Yup, I'm still down for anything.
Also, if any of you are in the Jacksonville, NC area at any point next year hit me up. I'll be moving there at the end of this year until mid-2016.
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Just FYI you're not allowed to die. DMs live forever.
No worries. With Roland's background, it would be easy enough to claim a new character (via any of the players, it doesn't have to be me) as one of The Long Eye's contacts, which would give us an easy tie-in with this crew, assuming we ever need it.
I'm down. New characters?
I don't know what's not going on here, but I don't like it.
Emotions are rarely rational. We came as a group and destroyed his future and that's all he cares about at the moment.
Roland just shrugged and looked around. Noting that Amy seems to have disappeared, Roland assumed that she was keeping herself safe and walked away, heading in the general direction that Bora had led the merry-makers off into, every now and then calling out "
Well it WAS fun haha.
Roland sighed at the expected response, but still felt it necessary to try and accomplish his original purpose in the city. "I don't suppose, since it's obvious that I had no control over her actions at all, and I did try to get her to follow my lead and not to anything stupid, that you'd allow me the opportunity to find out why we were brought here in the first place? If not, I'll need a few minutes to go and collect the rest of my group."
"Well. S$!+." Roland looked around, not quite grasping exactly what just happened. Oh he knew literally WHAT happened, he just couldn't understand what had pushed Naneko towards that action. He looked at her only to realize by the weapon on the ground and the helmet tossed aside that even she may not be entirely sure what had just transpired. With Amy no where to be seen, Roland just looked at Dorrigan, "So what now?"
It's a free-to-play isometric hack and slash. Similar to Diablo but with a completely different method for character advancement. Levelling is the same (via exp gained from killing things), but instead of having a class tree, skills are obtained through gems which are socketed into your gear and levelled up on their own, meaning every class can ostensibly use every skill, but may not be as effective with it as another class. Skill points are given at every level and as rewards for certain quests, but instead of advancing a particular ability as in Diablo, the points go towards a passive bonus tree. All of the base classes appear at different points on the tree, giving some classes more efficient access to certain types of bonuses (extra damage with specific weapon types, mana regen, etc), but every class can reach every passive node. There are four leagues to play in, Standard (permanent softcore), Hardcore (permanent hardcore), Ambush (4-month softcore with new features exclusive to the league), and Invasion (4-month hardcore with new exclusive features). If you're interested, I play on the US server, Ambush league. IGN is currently GrinningKruger. I play pretty much whenever the internet is working properly and I'm not stuck with work, though the time of day varies with which shift I'm working at the time.
So, anybody here play Path of Exile?
Roland's eyes narrowed slightly at her question, but so quick that it might have been mistaken for a twitch by anybody close enough to notice. "I have. More times than I care to think about." He stopped here though it was obviously an effort to hold his tongue. "Why are you being deliberately antagonistic towards us? Surely we've given you no cause for this type of treatment."
Can't reason with those kinds, let's try and keep this on track. Choosing to forego the tangent regarding peoples' lineage, Roland exasperatedly shakes his head as he answers the woman's question, "No authority. Just the observation that it seems y'all need an arbiter. Since we don't have an emotional investment in the outcome either way, I offered my services to the local guard for that purpose."
Roland gave the woman in the suit a very bland are you kidding me? look as he spoke, "Lady, you're a half-human. Quit being stupid."
Roland paused for a moment before following Dorrigan and spoke to Naneko, "We can discuss our philosophical differences later, if you'd like." As they walked, Roland smiled at Bora's declaration in the background but schooled his face as Naneko, Dorrigan, and he neared their objective. He carefully ignored Amy's maneuvering around the crowd but did his best to keep her position in mind as he scanned the crowd. Roland looked between both women and spoke up when Dorrigan hesitated, "Morning. My name is Roland. This is Naneko. I recognize that we're outsiders, here, but we're hoping that, as y'all seem to find yourselves currently in a stand-off that looks like it could quickly escalate into riots and violence, we might be able to add another perspective to the situation and resolve this peacefully. We've gotten the quick and dirty details from Dorrigan, here, but I'd like all of the details regarding the situation, if you don't mind."
