Might and magic, Lords of the Contested Lands

Game Master Chyrone

Well, getting to town takes a little longer than team Alexis to arrive. A few hours up and down.

Estelle cuts through the goo like a butcher does a piece of meat, already half way there. Cyan isn't looking forward to another impact from her big weapon.
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Sal (-20) looks at Brunhild.
"I might enjoy 'hobbying' with you more, later."

He makes a 2 slap combo with the flat of his blades at her.
Inflict nl: 1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 5 - 4 = 7Nl: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Inflict nl: 1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 5 - 4 = 131d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

The flat comes down on her temple, knocking out Brunhild.
He steps east into her square, looking at Daniel.

"You, though, not needed alive."
He turns to Cyan, "Get him."

Cyan moves south.
Sword: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 211d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Surprisingly, his swing is accurate, cutting Daniel to the point of near collapse.
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Astella & Daniel

1d2 ⇒ 1 !!

Astella and Estelle hear the sounds of hurried footsteps and shouting coming from the tunnels.
"That guy whose nose you bashed is over there with friends, an they're not mere goons!"

Daniel grunts, but resolves himself. If he fell, it would be in protecting others, he continued to hound Sal, keeping pace and leading with his blade. Running it into his side, he readies himself to make his last stand over Brunhild.

As he thrusts, he shouts.
The only hobbying you'll be doing is in a jail cell villain! Look at the bloodshed you've caused!

Daniel steps back, raising his shield, hoping that he can withstand the coming onslaught.

attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 1 = 20
damage: 1d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 1 = 12

Sal coughs up blood, as Daniel thrusts his sword through a weak spot of Sal's armor. With bloodied gritted teeth, he was now equally bad in shape as Daniel was.

"*cough*...you're one tenacious greenhorn, i'll give you that."

From the back, Daniel hears The Beard shout; "That's the right moment there, good one!"

Astella

(incoming)

Well, getting to town takes a little longer than team Alexis to arrive. A few hours up and down.

Every moment they stop to consider that is one less that they're fully focused! ;)

Astella hears Serena and Alexis coming and is relieved.

She starts singing a rousing tune to inspire everyone's courage

+1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Then she pulls out her broken bow to use as a club as she walks up behind Red to give Beard some flanking support.

At this level unfortunately starting a bardic performance is a standard action, so no attack.

Morale gets a boost, as Astella brings forth an Avlee poem about staving off ill fortune.

Some 50ft behind behind Estelle, Serena and friends arrive at the entrance of the tunnels.

Sal & friends, round 4

Roderick double moves, seeing Estelle trying to cut herself out of something.

Beard swings his sword at The Nose again.
Sword, inspired, flank, Power attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (18) + 6 + 1 + 2 - 1 = 26Dmg, power attack, inspired: 1d8 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 12
15 = 15
A sharp slash causing a serious wound, has The Nose hold his chest, as he starts getting woozy by the previous beating and the current hit. He passes out, but not before getting dealt another unnerving glare.

Beard nods at Astella, then proceeds to walk towards Cyan.

Green moves around, trying to get a better shot at Daniel, after seeing him deal a very mean one to Sal. "Sal, lean a bit to the right, will you." He aims the arrow as best he can right now, and lets it fly.
Arrow, PBS, soft cover: 1d20 + 3 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 3 + 1 - 4 = 18 Dmg: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
The shot is just well enough, to hit Daniel in the shoulder. Daniel passes out with the knowledge he gave Sal a severe beating the guy didn't get in a long time.

Stablize roll please.
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Serena double times closer, noticing Daniel on the ground.

Brunhild (unconscious)
Estelle
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Cyan (-13) & Sal (-32)
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Zoltan & Alexis
Daniel (unconscious at -1) & Astella

Inspired by Astella's song and Daniel's absolute beatdown of Sal despite going down, Estelle quickly cuts her other leg out of the goo.

With power attack and IC, Estelle's minimum damage with the dagger on the goo is 7. She automatically breaks free.

