Lutor stands ready, crossbow in hand, silent as a good soldier ought to be.
"Tell us what you have discovered of this place since your arrival?" Gallen asks as he moves forward, not rushing but spreading to the left in case of other threats, real or imagined.
With Cole putting on a show good enough to halfway convince Wesh of his allegiance to Mitra, the fighter stays silent. He keeps his sword at his side for when the situation inevitably turns to violence.
Hel approaches the room with Lutor, but like him stands at the door, arrow to the string but half-turned away, looking alternately in towards Sir Balin, then back out down the hall, as if wary of enemies creeping up behind. She, being utterly unconvincing when it comes to even the feeblest falsehood, remains silent.
Willow, in the guise of a squire, moves into the room as well and behind Sir Balin.
"The north of Talingarde, then. Thank you, Sebastian. I'll be sure to mention your aid to Sergeant Hale."
To Sir Gallen, he says, "I have found nothing about this place. My squire, Timeon, and I were attacked, and when I awoke I was trapped in this room. My wounds had been healed, and all my equipment was here, but the door was locked and barred. I have been here, praying to Mitra ever since. I thought I heard a shriek earlier. Was that you? Tell me, have you seen my squire?"
"We did, he is hidden where we found him. Seemed best until we finished our sweep. Now we can go to him and get you out of here. There may still be enemies though. Sir Balin would you do the honor of leading us in a prayer? We would all feel relieved if you would do so."
Hoping/assuming it normal practice to close ones eyes or maybe even to drop to ones knees. Either will be a prime time to strike giving us all a surprise round maybe?
Lutor is in position, confident that he is ready to meet any threat.
Hel is indeed where she is meant to be.
Hel nods in confirmation to Cole's words should Sir Balin look her way; they did find Timeon, he is where they found him, and they would all be relieved if Sir Balin prayed -- and made himself vulnerable to a lethal surprise attack.
Wesh finds himself pleased with the way Cole is directing things. Perhaps fighting Sir Balin will be a trivial matter. The man certainly seems to be quite gullible.
The fighter makes his way around the room to stand across from Sir Gallen.
"Do you know who might be behind this?" Gallen was ready for combat to begin but used the time to distract the knight and convince see what ye knew.
Sir Balin merely shakes his head in response to Gallen's question. "I do not know who, but I am sure those responsible for my condition have engaged in devilry and witchraft. I am taking command of your unit. You will take me to my squire, and then we shall find those responsible and see to it they are punished for their sins, marked as Forsaken of Mitra. They are clearly beyond any hope of redemption and must be taken and arrested if we are to have any hope. We will pray later, Sebastian, when we are victorious. Mitra teaches us that there is a time to hunt down and destroy wickedness and a time to pray. Now, let's move."
Sir Balin prepares to step forward...
"Don't underestimate the Forsaken." Cole lets loose as he sees the mans guard drop. He lunges forward with his spear.
(Studied Target,Divine Favor,Flank)
The bowstring is already being drawn back as Hel, hearing Cole's statement about 'underestimate the Forsaken' and seeing him thrust his spear at the cavalier, pivots on one foot and draws the nock of her arrow to her ear -- even a touch beyond -- and releases it, her hand flashing down to draw and fire another.
Hm. With that armor, I doubt that hit him either time, but still, why not roll.
I am reminded -- also, that Religion roll:
Lutor gives a slight smile as he begins to incant.
I would see this champion of Mitra shamed before his end.
"The only moving you'll be doing is falling to the ground in death. Mitrans shall learn to fear the Forsaken."
Wesh follows his words up with a pair of slashes at Sir Balin.
Gallen swings his scimitar at the knight a heartbeat after Cole struck... but his armour was too thick turning a solid blow into what would be little more than wounds. "You squire is unharmed the same will not be so for you."
"The only moving you'll be doing is falling to the ground in death. Mitrans shall learn to fear the Forsaken." Wesh follows his words up with a pair of slash at Sir Balin. The knight cries out as Wesh's sword bites deep.
Lutor gives a slight smile as he begins to incant. I would see this champion of Mitra shamed before his end. Sir Balin's longsword is too quick, however, and the grease fails to coat his longsword.
The knight manages to hold onto his sword.
Willow attempts to stab Sir Balin with a dagger.
She fails to penetrate his armor, though.
Gallen swings his scimitar at the knight a heartbeat after Cole struck... but his armour was too thick turning a solid blow into what would be little more than wounds. "You squire is unharmed the same will not be so for you."
