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Gunnar stands raising his hands slowly and says because Robert's brother was taken by a druid whose animal friend was killed by his younger brother and not by Bonita and Bonita was invaluable in finding said boy and returning him safely. She gave her word to help and the boys life as well as the dogs stolen from our town were all held and again without her may have died. She also returned with me by word to this place with a different story then those who wish to charge her with a crime speak. As a Paladin of Abadar I have my word to her that if she helped me save the boy I would assist her. I have honored the code in all it's tenents.
Gunnar then states plainly: I will always protect the innocent, by helping them protect themselves where I can and stepping in personally where I cannot.
- I will always act with honor and honesty. I cannot truly represent my faith if people cannot put their faith in me.
- I respect all lawful authority and understand that different places have laws that I may not agree with, but work for those who reside within. If a law is unlawful, I will work to the best of my ability to show them a better law or way.
- I am a protector of the roadways and keep travelers from harm. No matter their destinations or goals, if they are peaceable and legitimate travelers who harm no others on the road, I will ensure that they pass safely.
- Bandits are a plague. Under my will they come to justice. If they will not come willingly before the law, where they can protest for justice in the courts, they will come under the power of my sword.
- Corruption in the courts is the greatest corruption of civilization. Without confidence in justice, citizens cannot believe in their countries, and civilization begins to disappear. I will root out corruption wherever I find it, and if a system is fundamentally flawed, I will work to aid citizens by reforming or replacing it.
- I am an aid to the markets. I ensure equitable trade between merchants and citizens. Theft on either side is intolerable.
- I make opportunities, and teach others to recognize them. When I aid others, I open the way for them, but will not carry them—they must take responsibility.
Euda remains quiet as she watches the scene unfold between Gunnar and the nasty man who apparently shared his faith. How someone as kind, and handsome, as Gunnar could be a part of the same church as him she could not understand. Still, she knew that, for the time being at least, it wasn’t her place to insert herself in the conversation.
At Pumpherus
Maria could tell that Brus wasn't happy to their successful return, though Maria was thankful that at the least it wasn't someone being upset of her presence there, "Tri...Tricia," she fumbled the words, forgetting the name of the dog for a few moments, "Tricia should be fine, though he might be a little wild for a bit. I'm sure he will find his back with you, pleasant."
”Oh I’m sure he’ll be right as rain, now that he has his pillows, and his rings, and his nummy-nums. Thank you ever so much for finding him and bringing him home. Brus? Brus, there you are man! Please step into my sitting room and bring out that purse I put together with the reward money I promised these good people for my dear Tricia’s safe return.”
Brus knuckles his forehead and goes inside, returning a few minutes later to hand you a small leather purse with jingling coins inside.
”One hundred gold coins, as promised,” Mrs. Pumpherus says.
”The guilty always have a story to tell, and a paladin of Abadar should know better than to be fooled by such a tale. Her guilt is certain or she never would have been convicted by an Abadarian judge. Whatever extenuating circumstances she has engineered to curry favour will have no impact on that.”
Finches reaches over to the table to grab a pair of manacles and tosses them to Gunnar. ”Now, are you going to obey an order issued from the upper levels of jurisprudence and clap her in irons, or are you going to be joining her on the gallows?”
”Sir Gunnar,” Bonita says, ”You have kept your word and I mine, and honour has been satisfied. Do not fret over what is beyond your control. One way or another, I will fly free.”
She presents her wrists for the manacles.
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I told you Sir I respect all lawful authority and I do. However, without confidence in justice there is no law. Authority by itself is not law or justice and Abadar is above all. Bring someone who can detect lies to hear her testimony concerning her crimes and Use spells. The first words I learned of the oath are that I will protect the innocent. If she is guilty when one proves it then I will put these irons upon her as is the right of justice and law, without which there is no civilization. The written testimony from men hundreds of miles away and coin speak louder then an examination for truth here and now? Gunnar says taking the irons from the hands and holding them for a moment as he speaks.
