Shi'Vatha looks around, looking at the cave entrance, seeing if there's a way to block it easily (rocks that could be pushed down, etc).
No, I'm afraid there isn't. The landing area is pretty clean, and there is little more then small stones lying around. As for what is around the corner, you can make out 3 manticores: 2 adults and 1 youngling.
Shi'Vatha looks at the strange creatures. I wonder if these are Mandy Cores? And which one is Mandy, which one is Core, and what is the youngling called?
Tapping Shi'vatha on the shoulder, Glornug leans close to the 'taur's ear and whispers, "These match the description given of the manticores. Let's regroup."
Shi'Vatha nods, looking perplexed. "Yes, but which is Mandy, which is Core, and what is the name of the third?" He asks in a hushed whisper, sounding a little off kilter as he turns to follow Glornug back to the group.
"Are they a mated pair and a young unit perhaps? That might be why they are attacking, to feed the young one so it may grow."
Listening to Glornug and Shi'Vatha's descriptions, Felicity frawns. I dislike like this. The woman does not appear to be present and we have observed the manticores hunting their normal prey. To attack the farm, they would have to expend significantly more effort than their normal hunting.
If we are to neutralize them regardless, I will go first and draw their attention.
Shi'Vatha tilts his head. "If these Mandy Cores can talk, I would be willing to sneak to the cave and talk to them. Everyone else could ready outside the cave to attack. I suggest blocking the entrance so they can't fly out."
"As a hunter, I agree with Felicity that it seems unusual that they would hunt other than their normal prey unless they had no other choice. Something here does not seem right. I will hide outside the cave, ready to fight them if necessary."
[dice=Perception]1d20+13
On closer inspection, you notice that the manticore's mate is actually a rather large lioness (that much you can tell, even without a Knowledge check). The youngling is definitely a manticore, and appears to be 'playing' with its food, at the lioness' behest.
Good question...
After filling the party in on everything they saw, Glornug says, "So... two manticores, one adult and one child. A lion. And a person who appeared to be practicing with the cub. That could be a formidable hunt. Any thoughts on what to do?"
Shi'Vatha sighs. "One of us is going to have to approach and talk to the man to find out what is going on. I will volunteer for this. Everyone else should be ready to attack if they are hostile."
"We will be ready, no question. Be safe." Glornug readies an arrow and prepares to move out.
"Do not get to close if you can help it." something about thus was not quite right... "I think there is more to what's happening than there first appears."
"If we are seeking to parlay, then perhaps I should be the one to approach. I am likely the most capable with speechcraft amongst us, and should things turn sour, they may have some more difficulty striking me."
Shi'Vatha looks at Selene, and grins. "I did not know you were a speechcrafter. I have always wondered where politicians get their speeches. I had assumed they made them up themselves. This explains why they all carry the same amount of weight and substance however. There are actual people who write them professionally." He bows his torso and waves Selene toward the cave. "I shall have your back, Crafter of Speeches Selene."
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Even with Selene's shadowy form, the hint of an arched eyebrow is seen. "I am not a writer of speeches. I merely have some small training that can help with negotiation and other diplomacy. Which is, I assume, what we are going for here."
The cave itself is somewhat open; the 'face' of it is about 25' high, easily large enough for even a dragon to walk into. Beyond the opening, the cavern itself is roughly 40' by 50', with the 'family' near the back. The lioness is the first to see you and starts to rise, growling. The adult manticore sees her standing, looks around and sees you approach. He then growls to the lioness and turns back to you. The cub and the human (or perhaps a half-elf) stops what they were doing and they turn to watch the scene unfold.
Stepping forward, obviously tense but not readying for battle, he roars, the echoes reverberating around the cavern. He looks down at you and sniffs. says the manticore, in slightly broken Common. He then laughs, a distinctly human sounding pitch.
