An undetermined amount of time later, Blake finds himself awakening from a dream.  The crystal clear memory quickly fading into vagueness.  His mind recounts the dream for him.

I stood at the foot of the mountain and watched the fire descend.  The earth trembled.  Smoke filled the air.  I heard the sound of a trumpet calling me, calling me into the darkness.  I ascended to the top of the mountain.  I stood in the center of the blaze, yet I was not consumed.

I was not consumed.

One thing remains clear.  A sense of urgency.  Like an opportunity to prove something very important was quickly passing.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 06:32, Thu 15 Apr 2010.

As Reverie steps into the daylight, her eyes see a horrific sight.  An angelic voice sings to her as she witnesses a falling star crash into the city.

Witness a blinding flash
Sudden bright light from a blast
Pulsing radiation
Moving through cracks under skin
Feel the fire in the wind
Deadly kiss of scorching sands

Not a prayer of hope
Or redemption in your eyes
Hell exploded on this earth
To take all that's alive
Standing at the face of death
Terror stealing your last breath

Watch the firestorm
Incinerate you into ash

All that you know burns away into dust
So many lives
So many innocent
Burn...

Every particle returns
To it's natural form
Ashes into ashes
Blown away, just like the dust
Heaven burning with the sky
Hell is not the reason why

Feel the firestorm
Melting your spirit into glass

All that you know burns away into dust
So many lives
So many innocent
Burn...

When she recovers from the vision, Unity is unharmed.  Another strange thing dawns to her: the city she saw destroyed was noting at all like Unity.

  A dream of fire and doom shortly after their encounter with... Whoever, to be henceforth referred to as Mr. Crispy.  Suspicious, but not something to discount offhand as completely false.  It is difficult to ignore entities of other planes just as it is difficult to be an atheist when Kord descends from the heavens to give their Cleric's a High-Five and then smite someone in the face.  They took hold of their spellshard (hey, shut up, Eberron setting, It says Spellshard, not Dragonshard we can buy them if we feel like it) and put it's capacity for arcane words of power to more mundane use as notebook.

  The needs of hygiene and clean clothes were dealt with, they consider their course of action for they day beyond the obvious everyday needs and further dealings with Unity's bureaucracy for work.  They had a decent chunk of money even after their go at personal item crafting, but if they spent it on nothing but Inn rooms and three basic meals and drink a day, it would only last... Almost half a year.  A month of such running about the same cost of a year's legal Unity citizenship.

  Okay, so upon consideration the luxury of talking half a year off if he suddenly needed to was comforting.  But wouldn't exactly get them anything or anywhere.  Of course, there were other issues to deal with first he had been trying to ignore on his desk.

  <familiar>"Uh, Hello?"</familiar> Case in point, the six inch tall winged imp on his desk. <familiar>"I'm your Familiar."</familiar>

  "I highly doubt that." Blake muttered, considering using their vicious rod as a blunt instrument, if only to make sure he didn't set the desk on fire (he had paid for the room in advance).

  <familiar>"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be!"</familiar>
  "Because that's my familiar." Blake said, pointing next to the imp.  Of course, there was nothing there.  The Imp started to point out this fact when a finger length coil of wire with eyes popped into sight.

  <familiar>"It looks like you are trying to convince a Warlock you are their familiar. Help topics for this suggested are I will cut you, so bad, you will wish I did not cut you so bad imp.</familiar>
  <familiar>"What?"</familiar>
  <familiar>"What?!"</familiar>
  <familiar>"What?"</familiar>

  Blake facepalmed.  Familiars, unable to understand or be understood by anything except their master aside from a few exceptions such as the Raven variety. The phrase 'what in the Hells do you want' is probably appropriate here."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:13, Thu 15 Apr 2010.

Reverie pats herself, looking over her arms and finding they no longer have cracks in them or a glassy appearance. She doesn't let out a sigh of relief. Rather, she hurries to the window to look outside and see the people to remind her that there are still living beings around. She's going to likely be afraid of Blake or at least his powers for some time to come. For that matter, she might not like campfires much after such a vivid dream / vision.

She hurries off to look for a familiar face and taps her finger nervously against her lips, looking around. But seeing as Blake isn't out of his quarters yet and everyone else is not at the inn Reverie slept at, she finally lets out that held breath and sits at the dining area. The waitress thinks Reverie is slightly scary looking, but kinda exotic in a good way too.

<common>"Well I guess that gibberish proves that this... thing... truly is your familiar,"</common> the imp surmises, <common>"I had almost forgotten about that private language bit about becoming a familiar.  Whatever.  I'm not bound buy such silly restrictions.  Dunno what wire-face here offered you, but I can tell you plainly that I have information that you may be interested in."</common>
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:19, Thu 15 Apr 2010.

  "If you have any... I suppose familiarity could be a poor choice of word.  If you have any insight into my methods so far, then I'm sure you realize the possible significance when I say my Familiar follows the trend."  Blake takes a moment to eye the coil of wire,

  "While it could be considered less impressive, it certainly would draw a different sort of attention than if you were following me around.  Now, what is it you had to tell me.  You can save time and see yourself out if there's a 'I'll only tell you if you take me as your familiar' angle."

"Nope," the imp answers, "Don't know you from Adam.  And no, no deal.  I was told by a muckety muck to keep an eye on you.  I assumed they meant 'become his familiar' since that's usually what us imps do with warlocks as a sort of quid-pro-quo deal in spite of the language limitations.  The message is simply thus:  'Stay the hell away from my burny mountain or I'll be very angry.'  Then a lot of elaboration involving claws and teeth and something about entrails and neckties.  Or words to that effect.  I didn't have a pen and paper handy at the time."

  "A nonspecific burning mountain involved with a nonspecific entity.  How wonderfully informative.  Do you have any idea how Many Volcanoes there are, let alone geological formations with such?"

  <familiar>"Locations of Volcanic scenery include, Chessenta, The Great Dale, The Nether Isles, Thay-"</familiar>  "Aside from you."

  Blake eyed the more obviously infernal Imp. "Are you done now? Go away."  They could explode this Imp without effort (due to the lack of effort required to explode his own Familiar, Cursed Familiar goes boom, Imp goes boom with Autodamage outpacing their fire resist).  The potential problem would be whether or not the Imp would be no more permanently inconvenienced by it than his Familiar.

OOC Style: Rest, THEN we get paid and go shopping? <.<  >.> It's been over a month since I had it posted that Blake already got his shopping/Item crafting dealt with without it being an apparent snag.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:19, Sat 17 Apr 2010.

Liberty is walking along when she overhears rumors about the latest investigation into the recently caught criminals being a failure. She had sensed the doubt sowed in the people around her as they so quickly forget how successful Unity was to catch the criminals that they have in the first place. Enraged by how cowardice these people are, Liberty takes some deep breaths to calm herself, remembering what her adopted parents and her psychologist have all taught her about getting things accomplished. She weighs her options:

1) Intimidate the people into submission. It would allow her to vent her frustration AND possibly get the results she wants.

2) Remind the people Unity is large and in charge. That the criminals are caught and it's only a matter of time before their masters are caught also.

3) ....all of the above.

Liberty speaks up:
"I've been hearing some concerns. I've been hearing people say that evil won't pay. That the masters of those we caught will get away. Well I'm here to tell you: The enemy doesn't stand a chance! When hate and misunderstanding tried its hand on Unity generations ago, it fell at the people's feet, discarded like a dirty old rag. When racism rules the hearts of ALL other lands, what do you see here in Unity? Only one race with sprinkles of one MAYBE two other races? No! You see everything from the familiar allies to familiar ENEMY races to even exotic races most of you never seen before! This city crushes evil like an ant under its foot! Evil has a habit of failing horribly when it goes against unity and outsiders are not immune to this fact. This has been proven just two days ago and already you bunch are doubting the power of Unity to follow up with another success? Suppose your right. Suppose Unity's finest don't find and catch the one who sent those criminals. Then what? I'll tell you what. That person will be running like a coward, forever afraid of his shadow and jumping at the sound of a leaf scooting on the ground because whoever it is will know Unity is on the job! And while this person runs from the law, are you folks going to be afraid of such a coward? What does that make you? Honestly! Prove me wrong! Prove to me you bunch have not turned into such whimpering belly-crawling cowards that you would sow doubt about Unity, your own HOME!"

By this time, someone has told a guard. But you don't get a job as a guard of Unity by being anything but heroic. When the guard hears Liberty, he smiles. The man who tried to tattle gets annoyed and yells back to Liberty. "Who do you think you are to insult the people in public like that?!"

Liberty looks back at him. "Prove me wrong! I'm pleading you to! I've heard the complaints and impatience of the locals you are defending and I've had enough. Put up or shut up. And you know full well punching me in the face like you're thinking of doing won't prove me wrong. It'll just prove me right that you are too afraid of the truth to face it, so you would sooner pick on a girl! I'll tell you one thing, I'm only 14 and I have already signed up as a volunteer to help with the investigation. What, besides complaining are ANY of you doing about the very thing you are complaining about?!"

The man's anger grows, but Liberty's right. He walks away, furious and unable to do anything about it. He would NEVER sign up for something like that. However, another man nearby, a Genasi for those who care, has a serious frown on his face and says, "She's right! And nobody has to sign up to leave the city in order to help. There are many ways to help! Unity's justice department has always offered options! I'm going there to find a way to help, even if it's just to help with paperwork. Who's coming with me?"

(OOC note: Considering the urgency Bridget put on there being an outing right after the Mittens spar, I figured I'd insert that she would have been ordered to take a break while another expedition was sent to discover things. While they will bring some information back it will amount to mostly nothing. But it would explain why everyone has been training or what not for a couple days.)

Maybe not the best of people to show up on the scene, but Mittens enters the inn as the waitress offers a glass of water to the rattled Reverie.  Mittens spots the woman and makes a bee-line for the warlock, smiling brightly as ever, if a bit the worse for the wear from Justice's harsh training.

"You look like you've seen a ghost!" she comments of Reverie, tail wagging eagerly, "Something that rhymes with ghost... most.  I've missed your poetry most!"

"Bye," the Messenger Imp replies before flying off.

<Supernal>"He's ignoring the warning,"</Supernal> he grumbles to himself, <Supernal>"Good.  I don't have to be his familiar.  Even better.  I can't wait for him to die a horrible death when he goes to that volcano.  Hope I get to be there to see it."</Supernal>

(( OOC: "Your familiar doesn't understand other languages, but can parrot back what it hears, allowing you to understand anything it repeats back to you in a language you know."

The imp is making no effort to hide his words because he knows the familiar doesn't understand... and good luck finding someone who can translate for you.  ))

  Blake was all kinds of paranoid, but was still rather uncertain if there was any attempt to use reverse psychology or not.  However it would indicate it was for the best Blake used his own existing familiar if the Hell's Designated Book Imp didn't know obvious facts about their job.

  Such as merely having chosen a Book Imp for your Familiar gives their master fluency in Supernal.  They opt not to give a parting comment in such language and simply head out of their room.

  'I have the annoying feeling events will either find me at that specific volcano by happenstance, or reaching it will be surprisingly difficult if I want to for some reason Blake considers as they head downstairs, their Familiar out of view in a pocket.

  "Hello Mittens, Reverie.  I'd ask if your morning was going well but I suspect this may not be the case."

OOC Style: I'm fine with the suggested team setup at the moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:24, Sun 18 Apr 2010.

Reverie stares at the table, allowing herself to glance at Mittens and then Blake when he shows up. She sucks in her lower lip before thinking of how to answer.

"I had a dream last night
I watched a town ignite.

A star had fallen from the sky
Burning Heaven in its wake
All that lived began to die.
All the Earth began to quake.

I saw my skin begin to crack,
Felt my soul melt into glass,
and saw everything turn to ash.

But all of this felt real,
It was not just a dream.
I'm sure because I still
Can feel those people scream.

This was a vision, there's no doubt.
That's what this is all about."

Emerald enters the inn, figuring this could be one place to find the others. She was right! Emerald has found 3 of the others already! She walks over to Blake, Mittens and Reverie. She looks around at Blake and Mittens, having JUST missed what Reverie said. So she waits patiently, simply nodding in greeting rather than speaking.

Bridget enters the inn with Eli in tow, having known Mittens would be there. She finds a seat near the others and sits, picking up on the same things Emerald did and thus, patiently waiting.

Eli sits with Bridget and looks a bit more confident. At first. Then he sees Reverie and gets concerned. He looks at Bridget who puts her finger to her mouth. Eli simply nods and looks back to the others.

Mittens seems to be hanging on Reverie's every word, leaning forward, eager eyes fixed on the girl.

"Well well well!" she says, "Signs and portents!  Hey there, Blake!  Eli, Emerald, Bridget!  Reverie had a vision of a town being destroyed by a falling star!  Sounds worth investigating!  But before we go on, there's something I must mention.  An important message I must bring to your attention.  I was in meditation and prayer last night.  I was awakened by a shining bright light!  Over head, a glorious spirit!  He gave me a message and you all need to hear it!  He said, 'Arm yourself, for a war like none before draws nigh!'  When I snapped out of it, there was this sword!"

She plunks down a fancy looking bastard sword on the table.  Serrated edges, pointy pommel, jagged contour, it just screams savagery.

"I think the two visions are connected!"

(( OOC: What she failed to mention is the part where the spirit tells her, "This fine blade can be yours for the modest donation of 680gp to the church of Tempus!" ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:11, Mon 19 Apr 2010.

  Blake eyes the sword of Pointy Doom, as suddenly produced sharp objects taller than Emerald and Eli is a bit of a distraction.  "...Hmm, It simulates the effect of having had your ass kicked without having actually had your ass kicked for a few moments. I can see why it's a niche item."

  Blake nods in greeting to the other, quieter, arrivals before turning back to Reverie.  "In your dream, were there any landmarks of note you can recall in the city?  Standout buildings, geographical features by or part of the city?  Well, aside from Stars so far as they are geographical features.  If the screaming was anything specific it could help as well, but screams of horror sound much the same in many languages."

OOC Style: If Reverie gives 'sufficient detail' Blake can ID the location through the joys of a Take-Ten History skill of 21.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:55, Mon 19 Apr 2010.

Reverie thinks on her dream intently, trying to remember key elements and what was where. City, banked at some water, mountains behind her...

"When the dream began,
I saw mountains far away.
This was happening
During the light of day.

I turned to see a city
And then the angel came.
It's really such a pity
What came into play..

I saw a large body of water
All along the city's edge.
But then I saw the disaster
As the angel made its pledge."

As she speaks, she is drawing a little for them to see what she means:

Water
  |
City - Water
  |
Reverie
  |
Mountains

Emerald peeks at Rev's sketch while listening. "Huh... mountains on one side, a large body of water on the other. That should help some anyway... Bridget?"