Now Gunnar holds up his holy symbol to the air and calls out if any soul through words or actions does injustice or breaks the law under the guise of Abadar without doing their best to uphold the Code may he be judged by Abadar. the inner peace of belief and steadfastness light upon Gunnar's face as he says this
Abadar wills it!
At Pumpherus
Maria had a feeling there was a bit more but couldn't figure things out. She wasn't someone for faces, used more to people being rather cold to her. With one hundred gold coins, it could relatively easily be shared between all five of them, at least knowing that the value of even just twenty would be well enough for several days' worth of meals. This was not to mention room and boarding for anywhere they wanted to go, something Maria thought about herself.
"Thank you Missus Pumpherus, we'll take this reward and use it well amongst us."
Euda doesn’t understand the two men’s faith enough to follow the nuances of their disagreement, but she knows enough to be impressed by the way Gunnar insists on real justice. Taking a step to the side, to make sure that she has a clear shot at the mean man on the off chance things go south, she watches the other man’s face to see how much he’s even listening to Gunnar.
Fezzan takes the purse, and can't help but peek insides. He lets out a low whistle at the sight of all the coins. "Thank you kindly Mrs Pumpherus. You let us know if you need help with anything else."
Charge successfully returned, Fezzan is happy to bid his farewells and head back to town.
Fezzen’s whistle catches slightly as he sees platinum where he expected gold, and a bit more than 100 of them.
”And justice is not justice if one can simply flee to a neighbouring town and retry their case all over again. The issue of guilt and innocence has already been dealt with by another recognized court, and just because you think she is innocent of anything is irrelevant to your duty to uphold the decisions of the higher court!”
Bonita moves to stand between the two men. ”Gunnar, are you satisfied that I have maintained my end of our agreement? I accompanied you, aided you where I could, and returned to be placed in the lawful custody?”
Euda frowns at the direction the conversation has headed, but she follows Gunnar's lead in not pushing back against what seems so unfair.
Bonita doesn't seem worried at all, and she already escaped once... I wonder if she's just doing this for Gunnar's sake, so he can fulfill his word, and then maybe she'll just escape again... I hope that's what she's doing...
"Thank you, Bonita... for everything."
"Good, now if that's the payment let's get along and out of here so can figure out what to do next," Maria speaks to Fezzen, already on her way out towards the rest of town. As nice as the manor and its master was, it was too much for her to bare.
"I'm sure Euda and Gunnar are waiting for us."
While hardly apposed up-charging out-of-towners, Fezzan can't quite bring himself to rook the locals, especially little old ladies that call him 'Fuzzy'.
Seeing the colour of the coin, he speaks up, "Unless you're truely as generous as they say, ma'am, I think this might be a slight over payment."
He brings the purse over to Mme. Pumpherus to show her the coins.
Mrs. Pumpherus peeks into the purse and exclaims, ”Oh my! How embarrassing! Brus, you brought the wrong purse! I could have sworn I put these coins in the purple velvet bag, not a wash leather. My you are such an honest young man!”
Brus snatches the purse rather vehemently and soon returns with the same purse, this time holding 100 gold coins. Pumpherus reaches into her sewing bag sitting next to her on the ground and retrieved an additional 20 gold coins, which she presses into Fezzen’s hand. ”Here’s a little something more for your honesty and diligence, Mr. Fuzzy.”
As the manacles clank onto her wrists, Bonita offers a small smile, then turns to Finchus and declares, ”Very well. I am now in your custody and your responsibility.”
”Indeed,” Finchus says, keeping his crossbow trained on the wild savage. ”Sheriff, please see to it that a wagon is readied as soon as possible to transport the prisoner on to Crossbridge. As for Sir Gunnar, your actions here will be reported to the magistrate, and we shall see what fruit they bear.”
Finchus leads Bonita into a cell and slams the door closed behind her, as the Burgomeister heads out to prepare a wagon.
