Doug M's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

Bref finally notices Dren.

What you? Why here? Want to chew?

"I am going to burn Talingarde to the ground and from the ashes I will build a new nation that knows its rightful master. I cannot do this alone. I seek servants worthy of our Infernal Father’s majesty. Have I found them in you?"

He rises and his eyes flash with hellfire and divine purpose. "Join me! Serve me well in this holy endeavor and I will raise you up in the eyes of gods and men."

"Serve me, and each of you shall have the chance to earn the dignity and power that you deserve. Knight," he turns to Sir Edmin, "already you have seen the first token of Asmodeus' favor. The axe that your foolish oppressors thought to use on your neck, you now bear against them. You wrested it from them by your own strength and by His blessing. But that is just the beginning. You shall have vengeance on those who condemned you. And beyond that! If you have the will and the wit, you may rise to become the sword and the arm of the Dark Lord. General and commander, you will crush our foes before you."

"Judge, you may rise to sit at the left hand of the throne as Lord High Justice. And the secret ambition of your heart... that too may be fulfilled. Asmodeus is not a kindly god, and he knows nothing of mercy -- but he is strong, he is wise, and above all he is just. Serve him well, and in time this boon may be granted to you."

"So too may each of you find, first revenge, and then greatness. Everyone of you will have the chance to rise as far as your ambition and abilities can carry you. Serve me, and I will make you princes of the new Talingarde."

"Today, swear fealty to me and to Asmodeus. Put aside forgiveness and I shall give you vengeance. Put aside mercy and be made powerful. Put aside peace and become my harbingers of war. What say you? Will you swear your allegiance or will you burn with the rest of the blind fools?"

Dren returns the nod of the Judge...he is quickly entranced by the creature that follows him though, the offered hand by Sir Edmin shakes him out of it.

Whispers @ Bref. Interesting offer, maybe later.

To the Cardinal's speech...he falls deep in thought...
What is it this human wants? Power, pain, revenge? All interesting things.
What did you say? I should join them and give them what they want. Destruction, oblivion, the darkness you say........yes, night should come to this world, I shall help herald it's coming!
Yes, you want to come...after...I don't know how to bring your kind here, but I want you here as well...

Dren drops to his knees and whispers softly in the back, I swear undying fealty to Cardinal Adrastus Thorn and Asmodeus. Only darkness shall be in my heart, all those who stand in our way shall be cast into oblivion.

Bref hops off of his perch, which he reascended after giving Morsum the bone.

Red Thorn speaks now so pretty
Would that Red Thorn were as witty

See the power of the Lord of Fire
Perhaps to gain or dark desire

Goblin now knows of your plight
Goblin now with you shall fight

We shall fight with tooth and nail
Until these slaves will us all hail!

Bref dances as he chants. An oath?

Once he finishes he returns to his perch and chews on his bone, which he soon tires of and he pulls out his rolling pin and chews that.

Edmin listens quietly to The Cardinal's speech, the knight's face blank of emotion until the words spoken about the axe and Asmodeus's blessing. Like a dark cloud, anger seems to cross the knight’s face. Anger at those that condemned him, anger of his treatment at their hands, anger at the very nation he swore to defend.

Edmin Al'Roth drops to one knee, holding his axe perpendicular to the floor with his left hand, his right arm crossing his chest.
" I pledge my fealty to you Cardinal Adrastus Thorn, and to Asmodeus the Prince of Nessus. Vengeance on those who have wronged us. Vengeance on Talingarde. May the Dark Lord's fire burn them. Burn them all."

Tohram continues sitting as the other pawns drop to their knees and pledge their undying loyalty to the Cardinal. However the Judge does not do so immediately, but rather waits to see how the remaining two members of the group respond.

Interesting, pledging on oath to the Lord of Hell. Where is the contract? What are we pledging and what must we do in return. More importantly, what shall this man and Asmodeus do for us? Nothing is for free, especially when dealing with the Lord of Contracts? Is there a loophole to be found? Is this oath nothing but a formality? Or is this just the first step to losing our free will?

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 <-- the Judge carefully watches the Cardinal's expression and action as he makes his pronouncement. Unfortunately the crunching sound coming from the goblin as he gnaws on the furniture is rather distracting.

The Cardinal looks at the Judge as if reading his mind.

"Indeed, there is a contract to be signed. It is traditional! He is the Lord of Contracts."

