PH2- The Darque Portal (B4cchus judging)

[stonegod]

Xir sulks back. A wall bars passage, a structure of bones. But living guards. 'Caution saves more than brazenness costs.'

 

[Boddynock]

Peladus listens carefully to Xir's report, nodding at the wisdom of caution.

"Bones? That's a poser. Either those men are evil, or else bones are the most plentiful building material around, or ... what? Well, we haven't seen lots of bones lying around, so I guess we can dismiss that possibility."

"Unless they've built their defence from the bones of their enemies. Don't forget, this is supposed to be a place with lots of undead - although we haven't seen any. Puzzling!"

"Well, what do we do? It's clear that Darque is somehow prevented from returning to Orussus. It may be that he's being held prisoner, so we'd better be cautious. What did his letter say? 'Make sure the bearers of the staff are competent and tough, for they will surely be tested.'

The young mage frowns then, and says, "Perhaps now would be a good time to examine that staff. It may give us some idea of what predicament he's in. May I?"

He holds out his hand for the staff.

[sblock=OOC]Examine the staff. Knowledge (arcana) +7[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

"Bones? Ewww. How could anyone nice stand to live in a place like that? I wonder how they hold them together?" Periwinkle cranes her neck to try to see.

 

[Boddynock]

"You raise an interesting question, Peri. May I call you Peri? If there's some magic holding that wall together then it's clear that we're up against something strange. Still, there are simpler explanations, so it's probably best to consider other options first."

OOC: Sassa frassa ENWorld server slow-down! (In other words, converting a double post to something vaguely more useful.

 

[Halford]

Dair shrugs, such ecisions are often simpler when unburdened my morals.

"Easy, nearly kill the guards, Priestess keeps alive, but unconcious. If we try talking no surprise."

 

[lukfugl]

"Sinews, most likely," Kona'i deadpans in response to Periwinkle's query. Replying next to the mage, "We did fight some just out the portal however, and from the sounds we heard just before the most recent battle, the orc may have been fighting some as well. Did you see any skeletons there before we arrived, Xir?"

 

[lukfugl]

Kona'i glares at Dair. "These are not Orcs nor Undead. They are men and have not yet shown intent to do evil or to harm us. We will not attack them unprovoked; if any in our party shall, I will take them as my enemy."

 

[Boddynock]

Peladus steps between Kona'i and Dair, holding out his hands in a placating gesture.

"Steady on, friends. We've got plenty of potential enemies down here without fighting one another. Kona'i's got a point, Dair - why queer the pitch when these people might turn out to be potential allies. We don't know enough about them to be sure."

"And Dair's point would be valid if we knew these people were our enemies, Kona'i. He has an incisive grasp of tactics. At this stage, it's just his wider strategy which is shaky.

 

[stonegod]

"Easy, nearly kill the guards, Priestess keeps alive, but unconscious. If we try talking no surprise."

'He who waters the fire burns in their own waste.'

"WDid you see any skeletons there before we arrived, Xir?"

The xeph shakes his head negative.

 

[Boddynock]

'He who waters the fire burns in their own waste.'

Peladus looks mildly bemused at this, then shrugs and turns his attention to the two antagonists again.