Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Beat Bandit]

"Or we leave." Ampersand grunts "This isn't our fight."

"The church holds this town, and they wont give it up for any less than a war. A small group of adventurers and handful of beastophiles aren't going to win that war." He turns away from Franny and back towards the druids, "You want to practice your faith? Leave. You want to defend your home? Die here. Don't drag any sorry sack willing to deal with your nonsense down with you." and back to Franny, "for gods' sake they tried to kill all of us, want the priest dead, have killed at least one other priest and are willing to sacrifice this whole town and you still feel we owe them? You do what you want, I plan to be far enough away that I'm not revealed by the flame when these 'staunch protectors' let it burn for their own beliefs."

With that he pushes through any bodies he must to leave.

(Warning - while you were typing a new reply has been posted. You may wish to review your post.)
(NOPE!)

[Bongo Bill]

"We have our own names to clear as well," said Pitamaha. "We might leave under cover of darkness, but they shall regard us as guilty, and give chase. We were brought together for a purpose; to jeopardize that purpose for this mere skirmish would be folly."

[Beat Bandit]

Ampersand laughs, "we'll be nameless fugitives a dozen towns over. By the time the soldiers could've caught up to us, these fools will have deterred them with reason to come back here again."

[Doom]

(Yo Amp I know being a lone wolf is your thing but maybe you missed the part where the guys who'd be chasing us own most of those dozen towns and probably have enough regiments to chase us even if this entire Druid town became more hostile than a valley in Afghanistan. :V Maybe you could sneak out while the rest of us leave properly and don't get the giant screaming death sentence?)

[Beat Bandit]

(Sorry, was that not what I was doing? I forgot I had Vivi tied to my back so she was forced to come along.)

[Doom]

(Am I misreading your post that implies we'd be "nameless fugitives a dozen towns over" and that the Paladins wouldn't be able to pursue us because we'd be relying on these wacky druids to stir up more trouble? That is, enough trouble to occupy, let me check... seven holds and thousands of men. And yeah Vivi isn't tied to your back, hilarious, but I guess we just can't be seen with you in public any more? Might make party cohesiveness a bit strained, you know.)

[Beat Bandit]

(Yeah, I'm sure when the soldiers come to take you all away tomorrow they'll decide since I left you're all innocent. Either we all leave, our names are all cleared, or anyone who stays dies. You want to convince Ampersand otherwise? Have Vivi actually do it instead of telling me my character's motivation is stupid.)

[Büge]

(Have Vivi actually do it instead of telling me my character's motivation is stupid.)

(Yes! Tie yourself to Ampersand, Vivi! >:3)

[Bongo Bill]

Pitamaha put a hand on Ampersand's shoulder before he could walk out the door. "Be thou not so eager to embrace the life of a fugitive. By whatever means, we must and will clear our names, for unlike thee, we cannot all hide and still fulfill our missions. Stay thou with us, and thou shalt have no need to go to ground." To the rest of the party, he said, "Ye have all heard my recommendation; by it, the fewest shall die, and not in vain."

(Though we're not going to be able to convince the villagers to go along with it without one hell of a... Diplomacy?... roll.)

[Doom]

(Hahaha woah, cool false choices and strawman, dude. Did you mistake the D in my name for ThaDoom? Also it's an assumption on your end that I think your motivation is stupid. All I've said is that in general, the party should be on the same boat and the chance that one of us goes entirely criminal might suck and that if the choice comes up, we don't make enemies of the bonafide paladins with standing armies, so let's stay in town and try some things and if all else fails, maybe you can flee the coup alone and meet up with us later(worst case scenario.) Yeah, sure they might see Ampersand missing and that makes us all guilty... but that means you need to help fix the problem you caused! That's why we discuss things, so we can make informed decisions and avoid catastrophe, and I think we can get through this without any of us earning some Wanted posters. I'm also certain that technically, none of us know what Ampersand did at the church with the priest and why he got a death-glare from the Paladin just now... so if anybody should be talking in-character...)

(Also we've read their letters and know that they aren't tracking us that well yet. Might have just changed, sure, but we're just a random bunch of adventurers to them in the last two exchanges, not "Tiefling Witch, Sketchy Drow, Crazy Author, Old Man, Orc." They didn't even notice that Dog went missing.)

... Vivi throws her hands up overly dramatically, which launches a startled and terrified cat onto the back of Ampersand's head. However, his apple hat stays on the entire time as Rudiger clings to anything he can briefly, before running off with an indignant yowl.

