Not With a Bang, I: Its Own Reward

[LazarusLong42]

OOC: Arkan finds no evidence of secret doors in either the common rooms or the sleeping rooms. The single door leading into the common room has a lock on this side; Forin shows you how it works (it's a bit of a tricky latch). I'll assume you lock it.

 

[Rybaer]

Grinder dumps his gear in the private quarters, but doesn't unpack.

"I don't like these shades-of-grey situations," he says. "I don't trust Arnis, but he did convince me not to trust Melian much either."

"Hypothetically, let's say that Arnis is telling the truth about Melian. Do we really want to cross a potentially powerful and dangerous wizard? In the interest of living a long, healthy life, that's not generally a wise course of action."

"On the flipside," he continues, stroking his short beard, "if Arnis is lying, then our ability to finish even a simple retrieval task would have been thwarted by mere words at the end and we'll still face Melian's displeasure."

"Arnis didn't do much to convince me that his little secret club could protect us against the wrath of a wizard. I guess we could return the fake gem and plead ignorance, but that could carry some risk as well."

"Other thoughts?"

 

[Manzanita]

Arkan

"I would like to wash my hands of this issue, but unfortunately, we are already too involved. The moment we accepted Melian's offer, and money, we became involved.

"I think we should take the irregulars at their word for now, and take the gem for them to where they ask. This will give us a little while to gather more information about the two sides. We would still have the option of returning to Melian if circumstances cause us to change our mind.

"The alternatives, taking either the real gem, or the false gem, back to Melian seem too risky to me. And if Melian catches us while we are traveling, we can tell him we had to take this course in order to get the gem from the irregulars and we were going to give it back to him anyway."

 

[Sam]

Grunlor

"I must admit that this situation confounds me. Melian says that Arnis and is troupe are thieves, Arnis says that Melian is a liar and a murderer. Neither seemed to be evil to me. Arnis says that Melian has some magical device to shield his 'true nature' from view by those with the sight. If Melian may have one of these devices, isn't it just as possible that Arnis has one as well?" Grunlor pauses, looking about the room, clearly uncomfortable as the center of attention.

He collects his thoughts and continues. "I signed on for this adventure to right a wrong. A man said he has been stolen from by vile goblins. Some of the goblins we have seen here today certainly do not fit that description, though the ones we battled earlier would have killed us without a thought. Now another man says 'I am not a thief, it is the person who sent you here that should be your enemy'. I do not see the 'right' of the situation. In fact, I see much more opportunity to create a more 'wrong' outcome than a 'right' one."

"I do not know which is the right course of action here. This is not as straightforward as I assumed this 'adventure' would be. I think I must meditate on this and ask for guidance."

 

[LazarusLong42]

OOC:

Sam: Are you going to literally seek Telenn's guidance?

Rybaer: A quick question. When you say "I don't like these shades-of-grey situations"... is that entirely in-character, or are you feeling that way OOC as well? Just checking

 

[Rybaer]

Rybaer: A quick question. When you say "I don't like these shades-of-grey situations"... is that entirely in-character, or are you feeling that way OOC as well? Just checking

[ooc - Oh, totally in character. As a player, I've got absolutely no problems at all. I do this sort of thing to my players as often as I can. So...none of Grinder's grumbling and complaining reflects my opinions as a player. Carry on!]

 

[Sam]

OOC:
Sam: Are you going to literally seek Telenn's guidance?

[OOC: If there were an in game mechanism, Grunlor would. He is definitely torn between doing nothing and beleiving Arnis. I don't think that there is a way for a first level paladin to peform any type of Communing though.]

 

[LazarusLong42]

OOC: Toric, Casar, anything to add from Brevin or Nojin?

 

[LazarusLong42]

As Grunlor meditates, he receives a vision. He sees Telenn's light, and sees a vision of the goblins and their cleric--the ones whose auras were touched with the taint of evil, but also with the light of redemption.

And Telenn's light leaves with nothing more to show.

OOC: Er... Casar? Toric? Still out there?

Chaos, Argent: Apologies for the delay recently We'll try to get the party moving your way shortly.

Everyone else: So, which way will you go?

 

[Sam]

Grunlor

Somewhat shaken, Grunlor tells his companions:

"Telenn has graced me with the sight that these goblins are on the path towards redemption and are followers of the light. I suppose that lends creedence to Arins' story, though simply because the goblins are trying to redeem themselves it doesn't have to follow that Arnis is working for the cause of good here. I for one do tend to believe him more now than before though."