"Thank the gods. I'm *really* glad to see you guys!" Estelle says to Rodrik as he moves behind. "We freed the girl. She ran to get help. Two of them are hurt bad, one is down. Two of us are down too. The bearded swordsman is helping us." she continues, rapid-fire informing Rodrik and Serena of the situation, then runs foward towards her fallen friends, throwing the dagger on the ground in front of her and quickly recomposing her fighting stance.

Trusting the unknown swordsman and Serena's friends to have her back in case this went wrong, she quickly puts both Sal and the previously injured thug within striking distance of her polearm. That would make it harder for Sal to run away, and hopefully she could interfere in case he tried the hostage act again with either of her unconscious teammates.

Estelle cuts herself free, talks, then moves to the new position. Once there, she drops the dagger and re-wields her polearm.

Edit: Slightly edited above post where she moves, so that Sal can't run without withdrawing or provoking.

Sal still has cover from there, it's a tree, he can still flee unrestricted.

With the polearm girl freed and moving again, a fresh group of hostiles arriving, and the turncoat sellsword going down as well, fortune turns against Sal and his friends.

Sal: "Bail!"
Sal, being the sleazebag that he is, makes a run for it into the woods, leaving line of sight as he does.

Cyan takes a withdraw action, the two abandoning their archery buddy.
Cyan is 20ft off the map. Sal is 175 ft off the map, into currently unknown direction.

Zoltan arrives and tries swinging his sword at Green's legs.
Trip?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8, the guy avoids it in time.

Alexis sends a magic missile flying at the running cyan.
2d4 + 2 ⇒ (2, 3) + 2 = 7, it catches the running guy square in the back, and he drops, shoving leaves aside as he hits the ground.

Astella

run action has to be treated like a charge action, except you can run through difficult terrain ;) The sleazy boy. That is to say, straight line. Unless feats. "you find him stuck face first into a tree" sounds hilarious.

Dang it.. not... yet. As he falls to one knee, he manages to stick his blade in the ground so that he leans his weight on it, and doesn't face plant the ground as the world goes dark.

stabilize: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21 Oh come on!... Well, guess I can't complain. Its so thematic. If only was 5e XD.

And i have D&D High rollers on my TV right now. :)
Though, if as per charge, charging allows slight deviating from a straight line, by margins of either left or right as long as the movement allows.
At least, that's my experience with it.

Astella must have seen which way he ran, and she goes running after him.

The arrows point at which initial direction they ran to.

Astella leaps over The Nose's unconscious form and darts after Sal.

Astella's about 15ft off the map.
With him at a head start, we'll go into an obstacle/skills check chase.

Meanwhile, remaining combat can be handwaved, as essentially it's 2 groups vs 1 guy. Anyone who would like to chase after Sal as well, skill checks coming up in that case.

For the next two rounds, Serena uses 2 channels.
2d6 ⇒ (2, 6) = 8
Daniel's back up at 7/12, Brunhild is at 10/11.

Would you guys have used green as target practice, or capture him?

"Daniel! Brunhild!" Estelle cries, rushing towards them the moment Sal runs off.

She was just reaching towards Daniel when Astella storms off after said thug on her own. "Oh gods. No!"

Caught in precious indicision, she looks between her fallen friends and the one who was still running. There were only moments to decide. "Serena... " she says, taking one of the daggers from Daniel's body to replace hers. She could have said a lot of things to the dwarven woman then. Was 'sorry' applicable? "...I trust you. Please take care of them! And thank you too, sir Sword guy. I'd like to talk, but I can't let her go alone."

She nods to their mysterious savior as well and begins running after Astella, hopefully before Sal got her by herself.

I don't know who's carrying the masterwork dagger we found but if it's on either Brunhild, Daniel or myself, I'll take it with me in case we run into Sal. Which checks do I need to roll to catch up to Astella and perhaps Sal?

I say capture, but I'm not there, and wouldn't be heartbroken if someone else feels differently. My question is whether he will then count as a "missing contestant" with the reward for evidence of his fate. :D

XD "We'd like to report another group missing! Here's their scalps - now where's our reward?" That aside, Estelle doesn't stick around to see what happens to the archer.

