Mark 2012/02/05(Sun)19:46 No. 384661 ID: a9ba96
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I can't help but find it funny. For all the talk about progress, there's so much that always seems to stay the same.

>"Bah! They have this way blocked off too! How are we to reach Central Plaza with the city gone mad like this?"

Mark 2012/02/05(Sun)19:47 No. 384662 ID: a9ba96
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>"Listen, if we're going to be stuck here 'till they get the trains working again, we're going to have to find something to drink. Hey, shrub!"
>"Excuse me?"
>"You've been tense as a cleric in a brothel ever since that train crashed. Do you long-ear types drink?"
>"...Occasionally."
>"Not anywhere damn near enough, I'll tell you! Me and the others are going down to find a bar, you think your girly ass is man enough for a taste of dwarven liquor?"
>"...Are you... Inviting me for a drink? Me?"
>"These guy's have all got busy work to do, you don't You may be a shrub, but you're a shrub who lived through a train crash. Man enough for me."
>"A...alright then."

The Elf and the three uniformed dwarves from the crash walk off.

Mark 2012/02/05(Sun)19:53 No. 384665 ID: a9ba96
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Dov clears his throat and shouts over the roar of the rioting crowd.
>"Sir! This looks to me like another worker's riot. We could try flagging down some royal guard to escort us to the plaza, but I get the feeling they're all going to be a bit tied at the moment. Even with our official business here, I'm not sure how many would be willing give us much attention amidst all of this. I used to repair pipes in the factories around here before I met Cadence a few years ago, so I'm familiar with some of the guards in the factory district over the hills. It's a long shot, considering the scale of this mayhem right now, but we may be able to find someone willing to escort us to the palace."

Hm... not sure how likely that is to work, but it seems like my best bet... My best bet, unless... Ah, crap...

"You know... I grew up down here. So I uh, I have family here. And I have an uncle who lives around here who has certain uh, connections, and he may be able to get an escort to the palace."
>"Hm, that could work too. No clue how long this riot's gonna last, but if you want we could probably catch up with those GDR miners and the elf. Wait things out for a while in a pub or something. Your choice."

Eh, if by 'connections' you mean 'crooks'... Yeah. Probably best going to the factory and asking the guards there for help, and if that don't work, just trying to wait it out. Getting mixed up with your uncles 'connections' might be more trouble than it's worth.

>>384665
You seem to be missing something. Get yourself a black cloak and hood for Cadence, and see if he and Tinata can intimidate their way through the crowd. All you need to do is have a smug grin on your face.

If you look like professional killers then people will give you a wide berth.

I say go with Uncle Czutpah, because at least he's family and you have something solid to establish trust on. sure, the connections may be a bit shady in nature, but we have no reason to trust the guards either, really, and more importantly, they have no reason to trust us. and I do believe that even in the Capital, or even especially in the Capital, you should remain being discreet.

Mark 2012/02/05(Sun)22:07 No. 384713 ID: a9ba96
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Oh, hey guys! You're back. Welcome to Capital City. It's a real madhouse right now, some sort of worker protest turned into a total riot. The guards at the front gate rushed us into the city without giving us a chance to explain things to them, and we haven't had much luck getting colder to the plaza where the royal palace is.

>If by "connections" you mean "crooks"...

Oh, my uncle? By connections, I mean...

Mark 2012/02/05(Sun)22:08 No. 384714 ID: a9ba96
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"Uncle Manny, why are we in a bar?"
>"Because your good-for-nothing dad refuses to instill good values in you. He asked me to watch you today, so I'm taking this opportunity to teach you some values. Today, I'm going to teach the most important value of all - integrity."
"...In a bar?"
>"Just wait and see, kiddo."
"Who are the guys by the door?"
>"Friends of Uncle Manny. They're gonna help me teach you about integrity. We just gotta wait for one last guy to show up."
"Okay..."
>"Now, kiddo, your Uncle Manny works in a business very important to this city, and that's the security industry. More and more people come to this city every day, and that means that there's an every-growing threat of danger. Uncle Manny works for men who provide... protection to some of the small businesses around the city, to keep their merchandise safe from bad people. But in order for us to do that, we need money from the store owners each month. The store owners who want our protection need to have the integrity to make sure..."
Ring!

Mark 2012/02/05(Sun)22:10 No. 384715 ID: a9ba96
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>"There he is! Grab him!"
>"Wha-- Fat Manny? Aw, shit!"
>"Where's our money, Rico?"
>"I-I-it's been a slow month, I'll have it all ready for you next time, I swear! By the gods, I swear!"
>"The gods ain't gonna help you now, Rico. Where's our fucking money!?"
>"I told you! It was a slow month! I had to pay my rent, I don't have your money!"
>"Bad move, Rico buddy! We trusted you with this!"
>"Please! I had to pay my rent!"
>"I guess we're gonna have to remind you what happens to business partners who can't show us that they have integrity!"
>"Fat Manny, no! I'll have it next month!"
>"Boys, break his fucking legs!"
>"No! Fat Manny, No! MANNY, PLEASE FAT MANNY! NO! PLEAASE!"

Mark 2012/02/05(Sun)22:11 No. 384717 ID: a9ba96
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...You know.

"Connections."

...Right. Crooks.

Let's not go see your uncle, yes? Please? Pretty please? Yes, right then. Let's go talk to the guards at the factories, shall we?

>>384717

Man. Well, sometimes those sorts of connections are what are needed.

Yeah, go with your uncle's boys. You'll attract less attention and likely be able to get through the mob faster.

>>384715
Man, what an asshole. He's not even good at his job!
If you want to run a protection racket properly then you have accountants maintaining the shop's books and some of your boys going around incognito looking for under-the-table deals. That way you can take your cut directly and you know how much of a profit they're turning. You only make examples out of the ones that keep stuff off their books and don't cut you in.

Lets avoid organized crime until other methods have failed. You don't want people to know those connections exist if you can avoid it, and those connections are why their boys would be able to get you through the crowd.

I take it back- protection rackets are always run by huge assholes. no offense, Mark.

let's go to the guards.

Mark 2012/02/07(Tue)19:14 No. 385163 ID: a9ba96
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...I may want to consider checking in on Uncle Manny later, but for now maybe it's best that we leave him out of this.

"On second thought Dov, we're probably better off heading down to the factory district. We're probably better of doing this without getting my uncle's, uh, affairs mixed up in it."
>"Sounds good to me, sir! I know quite a few of the guards down there, but there's this fellow named Duncan in the west factory district who's probably gonna be our best bet. Me and Cadence helped him out of a jam a while ago, nothing worth getting into right now, but he'd probably be more than willing to return the favor. He's a great kid, that Duncan, I'll tell you that."

As Mark and the others move away from the cluttered streets leading towards the plaza, the crowds become less dense. The rioters are still clumped at street corners, but it gradually becomes easier for the group to pick up their pace and push through the crowds.

Samwell speaks up after a few minutes of traveling through the streets.

>"So you say these are workers riots? I don't understand why workers would riot on such a scale. Honestly, it seems like a bunch of self-entitlement to me."
Cadence almost seems taken aback by the prince's assertion, and quickly offers a response.
>"It's about factory conditions. Hours, wages, safety..."
>"I say they're fortunate enough to have a job as it is."
>"...And you're really still confused over why people would be willing to blow up a train to keep you from getting crowned, huh?"

Mark 2012/02/07(Tue)19:15 No. 385164 ID: a9ba96
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Tinata has still said very little since the crash. As the group moves through the streets, she glances over her shoulder a few times at Mark and the others before finally speaking up.[/i]

>"So, Mark."
"Huh? Oh! What is it Tinata?"
>"When you are not beings the the big ideas man, I take it you fancy yourself as the big adventurer hero, yes?"
"Um, yeah. I guess that's an apt way to put that!"
>"...You don't give much thought to killing things, do you?"
"...huh?"

Mark 2012/02/07(Tue)19:22 No. 385169 ID: a9ba96
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>"The way you decided to deal with the Orcs back in the lake really gots me thinking. I'm fine with the way things turned out back there, I'm alls for seeing the tables turned on the kinds of peoples who thinks they can push other peoples around just because they be biggers. But I don't thinks you put that much thought intos it. You saw an Orc in your way, and you figured the best way to get the Orc out of your way was hackings it's neck open."
"I... uh..."
> "Could you tells me how many goblins you killed, just a few nights ago, when you charged Nosgug's pyramid?"
"Tinana, what is this about?"
>"Have you ever killed a Kobold?"
"I..."
>"Of course you have. You crawl dungeons in the Outlands for a living, so you kills them all the time, yeah?"
"I mean uh, well, I guess that--"
>"Knows what? I get that. The Kobolds in the dungeons and the caves aren't like the "cuddly little Kobolds" in the woods. Those kobolds are bothersome at best, yeah? They try to steals your stuff, you push them around a bit, and they runs away. Kobolds in dungeons and caves are nasty, feral, attack on sight. If you wants to crawl a dungeon, you have to cut them down. And I get that. I've killed them before, too, before that all started. But haves you ever considered it past that?"

Mark 2012/02/07(Tue)19:24 No. 385170 ID: a9ba96
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"Past... Uh, what, exactly?"
>"Past the dungeon! You know why you get angry kobolds gnawing at your knees whenever you explore caves in the Outlands? It is because the Kobolds have been broken and pacified as a race to the point where everyone knows they can be pushed around. If you're lucky, you can profit off of that's like Nosgug's tribe did. And if you're really lucky, you can push thems deep into wherever cave and swamp you find. And when the cold and the hunger finally get to them, and they revert back to primal instinct, and they stop being so cute -- well, the big, heroic adventurer types are more than happy to cull their numbers for you."
"...I..."
>"Haves you even given thought to what happened to my town, or that camp, or the goblin tribes after you got your loot and your little quest was over, big adventures man? Or how about this! Answer me this! Have you even thoughts about what happens once you complete you bigs quest here, and Princey gets put on the throne down in Farway? Do you really believe Samwell is a fit ruler from what you've seen of him? Or does whatever reward he's promised you matter more than all that?"

Cadence, clears his throat loudly and begins to play his guitar, clearly attempting to silence the argument

...Holy shit, where did THAT come from? Did I say something earlier? How are you even supposed to respond to something like that...?

>>385169
"Err... I actually chopped the Orcs because they were bandits, not because they were Orcs. I thought about scaring them off, but then they'd just get somebody else."
Then lower your voice
"Also, Samwell's a jerk who'd make a terrible king. Either the kingdom will find some way to get him out of succession, power-players will reduce him to a figurehead, or the people will revolt and start a new government.
I want to make the world a better place, but I'm no good at huge-scale things."

Well he isn't fit to rule, but he doesn't seem deserving of us just killing him...

Hrm, maybe we can talk with him about the possibility of rebellion if he returns to Farway now, and convince him that before he reveals himself eh should do something impressive and heroic first so he won't have an entirely bad reputation. That would buy us some time to either teach him some sense or find some other long term solution.

he could get better. you've been getting better, after all.

