"Ouch! Watch where you're going! You should kill those goblins, not me!" shouts the tied man. The man seems to be tall and thin. His long black hair is puled into a braid and asmodean beard is neatly trimmed. Dark green eyes flashing beneath black brows, constantly looking for an opportunity for him to get away from is captors, the man is dressed in black clothes obviously of cheliaxian cut. A symbol of white dragonwolf is seen rampant on his breast, probably a family crest.
Muchorak looks at the prisoner, his gaze unwavering and expression neutral, "Graggo's nee myrr."
Muchorak looks at the prisoner, his gaze unwavering and expression neutral, "Graggo's nee myrr."
** spoiler omitted **
"For Asmodeus'sake, man, do you not speak any civilized tongue? Come, untie me. I will spit those goblins and roust them alive for the insult they gave me!"
"Working with those creatures?! I am stunned speechless! Come, unbound me, disciple of Nethys, and see for yourself what doom awaits those rats!"
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Marak draws a dagger and advances on the bound man. "I wonder if there is something I could say that would *actually* stun you speechless?"
He then helps him up, and turns to the others, "Shall I cut his bonds or gag his mouth? As an Asmodean, he's pretty much the last person who would ally himself with these Lamashtans."
"Bah! Lamashtan scum have taken me by surprise! When I return to Cheliax - I wow by the Majestrix's green eyes - I'm going to lead a crusade of Hellknights to scour this filth from the face of Golarion!"
Ignoring the man's words, Aliwolf goes right up to sniff all over him, using her ability to smell evil.
Muchorak visible tenses as Wolfspirit sniffs the prisoner, his reflexes ready to strike and silence the man or relax and welcome a new member to their campaign.
"Cut him loose, Marak, if he will swear by Asmodeus that he will not seek to betray us. And if he does, he will be surrounded by weapons at every moment so his betrayal would be short-lived."
Romon looks the new prisoner up and down. "I know a man who talks like you, always threatening people. I don't much like him and I like Hellknights less. What's your name?"
"I do not threaten people, I threaten goblins, in this case, at least. Allow me to introduce myself - I am Nathaniel Morai-Thrune, the last scion of Infernal House Morai. You may or may not like Hellknights, but the fact is that they would not allow these filth to bread like this and ambush travelers. By the beard of Asmodeus - vengeance I wow against those goblins and whatever masters they have. And I shall not rest until this wow is fulfilled. Are you satisfied with that? You shall not hear me beg - so cut those ropes or my throat and be done with this."
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Marak cuts him free, satisfied that he's sworn by Asmodeus. He imagines that few would have the stones to make such an oath to the Archdevil without actually being an Asmodean, and no Asmodean would swear an oath the Lord of Contracts falsely, as that sort of thing is... frowned upon.
"Apologies for the precautions. The last person we discovered here appeared to be a guest of the goblins and was writing a Lamashtan treatise," he says, pointing to the bound woman in Kallie's custody.
"I am Marak Quan, Priest of the Lord of Magic, and these are Roman, Inikai, Muchorak, Alisebet and Kalliciel." he says, pointing to his companions in turn, not pausing to explain why he pointed at a wolf in the middle of his introductions.
"Yes... I have noticed that you serve Nethys. I assume that the wolf is some kind of shapeshifter? Druid, perhaps? No matter. I have more pressing matters than introductions." Chelaxian walks towards the woman and gently touches her face. Looking straight into her eyes, he softly say: "Have they treated you wrongly, my dear? I am sure this is just a huge misunderstanding. After all, what can you expect from uncouth barbarians like them? Come now, don't be afraid. All will be well... jus look into my eyes..."
Romon leans close to Inikai. "He talks more than she does anyway." ~pointing briefly at the silent woman captive~
Assuming that Nathaniel was dropped off at the door to the room we are in, us still being in the room and our prisoner behind us...Muchorak would not let him pass to their prisoner. So...
If the action is resended then lets rewind.
