Zilean's Revenge

Horizon knows Ignan, I think. Or something less obscure and more useful. But not Draconic. Also he knows his crazy psycho meltdown language.

And I'm not gonna bother with a response. Horizon is waiting, probably sticking with Rolf, and he thinks Skitter killed the guy, but doesn't care.

Sorry, I had to leave like right after I posted my last message, so I didn't get much chance to read your post, which went in just before I tried to post.

Broken Logic wrote:I guess I'll roll and insight check to see if I realize what Skitter has done. Do you do insight checks Zarhon? Swap for appropriate check otherwise.
Perception check to see if I heard. Jeraylia can actually speak three langauges: Common, Draconic and Dwarven.

Perception -> 9(7+2)
Noticing the focused gazes of Rolf and Zthulu, Jeraylia looked towards the gathering crowd. She followed behind as her two companions moved off, impelled by the worry radiating from their eyes. The dead body immediately drew her attention as they arrived at the scene after pushing through the throng of onlookers. But before she could react, Zthulan knelt down and pronounced him dead.
Perception -> Natural 20(Booyah! Wait... why would I want to hear this?)
Zthulan spoke to Skitter, seemingly to reassure him, and Jeraylia moved to do so as well. So it was to her surprise when Zthulan continued in barely a whisper. Her bardic nature got the best of her, and she couldn't help but eavesdrop. She was a little confused when the Dragonborn switched to his native dialect, but she listened closely all the same. After Zthulan had finished, she looked over Skitter with a serious eye.
Insight -> 14(9+5)

[-Edit:this can happen after whatever Skitter and Zthulan do-]

With the relevations of Zthulans message as well as the strange response Skitter gave, Jeraylia put two and two together. She swept past the Dragonborn and grabbed Skitter by OK do Kobolds have an equivalent for an ear/earlobe? I'm going with one of the spikes on his head and assume it would be the same one of the small spikes on the top of his head and propelled him towards an alleyway. When they reached their, she dropped to her knees so she was eye level with him, put her hands on the Kobold's shoulders, looked him straight in the face and told him, "I need to know why you did it." Strangely enough, Jeraylia didn't look angry, just sombre.

I'll be gone most of today, so sorry in advance if this slows down anything. It probably will D:

Ignore the last bit of that then, instead:

Jeraylia followed as Skitter hurried up to Zthulan. Solemnly she thought about the whispered talk. With the relevations of Zthulans message as well as the strange response Skitter gave, Jeraylia put two and two together. The following conversation had only cemented her hunch. She looked down at the Kobold until she couldn't stop herself.
She swept past the Dragonborn, dropping to her knees and collecting Skitter into a tight embrace, ignoring the short male's shock.
"Skitter, you mustn't think so lightly of a life. The cost of a life is a heavy price, and if you decide it must be payed, treasure what it buys. Do you not strive to be a splendid noble? Will you not treasure even the smallest life of one of your subjects? Sir Kant Isaac Tesla Tzu Escher Rayleigh, you have been blessed with an extraordinarily long life, and though the lives of others may eventually seem to pass by you in the blink of an eye, please, never think them small. The merchant's death cannot be undone, so all I can ask is for you to treat his sacrifice with more gratitude. That you might treat a life with considerable value. Like the cow that sustains us with the forfeit of its body, thank his spirit when you use those arrows bought at such a steep price. Horizon," Jeraylia called out to the ranger she knew was nearby. "You may think I don't know you. And I probably don't. However, I have known some like you, and I know little I say will change your mind. Therefore, I can only ask, and pray, that you do the same for the lives of the fallen, and those of the living."
Jeraylia hugged the kobold to her for a few moments longer, and then released him. As she stood up, she regained her usual composure, and the smile that went along with it. She beckoned to Dragonborn, saying "Come, Zthulan. There is something you and I must talk about." As she turned about, she held the gaze of Horizon for a brief second before walking the direction Rolf had taken.

Ok, pretend it was better than I could make it. Did I leave in any inconsistencies? By the way, if you try to stab her, she still wouldn't let go. Please don't though .

