Heroes, Inc. : Rasheman

[frostrune]

"You are correct Dyria," The sanctified demon rumbled in their minds. "But Alethia is also correct. Though your situations are different, in the end, the feelings are the same. That is why it is evil, even if Murdoch was justified in his actions."

Naverone laughed sardonically. "Do not fall under the same trap that so many celestials and paladins have fallen to. Just because your enemy has committed great evil does not give you the excuse to committ the same evil upon them. Evil committed in the name of good is still quite evil. Mercy is still the better choice between outright slaughter. After all, it is quite a bit more difficult to redeem the dead than it is to redeem the living.

"Then, you have begun the first step Dyria. Vengeance is a cold and hollow thing and in the end isn't worth much at all and I am glad that you value friendship above it." Alethia told her gently.

"Remember that vengeance and the rage of betrayal are Shar's hooks into your mind and soul. Do not let yourself fall under that seductive song, for you will forever walk in the dark and cold shroud of despair." she smiled at the warrior. "You are stronger than that Dyria,"

Though she spoke to the warrior, it was clear that she was also speaking to Murdoch, trying to get them to see that those actions were decidedly wrong, if not evil in the strictess sense of the word.

"While you certainly may be more qualified than I to determine what is evil and what is not, I personally am a little reluctant to use that term here."

"We can all agree those men were evil and perhaps deserving of death; the Faerie Lord Oberon revealed as much. The way it was handled is the point of conflict."

"Say those men had surrendered and we had turned them over to the Rashemi for trial and after they had their day is court, the appointed magistrate sentenced them all to be executed? They would all still be dead except I would not have blinked twice."

"This is MY Law. This is how I thought the situation should be handled. I recognize that those of a more 'chaotic' bent lack in the formality. The process was simply expedited."

"Do I know for certain those men would have been executed? No. Was there a possibility for redemption? Perhaps. I have seen a lot of war my friends. It is never pretty. It is never glorious. And the brutal efficiency with which it is waged sometimes blurs the lines of good and evil."

"I am not making an excuse, I am stating a fact. Do any of us truly know that slaughter was an evil act?"

"Rather than point fingers and accuse I say we do our best to forgive it and move on. How do we prevent this from happening again?"

"Shando speaks of doubt and a fracture of trust. These are my fears as well. You have all seen how narrow our margin of victory is. Seldom have we all walked out of an encounter on our feet. This tells me we need each other to win, to survive.

 

[Steve Gorak]

"Say those men had surrendered and we had turned them over to the Rashemi for trial and after they had their day is court, the appointed magistrate sentenced them all to be executed? They would all still be dead except I would not have blinked twice."
...
"Rather than point fingers and accuse I say we do our best to forgive it and move on. How do we prevent this from happening again?"

"Friends, I understand your need for the rule of law, but realize that I do not need such procedures. Oberon, patron lord of Rasheman, requested that I destroy those that committed evil in His land. If you want to think of him as a magistrate, please do so. If you want to view Rasheman as His courtroom, again, please do so.

I fully accept my role as the executionner, but know this, I did not act out of anger, nor hate. I acted, because those men had been judged and sentensed by the Fey Lord." Murdoch pauses for this to sink in.


"Now, I agree with Sir. Timrin. The Hidden Shield is no longer hidden. Perhaps we should call ourselves "The Shield" only... In any case, our goal requires that we all be aligned with our objectives. If we need to rewrite our charter, than so be it...

Know this my friends: the one thing I truly regret, is the pain and torment I have caused you, my companions."

 

[Hawkeye]

"Friends, I understand your need for the rule of law, but realize that I do not need such procedures. Oberon, patron lord of Rasheman, requested that I destroy those that committed evil in His land. If you want to think of him as a magistrate, please do so. If you want to view Rasheman as His courtroom, again, please do so.

I fully accept my role as the executionner, but know this, I did not act out of anger, nor hate. I acted, because those men had been judged and sentensed by the Fey Lord." Murdoch pauses for this to sink in.