Bridget headshakes. "I don't know where that is from that alone. It could be a number of places."

Emerald leans her head in her hand. Eli goes slowly over to Reverie and hugs her. Lucky for him, he's only touching her leather. Reverie, of course, is careful that that is ALL that touches Eli.

(Had little for my alts to post, so smushed 'em all together here)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:32, Tue 20 Apr 2010.

"Southport!" Mittens surmises, clapping her gauntleted hands together, "Lots of water!  Mountains behind you!  AAAAND that's where the villain fled to!  But Blake asked for more detail.  If it was a city of dwarves, I'm waaay off.  Say Eli.  Think your dad might be interested in hearing 'bout these prophetic visions?  'War like none before,' and glazed cities sounds important enough to warrant the attention of even a king."

  "I suppose in a fading memory of a dream there does not tend to be the opportunity to become an expert at architecture and identifying building structure in the span of imaginary moments before the whole place was leveled.  Remembering clearly even as much as you have is impressive."  Could be worse, could be 'oh hey, top of a volcanoish mountain' level of detail to work with.

  "I have the feeling Southport would be investigated regardless if it is true that was their destination.  Normally this would be the point where I give a scornful reply, but we did just have Dinner with Eli's Father the other day."

  They consider Eli's concern for Reverie, and her careful actions.  Blake disliked the trend of prophecy and portents, and could not help but wonder what it meant when the instinct they trusted lead them to desire their choice in neckwear before they had even met Reverie.

OOC Style: Rechecking Reverie's sheet, Blake and Eli both know by default DC 20: they be poison.  But it's DC 5 check to know Hugs > Poison.
  I was also reminded that Reverie knows Deep Speech... Blake didn't pick that up...  Looks like the temptation for another linguist feat has risen (that or saving up for a  Lv 6 Deep Speech Polygot Gem.  But Blake would have to find and buy one due to the 'you can only create ones for languages you know' clause.

"While my dream was not an illusion,
Please let's not jump to conclusions.
But I suppose we should depart.
And Southport surely is a start."

Reverie looks hesitant, but anxious at the same time. If that's possible. She turns her attention to Blake.

"Blake, can you tell me why
You would give a scornful reply?
I wish I could assure you I mean no harm,
But I guess my dream caused you alarm.."

Emerald says, "If only we could get the others... I wonder where they could be. Anyway, let's finish eating and then find the Unity office to prepare for departure."

Bridget says, "I agree. But do not hurry your eating or else you may slow us down later when you get a stomach ache." Even with the hint of concern such words would imply, she said that with such monotone coldness, one could almost swear it was The Terminator saying it.

Eli says, "I'm ready when you all are. I had my breakfast. And so did Officer Bordecceli." he thumbs at Bridget. Bridget nods to confirm Eli's claim.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:55, Wed 21 Apr 2010.

"He's a warlock," Mittens answers Reverie with a shrug, "Fire type no less.  A scornful reply is almost as expected of him as praising Tempus is for me.  Sweet poets are an exception to the rule."

No, Mittens.  That would be a hellish rebuke.  Big difference.  And what about mischievous gnome warlocks?  They expected to be angsty too?

"I'll take that to mean either I was wrong about your dad having time for prophetic visions," she answers Eli, "Or that we'll find him at the Unity Office of Adventure!  Inanycase, I was BORN ready!  Excelsior!"

She leads the way to said office with a spring in her step and a wag in her tail.

As it turns out, Eli's dad IS at the Unity Adventure Office.  Currently he's in a private meeting with the Sheriff.  Eli and guests would be allowed to interrupt.

  "My theoretical scorn was not directed at you Reverie, but rather how it is the usual sort of reaction suitable when people suggest 'hey, maybe the King will care about our problems?'.  Recent events have suggested more optimism than usual there is appropriate."

  Blake heads off with the others once they have managed to get something to eat, and will let someone else be the one to interrupt the meeting Eli's father is in.

Eli tries to muster up some courage to talk with his dad. After all, while his dad won't mind the interruption, Eli's the only one here who KNOWS that. He puts on a determined look.

"Hey dad!" Eli calls out. "The heroes are ready to go on the mission."

Reverie curtsies to the king and the people at his meeting. She says nothing, but gives a sad smile. One that speaks of her sad tale.

Bridget does the Unity salute. She glances at Eli, watching him catch the king's attention. Bridget stands "at ease" as she waits to see if she is needed for anything, commentary or otherwise.

Emerald is nervous. She curtsies like Reverie and keeps her eyes on the guards in the room. Force of habit.

Mittens clears her throat.

"Ahem... not to mention they've been having prophetic visions that might be of interest to you."

Eli's dad raises an eyebrow.  "Very well.  Tell me these visions."

"Lil miss rhymes here had a vision of some city getting destroyed by a falling star which I'm guessing is Southport from the water, and I was sent an angel who told me, 'Arm yourself, for a war like none before draws nigh!'  I'm thinking the two must be connected."

The king rubs his chin.

"Any other strange occurrences we should know about?"

Mittens shrugs.  "I'm guessing if there were they would have mentioned it by now."

She glances at the others present.

  Blake gives a polite bow in the presence of important people.  They ignore the comment about mentioning other strange events by now.  "I would hardly consider myself Hero material." they mutter.

  Two out of three plot hooks being obvious is probably workable.  Though one can only guess how long Blake can ignore theirs if doing so is less than a spectacular plan.

Bridget looks over to Blake. "If you are not hero material, then what do you consider yourself?" Yes, she considers this important enough to bring up right away rather than wait for the king to address her or what not.

Reverie hugs herself. She shoots an endearing smile at Eli, remembering his hug. Then looks at the King, nodding when Mittens speaks on her behalf. She glances at Blake as he mentions not being a hero and scoots towards him. She whispers quietly to him,

"Do not doubt yourself,
My dear companion.
It's not good for your health
And makes you abandon
Things like hope
Things like love
Things like faith
Or all of the above.

If you call yourself hero,
You eventually become one.
If you call yourself Zero,
You are eventually shunned."

She reaches to place a hand on Blake's shoulder.

Eli says, "No visions here. Dad?"

Emerald scoots to be closer to Bridget. She trusts Bridget. Bridget is like a stone statue. And stone statues are a BIT more trustworthy than Mr Loathe, Mrs Jenkins and "oh you touched the prince in the king's presence" Eli.

Mittens looks over at Reverie and Bridget.

"Either he's modest like any true hero," she surmises, "Or he knows himself well enough to be frank.  Take me for example.  I've no illusions of being a 'good' person.  I worship Tempus, god of war!  Tempus, like war, is no more heroic or 'good' than, say, fire.  Fire is a force of nature that people and devils alike think they can tame.  Truth is, best you can hope for is enough understanding of fire that you arrive at a mutual goal that doesn't leave you burned.  Same goes for war.  It only takes a spark to get a war going.  Once started, the best you can hope for is to understand war well enough to survive."

The King listens to the conversation, looks over at the Sheriff, then back to the others.

"Indeed," he says, "The Sheriff and I were just discussing whom he would like to send on the follow-up investigation of the man we suspect mind-controlled those kobolds.  Bridget will be leading that group, followed by Eli, Freedom, Micheal, and Gilant.  Which leaves the the rest of you for this mission to investigate these visions.  Sheriff?

"I don't see any crime being committed in their having visions," The Sheriff answers with a shrug, "They're free to come and go as they please.  There's no warrant or bounty promised for discovering the meaning behind what they saw, so I have no jurisdiction in this other investigation."

The King rubs his chin.

"In other words, Unity's official law-enforcement stance is that you have no official sanction for investigating those visions.  Well.  You have my approval at least for what it's worth.  Needless to say, I'm sure Unity will be much more officially grateful should you manage to save a city from destruction or a nation from war.  I will speak with my brother as time allows, and perhaps he'll make your quest more official.  But until then, it's up to your individual sense of heroism... or respect for forces of nature... however you care to label it... to organize and mobilize your team.  I'm sure there's no law against you traveling along side the official team on your way to Southport..."

He glances again at the Sheriff who again shrugs.

"Thank you for keeping me abreast of the situation.  Eli..."

He hugs his son.

"I'll miss you.  Stay safe, keep in touch, and make your family proud."

He gives his son a sending stone.

"The rest of you, godspeed."

Eli's dad and his guard leave the room.  The Sheriff looks at Bridget.

"You have your orders.  I know you'll do a good job.  If you can't find the Githyanki... don't waste any time trying to locate him and just proceed without him.  He was put into your team over my objection."

  Blake makes no move to stop Reverie's kind gesture, "It's as Mitten's says, the second point.  I'm passably decent at best, far from worthless scum."

  Possibly foolish, with their intent to follow along to Southport.  Though sometimes it's best to go with foolishness you have some idea of than to strike out blindly for a goal.

  "Despite my initial complaints our first outing, any suggestions you have for an unofficial official would be appreciated Bridget."

Bridget looks at the Sheriff and responds, "Time is more valuable, yes. Thank you for your vote of confidence. However, before I leave, I would like to know why you insisted against the Githyanki."

She looks at Blake and nods. "Any citizen of Unity is an official member of the Unity Militia, which is as official as it gets before specifically joining law enforcement or military. Unless you decided against being a citizen, you already are what you asked me to suggest to you."

She then looks back to the Sheriff with her usual calm, collected expression. Though it's clear she's simply waiting for his explanation.

Reverie ohs and nods to Blake. She pulls her hand away, biting her lower lip before turning to look at the Sheriff. She decides to not jump to conclusions and listens to what the man has to say before she opens her mouth.

Emerald hrms and folds her arms. She suspects the words the Githyanki spoke earlier were Deep Speech and she JUST learned that language. Emerald figures she'll test her mettle with the Gith later. She also wonders if sticking 3 warlocks in the same team was a trust issue also since Shale, while not accounted for at the moment, could easily wind up on her team which already has Reverie and Blake.

Eli hugs his dad, confident he'll see him again soon enough. He smiles, excited about being able to make Mom, Dad, Darthic and Jarl all proud of him. "I will, Dad..." he answers his dad before the man disappears. He turns to face the others, ready to follow Bridget as per the team-up.

"By his own admission, he owes no allegiance to Unity and desires to entangle our nation in the inner squabbling of his violent race," the Sheriff points out, "But even beyond that, I suspect that he isn't to be trusted for other national security reasons.  The only reason I agreed to his highness' suggestion is because I trusted that you would be able to keep an eye on him while still able to perform your duties.  If you don't find him, I will assign someone else to keep an eye on him."

Upon Blake's affirmation of Mittens' statement, the shifter paladin gives a thumbs-up, wink, and a sparkle-tooth grin.  (( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYqB3LNuZ4A ))

"And I have my orders," Mittens says, "A celestial messenger from the god that I serve is official enough for me.  Let's see who we can snatch up to come with us."

Mittens heads out of the Sheriff's office.

(( Cue Liberty's intro to the rest of the team. ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:02, Sat 24 Apr 2010.

  Blake wasn't expecting such a wide encompassing answer from Bridget, even if it did answer his less than clearly worded question.  'Sure, officially one person is as good as another to Unity.  Unofficially Bridget and Eli's opinions would matter more than just a little than the rest of us, even outside unity...'

  Blake followed after the others, figuring that at least however they dealt with things it wouldn't be with a patriotic fervor for Unity.

  Have you noticed that Blake can be incredibly wrong about things yet?

(( Cue Liberty's intro to the rest of the team. ))

An irritable human girl is signing papers and such at the Sheriff's office and notices the group of adventurers come in. The NPC that's with her at the moment spots the others and then looks back at said human girl. "That's them. Ruby, Memory, Prince Eli, Officer Bordecelli, Lake and Gloves." he points to the people as he "introduces" them.

Liberty is no more weirded out by the names than she would have been if she heard the names they REALLY go by. "Hi. I'm Liberty. I'll be joining the unofficial team."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:04, Mon 26 Apr 2010.

Reverie giggles as the names are listed off. She curtsies to Liberty and says,

"It's nice to meet you, Liberty.
My ACTUAL name is Reverie."

figuring the others can introduce themselves, she looks over at them as if to cue them to do so.

Eli waves and says, "Uh, yeah. This is Reverie. And Mittens. And Blake. And Emerald. I am Eli and Officer Bordecelli's first name is Bridget." he indicated the people who's names he called out as he did so.

Emerald also giggles from the mistakes. Being introduced, she does a fancy bow/curtsy thing. "It'll be nice to have you on the team." Emerald says.

"Well lookie here!" Mittens says, smiling, "You sure are getting an early start adventuring!  And how young are you?  Well you're my kinda girl!  Your parents approve?  If so, good for them!  Well met!"

  Blake tries to decide if it's whoever wrote the reference material the NPC was referring to, or the NPC that deserves to be gently lit on fire.  Not that Blake would light either of them on fire, just enjoy the mental image of eyebrow loss.

  "Thank you for clearing that up for her Eli.  Now if you can clear that up with the clerical system, then I'll be impressed."

  Blake eyes Mittens "If Bridget's literal answer is true, then any child that lives in unity is a militia member automatically regardless of any parental approval to be had at risk of penalty if they avoid this duty."

  Blake is trying to cut the Unity government system some slack, but they are not trying very hard yet it seems.

Liberty sizes up Mittens and then the others. "Judging from Eli, I'm actually getting started late." she says, thumbing at the boy but keeping an eye on Mittens. "And I don't have parents. So I don't need their approval. Now let's get going. Time's wasting!"

Bridget looks at Blake. "Parents are considered by law to be higher rank, so if the child fails to obey the parent, they are, by law, not sanctioned for a mission they do outside of permission from the parents. However, as Liberty just pointed out, that isn't a problem for her."

She adds, "There is more to those laws and bylaws, but I doubt you need the knowledge at the moment, Blake. Unless you desire it."

Emerald nods in agreement with Liberty. "She's right. Let's get going. Bridget? It was nice working with you and I hope to do so again. May your road be clear and your troubles few!" she spurs Bridget on to hopefully lead the bunch to the others. Which she does.

Eli nods to Blake. "Yeah. I'd be impressed too." in answer to Blake's comment about clerical systems. "But there is no such thing as a perfect system." he looks at the NPC, wanting to ask whose mistake the names were, but decides against it when the others head out.

Reverie follows the others, but sticks with Blake.

"And as I think, I wonder why
They give a label to you and I
When you use fire and I use sky
Your power's below, mine on high

Two such different way of things
Yet without even listening
They call us both the same odd thing:
A warlock.. is their labeling."

She glances at Blake with a smile of innocent amusement.

"One of the reasons I love this place!" Mittens says, "If you invade even their children will shoot you in the face!  They teach 'em how in school soon as they can hold a bow!"

Upon exiting the police station, Mittens addresses the citizens of the city outside.

