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 Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 7:36 am
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Revenge would be silent through most of the exchange, before beginning to stand, gently encouraging Abby to rise with him.
"We're leaving," he would say flatly. "Vincent, we came here to temporarily borrow some power to help some people back in Gladesdale that need our help. But now, I see that our effort here was in vain. I'm sorry for wasting your time," he would say to the Paladin, ignoring Kail.
"We came seeking the aid of a powerful archmage, but instead come to find an insensitive, feeble, perverted old man and not much else. We'll find a way on our own, somehow. Come on, everyone. There's nothing for us here."
With a somber look on his face, he would try to guide Abby out the way they entered, hoping everyone else would follow.
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:19 pm
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Twyla was frowning. Every time something happened, her companions seemed to fly off the handle! Didn't they understand what could be accomplished with a few well-chosen words?
She had just taken a big breath, ready to launch into a new speech, when Revenge got up and said his own piece. Twyla was astounded.
"Leave?? Don't be silly! We still have to help those poor petrified people back in Gladesdale! Their lives are in our hands, so unless you have a better way to help save them than swallowing your pride and apologizing to this insensitive old man, I'd like to hear it!" She didn't usually get grumpy, but, really, Abby wasn't hurt, and neither was Valac, but there were people who would never see their family's faces again if the group left this place without the Soulcleanser. She made no move to leave, and instead turned to address Kail.
"Mr. Araethos, I can't answer your questions about Miss Abby, because, well, I don't really know the answers, but I can tell you that we only want to help people who've had the horrible curse of petrification put on them! If there are any other uses of the Soulcleanser, we don't even know what they are and so we don't want it for those reasons. We're trying only to help some poor innocent lives get put back together. That's all I know, myself, and I think it's a worthy mission. I promise we'll take care of it!"
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:48 pm
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 1:30 pm
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 9:56 pm
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Kail would speak up, sounding a bit annoyed now. "You can insult me as you like, paladin, but don't presume to put words in my mouth. Your gnome friend here is the first to answer my question and give any credence as to why I should bestow one of my most powerful artifacts upon a bunch of strangers, one of which who infiltrated my house in disguise. Now, if I didn't want to see you, I would not have taken time out of my busy schedule to have this meeting--and if you think I have hours to days to spend on this, paladin, you truly lack an understanding of my work."
Kail would let out a sigh. "So, what you have been willing to tell me so far is there are some innocents that have been petrified and you want to cure them. You do not need to the Soulcleanser for that, which is good, for I no longer have it. I could craft a much simpler device to remove the petrification, but it will take some time and I don't have the required reagents on hand. "
Vincent, who was still struggling to keep Valac pinned to the ground, looked up in surprise when his father mentioned no longer having the Soulcleanser . "When did this happen?"
Kail would look back at his son and shrug almost nonchalantly. "A day or so ago, I think. A person came to me in the night, somehow slipping past all our guards and magical defenses--quite an impressive feat. They offered me an equal exchange and convinced me it was going into good hands, but this is a discussion for later."
Abby began to let herself be led away by Revenge, but then would stop. She would let go of her husband. Through her sobs she would say, "No, there is no time. They will find out soon. We need his help now. I-it's ok. I'm fine."
Abby would turn from her husband and and walk towards Kail. She seems to be becoming a little more in control of her emotions, but is still obviously upset. Through her tears, she says, "Master Kail. I'm truly sorry that I came to your house in disguise, but I did it to protect you and your family. I am on the run from the people who did this to me, and they will do everything in their power to take me back and assure my existence remains a secret. Since you forced me to take my true form, you have already seen too much, so I will tell you who they are for you own protection. It was a group of mages within the kingdom of Aria, and as far as I can tell they have the backing of the entire government. You must not let anyone know what you saw here today... And please... please help us. I beg of you. I-I will let you study me if that is what it will take. It is my fault those people were turned to stone. Let me right my wrong."
