Elven team in Campaign Elves vs Dwarves -- Dwarves and Gnomes Keep Out (Inactive)

Game Master Chainmail

Seltyn says (in Elvish) Elorin, could you "use your charms" to handle the interrogation? I'll get Flambeaux's body secured.

Thalas casts Detect Thoughts when the bandit has been brought near, hoping to ascertain the truth of his words while being questioned by Elorin.

It's a DC 16 Will save, or I will be able to read his surface thoughts for three minutes.

After dumping the scuffed and netted bandit in the dirt near the ready, Azlain wheels his horse and follows Wil.

Blood-mad and alone is a bad combination.

Elorin taking her time to look the netted bandit over slowly. Saying out aloud each one of his injuries that she can see. (in common). "Hmm scratches, open wounds easily infected, scrapes, possible broken bones. If we don't treat him soon it will become more difficult to save him later." She says looking at the group not expecting or wanting a reply. then quickly turning back to the bandit. "My apologies how rude of me to call you 'him' what is your name stranger?' Before he can say his name. Never mind bandit number 1 to slow to get away. My friend's here and the Paladin over there wants you dead and they all have extraordinarily long and methodical ways to..'not kill you'. She emphasis the 'not' in such a way as to indicate that begin alive is the least desirable option. answer me one or two questions and they may not get near you.

"Do you want to be set free?"
"who is specifically targeting us?"
"how many of you are there"
"Where is your safe base?"

hoping the first question will get him to start answering, at least in his head if not out loud then the others, the second question covers a few different things we may need to know, like 'is there anyone targeting us or is it random attack. without having to ask 3 separate questions and the last two are obvious lol. I figured charm person may not work as we dragged him across the land in a net and he did attack us. he would at least get the +5. adn i wanted to be quick if Thalas spell works.

Elorin speaks calmly with no emotion at all. Until she leans in a little and whispers "I can make you tell me, but then they will kill you and I would rather not have your blood on my hands. you seem like a person who made a few wrong choices in life and ended up here where you don't want to be. If you tell me of your own free will, well they may back off"

Gruffly, and with great feeling Talon speaks quietly just as Elorin mentions broken bones.

We can make sure that there are far worse than just possible broken bones. It would be a pleasure after what you and your friends did to Flambeaux. You who prey on the weak and the defenceless. You of little courage. You of little spine. You who would rather ambush and save your worthless hides than face a man in combat with your steel in hand and he with his.

He will remain silent afterwards, flexing his bow to its full extent, making sure that if there is anyone attempting to sneak up on them then he is ready to fire.

Wil rode after the remaining bandits, shield raised and warhammer at the ready. he was going to smite the lot of them. As Azlain rode by, dragging his netted opponents through the underbrush and thick roots along the ground, Wil barely nodded to him as he continue towards the ditch where the remaining two were fleeing. As he closed on them he shouted at their backs. "Surrender now or be run down!"

Despite his anger at losing another comrade he was oddly calm, justice would be served today and not just in Flam's name. But in anyone else these heinous bandits had harmed...

Intimidate 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Round 2

Double move: I didn't know if running was possible with his horse, still thats 100 ft.

Round 3

Double move again to continue closing the distance.

The two bandits grimly try to hold out from their culvert as they see the paladin close. They barely have time to get off a shot as Wil closes. The do not think they would be safe on the other side anyway.

Light bolts 1d20 ⇒ 101d20 ⇒ 11
As both shots miss they grimly draw short swords standing behind the culvert opening.

Wil can attack from horseback before they can swing their swords with the standard DC 10 (armor ACP counts) ride check.

Azlain brings the netted bandit back to camp all wrapped in brush and net. It will be quite a mess to get him unentangled and to his feet.

Thalas casts and gets some initial readings of the bandits thoughts. The bandit is so despondent, he doesn't even resist Thalas' magic.

The bandit speaks at Elorin's barrage, "End it quickly."

Thalas, his spell easily detecting the man's thoughts, relaxes.

Speaking in Elvish to the party, "I am fairly confident of my impressions of these men as being merely highway robbers. They had no ulterior motives beyond claiming what wealth they could from us."

That encounter was a tough one given the bad start. Seltyn definitely earned his title evoker there. Well done.

Two bandits are sheltering in the culvert afraid to come out and Wil is bearing down on them.