[ooc]Curious to watch the negotiations up close, Felicity will accompany Selene and Shi'vatha, alert but weapons still sheathed.[/b]
"I come in peace," Selene says. "I understand that you may not desire my presence. If we do not talk and come to terms, however, it is likely that more will come and those others will not be open to negotiation. I and my companions are here due to a rumor of manticores abducting people," she glances over at the humanoid that had been playing with the cub. "It seems likely that the tales we have heard are not entirely true, but there may be some aspect of the truth in them. Perhaps if we learned the full truth we could come to an arrangement and do what we can to ensure that your presence in the area remains... less obvious."
"I come in peace," Selene says. "I understand that you may not desire my presence. If we do not talk and come to terms, however, it is likely that more will come and those others will not be open to negotiation. I and my companions are here due to a rumor of manticores abducting people," she glances over at the humanoid that had been playing with the cub. "It seems likely that the tales we have heard are not entirely true, but there may be some aspect of the truth in them. Perhaps if we learned the full truth we could come to an arrangement and do what we can to ensure that your presence in the area remains... less obvious."
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+8
The manticore mulls over your statement for a moment, before responding. "I...may have...the word I believe you humans use is, 'borrowed?' a human last year, but it did me no good anyway. And I could not return her to her field for she was already dead."
"Ahh," Selene says sadly. "More's the pity. Why had you 'borrowed' this woman and how did she die? Was there also a child involved?"
"I was looking for humans to train my cub here. At the time, I thought that I could just take a couple of humans and have them stay here in our abode. However, when I snatched the human up, this was last harvest, I believe, it was shot with an arrow and died before I could do anything. As to the child, I think the human had grabbed at its cub as I picked it up. He fell from my grasp as the human died. There was not much I could do." The manticore looks down at you, and then clears his throat. "It was because of that, that I decided to 'hire' one of you humans to train my cub. That is what Farergar is here for. I have collected many of your human treasures in my lifetime so far, and a few of those were enough to convince Farergar that I was being sincere."
Selene nods. "Ahh, I see now. Victims of unfortunate circumstances and an overzealous, and not particularly accurate, individual resulting in the death of their own family. 'Tis a pity you hadn't killed him as well at the time. Circumstances being what they are, the man has been telling the tale of his family's abduction for some time. Most have, rightly it seems, taken him for a drunken fool, but some, such as ourselves have taken to investigating. Were you planning on moving your nest any time soon? If we were able to find it, others may as well. I am doubtful that the truth will bring the man closure, but a 'discovery' of an old, now vacted nest, might."
"I did not know of this. I will need to give this some thought." The manticore thinks about it for a moment, then replies, "Please, return to here when the sun is high in the sky. I will have your answer then."
Once all of you leave the cave, you can see that he flies out of the cave, and quickly disappears from sight.
"I am troubled. The mandy or the core, whichever it was, did not intend to hurt the woman and child, but by the same token, he is fully responsible for the child's death through negligence, and shares equal responsibility with the husband for the wife's death. Ideally, the way to resolve this would be for the creature to give enough wealth to attempt a resurrection for the boy, and half that much for the wife." Shi'Vatha says after the group has moved away from the cave. "The creature must come to understand that it's actions have consequences, and that it is responsible for harm it causes. This is just. The fact he did not intend to do harm mitigates punishment, not responsibility."
"I don't follow. The huband killed the wife in a vain attempt at trying to strike the manticore. At the death of the mother, the child she had grabbed plummeted to his death. If the man had not fired, his family would be alive to this day. Yes, had the manticore not attempted to 'borrow' the mother and child, they would likewise have been alive. Since the incident, however, the man has been lying by saying nothing of his role in his wife's death. Assuming the manticore was not lying, and it seems like it would have no cause to, the wife was not flown back to it's lair to be dined upon, as the man said, but she was dropped shortly before his son."
Thought unintentional, the deaths are the responsibility of the manticore, and a family was destroyed. It would be best for all if the manticore and his child were to be driven off, and what wealth is found used to compensate the farmer.
