CH. 10: Hard Choices

[HorizonsDream]

"None that I have seen," Kendra says. She looks over the arriving soldiers, then back to Mouna. "Looks things went...well for you guys?"

[Haahque]

"Well Tulbas, if that's all then let's head off towards the old fort. I got some troops to entertain and some steel to earn. However it strikes me that this job for Zoya might not have been the only reason you came to my tavern this morning. Let's speak on the road"

And Haahqae once again gets up to make his way out of the tavern.

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
"Not as well as we would have liked," Mouna admits. "But we got the job done. Qualinesti is no more. But most of the people managed to escape by the time we got there. We only got to kill the rear guard they left behind, really." She shrugs. "The dragons at least had fun burning it to the ground."

Gobax, Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (High Hand Inn, Common Room)
"Long enough to see how bad things have become," Delharn answers.

The door swings open again, and a quartet of baaz step in. They hoot and holler in celebration, nearly trampling Shima in the process as he's standing near the entrance. "Bring us so ale, wench!" one of them demands as they sit at a table. Green Tears is quick to bring a pitcher of ale and four mugs. They start drinking immediately, singing, "The elves are dead, the elves are dead!" without much in the way of tone.

"Perhaps we should find a more private place to talk," Delharn suggests to Gobax.

[TristenC]

My thoughts exactly. I have a room here. He leads Delarn up to his chamber but still speaks in a quiet voice. The Dragon Army and the Church don't seem to get along terribly well, I doubt it would come to blows but perhaps we can 'help' them undercut each other enough to weaken their grip on the city. The forces within the army itself are divided as well, so i have to suspect those within the church are.

Right now there are some goblins in the city. I've been thinking of trying to drum up trouble between them and the draconians somehow. At least the Goblins are a more well-known element... If we could arrange a few conflicts, real or staged, it might increase the tensions between them in the city. I can take thumping myself if it comes to that for a good cause. Some dead baaz here and there killed by multiple attackers using goblin weapons... I wish we had some kind of illusion we could employ... that would make this a lot easier... In the meantime we can find ways to damage different supply houses and subtly blame it on other groups... he pauses for a moment to let Delarn digest.

if we can pit the Army against itself, the Army against the Church, and find some way to cause internal conflict within the church... we might be able to take the pressure off of the citizens long enough for this place to survive... There Has to be something building... The old gods are back and the evil dragons are with their queen, but where are all of the good dragons? They won't just sit back and let their evil brethren take over the world, will they? There has to be something coming, we just have to hold out long enough...

[Chris1234]

Shima pauses for a 'eight count' and then follows after Gobax, waiting until they're just out of sight and then moving quietly {OOC: Move Silently} up the stairs. He listens at the door of Gobax's room, pressing his ear to the wood, but moving on to the next door each time he gets the wrong door.

[mgbevan]

Damn the bard thought as the prefect batted away his ideas. Would this man's will bend to nothing?! His thoughts raced, and there was one idea he had, one mad idea, but what else could he do? This was probably Gregeddin 's only chance to meet the prefect. He had to do it.

As The prefect began to loose attention and write on his scrolls, Gregeddin's lips began moving silently and breathlessly, recounting the arcane scriptures Tulbas had helped him learn. Was he actually going to hypnotise the prefect under his nose? He was trying to. Once the prefect looks up the bard was already finished and staring into his eyes. In turn, Gregeddin replies" i see your struggle, ny last, suggestion, is to care for the people out of the goodness of your heart, you ought to show them mercy and be a good leader. Give them food, water to help them through the winter."

[HorizonsDream]

"Ah," Kendra says. Though, she tries to remain as neutral as possible on the matter. "Well, then, I guess welcome home?"

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
"Thanks," says Mouna. "And sorry to leave you here for a week to watch over the place while we go have all the fun. Tell you what, why don't you take the day off? Have some fun, get some rest. The army appreciates your hard work."

Gregeddin (Prefect's Mansion)
Gregeddin begins droning and gesturing wildly and then meets the bozak's gaze when Tethys looks up at him. However, it is clear that Tethys is a spellcaster himself. Not only does he easily resist, but he recognizes what the bard is doing. Getting to his feet, he gestures to his men. "Seize him." At once, the baaz behind him grab his arms, holding him in place.