As the conversion carries between his companions and the Devilman, Muchorak tenses at the mention of Hellknights; remembrance of his peoples lands as they were and of the black armored Devilman who brought war to these lands. The memories were not his directly but they were ingrained into his mind, his being for the Shoanti let no trespass go forgotten.
The memories flooding into his mind at the mention of those Devilmen carried quickly to the body and those companions close enough may even notice as he stops himself from stepping forward to the newcomer in clearly aggressive stance.
If not
Nathaniel notices the aggressive posturing of the man in front of him and raises his eyebrow. "You forget yourself, barbarian. I am not your enemy - but I could be if you wish it so. It is up to you."
Ali gets no sense of badness from the saturnine human..
The tension grows....
As Ali finishes her inspection, she turns from the newcomer as if having no great further interest in him. Yet as she sees the tension between Big Bear and the new two-leg she spins back to him, crouching down and growling low in her throat, her intention to protect her pack-leader, viscously if need be, clearly obvious.
"Asmodeus, give me patience! Listen, you mutt, I am not interested in harming your friend over there, but I very close to changing my mind! I just want to find out who in the Nine Hells ordered those green imbeciles to ambush me! It sure as Baator was not their idea!"
Romon considers. Looks like cutting this joker loose wasn't all bright. I guess even smart guys make mistakes.
He slides partially behind Muchorak so that Morai-Thrune can't see him draw a dagger. The bonds of battle urge him to back Muchorak no matter what and the excitement and attraction of the bloody but successful campaign they've waged so far war with the old advice of his mentor Cearnis to always avoid violence and for Calistria's sake stay the f~*~ away from Hellknights and their friends. Can seven people keep a secret if we off this joker here?
Wellard:
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"You speak crudely, Chelaxian, in the manner of a social lesser, such as a dockworker or fishmonger." Marak warns. "Do not disrespect my companions, as they are neither 'barbarian' nor 'mutt.'"
"Attempt instead some of that cultivated sophistication your people are so reknowned for. You are far from your home, and we are not your servants."
"Who would want servants like these, priest of Nethys? Methinks that it is not I who am in the wrong here. You are all blinded by your own prejudice against my nation. When you look at me you see devil armies of Baathor and fail to see a man in front of you. Is that what you call honor? How did you think to extract information from that women over there? Shall you cut here with knives and burn here with fire until she speaks? Or will you let me enchant her and reveal the truth? Tell me, you noble defenders of justice, whom do you trust more: a devil when his word is given, or a demon when he smiles in your face and tells you what you want to hear? Decide quickly - I grow weary of this."
Surprisingly, the arrogant man's attempts at diplomacy do not seem to calm the small growling wolf at all...
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"We already did decide not to question her further. Hence the strip of cloth across her mouth, preventing her from speaking." Marak says. "Now stop arguing like an Andoran at a 'vote'" (this last said with some contempt) "and either follow along as we eradicate the last of these goblins, or get back in the closet and keep quiet until we are done."
"I have made my vow - and I intend to honor it. I think that you'll come to regret declining my generous offer of assistance. But no matter. If you know where the green bastards went, I'll be more than happy to follow you. Until they and their masters are dead, that is. And you, dog, stop growling. I can't wait to introduce you to some hell hounds that certain friends of mine keep..."
Aliwolf growls even more fiercely as she goes to leap at the insulting stranger. Fortunately though, Big Bear is quick enough to be able to grab the fur at the back of her neck just in time so that her fangs snap harmlessly inches from the man's face. At a stern look and slight shake of the head from her pack leader the furious Druid settles down but still glares at the man she had been hoping to sink her teeth into.
Then without further adieu, she moves off down the corridor after the fleeing goblins, bumping hard against the sharp-tongued man, almost knocking him down.
"When this is over, I just may get a new rug for my study... wolf pelt should do the job..." murmurs the aristocrat, before calling more loudly: "Wait, you fleabag! I must check if all of my equipment is still with me!"
