DUUD: New Moon 1

[trimeulose]

The smells of night float freely through the air. The nearest township on the map, if it can indeed be called that is at best two days away, and at worst 5. Your companions talk as if the coast couldn't be more than 6 days aways so at least your luck is looking up. Jacob has been running ahead more than his usual pace (as far as anyone can tell), and Alexander hasn't been reaching the campsite until very late.

Tonight the moon is of one color, its midnight shade exists as if the moon did not. The stars are the only source of light, that and your moderate campfire. The fighters are yet again caught up in the flames as Peter sings a melody....

As Peter shifts into a new song, so do your moods, you enter a half dream state, almost a sentient dream. You have heard tells of people who could do this at will, but they are tales.

The fire seems to flow with the music and yourself until you cannot tell where one ends and another begins.

A voice is heard:

"We all have our secrets, you tell me yours and I'll tell you another. Perhaps you would like to be more important than just some fool pigeon delivering some quiant little barral."

The voice has caused you to come into an awareness. There is only one thing with you now. The fire stands in its original form, but now it is as large as a bonfire. It sheads no light. You can make out your friends, but none of the hirelings that came with you. As you open your mouth to breath or speak, either or both, you realize that sound does not exsist here. At the same time you KNOW that whatever secret you choose to divulge, it will be known in its intirety to all here. Choose your secrets wisely for none shall leave until all have revealed at least one.

 

[GoldenEagle]

Tar looks around..."I typically don't volunteer information but in this case I think it is important. I'll tell you that which few know and none have shared outside of my trusted circle.[smiles confidently] I do what I do not for fame, quite the contrary. As a child my family was slaughtered unfairly in front of my eyes. That day I realized that hatred was unwise...and that a force called Karma exists...I make sure that those who deserve to feel the wheel of karma feel it. This is why those who know me most closely do not call me Tar or "Lightningblade"; My closest friends simply know me as Karma and call me that only in their most dire of needs. Do not use this name lightly, but feel free to call on me as a trusted friend. "

Tar looks around knowing that now only 8 people know what REALLY drives him and knows he has bound himself to help these people if they call...as the wheel of Karma is always rolling.

After so much time together with this group he knows whom to trust...and whom he should not.

OOC: I am assuming at this level that we will be trying to act as a party and reduce infighting and that we have established some level of trust with each other's lives as we have travelled and fought together on several occassions. Tar's comments are based on those assumptions. If I am incorrect, let me know and I will rewrite.

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Kaz Zaer'Tam, under the current alias of Khael and of a form younger appearance than his true self, considers the situation for a moment, looking around the rest for a moment as he chooses his next words cautiously. A grim smile, perhaps one mixed with a hint of insanity shows upon his face for a moment as he recites a part of his long-hidden past, "I'll shine some light upon my past, for starters...the first kill of mine was that of my own father."

Kaz pauses for a moment, recalling as he continues on his story, "It was upon the eve of Shieldmeet, many summers ago, where my father was on his way home from attending some meeting of sorts, with my half-sister having the honor of cooking a welcoming feast for when he returned home. I had managed to slip some poison into his meal without my dear half-sister noticing and when his death came, and I made sure she was the one to take the blame. Unfortunately, my plan had a flaw, and I knew it, my older half-brother, who was away at the time would inherit the family business with my father and sister out of the picture." Kaz thoughtfully strokes his chin for a moment before continuing,

"I suppose, that he had a good heart in the beginning, but I coerced my loving brother into expanding our families' business and hoarding all the wealth for himself, a miser is what he ended up becoming when I was through with him. And then I set off to further my own personal power, years later when I had discovered my true calling I came back and slew my brother quietly-taking over all his possessions and assets for myself, being the only heir left. Suspicions arose, however, due to unexpected difficulties, and I was forced to depart elsewhere lest tasting the fury of sentimental family members should the truth come out. And city after city, I eventually found myself in Waterdeep...and now here."

The cleric looks around at his companions, carefully gauging each of their expressions. He then adds, this time aimed specifically at them, "But of course, I was never close to my father, the bastard loving both my step brother and step sister more than he ever loved me...so all of them weren't family to me when I arranged for their deaths, and you do not need to fear of betrayal (-'just yet', Kaz thinks-) as we're all practically family here."

 

[Jemal]

Hassan clears his throat and stands up. "Guess it's my turn" says the large man. "You all know my past, about the group from my village who got together to throw me into slavery. You know that I seek revenge on them, should I ever find them. What you don't know is the reason they were so... angry at me." Hassan's mouth quirks into an evil grin.

"You see, though I was entering my prime, and am a fine, large specimen of man, I had not taken a wife of my own. They thought that odd, but did not complain, as each of them chose a fine, bountiful woman." he glances around, gauging reactions so far, before he continues "Whenever they would go out on a hunt, which they did frequently without me as they despised my obvious prowess, I would step into one of their lodges to make their woman more comfortable while he was gone." Hassan Grins in rememberance.

"The problem was that not all of them welcomed me with open... um, arms. One or two had to be persuaded, but I managed to finally bed every lass in the village that I fancied, whenever I wanted. The bastards found out, though, when one of the... less willing refused me, and even attacked me! Why, I had to kill the wench then, and her husband was not so pleased. The council ordered me banned, but I refused to go, fighting till they managed to subdue me in the most cowardly fashion, holding me down with sheer numbers and using my own weapons against me! The rest you allready know, and now you know why I want them dead. Cowardly knaves weren't even willing to share their prizes with the hero of the tribe!" Hassan sits, still muttering to himself.

