Knightmares of Khorvaire

The paladin, kneels in front of the two thugs. "My friend is sligthly upset to know that members of the claw are after him. On top of that he didn't eat very well these last two days. You know that he wanted to kill you on the spot and roast you before eating you, but I didn't let him.

He pauses for a moment and gives them a reassuring look putting his men on one of the men's shoulder
"You can trust me, I am a defender of Karnth and will make sure that this beast doesn't eat you alive but you will have to give me some good arguments if you want me to convince him to let you live.
 

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Zook stands on the fourth floor landing, having climbed up the rope right before Kolarred and Luthal went into their good soldier / bad soldier act. When he hears the terrorized screams of the two men, the changeling can't help but smile.

He looks around the level of the tower. He sees half floor and half the roof is missing (matching the holes below them), a number of other beams that would have supported what used to be the upper levels have now fallen or cracked under the shifted weight, and a number of arrow slits still function or have been blown open to now become more like windows.

Zook glances around and sees a pair of backpacks plus two quiver of arrows and matching bows over by two of the more window-like openings. He walks over and looks out, and sees that these two windows look out over the trail heading back down the mountain... and sees that his and Luthal's horses still stand quietly at the tree-line. The rogue realizes that had these two thugs been able to stay awake, they would have had an easy time of picking them off with bowshots. Fortunately for them... the boredom must have gotten to be too much, which is why they went down to sleep.

Suddenly a strong breeze blows by him, and his clothing flaps in the wind. Now he also sees why they went down a flight to sleep... as it's quite breezy up here and probably uncomfortable to sleep in. He looks over the two backpacks, quivers, and bows deciding what to do (plus wait for the interrogation to finish up downstairs).
 

Zook open the backpacks quietly looking inside, he apraise the bows trying to make out the quality of them. As he hears the groaring and kollared's voice he knows the show is on. Hears like a lot of fun down there he he he... he smiles and tries to go over to the north wall of the fourth floor the same direction wherre they may be moving on later that night or the next morning. If ther's floor there he will scout the north going path a wile. If he do not notice something of interst he will try to find a way down to first floor that not takes the way trough third floor. That escape route... must be a way to those chambers trough the tower... I hope we dont have to bash down the steel door if my own skills aren't enough.
Apraise +4
 

The two men's eyes are wide from fear. They keep darting back and forth from the paladin to the gnoll, and if you weren't mistaken, you could swear one or both have probably wet themselves by this point. The guy who had been snoring, Rax, turns to Kolarred with pleading in his eyes.

'Please My Lord... don't let the beast harm us! What do you need to know? I'll tell you! Hells, we'll both tell you! We're not Claws! We were just hired... bodyguards... guards... that's all. That's why we were left here... to cover their path from anyone who might be following them! The elf... the monk... what's his name... Zola Ko!!!... he wasn't going to take us to the temple, he just wanted roadblock to slow people down... like you!'

The second guy, Palin, chimes in as well.

'Yeah! Three days! We only needed to stay and defend the trail for three days, then we were free to leave! Can we leave? Please? Take my money! My gold! I don't care! It came from Ko anyway!'
 

"I understand, mercenaries. "

"While they are clearly ineffective, they seems to have some sense of loyalty. They didn't run away after all. Maybe we could use them on our side, they would probably require less maintenance then if we capture them and carry them along"

"But why did you stay here, when you could have left with the money. How much would it take to have you on our side? If you want to join us we will need to know more about them, how many they are, is there any obvious spellcasters, or anything else particular."
 

Zook looks through the two backpacks and finds typical hiking items... rope, hammer & pitons, trail rations, pocket mirror, flint & tinder, a couple sunrods. However he also finds a few items in some of the side pockets that are more esoteric than usual...

...a small, pinkish crystal in the shape of a prism that seems to have a lightness to it, like it could float, and...

...an incredibly slippery, silken vest that when searched more carefully, includes an amazing set of lockpicks sewn into it. Zook thinks that if worn, the frictionless vest would help a person get out of bonds or escape grapples.

The two composite shortbows are of extremely high-quality (like Zook himself already owns), however it is the arrows that are of particular interest. The two quivers contain twenty-some-odd arrows each that have been notched on the shaft with various arcane symbols.

