Zander laughs, "I guess, I could have just said no. This is what I get for being bored in court all morning."
Taisper chuckles softly, his hair obscuring his face for a moment. "Yeah, I understand, I just..." He gives a resigned sigh. "I always feel like she's correcting me, you know? I always feel...I guess...sort of less when she's around. Maybe that's a result of the whole Will thing you mention, and from her bein' a noble and all." He pauses, thinking, then starts again, speaking slowly, as if working something out for himself and unable to do so unless he's also talking. "In this book, Irori writes 'There is no mastery of the world, only mastery of Self.' I guess I need to see what it is within me that generates these feelings, what old wounds I-WHOA! What the heck is that?!" The Inquisitor stands, suddenly, and points at the now brightly-glowing Hall. "Wow! What are you guys doing in there these days, Z?"
The last couple years my buddy Graham and I have run (as co-GMs) a two-night campaign for a bunch of friends, including our own Mr. Helt, among others. This year our party included two RPG Superstar top-4 placers (Steve Helt and Scott Fernandez), two Iron GM champions (Steve Helt and Stephen Rowe), an additional Iron GM contender (Nick Mork), and was rounded off by awesome rad gamers from our regular group back home in Milwaukee, including one of the players from my regular Monday night PFR game. I always see Steve at Iron GM as well, and two years ago I was a table DM for a big event that Steve and Eric and a bunch of the other Iron GM folks put on called "The Devil in Me". Very fun, super-duper epic stuff!
So I guess that's my really wordy and roundabout way of saying "yes". :-p
I have no problem just chatting with Zander for a bit to mark time until everyone else gets back, and as for the future timeline, yeah; I'm holding tight on that one for now. I'm actually still at GC; I sat in on a few seminars today that Paizo employees were running on how to write and develop stuff for Pathfinder. Was nifty to hear what various developers (including Sean Reynolds) and editors had to say. It was almost enough to make me want to try RPG Superstar or something like that. Almost.
Anywho. Another awesome GenCon has come to a close.
Taisper adopts a sympathetic expression. "Verik's a pretty special guy, it's true. Like Jemini. Or the...uh, the other Zander. Um." The Inquisitor-on-hiatus rubs the back of his head in embarrassment, thinking any mention of the man must be frustrating to his friend. Hurriedly he changes the subject. "Yeah, trolls ain't typically known for their amazing hiding and hunting skills and such. That's definitely a bit troubling, I reckon. Maybe I...hmmm..." Taisper was going to say "Maybe I could help out", but he thinks of Ilyana and Nick, Jr., and stops himself before committing to such a potentially dangerous activity. Instead, he addresses Zander's third point. "Yeah, the meditating and the forms and katas, they're an Irori thing. I've been trying to clear my head. Ever since the dragon attack, when Ilyana made her, uh, her feelings known to me after that whole thing, ever since then I've been thinkin', 'well, maybe I should try to see what happiness I can scratch out of this city', you know? Maybe this can be a new start for me, too. But it'll take some work. So I remembered something Jemini said once, about learning from all the gods, and about praying to Irori as well as any other when a problem fell into his domain, and I though that was a good way to approach things."
Taisper falls silent for a moment, then glances over at Zander and asks "Zander...does Jemini ever...does she ever, um, does she get on your nerves?" He asks this very tentatively, as if confessing to a terrible sin, or blaspheming aloud in church during worship.
Taisper's eyes snap open at the sound of hooves. He smiles on seeing the White Stag. "Oh hey Zander, man, how are you? How are your duties? What's new in the woods?"
It...it is? Gosh, thanks. I honestly always thought that the way I was writing Taisper irritated the bejeezus out of you. So yeah; thanks for that. Now let's see if I can avoid any more ridiculous lacunae.
Oh, oh it does (irritate the bejeezus); I mean Taisper - the character - is so broken and wrong on so many levels it makes my hairs stand-up. But he is well written and adds great depth to the story and he is "my/our" broken character. I'm holding thumbs that he'll not necessarily be vindicated, but at least somehow (a) find personal peace and (b) stick it to the baddies.