In the future, if you post ahead and the outcome of your actions can affect others that go before you, please put your attack in a spoiler. If you wish, you can specify exact conditions. For example: If anyone provokes, I will take an Attack of Opportunity and put the AoO attack and damage in a spoiler. We had a barbarian with a polearm in the original crew who did this quite effectively.

Ride 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

SA: Attack Nearest Bandit 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

--> Damage 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Wil stares down the two bandits as their arrows fly past him, buzzing like angry bees, he clears the culvert and brings his warhammer to bare. Swinging in a downward strike, using the momentum of the jump, plus the force of the landing, to facilitate a hard strike on the nearest bandits head with the flat headed warhammer.

He had started speaking, in the cold tones of a judge passing a sentence as he brought the blow down on the unfortunate thug. "For Banditry and murder..." The bandits skull cracked from the blow. "The sentence is death by hanging." He brought the warhammer back and readied to deflect their blows with his shield.

Suny watches the interrogation of the captured bandit dispassionately.

Elorin hearing the mans plea to end it quickly. She feels hugely for this mans plight, she has been there herself before. Killing him was not an option for her though, he was there captive for now so she could not do it and would not.Though the paladin may take the option to. upon that thought, she turned to the bandit.

"Do you want to change your ways?"

Elorin waits for the man to answer,
then will, cast lullaby on him (DC12 if he wants to resist). "Don't fight it, rest now and then sleep"

She thinks to herself if he wants to change, they may be able to convince the paladin not to kill him. MAYBE. but if he doesn't at least he will die relatively pain free.

(in elven)"I can not and will not kill a captive. We drop him off at the first town we come to and let him be dealt with there."

The bandit relaxes slightly to Elorin's song, but is not able to go to sleep.
"Pretty ladies, I must smell horrible." He in fact smells more than horrible.

At the culvert, two bandits try to hold of a determined Wil.
This combat is trivial, so we will speed things along.
Wil strike deep into a bandit. The two bandits retaliate desperately, but one only scratches Wil. Wil dismounts and advances into the tight confines of the culvert.

Bandits are dressed in leather armor and have no food and only one waterskin between them.

Before proceeding, the shelter of the bridge seems an ideal place to camp. It has been a full day. This will be a good place to rest and decide on your official marching order.

The situation with the bandits seemingly resolved, Thalas looks about.

"It will be dusk soon. The shelter of the bridge is an ideal place for us to stop for the day and get ourselves in order. Our flight from the city was too fast and disorganized: we should have had someone in front to watch for just such an ambush as caught us blind and unprepared, and we have suffered for it."

"In the meantime, we must do something about the corpses. The humans can be merely flung into a common grave," he off-handedly dismisses the possibility of anything else being done for them, "and the troll burned. You who knew the bannermaid best should decide what would be best in keeping with her wishes."

"I shall begin digging while you make this decision."

With that, he turns and heads back to the carriage, hoping to find a shovel or other digging implement to begin work on the grave.

Suny moves closer to their captive. At his comment about his state she too uses magic to help clean the worst of the grime and such from him.

Prestidigitation cantrip

"Well...seein' how's the storm has blowed over. What say we start with names, hey? See how things progress from there." She suggests to their bandit, kneeling down and seeing to the untangling of the man.

Though, while working on their captive she does keep an eye out for the return of Wil and Thalas.

Wolves never sleep near their most recent hunt, always moving on to better ground. Dead prey bring in scavengers, and if we want a restful night then I suggest that we go from here. It might only need be a few miles, but it would be best I suspect.

As for the corpses, if you wish to bury them then fair enough, but putting their bodies to flame would be easier I suspect.

He strips the bodies of their items, a small repayment for the life they took. He doesn't even give them a second as he leaves them in the cuvlert they died in. He loads their combat gear into his saddle bag and makes sure to strip the other bodies on his way back to the others.

He does take the time to gather all their items. i'm assuming 5 shortbows, 5 shortswords, 5 sets of leather armor and 5 water skins at this point. I can make a party loot sheet later :)

When he gets back to the group he doesn't even look at the bandit, he looks past the pale shadow of a being that the party had captured. Lest he lose himself to getting a rope and administering final justice. He rides past, silent as the grave and dismounts where Flam has been laid down and inspects her wounds, he sighs in quiet relief as he sees she died painlessly. It is only then that he rises and fixes the man with a glare, his single eye casting judgement on the man as he searched his soul for the evil he knew was there...