"Citizens of Unity!" she shouts, bashing her shield with her sword with a loud CLANG, "I am Mittens!  Paladin prophet of the god TEMPUS!  Last night he sent me an angel who said, 'Arm yourself, for a war like none before draws nigh!'  Spread the news!  With the personal blessing of his highness KING VOGEL, Me and my companions will be traveling to Southport to investigate this and another prophetic vision!  Pray for peace and prepare for war!  Brace yourselves for the greatest conflict this world has ever known!  Unity!  It's time to rise!"

She marches toward South Gate with a spring in her step.

"Don't take too long rallying your group or you'll never catch up, Bridget!  So.  Liberty.  Tell us more about yourself."

(( OOC: Realized I needed an excuse to "delay" the Unity group so we can have the Liberty meets Githyani fun happen later on when Seth has more time. ))

  "When you have time to spare, I would be interested to hear them if I still can't find a functional listing of Unity's laws."   Blake's player isn't about to make anyone write out an entire government system, so no such luck with him finding one of those.

  Blake shrugs in regards to Reverie's comments.  "Shale and you have been rather forthcoming about your methods." Explaining about your pact with Fey Mc Crazy and rhyming about placing your Warlock curse does that.  "I'm still hazy why people keep making the assumption regarding myself.  I've made no such claims, and no such pact for my power.  I don't plan to either, even if it kills me."

  They smile slightly at a sudden pointless trivia thought,  "Besides, if I was working for the Devils, the Ninth Hell lies above in the Astral Sea."

  They refrain from comment at Mitten's speech.  It's just Mittens being... Mittens.

Bridget looks at Mittens. Being prepared isn't a bad thing. However, "Do you realize you have just demoralized the people? Most people do not like the idea of large scale conflict and you put it in their heads they will be facing one. Soon." her expression hasn't changed. But on a perception success of 20, one can notice her eyebrow twitched slightly at Mittens yelling. "Nothing I say can undo what you just did. I will have to leave that to the king. Please try to remember not everyone shares your enthusiasm for combat."

She returns her gaze to Blake. "I will tell you the law whenever I am available to do so and you ask. However, just so you know, Eli should also know the law quite well as it is part of his schooling. So if I am not available, you can always ask him."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:19, Tue 27 Apr 2010.

Liberty looks at Mittens and folds her arms. "....whatchya wanna know?" she looks at Bridget. "Pff... well maybe they need to be scared. They better be. Things won't always be so hunky-dory. Most of the people who live here don't know what conflict is like and while I hope they never will, they REALLY need to be ready for when it does happen." she looks back at Mittens as if waiting for Mittens to continue her thought on getting to know Liberty.

Emerald watches the people react to Mittens. Most of them look in Mittens' direction for a few seconds and then go their merry way with no change in attitude. Others looks worried. Still others cheer her on in a mock cheer (like a gang of teenagers might cheer on the town drunk doing something crazy). Emerald looks at Bridget. "Somehow, I think the ones who Mittens worried would have been worried anyway. She just gave them what they wanted anyway... something to complain and/or worry about."

Eli giggles in response to Emmy's point. "Let's not get into an argument over this." he says. "I'm curious about Liberty too."

Reverie ohs at Blake with a look of astonishment.

"Oh really? How do you know?
Did Sehanine tell you under the moon's glow?
Did you read a book from off the shelf?
Or did you figure it out all by yourself?

Can you teach more to me
Your knowledge of the Astral Sea?
For I am so young and new
The things I know are but few..."

She could be sarcastic. She could be serious. She could even be both. Who knows? But either way, she is giving Blake an endearing look, head tilted slightly and eyes full of hope.

"There's always a critic," Mittens says, rolling her eyes, "Their former ignorance may have been blissful, but ignorance in war carries a very heavy price.  You do your job, officer, and I'll do mine.  Catch ya on the flip side!"

Mittens is accustomed to being mocked and underestimated, so the reaction of the crowd comes as no surprise.  But she actually went to the trouble of studying WAR in depth considering the god she serves, so her eyebrow twitches when anyone challenges her tactics...  unless they're right and she knows she was just being overly aggressive... *cough*triggeringthealarm*cough*  At least Emerald and Liberty supported her.

Grall shows up and explains to Bridget that she and Eli are off the hook for locating the rest of her team.

"That assignment was given to me," he says, with a proud smile, "Now that I've been promoted to officer!"

He shows off his shiny new badge.

"You and Eli can go ahead down the road with lil miss enthusiastic and the others.  Once I have everyone gathered up, they'll catch up on the prison wagon that's been assigned to your group.  Good luck catching that creep!"

"Woot!  Level up!  Gratz on the promotion, Grall!  Didja hear I've been promoted to prophet?"

"Thanks....  Yeah, I think the whole neighborhood heard ya."  *sweatdrop*

"Sweet!  I may actually be doing a good job at it then!"

As Mittens leads her group through the south gate and down the road to Southport she elaborates on her request that Liberty tell them more about herself.

"What's your backstory?  What lights your fire?  Me for example, I was born with a passion for combat and adventure!  But that's supposed to be a 'guy' thing, so I was laughed at by my peers.  Until the day I beat them all up!  They were so impressed they stopped making fun of me!  The adults were so impressed they took me seriously enough to banish me from town!  And thus started a lifetime of kicking butt and taking names!  The church of Tempus was so impressed they decided to test if Tempus would bless me with paladin powers, and he did!"

Tempus tryouts:  "I can tell if you're PAUNCH by your technique.  If you want to be on my team, you'll need awesome moves like sidekicks, ninja kicks, and reverse punches."

Tempus priest: "This little shifter girl wants to join your team.  Maybe... cleric?  We could use more of those..."

*Mittens punches the priest* "HELL NO!  I want to be his VIKING!"

Tempus: "I approve."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:31, Tue 27 Apr 2010.

"I shall keep that in mind if I think of something I suddenly need to know before I need to know it.  Or maybe just out of curiosity."

  They look over to Reverie, wondering at the comparative effort of rhyming everything against throwing around eldritch power...  Spontaneously combusting people seemed easier actually.  "The book method actually, with some educated guesses filling gaps in over time.  I could fill you in on some of what I do know if you'd like of course."

  And Blake will too, as soon as their player stops being lazy and looks into what DC 20 (25 if they're feeling lucky) knowledge gets you regarding Astral Sea subjects.

OOC Style: Yes, it does just figure that out of the three Warlock Classed PC's, Blake is the only one with Religion trained.
  Also, temptation is there for Blake to learn more knowledge skills for sake of possible Epic. Lorekeeper.  Which gives a damage bonus to targets that fall within a category you have knowledge skill in (no, not history).

Bridget responds to Mittens in her usual cold, collected tone. "I am doing my job: Keeping the peace. I'm telling you now: Do not announce a war until it happens. If we are being attacked and its immediate, feel free to announce it in the street. If we are being attacked and it isn't immediate, tell the king and he'll do his job. The citizens will be kept informed accordingly. But too many times have there been false prophets, or simply people trying to stir up trouble, for you to simply announce such a thing without the authority to do so."

She really could care less what Mittens studied about war. This is about procedure and timing. Of course, if Bridget could read narrative, she'd also be telling Mittens she's guilty of the same thing she thinks Bridget is guilty of. But she can not read narrative.

Luckily for everyone, Bridget doesn't get angry. That is nigh impossible to do. Irritate, MAYBE.

Eli facepalms. "I saaaaid... no arguing! ....oh wait... you don't think you're arguing with her. OK. Bridget? Please go take care of business and ignore Mittens. Mittens? Please ignore Bridget." he doesn't want to have to pull rank, but he will if those two continue at it.

Bridget bows. "Very well, Eli." and goes away.

Eli combs his fingers through his hair. Then looks back to Liberty. "Very sorry to hear about you not having parents..."

Liberty listens closely and says, "I was brought up by a demon-worshiping cult. All I understand is hate and the desire to destroy. I'm trying to learn what love is. But in the meantime, the cult that raised me did so because I was meant to be a weapon. So now I gear my destructive tendencies and my skill towards that which Unity and its people deem evil. Fair warning to all of you: Don't make me mad at you. I'm still learning self control."

Reverie opts to respond to Liberty.

"Please don't think we'll make you mad
Your story has already been sad.
It's time you're shown love's sweet embrace
And someone kiss you on your face."

With that, she kisses Liberty on the cheek.

Liberty blushes, holds her hand to her cheek and seems shocked, but has this "going to cry" look on her face as she forms the smallest of smiles. She hugs Reverie. Instant best friend. Reverie pats Liberty on the back, looking at the others.

"I shant," Mittens answers both Bridget and Eli, smiling at the boy, "Ignoring our difference of opinion accomplishes nothing, Eli.  Take Grall and Mortin for example.  They came to a better understanding of each other through conflict.  My current understanding is that Bridget respects authority and procedure more than knowledge and wisdom.  I think she understands that I respect my god and the well-being of the people more than than her interpretation of her rules and procedures.  The more we exchange thoughts the more we understand each other.  I don't deny that there is a time to remain silent, like when your enemy is torturing you for information on your allies, but I do not see Bridget as my enemy and I don't see this as a time to remain silent.  In fact, I see her as an ally.  So it's critical we understand each other so that when crisis arrives, we can work together effectively.  That's got Unity written all over it, doesn't it?  So yeah.  Not going to give Bridget the silent treatment or shun her or ignore what she's telling me."

Mittens contemplates the now blushing Liberty's background and rubs her chin.

"Brutal!" she says, "Love is pretty much the opposite of selfishness.  But now that I think of it, I don't believe the rest of the members of the two teams have shared their backgrounds.  Blake?  What's your background?  Bridget?  Eli?  Reverie?  I'd like to hear yours too."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:18, Thu 29 Apr 2010.

  "If I were the sort with a handle on cantrips, that would probably be what I show to answer 'what is love' questions directed at me."  Blake comments in regards to Reverie's actions.

  The continue to ignore the philosophical debate (or closest thing to) between Mittens Eli and Bridget.  As for Mitten's most recent question, they say "Narfell.  It's really cold and there are ruins scattered about and below the ice.  Scavenging bits of history for those interested but not enough so to go themselves made of the majority of the excitement in my life.  Then I left because, once more, it's ridiculously cold there and not so much for a good chunk of the rest of the planet."

Eli answers, "I was born and raised in the Vogel Kingdom, but have visited Unity many times. My drive is simple: I do not like violence and I work hard to eliminate it. Even when I was sparring you, I was trying my best to make the damage done to you illusory and fatiguing rather than real. But for the whole settling differences? Umm... I don't think that happened. Grall and Mortin both seemed plenty sour with each other in the end anyway. I know I'm still soar with you." he says in a lightly annoyed tone, trying to forget he's still mad at Mittens.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:09, Fri 30 Apr 2010.

Bridget answers, "I was born and raised in Unity. My motivation is to bring order, civility and improvement to those around me." Even if she was evil, this would apply. "And to bring justice to those that would stand in the way of such progress."

Emerald listens to Eli and then looks at Mitts. "When I was little, I learned how to survive on the street. But due to being shown this thing called love that Liberty is looking for, and in large quantity, I learned how heroes work and why they do what they do. Decided I'd be one m'self."

Reverie thinks how to respond and says to Mittens,

"I came here to Unity
Seeking out some purity.
Where I come from is dark and, well,
You know it as the Shadowfell.

My goal in life is not as noble
As Bridget or the cute Prince Vogel.
I simply wish to live and love
And make some friends on the way thereof."

Liberty already answered this question, but can't help glance at Reverie after her actions. She looks at Blake and thinks on the whole Narfell thing. Then to Reverie. Then Mittens. Then Reverie again. Then the others...

"So most of us, myself included, are in it for selfish reasons." yes, she's aware Mittens claimed selfishness as the opposite of love.

"Indeed," Mittens says with a knowing smile in answer to Liberty's statement, "Now to further blow your mind, we're all in it for UNselfish reasons too.  The heart of a person is a many many faceted thing, isn't that right, Emerald?"

She winks at the fox lady, proud of the pun.

"Take Eli's summation of yesterday's spar.  You weren't there for that, Liberty, so I'll catch you up on it.  There was a lot of tension between two of the Unity officials last night at the Vogel house while Eli's dad was being told of the day's happenings.  Grall and Mortin apparently had a standing grudge between them, and they jabbed at each other with words.  Me being the paladin of war that I am, urged them to fight it out, and they did!  During the duel, they hurled accusation after accusation at each other, in addition to their more physical attacks.  Mortin defeated Grall in armed combat, refraining from killing the man as King Vogel requested.  Grall on the other hand had a way of proving that Mortin was a racist who had no legitimate case against Grall.  I'd say he won the war of words."

She turns to face Eli.

"Violence and peace both have their places.  By violence a hunter shoots his prey so that his family can eat in peace.  By violence the smith forges a plow for the farmer to till his fields in peace.  'To secure peace is to prepare for war.'  You don't have to like it, Eli, but by our spar, you and I both are more prepared to secure peace.  And now I'm learning even more about you than if we'd stayed in peaceful silence.  Tell me why you're sore with me, and I'll tell you why I like you."

  "Less philosophical version.  We are directing our selfish reasons to apparently productive ends.  Which is more than most can be bothered with."

  Blake considers their situation for a moment, "Of course, when wanting to be able to feed and house yourself without resorting to crime or charity is selfish, you've got a whole other set of problems to worry about then.  If problems petty compared to unfortunate pasts, possible war, and other real problems beyond determining moral values."

  You want to survive in a legitimate manner? You selfish bastard.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:56, Sat 01 May 2010.

Liberty frowns (I know, big surprise, right?). "And what unselfish reasons do you have, Mittens?"

Eli says, "Like I haven't heard the whole "peace can not be attained without bloodshed" thing in my war strategy, history and social studies classes that I have to learn being a prince. Says who? Everyone else because history is repeated over and over by ignorant people obsessed with fighting and refusing to look for a different way for peace. You know, the only reason I took up your challenge was to shut you up? But my sleep spell didn't work on you for who knows why. As for why I'm mad at you, you broke the rules of engagement. I didn't want to mention it before because I feel my dad made the rules a bit unfairly in my favor, but then that's because you can't spar me without injuring me. Can you. I guess Kord favors those who break codes of chivalry since war is never about honor. It's no wonder he has both good and evil followers who channel his power. And the really really aggravating thing is... if I had used my more harmful and destructive powers, I might have won. It's like Kord was laughing at everything I believe in and you were his mouthpiece."

(OOC: Had he used Flaming Sphere and other such "haha I hurt you without rolling dice" powers on Mittens, he would indeed have won since the reason he lost was Miss, miss, miss miss, hit?, miss, etc. At the end of the fight, it was literally the difference of "If Eli hits with his weakest power, he wins". I think Mitts had 3 HP left? Not sure. *Looks up* Eli admitting all he wanted to do was shut someone up... this is as aggressive as he's ever been verbally.)