Ah so. Fair enough! I hope similar things. To your point above, it's going to be very interesting to see what Borodin decides to do with that note The Cog gave him.
Taisper stands in peace and tranquility on the edge of the small lake outside the city. His hands are before his heart. His skin is flush and smooth with the elasticity of youth. His hair is full and long and shiny and pulled back in a single braid, his golden eyes focused straight ahead, lit both from reflected sun and inner fires of faith. He is cleanly-shaven and muscular in that wiry way of naturally slender people. His clothes are new, sewn by his wife from fine bolts of sturdy cloth newly arrived from Druman merchants, and fit him quite well. His good, quality shoes hold the ground as he suddenly dips down into a basic fighting kata. The moves are still mostly foreign to him, but he moves with the dexterous strength of a natural athlete, and one well-trained since a very young age. This is to say; while these particular movements are yet foreign to him, movement as an art, as a science, is not.
Taisper's focus is absolute, and so the first tenet of the Master of Master's teachings comes rather easily to the young inquisitor. The strange, fluid, elegant movements of Irori's beginning physical process, however, most definitely do not. Halfway through the third kata, Taisper can't remember whether to spin or kick, tries to do both, and succeeds at neither. His legs tangle and he falls flat on his rear end like a newborn learning how to walk. For a moment his eyes flare, but then he lays on his back and laughs, shaking his head at his own cockiness. "Don't get ahead a' yourself, Stozs, sheesh."
He stands again, perspiring lightly, feeling more gloriously alive than he can ever remember. He thinks of all the things he loves so much; of his wife, of his house and city, of his -- well, not strictly his, but, you know -- his son, of all that he has learned. He pushes everything back and focuses on his ki, a small smile lighting his face as he begins the kata again. He is a testament to the power of love, and the power of being forgiven, and given a second or even third chance. He is Taisper Stozs.
Thanks, guys! Glad you're digging the Taisper megadose. :-p Where I'm --perhaps obviously -- going with this is to get "happy T" well-established, then Borodin shows up in the current timeline with a message and a capital-M Mission from his (Taisper's) future self that puts the whole happiness path back in jeopardy. We'll see how it goes.
@Taisper: I may be missing things, but I couldn't find Taisper's style feat (from Master of Many Styles) anywhere on his character sheet. I find it hard to imagine what style would work well in the build; my initial reaction was thinking that the character would benefit more from the Sensei archetype (mostly from the level 2 ability to use Wisdom as attack stat) than the MoMS.
I'm still leveling, so there's actually a bunch of things missing. And I'm selecting stuff based on story, not build optimization. With where Taisper is gonna be heading, here, monk actually makes sense. Bear with me.
Jemini of Lebeda wrote:
PS - it's nice to see Taisper post again.
It...it is? Gosh, thanks. I honestly always thought that the way I was writing Taisper irritated the bejeezus out of you. So yeah; thanks for that. Now let's see if I can avoid any more ridiculous lacunae.
Taisper looks down at the copy of the Azvadeva Pujila he's "borrowed indefinitely" from Verik's personal library. His smile broadens. "No...no, I think I'll be fine. This book, honestly, I know I've told you how much I'm getting out of it, well...I think it's the fourth most helpful, wonderful, beautiful thing in my life right now." He winks and heads out the door.
"Hahahahaa! Okay, you're...yeah. That's a good idea, actually. I can practice. I can work on things." Taisper stands up slowly and puts on a loose-fitting tunic. He grabs a slightly-battered book and heads for the door. As he's about to leave, Ilyana stops him.
"I...wait, did you just...did you just literally tell me to go jump in a lake?" Taisper's tone is mock-serious. One of his eyebrows is raised and he's smiling broadly.
Taisper nods and grimaces. "Yeh. Really bad one this time. I keep...I keep seeing sorta double. Like I'm seeing two versions of everything. There's...an elf I keep seeing before me. Right now my whole body hurts, like I've been doing pushups over broken glass or something. It's crazy." Can't tell her the "second version" of everything is a horrible and ruined place.