>>385170
Really, a revolutionary? How amusing, how... quaint. Know this, we beyond have seen the good and the bad of revolutionaries.

What's her plan, replace one blunt tyrant with a thousand inquisitive ones? We can do better perhaps, but we can do so much worse.

Imagine, for instance if the gangs took control. I mean, who better would be equipped to step in after the unseemly removal of a dynasty? Get some smooth demagogue talking about how he will make everything better while his buddies conveniently scrape up all the leavings of the old nobility for 'proper dispersal to the peoples.'

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Factory conditions are a noble thing to struggle for, but not worth a bloody revolution.

Give the mobs an inch I say, or they 'will' take a mile. Thought, this may be a lesson better learned imparted to the prince over yonder. Nobility make good figureheads, good representatives of a nation, especially in those turbulent times calling for decisive action, but they should be aware of just how disposable they are.

>>385245
A factor to keep in mind is that preventing Samwell from taking the throne is not automatically the end of his family's dynasty. He does have a brother who is said to be better qualified, though on the other hand the person saying so is Samwell's father, who does not seem very competent himself, given the state of his kingdom.

Might want to take the opportnity to use her own argument against her. Why is SHE with YOU and not helping out with the kobolds and the human town? And then answer the question for her: perhaps she realized that she wasn't 'powerful' enough to really change anything in the long run, and that at best her efforts were treating one small part of one symptom of something that's been going wrong for a LONG time. The same can be said of you, Mark. As much as you can disagree with various things and find fault in systems, if you can't do anything about it, it doesn't matter how much you CARE. But if you get Samwell instated and have his ear, you'll be able to influence much MORE change than if you let the status quo stand (which by the way doesn't seem to be working much, gauging by the riots and your experience here), and even if you DON'T stick around and 'advise' Erick, you'll have the King's reward for placing him on the throne, and you can use THAT as leverage to affect more change. What you care about doesn't mean SHIT if you don't have the power to do anything about it, and sometimes you need to do things that aren't quite right so you get the power to MAKE things right.

>>385170
"I don't have many options, alright? I still have to prep for Warpath, and that means I need allies, powerful ones, who has the kind of clout that can move armies."
"As for him being a bad leader, I agree, he is. But if I don't get him onto the throne then farway will simply crumble apart from within. At least crowning him will force things to be resolved sooner rather than later. It's true I could try to get someone else onto the throne, but I don't think that would be a good idea. You know me well enough by now,do you really think I make a good judge of character or politician?"

Hey uh, isn't the prince standing right next to you? Maybe we shouldn't talk about this right now.

Mark 2012/02/09(Thu)01:04 No. 385355 ID: a9ba96
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"So... what? You see yourself as some sort of revolutionary?"
>"Yes. Ands a visionary, too."
"Then why are you following me around?"
>"Wh..."
You lean a bit closer, lowering your voice.
"Does Samwell seem like he'd make a good king? I uh, well, not really. Maybe he'll get better, but right now? No. But maybe he'll get better. I uh, I have faith that he can get better, in fact. And if he doesn't, I don't think he'll last particularly long, considering the way the general population of Farway thinks about him."
>"So that's it? It's just nots your problem?"
"You said it yourself; I'm a big heroic adventure type. I wasn't going to leave the prince in the woods.
>"..."
"Listen, I want to be remembered as a great hero some day, but I'm not going to do that poking around the Outlands for treasure and looking for quests from people in bars. It's where most adventurers start, but I think helping the prince is going to be my big break. You need a certain amount of influence to really be able to make a difference, and Samwell's my best bet for that. I think you understand that too. That's why you're following me around in hopes of getting back in touch with your dad's assassin buddies, instead of back at your town, right? Your big plan with the camp was only going to accomplish so much, and so is integrating the kobolds. They're a start. Small steps. But these friends of your dad have connections, and you know they may be the connections you need to really make a difference."
>"You... are smarter than you looks, mister 'big ideas man.'"
"Not uh, not really. The voice ball I was showing you back on the train helps a lot. The voices in my head are a lot smarter than I am."
>"...heh."

The prince, who has been silent up until now, finally speaks up.
>"I know none of you are very fond of the thought of me taking the crown.
"Wha... Oh, no, I was just telling Tinata that--"
>"Fret not, good friend. I know you respect me as well, but I know I have few reasons to trust in my skills as a leader. Just know this - when I get back to Farway and claim my crown, I plan to fix things."

Mark 2012/02/09(Thu)01:05 No. 385356 ID: a9ba96
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Cadence stops playing and cuts in.
>"Good to know we're all on the same page. We're just about to hit the factory district, so keep an eye out for..."

Mark 2012/02/09(Thu)01:05 No. 385357 ID: a9ba96
File 132877834694.jpg - (92.85KB , 854x768 , bf90b07c.jpg )

>"Ah, hell... Didn't think I'd see it get this bad."

Mark 2012/02/09(Thu)01:06 No. 385358 ID: a9ba96
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The streets in the factory district are less packed than by the plaza. However, you notice a large crowd gathered by the entrance of one of the factories.

"Cadence? Dov? What's going on?"
>"..."

Mark 2012/02/09(Thu)01:07 No. 385359 ID: a9ba96
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The crowd cheers as a man pulls a half-elf worker out of the factory, dragging him across the ground with a rope tied to his neck.

>"They say that this city is the pinnacle of all our achievements as a race! They say years of advancement has brought Egias an age of new prosperity! Then tell me, people, why is that we remain at the bottom? I believe, that if we have come this far, then we have the capacity as a race to move farther still! And we use this opportunity today to attack the issue at its heart!

>How many of you have lost your jobs because you spoke out about the system? How many of your empty positions were then filled by a devil-eared, half-elven hybrid willing to work for half your payroll? The dwarves have aided our growth, and the elves have the decency to stay out of our way..."

Mark 2012/02/09(Thu)01:08 No. 385360 ID: a9ba96
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>"And yet, we allow the mistakes, the hybrid rejects that elven society will not accept into ours with open arms, we feed the undergrowth that sucks away at our progress and keeps us, the workers who have brought this nation to where it is today with our blood and sweat tied to the slums while others continue to reap the benefits of our progress? "

Several city guards attempt to push their way through the crowd, but are met by resistance from several of the rioters, preventing them from reaching the ranting man.

Mark 2012/02/09(Thu)01:09 No. 385361 ID: a9ba96
File 132877859384.jpg - (139.04KB , 716x565 , ccd58ea2.jpg )

>"So many of the rioters today fail to see the root of our problems; they have shifted their attention to the Plaza, thinking that we can gain progress with sound and fury alone! They think we can progress by shifting the eyes of our government onto our cause... but I say to you that is not enough! I say, while the eyes of our leaders are upon us today, we send them a message by severing the connections between us and the scum they have allowed to live alongside us!"

"By the gods... they're going to kill him!"
Cadence sighs
>"Kid... we... need to keep moving."
"They're going to kill that half-elf, Cadence! We have to do something."
>"It just isn't right... but If we do something now its gonna be us against the mob, and he'll turn them all on us in a heartbeat. What is there to do?"

>>385361
Call him a half-dwarf.

>>385361
Anybody have a loaded gun?

There are a few possible responses.
The first is to send in Tinata. She calls him a coward for doing this to a hybrid instead of the factory boss. She is scary as fuck, so she should be able to force her way to the front. Doubly so if she makes it clear that she is not going to play nice like the guards.

Alternative:
You're far enough away that the mob won't be able to catch you too quick, and setting them into a panic is most likely going to make them scatter. Many of the workers will probably be trampled in the stamped; I fail to see this as a disadvantage.
Shoot the man holding the rope right between the eyes.

Alternative 2: Tell Cadence he's a bard, and his hand can save that half-elf's pointy ears. Then have him start playing and sing about how that mob's all worthless cowards.

Alternative 3: Rush into the factory, then out the door right there. Cut down the mob leader and carry the half-elf back inside. Use the door to set-up a killbox where everybody who rushes in dies.

>>385380
Jeese, mate, that's... Sigh. I really don't know, mate. 'Try to intimidate them and then start killing if that doesn't work?' That's a pretty bloody road, and not one I think we want to be taking.

I'm really tempted to just suggest you keep walking, as gruesome as this is.

>>385414
Race murders are like potato chips; you can't have just one.

Once there's ONE mob murder of a half-elf it becomes easier for other people to bring themselves to do it. The more that are killed, the more 'acceptable' it becomes and the easier it gets.

We can't let this happen.
Not.
Even.
Once.

Well, fortunately for you, things like mob mentality are my specialty! sort of, regardless.

The issue at hand is that normally, I would assume random murder is you know, not the status quo of this. You know better than I do, but I am assuming half-elf-worker tensions are usually not that bad, just a recurring 'who we blame' sort of thing.

The issue right now is mob mentality, everyone is thinking in a group, caught in a fervor, noone is thinking for themselves or under the usual 'moral' system. What you need to do is break it. Either by making things more humanized/caring, or redirecting the fervor

Couple of things you could try, my top three suggestions:
1) Shock them into remembering who they are normally: Bring up something like 'Would your mother be proud if she saw this! is this what she wanted for you, to kill an innocent worker because of his lot in life. Did you come here to kill people, or did you come here to make a better life for yourself?"

2) Redirect the anger: Essentially, blame the factory owners. Look at them! sitting on their riches while the working man has to form a mob to get noticed. One manager's house could double a dozen men's salaries! These are the true evil, get them!

3) Workers unite! Argue that it is not this man's fault, you are all workers, just trying to make a living, from the hardiest worker to the cleaners. Divided like this now is what THEY want! together we are a force! no work could be done without you, and if they fire you all, they will be goldless! UNITE! unionization movement!

the half is willing to do ANYTHING for even a little money. it is just he doesn't know better, has no idea what a union is.

And we stop it by killing the mob? No, mate, bloody no.

Still, the 'sing us a song, bard!' idea might have some merit, if it's going to be heard above the crowd. Maybe try that?

I'm not so good with words, but you'll be needing 'em to solve this. just keep your hands away from your weapons for this one and you'll be fine... maybe.

>>385418
I am in favor of combining 2 and 3 from here.
You might want to add something about how riots have like this have happened plenty of times before, and they have not worked. Why? Because the people who really have control can simply sit back while the workers expend their energy on folks who are just as poor as they are.


(It might be a bit irresponsible to just redirect their rage, but the factory owners are probably long gone by now, and they actually are fairly responsible for things.)

I'm in favor of letting this happen.
Short term atrocities lead to long term benefits.
In order for one man to succeed, another must fail.

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)00:12 No. 388744 ID: 1428d7
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>Keep Walking
>In order for one man to succeed, another must fail.

No.

I can't. I can't cut down the whole mob, but I can't keep walking either. What kind of adventurer sees someone in trouble and keeps walking?

And no, before you say something, that thing with the burning town doesn't count. That was under completely different circumstances.

