• NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.

[Pathfinder] The Fog of War

Determine to be on his best behavior, Piedra sits down and patiently waits until the others have finished getting their tea. Poring himself a cup he thanks Rav "Thank you sir" and sits quietly sipping his tea. He has drank worse and in fact, unlike Mellisande, Piedra finds it quite good.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Tevye says, "Fascinating." He holds his battered metal cup. "Mine, too, if you can."

"Sure!" Mellisande enthuses, after taking a crumbly cookie from the tin.

"What flavor do you want? I made mine taste like strawberry wine, which is like regular wine, only it tastes like strawberries. Do you have strawberries in this world? They're little red fruits with lots of seeds on the outside and kind of...triangular in shape. You eat them all in one or two bites."
 

"Yes," Tevye says, "we have strawberries, although I've not tasted one in years. Strawberries would be nice." He turns his face to Jon. "I am afraid I cannot take you to my Lord, Jon. In moments of weakness, I doubt he is even with us any more. But, I suppose, you arrival shows otherwise."

Tevye sips his flavored tea. He smiles.

"Quite nice. Quite nice. As to his will, I am afraid we must make do with what little bit I know. The Nazis have captured a young man. He must be freed and brought to safety. He will be an agent of peace years after this horrible war has ended. Instrumental in the freedom of millions. My dreams said that you would arrive, and that you would rescue Karol from certain death."

Tevye takes another sip of tea.

"Other than this, I know little. The young man is being held by the Gestapo in Krakow, a city not too far from here. I have friends in Krakow who can get us more information, but getting too them will not be without grave risk."
 

Sam sips at his tea without comment, listening to the conversation. He may not have the genius of a wizard but he can recognize the manner of a holy man. "When you say your Lord, do you mean your patron deity? Which God do you revere? As you can see" he holds forth his glowing symbol "I myself am a cleric of Erastil." The celestial monkey on his shoulder nods as if in confirmation.
 

Piedra sits quietly drinking his tea nodding occasionally.

Meanwhile he is starting to re-assess his opinion of Tevye. Tevye does not appear to be a despot, yet at the same time he issues terse commands that his people obey even though they obviously would rather not. Piedra decided that this is getting just too complicated and that he will ask Sam about it later. Having resolved the Tevye dilemma for the time being, Piedra goes on to consider how to break a prisoner out of a jail filled with guards armed with magic crossbows. At the same time he listens to the ongoing conversation.
 

Sam sips at his tea without comment, listening to the conversation. He may not have the genius of a wizard but he can recognize the manner of a holy man. "When you say your Lord, do you mean your patron deity? Which God do you revere? As you can see" he holds forth his glowing symbol "I myself am a cleric of Erastil." The celestial monkey on his shoulder nods as if in confirmation.

Tevye chuckles at the monkey. "'Patron deity' is an apt phrase. I've not heard that before. My Lord has a name, but it is sacred, not to be spoken aloud. My people use circumlocutions out of respect for this holy name."
 

Tevye chuckles at the monkey. "'Patron deity' is an apt phrase. I've not heard that before. My Lord has a name, but it is sacred, not to be spoken aloud. My people use circumlocutions out of respect for this holy name."

Sam tugs on an earlobe thoughtfully. "I'm not much of a theologian I must admit, I'm a rural Priest and usually leave the deep thoughts to the temple priests in the cities who have time to think them." He pulls the monkey into his lap and strokes him as though trying to quiet uncomfortable thoughts. "But if I may be frank ... Your comment about evil tools worries me. Erastil is a God of the farm and the hunt, of family and trade, of daily trials and simple good deeds. I know of a score of deitys and it is only a handful of vile ones whose followers fear to speak their names. I hope you will convince me things are different here." He look levelly into Tevye's eyes as he waits for an answer.
 

Tevye chuckles.

"What a different world you come from! Here, Sam, there are no evil deities. There is one Lord, who is the Lord of all. We do not avoid his name out of fear, but out of respect. No, that's not accurate enough. Out of love. He is the father of our people, and a son does not address his father too familiarly."

He takes a sip of tea.

"This must be so difficult for you to understand. It is sometimes difficult for me to understand, and I have not only my lifetime of study, but also the merits of my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather to assist me.

"Nevertheless, what will be will be. We must rescue this young man. This Karol. Future generations depend on us, and we must not shirk this honor. My faith tells me that to save one person's life is to save all his descendants as well. My dreams tell me that Karol will be a father to millions."
 

"Wow," says Mellisande, a bit awed. "He must be -really- good in bed."

She looks at the others speculatively, then back at Tevye.

"Alright, so I guess we'll do it. I mean, we're here. And it sounds fun. So do you have a map or something so we know where to go? And we'll need to know how to recognize him. And can we borrow some of those magic-but-not-magic crossbows you use?"
 

Tevye's answer is delayed by his laughter.

"That's quite the observation, Mellisande," he says, still chuckling a bit. "As for how we'll get to Krakow, I shall accompany you. My friends in the ghetto there would not trust any of you. If we are agreed, necessary preparations will be made, and we shall depart tomorrow morning." He tugs at his beard. "Before I go, I must make some sacrifices. I would be arrested and likely shot in an instant going about like this."
 

Into the Woods

Remove ads

Top