The inquisitor nods toward Nick's room. "You're just teaching him you can be bought, you know. Showing him that-"
Aw hey, thanks, man! Much appreciated. It'll take me a while to get caught back up with the main thread, but I can at least start with this one to get the ol' gears turning again.
With one Dragon slain, Taisper resumes invisibility and moves out with his cousin and the rest to see what assistance he can offer elsewhere.
Round 5, Initiative 8
AC:25(26 vs. Humans) HP:30/30 Saves:F/R/W 6/3/10 CMB:5 CMD:16
Buffs: Judgment Surge(Judgment class feature treated as level 8), Favored Judgment(Humanoids/Humans - all Judgments 1 higher vs. Humans), Judgment/Protection(+2AC), Judgment/Resistance(ER6 vs. Fire), Shield of Faith(+2AC, 3/10 rounds), Bane/Dragons(+2 to weapon enhancement, +2d6 damage), Prayer (+1 hit/dam/saves/skills), Bless (+1 hit/save vs. fear)
SA: cast Invisibility (2/3 L2 spells)
MA: move to wherever next Dragon is, presumably following Verik and the rest of the gang.
Taisper wheels around after the dragon's miss and, taking advantage of his flanking position with Nikolai, drives home a hammer blow that spikes a nerve cluster located at the base of the creature's tail, causing blood to geyser briefly up when the inquisitor yanks his weapon free. Once again, he drops immediately into a defensive posture, watching carefully for the next attack with his shield ready.
Taisper glides smoothly into position, his invisibility spell keeping him hidden from the dragon's alert eyes. As the creature turns to look at Nikolai's ravaging of its companion, the inquisitor strikes, smashing his morningstar into its rear right leg, which buckles with a satisfying crunch. As his spell immediately dissipates due to his attack, once again rendering him visible, Taisper rips the weapon free in a long dragging gash, its blessed spikes tearing chunks of scale and flesh as it goes. The creature gives a suprised shriek of pain and turns but the Abadarian has already switched to a defensive position, his shield up and ready for the crushing retaliatory blow that is sure to follow.
Apologies, but I'm super confused right now. Where's my nearest target, and how many rounds will it take me to get to it? I don't know what's dead or where anybody is. I thought there was a dragon in the north hall, but apparently not? And Nikolai isn't by me, he's at the entrance or something?
Depending on what Nikolai does ahead of him, I can cast a Prayer for him/Taisper/NPC's and slightly debuff that entrance medium dragon, unless you think the wound taken is serious enough to counter with healing this round.
Well, with my current buffs, if I get some lucky damage rolls I could take away nearly half his current HP, so any help in making sure I hit him and making it harder for him to hit others is most welcome. Even at my buffed AC he still has damn near a 50% chance of hitting me, and with only 30HP it'll take some pretty astonishing luck to survive even just a single FAA, as has already been demonstrated on other party members. :-(
Obviously, in the end, if Nikolai would prefer a heal, that of course takes precedence. Having him healthy and fighting is a huge boon in this battle.
If the dragon were to stay more-or-less where it is, can I assume Taisper can get into flanking position on his next move action? If not, how many more turns might it take?
Taisper remains where he is and calls out another spell. He knows his voice will give him away, and he hopes the dragon will fixate on this position since he will be abandoning it forthwith. As soon as he feels the familiar and comforting protective magics thrill through him, he invokes the gift of the lawgiver, imbuing his weapon with power to smite the enemies of his choice; in this case, dragons.
His protections summoned and prayers complete -- for the moment at least -- Taisper glides as silently as possible around the dragon, looking to take advantage of its preoccupation with Nikolai and move into a flanking position where he can do more damage. The inquisitor knows he's only going to get one shot at this, and he wants to make sure it's done right.