Mark, after a moment's hesitation, shakes his head and runs into the mob without a word. Cadence yells something, but it's downed out by the sounds of the mob.
With the mob focused on keeping the city guards held back, Mark is able to slowly push his way through.

Don't have much of a plan, but I've gotta try.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell are you doing!?"

A member of the crowd reaches out to grab Mark's shoulder, but he pulls away. The ranting man looks over and grunts.
>"Let him through. I'll teach him something good if he wants to make trouble."

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)00:14 No. 388745 ID: 1428d7
File 133015766067.jpg - (168.21KB , 604x498 , f1cd7654.jpg )

I don't even know what I'm doing, but I'm angry enough not to care either. I feel like I've got to prove something to myself right now, but I'm not sure what. Maybe I'll figure it out when it's all said and done.

I start yelling. Half of it's me, half of it's the orb.

"What in the world do you think straight up-murdering a half elf is going to do to help you, you maniac?"
>"Light a spark. They need to see with their own eyes their follies, they need to see us take action while the riots have their eyes on us."
"What has he even done?"
>"Stolen from us! These devil-eared hybrid rejects of Elven society steal away our jobs, work for a fraction of our payments -- and It ends today! Do you stand by him instead of your fellow man?"
"Are you serious!? I don't know what the hell is going on in this city but whatever it is everyone else is protesting it just fine without murdering people!! This is about work, right, the factories? Isn't whatever this is the factory owners' faults?!"
>"The corruption of our factory bosses is facilitated by the hybrids. When we stand against them, they do not hear our cries! They fire us! And what reason do they have to listen to the demands of an unsatisfied worker when he can just as easily replace him with a desperate worker for half the pay? We will cut off the problem at its roots!"
"You both seem to be having trouble with work. Work with them to--"
>"Hah! Work with them? If you think our bosses discredit our movements now, imagine what it would be like with half-elves in our numbers? Spineless bastards would turn on us and head straight back to cheap labor when things got rough! Don't you see that?"

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)00:20 No. 388748 ID: 1428d7
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Before Mark can respond, a member of the mob lets out a startled cry..

As Mark looks over towards the direction of the yell, his eyes widen. While his yelling doesn't appear to have shifted the mob's views, it seems that he managed to hold his own against the leader long enough to inadvertently draw everyone else's attention away from another man creeping his way through the crowd...

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)00:22 No. 388751 ID: 1428d7
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All eyes shift to man as he pushes his way up to the front of the crowd. A flame dances in his hand.

>"Mage!"

The crowd erupts into chaos.

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)00:23 No. 388752 ID: 1428d7
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Talking advantage of the confusion, the guards begin to force their way through the mob. Seeing the source of the commotion, one looks to the other guards between shoves and yells out;
>"It's a bloody caster! Get the paladins!"
>"Sir!"
The crowd has grown frantic, beginning to disperse. While the guards make their way through the middle of the crowd, the other other turns elbows a panicked worker out of the way and runs off in the opposite direction to get backup.

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)00:34 No. 388755 ID: 1428d7
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The flames in his hand growing more intense by the moment, the stranger points forward with his other hand. Mark is uncertain if the point is intended for him, the raving leader of the mob, his half elf captive, or the quickly approaching guards.

The stranger breaks his silence, speaking just loud enough to be heard over the crowd. His voice is stern and gravely.
>"Let's all avoid doing something we're gonna regret, yes?"

so far he seems to just be big intimidating. what's he want?

Ask him what he wants.

Honestly I think we should do what he says. Fire hurts.

>>388757
except he is just holding it, he could be an illusionist.

>>388755
"Agreed."
Then snatch the rope away from the maniac and pry the half-elf's noose open.

I dunno whose side he's on, but I refuse to be intimidated by something that might as well be a cantrip.

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)18:58 No. 388924 ID: 97a37d
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>Ask what he wants

This seems like the best move. Its best not to screw around with a traveling mage. Usually it's like, standard that when a traveling mage passes through a big city like Capital City the local paladins follow him until he leaves... but I guess with all the trouble this guy slipped in.

Mages manipulate a force that people still really don't understand, but at least most of them stay away from the normal people. It's hard to trust traveling mages. They can be valuable when you need some help or want to buy a potion or they show up when goblins are close by, but most the time you just want them to pass through as quickly as possible. The magics of mages can get a lot more volatile than the blessings of clerics or paladins, and they don't have any code to follow.

And they can also light their hands on fire. Which is the most pressing matter right now.

"Sir, uh... Sir? With the burning hands? What's are you uh, looking for?"
>"Just passing through, kid. May have picked a bad time. Or maybe just the right time. Hard to tell. I have a question for the other guy, though -- bet holding that rope makes you feel real strong, hm?"

At those words, the man seizes up. His breathing intensifies, his hands begin to shake, and the rope slowly slips out of his hands.

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)19:00 No. 388925 ID: 97a37d
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The Mage takes a sudden step forward and unleashes the torrent of flame from his hand, knocking the man off of his feet. He screams in agony and crashes to the ground.

>"Gods be damned, no time to wait for Paladins! Take him down!"

The two guards raise their pistols. The Mage whips his hand to the side with a jerk.

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)19:01 No. 388926 ID: 97a37d
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One of the guards seizes up in a similar fashion to to downed rioter, twitching erratically before spinning around and hitting the other guard across the face with his gun. The other guard, surprised by the sudden attack from his partner, misfires his weapon at the ground.

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)19:04 No. 388928 ID: 97a37d
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The Mage dashes forwards, punching both guards in the face.

The two men are swept off their feet by the force of the strike, landing with a clatter.

Mark 2012/02/25(Sat)19:05 No. 388929 ID: 97a37d
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The Mage turns around and approaches the downed rioter, who is groaning in pain. He holds his hand out towards the man and the flames spring forth from his palm again - the man who had mere moments ago been loudly expounding his anti half-elf rhetoric lets out a pathetic whimper as he looks up.

After a few tense moments of complete silence, the Mage looks over to Mark, casually striking up conversation.

>"I can tell debate isn't your forte, but what you did still took some guts. What brings you here?"

Wh-

What?

"Just passing through."

Leave

May as well tell him we're looking for that guard. Ask him what he's here for. Was that guy his target before this incident happened?

>>388929
"A few things... mostly trying to get to the palace. If you happen to be headed in the same direction I'm sure the way would be a lot less crowded in your path... we could also vouche to your 'not entirely killing people you easily could' demeanor once we arrive or ran into trouble with more guards."


...
Say, didn't we pick up a magic ring that needed recharging from a mage or something waaay back when?

>>388929
"Stopping the end of the world - standard Tuesday adventurer activity. Pity it isn't Tuesday.
Kidding aside, we're just headed to the palace on business. I think we can keep the guards from giving you too much trouble if you can keep the crowds back.
I'm Mark the adventurer. Who might you be, and are you with the mages guild?"
Introduce the others after he introduces himself.

we were passing by. which doesn't happen to be a lie.

Mark 2012/02/26(Sun)19:52 No. 389188 ID: a9ba96
File 133031476392.jpg - (165.10KB , 850x594 , 440b9236.jpg )

>Say, didn't we pick up a magic ring that needed recharging from a mage or something waaay back when?

Hey, you're right! This guy seems to be impressed hy my heroics - maybe he can help charge this ring of protection I got from Archer back in Tinata's village.

"I'm just passing through myself, really."
>"Figured as much. Only a man with an adventurer's spirit wears his blade on his back as proudly as you do."
"I'm Mark? And you are...?"
>"A vagabond."
"Oh... well, mister vagabond, I'm sure that you don't plan on sticking around considering that you've assaulted a pair of city guards and people generally don't take kindly to that, but could you help me power a magic ring really quick? I'm sure you can tell, but I'm not particularly, uh, magical, myself. Just uh, just a normal sword guy."
>"a magic ring? Like an enchantment?"
"Sort of. It provides protection against whatever spell you, em... Charge it with, I guess? Like I said, I'm not very magic, but I think that's how it works."
The flames in the vagabond's hands die down. You hear the rioter attempt to pick himself off the ground, but he is too injured to move.
>"I understand. Men like me, trained in the arcane... they're few and far between down in the land of men, but life as an adventurer means you're a lot more likely to have to tangle with one down the line than the Everyman. Your clothes scream "Outlands," and I know for a fact that there's even the occasional Elven Mage in those parts. You need to be prepared for those kinds of encounters."

Mark 2012/02/26(Sun)19:59 No. 389191 ID: a9ba96
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>"For what you did, I'll help you free of my usual charge. I have two fields of expertise, and you've seen both in action moments ago; Do you seek protection from the charm, which is capable seizing your body away from you and letting your foe control your actions against your will, or from magical flames, the most basic form of arcane offense among most mages?"

Mark, let me tell you a little tip; Fireballs, while popular and relatively common can be dealt with relatively easily so long as you stay on guard and keep a level head. A bright red ball of flames is pretty easy to see coming at you and considering how this seems to cover magic flames, non magical flames may not be affected by the protection.

Now, enchantments, specifically mind control ones are more dangerous. They can be done rather subtly and are normally used as a means to take out the fighters first and use them against the party. You are a prime target and to break them you require a lot of will power in many cases. They are less common, but they can save your and everyone else's butt in a worst case scenario.

Go with the mind control protection.

hmm, but what effect do WE have on charm magics?

We aren't so much a charm as just basic possession with a pretty strong anchor and no control on the host. We can suggest, we just can't outright control.

Mind Control is usually different. That stuff basically branches in all sorts of way, but the bottom line is direct control either through emotions, subliminal messages or out right control.

Difference from suggesting directions when riding and taking the reins directly.

charm. for the love of god, charm.

oh and ask if you will be able to tell if someone tried to use a charm on you. pretending to be effected is a great way to make them lower their guard.

Mark 2012/02/27(Mon)19:39 No. 389341 ID: a9ba96
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"Hmm... I think I'll go with protection against charms."
>"Coming right up."
The vagabond breathes in deeply and squeezes on the ring, infusing it with an arcane light.
>"The magic I'm sensing from this ring's pretty weak. It's not a very complicated enchantment, so I'd say you've only got one charge before it wears out."
"Better uh, make it count, I guess."
>"The good news is that getting a charm broken like thatbis one surefire way to disorient the hell out of a caster. It's a one time deal before someone else has to charge it again, but lemme tell you this - it's one fine advantage."
"Say... You with the Guild of Mages?"
>"The guild? Nah. Life in a tower isn't my style. I'm a drifter, and they aren't looking for fresh blood anyway."
"Oh. Well, you're very uh, very talented. It's difficult to imagine a drifter having such-"
>"CITIZEN, STAND BACK!!

Mark 2012/02/27(Mon)19:40 No. 389342 ID: a9ba96
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>"Wh-Aaagh!"

WHUMP!

>"JUSTICE!"

break it up.

>>389342
At this point they're down on the ground.
Nudge the guard with your foot.

"Get off of him, you nitwit. He saved a bunch of lives, and since you're not on fire he's obviously being cooperative."

