Kulan: Knightfall's Heroes of Carnell Game [IC]

[Scott DeWar]

Caerth clears his throat, then starts, uncertainly.

"We-- I .. .. .. .. .. ",

"we" , says Quinn encouragingly to the big druid. He keeps his hands empty and balled at just above his hips .. .. .. and his chain. He keeps a wary eye on the dire rats.
aid another on diplomacy [+1, target: 10+] aid another: diplomacy: 1D20+1 = [8]+1 = 9
.

" .. .. .. .. .. do not wish to fight,"

the half-orc says, dropping his spear and crossing his arms in what he hopes is a sign of non-hostility. "We have come to talk to you, concerning another wererat called Odilos. Do you know of him?"

The druid hopes Hornauer is ready to talk and not fight. He hasn't quite figured out yet what he'll do if things do escalate, or if he should tell the lycanthrope that the guards intend to capture him.

OOC: I suppose that requires a Diplomacy roll? [roll0] *fingers crossed*

 

[Knightfall]

Caerth clears his throat, then starts, uncertainly.

"We-- I do not wish to fight," the half-orc says, dropping his spear and crossing his arms in what he hopes is a sign of non-hostility. "We have come to talk to you, concerning another wererat called Odilos. Do you know of him?"

The druid hopes Hornauer is ready to talk and not fight. He hasn't quite figured out yet what he'll do if things do escalate, or if he should tell the lycanthrope that the guards intend to capture him.

"we" , says Quinn encouragingly to the big druid. He keeps his hands empty and balled at just above his hips .. .. .. and his chain. He keeps a wary eye on the dire rats.

There is a long silence before the dire rats move forward, slowly and cautiously. The big rats do not attack but they come down the tower's outer starway and move to create a crescent moon shape around the group. Dozens of other smaller rats join them, coming out of hidden recesses and crevasses.

Hornauer steps not out of the doorway, but out of the shadow of the tower. Out of the doorway comes the same massive dire rat that you had encountered with him in the complex under the tower.

Sir Ghal begins to pull his blade out of his sheath but, surprisingly, the man he'd called Balorix stops him. The older warrior looks at the young knight and shakes his head.

"How do you know that name, druid!?" Hornauer demands.

"We must kill them, my love," the huge rat hisses in an oddly feminine voice. "If they know of Odilos, then they have come as assassins of the guild. Kill them, kill them now!"

The crescent moon of rats sway and hiss with her words. Sir Ghal tries to pull his blade again but the old man stops him once again.

"Nay, young knight," Balorix insists. "Do not provoke them. Let us be rational. This is why Lady Pendour sent for me—to consul her, and you. We do not know if this ratman had your father killed. Be mindful."

"I-it is a-as you wish, Master Balorix," the young knight seems shaken and bent on revenge.

"Horny, my love," the huge rat whines. "Let my babies eat them. They are sooo hungry."

"No, Lycia," Hornauer commands. "If we kill them outright without learning more, we won't learn what the guild knows. Now, who are these others that you have brought with you, hmm?" Hornauer points to Sir Ghal and the guards. "Your assassin squad. I can smell the silver on them."

"I," Balorix replies. "Am Sir Balorix, Master of Knightswall." The man pulls off his outer coat and reveals underneath a fine gray tunic emblazoned with two red crossed swords. "Honored member of the Crimson Blades."

"A Investigator of the Senate!" The huge rats screams. "We are doomed!"

"No, no, no, no," Hornauer says with fear. "How could you bring him here!" He yells at Caerth. (Caerth knows that Investigators are skilled interrogators who have the right to use almost any means at their disposal.)

"Please calm yourself, Mister Rat," the old knight says. "I am now retired from that order, and I was not called to Carnell because of you. And I assure you that the druid and his friends were not made aware of my true nature before coming here. I insisted to Sir Ghal that it be so."

"I am Sir Ghal Ebal," the young knight says to the wererat while trying not to look guilty in your eyes. "And I am here to make sure you aren't in league with the wererat, Odilos, who killed my father."

"I did not kill anyone!" Hornauer hisses. "And I would never work with that bastard. Well, now I wouldn't work with him. Y-you haven't told him where I am, have you?" The wererat looks very worried.

Sir Ghal is about to speak when Balorix holds up his hand. The young knight says nothing.

"We are not here to answer any more of your questions unless you answer ours first," the man insists. "Now, I believe the young half-orc here asked you a question. You know this other wererat. Tell us."

"No Horny," Lycia whines. "We must kill them all and feed! Then flee!"

"My love, please go back inside and take our brood with you," Hornauer says uneasily.

The huge rats hisses and gnashes her teeth but eventually relents. All but the biggest of the dire rats—four of them—either climb the stairs into the tower or receed back into the shadows where they came from.

"Believe that Lycia and I can call them back with only a thought," the wererat says to Sir Balorix.

"Oh, I believe you," he replies. "And believe me when I say it will take more than you and your rats to kill me."

