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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3027036" data-attributes="member: 35788">Rhema smiled as she realized that the highwayman who was facing her was a female and brandishing a sword as though she knew how to use it.  She knew that she had backup with the knowledge that Ischarus was to her right and Charis was to her left.  She had been given a moment to strike if she chose to use it before the woman could come against her.  Rhema gripped the handle of her sword tightly as her mind focused on her approaching enemy.  In spite of her moment of tactical advantage she also knew that her victory would be through her words and not through the skill of her blade.  “Do not oppose us.”  Rhema spoke softly and calmly.  “You will not suffer any loss if you do not oppose us.  Our fight is not with you.  It never has been.”The highwayman who had come up from behind the party yelled to the woman that Rhema had spoken.  “Do not listen to that witch’s words!  She’ll only try and lead you astray!”The one to whom Rhema had spoken made no motion with her blade, although she griped the handle of her sword tightly in the midst of the confusion in her mind.  Rhema had given her a decision to make.  She knew the words of her associate were true enough, but even armed with the verbal support of the other highwaymen Rhema’s words had a powerful force all of their own.  As the fighter stood there hesitating in her mind she heard Rhema’s words repeated over and over.While the female highwayman stood debating her actions, the battle took a much more fierce tone on the opposite side of the horses.  Semeion lined up a strike against the one who had challenged them from behind and who had yelled encouragement against Rhema’s compulsion.  The familiar words came to his mind as he once again extended his fingers.  “Thin-tok.”  His fingers glowed with a pale blue hue for a second before the color leapt off of his hands and merged into a single energy ball.  The ball sprang into action and found the target that Semeion desired.  The energy ball erupted upon the fighter’s chest.The fighter already had his weapon in hand as he stepped forward, received the blow from Semeion’s spell, and finished with a swing against Charis.  In spite of being a half-second behind in her parry, Charis was able to deflect the blow with the shaft of her newly purchased pick.  Already it was clear that the ease of balancing her new weapon was paying off.  With great skill and quickness she was able to move from defense to offense.  She pushed her opponent’s sword to her right and was able to find a weak spot in her opponent’s armor.  She drove the pointed end of her pick into the flesh of the fighter who had come against her.  The fighter cursed as pain ripped through his body.  In spite of this pain he was able to recuperate his loss and manage to square up another strike.The fighter wasn’t prepared for another magical strike, however.  From over Charis’ left shoulder he heard the same words as before.  “Thin-tok”.  He couldn’t see it forming, but the bright blue energy returned to Semeion’s fingers and leapt off his hand seeking out the opposition.  The energy ball blasted the fighter solidly in the chest and dropped him to the ground in a slightly bloodied state of unconsciousness.  Pleased at his effort, Semeion turned to find out how Ischarus was fairing.The whole time that Rhema had been talking her own opponent out of fighting and his other associates were handling the fighter that had come up from behind, Ischarus found himself locked in a deadly combat with an opponent who matched him sword for shield.  After several defensive blocks from both fighters Ischarus was able to advance upon his opponent and land the first blow.  His sword smashed hard of his opponent’s thigh, driving a cut in the leather thigh protection that his opponent wore.The fighter returned Ischarus’ blow with one of his own, although Ischarus was ready for the strike and observed that his opponent’s grip on his weapon had been rushed by Ischarus’ main offensive.  As his opponent’s weapon deflected of Ischarus’ shield, Ischarus pushed back against his opponent’s sword and forced it out of his hand.  Ischarus meant to take advantage of the fighter’s weakened position, but his own thrust of the sword missed just wide of the fighter’s weakened right side.  With a quick motion the fighter had his spare mace in his hand.  He used an overhand smash to bring it down upon Ischarus’ position.  Ischarus crouched a bit and raised his shield in defense.  It was here that Ischarus heard Semeion and Charis drop their enemy to the ground.Charis yelled to Semeion, “I need to stabilize this one, go help Rhema!  I’ll help Ischarus once I’m done.”As he turned, Semeion saw Charis bending down to stop the bleeding that her pick had brought upon the fighter.  Once she had configured a means of using her opponent’s armor to securely hold pressure over the wound, Charis moved to the fighter’s head to make sure that his signs of life were strong.  She removed his helm and gasped.  