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Rha'ziz seems unshaken, being familiar with the effects of violence. He learned early on to never get close to any of his associates for obvious reasons.
He watches the whole situation unfold and, after vitals are taken, moves to get the group organized. He pulls his companions aside and offers a plan.
'Look, I took a class with the Korvosan Guard on combat first aid and the first thing they said was to remain calm. And that people get killed if the unit doesn't work together. I don't remember much else though. I was too busy sleeping during the demonstrations. Sarge never caught me once,' he chuckles wistfully before snapping back to reality.
Turning to Beromir, who lay unconscious, he addresses the other functional members of his group.
'Who's got the best hands and eyes and knows how to stitch up a wound? Get 'em on the big one and have a few assistants on standby.'
He continues on and outlines a plan of action, organizing the party into two medic teams.
After some fumbling around, you can tell that Beromir is alive... barely. Blackraven 2, whose name is Dirk, tells you that the Blackravens all carry a healing potion as standard equipment. Dirk goes on to request that you please try to save Sergeant Pharisse, as she was just following the orders of the commander as well.
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Rha'ziz doesn't seem to notice the insult, but files it away in the back of his mind. He knows never to forget a potential enemy.
Pointy ears over there might be in for a nasty surprise one day if he doesn't come down a few notches. It would be trivial to get the crew together. I wonder if his family has money...
He rolls his eyes and shrugs it off. He kneels over Beromir and calls to Skaar.
Wanna give me a hand over here?
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Well, since everybody seems to have it all figured out I'll play the bad guy role once again.
I'm going to treat the commander (or whoever the hasn't been healed yet). But before I administer the potion I am going to take his weapons and valuables. If anybody tries to stop me I draw my weapon and ready my shield.
Any dead, I loot them too. Extra weapons go to the goblins. Gold...whatever, I'll toss it and miscellaneous items in a pile. The prisoners are next - unless some touchy feely do-gooder thinks that's going too far.
I'm not on a mercy crusade here. Those who attack me declare themselves my enemies and are to be treated accordingly. If the Blackravens have a problem with being stripped of their valuables then they shouldn't have attacked us or should have won.
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...but, as our black sheep is about to give the commander his healing potion, he remembers how they wanted to harm the goblins, how they attempted to kill him and his companions, and the deceptive way in which they went about it.
Seeing how some of his companions are busy helping the very people who so easily lied to and tried to kill them, Rha'ziz becomes angry. He pulls out his dagger and puts up against the dying commander's throat.
He presses and begins to slide the blade, drawing a small amount of blood. The knife stops as he holds it firm and steady, just millimeters away from Enrik's carotid artery.
Then, with his other hand, he pours the potion down the unconscious man's gullet.
Letting you live is merciful.
The potion works its magic and Rha'ziz positions himself above the commander, one knee on Enrik's chest as he holds the dagger in one hand and his enemy's hair in the other. Poised as if he expects a demon to burst out of the Ulfen's skin at any moment, he pulls the commander's head back to fully expose the throat and waits for signs of recovery.
OK, sorry, but no.
I'm all for role-play, but the basis of the PFS campaign is that we're all on the same team. Loot gets split evenly, we help each other, and there is no player-versus-player conflict. If "that's what my character would do" violates this, then I'm sorry but you have the wrong sort of character for this campaign. Pathfinder Society is a no-evil campaign, and a group play experience. Torturing helpless prisoners and threatening your colleagues with violence gets your character fired.
I tried to accommodate everyone's play style, but it is just not working. I'm calling the game and will post the conclusion shortly.
The group heals the wounded using the potions from the Blackravens. The sergeant, who is wearing a divine symbol of Gorum, had several of them.
Enrik readily admits to defying Freyr Darkwine's orders to assist you. The sergeant was bound to follow his orders, although it was clear she wasn't trying to kill you. The other two Blackravens were following orders; both had been in this post for only a couple of weeks. The rest of the group is off on a patrol that was delayed until just a day or so ago; apparently Enrik timed it so that only a few witnesses would be present for your arrival.
You spend the night at the longhouse, and in the morning the rest of the Blackraven patrol arrives. With the testimony from the sergeant and tohers, Enrik is clapped in irons. Even though the Blackravens don't seem to relish the thought of the goblins in their lands, they understand that their leader has made a pact with the Society to allow you passage, so they grudgingly let you go on your way. They do insist that the goblins be disarmed with in Hagreach, though, and place them under your authority and responsibility.
The trip to the drop-off point is short, only a few hours farther along. The Society team there takes charge of the goblins, and is somewhat surprised to see how obedient they've become under your command.