Kail would raise his bushy white eyebrows at Abby's offer. "I find these terms acceptable. But your friends will have to help me gather the reagents. They are located on my property, but they will require some, ah, effort to collect."
Between the grunts and groans of wrestling with Valac on the floor, Vincent would speak out. "Father, what about Selma? She knows the ritual. She could--"
Kail would cut Vincent off "Preposterous. She's far too young and the trip too dangerous. And if she doesn't execute it perfectly, she could kill them. My wand of cleansing is foolproof."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hiya would roll her eyes and laugh. "No, I said a commoner. She was the daughter of a farmer, the second youngest of eight children. Now, usually nobles marry amongst their own kind--well, at least around here. But Master Kail was a disgraced noble at the time and they met and fell in love on some great adventure of theirs. Now, Mistress Posey is a really nice gal, down to earth, too. She never let becoming a noble affect her or the way she raised her children. It's been an honor to work for her, and her little daughters are soo darn cute! I'd say the family takes more after their mother than their father, with the exception of Lyndon and Odessa. Odessa looks almost like Master Kail's sister, may she rest in peace."
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 11:02 pm
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Revenge's face would suddenly animate, with more expression than he's shown since before he first arrived at Lupa. He would loudly clank as he ran forward, a few paces beyond where Abby moved to.
"No no. No no no no no no. No no no," he would repeat, with panic gripping his voice. He would hold out both palms facing outward towards both Abby and Kail. With bewildered eyes, and an agitated tail twitching like mad, he would turn to Kail fully.
"Look, I'm sorry, I was out of line. You had just... I was trying to rattle your-"
He would turn to Abby, stepping toward her. "You can't... Those terms aren't... You can't!"
He would turn toward Kail, making a hurried but singular step toward him. "She's..."
Revenge would turn once more to Abby, approaching her, and reaching as if to grab her shoulders. "Halima, there's got to be-"
He would once more hurriedly move towards Kail, clenching one fist in front of him. "Anything else!" Waving his arm towards the side to throw that fist, he would elaborate. "I will give you anything else. But please, not that!"
Quote: Revenge had been planning a mental chess match against the archmage, planning numerous moves ahead, but the board was swept clear of its pieces as Abby bargained herself away. I declare Revenge will roll a Diplomacy check, and immediately willingly fail it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 10:19 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 11:25 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:32 pm
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At the sound of breaking wood and pottery behind him, his one visible eye widens and his pupil narrows. His voice comes out in a deadly whisper. "...What was that?"
Vincent almost looks a little terrified. "Father, forgive hi-"
But before Vincent can even finish his sentence, a bolt of lightning would strike Valac square in the chest. (Valac is hit for 67 lightning damage, non-lethal). The charred and smoking barbarian would slump to the ground unconscious. Kail would put his wand back away looking absolutely livid. "Forgive him, after he willfully destroyed my precious plants? Vincent, get this brute out of my house."
Hurried footsteps could be heard approaching the area. Out from behind one the luminous mushrooms and trees appear a young man and woman. The man has dark hair and dark eyes, but otherwise bears an uncanny resemblance to Kail, both in face and garb. The young woman looks quite strange. Her skin is speckled and whiteish grey in color. Her hair was also an odd purplish-grey. What at first appeared to be a hat on her head was actually a mushroom cap. It was golden orange with white spots. Upon arriving on scene, the man immediately exclaims, "What happened?!" while the woman cries, "Oh no! The cleomystras!"
Kail would turn to the newcomers. "Lyndon, Basidia. Thank goodness you came so quickly! If we act now we might be able to save them!"
Lyndon begins to gather the broken pieces of the planter into one spot while Kail makes preparations to cast a ritual on them. The strange mushroom girl's hands grow suddenly into long gnarled roots that wrap themselves around the damaged plants. She seems to be channeling some sort of life force into them to keep them healthy and alive.
Vincent lets out a sigh as he would drag the unconscious barbarian away.