Call Prince Bastard over. One of the few things he's good for is manipulating guards, and convincing the guards that this mage is part of a diplomatic envoy without ever admitting to knowing him would be right up his alley.

I'm pretty sure the mage will be able to handle himself without you assaulting a guard. But maybe you can sortof get in the way without directly interfering, yes?

Mark 2012/02/27(Mon)20:37 No. 389357 ID: a9ba96
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As the two clatter to the ground, the Paladin slams his elbow into the back of the Mage's head. Before Mark has a chance to respond, the paladin springs to his feet. Vagabond remains on the ground, consious but dazed from the sudden attack.

>"The blessings of the Goddess' holy light be upon you, good citizen! What noble valor, distracting this villain as I made my attack! Praised be your flesh, and holy be the light that shines upon it this day!"
The guard who had run off earlier to contact the paladins looks at the two unconsious guards.
>"Gods, are they okay? I should have stayed and fought...'
>"Fear not sir Duncan! We will get aid for the wounded immediately! Brave civilian! Would you be so kind as to watch over these injured men with sir Duncan while I retrieve a cleric? The Goddess would indeed smile upon such actions!"

Ah, the Children of the Golden Light. A bit... different from the Sons of de Justús. I'll leave it at that for now.

>>389357
If you get a chance:
"You hit the wrong man. The mage stopped a murder. The guy over there's the villain."
If not, tell Duncan:
"I've been trying to find you, Duncan. We need to get into the palace.
Also, this mage got in trouble saving lives; think you could smooth that over?"

I think we should stay here, see if the worker is alright, and 'forget' for a bit to keep an eye on the vigilante. If he does not make his escape, we should then explain to the guards and paladin what he was doing.

ask mage if he's okay. concussions are a serious thing.

>>389360
>"You hit the wrong man. The mage stopped a murder. The guy over there's the villain."
Sorry, but that's a bad idea.
Y'know, since mages are absolutely illegal in this city, so much so that one of the reasons for the paladin order here is to specifically keep them outside or dead.

>>389357
Sir... your "Injured Civilian" (please do air quotations) is a lunatic, seditionist and bloodmonger. This mage just stopped a race murder and the breakout of mass lynchings in addition to all these riots, or was returning some semblance peace and sanity to this street somehow in violation of order and justice?

Mark 2012/03/01(Thu)17:44 No. 389782 ID: a9ba96
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Mages aren't completely illegal, they just aren't allowed to live within city limits. They can pass through to sell their services, but the paladins keep a close eye on them until they leave.

"Sir? Sir?! I uh, Paladin, sir, the Mage wasn't really your problem; in fact, he helped stop this man here from murdering a half-elven worker just now."
>"Be that true? Even if that's so, and this worker was the true villain of this incident, assault on city guard and unauthorized magic are crimes all the same. If we desired all crimes in this city to be solved by vigilanteism, we would not have paladins and guards in place. Still, blessings upon you for your concern."

Well, I tried. The Children of the Golden Light are very... Uh, adamant when it comes to the law.

He walks off.

Mark 2012/03/01(Thu)17:51 No. 389789 ID: a9ba96
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Dov and Cadence approach Duncan. The dwarf waves to him.
>"Duncan, old buddy! How's guard work been treating you?"
>"Cadence? Dov? Well, ain't that something, running into you two during this mess."

Cadence laughs and shakes the guard's hand.
>"We're actually here on business, if you'd believe that."
>"Business? You may have booked a bad time for a gig, I'm afraid."
>"Yeah, just what is going on down here?"
>"Kid fell over one of the rails in a factory down here a few nights ago, and the factory's boss made everyone keep working. Just stuck someone on his post, told everyone else that they'd get beaten if they stopped their machine, and said he'd send someone down to help them him when the shift ended. Kid didn't make it."
>"Well shit, and you and Ki were asking why we wanted to get away from the city. Still, that certainly isn't pretty, but I've heard about accidents like that all the time. How'd the riots get this bad?"
>"Someone shot one of our guys when we went in to break things up."
>"Shot? Weren't you supposed to be keeping your guns away from civilians?"
>"We don't know how it happened, but we think The Family is involved. The strikes weren't even this bad at first. A bunch of workers from the factory stopped working, but they got replaced pretty quick. Strikes kept up over the next few days, still nothing too bad, but then we got the word that that train had derailed last night a few miles away from here. Royal guard wanted to kill the riots while they figured out what happened. Called us in to break things up. Thats when one of us got shot, and everything's gone right to the abyss since."

Mark 2012/03/01(Thu)17:52 No. 389790 ID: a9ba96
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Wait... train? Oh dear.

You notice that Vagabond has worked his way to his feet
>"Well now, I take it none of you would object if I were to take my leave, yes?"

no. and no offense, but it'd probably be the best for everyone of he did so as discreetly as possible.

how's that other lying dude doing? maybe check on him and then you split, too.

>>389790
Stay out of his way.

>>389790
"Right. We saw you teleport away in a purple swirl, and can't remember anything about your face at all. Isn't that right, Cadence? Duncan?"

Turn to Duncan
"Breaking up riots just turns them violent and everybody else against you. Keep it up and you'll get guards falling ill from a outbreak of knifeinthethroatisis.
If you want to calm them down then arrest the factory boss who let the kid die for murder, then drag the case out until things quiet down. Better that way anyway - otherwise people might decide the wheels of justice aren't turning for wont of grease, and grease the factory boss to kick-start 'em."

>>389790
If you can maybe do a little smoke cloud or something for us, I'm sure we would all 'try our best' to find you...

Mark 2012/03/01(Thu)21:35 No. 389826 ID: a9ba96
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"No, no, no objections at all mister uh, 'Vagabond,' sir. We'll say you teleported away or something like that."
>"Hah, no need to get yourself in trouble over me, kid. Not sure how many of the Paladins around these parts can detect lies, but it's not worth the risk."
"Oh uh, I traveled with a paladin for quite some time. You don't need to worry, it's a pretty rare gift.
>"Now boy, you're a good kid. Honest kid, from what I can tell. Lying to paladins is a slippery slope, and you don't need that."
"Well... well uh, thank you sir. In that case, can you maybe make a puff of smoke or something we could lose you in?"
>"You want a distraction? Sure. Tell them you had to let me slip away because you were desperately trying to save the life of the bigot I had roasted."
"Uh, excuse me?"

Mark 2012/03/01(Thu)21:38 No. 389827 ID: a9ba96
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FWOOSH

>"--AaggYEEEEEAAAAAAARRRRGHHH!!"
>"I hope our fates cross again somewhere down the line. You take care until then, understand?"

Well, don't just stand there, desperately try to save the bigot's life!

>>389826
"Nice meeting you. Good luck!
So, Duncan, do you know how to treat serious full-body burns?"

...Uh. Freak out and do this >>389828 ?

Oh no, we are not freaking out. Bigot guy got roasted because he was a bigot. Want to be roasted because we get in his way? Help dowse the bigot.

I was about to say that just because he's a bigot he doesn't deserve to die, but then I started to get all philosophical. I mean, he was the head bigot of that huge crowd, and had you or that mage not been around, that half-elf woulda been killed by him. and who knows if he won't try something like that again? maybe cause an even bigger riot resulting in multiple deaths? maybe it's just better to let him die and let any potential future victims of his live.

not that I think you'd ever be able to go through with something like that. but I'm just saying that if I were you right now, I would save myself and not the bigot because I'm more than likely worth more to the world than him.

>>389841
The philosophical issues of whether he as justified in torching the bigot still stand, but it should be noted that trying to save him does not put us in any danger (aside from minor burns).

also he wont try again for a LONG time. burns don't heal over night.

Mark 2012/03/02(Fri)18:31 No. 389906 ID: a9ba96
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>Don't freak out
Yes this will certainly be a thing I'll attempt to do while watching a man slowly burn to death.

Okay

Alright so, okay, I am all for staying out of the mage's way as he walks off. Everyone else seems to be too, since they're crowding around this burning guy

Also everyone is shouting different things and I can't make out any of them because I'm more focused on this guy who is on fire and oh gods any advice would be great

Oh gods oh gods

Water. Get whomever is still not freaking out like children to get water and help douse the flames.

A cloak may help as well. Preferably one that is damp to try and smother the flames as well if the water is not effective enough.

>>389906
Water'd be fantastic, but given the lack of a potable source of that around you might have to beat it off of him using some clothing or something.

Roll him over a lot on the ground too, have to smother the flames, deny them air.

yank tinata's bear cloak and cover the man. if done fast enough the fire will go out and the skin will be fine.

You can put out fire by depriving it of air or heat. Water does both, but yeah. That cloak should work.

You should probably say what you are doing if you do the cloak thing.

you could tinkle on him.

Mark 2012/03/03(Sat)14:52 No. 390029 ID: cdd33f
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"I need something to cover the flames with! Tinata, give me your pelt thing!"
>Whats!? Gets your hands off me!"
"Tinata this guy is on fire!"
>"Let go! He's gettings what he deserves!"
"Are you really trying to say your coat is worth more than this guy's life?"
>"Are Yous trying to say that this man's life is worths more than my dad's coat?!"

>>390029
"Probably not!"
Just start rolling him over.

Mark 2012/03/03(Sat)14:58 No. 390034 ID: cdd33f
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>"Oh for... I've watched a lot of people die for a lot of damn stupid reasons, but "nobody wanted to take off their jacket" is not about to be one of them! Everyone get out of the way!"

Mark 2012/03/03(Sat)15:00 No. 390035 ID: cdd33f
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>"Over here cleric, there are multiple guards and civilians with mino-BY THE GODS!! Citizen, what treachery has occurred here? I request that you explain immediately!"
"The Mage uh, well he got up. And then he set this guy on fire."
>"The Mage? Damn it... where did he go?"

Okay okay, everything is under control, I think... well, all things considered I'm not against pointing this guy in the direction the vagabond's went off in right now, unless you guys are against it or there's uh, anything else you think we need this guy for.

Personally, I'd prefer to keep our escort a bit more low key than The Children, but that's just me.

>>390035
Don't lie to the paladin.

you actually know where he went? just say you were too busy freaking out to know where he went.

>>390035
"I wasn't paying that much attention. It didn't seem important, what with the man on fire and all.
...
Actually, this scumbag is only going to survive until his trial and execution. Maybe it was an act of mercy?"

don't help the lawful fucktarded paladin.

Dude, paladins can detect lies, just point what way Vagabond went. You don't need to help him any more than that, though. It's looking like and increasingly good time to go elsewhere, though. Lots of angry people right here. You had an idea of how to get to the city center, I believe?

Just say that he wandered off somewhere while you were thinking of a way to help the burning man. (Which is true.)

Mark 2012/03/03(Sat)22:39 No. 390192 ID: a9ba96
File 133084315977.jpg - (220.85KB , 769x654 , 08427af0.jpg )

I mean, I kinda saw where he went, but with what was going on it was really only the general direction. Lets just tell him what we know, but we're not gonna try to complicate things any more than that. Let's let this guy do his uh, thing, by himself.

