Josiah shakes his head. "They'll be slaughtered!" He draws his morningstar and runs toward the temple.
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Josiah spends quite a bit of time staring at the dead Seekers. True, they had done evil, but did the dead deserve such a fate? Did they not deserve a chance at redemption? Was it so evil to seek a higher power? Where were the lines anymore? He shook his head. He was troubled by this death. He was troubled by a lot of things these days.
Still here. Josiah's just brooding over whether to stay or leave the Seekers.
Josiah nods at the Abbot respectfully. At least until he's out of the room, then he scowls. "Dammit. I need to get out of this town before it's too late. They know I've criticized them; they'll have me in the stocks before too long."
Josiah stays quiet, feeling ill at ease even in Otik's. He strains to hear the priests' words. Perception: He scowls at the overheard words. The Seekers were so much more before they became so, so... evil. Josiah frowns and fingers the haft of his morningstar.
Josiah rides up, drawing himself up to military precision. "These travelers are under my personal protection. Do we have a problem, soldiers?" He stares them down, his jaw set and one hand casually on his morningstar. Intimidate:
"I tried to warn you..." Josiah shakes his head. "Things are not what you knew. It's getting worse."
Josiah shakes his head. "I'd hoped that the rumors of goblins were just that, but... Surely the Seekers would have tasked us with driving them away if they had known?" He seems even more disturbed by the ramifications of this new knowledge. Hearing Durom's grumbling, he nods. "Let's go, then. We have ground to cover before we reach home." He mounts his horse and leads the way.
I have no idea! There are so many PCs that I've lost track of who killed who.
"I told you Solace wasn't like it used to be."
Josiah bobs and weaves, keeping his shield between him and his enemy.
"Consarnit, you drunken half-wit! Aim at the enemy, not the ally!" Reflex: HP: 18/25
Josiah nods tersely at Janos' orders. He's had enough of orders the last few years. He sets his shield against the wolf and hob's attacks, swinging his morningstar when the moment presents itself. Attack:
Perception: Josiah's morningstar is in his hand as he sets his shield, ready for an attack. He'll charge at the nearest wolf if he can. Attack:
"Might as well head to the Inn. At least we'll be able to get Otik's food." Josiah sets his shoulders and unties his horse. "Let's go, but keep a low profile. You don't want to attract trouble in Solace these days."
"The Seekers didn't start out bad, but they certainly have ended up that way. Solace is occupied territory. It's like a war zone, everyone's afraid to step wrong or they'll throw you into jail or worse."
Josiah sighs and ties his horse to a tree before sitting down next to the fire that the kender has set. "It's not good news, I'm afraid. The Seekers began as a group dedicating to finding the gods. They started as a group of believers who wanted to see if they could locate the old gods, or failing that, new ones. Recently they've turned quite a bit darker. They've resorted to thuggery and intimidation. I'm not proud to say that I'm one of them. Or at least, I was. As they've gotten more terrible, I've started thinking about getting out. I hope I'm not that person anymore." Josiah pauses. He breathes out a long breath and begins again. "Recently there's been rumors of secret meetings on high. Of dealings with less than pleasant folk. I used to be a rising star, but I think they might have noticed my lack of faith. I've been relegated to the position of runner. Right now I'm supposed to be getting a report on tax collections from Low Seeker Vicount. 'Low Seeker' indeed. It's a scam, and one I'm happy to be rid of, but I might need your help. They don't let anyone out. I may need some muscle at my side." "And Solace has become their capital. They've begun shaking down the residents for 'taxes' at least once a week and rounding up them as can't pay and putting them to slavery. It's bad here. Things are not what they were. Oh, and to kick it off, they're working with goblins."
Josiah sighs, the sigh of a man with a burden. "I didn't stay away long. What do you know about the Seekers?"
Josiah stood by his horse, watching the companions return. At first he didn't speak, warring emotions playing out on his face. First happiness, then shame, then a sort of tired reservation. This was his life, it was what he had made it. It was time to face that. "Oy! You lot look worse than what the cat drug in. You'd be mistaken for bandits 'round these parts. Best shake the dust off soon as you can and get cleaned up." He held his arm out to each one, briefly clasping them. After the kender, he sighed and plucked his belt purse back, putting it back where it belonged. "Welcome back to Solace. Though you might not find much here. Things... things have changed. And not for the better."
1. Oy! You! Stay off the lawn!
You know, I pondered that and decided to let the campaign flow and see who he ended up worshiping. Could be anyone in the Good camp, I imagine. I didn't want to go straight Cleric, but the inquisitor's more active role seemed to suit the campaign, better.
