(Casual D&D) A Game of Trust

[dpdx]

"You know, I think Fendric has a point... If Premule was to come through here, it would have happened by now. Maybe we're too late... Maybe just off course. I could see staying another night, but no more. If we aren't rescuing Premule here, then I'm sure we're needed back home... And you four -- you six, I mean -- you have your own road to follow, don't you?"

"So Father Premule is dead, or committed to some defiled ceremony of the Foe, and that's the end of it? Look, Shavah: going home is GIVING UP, and your group doesn't strike me as the kind of people who do that, er, Heironeous willing. Nor can you likely return to Bethel without the Father, to do your jobs. So just hear me for a minute:

From this map, I understand that we can take this river past Goodnock to the coast, either following it by land, or floating down it by boat. If the cultists are anywhere on that river between here and there, we'll find them. We're reasonably sure that they could not have beaten us here, so that means they're most likely up there.

Going that far with you puts us back on our mission, and I believe we can commit to that much to see this through.

Besides, I'm still holding out hope that we find him, may the Light guide me - I never got to have that talk with him that I wanted."

 

[Uriel]

Niccoli stays quiet as Fendric tries to persuede the other Clerics to continue with their Quest. Then, thinking back to a day not so far gone in time, he sits a little taller n his saddle and revisits a Verse that he wrote for a Knight not so long ago...

'The Lay of Exantrius'

Aged was he, though in truth he be
an Ageless, Eternal Paragon of Virtue...
His Deeds were many, too numerous to list,
Lest ye have a century for the hearing.
Alas, I have not the Heart to recant them all.
Nothing did he fear, not Demons, nor Mortals,
nor even Failure, which even the best of us fears at one time or another...
He was an Enigma, one that I will never be able to explore personally,
yet in the time that I did know Noble Exantrius, did I come to Love him,
that Figure out of Fable.
My Companion, my Friend and for a brief moment in time, My Liege.
Rest Well, Noble Knight.'

Niccolo clears his throat and says 'Exantrius never gave up,until the day that he passed from this Mortal Coil did he strive to right the wrongs that, even now, seem to be weaving into our lives. I do not ask you to throw away your lives chasing dangerous Foes, friend. I ask you to make your lives,and the lives of all who live a little more safe my aiding us in this Quest.'

 

[doghead]

Xiao follows the conversation with interest, but stays at a discrete distance and out of the conversation.

Instead, he lowers his backpack and crossbow, squats down and gets to work on a chiken leg pulled from the small bundle from the innkeeper.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Shavah listens to Fendric's reproach silently... After Niccolo's addition, she bows her head slightly. "Okay, then. We continue our search. I just... I know you have your own matters to attend to. I just wanted to make it easier."

Hiritus raises an eyebrow, as Nurthk begins to feel an odd clutching in his shoulder, where the undead creature bit him the day before... (Please make a Fortitude Save.)

 

[Festy_Dog]

Nurthk's expression becomes pained.

[fort save total: 5 ]

"Rrnf, I think that thing we killed yesterday has made me ill," he says, holding his shoulder.

 

[Uriel]

Niccolo waits patiently for his companions, whistling a cheery tune while patting Alexander's head.

 

[doghead]

Xiao pauses with the chicken leg half way to his mouth.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Nurthk: The clenching feeling spreads -- slowly all your muscles begin to tighten, and you it harder and harder to move... In under a minute, you are completely paralyzed -- unable to move or speak, although you are still conscious.

The others can clearly see Nurthk's struggle against this affliction as it courses through his body. His face goes white, and his posture contorts... His breathing, aggravated at first, eventually slows to a gentle, infrequent whisper. His face grows pale, while his hands begin to swell and take on a sort of cherry color.

Hiritus stands slackjawed, while Shavah is quick to be among the first to lend a shoulder for support.

 

[dpdx]

"Nurthk??"

Fendric rushes to Nurthk and looks him over with extreme concern (since Nurthk doesn't appear to be going anywhere ), racking his brain for any way to identify what is wrong with him, and how to cure it [Heal check: 11].

"I'm afraid I might only be able to cure your symptoms at the moment, Pelor forgive me. But I shall pray to my god on the morrow for the means to remove this affliction totally..."

 

[Festy_Dog]

Nurthk looks to Fendric, and would thank him were he able to move anything.

Now I'm using up their valuable time, St.Cuthbert forgive me.