If Daniel was conscious, he would advocate capture.

Regaining consciousness just before Estelle disappears into the treeline, Daniel glances around, seeing everyone was more or less safe, before giving a nod towards Serena and Brunhild.

I'm glad you are okay, I trust you to clean up the rest, capture them and have them ready for transport.

And with that, he rushes off into the brush, tailing Estelle.

Thoroughly injured and very much unconscious, Brunhild lay in a pool of her own blood. Luckily the wound was not immediately fatal.

Not sure if you saw that Serena healed you, but good bleeding-out-while-my-friends-bail scene. :) ... Also, Daniel, if you want to get the healing from Serena you have to wait two rounds I believe.

I figured it went down as follows- Estelle moves and steals Daniel's dagger, Serena moves up and heals, Estelle runs off, Serena heals, Daniel runs. So a round or two behind.

Ah, makes sense. I wasn't thinking about her taking the dagger from you. Didn't know where it was.

I figured it went down as follows- Estelle moves and steals Daniel's dagger...

For the record, I would prefer to take the dagger we found in the ruins over one of yours. It probably is on either you or me as the 'mules'. The problem is... I have no idea on which. And at worst, I'm only borrowing it because it's an emergency, you were unconscious and I lost mine in the fight. I hope it's not that big of a deal?

The Beard & Alexis' team would advocate capture, for purposes of interrogation & teaching him a lesson (humiliation?), but it's up to you, as you've done the most fighting.

This'll be a lengthy post, please bear with me. We'll keep initiative from combat, so the order of their moving:
Estelle, Sal, Astella & Daniel.

Terrain will be slightly varied, so beyond 100ft, movement is double move distance only. Sal has a decent con, he'd otherwise outrun you.
Assuming off the map edge marks [Start], beyond 100ft, checks are rolled. Before 100ft, you can run as normal.
I've added a runner's table for visuals.

Checks: Passing the check = double move as normal.
An extra 5ft movement for that turn is gained, for every +5 by which you beat the DC.
Nat 20? = something favorable happens that gives another 15ft movement bonus in distance for that turn.
Not passing = something holds your advancement.
If Sal is 170ft ahead of the closest party member chasing him, at the end of the round, he would shake you off. This could be a true chase, or if things go poorly for Sal, a quick Game Over.

Starting from the round at which Estelle gives chase from Brunhild's position: (round 2, as round 1 was combat where Sal and Astella ran)

Estelle runs, advances 40ft on the table.
1d20 ⇒ 13, Sal moves past trees, knowing he's being followed, by a previous glance over his shoulder.
Daniel is healed to +1 via channel. Gets up and moves to just before the start.

Astella advances to the 100ft border, at which double move area begins.

Estelle would reach the border at round 3, Daniel would reach the border at round 4. Astella reaches the border on round 2.
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Round 4, check 1 onwards for Astella & Estelle.
Round 4, check 1 onwards for Daniel,

Let's see what we get from these rounds first.

Those not giving chase, go ahead with posting as you would normally would, and that will resolve as usual.

On what to do with the prisoners, I think at least half of us already stated somewhere we prefer capture? Estelle would lean towards execution for Sal as their leader and the one who did all this, but capture for the other bandits as his men.

As first, it seemed like an impossible task, catching up to Sal when he already had that much of a head start. Plus, Estelle was weighed down by both her armor and a *very heavy* concrete tile along with assorted junk somewhere in her backpack.

But then she thought of how he held Sally at knifepoint and his vile remark hinting at 'using' Brunhilde later. He'd probably had similar designs for most of them. In her mind, there was no redeeming someone like him. The moment he got away, he'd go after the next girl. Or form the next band of thugs, where'd he'd start to abuse the innocent all over again. He reminded her of Kirrus - someone who abused their power without any regards to those around him.

She'd taken that in stride for too long once.

Not again!