Maria watched as Fezzan told the truth of the content of what was inside. It amazed her that a total in coin like that was allowed to be given out in the first place for a job like this, especially by mistake. More so, she was surprised that Fezzen decided to be a bit more than she thought of him, getting rewarded for it as she waited to leave. She pushed back Jervis who wanted out of her cloak as she waited to leave.
"Well then Fezzen, I'm surprised at such honesty. It would have been terrible if we walked away with so much."
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Gunnar lets the man have the last statement having nothing more to say on the matter and walks out of the jail not liking the taste in his mouth at all and saying we still need to meet with the druid and Leeka to decide what is just with this as well. It seems I must pray much at the church of Abadar here on this. I have done all I thought was right. It is... Difficult to change such hierarchy when they refuse to listen.
Fezzan thanks Mrs. Pumpherus profusely, and gladly takes the honesty bonus. With his good deed for the month done, he and Maria head back to town.
"Well terrible might a bit strong of a word, but it's not like she wouldn't have noticed the mistake. I'm not going to lie, a part of me weighed the option of just taking it and heading off to start a new life somewhere."
He takes out 10gp of the bonus coins and passes them to Maria. "Besides, I'm sure you would have done the same thing, though who's to say about the others."
He hefts the reward purse, "Still, we'd best go find the them to divvy out the spoils of our dog rescue and see see about that other reward."
Maria smiled believe it or not as the two walked away from Mrs. Pumpherus's home. She'd let Jervis out, fluttering out to her shoulder as she walked with Fezzan, "Would I have done the same, I don't know?"
"With that much coin, I could finance a small cottage. Move away from this muddy town and set up my own little study far away, but then, why stay in one place," she says with a breath, "Where would you go?"
Euda frowns sympathetically as Gunnar shares his unease. "I won't pretend to understand all the nuances of your faith," she offers, "but if it's any consolation, I suspect that if--or when--the system fails her, Bonita will still get her freedom. She did escape once before after all..."
She thinks for a moment about asking if they should go find the others before looking for Leeka, but decides that her and Gunnar are perfectly capable of handling it without the distractions of the others. So, she leads the way to the druid's house.
"Where would I go? Anywhere but here." Fezzan stares off to the horizon. "Pick a direction and keep on going, I guess. The world is full of wondrous sights and places. Maybe visit the world's great cities? Set up a little trade enterprise to fund the travels, perhaps?"
"Anything's got to be better than mopping floors and scrubbing tables."
Maria let the coins fall into her hand, looking at them glisten in her hands. Traveling the world, discovering things, "Fezzen... would you like to come with me then. We can leave this town, get out of here, I doubt no one would care that much if we did, save the very few."
"It wouldn't be a partnership, nothing like that. We could just take off with Gunnar, leave with them, see the world. I'm sure pooled together we could make a decent start off with it," she says continuing to walk with him down the way back to town, the cold coins still in her hand.
Fezzan frowns, deep in thought.
"You know what?" He says slowly. "Let's do it. I don't know how far this will get us, but it's more gold than I've ever seen before. Auguster is a kind master, but I'll never get anywhere if I stay working at the Public House."
"You watch my back, I'll watch yours, and let's see where the road takes us."
He holds out his hand. "Deal?"
Maria partially smiles, a rarity, accepting Fezzan's hand to accept the deal, "Deal then," she responds, Jervis making a small sound as the two made their pact together to leave town. He was the roguish type, not someone you'd think to trust, but he did have a decent knack for word that she liked enough.
"Now let us head to town. Meet with Eudamonia and Gunnar. They'll likely want their cut in this as well, only fair."
Euda and Gunnar find Leeka at the same place you found her before: sitting at a table at Everbloom with a pot of tea before her.