Round 2, Initiative 8
AC:25(26 vs. Humans) HP:30/30 Saves:F/R/W 6/3/10 CMB:5 CMD:16
Buffs: Invisible (2/50), Judgment Surge(Judgment class feature treated as level 8), Favored Judgment(Humanoids/Humans - all Judgments 1 higher vs. Humans), Judgment/Protection(+2AC), Judgment/Resistance(ER6 vs. Fire), Shield of Faith(+2AC, 1/10 rounds), Bane/Dragons(+2 to weapon enhancement, +2d6 damage)
Swift: Activate Bane: Dragons
SA: Cast Shield Of Faith MA: Begin circling wide around dragon, preparing to move into flanking position and strike next round
Stealth check to not be seen/heard while moving, using Blessed Infiltration (1/3): 1d20 + 5 + 20 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 20 = 29 vs. 1d20 + 5 + 20 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 20 = 38
So that's a 38 stealth, then.
Taisper shakes his head as Nikolai charges in. I may be crazy, he thinks, But I'm not THAT crazy. The inquisitor calmly flicks his wrist and snaps his fingers, invoking the magic in the glove on his right hand and causing his morningstar to spring into his ready grip. He shrugs his shield down into place as he prays, and the Master answers; a golden aura flashes around Taisper, offering further protection against both mundane attacks and the fire gushing out of the red dragons' mouths and beginning to engulf parts of the city.
Thus prepared, Taisper starts speaking clearly in celestial.
Hearing the inquisitor's voice ringing out over the noise of battle, Kesten looks over at where the youngster is preparing and nods in satisfaction. Good. He may be nuts, but at least the moon-touched Abadarian brought some weapons to thi-
Kesten's thought ends abruptly as Taisper vanishes. The noble seethes for a moment before settling to the task at hand. I'm going to trust you're moving into a better fighting position, you skulking holy madman, and your god won't save you from my anger, from OUR anger if you just used your magic to run to safety.
Round 1, Initiative 8
AC:23(24 vs. Humans) HP:30/30 Saves:F/R/W 6/3/10 CMB:5 CMD:16
Buffs: Invisible (5 minutes), Judgment Surge(Judgment class feature treated as level 8), Favored Judgment(Humanoids/Humans - all Judgments 1 higher vs. Humans), Judgment/Protection(+2AC), Judgment/Resistance(ER6 vs. Fire)
FA: Pop up morningstar from Glove of Storing
Swift: Activate Judgments: Protection and Purity
MA: Put shield in place
SA: Cast Invisibility
Yeah, while I was careful to say what I had on me (all my armor, my morningstar, etc.), I did not say I had my bow, so all I've got are some very limited ranged magics.
I still need to re-read the tactical post DMB put up so I can make sure I understand just what the heck is going on right now, but after that I plan on turning invisible, buffing up, then getting as close to a bunch of the enemies as I can and setting them on fire with Blistering Invective. I will then club them to death while they burn. If there are dragonriders in my range, so much the better; they're my real target.
With bane and favored judgment and judgment surge, I'm pretty effective against humans, so I'ma focus on them. I'm useless against red dragons, especially since all my heavy-duty magic damage is fire-based.
Still perusing my character sheet, though, to see what else I can come up with...
If pressed, Taisper would be forced to admit a certain morbid curiosity in this whole strange affair, but even that is minimal. He is of course annoyed by the continued presence of Vinodograv in their city -- not that he expected the man would be easily put off -- and his annoyance grows with every word the Archbanker utters. He believes in his cousin, though, and is there to support him, having even put in some time helping Verik prepare for the case. He was probably not a huge help, he realizes, but he hopes the moral support counted for something. Taisper is way, way out of his depth in these sorts of affairs of the law. He contents himself by mentally reciting passages from the Order and the Book of the Lawgiver, and looking at the sandals and gloves he was recently given by the Master. Their magic, combined with that of his shield and armor and Stored morningstar -- and of course his own divine gifts -- all give him tremendous comfort and aid his calm as he girds himself to do his damndest to try and not fall asleep during what he feels certain is going to be one long, tedious, boring, grandstanding affair of blowhard vs. blowhard.
He shakes his head. C'mon, Taisper, man; you can do this. Pay attention. Do it for Verik. He needs us behind him. The Law is on our side. GOD is on our side.