"Then Lord Oberon over-stepped his authority. The gods are not allowed to take direct action against mortals who are not their followers, except in self defense. That is the agreement the gods follow to prevent things like Cyric or Bane from destroying the champions of Helm or Torm with their godly might, or Torm raining righteous fury on to the cities of Thay. Judging mortals who aren't a follower of his guilty of a crime against his followers violates that agreement. Faerun's problems may be much greater than the Twice Damned, if the gods start taking direct action against the followers of another. Consider what you have assisted with carefully Murdoch. It has much greater implications than our disagreements here and now. I would have said that none of the gods, good or evil, lawful or chaotic would have violated that agreement. Are you sure it was Lord Oberon that we were talking to? Maybe its another trick by the Twice Damned? Understand that I am trying to give you and Lord Oberon the benefit of the doubt."


OOC: Is that the DM I hear laughing evilly as I have given him a new idea?

Hawkeye

 

[Steve Gorak]

"Are you sure it was Lord Oberon that we were talking to? Maybe its another trick by the Twice Damned? Understand that I am trying to give you and Lord Oberon the benefit of the doubt."

Murdoch nods in reflection. "Indeed, you are wize and this is a possibility. However, it felt right when I did it, and it felt right when Oberon showed me the atrocities those men committed... "

 

[kirinke]

Shando can see Naverone standing over Alethia, a shimmering, translucent balor, his hide a gleaming red-gold and bathed in sanctified white fire. He looks at first glance imposing, yet his entire demenor betrays a deep humility and a kind of... warmth that would never be present in a true demon. You are not sure that you could call him that any more.

The aasimar herself is shining with silver light, so bright that you can't look at her closely or even make out her form or features. Whatever she once was, she clearly isn't even remotely human now, or perhaps, she is both at once human and celestial, standing on the brink of the earthly realm and heaven itself.

Alethia began to glow, softly at first, then more brightly as his words sank in. She had heard this many times from others, who thought that might made right and their law was the only law that mattered. No one could doubt that she stood as a bastion of good.

"You say you wish to keep this from happening again. It should not have happened in the first place." Alethia said softly, leaning forward, white fire shimmering over her, betraying her emotions, spreading out like something alive, tendrils testing everyone present. It burns nothing, harms no one, but it is.... Disconcerting. For those who are both good and wounded, those wounds heal, leaving unbroken, unbruised flesh and bone.

"I am just as chaotic as you are Murdoch. I do not hold myself above the law, nor do I necessarily feel constrained by it. But I still follow a code of honour that most good creatures follow, at least to some degree. You violated that code with your actions. You may not wish to see the truth of your actions. But perhaps you should anyway."

Her eyes turn golden at her silent request to Naverone and all see what happened the day before, the sheer slaughter that Murdoch committed and had a direct hand in. All can feel the soldier's pain, helplessness. Rage of betrayal. All the things that perhaps everyone else has felt before at some point or another.

Alethia makes another request, this one directly to her deity, hoping that SHE will grant it.

If Selune does, they will all see those soldiers lives up to that point, the good and bad and indifferent, not just the sins, not just the crimes they have committed, which were indeed terrible, but all of the other things that made them human too, everything in total as well as the choices and mistakes that can never be undone or atoned for now.

It drives home the point that they were human, that they were mortal, it stripes away the thought that they are different, inhuman, alien, not one of 'us', but as foilable and as misguided as everyone else, with all of the drives and such therein.

Tears trickle down her face as she shoves those.... experiences right between the metaphorical eyes of her companions. She leans forward, breathing hard at the sudden exhertion of her and Naverone's powers and sits down heavily, trying to regrain some semblance of calm, after those terrible visions.

"You have all forgotten. We are not fighting for Rashemi, for Waterdeep, for Silverymoon, or any single government or religion. Mortal or immortal. We are fighting for Toril. We are fighting for everyone. Everyone. Human, elf, aasimar, dwarf. Goblin. Whatever. Good and evil alike. It doesn't matter anymore, our own previous likes or dislikes, our own hangups. As long as we wear these baneswords, our enemy IS the Twice Damned."