She stood as she backed up in shock and silently grabbed her pick once more.  In a few step she was in a position to help Ischarus flank his opponent.  Ischarus saw Charis coming, and maneuvered around his opponent so that she could position herself more easily.  Ischarus swung hard with his sword, but the opposing fighter effectively used his shield to allow the blow to glance off him harmlessly.  The fighter returned the strike, but Ischarus deflected this blow away as easily as his own blow had been deflected moments ago.  Ischarus noted that the fighter was intent on bringing him to the ground.  Charis was almost completely being ignored by their mutual opponent.Charis took advantage of the positioning and landed a clean blow against the fighter.  Her pick once more penetrated armor.  This blow caught the backside of the fighter’s right shoulder.  Like the last one, the fighter howled in pain and both Charis and Ischarus could see that the blow had weakened his offensive hand.Ischarus lined up another shot immediately after Charis’ strike.  His intention was to keep the fighter busy and allow Charis to find another vulnerable spot.  The fighter easily parried Ischarus’ strike, although Ischarus likewise parried the fighter’s half-hearted return.  Charis lined up a second shot and her pick found home once more.  As her weapon sank deep into the back of the fighter’s left leg her opponent collapsed in pain to the ground.Charis quickly stowed her weapon while Ischarus used his sword to push the fighter’s mace and shield away from his body.  With the skilled hands of a healer, Charis set about to mending the wounds that she had just inflicted.  As she worked, she could hear Rhema continuing her persuasive speech against the one remaining highwayman left standing.Rhema spoke with great composure in the presence of such violence.  “Listen to me.  In a matter of less than a minute this fight was decided.  You were not harmed at all because you very intelligently did not lift up your arms against me.  Now that you have seen that I speak the truth, I ask you to lay down your weapons.  If you lay them on the ground and step away from them, I can promise that no harm will come to you.  You saw what happened to your associates.  There is no need at all for this to happen to you.”The female highwayman nodded slowly, taking into account how her friends had been defeated.  She dropped her sword to the ground and quickly unclasped her morningstar as well.  As the ball end of her morningstar hit the ground with a solid thud, the woman undid the straps securing her shield to her arm and allowed that to fall to the ground as well.  Rhema motioned for her to move away from her weapons and the woman complied with a nod of approval.Once the woman was far enough away, Rhema continued giving the female fighter some directions.  “Now listen carefully and nobody will get hurt, do you understand?”  Rhema asked this question rhetorically.  Although she did not expect it, Rhema received a nod to the affirmative from her opponent.  “Your friends will have their weapons and means of defending themselves taken away from them as well.  But they will not be harmed in the process.  Do not interfere when their weapons are removed and you will not be touched.”From behind her she could hear Charis remove the helm of the opponent that had faced off against Ischarus.  This fighter caught her by as much surprise as the last.  She couldn’t help but speak out in surprise.  “They’re Drakontos, Ischarus.  Look at their eyes.  They look like mine.  They have flecks of red mixed into their human coloration.  Look at the hair.  The highlights are also red.”Charis paused while Ischarus bent over the body for a better look.  When he stood she continued, “And I know that one back there.  That is the one we called Steg.  He was under Druff’s control before you came in and rescued me.”Ischarus looked to the body of the fighter that Charis and Semeion had managed to knock unconscious.  “Well then, if they are Drakontos from your father dragon then it can only mean one thing.  They have been here in Tongra anticipating our return.  If Steg was the one that you felt following us for some time, he may have set up this ambush last night while we were sleeping.  But there is no way he could have returned to your village and back in a single night.  The cavernous mountain passageways would prevent movement that fast.  These three had to be here in Tongra.”Semeion left Rhema’s side and joined in the discussion.  “If that’s the case, then they must know our route.  Could they have trailed us three months ago and we were so unaware?”Charis nodded and in a firm voice she added, “Yes.”  Her face showed the resolve of a person born of dragon blood.  “It would not surprise me at all if my dragon father sent several groups through the mountains to follow us.  This trio here was supposed to be the insurance policy.  If everyone else failed in their task, this group would be here.”Rhema turned to the fighter that she had charmed into listening to her.  “Is what they say true?”The fighter replied almost immediately.  