Dendarial, not liking this human in the least, knocks an arrow, but does not raise his bow.
What do you do to him? he asks in a worried voice, maybe not really wanting to hear the answer.
Brom grips Krasa tighter, a disturbed scowl on his face, "Ve mean no harm. I am Brom. Vhat happened here lady?" adding his inquiry to Dendarials.
"What happened here? WHAT HAPPENED HERE? You have invaded the privacy of my home, have no doubt been searching through MY things, and you have the NERVE to ask me what happened here? Are you INSANE?" The woman begins moving towards the party, ignoring the form on the ground at her feet.
Brom's frown deepens and he starts striding forward himself to meet the ungrateful hag, his shining weapon gripped threateningly, "You live in a house of coldness and fear! You, am I zhinking, are zhe vun who is not sane!"
Stay back Woman! The elf almost hisses. Or I will be forced to shoot you where you stand.
Brom spares a glance towards Dendarial, a single eyebrow raised in question. A little heavy handed for a situation we do not yet fully understand he thinks to himself. Even as he thinks this he continues his own forward progress, his pride not about to allow himself to be cowed by this strange woman... and perhaps his bravado is a means of coping with the unknown.
Without fear, and calmly, Hadin retorts
Mylady, we heard a scream, and rushed to investigate. Our sanity is not in question, so far as I know. For the last time, could you explain what happened here, or should we believe our own eyes and suspect foul play,as the body to your feet testifies?
For this level, the map suffers, so suspend disbelief here. The stairs continue to the top of the tower, where they open into a turret surrounded by broken crenelations. A small flight of stairs lead down from the turret to the top of the main structure, which is all flat. Ignore the wooden beams and supports in the image, just assume they are not there.
Seeing Sir Karse's silent signal, Hadin readies his flail too, wary from an attack or a spell.
so if needed:
Flail attack dmg
As the party advances forward the woman's visage changes from one of rage to curiosity. She takes in the members of the group, standing defiantly and prepared for the worst, and gives the smallest of smirks before saying, "Oh my. Oh my! You are heroes aren't you? Brave adventurers set out to make your names and claim fame and fortune I bet! How could I have missed it!" Her hands outstretched, and open palmed to show no weapons she adds, "Tell me, what brings you out so far from the tamed realms of these parts? Where from do you hail?"
Brom ceases trying to look intimidating, but is not immediately trustful of the womans change of demeanor. She does certainly sound sincere to his ears however, and so lets himself relax a smidgen. "Ve come from a settlement to zhe norzh. Ve seek to tame zhese lands and rid zhem of all zhat is foul. Vhat happened to zhat man?" he asks, pointing with Krasa.
The man makes a patting motion with her hand at Sir Karse, as if to settle him down, "Settlements? Since when did these lands have need of settlements? Surely you don't mean those silly men to the east with their fort of sticks and stones? Oh tell me you aren't more of those boring things." She sighs heavily, obviously overacting at the thought.
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"Yes, we are more of those boring things." responds Will, ending his song as it seems this has become a conversation more than a fight. "We are exploring the area and found this tower. We did not see any indication it was in habited, so we entered to investigate. Inside we have found much death and strange effects. If this is your home, why do you live with such things?" He then takes a moment to what manner of creature might find such a place appealing to live in that carries with it a womans face.
Dendarial stands ready to shoot the woman with any notion of hostility on her part.
For the first time Dendarial pauses. He feels a slight chill of hope that perhaps this person is not an enemy. Lowering the bow ever so slightly he says No, we are not of that fort. In fact we oppose them and have killed many of their number. That man at your feet. Is he one of them?
Hadin offers a prayer to Erastil under his breath, never keeping his eyes of the hands of the woman, in case she suddenly becomes hostile, ready to jump into action if her body langage suggest anything threatening
Sense Motive check
Karse, she sounds like she is the enemy of our enemy. That should make her our friend, right?
The woman, responding to Dendarial's comment shrugs, "Those fools, always thinking they can rob someone when they aren't looking. They never learn. Likely he was a lackey of that horned idiot. But they are soboring, tell me about yourselves. You are here to oppose them you say? To what end? Collecting scalps for crown and country? A vendetta perhaps? Did they kill your family? Please, I simply must know. It is so drab and dull out here."
At Karse's comment she casts him a cold stare, "Mind yourself knight. Remember you invaded MY home here. If anyone should take umbrage here it should be me. So watch your manners while you are a guest in, or rather on, my home."
