James Hannady's page

Hannady nods "I've heard they love you at the Badger." He smiles and nods. "It's been good to see you. Especially you, Kazador." He nods approvingly at the dwarf's fine-looking armor and weapons. "You've come up in the world."

Hannady nods to Mel. "Yes apparently someone in authority was pleased with how I handled a certain..." he looks around and lowers his voice "sensitive situation and ambush you may recall..." then resumes speaking normally "So I was offered a position as a guard captain in Helm It seemed like too much to me but my wife wouldn't let me say no." He smiles fondly at the memory.

Considering carefully Mel's argument, he nods slowly "Alright, but I would like to assign them a guard escort. We get half-orcs from time to time but they are not thought well of by most. Full orcs in traditional warrior garb are going to make a much stronger impression..." Hannady selects one of his men to take the first shift accompanying you. "So where are you heading now?"

The orcish crew indeed draw a great deal of attention as the Concordat ship pulls into harbor. It seems word has spread because as you are walking off the dock, a half-dozen guardsmen approach you. Their captain is a stern-looking middle aged man with his hand on his hilt who strides toward you with a purpose. But when he sees Mel and Kazador, his face relaxes somewhat as it is captain James Hannady, the same man who gave Kazador his first job of his rehabilitation helping Hannady escort Mel safely to the Bishop where she could testify of the Concordat's actions at Brookside. His stern expression is replaced by a raised eyebrow. "You two seem to get into the most... interesting... situations... What are all these savages doing walking about in Helm?"

Brolin, let's get a diplomacy check to see how well you persuade the orcs to behave. Or intimidate if you prefer. Others may aid on that retroactively if they post some appropriate dialogue.

The captain looks somewhat taken aback at Ives' aggressive speech but orders his men to bind the thugs, except the half-orc, who is thoroughly dead. They then begin rounding up witnesses as several more watchmen arrive. He turns to you two "What happened? Why do you think these men tried to attack you?"

Before he heads out, Hannady grasps Mel's hand firmly and nods wordlessly to her.

On the street, Hannady nods thankfully to the four of you (including Kelian). "I appreciate what you folk have done. Some of you have been through a lot and you've all done what you can to set things right. Now I better get back to Astin before any orcs or elves decide that an undefended border town is a good opportunity."

Feel free to insert what you have to say/do at any point here.

Hannady nods. "Thank you, Colonel." He then prepares to head out. As he does so, he counts out a few coins for Kazador. "Fifty gold, as we agreed. And a bonus for hazard pay." He counts out another ten. "I hope you've found your path, my stout fellow."

Smythe seems deeply moved by Elrin's speech. But then Hannady snaps him out of his reverie. "Sir, you've seen the evidence these people present and heard our testimony. Given the deaths involved, these elves CANNOT legally be released from Helmian custody until a formal inquiry has been completed." Hannady stands straight as a rod, his grey eyes boring into his superior's.

Great stuff, Arla! A clutch 20. +4 rp bonus. Would be bigger but you simply didn't have a chance to be involved in a lot of it.

The Head of the Watch straightens up at Arla's stern accounting and recitation of steelclad, unambiguous law. Hannady nods "That's right, Colonel Smythe. All of my men will verify it as well. Except the four who are heading home on their shields."

All right, Perrin. Bring us home.

Hannady gives his report in simple terms and hands over the evidence provided by Mel and Perrin. He motions to the rest of you. "These went through it too. They can verify various parts."

Group diplomacy check! The total needs to hit 54! Bonuses for good description/RP.

Hannady nods wordlessly and gets the group moving again with a few gestures
You struggle onwards through the mud for a while until you come out of the trees and see Helm, the capital city, before you. Home to 10,000, Helm is the largest town in the Bishopric and boasts the walls, belltowers, and paved streets that come with that. When you approach the west gate of the city proper, Hannady converses discreetly with the guard and receives some directions.

He leads you through a few cobblestone streets until you reach a large stone building. Hannady sighs with some relief "This is where my job ends. But I need all the witnesses I can get. Arla, will you back me up? Your office holds a little weight. And Kazador, your an independent witness to the ambush." He motions to the Brookside's. "You know why I need you." He heads inside the building with the prisoners, several guards, and the four of you. You are all led up a stone stair and into a wood-paneled room where a finely-dressed man with many medals pinned to his tunic receives you.

Hannady walks over to Mel and lays a hand on her shoulder, if she'll allow it. "It gets easier to kill. Maybe that's the worst part. There will be grieving families on both sides of the border now. But you were on the right side of this fight. And that means something." The middle aged fighter shrugs. "It means something. It just doesn't feel like it."

