** spoiler omitted **
These Rivalry's End spoilers are getting rather annoying. Couldn't we have just started a new thread?
So I did.
This is the thread were people can post, in character, what they would say to Grand Master Torch after playing Rivalry's End, or how they feel about what happened.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
(Re-posting from the other thread. Because I feel like it.)
"I-I didn't k-know! I w-wasn't expec-pecting Him!" Stutters the white haired girl. "I w- was t-told to wait in this w-warehouse and t-take down anyone who c-came in." Her hair floats about in the air, seeming to have a mind of its own, occasionally flicking past the pair of guns at the girls hips. "T-there was a b-big flash of smoke, and i-I fired into it!" The hair stops floating, and wraps around her like a blanket, and her voice grows clearer but sadder.
"And it was Torch..." She pauses a moment. "They told me later that he came back. That it didn't take. And they told me what he d-did. Ruin for Everything; after all the times he sent me to bring back someone who'd fallen. That every person needs a chance to decide for themselves if it's time for the soul to the boneyard and the body to the Moon. So what could I do? I brought his body back to the lodge."
Her hair goes limp. "Torch, on my first m-mission, you s-showed me that pathf-finders look out for each other, no-matter w-what. I will keep d-doing t-that. D-do as you w-will. I'm sorry you a-aren't here to teach me mo-ore."
{OOC: Natalya was my GM credit. She made a cameo in the casino, then was instructed to stay in a warehouse aiming at a certain point, then blast whoever appeared there (think of the movie Looper). Torch used his cape to Dimension Door away, where she lit him up with both guns. Thus, she gets the Unexpected Prestige boon when the party didn't. Whether it was her god that instructed her, or an agent of Torch, or someone else, I haven't decided yet.
The stutter is part of her low charisma.}
|
Torch...
I served you. You relied on me, and I respected you for it. I've never been one for loyalty, especially after my brother died, but I felt that I was actually serving some purpose instead of just myself.
You used me. You betrayed me. Exacting all those favors mercilessly. You owed ME favors, Torch. You threw out all your agents for your personal agenda; you thanked me personally, and then tried to have me killed!
I will never forget this.
In I ever find you, I won't kill you; you can resurrect yourself. I won't mutilate you; you can have regenerate casted. No, what I'll do is make you feel pain. Pain like you've never felt before. Pain that you will never be able to forget. I might not be able to scar your body, but I WILL scar your mind.
I will give you an excruciating memory for every mission I've carried out in your name.
-Shiven
|
I don't know... I've an Ulfen friend who'll get me in good with the Taldans, but my heart'll always be filled with shadow. We started in the shadows of the Ten, trying to change things. Well, things changed alright. :spit:
Now they expect us to come crawling back? Yeah. I'll keep playing the game. I guess it's back to the shadows for us. Torch was right, you know... Torch was right...
**With that, Roddy stares deeply into his drink. This is the last time he'll come to this particular alehouse.**
|
An older elf starts speaking.
"I joined the Pathfinder Society to follow my late brother and to find out what had happened to him. When I found he had died through the carelessness of Venture Captains and even the Decemvirate, I gravitated to the Shadow Lodge. Now I find that this, too, was a betrayal. While the Shadow Lodge has served us in making sure that the lives of Pathfinders are cast away without a care by the hierarchy, this treachery from Torch will not go unpunished.
"Where to go now? I know not, so long as it will take me within reach of Torch!"
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
What looks to be a 16 year old girl speaks up.
It wasn't Torch. While I disagree with those who think this act of betrayal is in character I can see where they are coming from. What is NOT in character, however, is how insanely stupidly he acted. He has told the Decemivirate of his plans for NO reason. He ran the totally unnecessary risk of being killed or captured. If that was Torch, we would have never seen the killing, we'd have had NO chance of stopping him, NO chance of capturing or killing him.
Didn't you all see the doppleganger in the Spider's lair? Didn't you all realize how incredibly convenient it was that the Spider was so badly guarded and found in a room with only the one exit? Although I'm unsure, I think it likely that the Spider was behind this, it was all a plot to discredit Torch, and it is likely that BOTH the Spider and Torch still live.