Bridget looks coldly at Eli. "To insult a god is to invite that god's disfavor." clearly, either she believes in the gods or she is testing what Eli will say in response.

Eli does respond, "I've had his disfavor since I was born. And what's he going to do? Cause Unity to go to war? He would do that to *reward* his faithful, just as much as punish them. I have no choice but to be held in contempt of his court."

Bridget waits and watches to see how Mittens responds to all of Eli's objections.

Emerald says, "Don't forget he's also the god of storms and could overflow your crops.." Eli immediately replies, "And Pelor, who I do pay homage to at his church, will sit watch with a bag of popcorn?" Emerald cringes a little. "Calm down, kiddo.. just sayin'..."

(ROLL RELIGION FOR REV: Got 10 from the d20 die.)

Reverie oh-mys at Eli's outpour.

"Do not forget, Eli
Mittens said she likes you.
You would be wise
To listen to her words too."

Do not use your strength
For wanton destruction
That is a small portion
Of Kord's instructions.

I doubt he's quite as bad
As you think he may be.
For as legend has it, lad,
Kord learned to see.

He once ran wilder
Than he is today
But eventually regretted
Being that way.

He sided with the gods of good
When it mattered the most.
He would have avoided if he could
And now he will not boast.

For when he chose the side he did
He had to slay his mother.
Such a steep price to slay your kin
Because of recklessness earlier."

She glances at Mittens.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:10, Sun 02 May 2010.

Mittens takes a deep breath.  "Whoo!" she says, smiling, "I've got a lot to answer to, don't I?!  Let's see.  In order of chronology as best as I can recall...  Blake.  Selfishness and morals.  I don't consider it necessarily selfish to make a living without resorting to crime, but the definition of selfishness is to seek one's own advantage to the exclusion of others.  Many people have much more than they need materially, and what do they do with the excess?  Use it on themselves.  To the exclusion of those in desperate need.  I may not be much in the way of understanding morals, but I do know that an unselfish person is a rare thing to find.  At least as rare is a selfish person who admits to the fact.  So yeah.  Without crime, not selfish.  Without charity when it's easily within your ability?  Selfish.  'Least that's how I understand the word.  Of course there's levels of degree.  The peasant child who decides not not to share a crumb of bread with a mouse compared to a 'friend' who won't show up to testify that you're innocent of a crime because he's busy playing dice for example.

"Liberty.  My unselfish motives?  Well I love adventure.  While I could conceivably focus my drive on acquiring wealth and power by amassing a small army and pillaging villages, I instead focus it on things like capturing criminals or protecting the helpless.  So there ya go.  Why I bother... I dunno  I guess maybe those stories of heroes I heard as a child had that big an impact on me.  Guess I'm on a 'learn what love is' quest of my own.

"Eli.  WHEW!  OK.  From the top.  I'll try to echo back my understanding of what you said then answer it.

"One.  'I don't like violence.  I don't think it's needed to secure peace.'  I'm sure your teachers, men who have mastered violence I presume, also loath violence.  What do you suppose they'd say about securing peace with violence?  'Sometimes it's unavoidable, but violence isn't the ONLY way to secure peace?'  I would agree with them.  Tempus encourages people to be strong, but this includes being strong of mind as well as body.  In fact, 'true mastery of war is the leader who can conquer his enemy without a single blow.'

"Two.  'I answered your challenge to shut you up with non violent magic.'  You had the courage to face my challenge!  Good for you!

"Three.  'You broke the unfair rules.'  You're quite right!  Unfair or not, I agreed to the conditions, and then with great immaturity broke my word.  More apologies.

"Four.  'Kord favors breakers of rules 'cause it's the wise thing to do in war.'  One of Tempus' primary rules is to obey the rules of war.  Wouldn't make much sense of him to even HAVE rules if he favored breakers of rules.  In fact, that angel explained to me that the power I used against you has been taken from me because I broke my word.  Tempus spank!

"Five.  'You represent everything I hate and it makes me angry that you could be right.'  If you're looking for a war god of chaos and evil look no further than Grummsh.  Ironically, even Grummsh has rules.  Go fig, right?  But let's take a look at the rest of the pantheon.  Pelor: 'his paladins battle the undead'  Corellon: 'a skilled warrior'  Moradin: 'with the strike of his hammer, he is tireless and brave in the defense of his creations'  Selune: 'destroy lichens.'  Torm: 'served by paladins and other holy champions.'  See a trend?

"Violence is not the same as evil and vice versa.  If you're looking for a deity of 'be as peaceful as possible,' I'm afraid the position is still open.  Perhaps YOU could fill that role some day, but you'll have to work hard at it.  Maybe even FIGHT for it.  Perhaps it'll be of some comfort to you that even the gods can be frustrated with the way the world turns.  Even they must strive to shape the world into something more pleasing to them.  Most times non violently.  But when it comes time to fight they'd better be ready, 'cause even gods can fall in combat.

"Bridget.  'Don't insult the gods.'  I doubt Tempus would be insulted by Eli, but even if what Eli said would have insulted Tempus, i'm pretty sure he's not here to hear it.

"Emerald.  Even if Tempus WAS here to hear it, or I felt the need to tell on Eli in my prayers, I doubt he'd flood the Vogel crops over it.  They say the rain drops are the tears of Tempus.  He'd be the laughingstock of the pantheon!  'Oh look!  Tempus is crying over a mortal child's insult!  Hey Tempus!  Want some french cries with your wah burgers?'

"Reverie.  I couldn't have said it better myself!  I do indeed like Eli, and I daresay, Tempus would like him too.

"Everyone.  You're all awesome!

"Eli.  What disfavor since you were born?  As Reverie so eloquently pointed out, Tempus would no sooner 'reward' you with a war than Pelor would reward you with a drought.  If you're still mad at me, or at Tempus, then tell me what challenge I must undertake to sate your wrath?  You accepted MY challenge, so I owe it to you to accept yours."

(( OOC: Had to do my research on this one.  I'm using Tempus and Kord interchangeably just 'cause.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:32, Mon 03 May 2010.

  In all irony, Blake would need very little in the way of material possessions outside of living needs if it wasn't for, you know. Game mechanics.  Oh hey, I just melted a Juggernaut's face off while wearing my bathrobe and slippers by pointing my finger at them.  What's a damage aura and damage resistance?

  Blake has no sympathy for Eli at all, if some inclinations of agreement to their outlook on Gods.  Yes, Mitten's usage of their sword to attack Eli (hey, the post said they pointed their SWORD at Eli, then ouch happened) was completely against the challenge of using only her sword.  Freezing ice, flying blades, and magic missiles were also oh so harmless.  Sadly Blake realized Eli's attempt to one shot a fight would likely work on him, just as an Infernal styled Warlock is far more inconvenienced by the Fey variety than the other way around.

  "Ah yes, charity work.  Such as my being pulled aside in the street by law officials and asked to light people on fire in exchange for citizenship and the good of the city.  How fortunate for Unity I selflessly burnt the flesh of criminals for the safety of all.  Could be worse, I could shave off bits off the existence from others for power or some other unfortunate thing.  But sacrifice for power, personal or otherwise has never really been something I've looked into."  So nice that Lifestealer isn't the only Paragon Path open for Infernal Warlocks these days.

  They look over to Mittens, "I do appreciate the sentiment of course.  My initial annoyances with you left me before we even left that cave.  While I'm not especially respectful of the Gods either, I am glad I didn't have to beat up Tempus to earn your respect like you suggested."

   OOC Style: That's because Kord and Tempus (And Dol Dorn, or so I claim) are the same person.  Or at the very least official RPG sanction mechanics legal to plug Kord mechanics and powers into your Tempus character (if not supported by the char builder, as a listed known bug).

  As an unrelated note,  According to the Wizards.com Alignment test. Blake is....

  Lawful Good.

  Up is down, Black is white, Cats and Dogs living together, Anarchy in the streets. What's going on here!? I didn't even pick the blind obedience to Law and Royalty options.  I picked the 'no better than anyone else, I pick and chose laws convenient for me, they can't even pave roads' options.

This message was last edited by the player at 10:58, Tue 04 May 2010.

Liberty folds her arms and watches the people go back and forth. "So in other words, you don't have unselfish motives. Just unselfish actions that have selfish motives behind them. After all, you just said you don't know why you do things that way."

Eli has no love for Blake either. And not because Blake's logic is so messed up that it would make Joker's logic look logical. (Honestly, for someone so Jaded, Blake sure expects a lot from an 8-year-old spoiled rotten prince) After all, Eli doesn't know what Blake's been thinking. To be fair, Eli has no sympathy for Blake's being bitter over pretty well everything. At least Eli has a reason and it's aimed at one thing.

Eli says, "My challenge for you? Not only would you be incapable of it, but now isn't the time for it. But for future reference, the challenge is this: Go a week without violence. That includes fights. Even sparring."

And again. If Eli knew Blake's thoughts, he'd probably expect logic like "that's unfair since Mittens' challenge only lasted 2 minutes." well duh it did. It was a challenge to commit violence. People commit not-violence all the time. It's the length of time the gaps between violence last that impresses people. Kind of like how it's less impressive a chain smoker smokes 2 boxes a day than if the same chain smoker went a week without smoking.

"God of non-violence...." Eli muses, "Though if someone had to attain it by violence, that'd defeat the purpose. Won't be me, that's for sure. I have to say, Mittens... I'm impressed you are able to pay attention to every little point and answer them." That's normally something only a wizard can do.

(The whole Tempus/Kord/Dol Dorn thing is annoying, yes. It was never established what world this is and I always assume the PHB gods until otherwise told. I shoulda known, though, that the god of war is Tempus. Period. Kord is a shmuck who nobody cares to worship since Tempus has a better channel divinity. >.> It's enough to make me want to create an avenger of Kord someday. But for here I have enough alts. Perhaps if I remember him as the god of storms first, that might help me stop making this mistake.)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:00, Thu 06 May 2010.

Bridget says, "Tempus' location has little to do with what he can or can not hear." she then looks at Blake. "I hope for the sake of your own intellect that you know what she meant, for your words indicate otherwise. Lighting people on fire is no more an act of charity than cooking food for yourself. You need to eat to live and you need to defend yourself from attackers to live. However, if they did not attack, you would not need to defend yourself. The charitable act was to bring possessions back to their owners and criminals to justice so they would not harm others. It was the criminals who asked you to light them on fire. Not Unity."

She looks at Mittens. "Perhaps you could tell each of us why you think so highly of us."

Emerald says, "Gods get called names, ignored, mocked and otherwise made fun of all the time. I don't think something so common or trivial would stop Tempus from letting off some steam. Gods are temperamental, you know." She glances at Blake. "Not respectful of the gods, eh? Why, if I may ask..."

Reverie has little to add, watching the people discuss the topic further.

  "It's possibly down to me having moral standards that even I don't meet.  Obviously I know the technical difference, I was brought on to help in a non specified manner while all cases of violent and immoral actions were in no way Unity's intent...  I, think I was serious there. It can be hazy when Unity and myself would honestly have preferred that to end without violence."

  They consider Emerald's question for a moment.  "Much credit is given to the Gods, some of it even deserved.  But it was not Tempus down in that cave getting his throat torn out by wolves, it was Mittens.  Even the Raven Queen denied their own 'fate' to get where she is today.  It is fortunate Mittens enjoys her work, because it would be a poor thing if they did their work merely because Tempus desired it so."

OOC Embarrassment: It was Mittens's go <.<  Pretend this post didn't happen if it would inconvenience Mittens's posting
This message was last edited by the player at 07:25, Thu 06 May 2010.

It's a good thing Mittens doesn't have to answer OOC narratives or her posts would take more effort.

"Beat up Tempus..." she mutters, scrolling through her memories, trying to remember saying that's what it takes for her to respect someone, "Oh yeah!  Déjà vu!  We had this conversation about diety respect just the other day in that cave!  Right.  I was annoyed with Grall for saying, 'gods be damned!' all dismissively like they're worthless or something.  So I said, 'If not their character you should at least respect their power.  Depose Tempus and I'll have to respect YOUR power.'  Or something like that.  So no.  A person doesn't have to beat up a god for me to respect them.  More like if they do I'll not be stupid enough to NOT respect them to their face.  And yes, I do think it foolish to not pay respect when and where it's due...

"Like a king in his kingdom.  Whether he's good or evil, he probably has spies.  He may not be omniscient, but while in his kingdom it's still wise to either speak well of the king or not speak of him at all or some spy or loyalist might tell on you or bat you with a stick directly depending on how zealous they are.  So yeah.  Here I feel pretty safe saying, 'Lolth is ugly!' 'cause I'm pretty likely to get away with it.  In drow country that'd be a different story.  You're right, Emerald.  Just some kings, gods, and persons of whatever power level are more touchy about being disrespected than others."

Replying to Liberty, she ehs.  "Yeah.  I suppose that's as unselfish as I get - trying to act like the people I admire."

She ponders Eli's challenge. "An interesting challenge.  I accept your challenge if you'll allow me to modify it to where it's still practical in our current quest.  Namely, I'll go a week without INITIATING violence.  Acceptable?  In any case I'm flattered a genius like you is impressed with my ability to flap my jaw."  ;p

She considers Bridget's point.  "Well yeah, but putting yourself in the position where you'll likely have to fight to defend yourself and others from villains rather than take the more conventional, 'safer' community service option IS a charitable act.  And yeah... I think you all proved that you lean more in the non-violent if possible policy of Unity when you talked that wizard into surrendering rather than just charge in and make mince meat out of him like I wanted to do.

"And thanks for the support, Blake.  I sincerely hope my actions reflect at least a little of how Tempus would fight in my shoes.  If not... I'll have to punch Tempus in the face!

"As for specifics for why I admire those present, in short, because you're present.  You're on a quest to hunt down a dangerous criminal and heading towards a city that may be on it's way to destruction!  Sure I respect everyone's talents for what they are, but more important than that, I respect your ACTIONS!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:01, Thu 06 May 2010.

Bridget says, "Well I shall list off the qualities I have personally noticed of the ones gathered here. Courage is, of course, an attribute this whole group shares as you pointed out, Mittens. But on a more individual basis, here is what I have perceived;

Due to my unfamiliarity with Liberty, the primary merit I would commend her with is self-control. Given her background, she should have already either met her end, landed in jail or run away. Instead, she is here at our side, soon to end any evil she faces.

You, Mittens, have shown much initiative and persistence. You almost died and came right back to your feet ready to fight some more. Perhaps Tempus punished you for your misuse of his power, but I know he is proud of you. I would be if I was him.

Emerald's merits, for the most part, are private. But today, I can boast that she has learned in very little time how to master a style of magic that will likely impress those of you who practice the arcane. She is a quick thinker and a quick learner.