A quick river voyage brings you back to Kalsgard. You find that Ambrus Valsin has already departed, and so you make a quick report to the Venture-Captain of the Kalsgard Lodge and depart for Absaolom.
I'll try and explain what I mean, since it will help you and your future GMs and colleagues in any further PFS games.
This is a threat, though:
If anybody tries to stop me I draw my weapon and ready my shield.
This conditional order tells me that if any one of your colleagues disagrees with you, the only option you're leaving them is to fight you. Ultimatums don't work in a team game, even less so in a play-by-post situation, where the conversation takes place at different rates over hours or days.
And how exactly does putting an unconscious commander in a vulnerable position in order to get him to talk when he wakes up constitute torture?
This way:
He presses and begins to slide the blade, drawing a small amount of blood.
The orders they followed were, "do your duty and defend our country against these goblin invaders who we've been at war with for three hundred years, and their foreigner colleagues who are trying to sneak them into our country". The orders were given by their legitimate commander, and were not inhumane, illegal, unethical, or immoral. Comparing that to concentration camp guards... well, that's ridiculous and a bit tasteless.
Well, I'll ignore the thinly-veiled insult, but let's see what the rules have to say.
Good implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.
Evil implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is convenient. Others actively pursue evil, killing for sport or out of duty to some evil deity or master.
People who are neutral with respect to good and evil have compunctions against killing the innocent, but may lack the commitment to make sacrifices to protect or help others.
Based on the rules (and not any superficial black-and-white thinking), which one do you think matches your actions best?
I hope this helps you to understand the issues, which have been looming throughout the entire game. PFS is really meant to be a cooperative game, and characters that don't fit that genre are better for a home game where the GM can customize things for the group's play style. You obviously enjoy roleplaying and have some great backstory, but the unit of organization in PFS is the party, not the PC. On a player side: being impatient is fine, but doing things that leave your comrades no choice except violence to stop you is not an acceptable play style for PFS.
I'll send out Chronicles as I get emails - thanks for those who have sent them already.
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"If anybody tries to stop me I draw my weapon and ready my shield."
It may be a good idea to read the more recent posts, as those tend to reflect the conclusion of a decision making process.
Besides, that was intended for the Blackravens. If other party members would have stepped in do you think that perhaps the situation would have been resolved differently? We'll never know now.
"He presses and begins to slide the blade, drawing a small amount of blood."
Such flavor text may have been intended to enrich the story's detail and I figured that, in a medieval game full of violence, something like that would not be considered an atrocity. Besides, who's to say that I wasn't just going to ask him a few questions (maybe he was working for somebody and that's why he disobeyed orders) and then send him over to join the rest of the prisoners. I was expecting something like Game of Thrones but instead it seems like Disneyland is all that's allowed.
We don't have any 12 year old in this party, do we? If so, I apologize for the offensive themes.
"Well, I'll ignore the thinly-veiled insult, but let's see what the rules have to say."
Now, now, no insult intended, as I was criticizing a line of thinking, not the person who had those thoughts (it is quite common for people to confuse the two types of critique).
I would say that my character's actions reflect a little bit of both, good and evil, just like most actions in the real world.
The fact remains that my character never did kill an innocent, torture anybody, or do anything more than just make a few smart remarks, slap a goblin and put a little boo boo poor Enrik's neck. And it was all done (except for the sarcasm and whatnot) with the intended purpose of fulfilling the mission and protecting the party. Hardly deserving of the condemnation that has been coming my way from multiple directions throughout this entire adventure.
And now from the GM :(
I understand that GMing is a tough job though and that it can be like herding cats, so its not a big deal to me.
"The orders they followed were, "do your duty and defend our country against these goblin invaders who we've been at war with for three hundred years, and their foreigner colleagues who are trying to sneak them into our country". The orders were given by their legitimate commander, and were not inhumane, illegal, unethical, or immoral. Comparing that to concentration camp guards... well, that's ridiculous and a bit tasteless."
Now we really are getting into some questionable territory. By who's definition of inhumane, etc.? Duty, honor, country. Sure. They still attacked the party and I wasn't privy to those orders. Wearing a uniform and having no sense of individual judgment is not an excuse. At least the folks in Irrisen didn't kill on sight just because of what race some of our party belonged to (they just opened fire because...well, they are goblins).
Oh, I forgot, this is a world where some races ARE inherently evil and barbaric. Funny funny.
I wonder. What would Enrik have ordered his troops to do to the goblins if he had gotten his way? I believe the Nazis used to do something similar before they set up the camps. And they weren't unique in that regard.
Just following orders and defending the Fatherland from evil!