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26 Sweet! She knows her moments to peak :)

In a burst of rage-fueled adrenaline, she runs faster than she'd ever done, easily picking up his trail and the telling blood spatters that went along with it. He was heavily injured, too, after all.

"Astella! This way!" she calls to the elf as she zooms further on the trail...

Edited previous post.
Run is limited to 4x speed, as a full round, as far as unhindered terrain is concerned.
By my calc, (encumbrance dismissed) you are at the border, currently, on the end of your round 3.
Round 1: gather Daniel's knife.
Round 2: Run off the map, to +40 on the table. You started 40ft before the end of the map.
Round 3: Run action to the terrain border transition. The transition into other terrain will cut off remaining run movement, for that purpose. You are 45ft behind Sal, at +100ft.
You will advance 55ft on round 4, with that nice nat 20. The nat 20 would not stack with the every 5 increases movement.

Astella Round 3

Daniel knows he isn't going to catch up to Sal, but the others might. And if the others did, they may need his help. He breaks through the trees, merely hoping to keep pace. His main goal was to be there within seconds if something happened with Estelle or Astella.

survival: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (19) - 1 = 18

Check 1 (Survival): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 (fail)
Check 2 (Perception): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16 (pass by 5)
Check 3 (Perception): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23 (pass by 10)
Check 4 (Acrobatics): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 (pass by 9)
Check 5 (Climb): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13 (pass by 1)
Check 6 (Reflex Save): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 (fail)
Check 7 (Knowledge Nature): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 (pass by 10)

perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (9) - 1 = 8 fail
perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (17) - 1 = 16 pass
acrobatics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23 pass by 10
Climb: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21 pass by 10
reflex: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 Nat 20
knowledge: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10 Pass

Daniel does better than he thought he would in his dash, perhaps guided by a hand of something beyond him.

Adding the other checks for speed as asked.

perception dc 11: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23 Pass by 10
perception dc 13: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 Pass
Acrobatics DC 13: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (1) - 3 = -2
Climb DC 13: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4
Reflex DC 13: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Knolwedge Nature dc 10: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (9) - 1 = 8

After the second perception check, she dramatically fails all the checks. Ouch. Back to her normal low rolls I guess; was hoping for something higher than nat 1, 3, 5 and 6 :( Suppose I'm out of the race unless I catch up to him by the third check.

Well, those nat 20s certainly were useful.

The team races after Sal, navigating through bushes, slopes, forest pathways and avoiding a hive of giant fire spitting insects.

Sal's doing okay-ish, but has a double run in with one of the insects.
Several times he sees one of his chasers come very close. At some point he hits his head on a branch and, through multiple delaying events, now finds Daniel passing him by 5ft, running a parallel to him.

"Disappointing you're actually up and running."
Daniel notices Sal's vest being wet, as if liquid had splattered across it while he ran.

Like a marathon runner spilling water.

Daniel, as you gained on him, even passed him, you can make a CMB check to tackle him with a +2 bonus for being ahead of him.
Otherwise the chase will continue.

Get him, Daniel!

You've got this!

We're counting on you...no pressure!

[Holding up banner: Daniel, Daniel, Daniel]

idk guys, with what happened earlier, this dudes CMD is purdy high.... but its Daniel, there is no way he can screw this up.

Just as surprised as Sal to find himself having caught up to the man, he stutters a bit before saying.

Yes, I've been told I'm irritably persistent. Its one of my better traits. Before pivoting and trying to shoulder barge the man into a tree, or the dirt. Whichever happened first.

Daniel used tackle!: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 4 + 2 = 17

Charge him for +2? :)

if allowed sure, I don't think I have 10ft of movement though haha.

This is a free CMB during the move action. Charging is slightly different.

While gaining on Sal, passing him close by, Daniel suddenly shifts to his left, an elbow aimed at Sal's flank.

"Wha...", and only on the last moment, is the man able to avoid getting shoved against a tree.

Estelle slows down(?), the three others already out of sight. Astella, however, is still but 50ft behind Sal.