Reverie has been nothing but uplifting, loving and humble as far as I can tell since I have met her. I have not witnessed what she can do, but I hear she is capable of instilling fear in her enemies. Fear is one of the most useful tools in war.

Eli, while about as hero-minded as I have come to expect from Unity's royal family, is also highly intelligent on top of this. Were it not for his lack of experience, I would recommend him as leader of our group. However, the leader would be wise to listen to him when he suggests something.

Blake is, from what I can tell, watchful. There is an old saying; who will watch the watchers? I believe he will keep us in check with his constant pessimism. Possibly even keep himself in check.

We all have room for improvement. But people prefer not to hear their weaknesses, so I will not give my opinion on what those weaknesses are unless it is requested."

Liberty decides not to bother asking since Bridget admitted she knows little about Liberty. She says, "Thanks for your votes of confidence. But honestly, you bunch should hold out judgment until you know someone better."

Eli blushes from Mittens' constant smiles, praises and then even Bridget praises him on top of it all. "...Mittens? Not only are you a lot better than I gave you credit for at heart, but I don't think I deserve to be on the same team as you after the way I've treated you."

Mittens' constant bombardment of Eli's bad mood with her own good mood seems to have broken Eli's bad mood to pieces and broken his barrier against people obsessed with fighting. Well... for Mittens alone at the moment.

He earpirks at Blake. "...to be honest, I think very very few people in this world meet their own moral standards. It is the fate of the world to constantly strive. Aim for the stars and you may reach the top of a tree. Aim for perfection and you might be better than average. Practice your whole life at magic and study battles under experienced teachers..." he glances at Mittens. "and you might actually come close to winning against someone who out-classes you."

Yeah. That match coupled with Mittens' good attitude has humbled Eli. If only he were Raichel, he'd immediately recognize this as a thing to desire greatly. As Joe will likely soon learn about Raichel, she hates her own pride, even though she chases self confidence. It IS a hard thing to balance, admittedly, but still.

Emerald says, "...thanks for that bit about me. And for not mentioning the other part." she is secretly annoyed that Bridget just made the others curious about what that may be, but decides this group is trustworthy enough that maybe this is simply Bridget's way of helping Emerald along with trust. Still...

Reverie glances about, petting Liberty's back, before speaking up.

"My dear companions,
What she says of you is true
You're all champions
In those great things you do.

But remember no one's an army
We all must depend on each other.
While each of us may be charming,
Together we are so much better.

Even the gods, all due respect,
Can not do everything alone.
They work together, connect,
To wield powers truly unknown."

"And that there is what makes Unity great!" Mittens chimes with a big grin, "Sounds like Bridget covered everything I might have covered if I were more tactically minded and then some...  What private qualities?  I'd ask if Bridget has some dirt on Emerald, but it sounds more like she has clean laundry she wants kept secret for some reason.  Boy am I curious!  Oh well.  Thanks for the compliments, all.  As for deserving a spot on the team or liking people too easy...  I'd say just rely on the judgment of the people who sent us.  If you're good enough for them, you're good enough for me!"

  Blake nods in regards to Mittens's diety commentary "'Lolth's hairy legs' being more wideley acceptable in this area than 'screw Adavndra' was part of that conversation, yes.  Even if the first part is akin to mentioning another Deity's beard, intent counts for something."  They decide not to suggest Mitten's hit Tempus in the ankles first so they can reach their face in the first place, considering the popularity of being very large for many gods.

  And thus many a temperamental goddess would exclaim 'are you calling me fat?'.  No, of course not, they would all literally be big boned in that case.

  To Eli they say "I might do well to reign in my scorn at a drop of a hat, but that seems to be something that will take longer than merely realizing it is an existing issue to deal with.  At the very least I can try to settle down regarding you as much as you have for us Eli."

  The comments, short or rhyming long of others are met without comment but general acceptance.  And a lack of apparent interest in the flaws of personal matters of the others (outside of the ones they have been or will be pointing out themselves at least) "As for trusting the judgment of those who chose us, I'll have to get over the fact they thought choosing me was a good idea before moving on to their other actions."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:01, Sun 09 May 2010.

Liberty nods. "I second Blake's point. Unity can't be completely basing its decisions on morality if they picked the likes of Blake and I."

Bridget says, "We shall see. Be patient and go along with it. You will learn in time their judgment had nothing but moral standing in mind."

Eli resists the urge to shrug since the quota for shrugging is STILL met from Chirin's down-payment on it a while back. "Well can we make sure we'll work together well? I take orders fine, but as Bridget hinted, I also get ideas that usually wind up working. And as Blake can attest to, I can be cautious."

Reverie gives Lib another hug and pets her cheek before looking at the others.

"As long as you don't think ill of me
The get along part should be easy.
The worst case scenario I think on
Is people scared, 'cause I'm an Umbreon."

Emerald nods. "I think we've established this group isn't the kind to get violent over non-humans. As for me? Well... I think you all work together fine. Don't expect me to act quite the same in combat as I did earlier, Mittens.

I'll be doing things different, you'll see.
And somewhat inspired by Reverie..."

She winks at Reverie.

Mittens snirks the moment Bridget asserts 'only morals in mind' but makes no actual comment.

Mittens raises an eyebrow at Emerald's comment.  "Oh?  I was just going to mention how well you, me, Blake, and Bridget did our fist go-around.  Just how different?  And what's poetry have to do with it?  Our other roles have been pretty readily defined by what's been said so far... me with the bull-rushing into the fray to keep the arrows flying in the direction of my armor instead of the rest of the team, Bridget with the tactical stuffs, Blake with the face-melting.  So what you do now, Emerald?  And has your style changed since our spar, Eli?  And what's your role combat wise, Reverie?  No worries about being disliked for your race from my end, by the way."

  Blake helps their mind process Bridget's claim by reminding themselves having moral standing in mind doesn't mean intent to follow it.

  Blake would also console Reverie with 'It could be worse, you could be a Doppelganger', but they just said they would try to go a bit more easy on Eli.

  "To be fair their faces remained in the on position, if missing eyebrows."

Bridget looks at Mittens and says, "Is something funny?" in an almost Samuel Arrow fashion.

(Sam rocks. But while this video isn't the best of Sam, the whole thing is worth it to watch past the end (When that youtube "play" button pops up, don't be fooled. There's still more): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDA9NbPAK8o )

Emerald shrugs since it's back in style now and smiles at Mittens. "Perhaps a small demonstration is in order." she says. Then clears her throat with her fist to her mouth. Dropping her hand to her chest, she then sings soft and slow in a pretty, cute voice;


"When the waters of my soul
Threaten to run dry
There Your power holds
Turning the tide

One wilderness cannot steal
The strength of sacrifice
How Your love was revealed
In the fullness of time."


Everyone present feels the song sooth and caress their inner being as though somehow magical. Emerald says, "I will likely sing that song for you between battles."

(Song of Rest)

Liberty closes her eyes and leans on Reverie. The song was so... relaxing. When she opens her eyes again, she looks calm rather than annoyed like earlier.

Eli answers Mittens, "My fighting style... you could say it has changed." then gives a relaxed smile as the song is sung. He claps once Emerald is done.

Reverie holds and even cradle Liberty when the girl leans on her. She answers Mittens,

"My role in combat is hitting hard.
I speak my words, they lower their guard.
And while it leaves them ever scarred,
My role will have us holding the cards."

Mittens snickers.

"You mean besides Blake's face commentary?" she asks in reply to Bridget, "Well when you said 'nothing but moral standing in mind,' I found the way you framed your point to be rather exaggerated, something I don't expect from you.  I'm sure they at least had SOME thoughts in mind at the time besides just moral ones when choosing whom to send."

She smiles at Eli and asks, "Care to be more specific?"

When Emerald sings she swings her tail to the music and even dances a little.

"Catchy!" she says, "And magically refreshing!  I like!"

  Blake thinks that 'first people noticed on the street' was what was going through Grall's mind at the time aside from morals.  "If you are ever inclined to sing such songs outside of combat because you feel like it, then by all means do."  Blake says to Emerald.

  They consider Eli's current and much more obvious choice of implement, but opt not to make any particular judgments of how that could affect their methods.  Just as those judging his actions as a Warlock's Curse would be unpleasantly surprised when things start to explode in a most uncurselike fashion.

Emerald grins widely at Blake. "Th-Thanks!" To Mittens, she just nods with a smile. See... problem with being a happy-all-the-time type like Mitts? When they compliment you or seem cheerful, it just seems underwhelming. Like they aren't serious about it or something. And ironically, because Blake has been mister negative, his compliment to Emerald made her heart jump. It's like when Grumpy Bear smiles or something.

Eli displays his staff. "My implement of choice is now a staff, which doubles as a weapon. You saw me show up to train under Justice once you were out of breath. I know a few techniques now that will make me harder to hit. In short, I have upped my defensive capabilities."

He then looks at Emerald with a slight blush and some awe. "G-gosh... that was amazing..."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Tue 18 May 2010.

Bridget is quiet during the song and doesn't interrupt it. She is cold as ever and seems unaffected... maybe. She then looks at Mittens. "Exaggeration is not something I practice on a regular basis. However, I did not even mean it as an exaggeration as I have lived here my whole life and thus understand the authorities here, at least the ones I choose work with, who chose you all, are paragons of good and justice. Mock that if you wish, but you only laugh because of your ignorance of the people here. I hope you will learn to have more respect for these people I speak of as they deserve nothing less. Some day you will look back to today and laugh at yourself for laughing at the idea that they are, indeed, that hero-minded. They would rather have someone who is morally standing than the best swordsman in the world. And that is why Unity will stand even if it should ever fall."

"In other words you're completely convinced that they would agree with every last one of your answers to the limitless moral questions there are, " Mittens answers Bridget, "And the thought of simply eating doesn't cross their mind when their hungry.  No they only eat because it's the moral thing to do.  If that's not an exaggeration, I don't know what is.  But don't take offense to my lack of understanding your point of view, no offense intended.  I laughed not in mockery of your heroes, but in amusement to my own thoughts of how one uses the outhouse with only moral thoughts in mind.

"Of course... I'm making a lot of assumptions about them.  Such as assuming they eat and use outhouses and such.  But I could be very wrong about this."

"I approve of Blake's statement and Eli's upgraded combat style."

  Blake may be a nitpicky for the sake or personal amusement sort of person, but clearly they are a mere novice compared to Mittens.

  As for his degree of grumpiness, nobody is trying to kill him or annoying him at the moment.  This counts for a lot to Blake's mindset.  "Yes, anyways, was there anything we needed to take care of before we left for our destination?"  Aside from trying to locate Gilant if they could.

Having just come from previously informing both Michael and Shale at their respective homes to head to the inn that those in the group who didn't have homes in Unity were staying at since the group would be heading out soon.

Thus Freedom arrives at the gate with Jimmy, the old dog, that bears the scars from what appears to be previous battles walking happily along side the warforged. If anyone pays close attention to the Warforged Warden, they would quickly realize that the longsword Freedom had been carrying has been replaced with what appears to be a dwarven hammer with a heavily weighted head that resembles as one-handed maul with a deadly looking spike on the back of its head. Those who are familiar with more exotic weapons would recognize this weapon as a craghammer.

Freedom waves to the group when he spots them and after approaching them explains that he's been rather busy lately with his training with Cedric on how to wield a craghammer, as well as arranging for his new friend to be taken care of after the group leaves through the gate as Freedom doesn't want to risk Jimmy's life by taking him out of town for a task that will no doubt be dangerous.

If anyone asked Freedom about Jimmy, the Warforged freely explains how and why Cedric gave Jimmy to him. Freedom sees no dishonor in having failed the timed exercise due to running out of time, because the exercise still provided him with the knowledge and strength he was seeking. Earning Cedric's respect and gaining a new friend are two additional perks Freedom values far more than the right to claim that he could complete an exercise by abandoning an ally to die on the battlefield.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:27, Sun 23 May 2010.

The Githyanki Swordmage approaches the gate looking a bit annoyed as he can be heard mumbling, "Of all the times someone had to close the window to my room at the inn. I can't Telekinetic Leap through a closed window. Going through the front door is such a hassle."

Ever since completing his training, Gilant has been puzzled about the training mat, why did the 'allies' it conjured up increasingly act like his Cadre. Thinking back on it, the conversation he had with his former leader has on some level troubled Gilant. While on one hand Gilant was happy he finally got to tell the leader of his Cadre that he was wrong, what the 'dead leader of his Cadre' had said didn't seem like anything related to his training at all. While Gilant was a bit annoyed that the leader of his Cadre said that they would always be with him, since he was never all that fond of his Cadre given how poorly he felt they had treated him when they were alive.

Gilant glances around and sees the group but makes little effort to head over to them since at the moment the Githyanki is lost in thought about what he is starting to suspect may have been the ghost of the leader of his Cadre. Gilant closes his eyes and remembers what he was told, 'We'll always be a part of you.  But we've seen the other side. Unexpected alliances and divisions.  Something's coming. Unity is not everything. Beware who you ally yourself with. Fear is the only ally who won't let you down.' When Gilant opens his eyes and shakes his head to clear his mind as he knows that dwelling on the past will only blind oneself to the present and leave yourself unprepared to handle the future.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:41, Sun 23 May 2010.

As Michael lives in Unity, he's been staying with his family getting his affairs in order in preparation for heading back out of the city and has only now headed towards the inn after being told by Freedom that he should head to the gate and meet up with the others.

After finishing up getting everything in order, Michael heads to the gate and easily finds the group once he approaches the gate. Although Michael notices that there is someone he doesn't recognize, namely Liberty, he also notices that Grall and Mortin don't seem to be present. Michael wonders if they just have not arrived yet, or that they may have been reassigned to other tasks.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:41, Sun 23 May 2010.

Like Michael, Shale had been staying at his home in Unity with his family. As such Shale only found out about the group's upcoming departure when Freedom stopped by to inform him. Both Shale and his family had expected someone would come and fetch him when the time was right. Fortunately Shale had already finished procuring better equipment for the 'trip' and in his idle time the gnomish warlock had been pondering what can be done to fix the 'hole' Eochaid told him about. However for the time being Shale is convinced that he'll only know what needs to be done when the time is right.

Shale bids farewell to his family and promises to tell them about his adventures when he returns. After hearing their goodbyes, the gnome heads off towards the gate to join up with the group. Shale solemnly heads over to the group contemplating the task Eochaid has laid out for him, and doesn't seem to be phased by the presence of someone he doesn't recognize or that others he knows aren't present as things change. Shale mutters, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
This message was last edited by the player at 00:42, Sun 23 May 2010.