"Don't underestimate the Forsaken." Cole lets loose as he sees the mans guard drop. He lunges forward with his spear. Sir Balin lets out a grunt of pain as Cole's spear pierces him.
The bowstring is already being drawn back as Hel, hearing Cole's statement about 'underestimate the Forsaken' and seeing him thrust his spear at the cavalier, pivots on one foot and draws the nock of her arrow to her ear -- even a touch beyond -- and releases it, her hand flashing down to draw and fire another. The arrows merely skip off his plate armor.
Wesh strikes again at Sir Balin, again gashing him with the greatsword.
Sir Balin looks to Wesh, the most deadly of you, and shouts, "Mitra will have your Forsaken souls!" His sword seems to glow with holy light, and he strikes at the warrior.
Mitra may not be with him, however, or perhaps Asmodeus keeps better protection upon his servants, as the warrior is easily able to evade his blow.
Willow again tries to stab Sir Balin.
But fails to penetrate his armor again.
Sir Balin - 32/70
Round 1
Lutor moves on to his next move - resizing Wesh into even more of a killer.
Hel grimaces -- her hands are clearly still too shaky for her satisfaction -- but extracts another two arrows and sends them into the fray.
I hope that doesn't do too much damage to someone.
Aaaand that'll miss too.
Lutor takes aim with his very real crossbow and fires upon the Mithran knight.
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Satisfied with his blows so far, Wesh swings at Sir Balin again. He puts a little extra effort into his attack to hopefully ensure its success.
Gallen makes sure to stay flanking the knight unwilling to relent the pressure waiting for the exact right momement to strike!
Gallen makes sure to stay flanking the knight unwilling to relent the pressure waiting for the exact right momement to strike! His scimitar gets in under Sir Balin's guard to strike at a chink his armor on his midsection, but the plate mail provides just enough protection to avoid a grievous wound.
Cole thrusts again with his spear, past the shield and into Sir Balin's left shoulder.
Hel grimaces -- her hands are clearly still too shaky for her satisfaction -- but extracts another two arrows and sends them into the fray. They go quite wide, though.
Satisfied with his blows so far, Wesh swings at Sir Balin again. He puts a little extra effort into his attack to hopefully ensure its success. Sir Balin cries as Wesh's greatsword strikes his torso, and the Knight of the Alerion falls to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.
Lutor finishes his spell, and Wesh is now the size of a giant. The ceiling is a bit too close for comfort, though.
"It was shaky at first but we have come together these last few lessons. I assume the cardinal wishes him dead and not as a play thing. We should take his belongings though and show them to the boy. I can lie to the boy and say we found him dead if we wish to foster and bring the boy to our side, or we can go ahead and kill him as well now that we have finish our trials. what say the group?"
"The boy is not beyond education. Sir Balin... my own preference is to grant him a quick death, but a part of me asks if it would be wasteful. The Cardinal has extracted one use of him before his death already in the form of our trials. Might he or one of his vassals consider another?"
"My preference is a quick death but he poses no threat for now so I merely consider the value of his continued existence..." He nods to himself "Unless someone pushes for that, death would seem best to me."
Lutor approaches the group, and speaks as he does so.
"I say we educate the boy. Sir Balin, however, is too far steeped in the corrupt Mithran Church's ways to be allowed live. I say we kill this knight here and now, in an efficient and thorough manner."
"Foolish he may have been," says Hel, "to be taken in by a simple disguise and sweet words, but for all that he was honorable. As well, remember the lesson of the room wherein the boy waits -- 'Cruelty is a tool, not a pastime.' We'll not be like those Abyssal thugs who revel in filth for the sake of the filth; kill him clean and be done.
"The boy, however ... I agree the boy may be salvaged -- but as I said before, we must be certain that we do not lie to him any more, for that would be self-deception and thus death, mmm? Sir Gallen, Timeon is trained up to be a squire; will you take that training into your service?" For Hel, it seems to be less 'who gains by the boy's conversion' and more 'who has the responsibility of looking after him', much in the way she seems to have taken on looking after Grumblejack: seeing to his stabling and feeding, making sure he doesn't go outside of the boundaries the five of you set and remains your creature -- feeding him and holding his leash, in other words.
"I second the notion that Sir Gallen could take a new squire."
Wesh slides his greatsword along Sir Balin's throat. He considers finishing off the paladin, but decides he prefers to let the man bleed out at this point. The fighter will enjoy that more.
Regarding the squire, Wesh says, "The boy could certainly be pliable. We just have to make sure we don't let breaking... converting... him distract us from our overall goal. Sir Balin may be dead, but Talingarde still stands. Hopefully our Master will have something in mind for our next steps when we get back to him."
