For More Than Glory

[Memnus]

Fleck, disconcerted and disoriented, takes his staff back from Valdir and gingerly checks himself. His wrists ache from being tied, but other than that, no harm done it seems. "He won't be back until mid-afternoon, at the least. Probably won't be happy, though. We'll want to be ready for him." He glances at Argus and falls silent, not sure what to say.

 

[Arkhandus]

Argus shoots a menacing glance Rolf's way, and is almost about to chase after Gadreman, but instead turns his fury against the furniture and walls of the house. He accomplishes little other than bruising his knuckles and cracking some wood, and eventually his rage is spent, so he leans against a wall and catches his breath. Argus quietly mutters, while panting, "I refuse to be weak....I will not stay weak.....I will not be a slave to my wretched fate....."

 

[crystorix]

Rolf watches Argus's outburst. "Ooo-kay." He shakes his head. "They act as animals, but even wolverines have more sense," he mutters to himself. Then he turns his attention back to what Fleck had said.

"‘Ready for him?' How does one become ready for that maelstrom of violence?" He pauses. "I don't think he'll so angry about your trick that he'd attack us anyway. Still....

"Kirran spent months tracking this guy down. In a few seconds, Gadreman almost ruined that work. If he can't keep his impulses at check, his actions may some day again work against the goals of our group. Also, though none of exactly follow the gods of purity, I personally am not comfortable with attacking a surrendered foe in such a fashion, much less an unconscious one.

"What do you suggest?"

 

[firehorse]

Valdir watches Gadreman storm out after hobgoblins and Argus' caniption with mild curiousity and a slight grin. "It seems some of our companions have...issues. But, then again, who doesn't? I don't really agree with the attack on a surrendered man, but, we've done so ourselves before. Do we forget the wizard so quickly? Granted, his companion brought it on by refusing to act in an appropriate manner of someone parleying, but....stuff happens. If Gadreman wishes to come back here swinging at me or anyone else not asking for it, that's quite another matter. I think he may just find that hacking like a meat packer doesn't always guarantee success." Valdir shrugs characteristically.

"You speak of our goals Rolf, what exactly are those? We seem as chaotic as a group as these two are acting out in the open. I'm always a proponent for freedom of action, but action without purpose is a waste of time and energy. The time we tried to assist Lorlynia was short lived and goblin hunting was fun, but not really productive. Hunting down some mysterious knife passed the time, but again not really amounting to anything productive. Freeing that girl was a good thing, but again, short lived. Now....? Again, Valdir shrugs.

"So, I'll pose the question: what exactly is our goal as a party? I've tried, but we are yet to find one."

Valdir leans lightly against the door jam as he lets the question sink in, waiting for a response.

 

[T'ahl]

Aros

Aros watches in amazement as Gadreman rushes out of the small cottage and into the forest on his "goblin hunt". He cocks an eyebrow at Fleck - a little wide eyed at the force and power of his "suggestion". He then looks down at himself - a near perfect copy of Hemhold, realizing the jeopardy he put himself in - and that fact that it would probably only have enraged Gadreman more - he shakes his head and lets out a quite chuckle. Looking back to Fleck he mutters "well at least one of us was using logic". With things finally quieting down after the many rampages witnessed around the cottage - he again turns his attention to Hemhold.
"So is this the man with the unbelievable luck?" he asks outloud to no one in particular, "it appears his luck may only be for betting and not for battle...... either that, or it's somehow lucky for him that we happened by" He cringes a little as his mind roles around the possible implications of that last comment. Realizing that his appearance may be "disturbing" to Hemhold and the entire interogation process - he decides to go outside and retrieve the carcass of the dead beast for inspection as the others question Hemhold. Besides - he can listen in on the action anyway with his message spell still in place.

He hopes his disguise has worn off long before Gadreman finds his way back to the party. As he heads out the door he has one more grin cross his face "for the man who burst through the door first - you managed to do remarkably little fighting", he muses to himself. "All in all, an interesting day - I'll need to remember this for tales spun later - with a few embellishments - here and there............ of course"

 

[Rish]

Kirran is still hunched over Helmhold's prone form, checking the man efficiently but diffidently for injuries (besides the massive sword wound, now half-closed from magical healing) that might have caused his faint. As he folds the man's shirt back from his chest, he catches sight of a strange burn at the same moment as a pendant shakes itself loose from the cloth. He runs the pendant chain through his fingers, frowning as he sees that the metal pendant has reduced itself to so much melted slag and snatching his hand back from its residual heat.

"My luck, he'll wake up just now and think I'm filching things," he mutters to himself. "Always was a suspicious bastard - not that I blame 'im."

He sits back on his heels and starts paying more attention to the conversation in time to chuckle at Valdir. "Goals are for people who don't have enough to keep 'em occupied." He pauses. "Honestly, though - why worry about it? Long-term goals are all well if it's your thing, but I've got by just fine for thirty years without any." He looks at Rolf for a moment, thinking about Gadreman, but finally looks away without addressing that issue.

He turns back to make one last check-over of Helmhold, hesitating for just a moment before he pulls the pendant over the man's head and examines it thoughtfully before tucking it in a pocket. "He should be coming around shortly. Hopefully we'll find out what this is all about."

 

[crystorix]

"I know you've been dissatisfied with our lack of a single over-reaching goal, Valdir, but that's diverging from the point I was making. Since its been brought up, though, I'll address it. We didn't come together with some large goal in mind, and trying to find a larger goal at this stage would be a mistake. You wouldn't be able to find one that we'd all agree to. And maybe it's a human - and halfling - thing, but I see nothing wrong with the way we've been doing things.

"And I wasn't comfortable with how things went down with that wizard. But I didn't say anything because I had sort of been hoping something would happen to him - He had ‘made' Fleck, and if he'd survived, we were at greater risk.

"Apparently nobody has any to say about Gadreman, so I guess my apprehensions aren't widely felt. I'll leave it at that then."

 

[firehorse]

Valdir chuckles, "'Single over-reaching goal' eh? You make me sound like one of those human paladin types. Nay, perhaps you misunderstand. Once in a while it is nice to do something...useful and with some sort of purpose. But, if everyone else is content, who am I to be the crusader."

Again he shrugs.

"As for Gadreman and Argus, neither's temperment seems to be too trustworthy, especially as of late. True, the rest of us are not saints, but random unwanton violence is as dangerous to us as it is to our enemies."

 

[Memnus]

When we left off....

The room you find yourself in is like something out of a nightmare. The fiend on the wall, though clearly dead, still occasionally shifts and shudders, its chains rattling morbidly. On closer inspection, tiny silver blades have been driven into the thing's skin and broken off. The rest of the room seems devoted to grisly torture equipment, though none of it is currently occupied.

The light in the room comes from a single torch, by the door. The torch is driven through the chest of a man in the livery of a Marzen guard, and now burns low, the soot from the smoke staining the poor fellow's face.

Fleck takes one look around the room, turning pale, and steps back out into the hallway, trying to breathe steadily.

 

[Emiricol]

Meier approaches, but being in the middle of the group, doesn't see the room just yet. He sighs as he waits patiently for... Well, for whatever is going to happen next. While he waits, he continually looks around the hallway, searching and listening for anything that should alarm the group.