Bridget is beginning to doubt Mittens' gender due to her use of potty references. She then says, "I did not say they only have moral standing in mind concerning every bit of life. I said that when they chose you bunch, they only had moral standing in mind." she pauses. Which is clear, because if they had sense in mind, they would not have chosen you Bridget thinks to herself before continuing, "You desire so much to exaggerate and to hear me do so as well? Very well. Now it is time I used some exaggeration; Arguing over this is a waste of time. You are convinced that everyone in the world is evil to the core and couldn't possibly have a moral thought. For that matter, morality is a non-existant, nebulous idea that only fools believe in. We are all fighting for nothing but survival and have only selfish thoughts for every aspect of life. Now then... back to not exaggerating; if you actually believe those things I just listed, you are off the team and can go home."

She doesn't expect Mittens to agree with every exaggeration she just listed. But she does suspect Mittens believes in one or two of them and wants to see what Mittens will do. So far, she has seen Mittens to at least have the qualities of not giving up and not being easily offended. Both of which are rare, the latter being downright endangered.

She looks at Freedom. "Greetings. It is good to see you again." she glances at the dog. "Both of you." she then turns her attention to the others as they arrive and nods to them. "Gilant. Michael. Shale. With all of us here, there is little reason to sit around. If you have eaten, we can be on our way."

Bridget displays Liberty. "This is Liberty. She is joining us."

Liberty is trying to contain the rage at the sight of Gilant and clenches her fists. She wonders if Unity was too good to be true after all. But with Reverie right there holding her and cradling her, Liberty is too torn to do anything about it for now. "....hi." she manages. Then glances at Gilant. "A gith is a rare sight around these parts... isn't it?" she secretly hopes she is just mistaking a Githzeri for a Githyanki. She is mentally patting herself on the back for her immense restraint, not even raising her voice.

She stares at Gilant anyhow, as if assessing him. Trying to figure out what he is. She sees the sword and doubts he is as focused on psionics as she is. Though the comment on him telekinetically leaping to his room reminded her how naturally it comes to the gith. Still, while it may not be an especially human trait, Liberty is proof there is nothing out of bounds from humans. She was born with the gift just like any gith would be.

She considers asking Gilant a question or two privately in Deep Speech, but decides against it. There is no garuntee Gilant knows that language if he is here among surface-dwellers. That and she is unsure she even wants him to know that she knows that language. Should he slip up and say something in deep speech that would otherwise have been private, Liberty wants that. Very very much.

Eli smiles at the sight of the others. "You missed the concert." he informs them. "Emerald here just sang and it reverberated our very souls. She says she's gonna use her singing in COMBAT! She can weave magic with music!"

Emerald says, "Heh... yeah. I learned a bit of magic and a few languages while you all were training..." She glances at Michael, Shale and then Gilant. She looks at Blake. "Far as I know, we don't have anything else to take care of." she then looks at Shale and smiles sweetly. "Indeed they do. But at the same time, Shale, change is inevitable and constant. Not unlike Eochaid, eh?"

Emerald was sure to study such things as the history of swordmagery, some info on who Eochaid is (which got her on a small side-tangent of learning about the feywild a little), and wizardry. It was actually quite necessary towards learning basics on arcane matters and such. If there is one thing she learned in her studies of magic in general the past two days, it's that knowing its origins and other forms of magic and how they work are great ways to advance your abilities quickly.

(OOC: My first time playing Emmy as a bard was actually way back when it was playtest. When I playtested bard, I chose warlock as a multiclass and continued multiclassing into one or two others beyond that. I love Bard.)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:35, Sun 23 May 2010.

Reverie is still blissfully unaware of Shale having found the same scroll she did, but it won't be long before she learns that he knows what she does. Either way, she is also unaware that he knows that Reverie knows how to curse an already cursed person.

Regardless, she waves to the four familiar faces with that pleasant, welcoming smile of hers.

Mittens has the ability to answer a bazillion different things happening in rapid succession even though her INT mod isn't anywhere near the Fire Queen's.  Just 'cause.

"Not now that the rest of the group has arrived," she answers Blake before turning to Gilant with a huge smile, "Gilant... I SO like your style!"

"Heya, Freedom!  SWEET craghammer!  I'd be more jealous if I wasn't granted this nice new sword of mine!  Be curious to know why the change in weapons, but it looks like I'm agreeing with Bridget again!"

She looks over at Bridget with a big smile.  "Little reason to sit around indeed!  Let's get this show on the road!"

Mittens begins marching down the road and waves her arm in a wide arc over her head to beacon the others to follow.  She then turns around and begins walking backward so she can continue chatting.

"Pretty sure they are, Libs!" she answers the young blonde, "And so are swordmages!  He's a rare one indeed!"

"Yeah!" she says in reply to Eli's boast of Emerald, "Looking forward to her singing the enemy into death!  Now THAT'll be a sight to see!  Or sound to hear...  And to think, she learned how in just... wait..."

She stares at Emerald.

"...and a few languages?!  You're kidding... right?"

She shakes her head and giggles.

"Heh... Of course your kidding.  You almost got me there, though."

She looks back at Bridget with a bright smile. "Not ignoring you.  Let's see...  First thing f... OH YEAH!  LAST thing first!  'If you don't believe what I do you're off the team!'  Ahem.  Announcement for the benefit of those of you who weren't at the Sheriff's office, and for those who may need reminding:  There are two 'teams.'  One officially sanctioned by Unity with the quest of finding the kobold-mind-control boss guy includes, in order of rank, Bridget, Eli, Freedom, Micheal, and Gilant.  Was never ON your team, Bridget.

"The rest of us are to 'unofficially organize and mobilize our team' for the purpose of investigating my and Reverie's visions of impending DOOM based on our 'individual sense of heroism or respect for forces of nature or whatever' with only the mere direct personal sanction of a King and a freggin' GOD as our authority.  In MY deck of cards, GODs and Kings out-rank Sheriffs, buuut I'm only going to assert that I'm the boss of team Dark Visions and not step on your official shoes, Bridget.

"As for our moral codes not aligning, perhaps it's withing your sense of right that those willing to risk life and limb to help you defeat a notorious bad-guy while hopefully saving a city from exploding and a nation from slaughter just miiiiight be juuust good enough to allow to walk on the same road as you even if they don't quite share your optimism or your idea of morality.  However, hashing out such in a sane manner isn't at all a waste of time.  Especially given that this is likely a rather long walk."

As if on cue, a prison wagon driven by the familiar one-legged veteran arrives.

"Hey there, everyone!" he says, "Anyone want a ride?"

Cedric steps off the back of the cart and offers to take the dog from Freedom.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:11, Wed 26 May 2010.

  Blake nods in greeting to the recent arrival of those he has met before.  He ignores Bridget and Mitten's bickering like Blakes for the moment.

  Blake only learned one language (having come to Unity knowing the rest, sheet edit retroactively of course).  But it's the language of the Gods so that must count for something.

  "I'll give your leadership claims the respect you have probably come to expect from me for such things... On second thought, expectations I've caused might not be the best basis for that.  I'll pay attention if it seems like a good idea at the time."

OOC Style: Once again I refer Reverie to the House Rule that lets us curse already cursed people just fine.  But your feat is still Awesome because it grants you CA to multi cursed people.

Michael listens to what the others say and nods to Liberty when she is introduced. When Bridget introduces everyone, Michael replies,
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Liberty.”

When Michael hears about the goals of the two groups he says, “Perhaps after one group finishes its task, it will move to assist the other group. There are too many coincidences going on right now for it to be anything other than fate. I just hope that ours is a good one,” as Michael is hesitant to speak about what he discovered in the book about a portion of Unity's history that has been 'erased'. This is mostly due to not knowing how to approach Eli on the subject just yet. However Michael is also fearful that someone else might overhear him and the panic that could cause. Michael knows that the secret he discovered must remain a secret from the others a little while longer to insure that no one in Unity overhears it and starts to panic.

Shale waves to Liberty when they are introduced. Although Shale is content to listen to what the others say, when Emerald mentions Eochaid, Shale grins and nods, “But of course. The lands are permanence at rest, while the oceans are permanence in motion. Both always changing, yet always the same. That is why Eochaid loves the Feywild as much as he does. And why he wishes for us to protect it.”

Shale stops grinning as he explains, “While I was training and communing with Eochaid, he told me  that there's an old hole in his roof that needs patching up.  He said it will not be an easy chore, but that it needs to be done. He also said that we'll be patching his roof together. Emerald, I'm sure you must realize that the sky of the Feywild itself is Eochaid's roof. And something falling to the ground could be coming through a hole in the sky. Maybe the city in the vision is a city in the Feywild? Either that, or whatever made the hole Eochaid spoke of, is the same force behind the destruction of the city in the vision. In any case, this is a task we must all do our part to complete.” While Shale is obviously not taking this lightly, the optimism in Shale's voice is obvious as Shale doubts the group can fail with Eochai's favor, let alone who ever else may be guiding the group with visions and warnings to guide the group's progress.

Gilant glances at Liberty and replies, “Hello, Liberty.” Gilant glances at Liberty oddly as he wonders why she simply called him a Gith and not a Githyanki. After pausing for a moment Gilant nods and answers Liberty's question, “I haven't seen any others living in this region. It sounds like you are familiar with Gith. How much do you know about her and the two species that were spawned from her followers?”

It is obvious that Gilant is curious to know what Liberty knows about the Gith. What is not as obvious is that Gilant is curious to know if she has escaped from Githyanki captivity, since if that is the case,  then Gilant knows he'll have to be on guard around her, and must choose his words carefully lest he risk being attacked when he is sleeping.

Gilant glances to Mittens when she talks about Gilant's 'fighting style', “I only wish I wasn't so rare. If more Githyanki and Githzerai thought as I do, the two would never have separated. Instead the Gith would have been a unified force that would have wiped out the Illithid. Then we, along with whatever allies we would have made, would have worked to prevent other races from ever having to experience the horrors that my ancestors were put through by the Illithid. The Gith would have become guardians eternally vigilant in protecting not only their own freedom, but the freedom of their allies as well. However that is now how things unfolded, but who knows what the future holds, the children of Gith may yet find redemption. What I do know is that the Githyanki have become as corrupt as the Githzerai feared they would.”

Upon hearing the others talk about omens, and visions, Gilant glances at his blade, with a look on his face that almost appears as if he is seeking guidance from the blade. Gilant then starts muttering to no one in particular, with an expression on his face that is half confused, and half 'have I just seen a ghost', “Was it just my memory of him that I spoke with, or was it really him from beyond the grave? The magic of that training area shouldn't have been capable of conjuring the spirits of the dead to give me a message. Yet why does that conversation haunt me so?” Gilant stops muttering as he realizes what he must look like to the others right now and starts to rub the bridge of his nose between his eyes as he says in his normal tone of voice as if nothing was wrong, “In any case it is obvious something is going on that that there are powerful players at work pulling strings if what you all are saying is true,” as Gilant seems to put whatever was troubling him out of his mind for the time being.

Freedom nods when introduced to Liberty, and quietly listens to what everyone says as the Warforged contemplates the magnitude of the task at hand given everything that is going on. “With everything that has occurred, we must not become too overconfident, for the task appears to be far greater than we first believed. We will still do our best to complete it, but we must not forget, this is not a trivial task we have set before us.”

Freedom's lesson from the training room still weighs heavily on the Warforged's mind. Another lesson Freedom learned that day is that sometimes to win the objective, you must loose the fight, which is a concept Freedom thinks he better understands as, sometimes you learn more in a defeat than in a victory.

Sensing Freedom's mind is drifting, Jimmy nuzzles the Warforged Warden's leg gently, and Freedom kneels down to more easily comfort Jimmy while saying softly, “Everything will be fine, we'll do everything we can to protect Unity.”

It is at this time that the veteran and Cedric arrive. Freedom then stands up and nods, “Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir. I know Jimmy will be happy in your care.” as Freedom accepts Cedric's offer and at the same time thanks him for it.

Emerald giggles nervously from Mittens saying Emmy must have been joking. "Yes... learning an entire arcane art and how to spin magic with musical sway is obviously easier than learning a language..." she mumbles in slight sarcasm. "Believe me or not, Mittens, I wasn't kidding." she says in a Mittens-like grin and a small chuckle. Whether she's making fun of Mittens or simply giving Mittens a taste of her own "is she kidding or isn't she?" medicine is anyone's guess.

She looks at Shale, her smile fading. "A hole in his roof? ...so literally the sky is falling?" she looks at Freedom with a WTF look. "How can anyone underestimate a hole in the sky coupled with angelic visions and dreams of fireballs scorching a whole city? You won't get that from me, no sir..."

Bridget says, "And who made you the boss of Team Dark Vision?" in response to Mittens. "For one arguing about how worthless my rank is, you seem to be practicing the very same assumption. Mine was based on a failure to remember you were not on my team to begin with. What is yours based on?" She then looks over to Michael. "You make a good point. We all need to be on the same page." she looks back at Mittens. "Whether you like it or not. You may well be under my command sooner than you think. Do not forget what I said about what you believe."

Eli looks back and forth from Bridget to Mittens and back. "Can you two argue about this stuff later? Time is running out. Mitts, you may believe in resolving differences, but maybe when we've all earned some time to relax you can duke it out?"

Bridget points out, "Mittens has already presented a danger to her team's unification by assuming command without discussing it with her team mates. Until that is discussed and agreed on, their team will likely die from sheer discord."

Eli sighs, "Alright so how're we going to decide a leader for Team Dark Vision?"

Liberty nods to Michael in as polite a manner as she can muster before glancing back at Gilant. "I know that your kind split into two groups, supposedly different races, but I don't buy that any more than a human calling themselves a Shadar-Kai and claiming they are a different race. Githyanki and Githzerai are what your kind call themselves now. Thanks to the Illithid who enslaved your kind... I was a slave to the Illithid until just two years ago, so I know how that feels. Which label have you chosen for yourself? Githyanki? Or Githzerai? Or perhaps something else entirely?"

She asides to Blake. "....who's team was I on?"

Reverie oh-mys at the back and forth.

"My heart cries out to all of you,
The future leans on what you do.
Whoever leads must have more than drive,
But the smarts to keep us all alive."

She then glances from Liberty to Gilant.
Reverie gives Liberty a gentle pet.

Mittens hops on board the roof of the prison wagon then braces herself for yet another epic multi-train-of-thought reply.

"Blake.  Yeah.  Awesome.  That's what I'd do."

"Wizard looking guy who's name I've forgotten.  My name is Mittens.  Nice to re-meet you.  Good point about the common thread tying the two plots together being not coincidence.  Working together sounds smart."

She stares at Shale and blink-blinks.  "Wow!  Another prophecy?  Welcome to team Dark Visions!  You make a very very good point.  Sounded like Reverie had a very vivid vision.  What clues would tip her off to the city being in the Feywild?  If your guess is right, then this falling star exploding a city that Reverie saw was an event that must be as old as the hole in Eochaid's roof."