The chase continues.

Nope, chase is over.

As Sal escapes Daniel's proximity, he takes a turn to the right, but trips over a tree root and hits his head.
Takes 1 nl, he is now staggered and prone.

Sal's at your mercy. What are you guys going to do with him?

breathing heavily, Daniel moves up to Sal and drawing his blade as he does and places the tip of his blade near Sal's neck.

I told you, a single scratch, and nothing would keep me from you. Best you stay down there for now.

He pauses to glance up as Astella quickly catches up, before looking back down to Sal.
You'll face justice for your action, and perhaps, you will have time to reflect on your behavior...How many others have you killed out here?

survival, tracking at slower pace: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

While it had first gone well, Estelle trips shortly after beginning the chase, and afterwards it feels like everyone that could have gone wrong, went wrong. She's unable to make the climb up a hill, lands hard on the ground, tumbles down the hill shortly afterwards, gets a bunch of cobwebs stuck in her hair as a freebie and lands near a magic-infused giant hornet nest, the guardians of which immediately shoot fire at her and hit her succesfully as she scrambles to run away.

At that moment, she didn't exactly feel backed by the goddess of luck.

Worse however, was that she was also completely unable to find the trails of either Sal, Astella or Daniel after getting back up the hill.

Left with no other option than hope the others did a better job, she begins the long walk of uncertainty and shame back to where's she'd come from, wondering if the other teams were still at the site, and what was happening there now...

I figure that rolling that low on the chase and the tracking roll above means Estelle got seperated from the others and is unable to find her way back to them. I'll try and head back to the other groups or town. That said, thanks for taking so much effort to set up the chase scene, Chyro. Cool mechanics!

;)

Sal sees a blurry Daniel.
"None, greenhorn. Personal or otherwise.
Though you bunch made sure i almost did. You can blame that dwarf."

He tries raising his head, but is still too woozy.
"And see how long i'll be in jail.", he grins, before ceasing to struggle against a dizzy state.

"World's a sorry state, when even sellswords turn at the one paying their wages. Pretty sure he'll be disgraced when word gets out about it."

With both advocating capture, the following.

And so, Daniel and Astella drag/carry an incapacitated Sal back to the scene of the fight where everyone else is waiting.

The Nose has been hogtied with his own belt and pants. Seemingly The Beard and Zoltan get similar ideas for improvisation. Green's been sitting against a tree, guarded by Brunhild and nearby allies.

At the sight of Sal being brought in, Zoltan laughs.
"The fox has been caught."

What will it be from here on?
Or was there planned conversation before bringing him back?

Having regained consciousness, Brunhild sat with her back against a tree, with bow in hand, and glared at Sal as he was brought in. "Got to decide what to do with ye. Mind explain' what ye meant to do with me when ye thought that ye were gonna win?"

Intimidate - if looks could kill: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

Just to be clear, she advocated capture for the others. This guy is different--he's the evil boss, and she wants him dead. She won't say it out loud or try to do anything about it personally, because she doesn't want to be a cold-hearted murderer, but she would have cast a spell at him as he seemed to be getting away, and if she had had a chance to end him before Daniel got there she might have.

Before they head back she searches him and takes anything that he has, save his clothing (and if it is valuable she takes it too, except his underclothes.

When they get back to the others she says

He's been spouting threats the whole way back about how he won't be in jail long, and how the sellsword that turned on him is going to be disgraced. Personally, I'm thinking we should respect his life as much as he respected Sally's, and let this guy escort him back to town.

She indicates Beard.

She then starts loading all of the stuff she had left on the ground back up, unless Beard or the other group want the extra giant tile that they don't need anymore.

Daniel gives a small look of contention when Sal is put unconscious. But doesn't stop Astella from removing his weapons.

Once back with the others Daniel gives a sigh and speaks up, before Sal is awoken.

He had the chance to kill, or seriously injure Sally when the fight kicked off. A fair amount of time, Yet he did not. I'm not defending him, just reminding people of that fact. He might be a scoundrel, but perhaps there isn't only spite and bile in him. He glances towards the Beard, offering a soft smile.