Taisper doesn't look at Jemini, but nods in agreement. "Family is important," he says quietly. " and can be a transformative force." He then raises his head and looks at the ceiling, still not making eye contact with anyone. "Forgiveness...is not my specialty." he says carefully. "I will gladly bow to the wisdom of those council members who are possessed of an abundance of that virtue, for I know..." he pauses, seems to reconsider, and starts again. "...I...support allowing her to remain here. As you all no doubt realize, news of our mercy may reach certain ears. I say that as both a plaudit and a caution."
Just as the door is closing, Taisper appears sort of out of nowhere, two guards in tow. "In here, Founder Stozs." One of them says. "Oh hey, okay...thanks, fellas, thanks. Sorry to bother you." the inquisitor responds deferentially. He brushes past Nikolai without a word or a glance and strolls carefully into the meeting room. "Hi everybody. I'm sorry I'm late. I was out of the city when I got the news. Real glad everyone's okay. Real glad." Taisper is wearing that silly disguise that he's taken to affecting of late, the one that just barely adjusts his features, and that all of you can easily see through.
The abadarian says nothing further, but quietly takes a seat, giving his cousin a significant glance as he does so.
Yeah so pardon my silly spoilered thing, there. I figure there's no way for Taisper to have returned, been told of goings-on, AND have gotten to the room in time to cast Invisibility and lurk about, but it was deliciously trashy fun to write that. I'll do an actual post in just a bit. I thank you all in advance for you indulgence. :-)
Taisper and Emma: this was really fun to write, but is not my actual post 'cos it would require hellacious meta-gaming on my part. Ignore if you want. :-):
The Founders go through their discussion and decision and eventually leave, allowing Esmerelda to be taken away to a holding cell to wait in durance on the committee's mercy. If, during the course of conversation, any of the Founders note a creaking of leather or rustle of cloth on metal, they pay it no mind. After all, there are many armed and armored warriors in the room. Similarly, if the guards notice a small clinking sound as they take Esmerelda away, they ignore it as well, each attributing the stray sound to the other.
The assassin is set in her cell and given the basic comforts allowed a prisoner in her condition. She sits and thinks, her mind whirring with possibilities for escape, or bargaining, or...
She looks up at the sound of the guards leaving their posts, abandoning her alone in the holding cell, with no one else in sight or earshot. Emma is a wise enough operative to understand what is happening here. "Hey!" she calls. "Hey, guard! Hey! This water is filthy, you ass, hey! Come here!" She's trying to get a reaction, trying to see if anyone is around. She can't be alone, that would mean...
Please, Berrin, no...you can't do this... she thinks desperately.
Suddenly there is a shimmering before her, and a golden-haired, golden-eyed young man appears out of thin air as if teleported. He is standing just out of arms' reach, outside her cell. There is something about him that is both achingly familiar and yet completely anonymous, as if he looks like a lot of people she's seen before. He is clad in simple leathers and cloth, though Emma is observant enough to be able to tell he has armor and weapons concealed on his person. The newcomer smiles warmly.
Taisper looks with bemusement at the guards. He glances pointedly at the crossbow trap and a couple other barely-visible tripwires the guards are about to hit. Once their attention is drawn to the threats, they grimace and step back. "I appreciate you're doing your jobs, but I feel okay out here. Reckon you fellas are in more danger than I am, at the moment." He gives them a lopsided smile. "Why'n't you all wait up the road just a piece, I need a second to gather my belongings and I'll catch up. No hurry."
As the guards back off from the porch of Taisper's creepy and creaking old cabin, one of them mutters under his breath "Fine by me. I hate this gods-forsaken place. Bad luck to be out here." It was only in the last month or so that any of the guards were made aware of the cabin's existence -- which was troubling -- and even that was done at the behest of some new regulations put into place by the cousins Taisper and Verik, working to implement some Abadarian-churchy-order thing about transparency and access and safety. In the end, it meant on certain rare occasions some poor bastards had to come out to this unpleasant, dangerous, haunted, humid, buggy and disgusting swamp, usually for some business or other with Founder Stozs, when before they had been able to leave the swamp well enough alone.