Her face seemed pleased to pass the information along to Rhema.  “It is.  Grick was supposed to finish you off.  Steg was supposed to trail him, and Grick did not know our father dragon had sent Steg behind him.  When Grick was overcome and thrown in jail, Steg returned here to set up the ambush.”Semeion and Charis looked to Ischarus.  The tall fighter smiled slightly and spoke.  “Then the game of wits is on.  If they know our paths and they know we are coming, then they will be prepared for us.  We must find a new path.  We must find a trail that they will not expect us to take.”The fighter that Ischarus and Charis had worked over hard moaned at their feet.  Ischarus spun around at the sound.  “Curses!” Ischarus couldn’t help but shout as he realized the conversation had caused him to forget his job.  “We have to bind them before they wake or it’ll be much more difficult!”The trio set off binding the fallen fighters while Rhema continued to talk to the one who had decided against fighting.  “We are going to take you back to Scarhaus and place you in prison.  You have no choice in this matter if you wish to remain unharmed.  Do you understand?”The woman scowled a bit, but nodded after a few seconds of thought.Rhema continued her directions.  “However, since you did not raise a weapon against us I will put in a good word for you and you may not be charged.  When we return from Quehalost – or two weeks in the event we cannot return – you will be tried.  That’ll give you time to think about your choices and determine your future.  It’ll give you time to think about whether you’d rather continue to live serving an evil master like your dragon father or whether you find more honor in our mercy.  Your dragon father would have us killed.  You’ll notice that not only were your lives spared but your party’s wounds that we inflicted have been treated.”The fighter spoke nothing in return.  A sour look settled over her face.  However, she offered up no resistance and after the party managed to find their opponent’s horses they brought the group of highwaymen back to Scarhaus for jail and an eventual trial.  Rhema argued hard for leniency in sentence for the female fighter who had not fought against them.  In the end Rhema’s arguments won her a cell in a separate area of the jail where the restrictions and punishments were not as severe.  The party decided to spend the rest of the day in Scarhaus looking for maps that might allow them to find a new path in the morning.  When evening came, they settled back in for a second night at Rapheus’ inn.  This time, Rhena was sure to give Mardak the attention that he longed for.[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]Rhema smiled as she realized that the highwayman who was facing her was a female and brandishing a sword as though she knew how to use it. She knew that she had backup with the knowledge that Ischarus was to her right and Charis was to her left. She had been given a moment to strike if she chose to use it before the woman could come against her. Rhema gripped the handle of her sword tightly as her mind focused on her approaching enemy. In spite of her moment of tactical advantage she also knew that her victory would be through her words and not through the skill of her blade. “Do not oppose us.” Rhema spoke softly and calmly. “You will not suffer any loss if you do not oppose us. Our fight is not with you. It never has been.”The highwayman who had come up from behind the party yelled to the woman that Rhema had spoken. “Do not listen to that witch’s words! She’ll only try and lead you astray!”The one to whom Rhema had spoken made no motion with her blade, although she griped the handle of her sword tightly in the midst of the confusion in her mind. Rhema had given her a decision to make. She knew the words of her associate were true enough, but even armed with the verbal support of the other highwaymen Rhema’s words had a powerful force all of their own. As the fighter stood there hesitating in her mind she heard Rhema’s words repeated over and over.While the female highwayman stood debating her actions, the battle took a much more fierce tone on the opposite side of the horses. Semeion lined up a strike against the one who had challenged them from behind and who had yelled encouragement against Rhema’s compulsion. The familiar words came to his mind as he once again extended his fingers. “Thin-tok.” His fingers glowed with a pale blue hue for a second before the color leapt off of his hands and merged into a single energy ball. The ball sprang into action and found the target that Semeion desired. The energy ball erupted upon the fighter’s chest.The fighter already had his weapon in hand as he stepped forward, received the blow from Semeion’s spell, and finished with a swing against Charis. In spite of being a half-second behind in her parry, Charis was able to deflect the blow with the shaft of her newly purchased pick. Already it was clear that the ease of balancing her new weapon was paying off. With great skill and quickness she was able to move from defense to offense. She pushed her opponent’s sword