<ooc> Either that or it was just really badly written :-( </ooc>
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"He aint dead..not well and truly, despite one of my partners burying a blade in his chest and nearly cleaving him in half." Kyrie said from the depths of the both in the back of the shadowy bar, her musket (Ol' Painless) sitting within reach and the chain of Aspis badges, mostly with bulletholes in them, sitting over her kapenia.
"The old bastard plays the long game. He was looking for a credible 'death' and we gave it too him." She said as she picked up her mug and sipped at it. "I.. asked a few of his old bodyguards over the last week or so." An understatement to those who asked around the Puddles. There was more than one hidey hole in the Puddles that had mysteriously caught fire of late. "There seems to be a chronic lack of.. past employees of standing from Torch's stable around. They mostly vanished like smoke in the morning mists. He's playing us all. The announcement was to throw dissension in the ranks and send the Ten running to the four corners of the world looking for him in old lairs and hideouts." She poured something from a hip flask into her mug. "Cayden knows I've put boot to buttock looking for him, he's going to sidle up to us from a different angle and slip the blade into the weak spot. It might be one of us who are so angry we'll see red at the sight of him.. or one of us who think he still cares about us. For all his colorful words, he only cares about Torch. Remember that when he twists the blade and leaves you bleeding out."
|
I have not read anything to suggest this but I really cannot help but wonder if Tourch acquired the information to be obtained in this mod to protect the Ten. I cannot help but wonder if with this newly acquired info, he will be able to convince the Ten to even let him join their rank.
The fact that the chronicle lists info about weather or not new as slain leads me to think that one way or another, he will influence Golarion again.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
<the mere mention or Torch's name infuriates the imposing, muscular Nagaji, and he rises to his feet, thumping the floor with the butt of his staff forcefully, so all tables in the room and the mugs and glasses on them vibrate>
"I have no wordsss for him, for the traitor. I worked for him, ssso we all would work better for the sssociety. I was called wissse among my tribe, but am no longer worthy of that after he tricked me. For that ssshame and ruthless murder of a defenssseless woman there must be retribution. When I meet him again, there will be no wordsss. My ssstrength will ssspeak, and the wrath of nature will come alive in my ssstaff. I hope he will lassst long enough to feel all the pain hisss betrayal has causssed."
<SSlanoss sits down again, and drains a mug a mead in one go, then pulls the cowl of his robe over his head to hide his tears of shame>
<OOC: good analysys, pauljathome - I hadn't thought of that one yet, but had wondered about how easy it was to infiltrate the spiders' lair. In retrospect, that the spider trusted Torch enough to quickly whisper something in his ear after just the briefest interrogation might also suggest she was in on (part of) the plan. Guess she didn't expect the knife, though.>
|
|
Kyrie takes the pint offered by Dorian's announcement and stands, holding it out at arm's length and does the most blasphemous thing a Caydenite can do.
She pours the mug onto the floor in one smooth motion. Then spits in the spillage before sitting back down, tossing a single platinum piece onto the table.
"For the mess. The only toast I want that deals with Torch is to his lasting death."
|
|
Kyrie takes the pint offered by Dorian's announcement and stands, holding it out at arm's length and does the most blasphemous thing a Caydenite can do.
She pours the mug onto the floor in one smooth motion. Then spits in the spillage before sitting back down, tossing a single platinum piece onto the table.
"For the mess. The only toast I want that deals with Torch is to his lasting death."
Torch was already toasted.
|
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
*A muscular Kellid in battered, mismatched gear sitting at the bar turns to join the conversation, one eyebrow raised quizzically.*
Trust? Is that what I heard someone say? They trusted the Torch? No wonder you got burned. Bah!
*Aegarn finishes the mug of beer in his hand and motions to the barkeep.*
Whiskey. Oldlaw, not that other crap.