The inquisitor takes a few more moments in contemplation of his new gifts from the Master. Clearly these would require further thought and meditation. He understands his path, and he believes he understands the threat. Time will tell. For now, he puts on the sandals, taking a moment to wiggle his toes in them and smile to himself. Then after getting on a fresh shirt and wriggling into his armor he puts on the gloves, using their magic power to stow his morningstar, practicing the flick of the wrist necessary to free the weapon. It works brilliantly, his smile widens.
Eventually, after making sure his usual mild, feature-blurring disguise is in place, he leaves, resetting his traps, and meets up with the guards who are by now a little ways up the path, almost all the way to the main road. He asks for what information they have (or are allowed to tell him) and listens carefully when they recount what they know. At the mention of Berrin's Emma, Taisper frowns but says nothing.
Another outsider. It's time.
When they reach the town, Taisper does not rush to the scene, nor to where the prisoner is held captive. Instead he finds a functionary in the main hall and asks. "The deputation from Brevoy. Where are they staying?"
Taisper frowns just a bit as Zander relates his tale. ...he dunno you herd pig you done picked up a bit and he cain't... "That's...so you're kind of...wow." Taisper feigns surprise at the revelation.
Bluff: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29
DC29 Sense Motive:
Taisper already knows a bunch of this, but is pretending it's new. His motivation for this is unclear. It's quite likely he himself doesn't know.
It's not a complete fake-out, though, as some of this information is genuinely new to the inquisitor. He thinks for a moment, his golden eyes looking first at Zander, then out at the horizon. Eventually his gaze returns to the warden. He smiles that winning smile of his and claps Zander on the shoulder.
"Zander, man, a threat to you is a threat to all of us. Whatever you were, whatever he is -- I'll keep an eye on your father's pet, don't worry. He won't know what hit him, should it come to that. All these nobles here in our city, they need to know they can't just come here and bring their intrigues and assignations and expect business as usual. We have a mandate from God. From many gods. They can't stand against that. I'll...I'll watch." His face disturbingly neutral, Taisper whispers almost inaudibly; "...I'll watch..."
The inquisitor drops his hand and looks down. "...not only that, but I don't take kindly to threats to my family." He raises his eyes and gives Zander a nod. Looking back out over the fields and woods visible from the guard tower, he says "Threats within, threats without...it's good to have a moment to just look out over the land, isn't it? Remember what we're fighting for. It's good to have just a moment to breathe."
Maybe he could turn to Taisper, the whispered rumors of how bad men tended to disappear in these lands ...
The funny thing is, this is pretty much exACTly the kind of thing Taisper does and would be perfect for, but I totally agree with Berrin's train of thought. That's some really great RP right there, Sigz. Awesome work!
Taisper nods in agreement with Verik's assessment of things. "Yeah. Yeah, that seems best. " He frowns at the sword. "Okay. Well, hang on a second while I...there." The inquisitor puts on the sword belt and scabbard, then pushes Mourne behind him so his cloak will cover the blade up. "It'll make it awkward to walk, but we're not going that far. It's also not particularly sneaky, but if anyone is around when we get back I can always just turn invisible. I'll bring the weapon into my chambers in the Founder's Hall and take care of the sundering there."
The two walk on in silence for a while. Taisper eventually speaks. "He didn't deserve it, you know. He didn't deserve to be Currency. That was a dumb thing he did, and a foolish death. He should have known better. I feel like something or somebody forced his hand, forced him to act earlier than he would have liked. I've hunted with Alexius a fair bit, and he was rarely so reckless. I don't like it. Other forces are out there, Verik, champing at the bit to get a piece of what we've started here. I know you've already seen the political manifestations of this. I think Alexius' attack today was the beginning of the shadow war on our nation. The trolls and other things, well I guess they're the "in plain sight" war." He smiles weakly.