"They will not stop until everyone is either their slaves or crushed underfoot. Do you understand? Everyone, no matter who they are, where they came from, what country they call home is at risk. We cannot afford to play favorites. We cannot afford to arbitrarily decide who shall live and who shall die."

"We are the weapon against the Twice Damned, don't you understand? Each and everyone one of us has an obligation to defend Toril, all of Toril from these creatures. That is our true duty and the price we pay for weilding these weapons." She said raising her head, looking at each of them, still ablaze with white fire and the light that seemed to pour out of her. And you know that she is speaking with more than one voice, or perhaps something is speaking through her, though filtered by her own choice of words.

ooc
Sorry, you guys were asking for it. And it's very much in keeping with chaotic good Saintly behavior.

 

[frostrune]

OOC: This has stalled a bit so I guess I'll try and jump start it again...

IC: The rapture of the healing radiance and the passion of the delivered message leaves the room in stunning silence. One cannot help but feel humbled by the obvious spark of pure goodness displayed.

Timrin seems to be the first to emerge from this stupor. He is no less moved than the others but his dogmatic pragmatism presses him to stay on task.

"Doubtless every criminal or villain has such a story, Lady Alethia; yet far too few ever see the error of their ways. It is a poinant reminder nonetheless."

"I will not presume to speak for anyone, but my impression is you wish for Murdock to acknowledge his actions were evil and to seek forgiveness for them?"

"Such was not the purpose of my calling this meeting but if the rest of you feel this way as well, then perhaps we have an even bigger problem than I thought."

"I am furious with how things turned out yesterday as well, but I am almost as mad at myself as I am at Murdock, the Rashemis, or Lord Oberon. I truly do not know what I think about yesterday's events and since I cannot seem to decide, my nature urges me to forge ahead and redefine our relationship such that it will not happen again."

"Perhaps, I simply wish to avoid looking in the mirror?" he says rhetorically.

"How do the rest of you feel about yesterday?"

 

[kirinke]

"Aye, you're right. Every criminal does have such a story and it is too easy to lump them all into the faceless 'enemy'. I do not wish us to fall into that trap. We have also lost our focus, our real focus." Alethia said wearily. "These damned conflicts stress our bonds with each other and tire us to the breaking point, which is perhaps our enemies goal. Divide and conquer, the oldest trick in the book of war." she shook her head.

"We can't afford to side with any one government right now. There is no way we can be assured that our allies are under the influence of the twice damned, either directly or indirectly. I urge caution with whatever we do from now on," she said with a lopsided smile.

 

[Hawkeye]

Shando smiles slightly at Alethia's mention of government's. "Chances are we may not be welcomed back in Rasheman and we are certainly not welcomed in Waterdeep or Silverymoon. What country or city can we get banned from next?"

OOC: DM did you get my email?

Hawkeye

 

[kirinke]

"Wherever the Twice Damned have influence of course, even indirectly." Alethia quipped humourlessly as the intense glow faded back to a nearly undectable level as she calmed down. The flames too died down, slowly swirling back around her, before fading away.

She looked squarly at the warlock. "The next time something like that happens, it may not be with truly evil people. Even the most enlightened individuals can be blindsided by demonic influences. And the Twice damned have honed that particular artform to the highest levels. Being impulsive isn't necessarily bad, but impulsiveness for it's own sake is quite destructive for no apparent gain."

Naverone chuckled dryly, still more than a little stunned with her display. "Trust me, she knows what she's talking about."

 

[DM_Matt]

Shando smiles slightly at Alethia's mention of government's. "Chances are we may not be welcomed back in Rasheman and we are certainly not welcomed in Waterdeep or Silverymoon. What country or city can we get banned from next?"

OOC: DM did you get my email?

Hawkeye

Sure, you can do that.