Thank you for your aid. I'm not sure how the fight would have swung if you had sided with Sal as well.. You have done work and been around him more. What kind of man is he? Do you think there is anything good left in him?

He pauses for a moment, then extends an arm in a handshake.

Ah, the name is Daniel, Daniel Cedric Rose.

”He didn’t kill his human shield. And he threatened to keep me alive to have fun with me later, after he killed ye.” Brunhild said. ”Those are facts as well. There may be more than spite and bile in him. But that isn’t to say that there’s anything good in there either.”

Got to decide what to do with ye. Mind explain' what ye meant to do with me when ye thought that ye were gonna win?"

Sal lifts his head for a more focused look. The glare he got from Brunhild makes him consider his words.

"I'm afraid i'm in too bad of a state, to get too much into that.
It would take one day of your time, and you'd be out all dandy, on the street again the next morning."

Astella confiscates what gear Sal was carrying, and that of his two comrades as well.

When they get back to the others she says

He's been spouting threats the whole way back about how he won't be in jail long, and how the sellsword that turned on him is going to be disgraced. Personally, I'm thinking we should respect his life as much as he respected Sally's, and let this guy escort him back to town.

She indicates Beard.

The Beard nods. "It would be a pleasure.", and without reservation, he chops Sal on the back of his neck with his hand, then heaving the unconscious man over his shoulder.

He glances towards the Beard, offering a soft smile.

Thank you for your aid. I'm not sure how the fight would have swung if you had sided with Sal as well.. You have done work and been around him more. What kind of man is he? Do you think there is anything good left in him?

He pauses for a moment, then extends an arm in a handshake.

Ah, the name is Daniel, Daniel Cedric Rose.

The guy holds out his free hand and firmly grips Daniel's hand.

"This sorry excuse for a human being had it coming. Your blonde friend over there, as he makes a short nudge with his head towards Estelle, summed it up right. Wouldn't have needed to hear it to do what needed to be done, but it's funny to hear regardless."

"Can't say i've been around the guy long enough to know if he's all slime or some decency is in him.
We've been contracted to accompany him to the isle, and help in obtaining items needed. Doesn't mean we have to like the person who pays for the contract, nor apply their tactics, but higher up assigns people to contracts, this was a lower end one.
But i've seen his type before. You see his sort often with either connections, or with ties to nobility, or being a child of such."

"As far as disgraced goes, it's possible. But someone would have to get that word over to the higher ups, to have any effect. Insubordination isn't high on their favorable actions list."

He in turn gets a look over at Daniel.
"And you, you got the look of a soldier or guardsman about you.
What's your story?"

Hearing him over, and after Brunhilds words Daniel nods his head.

"Perhaps, but I agree he should be taken back. I would not play judge, jury and executioner.. He claims to have not killed anyone, at least not on the island. Though I'm not sure how much you can trust his word. Even if he spoke true, there are many more ways one may harm another... Its also likely someone like him may have already made a name for himself. If anything, those he harmed directly should have the final say on his fate."

Daniel shakes his head when Markus mentions he may actually be punished for his actions.

"It would be a sad day for one to be punished for doing the right thing. Though, I suppose to some, making coin is the right thing... One of the reasons mother always said mercenary work was only for those with cold hearts... As for me, I was both. I learned how to fight largely from my mother, fiery as she is. Leader of the guard taught me to shoot a bow decently, how to fight as a group, and a little bit of discipline. Not long after that, I joined the military to fight in the war...

He seems to pause momentarily before continuing.
"I mostly worked as an aide, and only saw actual combat three times but, that was more than enough. They always said I never had the proper awareness a true soldier needs though." He chuckles a little bit as he says the last part.

Astella is content leaving Sal's fate in Markus' hands.

She looks over at Alexis, quirking her mouth into a half-smile.

Sorry we lost you back there, and THANK YOU so much for coming to help. Are you guys ready to head back?