After placing Wolfspirit back on the ground and her exit, Muchorak spits on the ground in front of the Devilman, pushes past him to follow Wolfspirit his weapons still in hands.
"Even the Devilmen lied to the face of their victims." Muchorak pauses and looks at the new comer, "Never again." and continues on his way.
"You have suffered some deep childhood trauma, haven't you? You do know what trauma means? No? Pity. Perhaps I'll introduce you to the meaning of word at some later date, when I finish with those goblins..." More louder. "I think that they haven't taken anything. Let's go. I thought that barbarian are strong and silent types. Asmodeus knows you all talk to much."
In their panicked flight the goblins did indeed drop Nathaniel's gear..it's all there.
The East door leads to a second smaller room with stairs back up to the surface level...you have no idea where the goblins went.
"Isn't it going to waste time if we chase half a dozen goblins" asks Kallie..
She lowers her voice to a whisper and speaks to Romon."Why is everyone wanting to hurt this man..he was a prisoner off the goblins and isn't the enemy of our enemy our friend?"
"Sometimes, not always." Thoughts of himself, the Scarnzi, and the Hellknights flash through his mind. "And they didn't trust her either." ~ waves at the female prisoner~ "Bring her along."
Romon starts to follow Ali and Muchorak after the goblins. " 'Scuse me, Morry." He says passing the newcomer on his way out.
Did he say his name was Thrune?
Aliwolf looks up to Big Bear, points her nose to the stairs, then back to the way they came from, then back up to Big Bear again, then seems to wait for some reply from him.
Nathaniel ignores the barbarian and follows the wolf. His formidable intellect was already devising suitable vengeance for both goblins and crude barbarians he was with.
Muchorak scowls as the Devilman passes, images flash of the ease of skewering this man, kneels down to Wolfspirit, "Care not for the ones that brought him in, let us finish this building first."
Nodding and giving Big Bear a lick of affection to his face, Ali turns back and lopes along the corridor, then waits before the last unopened door.
Seeing Muchorak and Ali stop, Romon does likewise. Guess we're not pursuing after all. He follows them back to the unopened (west?) door. Passing Nathaniel he says, "Thrune did you say your name was? Aren't they Chel wheels?"
Seeing Muchorak and Ali stop, Romon does likewise. Guess we're not pursuing after all. He follows them back to the unopened (west?) door. Passing Nathaniel he says, "Thrune did you say your name was? Aren't they Chel wheels?"
"I was adopted in the house. I bear no common blood with Majestrix. In fact, I am the only descendant of House Morai. Should I perish, my family name dies with me."
"We had one of those where I grew up too. She was hell with a whip."
"We had one of those where I grew up too. She was hell with a whip."
"Ahh... quite. I suppose that you can say the same thing for my Majestrix as well", answers Nathaniel, speaking very slowly.
Ok I got the map slightly wrong there..and the door the goblins came through was in fact a secret one..unfortunately I cant put maps up any more as the Paizo common use policy forbids the use of artwork or maps from the APs I will try and do something with a map making programe but it wont be pretty.
The eastern door from the room you descended into originally leads to a short corridor and a door..Ali sniffs..shows it to be clear and you open the door into a 10' square room.
The lower four feet of the walls in this empty room are covered with crudedrawings in mud, blood, and paint. Most of the drawings show goblins engaged in some sort of violence against humans, horses, or dogs. One picture on the north wall is at least three times the size and complexity of the other scrawlings. This image shows Thistletop from the side, the goblin stockade perched atop it like a crown. A cave has been drawn into the center of the image, and looming inside is what appears to be an immense,muscular goblin with snake-like eyes and a dogslicer in each taloned hand.
If the scale compared to the rest of the drawing is to be believed, this goblin must be at least thirty feet tall.
To Muchorak, in Shoan-ti
To Romon, in Varisian
To Inikai, in Varisian:
In Elvish:
Romon whistles at the mural. "That's one big goblin."