"He wandered off in all the uh, well, the commotion. I was a bit nervous so I can't be sure, but maybe somewhere north? To be fair, I don't think you could blame me if I said I was much more focused on the burning guy."
>"Hmm, oh well. Well, blessed be you still, civilian, for you have done what you canto assist. I will have the others keep an eye out."

Cadence calls to the others.
>"Over here! Listen, I think this guy's in pretty serious condition - he needs healing immediately."

Cadence pulls the shirt off of the man.

Mark 2012/03/03(Sat)22:40 No. 390193 ID: a9ba96
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>haaaahhhh....

>"Uh... you CAN heal that, right?
The Cleric responds nervously.
>"I... I, maybe? Partially? We will do our best...."

Duncan looks over at Cadence.
>"Uhm... So Cadence, you said... you had a gig down here?"
>"Yeah, down at the plaza. Dov was hoping you could take us and our friends here down there through these crowds."
>"To the plaza? Sure. Long as you don't mind a few rats, I can get you there right quick."

You hear the prince suddenly speak up from a few feet away from the rest of the group.
>"Now wait, what's this about rats?"

Mark 2012/03/03(Sat)22:41 No. 390194 ID: a9ba96
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The prince sighs.
>"Oh, this is just wonderful.

>"Mad old Hector had these tunnels dug beneath the city a few years back when he started getting really paranoid, so he could move from place to place in the city without being seen. Mostly just homeless and rats down here now that Victor's in charge, but the guards use them every once in a while to get around quicker. Should be able to take you straight to the plaza without a problem."
>"Thanks again, pal."
>"No problem Dov, I've always said I got your back. Just watch your steep, they say some of Hector's booby traps are still in place down here! Hahaha, just joking, of course."

Hmm... you know what? We've got ourselves a bit of a lull in all the excitement this deal with escorting Samwell's brought us over the past few days. This seems like a good opportunity to get to know some of the guys we've been traveling with a bit better. All of these train crashes and Orc bandits and kobold camps have left much too little time for some pleasant chatter over the last three days. Why, who do you guys want to talk to? Anything in particular you guys want to ask?

>>390194
"So, Cadence, you're a bit of a strange bard, aren't you? Most spin tales from testimony where they can get it and rumor where they can't, but you said you've seen a lot of deaths for stupid reasons. Care to tell us about yours?"

I'm curious about Cadence and the dorf. mostly because those two are the most likely to stab you (or the prince) in the back.

Mark 2012/03/04(Sun)21:07 No. 390400 ID: a9ba96
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"So uh, Cadence?"
>"Hm?"
"You know, quite often when bards tell about their exploits it's usually in a really flowery, uh, prose-y way. You said something back there about seeing a lot of stupid deaths, which struck me as uh, well, neither of those things. Care to elaborate?"
>"Well, I said before that I was in town when the Gryphon's Skull Conspiracy was going down and Hector the Mad finally lost it. Played in bars to make my coin, but when people started pointing fingers I ended up almost dying over it."
"I uh, I was... around during Gryphon's Skull. How did you manage to get out of it?"
>"An old family of sorts managed to pull some strings. I used to travel with the court Mage of House Leon."
"House Leon? Didn't they end up being one of the houses behind the Gryphon's Skull?"
>"Ha! Yeah, but old Hector didn't know that until it was far too late. Anyway, I made it out, decided to stay away from the big city for a while. I saw a lot of people who weren't nearly as lucky. I went down the Outlands after that."
"So why the Outlands? If you were looking for a more pleasant change in scenery, it seems like an odd choice."
>"Why not the Outlands? Spent so long in the city, figured the mountains and the fields and the rivers would all make great inspiration for new music. Besides, there were a lot more opportunities to start over out there. Didn't really matter what had happened in Egias. In the Outlands, that was all behind me. A fresh start."

Mark 2012/03/04(Sun)21:09 No. 390401 ID: a9ba96
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"What did you end up doing?"
>"Well, it was pretty much the same thing I did down here. Traveled around, played for coin in bars, solved people's problems for extra coin on the side. Still, change in scenery put a new perspective on things"
"Solved problems? Oh! You mean like an adventurer?"
>"Uh, no. I mean like a hit man."
"...Oh."
>"I was always musician first though. It's more of a side thing, when I'm in need of cash or something new to sing about. Or both."
"U...Uh, alright then..."
>"When I got pardoned my pal Dov was also on his way out for his own reasons, and he helped me smuggle one of those flintlocks and a bunch of gunpowder out of town when we split. Being one of the first guys in the Outlands with one gave me a real edge, but eventually I ran out of ammo and powder, and the thing started falling apart on me, so I pawned it off to some mercs for new lute strings. Spent the last four months before the royal guard summoned me up here just focusing on my music. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be traveling with you, but I'll try to write something for up before we part ways, alright? A deadly train crash and an ambush by fearsome Orc bandits... you know, I think I'll work that into whatever performance it is the Royal Guard wanted me for. Hopefully I'll get to perform it in front of Erick here, make it up to him for the first song! Hahah!"

Well then... Uh, quite an... interesting fellow, this Cadence.

if this gets made into a film, Cadence will be played by Antonio Banderas.

say, that Erik fella is awfully stoic. you know what they say about the quiet ones...

>>390401
"What's the difference between a hit man and an assassin?"

>>390437
A hit man usually gets payed less.

"And you Eric? Particularly looking forward to a performance by a bard come hitman come bard again? Or do you perhaps have other plans after all this mess is sorted out?"

Mark 2012/03/05(Mon)23:21 No. 390620 ID: a9ba96
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"So uh, you double as an assassin?"
>"Assassin? No, I double as a hit man."
"Is there really a difference?"
>"Well yeah. When you're taking about assassins, it's usually a political thing. Assassins usually have guilds with some sort of unifying ideology, they kill to achieve a goal. When they do get paid, it's big money by big players, but a lot of times the big, historic assassins guilds weren't necessarily even getting paid for their work as long as they were moving their personal motives along. Hit men are independent contract killers, cut, dry, and simple."
"So you're saying you'll just kill anyone for money?"
>"Adventurers kill for money too, right? You just keep it to goblins and bandits so you can sleep better."
"What? That's not entirely--"
>"Hahah, I'm just joking, kid. Either way, dedicated hit men might have to take on some really dirty contracts to stay afloat, but I'm a bard first and a hit man second, and I make enough money with the first that I had the leisure to pick and choose what jobs I took. only went after the guys we wouldn't miss anyway. Mercs, thieves, con men, unfaithful husbands, tax collectors; real bottom of the barrel types."

Mark 2012/03/05(Mon)23:30 No. 390621 ID: a9ba96
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Dov shighs
>"Cadence, you know I don't like it when you openly discuss your profession like this."
>"We've been over this before, Dov, it's not my profession. It's to support my Career, music is my profession."
>"Cadence, you're my friend, so we're not going to get into this now."
>"Get into what?"
>"Cadence, it's hardly something to casually bring up, and I was really hoping you would have learned that by now. People don't take too kindly to hit men."
>"It's a good thing I'm a bard then, huh?"
>"Yeah, but you're a contract-killer bard."
>"No, I'm a bard contract-killer! One is a hit man who plays music, and the other is a musician that sometimes also kills people for money. We've been over this!"
>"Oh boy..."

Mark 2012/03/05(Mon)23:32 No. 390622 ID: a9ba96
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"So, what about you Erick? We're almost at the palace. Are you ready?"

Prince Samwell thinks for a moment before replying. His response almost seems uncharacteristically simple for him.

Mark 2012/03/05(Mon)23:33 No. 390623 ID: a9ba96
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>"I hope, my good friend. I hope."

Master Harkven 2012/03/05(Mon)23:37 No. 390627 ID: a9ba96
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...


So, we finally meet. I've been waiting to speak with you since you entered this city, but for the sake of politeness I made sure to wait until I was positive your current user had no pressing issues at hand first.

A brief observation, and yet... how fascinating. So many distinct voices, each with their own ideas... Each with their own thoughts... Yes, you will do nicely.

I am Master Harkven, Archmage.

You will be working for me until the looming crisis is resolved.

give us a good reason and sure. but if you fuck with us well clam up tight.

Harken huh? Last I checked, you were the Master of the apprentice we helped a little while ago.

Alright, I'll bite. What's the problem?

>>390627
You've made a mistake I'd find embarrassing from a novice - arrogance in the face of an entity you do not fully understand.

We are not working for you. We are working with you as long as we feel our abilities are best spent here. Talking to us as if we were a servant calls into question how important you consider our assistance is to your work. Basic respect costs nothing; we have no business doing work if it isn't even worth nothing.
We do at least thank you for waiting for an acceptable time to call us.

Implying you can hold us here... Wait. You are implying that, aren't you? Neat trick. I wish we could say we have some say in the matter of helping you but as you well know we're all about solving crises. Or trying to. Better than being bored at any rate.

Well then, debrief us fully and we'll see what we can do to help.

Someone scream really loudly, I wanna see if we can rupture someones eardrums using mental sound.

Master Harkven 2012/03/06(Tue)00:54 No. 390639 ID: a9ba96
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If you consider arrogance in the face of a force that one does not fully understand to be a mistake, then I would suggest giving serious consideration to humbling yourselves before continuing this conversation. I'll explain this very simply to compensate for any difference between you and I in the perception of time. It has been twelve hours since Madame Gwethana analyzed the artifact of Those Beyond given to her by miss Lin Shylton of the Sons of de Justús. It has been six hours since Gwethana's report was delivered to me during a break in the current political conference here at the palace.

It has been three hours since I finished reading over her findings, and it has been one hour since I, during another break in the conference, pieced together exactly how to both listen in on and siphon you off of an active artifact within a one hundred mile radius.

My choice in words is careful and deliberate. You will be working for me until all is well.

I know this because you are not a force to allow tens of thousands of innocents to die, and my assistance is the only thing allowing you to prevent it. You are an ancient and powerful tool, but that does not change the fact that you are a tool nonetheless; the tool which will be utilized to ensure the childish power play of "Warpath" results in the fewest human casualties possible as long as you are wise enough to cooperate.

Master Harkven 2012/03/06(Tue)01:04 No. 390641 ID: a9ba96
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While this summoning of your presence is not strong enough for my apprentice Varnavictus' memory project, I believe this will allow him to advance the minimal success in fully summoning you he has reported.

Either way, it is enough for the basest level of what the Guild of Mages requires. You will be assisting in sealing the gateways to The Silence in elven territory soon enough, but we require you for assuring the optimal pre-invasion environment is bred for averting disaster before, during, and after Warpath's game begins.

Workers riots have pressured the government to finalize their defense strategy for the invasion so that they may focus on passing social reforms to ensure the populace is in-check when the conflict begins. In thirty minutes, political negotiations will resume. In fifteen, the disinherited Prince Samwell will arrive at the palace, shocking the nobility which previously believed him dead.