"But if we are to do this thing, then you must join together. Where one breaks, many are strong. You will be a team, a unit... a knot. So let us first agree together in the principle, and then we will discuss the details."

The Judge listens before nodding his head: I shall swear fealty to the Prince of Darkness and to his servant, Cardinal Thorn. Together we shall bring the rule of law, real law, back to this fallen land.

Chew, chew, chew. Lick, chew

Chew, chew, chew. Lick, chew

Dren looks over at Bref and imagines him chewing on a human femur...This is an interesting group.

While Tohram's eyes do not leave the Cardinal, the unblinking red orbs that pass for his shadow's eyes slowly survey the rest of the group, frequently coming to rest on the newcomer.

Bref looks over at Morsum. Thinking they are playing a game he begins to follow his eyes. After a few moment of this he begins to scamper about the room, pointing at whomeever Morsum is looking at, each time saying Ha!

Morsum simply shakes his head at Toothpick.

Skipping forward a little, since we have a couple of players who haven't met the good Cardinal yet -- here is the Contract. It's actually pretty simple, as these things go...

Bref leaps back and forth

HA! HA! HA! HA!Tee hee tee hee hee hee

He falls on the floor laughing.

The Judge looks at the Contract and concern creases his face.
Interesting. The contract is with the Cardinal, not with the Lord himself. Also, there seems to be a great deal of ambiguity in the obligations of the Cardinal. In fact, the ambiguity is so great that if the Master deems that the Bound do not deserve reward for their deeds, then no reward need be given. As such, this Contract fails on its face as there is no consideration given by the Master.

The Cardinal smiles. "The laws of Hell do not recognize the concept of consideration, my dear Judge," he says. "But you raise a valid point."

"I would point out in turn that you have already gained your lives and your freedom. Asmodeus, acting through me and my minion, has given you this assistance. Think of it as a deposit, if you like, towards your future service."

The Cardinal turns and looks out the window. "Do you like my storm? he says. "I called it to delay and confuse your pursuers. By the time it passes, your trail will be cold... And when they enter Toadmarsh, they will find some other surprises waiting for them. I do not think they will arrive here until tomorrow at least, more likely tomorrow evening."

He turns back from the window and smiles at you broadly. "And when they do arrive... why, they shall not find you. Just Horn House, recently rebuilt by an eccentric retired merchant, and his loyal retainers.

"As long as you stay here, my children, you will be safe from the forces of Talingarde. My hand will be extended over you. You will fear neither the Inquistor who comes by night, nor the paladin who strides forth at noon. And when at last you depart from here, it will be as the hunters, not the hunted."

The Cardinal raises one hand. It is a manicured, elegant hand, with long tapering fingers. Finger by finger, he counts: "Life. Freedom. Safety. Power. Revenge.

"Would you not agree, my dear Judge, that you are receiving something of value? Are these things not worth of... consideration?

I think he thought those things not spoke them

Goblin not trust picture words!

I think he thought those things not spoke them

Mm hm.

I will go with the assumption that he can read minds. Yeh - when I use Italics as a passage, it is usually internal thought that I think should be posted. I don't do it all that much, just when it seems important.

The Judge looks up at the Cardinal: I am only truly concerned with the Second Loyalty. While I have no issue with swearing my loyalty to you, I need it to be clear that there are limitations on how far your commandments can be directed. If you were to command us all to go into town, lay down our arms and surrender to the authorities, this would truly not be in opposition to the First Loyalty and we would have to follow this directive in accordance with the Second Loyalty.

So long as your directives are such that they will support and not violate the First, Third and Fourth Loyalties, then it is something that I can work with. If your directives are solely for your own benefit and not such that they will benefit the Dark Lord, then I cannot agree.

I feel that if we can agree on such limitations of the Second Loyalty, then we can come to a very mutually beneficial arrangement. Beneficial for you High Priest, for us, and most importantly for the Lord of Hell.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO. Sick. :)

Awesome avatar pic Bref - that is you, now all you need is a half gnawed rolling pin.

was very excited when I found that.

The luxury of the room pleases the teifling's refined tastes. He lounges on the bed, eyes roving over the room when the bell rings. He pauses a moment, just long enough to be the last to stride into the study and follow the others toward the open doors.

He'll give a brief nod to Dren, listening to his and Edwin's exchange. The Cardinal before them causes a smirk to flash over Jax's face. This man, whatever his inclinations, has at least taste for elegance and show. He made promises of vengeance, but that wasn't very high on the forger's priorities. No, rather it was the offer of power and wealth that intrigued him.

