Six From Gate Pass - A War of the Burning Sky Campaign (3.5)

[Adjuntive]

Relieved by the sudden surrender, Alric suddenly slumps to the ground. The bottom edge of his shield and the tip of his sword simultaneously clatter to the ground as he relieves himself of the effort of holding them up completely. He then drops to one knee and coughs a bought of blood upon the snow beside him.

He looks Kathor in the eye. Part of him hopes that he looks more formidable to Kathor than he feels at the moment, with all his strength holding his insides together. The other part feels some honor and respect must be repaid. Kathor showed him the honor of fighting him with no holds bar, and now he has unconditionally surrendered. Alric raises his sword to his head in a Ragesian officer salute and an unspoken address to Kathor seems to speak through Alric's eyes, Well fought, brother.

"We accept your surrender. And as such you will retain your lives. But all else no longer belongs to you." Alric looks around to the horses cantering about. "Perhaps we have a means of speeding our way, eh?" he says to his companions.

Alric guards Kathor for the moment, watching him for signs of betrayal. He turns to Kirio and with a bloody, wry smile says, "He's yours to question if you like."

 

[Gregor]

Kathor nods and then begins to remove his half-plate as he speaks: "Indeed, the spoils are yours by right of victory. If we are to keep our lives, as you say, then I only ask for our blankets and cold weather gear."

Torrent now moves through the group, checking wounds and using her wand to apply healing magic. "Looks like Arnir is the only one to catch a break, the rest of us look terrible!"

 

[fromage67]

The effect of Torrent's wand is fantastic. After nearly fainting when the arrow was removed, there is now only sharp relief.
"I saw you during the battle, Torrent, you showed great courage. Thank you."

Lars looks around and tries to spot Kathor's crow.

 

[The Bashar]

Hrimr grabs his sling from the ground and heads towards the rest of the party. Seeing Lars looking around he remembers the crow and looks around himself.

 

[Gregor]

"Nonsense Lars," says Torrent with a smile, "just doing my part. But thank you for the kind words."

Hrimr and Lars, you can plainly see the crow perched on some nearby rocks. It must have flown from Kathor's shoulder when he was unhorsed.

Kathor's plate falls to the earth with a heavy thud and you can see his tightly muscled frame under a sweat-laden shirt. He wraps his arms around his torso and notices the attention his familiar is receiving. Visibly chilled, he speaks between short breaths: "You have our gear as agreed. I would ask that you extend your courtesy of non-violence to my winged friend as well."

 

[The Bashar]

Hrimr looks to Kathor who now looks much more human with all the armour off and shivering in the cold.

"The bird will come to no harm as long as it doesn't attempt to fly away to get reinforcements. You have my word."

 

[Gregor]

A smile cracks Kathor's stern lips: "Reinforcements? The half-orc and I are all that's left of the Black Horse and I hardly considered myself much of a member anyway. Renard, the archer whose brains are coating the ground over there, was the one who the Ragesians were working through. They are interested in you though ... interested enough to offer a bounty of ten thousand gold pieces for the return of some case you're apparently carrying."

 

[fromage67]

"Convenient story. It doesn't add up, though. When we first saw you at the Pub in Gatepass, your men were howling about a finder's fee on spellcasters, they seemed to be saying the same thing the second time on the street. They weren't after any so-called "case".

Lars looks at the man intimidatingly, trying to come off as a bit of a psychopath."So, what changed? Why did you all of a sudden risk life and limb to come after us on the say-so of Renard? And how did you manage to leave Gatepass? It's not easy at the moment."

Lars observes carefully, trying to catch the man in a lie.

 

[Gregor]

Lars, you're unsure as to whether Kathor is lying or not.

Kathor backs away from the twitchy-eyed rogue saying: "I think you should relax. I'll tell you everything I know. About a week ago Renard, the leader of this now defunct band of bounty hunters, was contracted out to the Ragesians and caught wind of a number of magic users in the resistance. The blonde over there was identified as one. Its no news that the scourge was offering one hundred gold per live captured spell caster. So we watched her for a couple of days and then planned to grab her on New Years Eve. Neither I, nor Renard, knew you would be there but we figured that a few extra bodies for the Ragesians would be easy money in our pouches. Anyway, the Ragesians invaded and the mission went to dung. We tried again the next day as my familiar was keeping an eye on you and reporting back to me. Listen, the Ragesians must have spies in Gate Pass because Renard received a magical message this morning. Apparently it was from a Ragesian inquisitor who claimed that a band fitting your description was in possession of a black metal case. They wanted it enough to offer us ten thousand gold. Since we were camped out of the city and on the road you were known to be using, I guess it only made sense for the inquisitor. We're talking about a king's ransom for that case. I think you can understand why we risked so much out here today. As for how I got out of the city ... well that's easy. My family holds a diplomatic passport from when my father administered the local defense of Gate Pass when it was under Ragesian rule 40 years ago."

 

[fromage67]

"Don't tell me to RELAX!!! Never tell me to relax!" Lars looks more than a little crazed as he says this...
"Let me see that passport." Lars extends his hand meaningfully.
"So, what is your relationship with this Renard and his band? If it was his band, as you say, why did you get involved? Are you a Ragesian agent?"

OOC: If Kathor is foolish enough to hand over the passport, he never sees it again.