Detect Evil - Bandit leader

"While I concede the point where it comes to the manner of disposal of bodies, instead of the us leaving an otherwise ideal camp site it may be easiest to move the bodies elsewhere, if only a mile or two," debated Thalas, though he was wary of pushing the point too much with the clearly upset Talon.

Seltyn agrees with what Talon said. Leave them where they lie and let nature take its course. Whatever eats them won't come bother us.

Driver, what do you think? Do you know if there is a good place to camp not too far up the road?

If he doesn't know, it might be best to stop here. He loathes the idea of digging a grave after our long day. Do we have shovels? LOL If not, we can burn them all easily enough.

In Elvish: What do we do with the prisoner? Take him with us and leave him at the next town? I have no opinion, really. Whatever you decide is fine, Wil.

For order, how about: Azlain and Thalas riding in front
Talon riding with the driver (good perception and wicked archery)
The ladies keeping Seltyn company in the luxurious carriage, guarding Flambeaux's corpse and the bandit
Wil riding rearguard

I like it! I like it a lot! ;)

Move the bodies? And what would we do with the blood trail Thalas? Unless you suggest somehow levitating them and not leaving said trail, then it is easier to leave them and get away from this place.

As for our prisoner, I suspect it might be better to bring him to Lady Ciedril and letting her decide what to do with him. He surrendered and is clearly not a threat, at least not at the moment. We are not the law in this place, let us take him home and let our Queen decide.

Seltyn, if you wish me to be up there with the driver, then your wish is my command. Enjoy your seat in the carriage with the ladies. I would not mind such a seat myself.

Thalas shrugged, deferring to the woodscraft expert, and remounted his horse.

"Very well, let us depart. Leave the human to tend to his friends; surely that is the most just of punishments."

Wil nods in agreement with Talons decision to bring the man before the elven leadership. "The laws of man are quite clear when it comes to banditry and highwaymen. Soon, Certain and Severe. He will most likely hang for the murder alone. Besides who else have they killed? A troll is a powerful creature to have..." At Thalas's comment he shakes his head. "I'm sorry Thalas but by the laws of Man a bandit is sentenced quite harshly, his fellows died because they refused to surrender and he will face judgement for his crimes. They also murdered someone and tried to do the same to us, quite nearly succeeding in doing so. Had they chose a different path he wouldn't be here now would he? No he chose to take the lives of people when their bows could have been used on wildlife and they could have hunted animals or been woodsman instead. How could we even think of letting him go after they killed one of our own?"

Looking around at each of the other Elfs and into the eyes of any who would meet his, he at last bows before them and speaks quietly, "Very well. This Man will be presented to Lady Ciedrel; you have made your decision, and I shall abide by it. Let us depart, then, and hope no horses break their legs in the darkness, nor become blown in exhaustion and made lame."

Passing under the bridge and continuing south for barely and hour, you come upon a large angelic creature with wings standing in the road with a huge greatsword. Off to the right, you see a large three-story mansion and three elderly gentlemen smoking pipes and passing a bottle around a large campfire.

The large angelic figure quietly awaits your approach in the very center of the road. The three elderly gentlemen seem oblivious to your presence.

Engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

The building is not level. Very strange. This is clearly an unusual gathering to find out here. Elorin, I think you're back on duty!

Wil looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was following them before riding forward and joining Elorin when she jails the angelic figure.

"I am Wilaml Of House Fmelvam, if there are any in need of healing I can provide it."

Diplomacy- aid another if allowed 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

This is... curious, thought Thalas, drawing reins to stop short of the angelic-looking being and curiously-tilted mansion.

Hearing Elorin called for by Seltyn, and Wilaml escorting her, he merely stays put and pays attention to the discussion about to unfold.

Suny does her best to help get everything/everybody ready for moving on.

As the carriage comes to a halt, she pops her head out of one of the windows.

"Woah..." She exclaims softly at the sight before her. Ducking back in she whispers to the others.

"Ye got's t'see whut be out side!" She exclaims.