*Aegarn scans the room, looking at the faces of his former brothers and sisters*
What a sad and naive bunch of Pathfinders we turned out to be, eh? We're all here in one way or another because we wouldn't buy what the Decimvirate was selling us. We all had more reason than most not to trust the lies and promises of the Ten. We swore we'd never be duped and manipulated into being their pawns again.
And what'd we go and do? Who did we turn to for leadership? The biggest gods-damned liar and manipulator the Society has ever seen! The Torch spun a pretty little tale about loyalty and the greater good, and we were oh so eager to believe him. We wanted so bad for something to believe in -- for some it was justice, for others vengeance -- that we made a deal with a devil. And now some of you sit around and act surprised when that devil ran off with your soul.
We got what we deserved.
*Aegarn throws his head back and swallows the shot of oldlaw in a single gulp, then stares for a long moment at the empty glass.*
I oughta thank Torch really. In the end he was the one that opened my eyes, that taught me the truth. Because now I get it. They're all the same. The Black Sovereign... Colson Maldris... Aram Zey... Sheila Heidmarch... Grandmaster Torch. All of 'em, all the same. They all want you to bend the knee, tow the line, and risk your neck in the name of "the cause." The cause, of course, being whatever bed-time story they can sell us so we'll do their dirty work for them. Liars, thieves, assassins. All of them. At least the Varisians aren't pretentious about the fact they're scoundrels and mercenaries...
I don't bend the knee for anybody. At least not since Azlant Ridge...
*Aegarn's voice trails off and he stares blankly for a moment before tossing a small bag of coins to the barkeep and whispers "Gimme the bottle."*
I'm tired of being a puppet on a string. So here's to you, Torch! *spits* Thank you, for opening my eyes. The only thing worth fighting for is what you can have and hold with your own two hands. At the end of the day your "philosophy" won't keep you warm at night out in the wilderness or put food in the belly of a starving child. The only justice I'll ever see is what I can take at the end of a blade. You gotta take control of your own life, before someone else does.
*Bottle in hand, Aegarn strides towards the door of the safehouse.*
I'm riding out in the morning on a caravan headed east to Mendev. My... cousin... here in Varisia says there's work out there for people like us. The kind of work that pays in cold, hard coin. I got my eye on a nice little villa back in Absalom. Maybe I can set myself up for early retirement with a few good jobs out there. If any of you guys want in on the action, let me know because it's now or never. All I know is I can't stand the stink here in Riddleport one day more.
*Aegarn takes a long pull off the bottle of Oldlaw, and wipes his chin with the back of his sleeve. His brow furrows as he looks back across the room.*
Last one of you that leaves, be sure to turn out the damn light!
*Aegarn turns to leave, but stops as soon as his hand touches the door. His shoulders slump as he lets out a long sigh.*
Take care of yourselves out there, brothers and sisters. Because nobody else will.
|
|
A goblin carrying a pathfinder flag joins the discussion.
I am sorry to hear you guys felt so betrayed, but it is not always best to change a system from within. I loved working for Mister Torch; he gave me so much paper to burn. I hope to have as much fun working with Mistress Whips, though I hear she isn't going to write me notes to burn.
It was also nice that Torch gave me his rapier and the Spider's jaw when he walked out of the room. I don't understand why someone would try to stop him from leaving the Pathfinders. It is not like they own us, and as far as I am aware we can leave at any time. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't think Torch meant to leave me gifts, they just happened to fall into my lap when he walked by. Too bad the Decemvirate took the gifts or I may have returned them the next time I saw Torch.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The Varisian girl in her dark scarves looks up from the ring she's toying with, letting the dark shadowy energies curl around her fingers.
"Not always best to change a system from within? I'm not so sure of that. I've always found it best to keep your enemies close." She frowns. "I apparently didn't know how close I was keeping them... after all this time Torch turned out to be just another extremist like my father."
She sighs, and puts the ring back on her hand, and the shadows seem to shift a little behind her. "At any rate, I started this whole thing a Pathfinder, and I am a Pathfinder still. The Decemvirate seem to be understanding up to this point... they have chosen not to judge us all based on the actions of one. Perhaps they have learned... As such, I think I will follow their lead for a while. If nothing else, perhaps it will give me the chance to find out what they are really up to. It seems to be the best way to have the backs of my fellows. Besides," her eyes darken a bit. "...Somebody has to be watching the Ten. May as well be one of us."
