The Closed Eye, part II (DM: covaithe, Judge: garyh)

[nerdytenor]

"So how 'bout we just set aside all this foolishness and cement our friendship in the time honored tradition of all adventures, by murderin' some hapless evil-doer and ransackin' his belongings?"

"Ooooh, evil-doers evil-doers!" Kathalia jumps up and down again and claps her hands together.

Kathalia cups her hands around her mouth and calls out to the surrounding trees. "Oh evil-doers.... where are you?"

 

[KenHood]

"See? See?! I DARE you not to find that charming!"

 

[Dunamin]

Seeing that Woe put’s away his spear, Atreus stops him. “ Are you sure we can trust these creatures of fey? “ he says loud enough for the others to hear and inspects their expression.


Still focusing his eyes on Hacker and Kathalia he whispers to Woe “ They could easily be a third party hired by Arnest. I know I have not met nor seen this gnome before, so how does he know who I am. Think about it Woe“

Atreus takes a step forward as Kathalia takes hers, still with the dagger at the ready. Addressing Hacker he says " Or…You could be a well informed enemy " he says coldly while checking his surroundings " As we speak, we know of certain individuals that might be looking for us here, perhaps hire people such as yourself to look for us and kill us " and he further inspects their facial expressions

Woe puts a hand on Atreus’ shoulder and gives a reassuring smile to the two fey.

“Sincerest apologies for my buddy’s manners, folks. Atreus here is a fine fellow once he eases up, but you’ll have to excuse that we’re a little tense after half our posse just has been thoroughly wiped out. The Cheerful Choir ain’t singing our tune right now, considering that we’re currently collecting bodies of partners still warm from the slaughter…”

Woe looks down at Tander’s still frosty corpse.

“… so to speak.”

But know this, my dear, angry little man, if we were here to kill you, surely we would have done so already. Hacker and I have some... talents, and in your weakened state I'm guessing you wouldn't last long."

"Otherwise, we're gonna have to dispense the obligatory *****-kickin'--and I think your buddy is going to be on MY team!"

A twitch runs through Woe’s perforated shield-hand, but he maintains a reconciling disposition.

“I think you two probably got off on the wrong foot with Atreus, but you should know my tolerance for threats right now is lower than the chances of a love triangle between a githyanki, a githzerai, and a friggin’ mind flayer. So everyone settle down, calm down, and sit down - or in my “weakened state” I’m gonna’ have to make all three of you lie down, face-first.”

Assuming all of them complies, Woe follows suit and returns to his usual jovial mood.

“Now, if you two lovebirds are eager for some action in the evildoer-jaw-rearrangement department, we definitely have some positions that need filling. Once the corpse-collection’s done, we’re hunting game the significance of which is Last-Call-Before-the-Bar-Closes on the Apocalyptic scale.”

“You two are out looking to sate your hunger – well we got side dishes for the main course. As my jumpy associate here mentioned, some karma-dodging villains might also have gotten the hilarious idea of trying to kill us more than usual. Somewhere along the way, we’ll probably need to serve them their own kidneys.”

“You folks up for it?”

While giving the two fey some time to think it over, Woe pulls Atreus aside.

“Listen, Atreus, I understand you’re suspicious. Don’t think the guard’s been dropped – you’re the kind of fellow that chooses to arm yourself with a knife, I mostly do it with a smile.”

“I don’t know if these are the hitmen Arnest claimed he’d send, and I don’t know how the gnome got his intel. What I do know, is that we’re better off by playing along, assassins or not. You don’t seem like you’d survive a scuffle the likes we just escaped from, and I sure as hell don’t plan on losing more friends today.”

“Let’s treat them with the benefit of the doubt for now – my money’s on the gnome being a fan that did his research and the elf being a somewhat Adie tag-along.”

Woe scratches his head and considers the events of the last two days.

“Oh, that’s right. Remind me to tell you about Adie, sometime.”

[sblock=Thought process]
Back in Woe’s mind, both the Naughty and Nice conscience are giving Woe’s ego a backrub, wearing tight-fitting maid outfits.

“Smooth handling while keeping his cool - our Big W is back on track!”

“You do know the real reason why you’ve even considered half-way defusing the situation, don’t you Woe?”

“Because there’s finally a potential drinking buddy in the gnome?”

“You know you have plenty of those beyond the scope of your little Cult-Buster Club, Woe.”

“Because there’s a whole new flavour of potential conquest in the elf?”

“Not really your taste, Woe, and you know it.”

“Because… Because if I let Atreus get killed now, my failure in protecting my friends will be complete, and the last tenuous grasp on my sanity will disintegrate.”

The two conscience-masseuses cheer and jump on a suddenly and conveniently materialized trampoline.

“We have a winner!”

“Congratulations, Woe! You’ve won an ending starting with H…”
[/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

"Ooooh... how exicting! Kathalia could use some excitement, yes yes. But know this, my dear, angry little man, if we were here to kill you, surely we would have done so already. Hacker and I have some... talents, and in your weakened state I'm guessing you wouldn't last long." A strange noise is heard from Kathalia's throat - sort of a half-strangled gurgle. Or growl.

Atreus expresses no fear and stands his ground " Perhaps we are weakened, but make no mistake, both me and Woe are formidable foes and will not be easily taking down "

Hacker chuckles and lights yet another cigarette. "You are the fourth son of Creston D'torian, a wealthy officer in the Jade Kingdom. Your mother was Electra. (Though hopefully not the actual Electra, because then your dad would be your grandfather.) Your mentor was Kalach."

Atreus is truly stunned, trying all that he can to keep his cool composure while pondering; "How does this gnome know so much!?"

