Zerth said:
"Right now I feel you're not convincing many of us to help you. The whole story, Arnis, you don't have anything to lose if you really want our help."
OOC: Diplomacy roll 11+5=16, not bad. It helps that he really does want to help--he's just not certain yet whether to trust you. 
"The whole story. I can do my best. You'll have to understand, I don't know the whole story. Melian's a very secretive person, and Kemyl, our leader, for as much as he knew Melian before, now says he doesn't understand the man. But I can tell you about us first.
"Kemyl created the Irregulars 150 years ago, after Melian's first attack on another of those who had created the gems. He wanted to create a network of people he could trust: informants, spies, fighters, and the like, all with one purpose. To find Melian, and stop him. Obviously, given that we've been going for 150 years, we haven't been too successful.
"Over the years, the Irregulars grew. A large secret society with members in just about every city and town in the kingdom, we took on a second, more general purpose: to fight evil, even if it meant fighting dirty. No offense, my dwarven friend," he says, looking at Grunlor, "but sometimes paladins can be a little bit too caught up in law, order, and honor. We, essentially, do our best to beat evil at its own game. Does that mean playing dirty? Yes. Using poison? Yes. Anything we have at our disposal to stop those who would create real evil: death, destruction, wanton malice.
"Of course, because we do play dirty, the organization had always been kept a relatively well-guarded secret. The city guard doesn't often bring a paladin along to detect for real evil, and several of our cells have been tried by various city tribunals, rather unjustly. But all of our members understand the risks and the cause. And that is who we are.
"Melian, on the other hand, I can only describe to you by his deeds. The undead scourge that is still wreaking havoc in the West? That's his doing. The deaths of two members of the cadre that created these gems? His as well. He once destroyed an entire town in the far eastern coast of the continent through eperimentation--and I'm certain he has no qualms about doing it again. He delights in the pain of others, he relishes the necromantic arts; they are like honey to him."
"Then why," persists Grunlor, "did he not seem evil to us?"
Arnis raises his eyebrows. "It could have been any number of things, but most likely... was he wearing a shabby cloak? It looks a bit... odd for someone with his money to be wearing something so ratty? Yes... it's a cloak of deceit. It masks your morals, masks your face, and makes you seem to be someone entirely other. He uses it... often enough that we know what it does."
"And the goblins?" asks Grinder. Arkan nods.
"We do our best to turn those who know nothing but evil into useful members of society. We'd rather have them helping us fight evil, than be people we would have to fight. It's a long process, and can only be done a few at a time, but we hope there will be a time when goblins will be seen as just another humanoid race."
Baril looks Melian in the eye. "That still doesn't tell us why he would send us, rather than coming himself."
Arnis shakes his head. "As I told you... we were expecting him to come here as well. We've been waiting. I don't understand it either. Perhaps he wishes to use you as couriers another time; perhaps this is simply a test. Perhaps it is naught but a distraction, or simply a mind-game of his. I can't know for certain."
"I hope you will at least consider my offer. If Melian is sending other people to retrieve the gem for him, then our time here is essentially wasted, and we would do better to move the gem to Alten's Rock or Colinna. Though given the number of dwarves here, I suspect you might have come from Hallis Hill?"