When they arrive back at the town and the guards tell them both of Zander's request, Taisper looks with surprise at his cousin. "I guess...I guess I should go see him. I will leave the blade in your care for now, cousin, in our bank and church. I feel safer with it there than in the Founders' Hall with all those nobles swanning around, know what I mean? I'll get it after dinner tonight."
After accompanying Verik to the heart of the Abadarian faith in Newhaven and securing Mourne as best they can, the inquisitor notes the time and curses under his breath. This will be a close call if he wants to speak with Zander and still meet Widow Flaxen for dinner. He jogs across the square and finds the Warden in one of his customary watch positions, not a soul around for a long ways.
"Zander." He calls cautiously. "You, uh, you wanted to see me? What's going on?"
And cool fight scene Verik and Tasiper! It's easy to forget how badass Taisper can be. I just have one question though...Why in the world didn't you guys loot the magus?? He probably had tons of magic stuff and coin on him. Sanctuary certainly could have used the funds at the very least. If you had a specific reason not to do it or if you felt it was something your PCs just wouldn't do that's of course cool, but it does leave me wondering why?
*shrug* I don't really care about loot. I never think about it. Honestly it's the least important aspect of RP for me. Feels too video-game-y. I figure if the DM wants me to have something, he'll give it to me. If not, then whatever.
The shining twin halos of light around Taisper's arms fade away as he dismisses his enchantments. He sighs as he looks at Alexius, then turns to Verik and helps him to his feet. "Well, there you go; that's done with." he says lamely. "We should...we should head back. I think we're on the same page now, yeah? We can dump him in the swamp a ways up. He, uh, he won't be the first I've disposed of that way."
As the cousins leave, Taisper eyes Mourne flintily. "Verik, what do we do with that sword of his? I don't know if it's intelligent or what, but it's too distinctive to let back into the community. I'm not comfortable just dumping it in the swamp with his body -- too easy for someone else to come upon it at some other point. I mean, his armor will drag him down to be eaten or to rot, and I suppose the weapon will sink too, but...I dunno. Maybe I'm being overly cautious."
Taisper leads Verik to a quiet and out-of-the-way spot deep in the swamp, where the water is deep and black and murky. He unceremoniously dumps the hellknight's corpse into the brackish water. Things stir on the shore and in the deep, perhaps knowing the presence of this particular human leads to a free meal. Perhaps.
The inquisitor looks at the enchanted Cheliaxian blade, then at his cousin, clearly not knowing what to do.
Taisper's unnerving calm remains intact, but Alexius' last comment stings. he knows that style you pig you hang back and soon you eat that blade you be stuck you gotta break you gott just... The inquisitor shifts the divine energy that courses through him, redirecting it all into his arms and morningstar, readying himself for one killer strike, to end this. Abandoning his usual duck-n-jab tactics, he pours everything he's got into a giant two-handed haymaker blow.
The reckless swing catches Alexius, who is very familiar with Taisper's conservative and schooled fighting style, completely off-guard. The hellknight would never look for such a massive cut from the inquisitor.
The glowing morning star streaks past Thrune's defenses and catches him right in the temple, where it transfers a golden spike of pure divine power directly into the hellknight's very soul as the physical strength behind the impact lifts him bodily up and sends him reeling to the ground unconscious, blood pouring out of his fractured skull.
Taisper looks down at his former hunting partner, now his foe, crumpled and still on the ground. The inquisitor's face is horrifyingly blank. "Hey Alexius." he whispers. "You wanna hear a joke?" He stands there a moment, looking at the completely helpless man on the floor, then over to his equally helpless cousin.
two roads here you know they all at your feet they all mewling little they all not nobody now who so big is they they can KNOW they can feel it they
Taisper shakes his head as if trying to clear it. No. Not anymore. Or at least...not now. Still leaving up all his magical fortifications, the young inquisitor walks over to his cousin and bends down on one knee. For the second time this day, he casts healing magic into his Verik's body.
Assuming that with -8HP, Alexius is down. If not, then I'll retcon as necessary, of course. But in the interest of keeping things moving: Cure Light Wounds on Verik: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