Woe puts a hand on Atreus’ shoulder and gives a reassuring smile to the two fey.

“Sincerest apologies for my buddy’s manners, folks. Atreus here is a fine fellow once he eases up, but you’ll have to excuse that we’re a little tense after half our posse just has been thoroughly wiped out. The Cheerful Choir ain’t singing our tune right now, considering that we’re currently collecting bodies of partners still warm from the slaughter…”

As Woe grabs Atreus' shoulder, he comes back to the present from his deep thoughts and listens to what his friends has to say.
Hardly convinced, none the less Atreus sheaths his dagger, but still keeps looking hard at both fey.

Assuming all of them complies, Woe follows suit and returns to his usual jovial mood.

“Now, if you two lovebirds are eager for some action in the evildoer-jaw-rearrangement department, we definitely have some positions that need filling. Once the corpse-collection’s done, we’re hunting game the significance of which is Last-Call-Before-the-Bar-Closes on the Apocalyptic scale.”

“You two are out looking to sate your hunger – well we got side dishes for the main course. As my jumpy associate here mentioned, some karma-dodging villains might also have gotten the hilarious idea of trying to kill us more than usual. Somewhere along the way, we’ll probably need to serve them their own kidneys.”

“You folks up for it?”

While giving the two fey some time to think it over, Woe pulls Atreus aside.

“Listen, Atreus, I understand you’re suspicious. Don’t think the guard’s been dropped – you’re the kind of fellow that chooses to arm yourself with a knife, I mostly do it with a smile.”

“I don’t know if these are the hitmen Arnest claimed he’d send, and I don’t know how the gnome got his intel. What I do know, is that we’re better off by playing along, assassins or not. You don’t seem like you’d survive a scuffle the likes we just escaped from, and I sure as hell don’t plan on losing more friends today.”

“Let’s treat them with the benefit of the doubt for now – my money’s on the gnome being a fan that did his research and the elf being a somewhat Adie tag-along.”

Atreus looks to relax a bit more and takes his time to consider Woe's words before he turns to face the Fey once more with a hard face.
" My apologies " and he makes a little bow before Hacker and Kathalia " My friend places his trust in you, and therefore, I shall place my trust in you as well " and he takes a moment to look at Tander " As you can see, we could use your help to avenge our comrades and fight off these men that serve the darkness. Will you aid us then? "

 

[KenHood]

"Yeah, yeah. Obligatory mistrust and swapping of life-stories. Check. Standard posturing and blah-blah-blah. Check. Pretty typical for adventurer types. Now that that's over, let's just move on to the part where we kill something."

 

[nerdytenor]

As the conversation progresses, Kathalia's expression lapses into vacancy once more. She looks at Woe's spear as it crackles with lightning.

"Oooh! Shiny!"

The voice of Hacker brings her back to earth. Well, at least a little closer to the surface.

"Yeah, yeah. Obligatory mistrust and swapping of life-stories. Check. Standard posturing and blah-blah-blah. Check. Pretty typical for adventurer types. Now that that's over, let's just move on to the part where we kill something."

"Oh Hacker, you always do know how to get to the bottom of things, don't you? I love that!" She turns to the others. "Don't you love that? Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" she squeals. "Let's see what Mother Earth has in store for us."

 

[KenHood]

Hacker's right eye begins to twitch.

[sblock=OOC]Hey guys, do y'all mind if I switch Hacker's speech to dark orange? I think that might make it easier to read against the gray 'quotes' background.[/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

" Well, now that the pleasantries are over, follow me " and Atreus takes the lead by tracking their footsteps back. When they get close to where they last fought, he appoints Woe to lead the rest of the way and goes into the bushes to follow the group silently as they go.

[sblock=OOC]
To Kenhood: No, thats impossible to do now, you have to keep those colours till Hacker dies . No, please go ahead and change, the colour is hard to read and I understand your frustration.

To Covaithe: This is your cue . I couldn't roll a stealth roll since IC is down, please roll it for me.

To Nerdytenor: Hehe, Kathalia is very entertaining. She is so sweet that Atreus might even chok her at some point.
[/sblock]

 

[Dunamin]

As the conversation progresses, Kathalia's expression lapses into vacancy once more. She looks at Woe's spear as it crackles with lightning.

"Oooh! Shiny!"

“Yes, it does have an enthralling effect on the dames. Satisfying proportions and now even more energetic.”

Woe keeps it well out of Kathalia’s reach, just to be sure.

“But hands off the shaft.”

Back near the battlefield, Woe hides Tander's body somewhere on the outskirts. Then he creeps carefully close towards where Palindrome and the orc fell, looking out for traces of frost and other signs of the motes’ passing.

[sblock=OOC]
Stealth and Perception check for Woe as well, please.

Woe Chinua - Human Fighter 2
Passive Perception 12, Passive Insight 12
AC 20, Fort 19, Reflex 17, Will 14
HP 40/40, Bloodied 20, Surge Value 10, Surges 6/11
Speed 5, Initiative +3
Action Points: 1, Second Wind
Powers: Cleave, Crushing Surge, Tide of Iron; Pass Forward; Spear of Myrdroon's Shard;
Steel Serpent Strike; Comeback Strike, Inspiring Word; Spear of Myrdroon's Shard

Hey guys, do y'all mind if I switch Hacker's speech to dark orange? I think that might make it easier to read against the gray 'quotes' background.

Sure thing, it would also avoid potential uncomfortable mix-ups with Woe’s Naughty Conscience (who naturally also uses Dark Red). [/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

[sblock=OOC]
Perception check for me as well
[/sblock]