How would an Erathis Priest taunt a Bahamut Paladin

I've got a big roleplay war council thing coming up in the next play session or so, the character's goals to try and rally support for a kingdom under attack. Each character chose to pair up with a different NPC for a little roleplay discussion before they make their big case and votes are tallied.

My Dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut chose the Erathis Priest that was the emissary from a far off (and somewhat sinister-seeming) empire. The empire isn't really that interested in helping, and the priest is a Erathis-only type of guy. I'd love some good taunts both one-liner type and more complex arguments that could really get under the dragonborn's scales.

I don't want to make it either for-sure winnable or losable, but I would like to elicit some emotional responses from the paladin.

Erathis = Civilization, right? So his favorite insults might be:
- Barbaric
- Illiterate
- Uncultured
- Unread
- Crude
- Backwater
- Yokel

Every argument against this urbane urbanite is "old hat". He visibly sighs when you present the capstone of your cleverness, dismissing it as "not that old chestnut again, it was thoroughly and very publicly trounced at the Forum of Foreignpartsia not twenty years ago, and I'm sure you're well aware -- wait, I'm speaking of a yokel like you -- can I at least assume a passing familiarity with the Two Hundred and Fifteenth Apologia of Pliny the Ageless? What, nothing? Gods, why do you have me practicing rhetoric before cattle?"

... or something like that. Perhaps make the player roll a lot of Knowledge & Diplomacy checks, and have the NPC smile smugly each time the PC fails to catch an obscure reference. (If you want him to really hate this NPC, that is.)

Cheers, -- N

Sigh. Nifft has the "you must give more XP" message. AGAIN.

Erathis and Bahamut share a major similarity:

They believe in protecting the weak


This highlights a major difference:

To Bahamut the weak must be protected by the powerful
To Erathis the weak can protect each other, through civilisation

A priest of Erathis might consider Bahamut and his Dragons as tyrants, wanting to take control under the promise of protection.

Further to Kingreaper's post:

Erathis might be opposed to the martial element of Bahamut, on the grounds that when war comes it is civic order and the ordinary populace that suffer.

The fact that Bahamut is a dragon - who are generally seen as wild creatures, not peaceful townsfolk! - might provide imagery/ideas on which the Erathis-priest could hang this sort of jibe or criticism.

You could insult Bahamut's clergy by claiming that Bahamut is but a shadow of Io's power and authority, or point out that Bahamut is basically just Tiamat's brother. You might start a war with that last one...

Erathis Priest "While I understand that dragonborn must be careful to avoid anything that could prevent their breath weapons from functioning, was it too much to ask that before a major diplomatic council you could have at least brushed your teeth or gargled with mouthwash? Ugh, the foul odor emanating from your mouth is near to making me faint...."

It depends on the nature of the kingdom being attacked and the empire. It also depends on the political interests and plans of the empire in the region. Here are a few comments that could be interesting, with varying revelation of future plans and levels of unsavory.

If they are conquered, then that will mean a consolidation of civilized power in the region, which will make our future conquest of this territory easier.

A protracted war would only lead to further instability in the region. As such, it is best to withhold aid, so that the war will end more quickly.

The important question is whether the area will be more stable if we aid this kingdom and prevent it from being taken over, or if the area will be more stable if they are conquered.

I don't understand why you keep bringing up trivialities like the likely enslavement of the kingdom's people if it's conquered.

The deaths caused by the war will detrimentally effect the economic stability of the region, and providing aid would merely prolong the war and thus the loss to the region.

The people of the kingdom would probably be better off under the rulership of someone that is capable of protecting them.

Conquest could lead to the creation of a stable trading partner in this region.

The kingdom simply doesn't have adequate resources to repay us for our aid in a reasonable time frame.

Chiding the paladin over his church's "Childish idealism" sounds like a place to start.

Could delve into the lore of the deities in order to make it even more aggravating. Something like:

"Did you gain such wisdom meditating on Bahamut's peak? Or was that merely the thin air that led you to such a conclusion?"

Or you could deal with the distant past, with jabs at Arkhosia:

"Oh yes, your righteous crusade. Have fun with that. The forces of civilization are completely behind you. After all, someone has to clean up the ruined empires your people leave behind."