He glances through the broken window to spy the trail that continues on into the mountains to see if he can notice anything. However the nighttime is such that he cannot see anything of note. As the interrogation occurs down below, he does a quick search of this fourth level to see if he can find any secret doors or passageways down... but it's obvious after a quick search that there are none. If there's a passage into the tunnel out the back, the door to get to that tunnel is probably on the first floor of the tower.
 

'J-join you? Are you serious? You mean... actually go WITH you... AFTER the Claws?'

The two thugs look back and forth to each other, then to the paladin, then to the still simmering gnoll sitting back on his hunches. Kolarred watches the two men and senses...

((Sense Motive [13] + 7 = 20 / DC 15)) *SUCCESS*

...that actually continuing on towards the temple was not what they had in mind. Kolarred stands a little taller, and says a few more comforting words... emphasizing the gold the two men would receive if they helped the Knightmares. His words are like honey, but it is a very hard sell since it would mean not only the two thugs abandoning their word to the Claws, but also actively opposing them. Kolarred tries his hardest to convince them that it's the way to go...

((Diplomacy [13] + 14 = 27 / DC 30)) *FAILURE*

...but in the end, their lives are more important than any gold Kolarred can promise them.

'Nuh uh... I can't do it. Going after Ko is suicide. I'm sorry. You look like an honorable guy, m'lord... we don't want any trouble. If you call off your... beast... there, we'll just leave back down the trail right now. You won't have any problems with us, I swear it! I just want to go back to the city.'

'Me too!'

'I'll answer any questions you might have for me... that I can do for you... but I just can't go chasing after the Claws. I'm not strong enough. I'd get slaughtered. You don't know the kind of men--'

'And the WOMAN!!!'

'...and the woman... that they have. It's not good. Not good at all. I'm sorry.'
 

"I see, they seems quite impressing. You know appearances can often mislead you but I won't force you to come with us.

The woman, she looks scary is she some kind of witch? What about Ko, what is so scary about this men and women that you are willing to sacrifice a few month worth of salary. You got me very curious.

The paladin stays friendly, keeping the tone low and calm. He tries to show them through the tone of his voice and body language that he isn't scare at all by them.

OOC He actually isn't. Kolarred has enough trust in his god that he doesn't fear death at all.
 

Rax looks at the paladin with a hint of fear.

'A witch? No... Kendra Paxus isn't a witch. She's a powerful wizard, but not a witch! She's a member of The Twelve! Do you hear me? The Twelve! I heard her talking one night... talking to the Vol half-orc priest. She's trying to gain control of her House seat in the Council of Twelve! Don't cross her! She can control you! Get into your head!'

When Rax finishes ranting, Palin turns to him.

'Maybe she IS a witch?'

'Wizard, witch... whatever! But you don't want to cross her! I know I don't want to cross her! She almost as bad as Zola Ko!'

Palin shudders.

'Ko... Zola Ko... he's one of those Valenar. Jaeldira! A blade dancer! He wears that freakish mask... he's not right in the head. He's crazy! He'll kill you! He's already killed Dargo!'

'Poor Dargo! Poor, poor Dargo. He didn't do nothing! He was just slow! He's a dwarf, of course he's slow! But Ko killed him! Sliced his neck clean through! And then that half-orc Horik raised him from the dead! Don't know why... cause now Dargo's even slower, now that he's a zombie! Poor Dargo.'

'And the rest of them... that Steevin Streets guy... and the other mercs... all of 'em! No telling how many Ko is going to kill by the time they reach the temple! You don't cross the Emerald Claw! You just don't!'
 

OOC [sblock]What does Kolarred knows about the council of the 12. [/sblock]

As the men starts talking about the ability of his potential enemy, Kolarred stays calm.

"That might be tougher than expected, these guys don't seems to be amateurs"

He turns towards Luthal

"What about spending the night here my friend?

He turns towards the other two

"I suggest you go back to sleep, tomorrow morning we will release you, I promess"

OOC [sblock] I am thinking of regaining our strength tonight and charge ahead tomorrow morning. We won't let the two thugs their horses so we should reach our destination before them, What do you think?[/sblock]
 

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