Accessing Nickname Database... warning, subject not eligible for affectionate imaginary family nicknames. Processing... "Hey Cousin, where are you going? Maybe if you ask real nice, they'll let you play with the new guy's head once they cut it off." Vivi glowers at him. "Besides, we can't leave until they clear our names."

Vivi looks at Grandpa for a bit and shrugs. "It's their decision. But me and Rudiger aren't taking on a million billion Carrot-men." Catharsus? That's a stupid AND complicated name.

[Beat Bandit]

((Okay all the stupid behind the scenes stuff first, so this set of parenthesis covers a lot.

Ampersand's primary motivations are:
riches
power
self-sustenance
from least to most import. So not getting executed is pretty up there on his 'to-do' list. Along with that he's not real big on trusting people that just tried to kill him to sacrifice for his sake. Along with the obvious, he's not one to trust in general. Suffice to say yes there's a reason his name is a conjunction yet generally works on his own. Plus this

(Also we've read their letters and know that they aren't tracking us that well yet. Might have just changed, sure, but we're just a random bunch of adventurers to them in the last two exchanges, not "Tiefling Witch, Sketchy Drow, Crazy Author, Old Man, Orc." They didn't even notice that Dog went missing.)

a thousand times this. There is no better time to run than now while he has a sketchy idea of us in his head and is about to kill the only person that might be able to give a good description. Plus, should they separate when they run, what will the descriptions be? "keep your eyes open for a drow male somewhere on this side of the country" "tiefling girl wanted: last seen in small town" and we stand out the most (okay Briar too).

Beyond that, honestly Ampersand until Francy very recently when she saved his life saw you all as completely expendable. She may be missed slightly. But if it wasn't for the group of dwarves in the last campaign, the plan was murder people / steal sword / live like king. Honestly not the best thought out plan, but the idea is cutting ties for his own life is not even a second thought.

Beyond that, though. This certainly isn't over. Ampersand wont be exiting the game forever after walking out that door. The priest did not look in a position to give up that quickly just a short while ago, and that warrants looking into. Even if he doesn't find anything he'll hang around at least and see what happens from the outskirts of town.

So yes, with all that in mind, having you tell me again and again that this is a stupid choice does come off as calling my motivation stupid. By no means am I trying to insinuate you actually used the word.

Now all that said, this is all a problem on my end. It's this dang dirty OOC speak. I hate the stuff. If you want to play a game and talk about the strategy in everything blah blah then okay I'll just do that. That is clearly not what anyone wants though and just a strawman because that's how I roll, bro.


Really though I just dislike feeling obligated to use it. There is no way in the world to have OOC conversations and not meta-game. The soul purpose is to explain what a character can't or communicate and share information where you shouldn't be able to. I think that's kind of lame. I'm not a killjoy though so I try not to complain about it prior to right now.

So instead of me having to say (no don't worry let him walk out he's going to be all sneaky and try to save the day ;b) after my previous line in order to do so without being questioned, I ask not that you trust my choices on their merits [I make all his decisions uninformed of what & shouldn't know and so will often make poor ones in the grand scheme, plus, you know, admit to trying to kill at least some of you] but that I do them in the interest of my character, and the fun of RPing this shit.

That said.))

Ampersand lifts his arm to wipe the black cat from his head while also shaking Pitamaha's hand from his shoulder. "If there's proof to be had, or some sort of divine light of revelation come morning, I'll be around to to bask in it. Trust me though, if any of us runs, you'll all 'a better chance if I leave now than stay to abandon you on the execution march."

With that he finally makes his way out of the inn. Heading back out towards where he stashed his things, he'll go the long route by the church to see what's going on there, and be sure to make sure he isn't being followed or watched by the guards.

stealth and perception
1d20 +13 : 1d20 +6
5 + 13 = 18 // 1 + 6 = 7

(All this arguing and the children are shaken up.)

[Doom]

(I'm tired at the moment so I'm going to have to get back to you tomorrow.)

Welp, Vivi's current plan involves waiting for the paladins to chop a priest's head off or something and pardon the party, so she'll just continue hanging out with Grandpa, Briar and Franny. She gnaws on an apple.

[Stush]

Francisca looks over at the druids in the tavern. "You guys practice human sacrifice? Like, regularly? I just thought that was a one-off thing to get rid of that big scary monster."

Being a bit of a city girl, she doesn't really know much at all about druids.