"Um... hi, Leeka," Euda greets her friend with an unusual amount of anxiety.
gosh, now that we're with her I'm not entirely sure what we're supposed to be talking to her about... it was something about getting justice for both druids of the other druids, but we've already turned them both over to different officials, so I'm not sure what advice she could give now... I can't just stand here and say nothing, though, I'll look like an idiot in front of Gunnar...
The young girl proceeds to recount what they learned about the disappearances, and the dark ritual, and Bonita's apparent innocence, and the fact that they had handed both druids over to different authorities. Then she leans closer and whispers, "and the flowers started talking back to me, out loud. I'll show you later." She looks to her traveling companion, who's been strangely silent since leaving Bonita, then clears her throat and asks the druid, "we did the right thing, didn't we? The druid who tried to kill Robert's brother will get the justice she deserves, and maybe the guy who Gunnar talked to, or someone else that he will talk to in the future, will be able to get Bonita a new, fairer trial? What else could we have done?"
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Gunnar looks at Euda for a long moment and continues to walk more quiet then she has seen him in a long time and he says I came so full of answers and feeling the faith I grew up with just and this situation has brought many questions of the leadership of my faith and that perhaps in their abiding belief in law they have forgotten the first Tennet which is there for reason. Protect the innocent.
When they arrive at Leeka's Gunnar again looks at Euda for a long moment and then Leeka with quiet you have not seen much in him before and then he says I cannot place an animal life above that of the boy, and I feel just in protecting his life and returning him. The dogs here are property but assist such lives. If I was the judge I would fine the boy for destruction of property and repay the cost to replace the lost companion and I would charge the druid with theft and kidnapping, assault by mutilation, and attempted murder and I believe they may seek further charges if pressured by the family. I did tell the druid I would speak on her behalf and again I will because she lost a treasured companion.
Leeka blinks under the verbal assault, a bemused smirk into her tea cup. ”The Church of Abadar has long held those of the Green Faith in contempt, so not surprising that one of their courts might railroad someone like Bonita. Don’t lose that optimism, Gunnar: you may be just now coming to realize the level of corruption within the Church of Abadar, but that optimism will be what you need to keep it from infecting you yourself.”
”As for destruction of property, a Druid’s wolf companion is much more than a pet: the two essentially share one soul, or rather, a construct of two souls intertwined. That being said, it is highly unlikely that her wolf was a simple dumb beast. Whether one approves of the ‘civilized’ notion of ‘keeping sheep’, one must obey the laws of the land, which I guess is my way of saying that that wolf was equally responsible for what went down.”
”Mallia never really understood what balance is all about. Sometimes I think she took the vows to the Green Faith more to annoy her parents than any true devotion to our beliefs, which is why I stopped mentoring her. I had hoped some time in the Verduran would straighten her out, but clearly she just embraced their xenophobic ways.”
As Euda and Gunnar silently take in Leeka’s lengthy statements, she sips her tea and breaks off a piece of strawberry scone. ”I see your friends coming in to town. I guess I should make my way to the MacIntyre farm and tend to Benji’s wounds, that is, if they’ll still let a druid under their roof.”
She finishes her tea and vacates the table as Maria and Fezzen make their way over. Before you can exchange any more than a hello, Tomos comes around from behind the cathedral and warily steps over to your group, a stuffed backpack over his shoulder.
”So…are we good or do I need to make a run for it?” he whispers, dispensing with any pleasantries.
Maria came down back into town with Fezzen, taking a deep breath as she got back into the persona of the black sheep of this miserable town. At least she wouldn't stay there long, and at least in her mind good company as well. The half elf would exhale, speaking up as she spotted Tomos, "I would hold the thought before you head towards the border and out of Taldor."
Fezzan shrugs, "I won't rat you out Tomos, but who's to say what the end result of the investigation will be. It might be safest to actually do a spot of fishing or camping until we see how this all shakes out. One way or the other, I expect that it will be all sorted out soon."