"I- I believe you," Hornauer says glumly. He sighs and shifts from his hybrid form to his human form. The man stands stark naked, which doesn't rattle the old knight. Hornauer has a wry grin on his face but it soon disappears under the Investigator's scowl. He sighs again and goes to fetch a bundle of clothes from under a rock near the tower. The dire rats watch his back as he dones his worn garments. He speaks as he dresses. "Yes, I know Odilos, although I doubt that's his real name. That's his guild name."

"What guild?" The Investigator asks.

Hornauer turns and grins at the man. "You and your senate don't know about the guild, do you? Well, that's now my advantage, it seems. What do I get for this information?"

"You get to live," Sir Ghal replies. "But, somewhere else but here."

"You would evict me?"

"He has orders to do so," Sir Balorix replies. "But if you tell us everything you know about this guild, I might be inclined to speak to the Gerousia on you and your brood's behalf to find a more isolated place to live on the edge of the Strandlands."

"I'm not going to live in the southern badlands, old man," Hornauer says with menace. The biggest dire rat hisses at the Investigator. "I am the son a rat queen. I'm not a trail rat."

"There aren't any rat queens in the Strandlands," Sir Ghal insists. "The Silver Purge made sure of that."

"The Purge was a long time ago, knight, and my kind breeds quickly," Hornauer moves to the hissing rat and calms the beast. "The guild I speak of is the Rat Guild of Sandbreak. My mother is its leader and queen. History knows her as the Ash Witch."

"That's impossible! The Ash Witch was killed over 800 years ago—long before the Silver Purge!" Sir Ghal shouts.

The Investigator steps back at the news. His eyes are wide and he shakes his head in disbelief.

"It, it can't be true," Sir Ghal says to the old knight.

"I think I just came out of retirement," Sir Balorix says while looking first at Caerth and then at Quinn.

"Who Ash Queen?" Aureus asks.

 

[Scott DeWar]

Quinn waits for Aureus' question to get answered before he speaks his mind, mainly to mention the demise of Odilos so as to calm the wererats.

 

[Scotley]

As they leave the boats Phar has a quiet word with the guard staying at the boat about the scrags and thus finds himself at the very back of the group when they meet Hornauer. He readies a spell as threats are exchanged, but leaves his bow in its quiver. He quickly finds himself lacking too much knowledge to take an active part in the discussion. He fumes silently at the lack of trust shown by these men in not giving him a full briefing. There would be hard words latter of that he would make sure. He sighs as the men discuss the 800 years, these short lived races have so little understanding of the world..

 

[JustinCase]

Caerth is furious, although he tries to keep it under control. Trembling with ill-conceived rage, the half-orc slowly picks up his spear and turns around towards Sir Balorix and Sir Ghal. He realizes very well his back is exposed to Hornauer, but Caerth does not care.

”You lied,” the muscular druid says quietly to the two men.

He grabs his spear in both hands, not moving unless the so-called Sirs give him a reason, but Caerth does not intend to let this trickery go unchallenged.

 

[Knightfall]

Quinn waits for Aureus' question to get answered before he speaks his mind, mainly to mention the demise of Odilos so as to calm the wererats.

Aureus stands in between Quinn and Phar, her face quizzical.

As they leave the boats Phar has a quiet word with the guard staying at the boat about the scrags and thus finds himself at the very back of the group when they meet Hornauer. He readies a spell as threats are exchanged, but leaves his bow in its quiver. He quickly finds himself lacking too much knowledge to take an active part in the discussion. He fumes silently at the lack of trust shown by these men in not giving him a full briefing. There would be hard words latter of that he would make sure. He sighs as the men discuss the 800 years, these short lived races have so little understanding of the world..

Phar doesn't have to think very long to remember the name, Ash Witch. Her legend was so infamous that it became known not only in the human lands of the Eastern Shores nort of here, but also among the elves of the Great Forest of Harqual. She was a powerful Wererat Queen that woud be akin to some of the Werewolf Lords that are infamous to history. However, the legend also said she was a vampire and that her broods were touched by both curses.

If true, Hornauer could not only be a wererat but also a vampire. No, he is standing outside in the daylight. He'd die in the sun, wouldn't he?

The legend says that the Ash Witch ruled over all of the lands east and south of the Thunder Mountains, although several historical tomes Phar read in his youth contradicted the legend.

Lorien would likely know more. Could he have suffered more to keep them from learning the truth.

Caerth is furious, although he tries to keep it under control. Trembling with ill-conceived rage, the half-orc slowly picks up his spear and turns around towards Sir Balorix and Sir Ghal. He realizes very well his back is exposed to Hornauer, but Caerth does not care.

”You lied,” the muscular druid says quietly to the two men.

He grabs his spear in both hands, not moving unless the so-called Sirs give him a reason, but Caerth does not intend to let this trickery go unchallenged.

"I did not lie to you," Sir Balorix replies firmly. "No, I did not tell you who I was, but if you had asked my name on the docks or in the boat, I would have been honorbound to tell you. But you didn't."

"I, I did lie to him," Sir Ghal adds. "I told them you we're just guards I had chosen for this mission."