Talon sticks his head out of the window when the carriage pauses and his eyes widen till they fill much of his face. The look upon his brow is one of frozen rapture and yet terror. Muttering to himself

In Celestial
Ic yrel casel ub Elnalyih, I celjeln elgqelvyelt yu lelel luselyricw hixel yril. Yrel funht ral vracwelt sovr niwry octeln uon culell. Binly a Wut icyelnveltell yu xelelq ol ahijel act ic uon qhavel lavnibivel a tnzat, act cuf ucel ub yrelin riwrelly acwelhl vusell tufc yu ol. Luselyricw sovr sovr piwweln yrac fel xcuf ub il wuicw uc cuf.

He goes back inside the carriage, and then opens the door and comes outside. Staying close to the carriage at all times, he takes a knee, looking alternately at the ground and at the being. He had only ever heard stories of these beings before, and thus to see one right in front of him was both incredible for the stories he would be able to tell his children, and terrifying.

An idea takes form in his head.
What better way to decide if the bandit should live or die than to put him in front of the angel should things go well. His would be a word more binding than even our own Queens, and the wisdom more profound. But the only issue is whether or not the angel would object to being asked about such trivial matters.

Elorin approaches with Wil and Seltyn. Stopping at a respectful distance from the angel.

Speakign in calm reverent tones and directly to the angel. Only looking elsewhere to introduce those she is with.

"We are honored to meet you here. This is Wilaml of the house of Fmelvam, as he has said, This is Seltyn Sevenleaf and I am the humble Elorin Silental.

I hope this day finds you well and our presence here is fortuitous. We are on a long journey and have noticed the wonder of this architecture on the building. May we inquire about it?"

Elorin will remain silent and polite whilst awaiting a reply. Though angels and other god like beings where no stranger to her in her past, she still treated every encounter with them with a level of respect and fear that the past will repeat itself.

The angelic being examines you closely. "Welcome, please share the campsite of friends. Do not let these old men intimidate you with their gruff and surly demeanor, they are quite friendly after you get to now them for a decade or two. Please park your wagon over there. I will watch it for you."

The being points to a clear spot just alongside the road.

Suny helps the parties 'guest' out of the carriage...looking/watching the beings in the campsite as she does so, though.

Have we a name out'a the feller yet?

Arcana 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
Religion 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Seltyn says to Elorin, We can be at ease here. Let us learn what we can from these good men.

Driver, we can rest here tonight. Let us know if you need any help with the horses.

Approaching the campfire you see three elderly gentlemen passing a bottle of wine among them. Although you think they have been drinking a while, when they offer Elorin (or whoever approaches first) the bottle, it is completely full. The angelic being resumes his watch on the road.

One thing the men seem to share, is a pendant on a necklace composed of a fusion of copper, silver, and gold. The insignia is that of sun (gold) in the middle reflecting multiple lightbeams (silver) off multiple mirrors (copper) surrounding it. As you approach, one of them states the obvious, "These are elves."

Another elderly man speaks in a nasal voice, "You are too late for dinner, but we are baking some pies inside."

Knowledge (History): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23 So close!

Thalas waits patiently for Elorin to make initial introductions before commenting, "I see from your pendants that you are of the Coalition of Light. As a follower of Labelas Enorath and fellow seeker of knowledge, it is good to see your organization has survived through the centuries. It was unclear whether you would do so, in my... former time."

"Well met sirs. These are my companions, Seltyn Sevenleaf, Wilaml of the house of Fmelvam, Suny, Thalas Leberath, Talon Moonwalker and Azlain and I am Elorin. What may we call you? and your angelic companion?"

Elorin will point to or indicate who people are as she introduces them. she will thank him for the bottle and pass it on to others in the group and will not take a drink. She tried to not make it obvious that she has not taken any by giving the introductions as she passes it. She then awaits their reply and reaction to what Thalas says.

Miesko comes out from the campfire squinting, he has snow white hair braided in silver thread. "So he is, so he is. Have a drink me boy and warm yourself by the fire."

The last man also rises, (he doesn't rise, but his chair rises about five feet into the air) and and looks at Thalas. "I think ye be a lorekeeper. Do you worship the Great Librarian. Ha, that is a good one." He chortles at his own joke.

Julius, the bald one, points to the big double doors of the mansion. "Well, go inside and get some chairs and bring 'em outside."

My apologies, I should have done so earlier. With your leave, I will do precisely that.