Alt Script: Skitter rolls an Apothecary check to try and figure out what she's on and where he can get some. =P

After the initial surprise, Skitter was still surprised. When he got over that he was outraged, "Treasure the life...of my subjects? My subjects who rose up against me and my kin for the crime of guiding them away from their own stupidity and protecting them from the likes of these arrogant self-righteous gloryhounds?" He says, casting his hand towards the temple. With eyes glowing red and venom dripping from every word he continues, "If I ever see one of my subjects again I will only refrain from tearing out their throat and leaving their corpse to rot in the sun because I plan to slowly burn them alive as they did my beloved!" With that he turns away from the Deva and the Dragonborn and stalks off somewhere deeper in the shadows.

((That was still in draconic, since that entire conversation has been.

And.....goodnight.))

Ramsus wrote:That was still in draconic, since that entire conversation has been.

I don't think so, since she was talking to me as well, and I don't speak it. Your part, maybe, but her speech was probably common (or basic or English or whatever its called).

"You're right, you know." Horizon called after the Deva as she turned her back. "You don't know me, if you think I don't how precious the gift of Life can be." He moves up to walk beside her. "But all life ends eventually, and some ways to lose a life, while brutal or tragic in the here and now, may be seen as kind, or even merciful from another's eyes. I don't pretend to be righteous in my work, I simply do what is to be done, and leave the philosophies to those who would be better creatures than myself." Horizon stopped and turned to her. "I won't ask you to understand my point of view, or my justification- I won't even try to explain it to you. Just know that in some ways, I hold life more sacred and precious than you do."

maaan I didn't press post and I was stuck in a game. oh well whatever.
This slots in before Horizon's above.
"What good is a king without a kingdom?" Jeraylia whispered sadly as the kobold stalked away. Still, she had said what she felt, and if that didn't change the noble's feelings, it wasn't her life to live. "Heck," she thought, "If the kobold reacted that badly, then the rangers going to have a few choice words to say." She chuckled. Dealing with young ones was always such a hassle.

After Horizon.
When Jeraylia heard Horizon's response, she felt somewhat uplifted. If the ranger was true to his word, then there was hope. She'd be happy to be wrong a thousand times to hear such a thing. "Although," she thought, "as is usually the case, its the other ways that kind of worries me."

Duuude. I'm certainly seeing how nice it would be to play a neutral character right now. She's getting some scorching feedback.

During the initial conversation Zthulan begins to disperse the crowd.
"Please, be with your loved ones and know that he is at peace now," (Rolling to see if they listen Diplomacy: 12+5=17.

As the crowd leaves Zthulan follows Skitter and Jeraylia. Keeping silent as the conversation continues and follows Jeraylia when she calls for him.

So this conversation will hopefully give Zuul more character.

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Jerry Jeraylia

Arcana -> 6 + 3 = 9

Try as she might, Jeraylia doesn't deduce anything useful from the cloak. It seems mundane, if old.

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I assume if you've all finished your business, you can go meet up together at the High Priest (He starts calling you over, or paladins/Tiffany ask you to come over).
I also believe Rolf still has something to say to Jeraylia and Zthulan (not sure if Lynt is still AFK, but I've got a response ready from him).

Also, could I ask you to put % symbols to mark/separate the roleplay posts from the OOC posts, in addition to italic? It makes it simpler to find them when I need to reference them.

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Rolf lead Jeraylia and Zthulan away to a place where they would not be overheard by the crowd and Skitter. "I'm...so sorry. I'm guessing you've found what really happened. The problem I have is twofold: one, I can't stop him, and two, I need him. Skitter has some kind of control over shadows, which allows him to teleport over short distances, and use shadows as either a lasso or...a blade. I don't believe I have enough "respect" for him to really listen to me, and I have neither carrot nor stick to influence his behavior. Essentially, he follows me around because he believes he'll get paid by somebody for saving the city, and any commands I give are more like "suggestions to be considered." Horizon....", he wondered if Horizon was somehow listening in on the conversation, but then continued. "Horizon is not as big a concern to me since he has promised to "behave", and he shown himself a little more capable of restraint than Skitter."

"But Zilean is a much greater threat, I can assure you. He is capable of doing greater harm to a greater number of people in a shorter amount of time than Skitter could possibly achieve. And while I'd like to march my self-righteous person down and beat him single-handedly, I'm nowhere near as powerful to do this by myself."

"My primary hope is that by having Skitter with us, he can at least direct his energies toward the greater threat instead of doing more selfish harm. I believe the High Priest wishes to speak with us, but please let me know if you have any further thoughts on this matter." With a solemn nod, he started to head over to the High Priest.
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Alright, I'm visiting family this weekend but I should still be able to update from time to time. Tomorrow will be another 8-hour drive back home, but I'll let you know when that happens. I'm pretty much done, so on with the plot!