Lowering the bow further and allowing the arrow to loosen in his pull the elf responds. We oppose banrritry in general. The men that follow the stag lord are bandits, but some likely only because they have been given no other choices. He considers her, looks again at the man on the ground, and the says. I propose a tale for a tale. You are curious about us and we are also curious about you. As you are our host I will oblige you and go first. Dendarial tells her the tale of how he came to be in these woods. He tells of hunting to feed the people of his village and as his skills grew hunting outlaws and fugitives from his people. He tries to gauge her interests, embellishing the story more if she likes it. And finally he tells how he came to these new and wild lands to represent the elves and make a new place for people to settle in safely. He watches her reaction to that part of the story.
The woman seems fascinated by the tale, in fact, the party notices a smile cross her face, slowly at first, but absolutely beaming at Dendarial towards the end of his story. "Elves! Oh I do so love elves. We have a kinship you see, the forest and all that. It would be absolutely wonderful to have elves running around in these barren lands! You simply must bring them here!
The woman snaps a glance at Sir Karse, obviously irritated at the man, "Really, some people. Do I go peeking into your things when you aren't looking? No spell casting from you, so I'm guessing you are one of those holy crusaders, always tossing around your judgements and standards on those who do not share your faith. Who made you the judge and jury for these lands? Do those that do not bend to your will need tremble before it? Ask yourself, what is evil? The man, or the act. I'd say meting out justice to those who don't share your viewpoints is evil. Who can argue when it comes to the beliefs of another? and she spits upon the floor at the paladin's feet. "Spare me your judgments and your criticisms paladin, I care for neither nor am I beholden to you or your god."
Lowering his weapon
My name is Hadin Cassoren, and I am a servant of Erastil too. May I enquire what your name is, because if you're the rightful owner of this place, you' re right in saying we are the intruders? As my comrade Dendarial said, we're on these lands to rid them of any threats, so people can safely build theirs houses and lives. So far, even if you are a creature of discutable morals by our own standards, you haven't harmed us, or threatened us physically. The Stag Lord and his minions are a real danger for those who cannot defend themselves, and this is obviously not your case... Sir Karse and myself will stay vigilant. The truce, if truce there is, will be uneasy.But the least we can do, as followers of truth and justice, is to do you justice by hearing your side of the story... as long as it his truthful.
The strange woman continues to listen to the group, absorbing every word said, before adding, "My story, oh but I already know that one, and it humors me not. Lets just say I have lived in these lands for quite a while and find it a wonderful thing that people year to settle this area. Its so boring here at times, and new faces will bring excitement!" she steps towards the party, raising a hand and traces several of the scars that crisscross the barbarian's chest, "You are simply a divine specimen you know, and yet you let these others speak for you. Why is that? You are destined to be a leader of men, I can sense it in your blood."
While the woman's attention is focused on Brom, Hadin tries to get closer to the dead body, to find out, if possible, what may have killed him. He seems worried.
Brom frowns at the fingers woman on his chest, his large hands making an unconscious brushing motion, as if desiring to shoo a fly away, "I am vaiting for vhat has happened in zhis place. I am glad ve are not fighting, but ve have met ozhers who mean us harm but speak honey vizh zheir mouths. Vhat manner of being are you Lady?" The barbarians words are not antagonistic, but it's clear he's seeking a straight answer from the ambiguous woman.
The woman sticks out her lower lip, as if to pout at Brom, "What manner of being am I? Do you ask this of all the girls where you are from mighty warrior? I am as you see me of course, what would you believe me to be?" At Will's question she remains transfixed by the spectacle of the barbarian, but speaks sideways to the bard-turned-cleric, "A great tragedy to be sure, and the restless ones inside take offense to any attempts to tidy up, so I've learned to live around them. A good plan do you not think? To be honest I'm astonished you made it up here. Greater men have failed to do so."
The woman notices Hadin's attempt to shuffle by her to examine the body that was at her feet and throws out a hand, grabbing his arm and stopping the man cold in his tracks with an impossibly strong grip which causes him to flinch visibly. "That is none of your concern pleasant one, and I'll ask you not to interfere in my business outside of our current pleasantries."
"So tell me, where are you bound from here? As much as I do love the visit, I must attend to other matters. Where from here will your path lead you?"
But what of our bargain my lady? A tale for a tale. If you will not tell us about you, at least tell us about this place.
Brom's experiences have not trained him to deal with a situation such as this, and he seems quite unsure how to respond to the woman, "I do not meet such girls as you vhere I am from. I am not sure vhat you are, but I am feeling you are more zhan a simple voman." He fails to hide some irritation at failing once more to get a straight answer. After she answers Dendarial he adds another of his own, "How are ve to know zhis is your dwelling and you did not arrive as ve did, a stranger? Zhere are no signs of recent habitation down zhere." and gestures to the rooms beneath their feet.