She looks around the room. "Go what ways you must... but remember, we all came from the same place. We can still watch from the shadows, and make sure that others still have friends in dark places."
|
|
The Varisian girl in her dark scarves looks up from the ring she's toying with, letting the dark shadowy energies curl around her fingers.
"Not always best to change a system from within? I'm not so sure of that. I've always found it best to keep your enemies close." She frowns. "I apparently didn't know how close I was keeping them... after all this time Torch turned out to be just another extremist like my father."
She sighs, and puts the ring back on her hand, and the shadows seem to shift a little behind her. "At any rate, I started this whole thing a Pathfinder, and I am a Pathfinder still. The Decemvirate seem to be understanding up to this point... they have chosen not to judge us all based on the actions of one. Perhaps they have learned... As such, I think I will follow their lead for a while. If nothing else, perhaps it will give me the chance to find out what they are really up to. It seems to be the best way to have the backs of my fellows. Besides," her eyes darken a bit. "...Somebody has to be watching the Ten. May as well be one of us."
She looks around the room. "Go what ways you must... but remember, we all came from the same place. We can still watch from the shadows, and make sure that others still have friends in dark places."
<the brooding Nagaji lifts his head again>
"Thank you for your wordsss, Assshara. I was about to give in to dessspair and anger. Thank you for reminding me about our true goal. Our caussse is jussst, but it is even more important that we must watch that it ssstaysss so. While watching the actionsss of the decemvirate, I forgot to watch our own. It mattersss not, I will learn and move on.
But you all are now, and will be, my new tribe. Wherever you go, I will do what in the end, Torch <Sslanoss spits at the mention of the name> would not. If any of you are in trouble, and I am near, you can count on my ssstrength and powersss to help you through it.
Truly, I had left the path of wisssdom for a while. Thank you for returning me to it. My earlier wordsss ssstill ssstand though, or I would be dishonessst. The are mattersss between me and the "Grandmassster" that need to be ssset right. Now that the Owl spirit no longer avertsss her eyesss from me, I may approach thisss matter with a clear head."
|
|
A squeaky, little gnome voice can be heard from the corner
"Totally saw this coming. I mean, I knew Torch was cool for taking me in from those heightist Qadirans (which now I have to sadly go back to) but, yeah, I never saw things ending well. I mean seriously, he totally doesn't look like the trustworthy type. He also wasn't very pleased when he found out they made me a Venture Captain. Something about becoming part of management. Oh well, the Qadirans do have better food!"
Veracity Reynolds, red headed champion of lost causes (she wears a symbol of Aroden around her neck), pats her bow Jayne, on the lookout for the day she can do a full round of arrow-laden death on Torch.
"Aroden will have to come back and vouch for that snake before my first reaction isn't a several rounds of arrows to Torch's crispy face.
"The mission, protecting out fellow Pathfinders from the machinations of the Decemvirate, still goes on without that traitor. We just have to do it on our own. I'm joining the Grand Lodge so I can keep an eye on things from within."
(OC: He only survived on my table because he rolled a nat 20 on his initiative, which is the only way he could beat mine IIRC.)
|
|
The alchemist/gunslinger comes into the bar and sits down, pulling one musket from her hip 'quiver' and another from her bandolier before popping out her pepperbox out of it's springloaded holster. She pulled a small bundle of oiled leather out and unrolled it, revealing an ornate set of tools as she worked on first one gun and then the next. Keeping one gun in reach while she worked.
The firey rage of months earlier is still there as she takes a pint from the waitress with a wink and smile, but now it's the simmering heat of a coal seam fire. Something that could last years unseen before bursting into a devastating blaze. As she finished up with the pepperbox, then the old battered musket she called 'Ol Painless' she picked up the new more ornately adorned double barrel musket. The images of a sleek woman grace the ornate walnut stock, brilliant brass and copper adornments set in to highlight the carved form. She smiled as she put the pepperbox back in it's spring sheath and picked up the new weapon and rubbed it with an oil soaked cloth. The air about her was one of a serpent coiled to strike as she sipped her pint.