Abby looks besides herself with this sudden turn of events. She prostrates herself on the ground. "I'm soo sorry. His actions do not represent us. Please still help us! I beg you!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Out at the stream, the big trout continues to watch the breadcrumbs cautiously as they are either gobbled up or pulled away from the light by the stream. However, a large beetle attracted by the light falls into the water. Its wiggling attracts the large trout and he moves up to the top of the surface to gobble it up. (Kuori make your shot and roll to hit!)
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2016 6:09 am
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 8:06 am
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"..."
Well. That just happened. Revenge's feelings had gone from annoyed to angry to worried to downright terrified of this man, in the span of a minute. He was more of a Night Gladiolus man himself, but that aside, this archmage cared much more about the state of convenience of a plant more than a humanoid life.
That's horrifying.
He wouldn't be able to avenge Valac's death, not with the power gap between him and an archmage, and definitely not unarmed. Abby and Twyla were still here, and it was his duty to protect them.
Revenge had suggested a minute ago that they find another way; that had been a bluff to try to appeal to the archmage's pride, since prideful men adore the opportunity to show off. But now, he honestly believed that resorting to Kail's direct intervention in their dilemma was a last possible resort.
They had to find another way. Otherwise, they'd be in danger, and so would be the petrified people they were trying to help. Who knows how much damage this man could or would do.
Trying to help lift Abby to her feet while the archmage was ignoring all of them to concentrate on that ritual (while Revenge only knew the bare minimum about arcane stuff, he still was familiar with what rituals were and they weren't quick), whispering to her:
"Come on, we have to get out of here. Let us ask lady Selma. I'll find a way to compensate this man for inconveniencing him so, but right now we're not safe here."
(If required, I will roll a Diplomacy check to convince Abby to leave)
Revenge would what he could so that Valac's death would not be in vain. Getting help from the man that just callously struck him down would insult his fellow tiefling's honor.
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 2:49 pm
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 4:04 pm
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Twyla was feeling more and more uneasy as the conversation progressed, and with Valac horsing around things were only getting more tense. Not to mention the fact that the very artifact they'd come here for... was gone
Just as Twyla was hesitating, wondering what new tact she should take, Valac fell into the flower bed with a crash--and the wand came out. Twyla immediately hit the deck.
She heard the horrible sizzling zap of lightning striking and tensed up, wondering vaguely if this was Mr. Araethos's way of ending conversations. After a second, she registered that she wasn't hurt, and looked up. Valac was basically a smoking crater, and Revenge was trying to hustle Abby out of there. Twyla stared for a second before the tears started.
"Oh no! Valac the Unkillable! You killed him?!" She rushed to him on hands and knees and tried to feel for a pulse--then was heartbreakingly relieved to see he was still breathing "Oh thank Garl! He's not dead!" ((DM told me if I am adjacent, it's clear he isn't dead.)) She turned her eyes back up to Kail and his assistants who tended to the plants. Their attention on Twyla and her group was broken, so she turned to Vincent, grabbing at him, leaving tiny gnomish fingerprints on his shiny armor.
"Please, this all got so out of hand! Let us take Valac the Unmoving back with us--he's our charge! And Miss Abby..." Once Revenge was done whispering to her, Twyla would move towards the strange, blue woman who she'd known as her employer--a person who Twyla realized she knew very little about. "Maybe we should back off for now, Miss Abby. This really hasn't gone well, and clearly Mr. Araethos is, uh, preoccupied. We'll come back in the morning, okay?"
((Diplomacy of 18 to Vincent and Abby to make a graceful, polite exit...))
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 7:37 pm
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Upon hearing Twla's words, Kail would hastily say, "Of course he's not dead. I wouldn't murder him, even if he did destroy irreplaceable research material. You think these plants in here are for decoration? This is my life's work! Now everybody out! If I decide to continue this conversation, we will do so in the morning after I've had time to determine how much damage has been done."