Feel free to respond or not as you like to that Mel.

A few minutes later.

He then lays his fallen carefully in the wagon. "I'll send someone back for those. I certainly don't want to be the diplomat that takes them home... I think the situation is clear enough for me now that you three can walk along and keep your weapons." A young human who was sitting in the wagon gets his father's sword out of the chest. He steps up to Kazador and Arla.

Arla, the Archer continues to withdraw from you, getting 30 feet away in the difficult terrain. He'll keep doing that and getting up so you can resolve multiple rounds of actions without my input unless something different from this routine. I'll stop you if you kill him so don't worry about wasting spells on overkill.

Hannady motions you over to some of the elven corpses, which his men are stripping for valuables. "My lads recognize we weren't much use in that fight. They'll learn from today." He looks at his four fallen mentees and sighs heavily. "There's no law about how this stuff gets split up. It looks like they have some valuable possessions. Some gold, fine elven bows, first class elven armor... I say we take one set for the family of each fallen man. You take the rest."

He looks at the ashen face of a fallen elf. "I wish they were just bandits. Now I know the world is going mad..."

Nice chain shirt, composite longbow (+2 str), longsword (all of good, elven make), 4 tnglft bags, and 215 gp on each elf. One seems to be the leader and has a ring with a crossbow rune on it, a belt with a large biped stitched into it, a roll of parchment, 500 more good than the others, a small chip of polished stone with an odd shape marked on it, and a stick of Ash wood.

Perrin notices that all of the Astin guards remaining are whole (thanks to channel) or dead. Hannady recognizes this and nods gratefully. "Thank you. That will help."

He and his men begin collecting the bodies of friend and foe, though with significantly different treatment.

Waiting to give Arla a chance at the last attacker if she wants it.

The middle-aged captain keeps his eyes focused on the battle while he hastily replies to Arla "Well I didn't sign up for it but it's good to see you!"

He lets another arrow fly but has a lot of trouble landing his shots with the vegetation and allies in the way. The archers seem to change their tactics, perhaps deterred by Kazador's fierce assault and the sudden appearance of the odd tax collector. Those on the south ridge fall back while those on the north ridge draw longswords while moving towards Elrin and the wagon.

Perrin's grease slows them down somewhat but doesn't stop them.

Arla, you can take an AoO. Kazador, the ones near you did not provoke but withdrew. There is a significant chunk of difficult terrain between you and them. Party may go now!

The captain of the Astin watch cries out "I can handle it! Keep fighting!"

Party up. Both Perrin and Mel are aware of how the archers on the north ridge have repositioned. Mel has line of sight to their new position and Perrin watched them move.

The hidden archers, including 5 that Even did not see, rise up and fire on the caravan.

Two guards fall dead while Mel and Perrin are both hit by a couple of arrows (12 dam each). Elrin squirms in his bindings but Hannady has tied him tightly. He draws his own bow and prepares to order his surviving men on a counterattack.

"We need some help!" he calls to you.

Mel and Perrin up before the Astiners then ambushers again.

Hannady looks around warily while speaking out of the corner of his mouth."We could bind him temporarily. And give you your weapons. Or we could try to fall back. There is another road but it will take a little longer."

Hannady freezes and draws his bow, scanning the area. In a harsh whisper "What is it?!" He points to a coupl of his men and signals for them to pull the scouts back. They return after a minute or so.

Hannady nods with a wry smile. "I was worried about the same thing. You were a bit busy staring daggers at that fellow so you probably didn't notice the two men I sent ahead."

Ok Mel. I'll resolve it as an unarmed strike, should that arise.

Hannady eyes Mel hard. "I'm in a hard situation, Melira. I'm trusting you folks a heap that this fellow needs to be held captive. But there's a world of difference between my taking an elf in custody to Helm and my gagging and binding him the whole way. If you're wrong, I could be endangering our entire country, not to mention my own career."

Hannady considers carefully. "Any choice I make is a risk and I appreciate your reciprocal offer. But I don't think I can take this risk."

Hannady shrugs and nods. "It's a pleasant sight, sure enough." He gets up from the table and heads to his quarters while the guards lead you to your respective sleeping arrangements.

I really should have made this alias a long while ago but I wasn't sure we'd continue the adventure to make him a significant character.

The meal continues for a while with awkward snippets of conversation made here and there. When all finish eating, Hannady nods to a few guards. "My men will show you to your quarters now. We'll leave at first light tomorrow morning."