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Zthulan gives Rolf a smile. "We'll perhaps with time we'll balance them out, it is the way of the world it strives to seek a cycle and balance within that cycle." Putting a finger to his chin he continues, "What Skitter told me was that the merchant refused to give him things for free, perhaps we should be with him when ever we purchase goods and lend our hand in getting discounts, it will hopefully avoid bloodshed."

I'm nowhere near as powerful to do this by myself.

Zthulan gives a small chuckle. "Your much more powerful than I am Rolf, much more powerful." He then turns to Jeraylia.

"You wanted to talk to me Ms. Shale?
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I know how difficult it is to react to so many posts and players but I remember trying to communicate with what ever was lingering around Rolf (not the cloak). Also I will probably be posting Z's lore by Monday at the latest.

Zarhon, could we get a list of what Skitter took? I know it'll be a lot of bolts and some ranged weapons but, what else?

I again have no further input on this scene. For now I will have made my way to the Priest, and had a side chat with Tiffany about why she's not going to be coming with us, blah blah, convenient point that ends the deal I made with her at the beginning. And now we play the waiting game.

Upon rereading my last post, I was originally going to call it sloppy and bad, the result of being awake for way too long, etc. But instead, I kind of like the ambiguity of it's intention. Maybe he was being his usual sarcastic self. Maybe its a result of his slipping sanity, that he actually believes it. Maybe it was some kind of veiled message, or even a cry for help, to someone he inexplicably trusts and admires. Hell, maybe that was his attempt at flirting with her.

Or it could just be the truth. I haven't decided his angle yet.

Bronymous wrote:I again have no further input on this scene. For now I will have made my way to the Priest, and had a side chat with Tiffany about why she's not going to be coming with us, blah blah, convenient point that ends the deal I made with her at the beginning. And now we play the waiting game.

Upon rereading my last post, I was originally going to call it sloppy and bad, the result of being awake for way too long, etc. But instead, I kind of like the ambiguity of it's intention. Maybe he was being his usual sarcastic self. Maybe its a result of his slipping sanity, that he actually believes it. Maybe it was some kind of veiled message, or even a cry for help, to someone he inexplicably trusts and admires. Hell, maybe that was his attempt at flirting with her.

Or it could just be the truth. I haven't decided his angle yet.

I wonder what will happen if Zuul mentions the thing following Horizon... I don't know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing...

Can't say for certain, depends on how you go about it.

Hopefully we'll find out eventually!

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"Oh, I don't really have anything," Jeraylia explained with a shrug of her shoulders. "Rolf signaled to me that he wanted to talk to us, so this was a just simple excuse. But now that I have your time, I would like to ask what skills might you be able to provide in combat? You are a druid, no? What is your area of expertise?"
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I can't remember if you(Azarune) or Zarhon ever gave us a description of your equipment, or your skills. Though, I guess it might be fun to surprise us with what you can do in your first battle.

Broken Logic wrote:
I can't remember if you(Azarune) or Zarhon ever gave us a description of your equipment, or your skills. Though, I guess it might be fun to surprise us with what you can do in your first battle.

My apologies for that, His gear is basic survival stuff, bedding, a few rations, and he has a switch-blade spear. So he uses it as a quarter staff until he needs to use it. Most of his skills are focused around healing and nature based skills. So anything that interacts with the spirits and the likes. He is okay at talking with people but isn't the best, and he is horrid at all things based on lying, threatening, and knowing the larger world of magic and history.


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After to listening to Jeraylia's question and he flashes a smile and answers.
"I am not a druid, though my profession also listens and heeds the natural world. No, I am a shaman Ms. Shale, particular in the ways of healing those in need. However, I am green as grass in my job, I only recently completed the rites to shamanism," he looks slightly embarrassed of that fact and then switches to draconic.

"I want to warn you about Horizon, something dark and sinister follows him. What he said about life though... I would assume that whatever haunts him is a very important factor. Anyway, let's help banish this undead threat yeah?" With another smile he follows in Rolf's direction

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If you want any more information I will just PM you them.

Sorry, got shaman and druid mixed up XD. And I don't know whether Zthulan would know Jeraylia would know Draconic, unless he managed to get that from her eavesdropping. Oh well.