Kail returns to casting his ritual. Lyndon begins to give Abby curious stares as he goes about his work. Only Basidia doesn't seem concerned about Abby's presence as she keeps the plants alive.
Vincent would continue to drag Valac towards the exit. "It's fine; it's no trouble for me to help him out for you." He would pause momentarily next to the adventurers. "Come speak with me in the hallway, please. There are some things we should discuss."
Abby would allow herself to be pulled to her feet, but she refuses to look anyone in the face. She stares at the ground, keeping her face hidden. She turns and makes for the door. However, before leaving, she would cast the spell to restore her illusion of being human.
(I'm assuming everyone is following as well.)
Once outside the greenhouse, Abby would finally reveal her face. She looks furious. Angry tears roll down her eyes as she begins to shout. "He was going to to help us! I had convinced him! Then all you... men... had to mess it up by trying to one up each other! Ugh, I can't stand it. I don't care about any of your pride! I just want to help these people before Aria finds out what's going on and comes after us. Don't you realize if we don't unpetrify them and explain ourselves to them first, Aria will take them, interrogate them, then kill them? We already spent two days coming here and have a two day trip back. Time is not on our side! Now, I am going to bed and I will talk to Master Kail by myself in the morning."
Abby turns around and begins to storm off down the hallway. Vincent stands there with Valac unconscious in his arms, looking a bit flabbergasted. "Uh, perhaps she needs some space for now. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kuori nails both fish with her arrows and Petra quickly grabs them before they get a chance to flow downstream. The one large trout looks to be around 10 pounds whil the smaller one is around to. Petra holds up both fish in the torch light. "We did it! We will eat fresh tonight!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hiya would give Shayne an incredulous look. "Just how old do you think I am. I ain't an elf. Master Kail's sister Mitzka died over 50 years ago...well I guess she has only been put to rest for around the last 20 or so. Sad story that was, Myir has never been the same or so I'm told."
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 8:17 pm
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After getting into the hallway, Revenge would return to Vincent's side to help give him a hand. Too much going on, not enough time to do everything at all the same time.
He wouldn't interrupt Abby, nor stop her from storming off, remaining silent the entire time. He would wait for a bit, once she was far out of earshot, before finally speaking up.
"Vincent, I'm extremely sorry about the mess that turned out to be. I think... you are the type of man that might empathize with what we're going through. Are you a married man, Vincent?" He would wait for the response, before commenting further.
"Abby and I were separated years ago, when she was captured in the Gladesdale attack. That was Aria, by the way. The ones who turned her into... They turned her. I only recently found out she was still alive, and even free. We reunited after years apart just days ago."
He would breathe, before going on. "Now imagine, the long-lost love of your life turning to a man for help, only to have him embarrass her and bring her to tears, right in front of you. The only reason I did not lash out of him before this lunkhead" he would pause, nudging Valac with his booth, "is because I feared a second spell, like that lightning bolt, would immediately follow the first. I held back, Vincent, but I was furious, furious at seeing my wife in tears. If we replay the scenario a hundred times, I would be furious every single time. While I definitely regret my angered accusations, I don't think I would take them back, given how I felt at the time."
He would gesture towards the door with one hand. "If he had politely asked for answers, we would have been forthright. If he calmly requested an explanation, we would have given him one. If he merely threatened to dispel the illusion, I have no doubts Abby would have dropped it. How we reacted, save for Twyla of course, was wrong, but from how we were treated coupled with the delicateness of our situation, how could we react any differently?"
He would let out a sigh, and after anyone else said their peace to him, he would finally continue. "I am willing to shoulder full responsibility for what happened in there. If such punishment requires for you to strike me down, o paladin of the sun god, I'd accept it stoically. But know that I will do everything I can to minimize my wife's suffering, be it from guilt or mistreatment. If I have to go through your father, or through your sister, Lady Selma, I will still try to do what I can to get those people returned to the flesh."
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