He arches an eyebrow and watches Dren and Edwin pledge loyalty, his eyes turning to the Judge. He flashes a grin at the stern man and shrugs. Let us see this contract that swears away our souls in exchange for power.

He'll read over the contract and likewise frown. Well I see here what we have to do..but what do we get? Now, I thank you heavily for your assistance in escaping Brandenscar and will gladly repay that favour. But for any assistance beyond which I'd like at least the promise of some payment...You seem to be quite wealthy and you make verbal promises of possible princedom. Could I get that in writing? Jax grins at the Cardinal.

If not, well...I don't doubt you'll reward those who bind themselves to your service so you can count me in either way.

I don't really want this Cardinal to think I'm too greedy. It wouldn't do to have him cut me out of a lucrative offer..

was very excited when I found that.

You realize there are a whole series of other smurfy goblins which make great avatars.

I did not know that. lol

Yeh, but they are hidden in places non-smurfs would rarely look.

Thanks to Bref and Judge, I will never look at smurfs the same way again....

Bref looks to the sky and shouts!

GOBLIN EAT OTHER BLUE CREATURES!

I will try and do this in parts.

The slaves

Cуровую will ask questions and gently probe for information, with the your female slave, she will ask questions like how long have their masters been here, where did they come from, have others been visiting, intermixed with other questions that are not as direct like what is her master's favorite food, what wine does he like to drink, and does he ask for certain pleasures.

Cуровую will also ask if the master has any items he seems fond of or does not allow others to go near.

Sense Motive 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10 to see if she fears the master or if she is under a compulsion

Bluff 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 as needed to pry information

From the attractive male slave while he is getting a body massage she will probe even further, using what she learned from the girl to seem like she already knows much of the master and will ask more detailed questions, and may even pretend that she was a former paramour, only to get the slave's mind racing. When he is distracted and his massage turns more into heavy fondling she will ask direct questions with the promise there will more for him later.

Bluff 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28 to get more inofrmation

Sense Motive 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11 is he under compulsion, is he in abject fear of the master?

Dren

When the she hears the 'summons' Cуровую will wear clothes that have been provided. She will leave a glass of wine by her bed stand.

She nods to Dren upon there meeting but assumes that he is another servant or agent of thier benefactor, she will note to herself if she has encountered him elsewhere previously.

She will then follow the others into the chambers.

Is this the next day? If so I would have prepared spells and done two other things in preparation, including checking on Bref and casting Message, and memorizing and casting Detect Magic before the meeting.

I think some of those Bluffs would be Sense Motives? Anyway, here you go.

The 'master'

Cуровую will listen to all that their benefactor has to say, she may arch an eyebrow now and again but does not speak or address the others directly. Tyrants, fanatics, visionaries and madmen she can deal with, but swearing to a dark god when she is already desperately fleeing the grand matron of her family?

Why subject to the rule of hell when I already flee the yoke of the Eternal Hag?

"I see your concern, dear Judge," says the Cardinal. "On one hand, Asmodeus is a deity of Law. Obedience there must be. On the other... if you are concerned that I will betray you... I am willing to swear by Asmodeus," and his voice slows and deepens, "swear, that I will never betray any of you to the forces of Mitra or the present rulership of Talingarde. And if the day ever comes that I must raise my hand against you, I will do it myself, or through an agent under my direct command."

The Cardinal smiles "But these are unpleasant eventualities, and seem most unlikely ever to occur. For now, our interests run together! And I am looking forward, my dear children, to learning what unique skills and perspectives each of you bring to the service of our Dark Father."

He turns to Zimu. "As to you, my dear witch... the sororicidal tendencies of Baba Yaga's brood are well known. You are not the first to raise this concern. Let me tell you this: Baba Yaga will not directly attack one who is under the protection of the Lord of Hell. While you serve me, you will be safe -- at least from that." He raises a finger. "Understand, I cannot guarantee your complete safety against your sisters. For some of them are reckless, and others are mad. But if one comes against you while you are in my service, I promise you, she will suffer the consequences."

If you are willing to sign now:

Cardinal Thorn smiles. "Excellent. Let us make it official."

He brings out a quill, a silver ritual knife and two copies of a contract written on some unidentifiable leather and written in dark red ink. You can keep one copy of the contract. The other, he takes.