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"Ah, a shaman. Make sense, seeing as you don't have an animal companion. Well, stick behind me and I'll try to let you practice in a relatively safe work environment. And, yes, let us put our full efforts towards dispatching this undead threat. While Horizon may be an interesting quandary, I think I can manage to put that to the side for now."
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Broken Logic wrote:And I don't know whether Zthulan would know Jeraylia would know Draconic, unless he managed to get that from her eavesdropping. Oh well.

Well, I could say that either he over heard the whispering, or that knowing that deva are immortal then they should learn a multiple things throughout their existence. If you want me to retcon it I can though.

Nah, no biggie. Don't worry about it.

So are we waiting on something, or what?

Zarhon I think.

Yeah, I think all we're waiting on is Zarhon. But now I've got to drive back home. I'll be AFK for the next 8 hours. See you later!

Sorry, was a bit busy with college.

@ Skitter theft: Since you were partially distracted with bluffing your way out of being blamed for the assassination (and ensuring the merchant dies quietly and before anyone can help him etc...), there's a chance you didn't manage to get some of the more expensive items the merchant had before some of the OTHER thieves/opportunists/war profiteers/guild members in the crowd decided to make use of the merchant's misfortune and steal some of his goods for themselves, before you could.

Roll a d20 for the silver bolt quiver and each of the magic variants of bolts: For each bolt quiver you manage to steal, the DC for subsequent rolls becomes harder by 2 to win it (so if you win silver bolts, winning the remaining bolts needs at least a 13, and so on). Alternately, choose one of magic/expensive quivers of choice and you'll steal it 100% (but lose a chance at the others).

Regardless of which of those you steal, I'll assume you automatically stole/bought a crossbow and pack of iron/wood bolts (since they're not worth stealing for a profit).

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Everyone

Rolf, Jer, Zthul, Horizon and Skitter meet up with the High Priest, who is being escorted by Tiffany. He is in the final stages of preparation to get rid of the bombs (for which several paladins and some town guards have been moving the refugees out of the way, as well as placing minor barricades to prevent stray shrapnel damage).

" Ah, there you are. I must thank you for your assistance with saving the temple and stopping that horror. If it weren't for you, it would probably caused great damage to the supports, destroying half of the temple. But I'm afraid this is only the start. Now, the situation here appears to be under control for now: Once we get the refugees in and get rid of these bombs, we'll tighten security and place some extra wards for Zilean's other servants. The rest of the town is probably in chaos, however. I want you to go to the mayor of the town. He's in charge of the town's military and city guard. He'll need your help and info. "

" And before you do that, I believe I owe you an explanation, regarding Zilean. Like I said before, it's a matter of utmost secrecy. Uhm... Speaking of which, who are those two? *He points at Jer/Zthul* Someone you know and trust, I hope? "

Before anyone can answer, a paladin informs the High Priest that the preparations are finished and everyone is evacuated.

" Ah, splendid. Now to just get rid of those infernal devices. I'll let one of you do the "honors" of setting them off. "

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Eh? He only had bolts and crossbows as far as stuff Skitter thought the party could use? What kind of crummy merchant was he? Well, I'll hope you'll at least take into consideration that unlike random thieves that Skitter didn't have to take small amounts since he wasn't disguising his actions. I can't really take the 100% of a magical type option since then I wouldn't get the silver bolts and that was basically the entire point. Also, I hope I got at least a few crossbows (in addition to the Hunting Crossbow Skitter actually bought earlier) or other various ranged weapons for the other party members. Ok, I have no idea how many quivers there are of what so I guess, I'll just roll once for each type and hope a success doesn't mean "congrats you got a whole 1 quiver" when it comes to the silver. Silver: 18, Fire: 16, Guiding: 19, Ice: 18, Electrical: ...Nat 1. Here are a few more rolls for Silver just in case: 9, 11, 19, 14.

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As soon as Skitter heard the priest ask for a volunteer from the audience, he knew Rolf and Horizon are going to look at him. So he decided to pre-empt them. "What better way to officially join our, urm... party than with a bang?" He says while looking at the two new members.

"Ooooooooh, no you don't. I'm lighting the bombs." Horizon steps forward a little too eagerly, and goes with the Priest to activate the detonation.

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Why are you stealing crossbows for everyone? We don't need them or are untrained with them.