This is pretty much what I was thinking of... Background:
Josiah Carpenter was a jerk. Fortunately for the rest of his friends, he was their jerk. When the companions split to seek fortune, he didn't have to go far. He fell in with a group that called itself the Seekers, and he found his place. Suddenly his heavy hand and his strange feeling that there was something more out there had found a place where he belonged, with others who believed that they had found the Gods again. It was perfect, until the beatings became more than mere encouragement. The first dead man Josiah had ever seen died while he watched. And something in him died as well. Suddenly the rush of power was gone, replaced with the sick guilt of having participated in a man's death. From that moment onward, Josiah did his best to ensure that no one else got hurt. He focused on intimidating when diplomacy wouldn't work and subduing when intimidation failed. He got very good at patching up wounds and his focus began to shift from belonging to getting out. When the Seekers came to Solace so close to the agreed-upon meeting, he saw a way to get out: with his friends by his side. He's re-joined them, hoping that they can help him redeem himself from the cad he was, to the man he hopes to be.
HP:
"Hmm. I thought I saw something. Probably just leaves." Josiah goes up to the tree and leans against it. "So, what re we doing here?"
Josiah summons his mind blade and takes up a position about 10 feet from the tree.
"Go. If we ever see you around these parts again, you're forfeit. Get lost, hob." Josiah will walk toward the tree, looking up at it. "Doesn't seem like much, does it?"
Josiah follows the hob, sparing a glance back toward the crowd to see how the fox fared.
"I told you, I got no interest in killin' him. Unless he makes me. Then, I get to cut him into small pieces with my mind. Let's move."
"Well, holy man, you were yakking about souls.. You got anything to save this one?"
Untrained Sense Motive: 1d20+1=4 Reluctantly, Josiah dismisses his mindblade. "Well damn. I trust him. And I smell the proof. I got no interest in killing him. Anyone else care to?"
"Darn straight I'm going to kill you. Slowly, painfully you'll die like a coward, unmourned and unremembered. Your clan, your family, your people will not even know you're dead and no songs will be sung for you. Unless you speak the truth and only the truth. If I so much as suspect you're lying..."
"Josiah..." Josric speaks quietly, his tone tense, "has there not been enough violence? Could you not allow our captive the chance to answer your questions before threatening him with harm?" "Look, holy man, maybe you should take a walk while I do what's necessary, eh? Sometimes there's got to be someone who gets their hands dirty, eh? Or you can stay and watch, if that's your deal. Different strokes, eh?" Josiah turns his attention back to the hob. "I'm not hearing singing, meat. I'm getting all twitchy here. You won't like it when I twitch, will you?"
"Who's coming, meat? How many and from where?" Josiah ignites his mindblade and waves it in front of the hob. "Ever seen an animal gutted, meat? It can live for quite some time, alive and in terrible pain if the hunter's bad at his job. It happens, I'm bad at my job." He then lays the mindblade along the hob's inner thigh and applies just enough pressure to dent the skin without cutting it.
Josiah will take the moment to bind the hobgoblin with rope, anticipating questioning him when he comes out of the stupor.The hobgoblin convulses for a moment, then begins bellowing, in the common tongue, "Aargh! My eyes! You've cut out my eyes!" He continues howling and yelling, and as his vision slowly returns, he quiets a bit, looking around in concern. His cleft palate causes his upper lip to twitch constantly, and he awaits your judgment in relative silence. "Care to tell me why you attacked us, meat?" Josiah asks, watching the hob closely.
"Bit scratched, damn birds." Josiah grunts as he ties up the hob.
Josiah will take the moment to bind the hobgoblin with rope, anticipating questioning him when he comes out of the stupor.
If I can, I'd like to charge the Hob. Assuming I can: 1d20+6=10, 1d6+3=9 If I can't charge, then double move to the nearest square adjacent to bow-boy.
"Here birdy, birdy, birdy!" Attack vs Stormcrow 1: Rolled a 4 +4 =8 DOh!
Josiah double moves to V-12.
Move to J11 and activate my mind blade <BLINK!> Armed! Perception: 1d20+5=9
"Right, witches, wolves and old Dwarven gods. CAN WE LEAVE NOW?" Josiah stands near to the forest and something seems to be flickering in his hand, appearing, disappearing almost too quickly to see. It looks like a jagged blade, made of jade green light.
"Well, wolves I can handle. Worse things, well, I guess it's good that we've got a band of quality youth here to handle them. Which way to the plants and the old witch?"
Josiah shakes his head, "Some old herbs, maybe some old witch. I don't care, but it'll save a lot of people from blackscour taint. What's there to watch out for?"
"Milon? We need your help. We're looking for some herbs that only grow in the oldest part of the forest. Can you tell us where that is?"
Josiah nods at the blustery foreman and heads out the door to seek out Milon.
Ignoring the foreman's swaggering, Josiah replies, calmly, "We need to see Milon. He has some information we need. Where is he?"
Hey DM! Okay, so Josiah is turning out less charismatic than I originally imagined. Can I swap the point buy from Charisma 14 to Charisma 10, and put those points in Wisdom, raising it from 12 to 15. Thanks!
Intimidate or Diplomacy, both are untrained with the same bonus, so take this roll as whichever you'd like: 1d20+2=12 Edit: Josiah wouldn't exactly be trying to be intimidating, just straightforward.
Josiah will walk up to the nearest man he sees and say, "We're looking for Milon Rhoddam. Where is he?"
"Watch it, Nature boy. Sticks break, you know." |