Your task is to ensure Erick Samwell is allowed a seat and the right to speak at the conference when it resumes. You will be assisting him in assisting me in delaying Egias from placing armed men along the lower eastern border of the Outlands until conflict begins.

I am sure that it is something that you have grown used to from previous users, but I am not offering you the illusion of choice in this matter. I ask not if you agree, but if you understand what I require you to do.

Do you understand?

>>390640
That sounds reasonable, Archmage. I'm sorry about the cold reception we gave you- we can be quite bristly when yanked around. I understand what you wish us to do now... but why? Why delay Egias' troops- is he planning a land grab?

Oh, I don't suppose you could share a few secrets about how our artifacts work? If you were able to leech us off like this, the enemy could as well, could they not? It would be nice to be able to prevent this sort of issue.

indeed. if someone that DOESN'T have the people's best interests in mind yanks us out in the middle of something of importance it could go badly. i am sure you will leave a backdoor to the preventative that will let you still call us forth.

Master Harkven 2012/03/06(Tue)01:56 No. 390650 ID: a9ba96
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I am able to siphon your voices off of an active artifact because I have trained my mind to comprehend your many tongues. I doubt that the enemy has the same training, but precautions can be taken if they prove necessary.

Understand that I am simply targeting and channeling the artifact in this city. This siphoning is not a proper summoning, which is needed for the memory project I have my apprentice working on. It's a small contingency plan of sorts, and I believe that this breakthrough will ultimately lead to another very soon.

As for more pertinent issues... Do I believe good king Victor will be making a land grab on the Outlands? Honestly, I don't believe he necessarily wishes to, but I feel he will will ultimately be pressured to do so by the noble families in the aftermath of the war, if only to seize the territory before Farway gets a chance.

But we will deal with that issue later.

The Sons of de Justús have expressed considerable concern over the possibility of a land grab by Egias or Farway after the conflict has ended, and have expressed opposition towards the occupation of their territory by foreign military forces during the conflict. While Egian military movement into the Outlands will likely prove inevitable, delaying the fortification of the Egias-Outlands border for as long as possible makes it easier for the Guild to cooperate with the Sons, and much more likely that the Sons and Egias will be willing to cooperate with each other down the line.

Hmmm... pretty good strategies. Focusing on the long term when involving the bigger armies and warpath and the short term involving the prince and current situation.

Honestly, we would have helped the prince either way, but you did give us an incentive. If a 'fresh face' showed up with plenty of experience with the common folk and got the seat, it would keep the nobles that care for personal wealth at bay and allow for important reforms to get through.

That's the jist of it right? Make sure the reforms go through and that the people are focused on the major threat as opposed to border disputes and labor issues.

okay, we get it. Warpath, big deal. whatever. just make sure we're mentioned in the history books.

PS: you're more of a tool than I'll ever be.

>>390650
Ok, so the short version is to get the nobles to scrap their defense plan and leave soldiering to the soldiers, then immediately mandate a minimum wage to hamstring this foreign labor rioting. Also, holding factory owners legally responsible for on-the-job injuries and deaths; string up the one that denied a dying worker aid for hours as an example.

>>390650
To be fair, this is something along the lines we were probably going to try anyhow, it is our nature to try and accumulate power/influence into the hands of our wielders. Generally with as little bloodshed as peacefully as possible (a bit softhearted I must admit... or maybe we just hate seeing resources/entertainment denyed us.)

However, I'll also apologize for it being our nature to rebel or insult those who 'demand' things of us. Being 'beyond' we tend to think of ourselves as 'above'... and to be fair, the worst you can do to us is deny us entertainment... or perhaps kill one of our favored ones... but that would be... unfun.

But back to the issue at hand... Delay troop placement to lower eastern border of the Outlands until conflict begins. Yes?

We'll certainly see what we can do, your reasoning seems sound enough, and doesn't conflict with our desires unduly.

>>390651
Well the prince isn't much of a fresh face, as he still has his previous reputation to overcome (not to mention we have not seen if he actually has improved enough).

Master Harkven 2012/03/08(Thu)17:30 No. 391255 ID: a9ba96
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The prince's status is a very valuable to these upcoming political conferences. I sincerely doubt he's learned too much over his year of wandering through the Outoands, but if you can help him convince the king's court that he's gained a new understanding of the people and their issues we can very easily shift the the tides of the discussions in whatever direction ends up being necessary.

Well, if we are all in agreement, I will need to prepare for Samwell and his company's arrival. This seems like as good a time as any for one last experiment...

I need an active artifact within roughly one hundred miles to channel, but I believe I may be able to temporarily send you over great distances to those who I am closely connected to mentally.

Those who have also partially linked a part of their mind to your collective though training in hearing your many tongues.

It is a small group, but I should be able to find something to keep you occupied for the next few minu...

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/08(Thu)17:32 No. 391256 ID: a9ba96
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THWACK

"Enough! Enough screwing around, you devil-eared bastard! I saved your life, I saved your damn dwarf friend's life, by the grace of the gods you will TALK!"

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/08(Thu)17:35 No. 391257 ID: a9ba96
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>"And I will. In time."
"No, we're not leaving here until you give me something. Eline's saying you know about these eyes, you're saying you know about the eyes, and the Sons are saying you're telling the truth, so talk!"
>"I've explained my terms. You teach me to speak with them, and I'll teach you to to speak with him."
"Eternity, you are in no position to be negotiating with me. Not after what you did to my daughter."

>"Fer feck's sake ye' long eared twit! Jus' tell her what you know already!"
>"Furor, if you don't spill it about this stupid crap right now, we're not even gonna make it to those dungeons the Sons were going to toss us in!"

>"Oh yes, little Eline... Sweet, sweet Eline. Such power at such a young age, Gwethana... you trained her well."
"Shut up."
>"It took hardly any effort for her to catch on to what I was showing her, even when it came to channeling dark magics right through her body... Though, it took a while for her to learn not to scream."

>>391257
Cut off his balls.

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/08(Thu)17:40 No. 391261 ID: a9ba96
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"I will end you, elf. I will end you."
>"Can end me, Gwethana. Can. But you won't. I'm worth too much to you right now for that, because I have the piece of this puzzle that you're missing."

I swear on the Elders this elf has ten seconds to talk before plans be damned and I break him in half... Harkven will just have to find someone else tied to the invasion, I will not allow this... this...

yo hello. as much fun as it is to see him get the shit beat out of him. i don't think you are going to get much out of him. besides we hate him enough you can give him what he wants and we just make his head explode with... let's go with time cube. don't ask.

>>391261

He doesn't need his eyes, his reproductive organs, or any of his limbs to talk. Remind him of this.

Can't you charm him and make him do embarrassing things in public until he breaks down and cries like a little girl?

Is there anything to stop you from teaching him a bit and then killing him afterward? I doubt any of us would mind.

>>391274

he's too clever. let's not.

can you put us into his head? maybe we can dig around his skull a little...

>>391261
Mary should not even be here, and if she goes to a dungeon then our values and methods are clearly too divergent for us to work together. Send her back to her cell. Send the dwarf to a different cell. Keeping them isolated is for the best, and you don't want them to see what happens.

Furor is a sociopath. He would sooner slit both their throats himself then weaken his bargaining position. You must act appropriately.

Tell him Those Beyond say that if he ever manages to speak with us it will be one of the last things he ever does.
Further explain that his information is useless if there's no way for you to get it, and what he demands cannot be provided.
Point out that if he is of no value to the mage's guild then he's just a criminal and you're just a vengeful mother. Then sever or destroy one of his arms.

>>391261
Inform him that Those Beyond are capricious, currently listening, and in a mood to rend his mind asunder.He has nothing to gain from channeling us, nothing to gain, and everything to lose.

He has been judged and found wanting.

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/08(Thu)21:52 No. 391341 ID: a9ba96
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What in the... Those Beyond? These are your voices but...

By the gods, this soon? What forces are at play here that Harkven shifts to his will in such a way?

I'd love to torture the information out of this elf, break off his arms, poke out his eyes and rip out his tongue, but there are other plans in effect here. We need him in working condition if we're going to use him as one of our dungeon crawlers. We don't trust him with helping us seal off The Silence, but the Guild thinks he shows enough talent that we could get use out of him gathering spell components in dangerous areas. The dwarf, too. Not sure about the girl though; Miss Shylton believes that Mary could be useful in our Upper Ution operations.

What he wants is for me to teach him how to hear your many tongues in return for him teaching us how he turned our eye pendants into Warpath's scrying tools. This is a problem, since that kind of training takes decades that we don't have.

I do, however, have you with me here. Right now. Which changes things a bit.

Truthfully, I could grant you unto his mind right now. Without proper training it would strain in an attempt to make itself part of your collective. It could be the simple solution. His mind would become chaotic as it tires to merge and in that chaos you could pry his thoughts for the information on Warpath. However, you would have to choose the right time to pull out, or else you would risk tearing his mind asunder on exit and leaving him comatose... Or, in a worst case scenario, risk making a part of his mind a part of your collective.

Or we could just electrocute him until he talks or stops moving. That could work.

oh oh, tell him that "i could grant them to you right now, they are with me. the drawback of course that since you are untrained they will literally eat your mind, and take the information from you. or you can tell me what i want to know and i swear on my membership to the guild you will be trained when you are able"

if he dies while in the outlands well then looks like he wont be 'able'

>>391340
He wants to speak with us, but if he knows anything at all about us he knows that we would never give him any advantage on purpose. He either plans to fool us into giving away crucial information, plans to manipulate us by telling us lies or inconvenient half-truths/full truths, or has some trick up his sleeve to FORCE us to give him information.

I say we keep out of his head. Evil that seeks us should never obtain us. Commence with doing your thing. Hmm. Have you ever heard of waterboarding? You put some cloth over the poor bastard's face then run water over it. It feels like they're drowning, and they can't breathe, but they CAN breathe once you stop pouring (and easier if you take off the cloth). It's a horrible, horrible thing to do to someone. I wouldn't condone it if it weren't for the fact that he ADMITS to working with the enemy and corrupting your daughter. We wouldn't be torturing an innocent man.

Heck, you could even taunt him with the fact that Those Beyond themselves have refused to speak with him. His request is straight up impossible.

How much of a risk is there of him becoming immortal through this, and what signs would there be of that? Also, would we still be able to communicate with you if we need him zapped?

If the risk of that is low enough to be acceptable, would it be plausible to convince him that putting us in his mind is part of the training to hear us normally, a sort of training run to prepare his mind for the more advanced task of invoking us on his own?

In any case, separate confinement is something you should do with them as soon as possible. Letting suspected conspirators communicate with each other allows them to synchronize cover stories.

>>391341
Since you're willing to have us destroy his mind while extracting that information I think it's quite clear how much more important information he can provide is than spell ingredients he could acquire.
If you really wish for him to be functional, then do as I suggested but rip off his tattoos instead of an arm.