Roland sighed. He'd hoped that a discussion on the morality of their actions could wait until the aggression prevalent around them had died down or been properly distracted but it was not to be. He nodded in thanks to Bora before addressing Naneko, "You know I'd agree with you under normal circumstances, but we don't have nearly enough information. I would never take a job based on 'murder' unless I were presented with much more information. I'd rather err on the side of the innocent than condemn even a single innocent to unlawful 'justice.' If we find out that it is only bureaucratic nonsense keeping Law at bay, then... well, that's when we'll go ahead and set things right." "Besides, if the one being hidden is who I think it is, then we owe him at least an effort to make sure we've got all of the facts."
Roland bowed his head in acceptance and under his breath he mumbled a string of half-finished curses, "Bloody, son of a, god, f!$#. He held his hand out as a request for a moment to catch his breath and gather his thoughts before he looked back up at Dorrigan, "Alright. I've got my suspicions about this, but I can wait for answers. First, let's try and restore some order to this place. "Naneko, by the guard force commander's own admission, what happened happened outside of their laws' jurisdiction. Even my work had at least tacit approval from the official authorities, so we'll err on the side of caution for now and NOT instigate a riot. Bora, the crowd seemed rather enthusiastic regarding your suggestion of more drink. Play that up some more; get people more interested in having fun than causing pain. Gavin, I'd appreciate you staying out here and helping to keep the peace as much as you're able. Try and ensure that nobody does anything foolish enough to warrant a personal meeting with Naneko's tetsubo. Dorrigan, you and I are going to grab the instigator and go talk to the monks and see what we can work out. Are there any laws in place to govern inciting panic, vigilantism, or even disorderly conduct? Amy, I'd like you to come with me. If this gets ugly, I might need an extra hand. Questions or objections?"
Roland laughed when Dorrigan finished speaking, he couldn't help himself. "Hahaha unfortunately, vigilante justice is what I'm all about. My father, brother, and I run a bounty hunting service. We're pretty strict about the bounties that we take, but... We're getting off topic. If it wasn't a member of this community, why are the people so incensed over it?"
Roland wasn't paying attention to the words behind Dorrigan's words as a nagging suspicion crept into his mind instead. Wondering if his thoughts would be correct, he began to speak slowly, "We can't - officially - act on your behalf, not being men or women of the law ourselves, and most definitely not residents of this town. For now, perhaps we can offer advice instead. You've already got Naneko's opinion but I at least would like some more information before making any judgements. First, what crime was committed?"
Roland gestured as if he were patting the air while he spoke, "Hold, Naneko. Let's find out what's going on here before we start picking sides. Besides, the point was to help Dorrigan, if we're able." When Dorrigan reached their group Roland stepped forward, "You ran off in a hurry, what are the details?"
Poor Roland? After all the time spent in that hospital, he needs some excitement in his life and if nothing else, you two are exciting.
"I understand your concerns, but I don't know why we're here. Unless you know something I dont? We didn't get any answers last night; the one who supposedly knows why we were brought here was obviously drunk and in no position to give us our answers. The guardsmen provided us with room and board at least for the one night, and in all honesty, if we can get in good with them, that's another however many potential allies for us if things go south. Dorrigan and Kerrig obviously know each other, so we can assume that she's not going anywhere, and we can find her after we figure out what is such a big issue that it takes the guard's commander to sort it out." Roland turned away from Gavin for a moment only to bark out at the bickering women, "BORA! NANEKO! ENOUGH! The man can do nothing if you're screaming at him." He shifted his gaze to focus on the bystander caught in Bora's grasp, "Son, point the way to the Vale and we'll be on our way."
Roland nodded at Amy's prodding, "Agreed, I think we can put off meeting with Kerrig for a short while still, probably going to be less exciting than this. Anybody who's more interested in the Vale right now, I'd say we get a move on and try to keep up with Dorrigan and his men." He stood up and moved to gather his gear and head out of the building, "Anybody that's coming along for the ride, I'll meet you outside. I'm going to see if I can find out where this place is at before they get too far ahead of us." Roland stopped the first person he came into contact with and asked very straightforwardly, "Excuse me, where's the Vale at?'
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I'll try and speak with Kerrig before she gets caught up in the festivities today. I'd appreciate at least one of you as a second, but I'm more than willing to go on my own if y'all would rather partake. I'll be joining in the fun this afternoon, see how well I fare against the locals."
Roland grinned slightly at the list of available activities as he responded, "Sounds like a lot of fun. Are there prizes to be won outside of the gambling tables, or is it all just for the joy of the thing?" Roland's smile widened as Amy walked into the room and sat down, "Speaking of 'the joy of the thing,' it looks like you had a fun night."