Hel nods at the consensus in regards to Timeon; she watches with a thoughtful gaze as Wesh eases his blade against Sir Balin's throat, but then removes it. Dropping her disguise with a slight nod, she moves in to pull off the Mithran knight's helm and coif, sliding her fingers in to feel at his throat to monitor his heartbeat. When it has stopped -- and has remained stopped for many seconds -- she begins stripping the corpse, first removing the silver-and-sapphire amulet destined for the grasp of Cardinal Adrastus Thorn and handing it up to Sir Gallen. "Here -- proof enough to convince the boy, especially should we be no longer disguised. Ah!"
She pauses in her actions to fish into her belt pouch, extracting the silver archstar, one of which Thorn had given everyone, and placing it around her neck. "There; that should help." Returning to the corpse, her expression is flat and detached as she performs the necessary task, stripping and cataloging the possessions retrieved from the late Sir Balin of Kierkegaard, Knight of the Alerion.
"I've considered the matter since the notion was first raised. The timing might not be right. I'm not oblivious on carting around such a potential liability with us. He might be of use to the Cardinal here but he's hardly a squire if I dumped him here."
"A better measure of him must be gained before anything long term is decided. I'll talk to him and make any decision before we leave. If someone else feels more certain I will not stand in their way."
"He's young," Hel states as she works. "I am led to believe that most youth can be molded, given a proper blend of disappointment in their failures, acknowledgement of their accomplishments, strictness in their discipline, and encouragement of their growth. Or at least, that's what the books I read seemed to suggest, now that I think back on them."
She glances up at Sir Gallen, then shrugs and returns to her stripping of the knight -- paladin, maybe? Whichever. "Make being your squire something to be proud of. Make disappointing you or me or any of the others something to dread. And I don't think -- or rather, I suppose I hope -- that the Cardinal sha'an't immediately be sending us into situations wherein the boy could truly betray us."
You continue your discussion as Hel strips Sir Balin. You find that his possessions consist of:
-a longsword
-a silver and sapphire holy symbol of Mitra
-a set of full plate
-a heavy steel shield
-a finely made cloak, which Lutor sensed an Abjuration aura on before
-a potion of cure light wounds
"The boy is not mine to instruct so no need to give further advice, I'm sure you will figure it out. Now let's go collect him and be done down here. Wouldn't want them to think us dead as we had to rest. Come friends."
"We'll see, time to see how he reacts to the news. Some of his equipment will be of use."
"I'd gladly make us of the armour once it is repaired Wesh you lack the protection of a shield and landed the killing blow. I'll not stand against you if you would like to make use of it."
Lutor examines the cloak more closely.
Wesh shrugs at Sir Gallen and says, "You can have it. I suspect I'll be able to take more hits than you before long, so better that you avoid the blows in the first place."
The fighter nods in agreement with Cole. "Yes, let's get out of this place. There's no point in lingering, and I'm curious as to what our next assignment will be."
"We both get our share of practice in that regard before this is done." Gallen takes up the silver and sapphire holy symbol of Mitra and sneers at it. "Time to talk to the lad."
He moves back towards the squire's hiding place. "Come out, we should talk." For now he keeps the holy symbol covered by his clenched fist.
You head back through the rooms and hallways to Timeon's hiding place. At Gallen's call, Timeon says, "Alright. Did you find Sir Balin?"
He opens the door, and then sees you all, undisguised, the Archstar prominently displayed around Hel's neck, and cries in fear, falling back and retreating to the back of the cubby hole. "Devil worshipers! Whoever you are, know that my master, Sir Balin, will see an end to you!"
Hel's head tilts to one side in bemusement. Sir Balin's armor is in her hands, Lutor examines his cloak, Willow carries his sheathed sword -- in her mind, it should be clear to the youth that they were the end to 'his master, Sir Balin'. "A bit slow on the uptake, though," she comments abstractedly. "Have to work on that if he's to be of any use. I'm going to head upstairs, drop this off in my room, and go get Grumblejack; we can have him, mmm, let's call it 'watch over the boy' while we're speaking to His Excellency. And if he does it to specifications, well ..."
She hesitates at the thought she's thinking, grimaces, then chokes back a momentary impulse to vomit. "Ugh. No, I'm not going to reward him with human for a meal, not even a witch-hunter." She hefts the armor, coldly eyes the cowering squire, then nods to Sir Balin and turns to head upstairs.