"I did tell you to come up with a reason for our presence, but I did not tell you to lie to them," the Investigator chastizes the young knight.

"I didn't know what else to say," Sir Ghal snaps back. "You and Aeron put me in a tough position."

"Aeron knew?" Aureus asks.

"Yes, I told him who I was and why I didn't wish to tell any of you, and he agreed. He said it would be a good test for you all. Something to do with learning to interpret truth from a certain point of view and dealing with difficult situations."

Caerth fumes. In the back of his mind, he remembers a story that Aeron told him once about the evil Ash Witch. She was said to be a horrific figure that parents used to scare their children into behaving. 'Don't throw rocks at the chickens or the Ash Witch will get you'. Of course, Aeron never did that to him. But he did tell his young charge to be wary of any smelly strangers who spent too much time around vermin. But he never mentioned the Ash Witch being a wererat. Could Aeron have kept the truth from him?

"You don't believe me," Sir Balorix adds with a grim look. "You don't even know who he really is, he's no druid, so how can you know every thought in his mind?"

"Sir Balorix, that is not your secret to tell," Sir Ghal insists.

"If 'Aeron' had any honor, he'd have told this young man who he truly is years ago," the older knight snaps back. "He owes him that much."

"It's still not your story to tell," the younger knight replies.

"Very well," Sir Balorix agrees. He looks a Caerth. "I am sorry if you feel you have been wronged. It was not my intention. I only wished to observe you all and deem your worthiness. Perhaps I am so out of practise dealing with people, I did not realize my error. I am truly sorry for upsetting you. I swear on my oath as a Paladin of Cull that I did not intend to deceive you."

Sir Balorix gets on his knees and orders Sir Ghal to do so as well. He takes off his sword belt and bows his head. He raises the weapon and Sir Ghal does the same.

"If you feel you must have vengeance, I will not stop you," the paladin says.

"Sir Ghal, do not do this," the man named Elijah pleads.

"Do not interfer," Sir Ghal says as he follows the paladin's gesture. "And Caerth, I swear that Elijah is one of my guards and that he didn't know who Sir Balorix or Sir Avanth were until this moment."

Elijah looks at you all and steps back. He nods his head with his eyes wide.

"Lying not okay," Aureus says with her arms crossed. "But I need no revenge. Apology fine."

Hornauer orders his dire rats back, as he steps up just behind and to the side of Caerth and whispers in the half-orc's ear. "You are right to be angry, brother," he hisses. "I say take their weapons and throw them from the tower. They have wronged you and lied about your teacher. Kill them and be done with it. After that, I will tell you how to deal with my mother and her brood."

He comes very close to the half-orc and moves to place a hand on Caerth's arm.

OOC: You can either roll initiative or sense motive checks or both.

 

[JustinCase]

OOC: One Sense Motive for both parties? Or two seperate ones? I’ll assume the latter. Sense Motive on the Sirs: [roll0] On Hornauer: [roll1]

Caerth hesitates. Yes, he is angry at the paladin for not telling the truth — which is the same as lying, isn’t it? — but he doesn’t want to kill him for it. Injuring, perhaps.

Barely hearing Hornauers words, what the wererat says does influence the half-orc’s thinking. Those so-called civilized folk are a plague upon the world!

Caerth growls, a deep guttural sound only one with orcish blood can make.

”I should punish you,” he says with feeling. Nevertheless, he makes no move yet, unable to decide on a course of action.

Then he takes a few deep breaths, closes his eyes, and upon opening them again the druid seems somewhat less tense.

”Friends,” he says to his companions, the only ones he still trusts, ”What should I do?”

 

[Scotley]

Phar takes a moment to get his own thoughts in order and take a calming breath. He looks first to Caerth, "Yes these men have wronged us, but look at their penitence", he says gesturing to the men on their knees. "Is not their willingness to make such a sacrifice enough to show their value. I have more questions now, than I did when I left my bed this morning. I do not think anyone should be killed here until we have some answers." He turns to the others. "In the interest of getting some answers I will share what I know. The Ash Queen is legendary enough that I have heard tales of her in the distant Great Forest of Harqual. She was a powerful Wererat Queen that would be akin to some of the Werewolf Lords that are infamous to history. However, the legend also said she was a vampire and that her broods were touched by both curses. Perhaps she could survive if that is true." He looks at Hornauer, "Would you care to comment?"

 

[JustinCase]

Caerth nods as he considers Phar's words.

"I do not wish to kill anyone," the half-orc says slowly, softly. Then louder, he continues, "But I cannot trust either of you again, and if you lie to me again, I will unleash nature's full wrath upon you!"

He takes a few steps back, not accepting the offered weapons, to let Ghal and Balorix get up from their kneeling position. With one hand he releases his greatspear, then places the weapon with one end on the ground in a non-hostile position. Then Caerth looks at Hornauer with an almost apologetic look, as if he is starting to trust the wererat somewhat...

 

[Emily Jones]

OOC: amazing game "Knightfall" love to play that game.