[Büge]

Welp, Vivi's current plan involves waiting for the paladins to chop a priest's head off or something and pardon the party, so she'll just continue hanging out with Grandpa, Briar and Franny. She gnaws on an apple.

Briar will also hang. Philosophizin' is hungry work.

[Bongo Bill]

Francisca looks over at the druids in the tavern. "You guys practice human sacrifice? Like, regularly? I just thought that was a one-off thing to get rid of that big scary monster."

Being a bit of a city girl, she doesn't really know much at all about druids.

Would a Religion check of 1d20+8=18 be enough to answer this question before making such a faux pas?

[Stush]

Francisca slumps down onto the bar, looking wearily up at her friends. "Sorry, everyone. I thought I could control the situation, I seem to have gotten us into a mess that I don't know how to get us out of."

"If this was a book, we'd probably be getting some kind of deus ex machina soon, or one of us would suddenly come up with a really masterful plan, and everything would just fall into place, and we'd be the heroes, as usual." She sighs. "I guess this is what happens when you get all your life experience from reading tales of heroism."

[Bongo Bill]

"Such is war, child," said Pitamaha. "The wellspring of heroism is the willingness to lay down one's life, and thus it is a hero's lot to perish. But thou mayest yet inspire a hero this night. These people are beaten, and their plan hath failed; if we are to go free, then they must be exposed to their enemies. If I say, Let one be sent to die that others may live, they shall hear only a doddering mystic calling for blood, and we must then come to blows. But thee they heed. If thou sayest, Let one step forth and be a hero, then mayhap a hero shall step forth. Pray say it soon, for I fear Taren's patience doth wear thin."

[Diplomacy: 1d20+1=8, a failure. If Francisca decides to go with it, she'll have to do without the +2 assistance bonus she'd be getting if I had gotten 10 or higher.]

[Stush]

Francisca frowns. "It's not the kind of idea I was hoping for, but.. maybe it's all we've got."

She gets up and walks over to the Druids. "We've thought of one way you could get out of this. It's not a good way, it'll only be temporary, but... it's probably all you've got."

She turns around, thinking for a bit, then turns back to them. "They'll always suspect you, it's only a matter of time until they come back and slaughter the town, they're obsessed with control and power, and you're don't want to be part of their system, it's what they do."

"Your only hope is to get away. for that, you need to buy time. You need the soldiers to leave or stop paying attention long enough for you to all get to a safe place." She raises a hand. "I know it's your ancestral land, I know you shouldn't be forced to leave it, but it's a question of staying and fighting a losing battle, or leaving and consolidating your strength."

She paces a little, turning to look at pitamaha, then back towards the druids. "The only solution we can see is making the paladins think that they've punished the guilty party, making them think that they've purged the druidic influence from the town.. What we need, unfortunately, is a sacrifice."

She walks closer. "It's a terrible thing to have to do, but if one of you gives yourself up, convinces them that you were the only one in town, and that you were working alongside letham, and made a mistake, you might just buy enough time for the rest of you to escape."

"You might think i'm doing this just to save my own skin, but i'm not. I believe I can talk my way past the paladins, I believe I can get the rest of my comrades out as well. But.. I don't think I can talk them out of wanting to wipe out every druid they can. Fanatics are not easily swayed."

She moves back to her friends. "It's a crappy thing to do, but it's the only choice I can see for your people. You can try run now, but you'll be followed closely. You can try fight them now, but you're very much outnumbered. You can just wait, and soon you'll have an army marching over the ruins of the town. Your only choice is to appease their thirst for blood, and hope they move on."

[Diplomacy roll with words of Frienship, 19 + 15 = 34 Booyah~]

[JDigital]

The druids nod in agreement, except for the innkeeper.

"She's right, Taren," says the bearded man. "If we let them execute an innocent priest, we're no better than them. One of us has to take responsibility."

Taren grumbles, but doesn't say anything.

Seric stands up. "I'm sorry, travellers, but this is a decision we'll have to make on our own. You can sleep in the barn tonight. We'll attend the trial tomorrow. After that, you're free to do as you wish - although, as per our agreement, you must never speak of what you learned in this tavern tonight."

[Stush]

Francisca looks at the others, "Is that alright? I mean, on my end, this is one story that i'm never gonna put into a book. We don't wanna mess this up, or we'll have a bunch of angry, vengeful druids after all of us, plus the paladins.", She looks back at the druids. "I think i'll pick where I sleep, though, no offence, but you did try to poison me earlier."