"Gilant.  I couldn't agree more.  Something troubling you?  Don't tell me YOU had a prophetic vision too!  Meaning DO tell me!"

Mittens smirks at Freedom.  "And it looks like you brought along the right size hammer to drive nails into the sky!"

She stares at Emerald in disbelief.  "REALLY?!  Oh!  Riiight!  Maaagic!  Duh!  Fancy.  Dunno how well the spell to learn languages would work on me though.  My head might explode."

"Bridget.  As mentioned.  The diety TEMPUS! and King Vogel.  Your rank isn't worthless, I didn't mind you being in charge when we kicked butt together, my team isn't as good as dead, and you're toootally not exaggerating again."

"Liberty.  According to the sheriff of South Gate, you'd be on the unofficial Team Dark Vision."

"Reverie...  You're making too much sense!  I don't think my tiny brain can handle much more of your correctness!  But then... maybe nobody else WANTS to be leader.  Do they?"

She looks around at her team doomed to die from discord.  "I was never given specific instructions by the angel of Tempus that I HAD to lead.  Just did so to get the ball rolling.  To be perfectly honest, I'd totally rather someone more qualified take command so I can focus on more important things like stabbing.  Who wants the job?"

Once everyone who wants a ride is on the wagon, the driver urges the horses forward.  Jimmy barks twice in reply to Freedom, but Cedric only nods.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:59, Fri 28 May 2010.

Gilant looks saddened to hear that Liberty was enslaved by Illithid until recently. Gilant says in a somewhat saddened tone of voice, “Then perhaps we are the only two here who truly understands just how important it is to eliminate the Illithd.”

Gilant seems a bit lost when asked which he would consider himself, since that isn't a question he had been asked before as it was always 'which one were you'. Gilant smirks slightly as he answers, “Chosen for myself? Hmm if I could pick, I'd just consider myself a Gith, since while I am a Githyanki by birth, I have never valued the conquer them before they conquer you mentality that has corrupted Tu'narath and the majority of Githyanki Society. Instead I focused on becoming a stronger Swordmage, which is the only reason my Cadre didn't have me killed. My cadre saw me as a useful tool, and while I was treated poorly in the Cadre, their own arrogance and ruthlessness both sealed their fates and spared mine. I was sent on an errand when they were attacked in retaliation for a raid. From the aftermath I saw, they were wiped out due to miscalculating their enemies and not utilizing sufficient teamwork, as they underestimated their foes until it was too late. After burying what was left of them, I traveled on my own and eventually ended up here in Unity.”

Gilant then glances at Mittens with a slightly annoyed and unconvinced look upon his face, “I'm not sure, during my training, an 'image' of my Cadre's leader spoke to me.” Gilant is quite convinced that when the 'image' said that the cadre will always be a part of him, that it was referring to his memories, and not that he'll be haunted by his Cadre, which if it is the case, he'll make sure to seek out someone skilled in exterminating ghosts.

Gilant then sighs and continues, “Whatever it was, it mentioned that it had seen the other side. It mentioned that I should expect unexpected alliances and divisions. It warned me that something was coming, and it claimed that Unity was not everything. Then it blathered on about how fear is the only ally that won't betray me. To which I told him off that fear is no ally. It's what got him killed. He feared admitting that he could come across foes that were a serious threat to the Cadre. If he had more to say, I didn't listen to it as I pretty much pointed my blade at his face and told him the conversation was over as I was tired of him trying to bend me to his way of thinking. His way of thinking got the Cadre killed, my way of thinking has kept me alive. I'll prefer to stay alive, thank you very much.” While Gilant makes no effort to hide his disdain for the leader of his Cadre, Gilant doesn't mention that the only thing he is willing to rely on and trust is his blade, as he knows that telling his companions he doesn't trust them isn't good for morale.

Michael nods to Bridget and resists the temptation to facepalm or point out to Mittens that the overzealous attitude could hinder her group's efforts in the days to come. “I'm sure the other team will decide upon a group leader prior to our two teams separating. So there is no hurry to label a leader this instant.”

Shale shrugs as he says, “That's what Eochaid said, but he failed to mention anything regarding an urgency or timeline. So it could be something he doesn't expect us to deal with for a year, or even a decade. Or it could be something of grave importance that will be dealt with within a week. Who knows. Only time will tell, and unfortunately it's being quiet right now.” It's obvious that Shale is close to the limit for how long he can take anything serious as he starts slipping some more typical silliness into an otherwise serious situation.

Shale glances at Mittens with a disappointed look on his face when she jokes about Freedom's craghammer able to put holes in the feywild. As Shale doesn't think that is a funny joke.

Freedom shakes his head, “The danger is not from underestimating the danger and seriousness of the events that lie ahead, but in overestimating our own abilities,” as Freedom tries to point out that at least one member of the group seems rather overconfident in what the group can accomplish, and that is just as dangerous as underestimating the seriousness of the tasks ahead.

When Mittens makes the comment about using a hammer to fix holes into the sky, Freedom shakes his head in disapproval as that is exactly the type of attitude he was trying to warn everyone about as Freedom cannot fathom how a hammer could be used to patch up a hole in the sky, after all the sky isn't like a roof of a building that can be fixed using normal tools.

Freedom glances back at Cedric and Jimmy after he gets into the wagon.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:41, Fri 28 May 2010.

  "What Mitten's said, Liberty...  At least the part about you being with us.  Despite my own rantings about officials, I'm far from qualified for leadership."

  Blake can always just let Mittens get herself killed if she does anything overly stupid.  But unfortunately for Blake, he's probably stupid enough to make an effort to keep that from happening.

  And of course Blake would prefer to be lazy over walking.

Bridget is on the wagon after everyone else is and she listens to what all is said. Satisfied that her conversation with Mittens is over, she turns her attention to Gilant. His and Liberty's mentioning the Illithid has her attention as that is a very real and known threat to the world in general.

Liberty has never seen Tu'narath, but she has heard about it. She gives a disgusted look when Gilant so much as mentions the name of that city built upon a god's corpse.

Liberty says in response to the leadership question, "...I'm no leader. Not only am I brand new to everyone here, but I am a very bad tempered girl." she then looks back at Gilant. "You are different. Very. Different. I'm going to be frank with you, I hate your kind as much as I hate the Illithid. I was kept in the same Illithid prison with several dozen Githyanki. The Githyanki were no kinder than the Illithid... meaner at times, considering I should have shared a kinship being a fellow prisoner. Heh... I got back at them by using Vlaakith's name as a curse word. The only reason I don't have permanent scars from them is because they were told whoever harmed me would be the next Illithid feast." she lightly squirms, her eyes twitching. Anyone having witnessed such a horror will never be able to mention it again without remembering the blood curdling screams. It's obvious from the look in Liberty's eyes that she witnessed such a feast. She looks back to Gilant, having gotten over it in the second that felt like 10 minutes of silence, "Fear is no ally, but it is a powerful motivator if you don't give up. Many will simply lay down and die rather than face their fears. You speak the truth about fear... I have been here in Unity for 2 years, but I have a long road ahead before I learn how to overcome all my fears. I may never fully recover from all of them, but I intend to do well enough to make it count."

Liberty is unsurprised how poorly Gilant was treated by his own cadre. Ever since she has entered Unity, Liberty has been learning what family is and how the Githyanki had to have rejected this concept as they did not reproduce the same way Illithid do, but rather they reproduce the same way as humans.

She gives Mittens a doubtful look when she mentions "another prophetic vision" and such. She doesn't comment, though, knowing that even if they are wrong, they all likely need excuses like "visions" to go out and "save the world". She does decide to add, though, "You know, vision or not, this world is LONG overdue to be rescued from the abuse evil has been beating it down with. I'm going to take that stick from the Illithid, Demons, Devils, evil gods, you name it... and beat them back with their own stick! See how they like the abuse. See how they like being crushed and subdued." MUCH experience behind those words as she has been crushed and subdued most her life.

(I hope nobody minds that due to Lib's background, I'm pretty well giving her all the DC knowledge of Githyanki and Illithid. Outside of those two, though, totally plan to stick with having to roll dice. I feel it's much the same as an elf knowing their own race's DCs since that's all Lib knew most her life.)

Eli listens to the conversations. "I took classes on leading since I'm to rule a kingdom some day. But I doubt that's quite the same as leading troops into battle. Not that it matters. I'm on Bridget's team." he'd rather not lead either, what with being a little boy with shy tendencies that only acts bold thanks to Darthic's influence. He may be young, but the full consequence of death is very much understood by his overdeveloped mind.

Emerald says, "Nope, no magic was used to learn the languages. But I HAVE been studying languages for some time and am a bit of a linguist, so I have a mental advantage to learning languages over the next person due to experience and desire, I suppose. Well that and I've been studying Giant on and off before I finally got a book to get it right..."

"Oh!" she exclaims as if interrupting herself with an immediate thought, "I suppose it'll be handy to know I know quite a number of languages. So if you are unsure what the enemy is saying, chances are I know. Also, far as who's willing to take the job? I'm inclined to take up leading the team if nobody has a problem with it."


(As a side note: In real life, my dad, who is a linguist, had to learn basic conversational Greek in a single week. He memorized 600 words and learned the grammar in that time. My dad has an IQ of 145 or thereabouts and had been studying Latin before he had to learn Greek, so he was already familiar with linguistics a bit. This is real life. It blows my mind. But still, this setting is fantasy and the characters superheroes who, at an int score of 10 can keep track of multiple conversations. So I'm tweaking that it took Emmy 2 days to learn the basics of 1 language (Deep Speech) while "finishing" learning the other (Giant), but she'll be reading books on the trip to wherever we go. The third language I picked up with the linguist feat was actually a retroactive choice (Secret Language) that I was determined to pick up as soon as I saw it as a choice on Character Builder. On a final note, Emerald only has literally the languages of the gods to learn; Abyssal, Primordial and Supernal. I'll spend a feat on those too, but maybe I'll wait until lvl 6.)

Reverie tries to inform the others,

"Illithid are horrible creatures,
Proud of their disgraceful features.
There is no racism for such a race
When they are born of eating your face.

I know not of this Vlaakith you speak,
Or Tu'narath or any of these.
But I know the Mind Flayers are indeed a threat
And I'll help you deal with them yet.

As for fear being no ally,
I agree most of the time.
But I use fear as my sword
And scare enemies 'till they die...

As for leading Team Dark Vision?
I appreciate you asking permission.
I will decline the chance for now,
But we'll be leaders eventually somehow."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:47, Sun 06 June 2010.

"Fear..." Mittens mutters as if remembering something, "The mind is... Fear."

If she were a bard she'd break into song.  Instead she asks a rhetorical question to no one in particular.

"What do you fear?  Fears of war and pestilence?  Fear of loss and failure? Fear the hate of your enemy?  Fear your god and savior?"

She nods over to Gilant.  "Yeah.  I prefer the path of courage.  And staying alive is good too.  Whatever that vision was...  It does sound connected."

Mittens figures the adult wizard guy will be called by his name sooner or later.  She ponders Shale's reply and nods.  "Could be that our visions are only loosely connected after all.  Just the fact that this all happened all at once had me convinced there's some common thread to it all.  I got a very urgent sense from my own vision.  Maybe it's a sequence.  Reverie past.  Me present.  You and Gilant future.  Maybe we'll get another piece to the puzzle along the way."

She nods also to Freedom.  "And under-confidence can be just as deadly.  Somewhere in-between is the elusive but necessary 'effective.'"

She's quite surprised by Bridget's silence.  Enough so that she figures it worth asking.  "Why so quiet all of a sudden?  Couldn't be you're satisfied with my answers...  could it?"

She smiles at Liberty's enthusiasm for doing good.  "That's the spirit!  Opportunity to do good is all around us!  Though I'll probably stab the evil ones with my nifty new sword rather than use their metaphor stick."

"It matters insofar as you're 2nd in command of your team, Prince Eli," she says with a smile and a wink.

She looks over at Emerald with a "yeah, right" look, but doesn't argue that it's impossible to learn even one language in that time.  Especially not while learning a new style of magic.  "The linguist with a brain the size of the continent is offering to lead.  Well you've got my vote!"

Then to Reverie, "Born of eating your face?  Brutal!  Didn't know that.  I'll be sure to have my face-plate in place should we ever FACE any.  Every time you mention your powers I want to spar you all the more!  And what you say about 'everyone's a leader' rings true.  Everyone sets an example.  Some examples good, some bad.  The more that set the example, the stronger the leading force becomes."

(( Mittens rolled a 15 on her Illithid knowledge check.  The lowest DC check is 20, but Mittens knows that they're also known as Mind Flayers, look like octopus-faced humanoids, and have mind powers.  She knows this from a story "Rapunzel And The Three Aberrants" she was told as a child. ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:46, Sun 06 June 2010.

Gilant isn't surprised by Liberty's story, and he grins slightly upon hearing at how she got back at the Githyanki, because Gilant doesn't think all that highly of anyone that becomes a Lich, including the current Vlaakith, which Gilant thinks is a corruptive force leading the Githyanki down a path that would have them end up the same as the Illithid.

Gilant nods at Liberty's view of what fear is since it mirrors his own views on the subject. The Githyanki then turns to Mittens and nods, “It is possible that the manifestation during training is related. And it is also possible that the manifestation was just some part of the training to get me in the right mindset to unleash the lesson being learned. Either way I am not going to loose any sleep over it.”

As Gilant hasn't seen firsthand how an Illithid eats someone's brain he isn't sure of all the details, but he suspects that the Illithids have a way to deal with people who cover their face, even if it is as simply as removing the helmet to expose the face.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:53, Sun 06 June 2010.

Freedom remains motionless while listening to the conversation going on around him until Mittens addresses him. “While being effective is important, being vigilant is also necessary in order to maintain effectiveness over time. Otherwise ones skill can deteriorate, or ones ego can grow, either of which can lead to disaster, or death.” Freedom feels that since most of the conversation deals with things he has hardly comprehends he figures it is wiser to just sit quiet for the time being. It is however, somewhat obvious that Freedom is paying more attention to the group's surroundings than the conversation as Freedom is 'keeping an eye out' to make sure the group is not ambushed.

Shale clearly has no interest in leading others so he keeps quiet regarding the discussion bout who should lead the 'non official' group. Even Shale would admit he isn't exactly cut out to be a leader. Shale considers what Mittens said about the visions and warnings possibly being related. It makes Shale wonder if Eochaid was behind them all, or if Eochaid is working with other 'powers that be' to guide people in order to avoid a disaster that Eochaid feels must be avoided to protect the Feywild. Thus Shale grins slightly and replies with the short response of, “Maybe, maybe not, but we'll find out in time.”