After taking a small sip of the wine, Talon will smile and take a moment to get enough chairs for the party to sit and enjoy a moment of calm.

"I have heeded his call, yes. And you? It had been my understanding that the "old gods" had been all but forgotten."

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14 What race does he appear to be?

What race does he appear to be?

I should have specified. They all are human men, though old.

Miesko replies, "We journey to see the new shrine of the Master Librarian. I would be remiss not to see this place firsthand. We are old to make a pilgrimmage, but then we have our creature comforts."

Miesko points to the mansion. Talon returns with some overstuffed chairs. (The type you uncomfortably sink way into and feel somehow you are sitting really low when you are in them.)

"So, young elf, have any of you thought of taking the oath of the Coalition of Light?"

I know of no such Oath, although being a worshipper of Labelas Enorath I would be interested in hearing what this oath is.

Seeing Talon return with chairs, he smiles and nods graciously, "Thank you, Talon Moonwalker."

When the humans address Talon, Thalas takes his place in fetching chairs for anyone that does not yet have one.

Miesko speaks, "If you go by nationalities, Alex and I should be bitter rivals. By taking an oath to the Coalition of Light, you agree to put any afiliations below that of the Coalition. Racial, national, and ethnic affiliations are allowed, but are clearly subordinate to the Oath to the Coalition to promote light. By light, we mean both good and knowledge."

Julius speaks up, "The double meaning of light for both good and knowledge. Quite clever, yes. We do not suffer evil and frown on the tolerance of evil."

Miesko points to Wil, "We tend to be mostly wizards, bards, and priests, but the occasional paladin and ranger sneak in." Miesko winks to Wil. "But our leader likes paladins. He says there is nothing more reliable than a holy warrior if you want evil dispatched."

Julius adds, "Unfortunately the queen may not like you swearing to put the Coalition above her and your nation. A multinational organization like ours cannot be involved in the squabbles of nations and races if it is to solely advance good."

Seeing the celestial, Azlain's blood ran cold. These creatures had the longest of memories and saw a person's soul more than their flesh.

Have I slain this one's allies sometime in the distant past? Have I burned it's Lord's churches? Perhaps this one more concerned with retribution than redemption. How long spent in hell would be enough to a creature like that? It would be too much to hope it does not see me. All I can do is hope I am not recognized.

Putting the hood of his cloak up, Azlain sits near Wil, keeping his mouth firmly shut.

As time has passed (everyone had the 24hr window on a weekday).

Azlain remains unnoticed as the men talk about conjuration magic a bit. They seem to be arguing over the merits of wolverines versus honeybadgers.

Miesko: "You can stay in the mansion with us. There are six extra bedrooms you can stay in. The furniture is old but serviceable."

Alex: "I don't think Lady Ci will like you joining. I am sure you won't get her permission, but you know what they say."

Julius finished with a twinkle in his eye: "Tis easier to seek forgiveness than get permission in the first place. What can she do?"

Miesko adapts an elvish accent: "No seconds on elvish sweets for you. Talon, I officially take your birthday away."

At Miesko's joke they pack up for the evening.
Julius looks at the other two, "On the road at first light. That includes everyone, by the way, the mansion will be 'folded up' at the crack of dawn."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Nope.

Magnificent!

As the evening presses on, Thalas begins to feel the effects of a very long day.

"I am grateful for the offer of a bedroom; I shall need it, as it has been long since I've ridden a horse with such need. Good night, gentlemen."

Thalas makes his way inside, finds an unused room, and passes the night in exhausted slumber.

He wakes in the cool pre-dawn of morning as always, and takes what will likely be a slim window of opportunity for solitude to pray and commune with Labelas Enorath.

Upon seeing the captured bandit, Julius makes the comment. "If only our way would be the world way. We wouldn't have this problem."

Alex comments: "It is difficult to force utopian views on those without food."

I assume the Coalition of Light adds no elves to their rolls.

Still wary of these new, strange beings Suny does nod and thank them for their hospitality. She uses the strange buildings amenities to bath and clean her gear. (Also making sure the fellow now tagging along with them does not get lost)

After an evening spent within the mansion she awakes and readies herself for a brand new day.

"Sirs.." Azlain says tentatively after their meal. "Can I ask you how your coalition feels about the concept of redemption?"