to her right and was able to find a weak spot in her opponent’s armor. She drove the pointed end of her pick into the flesh of the fighter who had come against her. The fighter cursed as pain ripped through his body. In spite of this pain he was able to recuperate his loss and manage to square up another strike.The fighter wasn’t prepared for another magical strike, however. From over Charis’ left shoulder he heard the same words as before. “Thin-tok”. He couldn’t see it forming, but the bright blue energy returned to Semeion’s fingers and leapt off his hand seeking out the opposition. The energy ball blasted the fighter solidly in the chest and dropped him to the ground in a slightly bloodied state of unconsciousness. Pleased at his effort, Semeion turned to find out how Ischarus was fairing.The whole time that Rhema had been talking her own opponent out of fighting and his other associates were handling the fighter that had come up from behind, Ischarus found himself locked in a deadly combat with an opponent who matched him sword for shield. After several defensive blocks from both fighters Ischarus was able to advance upon his opponent and land the first blow. His sword smashed hard of his opponent’s thigh, driving a cut in the leather thigh protection that his opponent wore.The fighter returned Ischarus’ blow with one of his own, although Ischarus was ready for the strike and observed that his opponent’s grip on his weapon had been rushed by Ischarus’ main offensive. As his opponent’s weapon deflected of Ischarus’ shield, Ischarus pushed back against his opponent’s sword and forced it out of his hand. Ischarus meant to take advantage of the fighter’s weakened position, but his own thrust of the sword missed just wide of the fighter’s weakened right side. With a quick motion the fighter had his spare mace in his hand. He used an overhand smash to bring it down upon Ischarus’ position. Ischarus crouched a bit and raised his shield in defense. It was here that Ischarus heard Semeion and Charis drop their enemy to the ground.Charis yelled to Semeion, “I need to stabilize this one, go help Rhema! I’ll help Ischarus once I’m done.”As he turned, Semeion saw Charis bending down to stop the bleeding that her pick had brought upon the fighter. Once she had configured a means of using her opponent’s armor to securely hold pressure over the wound, Charis moved to the fighter’s head to make sure that his signs of life were strong. She removed his helm and gasped. She stood as she backed up in shock and silently grabbed her pick once more. In a few step she was in a position to help Ischarus flank his opponent. Ischarus saw Charis coming, and maneuvered around his opponent so that she could position herself more easily. Ischarus swung hard with his sword, but the opposing fighter effectively used his shield to allow the blow to glance off him harmlessly. The fighter returned the strike, but Ischarus deflected this blow away as easily as his own blow had been deflected moments ago. Ischarus noted that the fighter was intent on bringing him to the ground. Charis was almost completely being ignored by their mutual opponent.Charis took advantage of the positioning and landed a clean blow against the fighter. Her pick once more penetrated armor. This blow caught the backside of the fighter’s right shoulder. Like the last one, the fighter howled in pain and both Charis and Ischarus could see that the blow had weakened his offensive hand.Ischarus lined up another shot immediately after Charis’ strike. His intention was to keep the fighter busy and allow Charis to find another vulnerable spot. The fighter easily parried Ischarus’ strike, although Ischarus likewise parried the fighter’s half-hearted return. Charis lined up a second shot and her pick found home once more. As her weapon sank deep into the back of the fighter’s left leg her opponent collapsed in pain to the ground.Charis quickly stowed her weapon while Ischarus used his sword to push the fighter’s mace and shield away from his body. With the skilled hands of a healer, Charis set about to mending the wounds that she had just inflicted. As she worked, she could hear Rhema continuing her persuasive speech against the one remaining highwayman left standing.Rhema spoke with great composure in the presence of such violence. “Listen to me. In a matter of less than a minute this fight was decided. You were not harmed at all because you very intelligently did not lift up your arms against me. Now that you have seen that I speak the truth, I ask you to lay down your weapons. If you lay them on the ground and step away from them, I can promise that no harm will come to you. You saw what happened to your associates. There is no need at all for this to happen to you.”The female highwayman nodded slowly, taking into account how her friends had been defeated. She dropped her sword to the ground and quickly unclasped her morningstar as well. As the ball end of her morningstar hit the ground with a solid thud, the woman undid the straps securing her shield to her arm and allowed that to fall to the ground as well. Rhema