Tethys snorts with anger and moves around his desk to walk up to Gregeddin. "So, the Trade Guild seeks to cause a coup, is that it? They send a mage to bewitch me? Me? I would laugh were I not so annoyed. I will not tolerate insurrection. Not after what happened in Pax Tharkas." He picks up the letter and hands it to a Baaz. "Arrest everyone who signed this. Bring them here, directly. I will interrogate all prisoners myself. As for this one, take him downstairs. We will learn just how big this conspiracy truly is."

===============

Gregeddin attempts to cast Hypnotism on Tethys. Tethys resists magic [MR 25%] (1d100): 40, fail. Tethys saves vs. magic with draconic resistance (+2) while looking Gregeddin in the eyes (-2) [TN 10] (1d20): 12, pass. He is not hypnotized.

Grubnick (High Hand Inn, Room 16)
Delharn laughs boisterously and pats the goblin on the back with gusto. "Now you're talking! I like it, let's set some fires and cause some chaos! Should be a lot of fun."

He blinks at the goblin's mention of good dragons. "What are you on about, lad? There are good dragons now? I've never heard of such a thing. Dragons are all evil creatures, as far as I've seen."

Felran and Ne-Chanz (High Hand Inn, Common Room)
Gobax and the dwarf head upstairs together. A moment later, Shima sneaks up after them. This leaves Felran and Ne-Chanz down in the common area, along with Green Tears and the drinking baaz draconians.

Shima Longfoot (High Hand Inn, hallway outside of Room 16)
Sneaking up after the goblin and the dwarf, Shima makes his way to the room they went in and then listens at the door. He can hear voices...a boisterous laugh. But he can't quite make out what they are saying. They are speaking in low tones, perhaps to avoid eavesdropping.

==============

Shima detects noise [TN 45%] (1d100): 74, fail.

[BishGada]

Tulbas wrinkle his nose for a moment then says to Keira trying hard to hide any sarcasm, "That's the attitude." He lets Haaque describe the women they are searching and then retires together with Haaque. Once outside he answers Haaque, "Indeed. I was looking for you. Last week was so busy. How have you been?" he asks politely and honestly.

[Chris1234]

Shima looks around for a glass, to try again against the door as a sort of listening trumpet.
If there isnt one, he goes downstairs and wanders over to Felran and Ne-Chanz, "Hi. How are you this morning?"

[HorizonsDream]

"What? Really?" Kendra asks in surprise. Not that she knew what to do with the sudden free time, but she wasn't going to pass up the chance for a day off! "Uh, all right," she says with a light smile. "Thank you," she adds before she gives a salute to Mouna, and then runs off home.

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chan snorts derisively. "Poor." he mutters. "In many senses. If you can come, I could use your help. Do you have a weapons permit?"

[chese780]

(OOC: Did I sign that letter? Not for meta reasons, but because I missed a -huge- gap in the story a week or two ago.)

"... Ne-Chanz. How much Steel do you have left?" he says, looking at the Minotaur.

[djhyland]

Arulia considers for a long moment. Who could she trust? Cassilda and Camilla already knew of her faith, of course, but she's not willing to put them in more danger than they already are in for being her sisters. Kendra knows, too, but she's associated with the Dragon Army. Even if she's not a true believer--and Arulia doesn't think that Kendra would deliberately sell her out--it'd be risky to recruit her. The group that hired her to rescue the elf boy? Maybe, but the gnome and the bard seem risky, too.

"Something less dangerous than fire...perhaps if we can get inside, we can find a better way to...uh...sabotage the brothel. Maybe take what valuables we can and destroy what we can't?" She blushes again, and quickly adds, "We could give the money to those in need, of course!" She thinks for another moment, liking this idea more than her original plan of burning the brothel down. "I think I might know a man...a kender, actually...who could get us inside the building. I think we can trust him, at least."

(OOC: I apologize for my absence over the weekend; it was unexpectedly busy.)

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin makes no attempt to resist the Baaz, From what he gathered about them and judging from their armour and weapons, fighting wouldn't go down well right now. Instead, the bard returns Tethy's stare and sends words lashing back at the Prefect. "What's this about Pax Tharkas? I wouldn't waste your time with anyone on that list, they wouldn't even know I can cast arcane spells let alone the lengths I'd go to help the people of this city. Do you see how desperate you've made the people?! Or has all that intelligence of yours been blinded by your anger, or pride, or maybe even fear, fear of failing your superiors perhaps..."

Gregeddin lets the last word hang in the air, staring Tethys down, ignoring everything else in the room and around him.