubt. We didn't know what kind of powers had this ring. It could be manipulating you even if you don't wear it. Even right know.

Now, what I don't understand is where this obsession come from. Why is this ring so important to you? Why are you protecting it? You are putting into the balance our group, our mission against this ring. It doesn't make sens. Unless you are still under its effects.

I don't have to prouve anything. You have. And the only way to prouve you have control over the ring, is by giving it to someone. Ok, you don't want to give it to Cimber. You are really concerned by the damage this ring can do. Fine, I trust you.

Give me the ring and let's go to the camp. You will be under my protection. If you have good reasons to doubt about Cimber capacities, I'll keep the ring until you convince the rest of the group that Artus Cimber is not the one who should carry this burden and then, we'll have to decide who's gonna be the bearer. I don't really know from which authority we could decide that but whatever.

But if you fail to get a consensus about this matter, I'll give the ring back to Cimber.

That's the deal. You have my word.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Back in the camp, Artus Cimber confessed to Rodrigo, Harb, Dellrak, and Qawasha, "That ring is a curse and I can't allow that fine young lady to be destroyed by it. I have carried it for a century, eventually learning to live with it - but it was very difficult. My early days were... troubled. The ring wants only to freeze Toril in an ice age and would like nothing less than the destruction of all living things. She is strong. Perhaps even stronger than myself - but she is young and it is a terrible burden. We don't know if she will be able to overcome it as I did. Even if she does, can she repeat my success in keeping it out of the hands of those who could not contol it, or worse, those who would side with it? I can't risk it. I will ask her again to return the ring to me. If she refuses... I'm afraid that I will have to ask you to stand with me or stand aside."

 

[gargoyleking]

Harb listens to Artus, nodding slightly at the information. "I fear our mission may be jeopardized by this artefact. There is a great power in it, but it has shown treachery already. How have you managed to control such a thing for so long?"

 

[FitzTheRuke]

"With great difficulty," answered Artus Cimber with a rueful smile.

 

[Ancalagon]

"It is good you managed to take off the ring Miss Imogen... but I don't understand why you want to keep it. This is, at best, a dangerous distraction from our quest. You will have to spend your time running away from those who would steal it, and struggle to keep it from doing harm. Artus has a century of experience keeping it. He will shoulder this burden willingly. Why not let him do it?"

This desire to keep it is what troubles us...

 

[Kobold Stew]

"Chrys, I have your trust or I don't. I am not asking you to prove anything to me. I am asking for your protection. I accept that doubt among you remained until I took off the ring. But my fear for my safety remains.

I am not giving you the ring. I want to come in peace, and I am sorry that I cannot get your promise."

It is then that Rodrigo comes into the clearing and speaks. She listens to him. She knows in her heart that there is no force acting on her, no obsession, but she understands that she will not persuade them.

"Give me a minute. I'll be right down."

Miss Imogen leaps to another tree, and then to another, and then a third. Jumping up higher she finds a landmark she will remember, on a tree that she will recognize. And she hides the ring there. With it she takes the signet ring from her other finger, and places it in the same tree, high in the air. Certain that she will recognize the spot again, she returns to the clearing, and then drops down.

"I am ready to go with you," she says. She unstrings he bow, replaces it over her shoulder, and holds out her empty hands to show she is no threat.

 

[Fradak]

"Thank you Miss Imogen."

Then Chrysagon follows her to the camp and read the paper Weed gave him.

 

[Kobold Stew]

"Just a sec," says Miss Imogen, and turns around, bounding again into the trees. A few minutes later she returns, with both of the rings she had left hidden. One is on her finger -- the signet ring given to her by her Uncle in her twelfth birthday, that arrived at Miss Enna's school only a few days late, but which was the most important gift she had ever received.

"I can't do it," she tells herself. The other ring, the Ring of Winter, in her right fist.

She catches up to Chrysagon, and marches past him and Weed. She is terrified, if she admits it to herself, having made a rash choice that has hurt others and violated friendships she had thought were deeper than they were.

She returns to the clearing, walking between the giant statue base and the collapsed tent. She walks up to Artus Cimber, and fall on one knee, before him.

Her head is bowed. This is no longer about the Sticks. She offers up her right hand, supplicating the man who had so recently been paralyzed, and from whom she had taken the ring on a caprice.

"Mr Cimber," she begins, her hand outstretched. "I was sincere in my apology to you before."

The mortification she feels sends a chill in her bones that is like the cold of the North wind.

"But now I make what reparation I can. This ring is your burden to bear. I do not believe you should wear it, despite your mastery of it. But it is for you to take my advice or not. And if you wished, I would carry it for you that it would be destroyed. But I return it to you, and urge you to hold me responsible entirely. This was me, and not the Sticks. They seek an end to the Death Curse, and need your help, whether they ask for it or no. I do not expect to count among their number henceforth, but I offer you this ring, fully aware of what power it has, and fully aware of the strength required to master it." She does not add, "and of the envy is sows amongst friends."

She feels the eyes of her companions upon her. Her outstretched hand rises up, her head bowed, as if waiting for a sword to strike.

"Take the ring, if you truly wish it. Do with me as you see fit." At this she cannot help but look at Dragonbait, fearing his retribution too. "But I pray that you direct your anger at me alone, and not at my companions, who do not see the matter as I do."

She holds her head bowed, her right arm outstretched and holding the Ring of Winter. She is not defending herself should anyone strike at her. She knows she is misunderstood, and remembers the experience of wearing the ring, the first new person to do so in a century, if Artus Cimber is to be believed.