To the others, Fezzan pats the coin purse at his hip and says, "Mrs. Pumpherus settled her account, let's find a bit privacy and divvy the spoils. No need to flash coin and in street, but it sounds like Gunner might need some running money right quick."
”Thanks,” Euda meekly calls to Leeka as she sets out to care for the wounded boy.
She listens to the conversation quietly until there’s a silence after Gunnar’s principled declaration during which she asks, ”did anyone say anything about Tomos to any authorities? Honestly, after everything that happened, I forgot he’d even been connected to any of this.”
"I don't believe anyone has. For all we know Tomos you are in the clear. The real issue of course being your sister. Her helping us has put her far too much in the limelight..." Maria spoke before looking towards Gunnar and Euda, teeth gently biting at her lower lip. She didn't seem at all to like how this was going for them, "So this is how the church of Abadar pays back the faithful for good deeds. What's the plan now?"
A commotion arises down the end of the street as Bonita is escorted out of the jail towards the wagon-cage. Tomos looks at each of you in turn, makes some sort of decision, and pulls out an odd yellow cap from his pack. Putting it on his head, he slowly saunters towards his half-sister.
The cohortes leads the manacled druid up onto the wagon bed. Before he can close the door to the cage, however, Bonita nods towards her half-brother. A few members of the gathering crowd gasp as she suddenly morphs into a hawk, manacles falling to the wagon bed, and takes to the sky.
Euda grins broadly as Bonita flies away. “What do you know,” she quietly quips to her companions, “the druid who escaped her unjust captivity once before has somehow managed to do it again.”
Looking around at the unamused townsfolk, she quickly hides her smile. “It seems unlikely you’ll be collecting any reward for her now…” she remarks to Gunnar.
"At least we have the other druid locked up at the least," Maria looked up with a smirk, her familiar Jervis looking at Bonita as well, now flying away in the form of a hawk, flying away high in the sky, "To think that she could have done that at any time as too. Huh..."
Euda nods at Gunnar’s words. Then she turns to Fezzan whose words seem to have been forgotten and asks, “did you have some place in mind? We could go to Sir Eustace’s but it’s kind of out of the way…”
Fezzan's mouth drops open at the display. "She could do that?!" When the initial shock wears off, he adds, "Well that would have been really helpful back at the tower..."
To Euda he says, "That's as good a place as any. We don't really need to be sneaky about it, but would rather not have everyone in town know how much gold I have in my pockets."
At the edge of Lyon's Brook, a man dressed in the green and blue of the Taldan Phalanx sits astride a trotting horse. The man has curly black hair that falls down to his shoulders, framing a face darkened by years in the sun. A strong-looking bow is strung across his back, and two blades (one short and one long) sit comfortably in their sheathes at his side. The horse looks like it may be a cross between the Taldan jennet and the Al-Zabriti shissah, with a slim frame and a high-arched tail, and a wide forehead with a thin ring of black, hairless skin around its eyes. Walking alongside the horse and the man, and stopping to smell (and occasionally mark) the trees that they pass, is a small wolf with a thin, gray-beige coat. The wolf's ears are longer than those seen in Taldor's forests, and its head smaller, giving the impression that it is not from Taldor.
"Well, Dhiib, Hisan, we're almost home," he announces to the horse and wolf. He rubs the horse's neck and gives him a light pat, while the wolf looks up at its name, tongue lolling out of its mouth as he pants lightly. "You'll like Lyon's Brook. Fewer slings and arrows. Easier food. Just don't--" the man looks sternly down at the wolf, "--even think about trying to eat one of Mr. Livianus' sheep. Or any chickens." The wolf's ears go up, looking completely innocent.
"I wonder if Mrs. Pollio still owns the stable," he muses aloud. "A question for after we've seen mother, isn't that right, Hisan?" The horse snorts and shakes his head. "Ah, you're right. Let's hurry up. Hyah!"
And after years away, Benjamin Regalianus shakes the reins of his horse and urges him into a canter to cover the remaining distance to get into town. He was home.