Roland checked on Naneko nearly as soon as he was woken by the smell of the home-cooked meal and found her healing well which allowed him to relax and savor the food in front of him. He kept to himself while eating - aside from comments on the food itself and complimenting Dorrigan on his culinary skills - but found an opportunity to speak about the night's events as soon as both he and Dorrigan were finished with their meal. "So where did our would-be hostess get off to? I'm assuming she's nursing a headache considering how drunk she appeared to be last night, but I'd like to get to the bottom of all of our confusion sooner rather than later."
At the mask-vendor's offer of selecting a mask, Roland searches out a representation of a jackal - one of the fox's natural predators - and finds one nearly perfect for his tastes in a matter of moments. A matte black base gives stark contrast to the metallic sheen drawing your eye to the golden ears and patterns around the eyes. Gatsby: I hinted at it in my last post, but didn't state it outright. Roland is going to stay at the jakthundhus to keep an eye on Naneko, though he will eventually go to sleep in a spare chair or bed, whichever is easiest.
Roland noted Kerrig's attitude towards Dorrigan, but did his best to hide that he had seen anything at all. "Just call me Roland." He turned to the rest of the group, "I'm going to take Naneko to get some rest. I want everyone with me up until that point so that everyone knows where the place is. After that, y'all are free to stay or enjoy yourselves with the rest of the town and we'll regroup in the morning. I'll say it now in case we get distracted: if you do partake int he festivities, take it easy. It'd be a poor first night if you get your purse taken and your throat cut in an alley and we don't know the town or the people in it."
Roland shook Dorrigan's hand after only a moment's thought and shook his head at the man's suggestion. "Food and drink are our second priority. As I'd told the mask vendor before this whole fiasco, one of our own needs medical attention before we rush into anything else, and I'll not look kindly on any further delays. There will be time to discuss our arrival here and anything related once that's taken care of and we're all well rested and sober."
"You mean you received word that we'd be arriving day before last, right? You said you knew we'd be arriving today."
"I won't be able to give you specifics seeing as I'm not familiar with the area, but we arrived here, out there." Roland gestured in a wide sweep of his arm toward the forest. "Next question. Why were we brought here? You were expecting us, obviously, so you should be able to answer that."
"Considering what we've gone through to get here, how about you first tell us where "here" actually is. For that matter, how the hell we got here in the first place."
@Amy: You know you love the masks!
"Considering we've spilled more of their blood than they have of ours, even counting her injuries, I doubt they'd have us even if we were interested. Long story short, they did not know who they were f%!@ing with." With a large, if grim, smile of his own, Roland reached a hand out towards the man in an offer to help him up. "We've gathered a couple of whole masks from the group, plus one split in half - courtesy of yours truly - taken from the corpse of a large, rather grotesque figure. Now, if masks here are representative of conquered dangers and dispelled fears, then I think I'll be wearing my prize."
Roland stepped up next to Naneko and spoke to the vendor probably a bit more forceful than necessary, "We need an available... sober doctor to look at this one. Can't have you dying from excitement, now, can we? Besides. We have our own. Earned, not bought." Roland pulled one of the whole masks out of his own bag and turns back to the vendor, "Though I would be interested in a bit of string if this lot insists on purchasing masks of their own anyway."
Roland stared at Bora with wide eyes, apparently still not quite used to the various oddities of his assembled group. Any yet...
After reading the note, Roland took a quick patrol of the area attemping to find any signs of the direction the Rourke might have taken.
Roland reentered the cavern with a grim frown, walked to the group, and tried to hand the note off to one of the others, speaking only two words, "He's gone."
"Holy Hells you lot are loud." Roland sat up, put his hat on, and blinked until he could focus properly in the bright morning light. "How are you faring, Naneko? Up for the last bit of travel towards the town? Rourke said we should get there mid afternoon today assuming we're not interrupted." Roland looked around and furrowed his brow at what he saw. He performed his morning weapon routine and then lightly kicked Gavin in the foot to wake the man before walking towards the mouth of the cave. "I'm going to go find Rourke and see when he wants to take off. I'd get something to eat if you're planning on doing so."