The details of how the manticore is driven off, and the wealth found, should be discussed with Mandy when she returns. The destruction of a family is not trivial, but fueling his drinking could only do more damage.
His expression troubled, Glornug says, "This is a difficult situation. The farmer's wife and child would not be dead if the manticore had not picked them up, true. They would also not be dead if the arrow had not been fired, even though I understand why it was."
After a moment's pause, he continues."If the manticore stays, it seems likely that two things could happen... first, it might do something like this again in the future. Second, if we do not kill it, it seems that others might come along and try to, possibly leading to more deaths. But if all we do is chase it away, or ask it to leave, it may do these things to others, somewhere else. That said... I do not know how comfortable I am killing a creature that is just following its nature, and trying to teach its cub how to survive. It plainly is not feral, or else it would have just attacked Selene. And there have been no further attacks on the humans. Also, it realized that simply taking a human was wrong, and so arranged to reward another for his time."
He looks off into the distance, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Shi'Vatha gives Selene an odd look. "You do not credit the mandy core any responsibility? So, you would be ok if he were to swoop in and sweep you up without asking or permission? And take you off without either? ANd if a roc attacked him while he flew, and he dropped you to fight, it would be no ones fault, your death merely a bizarre accident and the Mandy Core not responsible in any way?" He shakes his head. "You are odd person. I believe the best course may be to require the Mandy Core to pay recompense to the farmer, to pay for the cost of an attempt to resurrect the boy. It will cause the Mandy Core to realize that his actions have consequences. We should also explain to him in detail that kidnapping people, which he did, is considered wrong and that by the law of the land, he is fully responsible for the deaths of the mother and child, whether he believes it or not. And whether Selene realizes it or not. By the same token, if a kidnapper takes a child, and the guard kill the child trying to stop the kidnapper, it is not the guard held responsible, it is the kidnapper. And that that has consequences. We are just the first, eventually someone would have come after him. If he kidnaps another person, next time the king may send troops, and the Mandy Core's cub is likely to be killed as well. Perhaps if he realizes that his rash actions placed his cub in danger, he will think before making rash actions. But all of that requires that he accept responsibility for his actions. If he can't do that, he can't be allowed to retain his freedom. He would be a danger to those in this area, for the next time he needed a human, he would just swoop down and take one, and if it breaks, he has no concerns."
Selene shrugs. "The manticore could just have easily have killed them all and not have had to worry about things. Instead, she tried to take them, a far more gentle proposition than is typical for such a creature. And she has learned from the experience in that, if she wants to have a play toy for her brood, it is best to hire out. She won't be kidnapping another person."
"The man, on the other hand, has not even taken responsability for his own actions. His arrow slew his wife and his wife's death clutch killed his son. Yet he talks about how his wife was taken and his son dropped. The manticore has at least been telling the truth and seems to have learned from her mistakes."
"Also, the manticore does not seem to be something that is beholden to the laws of man, so an example of such a thing is effectively meaningless. Even so, the guard in the example would feel responsable and admit his error. The family would likely hold the guard responsible as well, considering human nature. The man in our story has not admitted to his error yet likely holds himself secretly responsible. It is for him to work that out. Not the manticore."
"In any case, we can put forward the option to the manticore to see her opinion on the matter. I, and likely the man, would be satisfied if they were gone from here, never to be seen, and thus remind him of his error, again."
Shi'Vatha nods. "I see, so, I am not beholden to the laws of this land then, because I am not a man. I can slit your throat now and steal your belongings, and I have done no wrong." He states calmly, eying Selene.
The night passes uneventfully, at least as far as possible critters are concerned. Not long after dawn, you see the manticore flying back from the north and land on the clearing above. He looks down in your general direction, clearly indicating that he is ready to speak to you again. He then turns around, presumably to go back into his cave.
Shi'Vatha heads up with the rest, still rankled at Celene's inability to grasp the true situation.