"Well done. Your first command: prepare yourselves. Stay within the manor. You are still hunted by the Talirean soldiery. In three days we begin your training."

As noted on the discussion page, signing will immediately gain you a teamwork feat.

As long as it is clear that we are answerable to you solely in your role as the High Priest of Asmodeus and solely in the service to the Dark Lord, then I can agree to what in contained in the contract.

Tiadora has come in quietly behind you. She stands beside the door, arms folded, utterly motionless. Outside, thunder rumbles.

Okay. If you want to sign, say "I sign" -- feel free to add whatever embellishments you might consider appropriate to your character. If you don't want to sign, say "I'm not signing" -- you will be assigned minion status (see the discussion page). If you want to negotiate further, you may do so, but I'm going to bed now and likely won't be around for the next 10 hours or so.

If after signing you have additional questions for Cardinal Thorn, ask away. No answers are guaranteed, but the Cardinal seems to be in an expansive and avuncular mood. Again, it may take me a bit to post responses, so please be patient.

Bref wakes up from where he had fallen asleep. He then spends a good 30 minutes drawing pictures on the page. As near as anyone can tell his signature is a crude picture of him eating Blackerly's eyes.

Further he speaks to the Cardinal, as he adds details to the middle of the contract

Goblin gets first choice over which prisoners to eat!

Dren signs the contract. He doesn't understand much of what it really means but he knows he will not be a follower...as new as he is to the group, he says little. He nods at his latest master and returns back to the corner to observe the others.

Tohram looks at the Cardinal and smiles. He then sticks his finger into his mouth and punctures the tip on a rather elongated, and sharp, canine tooth which looks more like a small fang than a normal tooth.

The Judge then reaches out and signs the page with a neat and scripted signature that you can tell is from years of signing documents, although likely not with his own blood.

As the Judge signs, Morsum looks down at Bref: We get lot to eat. Master drink blood.

Edmin silently signs the contract.

Never one to do something silently or without embellishment, Jax flourishes the quill and chatters while signing his full name, which happens to include three middle names this time around. His handwriting looks, oddly enough, identical to the handwriting used on the rest of the contract.

My dear Cardinal, may we still call you that? The idea of referring to anyone as Master is odd to me. You of course deserve our utmost respect as the only remaining Cardinal left on the isle. I presume you have dark, nefarious plans that we will happily leap to obey. For my part, mostly for the promise of wealth. You mention training, could you perhaps share a bit of what you mean by that?

Also, my companion and I Jax gestures with the pen to Cymu ...have unfortunately misplaced our spellbooks and were unable to retrieve them. Perhaps you could help us out and provide us with some extra funds with which to recoup that loss? We have the Warden's spellbook and can copy from that..which will be but a start. We also have a gift for you, Cardinal.

Jax will take the folded Brandenscar banner and place it on the table with the word Brandesncar on top.

You spent resources to free us from this trap and we appreciate that. Consider this a gesture of appreciation. I'm sure it can be used somewhere to chill the bones of your enemies.

The Cardinal smiles. "The fallen banners of our enemies are always welcome, my son. Well done."

"As for your spellbooks, all that was lost shall be restored. Tiadora shall take you to Mr. Pilkington, who is our master of details. He will arrange these matters, and others."

At this point everyone has signed except Zimu. Zimu, let us know what you want to do -- sign, refuse, negotiate, attack the Cardinal, or whatever.

If anyone have any further questions for the Cardinal, you can still ask them. Meanwhile:

The Cardinal rises. "Well done. You are now the Ninth and final Knot. The first act is complete." While you are still wondering what exactly he means by that, the Cardinal hands each of you a small metal ornament. It is a brooch or pin, apparently made of iron, in the shape of an ancient numeral: IX.

"This is the sign of your new allegiance. Wear it at all times."

"Now, kneel." When you do so, the Cardinal raises his arms. "The blessings of our Dark Father on you all, my children. We call on Him for bloody justice! We call on Him for the cunning hand, the devious mind and the heart that has forsworn all mercy! We call on Him for the punishing fire! Vengeance shall be ours." One by one, he goes to you, takes you by the hand, brings you back to your feet, and embraces you.

Cardinal Thorn turns to Tiadora. "And now, please take our new recruits to Mr. Pilkington, and then to Zargo for their fitting." He nods benevolently to you as you file out the door.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24