OOC: Pls nobody take offense to this. We're evil, and when I play Evil, I don't play "Oh, I'll kill you if I want to" Evil, I play "Oh, I'll torture you nearly to death, then kill everyone you have ever cared about in front of you in a horrifyingly different way every time before finally finishing you off by burning you alive" Evil. OH, also, to any ladies out there, Hassan is from a severely matriarchal, barbaric tribe, so don't think his views on women reflect my own.

Another thing you should all know is that Hassan has little use for keeping secrets, he is almost always truthful, and can always be trusted to do what is best for him, so he's fairly predictable to those who know him. Unless killing you would help him more than keeping you alive would, don't worry. The only reason he hasn't told this is because, while he related the tale many times when he first encountered outlanders, he has discovered that many of them dislike the tale for some strange reason. He has, however, come to know you well enough that he feels comfortable telling you all.

 

[Howling Coyote]

Obviously hesitating Hostegym thinks what he should say… “My story is the usual. I was a very gifted student of magic, but otherwise I was weak and sickly, so the other students were always picking on me. I endured it for years, directing my anger to my studies. When I discovered that my true gift relied more on sorcery, I knew that my time in the academy was over, but I was not going to leave without revenge.”

Hostegym’s expression darkens as he takes a short look at his companions, “I had concealed my lack of conjuration skills in the school of wizardry, with my natural sorcery skills. Everybody thought that I was just fallen behind in that area like any normal student, so it was easy go inside the advanced conjuration class, with the excuse of needing something inspiring to further my studies in that area. The teacher demonstrated to us summoning from the lower planes by summoning a baatezu. Nobody knew what hit them when everyone lost suddenly their vision in a bright flash of light. As I expected the baatezu accepted to kill everyone in the room in exchange for its freedom almost instantly.” Hostegym smiles, “It turns out that banishing even a lesser devil is quite hard when you can’t see.”

“After I had done my deed, I left Halruaa quietly to seek my fortune. Since I wasn’t officially part of that class there was no official record that I was in there, so leaving the country was quite easy. I still sometimes wonder how long it did take them to figure out what really happened, or is it still a mystery to them.”

 

[Jemal]

Hassan looks up from his muttering to listen to the tale, his smile growing wider until at the conclussion he bursts out laughing.
"AH, my friend, that was brilliant! Glad I am to be with such people! HAHAHA"

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

Lorin narrows his eyes at the rest of the group, and stares, outwardly unintrested, into the fire. He doesn't care much about what crimes the others have commited, and doesn't know if they're telling the truth anyway. He snorts inwardly at Tar's arrogance in his assumption of the role of "Karma"; he cares little for what Hassan did, way back when off in some back corner of the world. And he thinks distastfully of the petty murders commited by Hostegym. He had been in much the same position as Khael, actually, way back when- son of a merchant, groomed to be the same. But he hadn't cared about the business, and while he hadn't cared about his father, either, he hadn't wished the man ill.

The others fall silent. His turn. He still doesn't know whether he's dreaming or not, but he "speaks" anyway.

"I have a wife, somewhere. A child too, if it lived past its infancy. The wife was a spoil of war, and the child my own and hers. I wanted niether, as it turns out, so I left. I do wonder, occasionally, how she's getting on, if she still lives." He falls silent, having spoken more words just then than he had in the past week. He lies back and waits for the dream to end.

 

[Jarval]

Tutsan steps forward and speaks.

"A secret? You wish to know a secret of mine? Very well..."

He pauses for a moment, frowning deeply.

"My secret? My magic scares even me. I do not yet understand the powers I use, and I sometimes doubt I ever will. I deal with entities so powerful they could take my life with but a single thought, and keep my soul forever. And these... beings... care nothing for us humans, or the dwarves, or the elves, or the dragons, or the demons our friend Hostegym uses. Even the gods and Dukes of Hell are but insects to them. And yet these are what I study, the source of my power, the reason my sanity slowly slips away...

"My secret? My power scares me, and it's source would terrify all."

The mage steps back, shivering, his eyes haunted by memories no mind should have.

 

[trimeulose]

A female voice enters your mind. You seem to be hearing stray surface thoughts rather than actually listening. As she speaks the fire starts to dim, its colors wax and wane until finally all that is left is a black flame billowing in front of you. As the colors of flame change all of you notice a disturbance of some kind.

Lorrin and Tutsan recognize a sillouette of a woman graceful posing in the flames. He stance suggests both power and absolute grace.

The female voice takes on words:

You have given me a payment of 6 secrets, I shall repay the debt. First off you must know this, I intend to send assasins and mercenaries to kill every one of you. That is part of the first payment. The second part of my first payment is this:

I intend to poison the water supply in Waterdeep, Cyric intends to poison the water in Suzail. At this point you have two choices, go the way you are going or go back the way you came. If you should choose to go "home" you are to speak to your current contact, he will inform you where to go from there.

If you should choose to go to Suzail, you will meet an eccentric young man by the name of D'jviek. Once he sees you are carrying liquid cargo, he will ask you, "Got any magic items?"

Your response will be, "I thought Kaul was supposed to say that." He will then inform you as to your new instructions.

Know this the man is an extreme zealot. He follows the Dark Sun with the utmost dedication. He does not know that Cyric is not behind your actions.

Choose your path, should you decide to not choose, I will send more, and better assasins after you. Fail in any sense of the word and you will find that you will have less than fortunate afterlives.


The darkness surrounding you fades, and the fire returns to its normal size and color. As your commrades come into view, All of you realize that none of the other escort seems to notice what has happened.

Peter seems to have started a new song, and the fighters are now crouched over a piece of paper of some kind. Alex wonders in out of the dark and sits next to the fire. He tosses something on the flames and the flames turn a deep purple and then they continue to burn at more of a green color. The heat from the flames intensifies. From what you can tell everyone else has gone to sleep.

 

[GoldenEagle]

Tar calmly looks at the others with no emotion...and,as usual, says nothing.