Jasper readied his bow and an arrow, aiming it at the person in the grass he could see; he dared not flair about for the archer.
"We have no quarrel with you! Let us not shed more blood this day!"
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Wanting no more talk of those people or whatever town they may have razed, Jasper set his eyes to the ground. "Here. A dog? That's what we're after." Without another word, he pressed ahead, squeezing any lingering doubts from his mind.
Jasper looked down at the man before him. "Enslaving or killing others going about their innocent lives is not "just a job". It's monstrous." The bard thrust his rapier forward, piercing the man's chest. It sickened him to do so, but he knew if the prior atrocities he abetted were all in a day's work, he couldn't be allowed to have another chance to find additional jobs. Forgive me, mum. Visibly shaken, the watersinger withdrew his blade and conjured sufficient fluid to wash the blood away. Physically, at any rate...
"And how do you explain the trouble you caused for all the people you rounded up in the last town, not to mention for us right now?!"
His rapier not as readied as Kurt's spear, Jasper's temper was not done yet. "Out of the frying pan, into the fire, is it?" He gave a short laugh. "One town is doomed, so you and your ilk come to this one and make a harvesting ground out of it?" Jasper was not in the mood to parley with the man. He was glad Kurt seemed to be doing that job. "Burned or not, their deaths don't remove his crimes! Let's finish him."
Approaching his allies, Jasper drew his bow and stayed aloof from his foes yet; he was not as graceful in the close fray as he was from afar.
Abruptly interrupting his impatience, the ambush gave Jasper something to take his annoyance - now anger - out on. "Coming all this way just for us? You must be really desperate for a helping hand. It's your lucky day - we've got a few pairs." Readying his easily-accessible rapier, the bard took stock of his surroundings.
Kurt wasn't the only one to notice her absence. "Where is that soft-spoken woman? First she wants to come with, then she wants to leave. This isn't a game, and I'm not much for looking to find rabid squirrels in an unfamiliar town." The huffy bard tapped his foot. "Yeah, let's keep going."
"They normally send people out looking for information on slavers? What more is there to know? They have to be registered, right?" Jasper pondered a way to work the law's letters to their advantage as they continued their detective work.
None whatsoever, the more the merrier! +1
With no clear exit path, Jasper looked around to see if anything in the environment had been utilized to perhaps aid the crime - overturned rocks, broken tree branches - and help the perpetrators disappear.
Hmm. Curious, but it might be something with a bit more talent. He looked to the tagalong. "How common is magecraft in these parts? Could be a cantrip scurried the murderers away."
"Looks like there's our answer. Want to come with us?" Jasper extended the invitation to the dog's owner, thinking he'd want to be reunited. Maybe he'd like to see what the problem was. I know I'd be curious.
Planned on keeping that to yourself, did you? "See any other animals with discoloration like that? Could be a disease of a sort. Your pup might have been bit, gotten sick, wandered off in confusion from whatever it was."
Jasper approached one of the men in the mill who was taking a breather. "So, your dog's gone missing, huh? Guard doesn't seem to be interested, but my partners and I are looking into things." He took a look around the place. "Where did you see him last? It isn't like a dog to run off. Maybe someone lured him with food." Dropping a few guesses to get the man's ideas flowing, Jasper watched the others work as the man replied.
A healed but skeptical Jasper did not understand why random interlopers were sought after by the town for matters of perceived importance, but he knew getting on the good side of someone was a start. And it sounds easy enough. "What do they know so far? Needles in haystacks take a long time to find."
In no mood to argue about the semantics of being a slave or not, Jasper found a corner and slid down the wall to a cot. "Wounds are not easily forgotten either. We must pick our battles carefully." And that means not right now. The bard didn't have a problem using the collective, for he saw these disaffected townspeople as valuable tools in establishing a foothold outside his previous home. "I'm getting some rest. The only chains I'd welcome right now are some cloth ones for bandages."
With little recourse in his injured state, the bard had little choice but to follow the direction of this Arna . "We've overstayed our welcome, short as it was." Jasper winced when moving. "But I'm not running anywhere in this state. Let's find a shady spot and settle in for the night."
Jasper was waiting for a response to his previous question in gameplay. However, I've pushed him into the fistfight with a bull rush. GM, I'm not sure exactly what's behind his target, but it's probably getting knocked back 5-10' and causing a bit of a traffic jam.
Not having a problem watching a fistfight, Jasper was alarmed at the introduction of a knife. "Knife!" He aligned himself with Kurt, seeking to divide their foes. Jasper conjured the power of water to his aide in selecting the thug not targeted yet by magic.
"You can say that again." Jasper takes a swig of the drink, wiping his lips with his sleeve. "Just finished a few days' long trip. Me and a few of my friends are looking for work. Anything need doing in the town?" The bard didn't feel the need to bring up the fact his prior town wasn't doing so hot. He also didn't feel inhibited from ordering another drink when his ran empty.
Happy to find an establishment that will let him take a load off - mentally and physically - the entertainer pulled Brennel into the inn. "Sweet ales for us both, barkeep. My thanks!" In his element, Jasper hobnobbed a bit before using the common room for the evening, keeping an ear open for any juicy gossip.
Any word on Keve or Ulfred?
Appreciative of Kurt's offer, Jasper nonetheless shook his head. "If I could make it 'til we met Orono, that was the worst of it. A few days here will do me right." Not being that far away, the bard pressed his memories for vendors and innkeepers that were known to have fair prices and square deals.