Again, send the other two away. They don't have the information you want and they can't help you get it.

if you cold prove to him that we are talking to you right now we could see if he would trade the information for being able to talk to us though you. letting him know that if we got in his head he would have a very brief time to explain himself before we decided to just drive him mad for being a smug douchebag might make him more willing to accept talking to us indirectly.

holy shit that sounds like so much fun. do it.

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/11(Sun)19:30 No. 391967 ID: 0b9d09
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Get these two out of here? Sure. We were hoping that the other members of The Pack would encourage Furor to talk, but we seem to have overestimated his regard for his comrades.

“You, half elf. Get these two to seperate holding areas, looks like they’re not going to be any help right now.”
>”Ya’ heard the lady! Get up!”

The paladin at the door opens it for Lynne as she leads Tur and Mary outside. Light floods into the room.

Obviously the information means more to us than the dungeon crawling, but there’s a better chance of him being in working condition if you leave his mind at the right time than if we start snapping off arms. Furor plays mind games. Even if we stick you in his head now and he survives, we won’t be getting all the information he has. That’s why we need him in working condition. That’s what the dungeons are for.

The supplies he’d be gathering are important, but not the focus of the dungeons. Furor’s the closest we have to a direct connection to Warpath’s forces, and we need to keep him around until we’re in the best position to prepare for his attack. The Guild of Mages needs to make sure it is always one step ahead. We’ve found the right dungeons to send him to, and they will be a better form of torture than anything you have in mind. They’re to break him down until he’s willing to work with us, and give us what we want. We don’t expect to get everything here, but we’re hoping to at least start with something. Give him a chance before we show this smug bastard what the Guild can do.

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/11(Sun)19:42 No. 391972 ID: 0b9d09
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“As for you... the proper training you seek is a training that lasts much longer than we have right now. But at this very moment, you are graced by the presence of Those Beyond. If you wish to grant your mind unto them, very well... but know that they are not willing to speak with you. Their voices, within your mind, will drive you mad and tear it asunder, eating away at you in every way you can imagine. You are not ready for them, nor will you ever be.

Their presence in an untrained mind is a terrible thing, Eternity. But if you do not wish to cooperate, I will give you your wish. I will release them into your head, and they will destroy you, elf, as they dig up the information I seek. Maybe someday, should your service in the dungeons we wills send you to impress us enough, we will teach you the secrets of the otherworldly force that stood at the center of our guild so many years ago. But not today. Talk.”

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/11(Sun)19:43 No. 391973 ID: 0b9d09
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>”Do you know what the beauty is of Those Beyond, Fayne? I’ve never heard their voices, but I’ve heard of what they’ve done for you and, more importantly, many great heroes of the past. Those beyond takes the stories of others, and shapes them to their will. While it can seem that they are used by others to achieve their goals, Those Beyond are the ones in control. They are a force free of fate, free of the restrictions of our realm... and while they may not have a story of their own, they compensate by making the stories of others theirs. In that way, I share much with them.

>You have no such liberty. I walk my path, I shape my story, I take what life gives me and I mold it to my will. But you, Miss Gwethana, are a pawn. For all your strength, for all your elegance and intelligence, you only act upon what the guild allows. You are not in control, not in the same way I or they are.

>If they are with you, you will feed them into my mind. You will let them swim around in my head in search for my memories, and you will pray that they tear my brain apart on the way out. They will not, but you will pray that they do.”

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/11(Sun)19:46 No. 391977 ID: 0b9d09
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>”Because if they do not, this is what will happen. You will settle with the information you receive, you will send me off to the dungeons to serve my sentence, and you will, and this is important, you will tell your masters that there will be no attempt to extract more knowledge from me until Warpath’s threat has passed. And when it has, you will teach me how to properly hear Those Beyond’s many tongues.

>And I make this promise to you - if you attempt to interrogate me any further after this conversation is over, or should you fail to train me after this crisis has ended, know your shackles will not hold me. Your dungeons will not contain me. Your chains will not bind me. Because this is my story. And I shape it my way.

>And I will find you. And I will kill you. And I will do it as your daughter watches. This is my deal, Fayne, and it would be wise if you comply.”

This bastard... this bastard... We’ll cast him into dungeons so dark and twisted that he’ll be begging to tell us all he knows just to make it stop... I ... I swear it...!

I... didn’t get where I am today by letting myself... get pushed around!

hahahaha... I like him. I like him a lot. he's correct, you know. about everything. he'll lead a much more fulfilled life than you could ever hope to. his seeming inferiority to you in truth is his superiority to you, and he has all the right in the world to pity you. so he does, and so do I.

do as you wish, I don't care.

Then agree with his demands. Think very carefully. He is very calm even when he's been beaten to a pulp and you are on the verge of pure rage. Any actions you do right now will run your name through the mud and make him the martyr.

It is very easy to deal with something right in your face, but we have no idea what he has planned if we don't give him what he wants. Just promises.

Right now we are on a time line and he is not the biggest problem. Besides, if you do teach him everything, then if he uses it against you, you will be on equal ground. Simple as that.

weakness as strength and strength as weakness. the mind of a sociopath at work. he knows things, and thinks that because he knows them he is above everything. he answers to no one but himself. a good strength in some respects, but once you know about it, it becomes a weakness. you now know that he knows. the dungeons wont break him, he's already broke. running broken glass through a grinder is pointless. but he is also missing a big key to the picture. because he lacks the ability to understand. you are following the rules not because you have to, but because you want to. because the group makes you stronger then if you tried to do everything alone. so what you do is after we get what we need, you attach to him a code worded death spell. he attacks you, you say a single phrase, and his head pops like a grape in a vice.

>>391982
You're an idiot. If this man is so powerful, why is he in chains? Why was a group of three paladins able to take him hostage? Hell, he's bluffing anyway. He said he knew what we had 'done for her', when we have barely assisted the mages at all. He claims to know so much, when he knows so little. He's just a cocky apprentice necromancer, and you're full of shit. I HATE having to deal with your presence. Now I wonder if you're sabotaging shit on purpose!

>>391977
Ask him one question before you send us to him, as per your deal. Ask him just what he thinks we've done for you.

>>391986
is the problem with having infinite ideas, the bad ideas get in too.

>>391977
Remember how I said "Since you're willing to have us destroy his mind"? If we go in there we are going to destroy every single thing we possibly could. Intentionally.

As I said, this man is a sociopath. He will only keep his word when it suits him. You can't make him talk unless you deceive him or make it abundantly clear you will not let him try to fuck around. In either case you must kill him.
Lets be honest, at this point he plans to kill you no matter what happens, then continue experimenting on Eline. However, if he's willing to kill you in front of her then he clearly has no regard for what she thinks of him and thus intends things she would never do willingly.

I would suggest incinerating a leg. Not a foot or a finger or something small, but an entire damn leg. Neither of you know how to heal such serious damage, so it will send the message that even if you are a pawn he is not going to be playing you.

Ask if he would rather tell you what you want to know and die quickly, or keep it to himself and die very slowly. Then carry through with the threat without hesitation.

I'm thinking rats, or one of the botfly variants whose maggots eat living flesh.

>>391986

he's only physically chained, and his inferiority in magical potency might as well not exist if you consider how much wider his perspective on reality is. he may be insane to speak the way he does considering his current situation, but make no mistake- the man is a goddamned genius. I really, really doubt this woman has even a slight chance to be in a situation where she has the advantage against him. so trying to help her would be pointless. so I'm not. well, maybe one advice, because everyone else seems so intent that her cause is the right one.

Fayne, many people who were mere apprentices have carved their names into history, and I believe this one can do so as well. he's clever enough to escape whatever pit you throw him in, and he's cocky because he knows it. if you don't kill him now, you will regret it.

Well the convenient part is. if he isn't bluffing we will almost certainly find out promptly, as that sort of power isn't easy to hide.

You know, I kind of feel like you might just want to agree to not interrogate him anymore, then fulfill his request by simply incinerating him afterwards. I don't think he could weasel or magic his way out of that.

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/12(Mon)10:27 No. 392187 ID: 0b9d09
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>I would suggest incinerating a leg. Not a foot or a finger or something small, but an entire damn leg.
> I kind of feel like you might just want to agree to not interrogate him anymore, then fulfill his request by simply incinerating him afterwards.
> you attach to him a code worded death spell. he attacks you, you say a single phrase, and his head pops like a grape in a vice.
> if you don't kill him now, you will regret it.
> if you don't kill him now, you will regret it.

I didn't get where I am today by letting myself get pushed around.

>"So, Fayne, wha--hnn..."
"I DIDN'T GET WHERE I AM TODAY BY LETTING MYSELF GET PUSHED AROUND!"
>"Now... let's not be hasty, miss..."
Fayne's grip tightens.
>"Damn it... no point if... Fine, fine, you want something? Just... just let me go, and we'll try this again..."

He had his chance... he had his chance for that.
I din't get where I am today... by letting myself...

c:

who's pushing? we feed ideas into your head, you decide if you like them or not.

Madame, may I politely ask you to CALM YOURSELF. What you are doing is BEYOND risky and I am quite ashamed at my other voices for their blood lust.

Perhaps I haven't been clear enough when I said this is a bad idea? Maybe I should clarify. We have seen him various times during our travels with others and when he was with your daughter, she was rather happy. Remember, she ran away on her own free will because of how she felt towards you. Now here you are, choking the equivalent of her teacher for as brief as that is in a dungeon, with the intent to kill in pure hate. How do you think she will react hmmm?

She will likely hate you for it. A lot. Perhaps to the point where the bridge between is not just burned down, but sent to the elemental world of fire to be burned down by the very essence of fire. She will never trust you, never believe you did this for you, and never LOVE you. In time she may decide to pick up the arts herself and out right betray and kill you out of her own hate of you. Just because you can't control your hate.

Calm down, let him go, and resume talks. You scared him enough so he should be willing to talk.

>>392195
she didn't like him. she just wanted independence and she thought he would teach it to her.

And yet she seemed rather happy with the pack and rather scared to go back with her mother. 'Independence' or not, do you want to chance it? What do we get if we kill him? A dead body that may or may not have had plans, no info, and a girl whom if she ever found out would likely hate the Madam even more.

Or perhaps you forgot that we were recently trying to KEEP them together because the young lady wished so? This image will not help mages at all if it gets out and it will not help in future dealings involving you when it gets out. After all, guy may be a murderer, but you are beating him, torturing him and planning to out right kill him when he is bound in a dungeon. That's not exactly something you want on your card when you speak for the Mages.

>>392187
Stay mad
"Talk. Or die."

>>392195
Hm, sounds to me like she needs a romantic love interest to usurp his place in her head.
That almost always does the trick.

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/14(Wed)17:38 No. 392837 ID: 0b9d09
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>Perhaps I haven't been clear enough when I said this is a bad idea? Maybe I should clarify. We have seen him various times during our travels with others and when he was with your daughter, she was rather happy. Remember, she ran away on her own free will because of how she felt towards you. Now here you are, choking the equivalent of her teacher for as brief as that is in a dungeon, with the intent to kill in pure hate. How do you think she will react hmmm?