"This is 'The Countess'." She said to her former shadow lodge associates. "Ironically it was a 'gift' from Paracountess Zarta Dralneen. Yeah, I said when I joined the Grand Lodge I'd never have to do her another 'favor' but I took a little trip into Cheliax to secure her release. She had this lovely lady delivered to me in a velvet lined box. She is a lot like the one who gave her to me, a loud and ostentatious girl who puts her foes in a bind." She pulled out a single paper wrapped cartridge from her bandolier. It was covered in a variety of runes, glyphs and symbols. All meaning the same word. Torch.
"She's going to introduce herself to our old boss soon enough." She said with a smile as she tucked away the bullet. "Ironic in a way."
|
|
The deafening silence in the room is broken, as the door swings open, and a tall Chelaxian man steps in. He quickly glances around the room, before making his way up to the bar.
"Whiskey, on the rocks." He says gruffly, before turning back to the crowd.
A woman was polishing a musket in the corner, Varisian was playing with magic at one of the tables, a Nagaji nursed a drink down at the end of the bar, and a few others were scattered about the smoke-filled tavern.
He took a deep breath. The last time he saw most of these people was the day after Torch betrayed them. Their anger was cooler now, but no less potent. He wondered if any of them had heard about the Society's recent dealings with Torch. Probably not, since they're all still here.
The bartender hand him the drink, the man nodded, and placed a few coins on the counter.
He took a sip, welcoming the familiar burn at the back of his throat.
"Alright. I'm not one for words, but I think there's some things which need to be said."
A few of the people look up.
"We all know Torch was a scum-sucking piece of-" he said a word in Infernal, which roughly translates to 'sub-sentient refuse,' used for souls too pathetic to even be proper Lemures, " but the truth is, the Society needs us more than ever. As the expedition grows nearer, I keep asking myself one question, who's got our backs? I mean, the Society is risking our lives and our souls in this expedition." He takes another long draw of whiskey, before continuing.
"I was at Nerosyen, I've seen the fury of the Worldwound, I've felt it," he rolls up his sleeve to reveal a massive scar, "and believe me, when I say that whatever's in that citadel, will be far worse. This is the Abyss's foothold in Golarion, they won't take an all out attack lying down. When we get there, steel, and magic, and bullets, won't be enough, we'll need each other." He takes another drink.
"Some of you won't be there, hell, most of you won't be there. Most of you have more sense than me, and'll be here, or safe at home. However, for those of you who'll be there, I hope you remember that the Society still casts a Shadow. There's fewer of us now, but we can still watch each other's backs, and try to get everyone home alive. Because, like it or not, they need us more than ever."
He drains the glass, and puts it down on the bar.
|
|
Kyrie slid over and put a beer in front of Camden, and then took a small flask from her belt and poured something amber and potent into a shot glass. Which went into the pint mug with a 'plunk'.
"Here.. take your medicine, sit down.. be calm." She said as she dusted off her duster and sat down in her booth, putting up her feet as the bar maid brought her three pints and three shot glasses of her own. She looked like she'd just come from someplace a lot hotter, sunnier and sandier than Abaslon. Paying in Osirani gold helped reinforce that. She took her tricorn hat off and slapped it to shake the desert dust out of it.
"Eto, by the way, is a nice town. A former.. associate of ours was staying there. I figured I'd introduce him to this." She held up a mithril bullet, the majority of it swathed in paper patching, to the light of the room. "Sadly Torch had left a few days earlier.. his.. new associates didn't appreciate my visit. Well mine and a few others." She grinned. "I think I'm not as good at making friends as enemies." She said as she shook out her Kapaneia covered with badges covered with a coiled serpent.
"I got my fellows backs.. I might not be wise or as book smart as some of them.. but I keep them upright and moving, so I count each day I bring back my team as a successful."