After Rourke's declaration, Roland decided to head back to their current campsite. He paused in his step as he walked into the light alone and was suddenly aware of what that looked like as he made eye contact with Amy. "Don't curse me," he said quickly as he held up both empty palms. "He's still out there, uninjured as far as I'm aware. He just said he wanted some time alone to think. Don't look at me like that. I didn't do anything to him! What was said between us is for him to tell, should he wish it." Roland moved to the pile of accumulated items, grabbed some food and the amulet from the pile laid out for him, and then stuffed the rest of that pile into various pockets of his backpack. "Does anybody want any of these blades? And has anybody figured out what these necklaces are for? They were all wearing them." After sorting through his loot pile, eating the whole time, Roland squatted down next to Amy and muttered with a smile, "I may have deserved that kick to the leg, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to get you back for it."
Roland closed his eyes as he reviewed his memories of the fight at the river, "That's why the first one didn't chase me. I didn't think that should have been a fatal shot, but I didn't pay attention to her after I pulled the trigger, either. You must have done something to give it away to Amy, as I said earlier, so if I'm correct at least us two know what you are now. I couldn't say either way about the others. But I won't say anything if you don't want me to. It appears that my animosity was unwarranted and I hope you'll accept my apology for that."
Roland's eyes narrowed at the sight of the appendage and he crossed his arms, but made no other immediate move, instead just standing there obviously thinking to himself, coming to a decision. After a few tense moments though, Roland couldn't take it anymore and started laughing silently to himself, bending over with his hands on his knees, struggling to keep in the sound lest something unwanted hear it. After he paused to catch his breath he finally found the words to express himself, "G~~ d++nit, Rourke." There was no malice in his tone, only amusement as he continued, "What did I tell you at breakfast? I do my best to judge each man on his own merits. It was not your choice to be born to that particular set of parents, and you haven't tried to kill us yet, so that's in your favor." Roland continued chuckling for a couple more minutes before finally regaining his bearing and moving the conversation along. "Actually, we've known you for all of a day and a half, now, and the only problem that I've seen is that you disappeared on us in the canyon. I'm assuming, based on Amy's actions that you didn't just bail on us. So. What happened?"
Roland hesitated for a few seconds, making up his mind on how to proceed. After a deep breath, he chose to continue as if there were only a small interruption from their conversation from that morning. "Alright, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt from the river, for now, and assume that there were mitigating circumstances, so we'll make this easy and start at the beginning and come around to that. We got interrupted last time as you were about to tell me a story. Something that made you extremely uncomfortable and I'd assume is not something you'd want me gossiping about to the others. What was it that you were going to tell me?"
Amy kicked at Roland's shin as he vaguely threatened their guide
Roland narrowed his eyes at Rourke's offer to carry Naneko but offered only a single comment, "Do it if you think you can, but either way you and I will be talking later." As if to emphasize his point, Roland picked up his musket and began wiping off some stray black powder before loading the weapon and setting it at half-cock. Roland made his way to Gavin as he gathered the loot, following Gavin's body-to-body trail along the way. He picked up the discarded weapons and searched the bodies for ammo - either pellets and black powder, or alchemical cartridges - placing the blades into his backback hilt first to prevent them cutting through the fabric, and placing any ammo into his bandoleer. After catching up to Gavin, he accepted the proffered flintlock and used the bandoleer as a makeshift chest holster. "Anything interesting? I've got plenty of space if you want to spread it out between us and we can sort and divide it once we reach town or stop for the night." Roland didn't think that continuing between the canyon walls was the best tactical move and nodded at Bora's comment. "I agree, Bora. Since I prefer to work at a distance, I'm going to head back up to the top and keep pace from there. I should be able to give warning should anything seem hostile. Any of you are welcome to join me."
Roland slumped to the ground, leaning up against Mother's corpse with his head tilted back and his eyes closed for mere seconds before he frowned to himself and stood back up with his rifle. He walked over to Naneko, setting down his weapon and checked for breathing and wounds. "I hope one of you has some medical expertise. Mine's s~&@ at the moment. Forgotten more than I've ever known about it at this point. She's going to need it quick like and I'd likely botch things at this point, though I can take instruction if you can give it."
"Has anybody seen Rourke? He might want to reappear before we're done with Naneko or I might just shoot him on sight." Roland was obviously not happy with the way Rourke dove into the water at the first sign of trouble and then was not seen again during the combat.
Roland cursed as a lance of pain shot through him and cursed again as he realized just how far away those shots were coming from. That accuracy from that range is insane. Looks like I've got to get closer or take cover for now. He ignored the pain for the moment and turned his attention towards the incoming hostile at his 2 o'clock. Satisfied that the shooters on the ridge had stopped to reload, he took the time to do the same before firing at the creature that had drawn his attention.
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