motioned for her to move away from her weapons and the woman complied with a nod of approval.Once the woman was far enough away, Rhema continued giving the female fighter some directions. “Now listen carefully and nobody will get hurt, do you understand?” Rhema asked this question rhetorically. Although she did not expect it, Rhema received a nod to the affirmative from her opponent. “Your friends will have their weapons and means of defending themselves taken away from them as well. But they will not be harmed in the process. Do not interfere when their weapons are removed and you will not be touched.”From behind her she could hear Charis remove the helm of the opponent that had faced off against Ischarus. This fighter caught her by as much surprise as the last. She couldn’t help but speak out in surprise. “They’re Drakontos, Ischarus. Look at their eyes. They look like mine. They have flecks of red mixed into their human coloration. Look at the hair. The highlights are also red.”Charis paused while Ischarus bent over the body for a better look. When he stood she continued, “And I know that one back there. That is the one we called Steg. He was under Druff’s control before you came in and rescued me.”Ischarus looked to the body of the fighter that Charis and Semeion had managed to knock unconscious. “Well then, if they are Drakontos from your father dragon then it can only mean one thing. They have been here in Tongra anticipating our return. If Steg was the one that you felt following us for some time, he may have set up this ambush last night while we were sleeping. But there is no way he could have returned to your village and back in a single night. The cavernous mountain passageways would prevent movement that fast. These three had to be here in Tongra.”Semeion left Rhema’s side and joined in the discussion. “If that’s the case, then they must know our route. Could they have trailed us three months ago and we were so unaware?”Charis nodded and in a firm voice she added, “Yes.” Her face showed the resolve of a person born of dragon blood. “It would not surprise me at all if my dragon father sent several groups through the mountains to follow us. This trio here was supposed to be the insurance policy. If everyone else failed in their task, this group would be here.”Rhema turned to the fighter that she had charmed into listening to her. “Is what they say true?”The fighter replied almost immediately. Her face seemed pleased to pass the information along to Rhema. “It is. Grick was supposed to finish you off. Steg was supposed to trail him, and Grick did not know our father dragon had sent Steg behind him. When Grick was overcome and thrown in jail, Steg returned here to set up the ambush.”Semeion and Charis looked to Ischarus. The tall fighter smiled slightly and spoke. “Then the game of wits is on. If they know our paths and they know we are coming, then they will be prepared for us. We must find a new path. We must find a trail that they will not expect us to take.”The fighter that Ischarus and Charis had worked over hard moaned at their feet. Ischarus spun around at the sound. “Curses!” Ischarus couldn’t help but shout as he realized the conversation had caused him to forget his job. “We have to bind them before they wake or it’ll be much more difficult!”The trio set off binding the fallen fighters while Rhema continued to talk to the one who had decided against fighting. “We are going to take you back to Scarhaus and place you in prison. You have no choice in this matter if you wish to remain unharmed. Do you understand?”The woman scowled a bit, but nodded after a few seconds of thought.Rhema continued her directions. “However, since you did not raise a weapon against us I will put in a good word for you and you may not be charged. When we return from Quehalost – or two weeks in the event we cannot return – you will be tried. That’ll give you time to think about your choices and determine your future. It’ll give you time to think about whether you’d rather continue to live serving an evil master like your dragon father or whether you find more honor in our mercy. Your dragon father would have us killed. You’ll notice that not only were your lives spared but your party’s wounds that we inflicted have been treated.”The fighter spoke nothing in return. A sour look settled over her face. However, she offered up no resistance and after the party managed to find their opponent’s horses they brought the group of highwaymen back to Scarhaus for jail and an eventual trial. Rhema argued hard for leniency in sentence for the female fighter who had not fought against them. In the end Rhema’s arguments won her a cell in a separate area of the jail where the restrictions and punishments were not as severe. The party decided to spend the rest of the day in Scarhaus looking for maps that might allow them to find a new path in the morning. When evening came, they settled back in for a second night at Rapheus’ inn. This time, Rhena was sure to give Mardak the attention that he longed for.[/Sblock]</blockquote>

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