After thinking of a place to meet with his companions, Jasper suggested they divide and conquer. "Why don't we see what's what around here and meet in two hours at that place?"
This may just be me (input from other players appreciated), but could we get some more exposition of the setting? If this town isn't so far away, we should know a decent bit about it. It's hard to sandbox without seeing the sand.
Letting out a sigh of relief, the bard took the man up on his offer. "Sure could. Tesala's not going to burn down anytime soon, is it?" He half-smiled, then approached the cart to find a seat.
"The kind that needs more arsons than carpenters. You'd best turn around." Jasper might have sounded harsh, but he was still in pain from the previous days' journey, and the emotional turmoil was probably a deeper wound still. I have to keep going though. There's nothing left back there for me...
"Good day to you," replied Jasper. He gave the cart a once-over for abnormalities along with the man.
"We're out to get as far away from those bricks they call beds at The Rusty Scythe. What brings you out here?"
The bard's keen ears picked-up on the potential sound of a caravan. "Looks like someone's up ahead. I'm going to keep my bow out, just to be safe." A near-death experience had made the youth paranoid. Fortunately, the presence of practiced hunter Brennel beside him helped substantially.
As previously written, Jasper has no opposition to "Ulfred"'s plan.
Stumbling as best he could away from the city, Jasper teetered on the fence between sadness and anger. Part of him hoped it was a dream. "Brennel ... we're going to need to leave." Speaking made the bard's side hurt. "If they could do that to Syreena ... I can't chance them doing it to you." Jasper was too hurt to argue, but he had to make his feelings clear. When the first mention of making camp for the night came, he readily agreed.
Jasper won't pick up CLW until level 2, sadly. It wasn't in-character for him to know it presently given his background.
"Mom!.." Jasper's wail for the woman who just attacked him turned into a sob. The pain in his torso was sever, but it paled with the emotional whiplash he'd been subjected to. The bard leaned against a tree for support on his good side, the convulsions as he wept self-flagellation of a sort suitable for a Kuthonite. His eyes had told him this thing wasn't truly her. But the body was. They killed her, used her against me. The seed of anger had been planted in the young man's chest, and the tears he now shed would give it the nutrients needed to thrive.
Just to clarify what the disabled condition means: "A character with 0 hit points, or one who has negative hit points but has become stable and conscious, is disabled. A disabled character may take a single move action or standard action each round (but not both, nor can he take full-round actions, but he can still take swift, immediate, and free actions). He moves at half speed. Taking move actions doesn’t risk further injury, but performing any standard action (or any other action the GM deems strenuous, including some free actions such as casting a Quicken Spell spell) deals 1 point of damage after the completion of the act. Unless the action increased the disabled character’s hit points, he is now in negative hit points and dying." Jasper is not on the ground nor is he unconscious. He is in very bad shape though.
To be fair, I'm still conscious and can take weak actions.
Stunned at the betrayal, Jasper stumbles back with the blow. "Wh - Why?!" His hands still could not reach for his weapon out of disbelief, but the shocking pain coursing through his torso would have made such a maneuver of little effect anyway.
With haste, Jasper dashed towards Syreena as he reversed his bow across his back. "Mom! What happened?!" In his adulthood, Jasper often called Syreena by her name, yet this state of her brought him back to more emotional responses. His eyes teared-up again. "Here, let me help you sit! We'll take a look at those wounds. I'm sure one of us can help!"
"Disguise magic? No! Do I look like a thief?.." Jasper was cut short by a rustling in the woods. He drew his bow and readied an arrow. At least we'll outnumber them...
Paging party member buy-in!
"I think," Jasper replied, "We should move onward while we have eluded them. We have to hope they will fragment into smaller groups upon leaving this place and can be ambushed then. I'm no fighter. They are. There are many of them. They must be broken down to small numbers." Keve wouldn't want to hear that, but heroics weren't something Jasper felt like inspiring right then.
"I'll take the watch before dawn then." Jasper then set to aid his companions in finding a suitable campsite.
Jasper liked civilization - minimial as it was for the town - in comparison to the woods. Yet he understood the severity of the consequences were they to venture back at this time. "If by small groups you mean pairs. Really small groups. I don't think I can stomach another beheading." Jasper shuddered. "We should also head a bit deeper into the woods just to be safe. Find a flat spot for some rest. Sleep." Happy Brennel was safe for now, the bard was thinking of how best to save their hides. Keve will have a tough time leaving his dad.
Jasper's suggestion would be to flee unless the terrain is very favorable for us; if they pursue us to/near the treeline, that would count.
Into the forest it is then. I'm in the process of getting moved into my new house, but assume Jasper complies with the plan. I will not be able to post on Saturday.
Jasper swallowed. "I second Kurt's notion. If they come to us, we have the advantage. The only way we stand a chance running against them is if we have a surprise though."
Good question. As stated contingently in gameplay, Jasper will do his best to put out the fires with his cantrip.
"They will do us little good without fire to extinguish! I'll begin conjuring the water - just find the source." This was Jasper's wheelhouse, for he performed the cantrip dozens of times per evening.
"I want to take the fight to them. They don't deserve to get away from this unscathed." Jasper considered things a moment. "It would be easier to do on the road." Hearing the crashes, he pressed his ear to the wall and attempted to listen for voices or motion.
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