I didn't... get...

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/14(Wed)17:38 No. 392838 ID: 0b9d09
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>She will likely hate you for it. A lot. Perhaps to the point where the bridge between is not just burned down, but sent to the elemental world of fire to be burned down by the very essence of fire. She will never trust you, never believe you did this for you, and never LOVE you. In time she may decide to pick up the arts herself and out right betray and kill you out of her own hate of you. Just because you can't control your hate.

...

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/14(Wed)17:44 No. 392842 ID: 0b9d09
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“Talk. Or die.”
>”Haaaakk... You’ll pay for this, Fayne. You will come to regret this dearly.”
“Talk or die."
>”...They’re your guild’s eyes, but I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now. Someone in Upper Ution has been collecting them off the corpses of the less fortunate of the spies you send to intrude in the area.”
“You’ve got to do better than that, Furor. Where in elven territory? Who’s taking them?”
>“Who’s collecting your little trinkets? I don’t know. They’re being collected and handed over to Belldornin’s Thanes, who are distributing them along the strip of land where your Outlands stretch into free elven woods and extend to the border of En’Ler.”
“If I recall, the elves refer to Outlands and that area collectively as...”
>”The Revolution’s Sanctuary.”
“Yes. And who are Belldornin’s Thanes? I've never heard of such a group.”
>”Death cult. Live by the teachings of the elven prince Belldornin.”
”Are you a member?”
>“I once was. I joined to better understand the dark arts, but their beliefs were far too... fanatical for me to tolerate.”
”What is their connection to Warpath?”
>”I think I've told you enough, archmage.”

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/14(Wed)17:46 No. 392843 ID: 0b9d09
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>”He’s telling it straight, far as I can tell.”
“Thank you, Fendrel.”

Fendrel is a bodyguard of the Hight Knight. The High Knight says Fendrel can sense lies almost as well as he can. I trust his judgement here.

I think this is all we’ll be getting out of Furor. For now. The dungeons we will send him to are sure to loosen his lips.

Lest you have anything else in mind, I'd say we're done here.

Hmm. Didn't we basically decline him ourselves? Tell him that, at least- that we decided against it. Maybe you can tell him you'll decide later whether or not to teach him how to talk to us on his own. Assuming he lives.

i got nothing.

>>392843
Tell him we said that if we ever enter his mind we will leave a broken mess in its place, and had he not spoken we would have been delighted to extract the information directly.
Point out he can ask the paladin if he thinks you're lying.

Ok, this clears a bit of stuff up. We know the source, we know how. Now we either prevent them from getting the eyes or dealing with the makers. Simple as that.

For what to do now? I am not going to lie; he should be able to contact us, but in a limited way. We may need to see what's going down there and he may be the only means to do so. It will allow limited information gathering and if things go down hill, we can easily inform those who need the info.

We may not like him, but if we do want the dungeon crawl to succeed, someone needs to keep an eye on him.

>>392843
Tell him we said that if we ever enter his mind we will leave a broken mess in its place, and had he not spoken we would have been delighted to extract the information directly.
Point out he can ask the paladin if he thinks you're lying.

so, can we fuck with his mind anyway?

we won't tell anyone. promise.

Sounds like we are done, don't expect that he'll be gaining our favor any time soon. We'll try to let you know if we somehow end up in his mind and he's planning some shenanigans at some point in the future.

Fayne Gwethana 2012/03/17(Sat)23:35 No. 393769 ID: a9ba96
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Fayne pulls her hood back over her face.

"You do not speak with Those Beyond today because they have decided that you will not. If I were to let them into your head now, they would see It rent in two before they left. Maybe someday you will earn their trust."
>"Perhaps. But know that-"
"No, first you know that you will never get that opportunity should you ever drag my daughter into this again, understand?"
>"..."
"Understand?"
>"...Yes, Fayne. Understood."
"Are we done here?"
>"For now."
"Good. Fendrel, get him out of my sight."

Master Harkven 2012/03/17(Sat)23:41 No. 393771 ID: a9ba96
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...Well then. Amazing how anything can turn out to be a valuable learning exercise.

If I were to be guiding a partner along in an interrogation, many courses of action spring to mind. There are countless methods that I could suggest for extracting information.

Until a few moments ago, I would not have considered suggesting to my partner to outright kill the subject of the interrogation. Having witnessed such a nonstandard interrogation tactic... I have to wonder if more information could have been extracted through less potentially lethal routes.

If you may, would you mind explaining the logic behind recommending to Lady Gwethana that she mutilate and murder the subject of her interrogation to me? I can't say I'm completely... Clear on this one.

>>393771
I don't think many of us are experts at interrogation. Also, we're not good at thinking rationally when presented with an emotional trigger like a giant asshole such as him.

So basically, there's no logic to it. Sorry.

we weren't actually going to. but he needed to honestly believe she was going to. a sociopath can't be bargained with or threatened, when fayne grabbed him by the neck she honestly wanted to kill him and he knew it. he knew he would not get out of this without talking. so he did.

>>393771
He is a sociopath. He does not feel guilt or shame, and was not afraid because he knew she would never kill him or do him permanent injury as long as he withheld the information. He made this quite clear, and he is too skilled at reading people for her too be able to bluff.

We worked her into a legitimate murderous rage. Since he could read her easily he knew she would kill him without hesitation, which provoked a real fear of death and forced his hand.

If he hadn't caved under that pressure we would have had her kill him. Unobtainable information may as well not even exist, but knowing its there tempts foolish behavior.

keep in mind we are a large collection of often shifting individuals with different personalities and skills. some of us may have been recommending that she burn his limb off because he needed to believe that she would kill him, and some of us were probably just angry.

we are also as a group fairly skilled at improvising a bad course of action into a good one, for example it is possble that most or all of us were just angry and in favor of watching the smug prick burn, but once we realized that doing that was a bad idea we quickly (from your perspective, from ours we had a few days between her lifting him off the floor and us convincing her to not kill him) decided to go from advocating killing him, to advocating mercy.

I thought it'd be amusing.

it was.

Master Harkven 2012/03/18(Sun)03:18 No. 393793 ID: a9ba96
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Hmm... Yes, with Furor you came to realize that he could not simply be convinced he was in mortal danger to give you what you wanted. He had to legitimately be in mortal danger, and you manipulated Fayne into a state where that was present. Slightly different rationale on a voice to voice basis, as there always will be with an entity such as yourselves, but that's the gist of it it would seem.

The most important term in all of that is "manipulated." Your many tongues speak in new, unfamiliar voices to me, different from the voices I last heard roughly forty years ago. But one thing is the same, and that's your ability to read and manipulate the emotions of others. To bend and twist them to your will though suggestion alone.

We are nearing apolitical debate. Such as skill, the ability to use others emotions against them, is what I believe to be the most important skill to have when dealing in politics.

Remember that.

Master Harkven 2012/03/18(Sun)03:22 No. 393794 ID: a9ba96
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Harkven exits the library and enters a small meeting room.
"Ah, Good King Victor."
>"Archmage Harkven! I'm glad you're here."
"I'm surprised to see you back in the meeting room this early. The next conference session is not for another fifteen minutes."
>"Ehrm... Indeed, but I was informed that there was a surprise... guest at the palace and it was of the utmost importance I met with him before the next session..."

The lost Prince's story is a very well known story at this point. After Hector fell and Victor came to power, King Gerald of Farway announced that as a sign of the renewed peace between Egias and Farway he would be sending his unpopular and recently disinherited eldest som Erick on a journey. He would march through the Outlands, from his home kingdom to Egias as the first part of a great quest. The travels across the harsh dividing territory was meant to symbolize the newly reforged bonds between the two nations.

Master Harkven 2012/03/18(Sun)03:26 No. 393796 ID: a9ba96
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"A guest, you say? And you're here waiting for him?"
>"Actually, Archmage Harkven... our guest is already here..."

Victor motions to the chair facing away from Harkven

According to Gerald, the newly crowned king of Egias had been sent a quest to issue Erick when he arrived. It was a quest that would enlighten Erick to the world around him, and this quest being issued by Victor was meant to showcase a close tie between Egias and Farway; a joint project to create the best possible heir for Farway's future.

Master Harkven 2012/03/18(Sun)03:30 No. 393798 ID: a9ba96
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At least, that's what Gerald said.

>"Victor, good sir, you don't mind if I put my feet on the table, no? It's been so long since I've enjoyed the simpler pleasures of luxury."
>"No, not... not at all. Master Harkven... I want to introduce you to someone. Ehrm, this is Erick Samwell. The Erick Samwell. Of Farway."
>"The one and only, friend!"
>"Yes.... Indeed..."


When Erick disappeared into the Outlands, most people understood what had really happened and shifted their attention to the earliest rumors of the Gryphon's Edict. I'm sure Erick has heard what people say about the whole ordeal, but I don't think he's given up hope entirely yet. He's here now. He's been waiting for this for a year. You see the way he sits. You know what he expects.

And you also know Erick's personality better than I by sheer virtue of having traveled with his personal bodyguard. So I think you'll have a better idea of what would be the most... delicate way to get this out of the way before it can become an issue later.

While you'll be in his hands by the time the next session starts, I think before any of this we need to break it to this "prince" Samwell that his father never expected him to survive the Outlands.

Because the truth is that King Victor never received any quest from King Gerald to give the exiled prince.

ouch. what a dickbag. that's still his son, you know.

fuck you, man. you don't get to lay off something to us just because it's too hard for you to say it to him yourself!

>>393804
This.

he actually already has an idea to that effect.

>>393804
victor is the second king, gerald is samwell's dad. gerald never sent victor a second quest. so victor is kinda fucked.

>>393798
Couldn't we just make up some surprisingly hazardous quest for him to undertake, maybe something that would require years of travel and unlikely circumstances to complete?

Then again, you've probably been saddled with this awkward responsibility of no will of your own. It may be best to just congratulate him, offer him a nice cold wine, and then come clean.

I mean, one would think someone would have sent few dozen assassins in generic-y black bodysuits bearing sharp, overly-poisonous weaponry and bad accents with which to waylay him his journey if he was really that big a pain, so at least he wasn't considered so significant a problem.

Of course, maybe he wasn't considered so competent as to require the effort.

So the Father decides he wanted to get rid of his son and never decided to follow through if he DOES succeed. No offense, but the guy is a bit of a jerk.

Either way, he is looking for a quest. He has been waiting for this thing and went through a lot to get this chance. Saying he gets nothing is not going to help. In fact, it would make things harder in the long term. Demoralized people tend to not preform their best.

However, we can use this. We know the stakes. We know what the biggest problem is, but he does not. If his father is so short term he can't think of a second quest, we can.

How does one where he tries to help his people prepare for a foe of unimaginable proportions? One that requires wit, cunning, knowledge and a unified force to deal with? The kind of foe that goes down in the history books?

He wants a glorious quest? Helping this land prepare for Warpath's coming sounds like a good one. After all, I am sure he would be more receptive to a quest given by the voices instead of none at all.