Michael waits till the group is far enough from Unity to speak up as he hopes that those present, including the veteran wagon driver, will be able to understand the delicate nature of the secret he has uncovered. Michael glances around for a moment before explaining, “While I was researching the use of arcane power to manipulate a foes mind, I came across a passage that talked about a ritual that erased a chapter of the royal family's history from the memory of the population of Unity. The passage didn't go into detail about the event itself since it was dealing with the principles involved with the ritual, however it was clear that the book was written by the one who conducted the ritual. I have no clue about what was erased or why, since the book did not go into detail about it. I also don't know why the writer of the book discussed it at all given that it could lead people to try to unravel the mystery of what had occurred. Let alone why the Royal family at the time permitted a copy of the book to remain in the library. But I'm sure we all can understand the commotion that could be caused if the general population learned that there is a chapter of Unity's history regarding the Royal Family that has been erased from the minds of the population at that time.”

Michael doesn't even bring up the fact that if word got out, it is the rumors and paranoia that could be caused that might prove even more disastrous than the knowledge of whatever event was covered up by the ritual in the first place.

  It would probably have been quite some time before Blake would be able to learn of Mind Flayer reproduction methods if it wasn't for Reverie.  At least Eli wouldn't have been able to figure it out either.

  "A section of the Royal history Erased?  What would 'nothing but morals in mind' Unity want most to..." Now, things that were common documented knowledge outside of Unity on the other hand?  Because Blake's training off into silence is soon replaced by grim laughter.

  "Ah, how things taken for granted can be almost as effective as ritual magic."  Blake begins to dig through their backback,  "I wouldn't have even thought of it, nor would many scholars outside Unity anymore if you had not mentioned the deliberate attempts to bury the knowledge Michael.  Even then, if nobody in Untity remembers or admits to remembering, they would most likely claim any documented evidence is merely hurtful propaganda.  No reason for the poor fools to think otherwise."

  They pull out a book that looks like it's been hit with an iceberg.  This would be because it has  "A poorly outdated reference now, but serves the purpose for storytime.  Unless of course someone traveled back in time to plant evidence.  In every. Library. Ever.  Outside of Unity anyway."

  Blake gently opens the book, and turns to a certain set of pages to show those in the wagon.  "Joukaku, Queen of Unity.  Or at least Queen of the place before they changed the name to Unity.  Her story starts off like an old romance, the Queen who fell in love with a Unicorn.  Then we spiral off into standard issue royalty horror story.  She was afraid the Unicorn would fall in love with someone else, so exiled thousands and killed hundreds.  Ancient history that anyone with even a passing trace of learning would know outside of Unity.  History nobody pays attention to anymore, which I'm sure is how Unity would like it."

  Blake's rant ends, and they have a moment of quiet consideration.  "I would suspect there may be something more to this though.  Being known for wresting the throne from a crazy censored is something I'd love my populace to remember me for if I were trying to set up a 'Moralistic Utopia'... But then, that's just me."

OOC Style: Blake Take-10's for 21 Arcana/History at this point.  So even with a roll of 20, Blake/Eli couldn't know DC 35 (Master Epic) things such as Face Eating=Baby.

Go for it though with Lib.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:45, Sun 06 June 2010.

Speaking of erased history, due to Reverie not being able to know about the illithid reproduction methods, her mentioning this gets stricken from history.

Bridget turns her attention to Mittens and says, "You admit Tempus didn't tell you to be in charge, then turn around and say Tempus is the authority you have to put you in charge and thus, ignore my objection. If you can not even remain consistent with yourself, you are not worth exchanging words with over topics we disagree on. Therefor, concerning you, I will keep my words to things we agree on."

She looks in Freedom's direction. "Egotism, unfortunately, can be a stealthy enemy. Too much of it and you become a hindrance to others as well as yourself. Too little and you lose the ability to be tenacious. One of many reasons why working as a group is indispensable. We can keep each other in check."

Bridget may think herself better than everyone else individually, but she at least recognizes she isn't perfect and that there is no way she is better than everyone COMBINED. She knows each brings a skill that she either lacks entirely or is not as good at as the other is. But thanks to her emotionless demeanor and serious self discipline, Bridget has yet to brag or say out loud that she is better than anyone.

Blake's sarcastic comment on Unity being nothing but morals forces a response from Bridget as she looks at him, waits for him to finish and says in her usual cold tone, "Concerning your sarcastic comment about Unity and its morals, Unity did not simply materialize in its current condition. Great nations, no matter how great, must start somewhere. I strongly applaud your knowledge of history and encourage you to continue. However, as much as I prefer positive thinking, that is impossible with you and Mittens continuing to insist on marring the good reputation of Unity. Perhaps it is my fault for not asking politely earlier, so I shall now: Please stop purposefully marring Unity's reputation."

For someone who speaks monotone and cold, she sure can have heated words. But thanks to her robot-like tone, it is as if these words are purely the logical... the right thing... to say.

Liberty blows upward on her hair and rolls her eyes as Mittens mentions using a sword instead of a metaphor stick. "Frankly, I don't care what you use, as long as we win and they don't." she then looks at Emerald. "You've my vote also." mostly because Liberty doesn't wanna.

Liberty is nearly blown over at seeing a Githyanki GRIN to the idea of her mocking Vlaakith. She keeps from looking too shocked, though, and reminds herself this guy was accepted by Unity for a reason. "Do you still consider them your cadre? Or do you plan to find a new one in your allies from Unity?" this question is multi-pronged. But mainly, Liberty is testing to see what Gilant considers a cadre or if he even considers getting a new one at all.

Eli shrugs at Mittens with a small smile. "Heh... thanks for the boost."

He then glances over at Shale and says, "Tell me about Eochaid? Emerald seems to know about him, but his name's kinda new to me. Then again, I'm new to the world in gener-" he looks over at Michael and then Blake. "Waaaaait waitwaitwait! Erased? From who? The whole city? Was the royal family also expunged of the memory of this event?" he frowns. "Hurtful propaganda or not, the truth should be known!" Ioun would be proud. "They say the truth hurts and all, but truth is one of the pillars of morality and Unity claims to be founded on strong morals."

In response to Mittens' fear comments, Emerald says in a hushed tone, "fear of loss and failure..."

Emerald blushes lightly at Mittens' comment about her continent-sized brain and says, "Thanks for your vote, Mittens." Upon seeing Mittens and then Liberty vote for her, she figures she'll just assume she is the commander until someone objects.

She turns her attention to Bridget and says, "Lighten up some, Bridget. Blake and Mittens will believe what they believe and its actually better they voice their opinions and be honest than to not do so and keep it secret. Besides, if they spend too much time concentrating on biting their tongues, they'll get overly cautious and wind up withholding vital information."

Bridget says, "Nothing will shut up Mittens."

Emerald raises her finger to say something and pauses. She strokes her chin, staring down as if trying to think of a comeback. "Well I still think you're being a bit harsh. It's easy to believe Mittens when she says you exaggerate."

Bridget says, "Then perhaps it is I who should stop talking."

Emerald groans and flops backward.

Reverie responds to Mittens,

"The parent warned her son
To not give in to lust.
And for a moment of fun,
He broke his mother's trust.

A child was born
From the one-night stand.
The child's heart was torn
The child became a man.

He saught the one
That broke his mom's heart
When the father saw him come,
He had a running start.

The father killed the son
Then later learned of why
What was done was done
Regret made the father cry.

To this day, his soul cries.
Death was no release.
You can not simply die
To set your heart at ease.

If you spar me, Mitts,
This will be your fate.
But you'll push the issue
Until it becomes too late.

My heart is not your plaything
Nor should I toy with yours
My powers are not a game
They'll destroy you at the core.

You could handle a spar with me,
But people can live without legs.
Maybe someday I'll spar thee,
But please don't make me beg."

Reverie turns her attention to Blake, Michael and Eli. In that order. She reaches out and gently pets Eli before looking back at Michael.

"Take it from one who wishes
She could erase others' memories;
To undergo this mission
Could mean awaking agony.

For the sake of all involved,
I insist on some discression.
For the world does not revolve
Around one's obsession.

Learning the truth, I support.
Just be careful is all I ask.
For our lives are too short
To be destroyed by such a task."

She turns her attention to Liberty's question, smiling and excited, hoping Gilant will choose his new allies as his new cadre. Whatever that is. It sounds significant for as often as Gilant mentions it.

(DC 30 to know how significant a cadre is. -.o I couldn't roll that on a crit.)

Listening to a huge tidal wave of other people's input totally counts as Mittens shutting up.  Even if it's only temporary.  She nods repeatedly while Gilant, Freedom, and Shale make their commentary, but stops and raises an eyebrow at Michael's revelation.

"Interesting," Mittens says quietly then listens to Blake's revelation.

"And people wonder why I'm jaded about romance..." she mutters.

Mittens then listens to the Bridget's objections, frowns, rubs her chin, nods as if in agreement, but makes no immediate reply.  She grins and thumbs-up in reply to Liberty's practical statement, gives a bow and a "You're welcome," to Eli then an approving smirk and nod at his rebuttal to Bridget, gives a bow and a "You're welcome," to Emerald and tries not to laugh at her futile attempts at reasoning with Bridget in her defense, then listens to Reverie.

Ah, Reverie.  How she teases and entices Mittens with her warnings!  Her tail wags eagerly, and she stares at Reverie like a seagull about to say, "Mine?"  Distant thunder can be heard as if to accentuate Reverie's prophesies of doom.  Or is it punctuating the look in Mittens' eyes?  Or Blake's grim laughter.  Maybe it's just thunder.

It takes a bit of effort for Mittens to compose herself enough to comment.

"You gunna make me beg, Rev?  Every warning you give me entices me more!  I can't wait to spar you!  But I suppose I'm going to have to... wait...  You'd make Bridget happy if you defeat me, 'cause THAT would shut me up.  I'll carry you to yon turn in the road if you're worried about slowing progress.  So... spar?!  Pretty please?!  With a cherry on top?!  If you win, I won't be able to make any come-backs to Bridget's latest accusations.  If I win, you'll not be afraid of yourself so much and we get to listen to another Emerald song!  WIN WIN WIN!"

She then clears her throat and begins her rebuttal of Bridget to hopefully draw Reverie into interrupting.

"Ahem!" she exclaims in a mock-regal tone before continuing to mock Bridget's words, "You are so very beneath me, you hypocritical, arrogant, excuse-for-sentient, SCUM, that I shan't waste another word of my precious and vastly superior intellect on your pathetic, mal-adjusted, primitive brain...."

She pauses and looks at Reverie expectantly to see if she accepts the challenge to shut her up.  Reverie doesn't interrupt.

"I guess that's a no.  Oh well.  If we'll be fighting mind flayers and such I guess I'll just have to charge in completely unprepared for whatever mind-blowing powers they decide to pull.  Or any other sorcerer who happens to have similar powers.  Hey!  This guy we're tracking down probably has some pretty nasty mind spells!  Too bad the paladin was unable to convince anyone to help her test her mettle against brain-washing..."

She again pauses briefly and waits for some indication from Reverie that she'll agree to a spar.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:12, Mon 07 June 2010.

Reverie answers,

"If I had to chop your head in half
To show you what to expect.
It would defeat the purpose
And all you'd be is dead."

Mittens sighs McHeavysighs and flops onto her back.

"Frustrated!" she announces, "Ugh.  You're killing me!  Guess I'll just have to continue my Bridget rant.  Backpedaling a bit.  Tempus sent an angel to inform me of the future and send me on a quest.  I become the boss of me on this one-person quest.  Then learn of Reverie quest and connect dots.  Figure may as well put my enthusiasm to good use and drag her and the others along.  King Vogel approves.  Bridget comes along and says I'm not allowed to be a prophet or be an example.  I say I am 'cause gods and kings out-rank her.  She then claims I don't respond to her objections, then says she won't respond to mine because I'm being inconsistent?!

"Eli points out that suppressing the truth as Bridget suggests is immoral.  Emerald tried to inject some practicality and Bridget goes even further down the path of Vecna acting as if silence is the moral high ground.  I think I'm starting to understand my misunderstanding of Bridget.  I foolishly assumed she was a hero.  She's actually a villain.  She wants that city to burn.  She wants Unity caught off guard.  She keeps insisting she be the ruler of the universe.  She insists Vecna's silence and secrets are the moral way.  It all makes sense now.  One thing you can't accuse her of is being inconsistent."

Michael looks at Eli and had expected to get a response such as this from the young wizard, “The ritual dealt with erasing the memories of everyone affected by the ritual within the timeframe specified by the ritual. I do not know if the royal family was excluded from the ritual or not. I do know that the basics for such a ritual are not all that complex as I have mastered a spell that performs a much more limited version of the effect to make a single individual forget very recent events.”

While Freedom is concerned about what Michael has revealed, Freedom is no stranger to the concept of missing memories, as the Warforged has no clue where he was born or who created him, he just knows he was found in a chamber that was unearthed after an earthquake. The Warforged knows that he may never know why those who created him didn't take him with them, or why they left him where they did. The Warforged wonders if these missing memories are similar for everyone else. However one thing that appears to irk Freedom is the squabbling between Mittens and Bridget, and at this the Warforged breaks his silence, “I have heard that one man's trash can be another man's treasure. So why not just agree to disagree and leave it at that. I'm sure that if this squabbling continues, there will be lasting repercussions that may hinder our efforts. We already have enough enemies to deal with, we can not afford such petty hindrances when so much is at stake.”

Gilant looks at Liberty like she just asked someone a question that is both pointless and amusing. “Hmm how would I explain this in terms you might understand.” Gilant pauses for a moment to maintain his composure and then continues, “A Cadre serves the purpose of raising children and teaching them to be a part of Githyanki society. Basically the same role what you would call a family. I am no child and I do not agree with Githyanki society, so I have no need of a Cadre anymore. But I cannot forget the Cadre I was part of anymore than you can those who raised you. Normally a Githyanki would only leave a Cadre once the individual had another place within Githyanki society. I probably would not have been allowed to leave my Cadre till they had beaten out of me the opinions I have that don't match those of Githyanki society. Either that or till they killed me for not conforming and no longer being useful to them alive.”

Gilant then turns to Michael and says, “I have heard of those within Githyanki socieity that try to manipulate memories like that, but they use psionics and not arcane power to achieve their ends. So I doubt their methods would be helpful for comparison even if I did know how their version worked. Which I don't.”

Shale ponders the best way to explain Eochaid to Eli, but figures that there is no explanation he can give that would be adequate in Eli's opinion so the gnome simply says, “I guess you could consider Eochaid to be a whimsical guardian of the interests of the Feywild. It's not the best explanation, but it should be sufficient for now,” as Shale doesn't seem phased by the revelation of a ritual that erases the memory of certain events from large group of people at once.

Shale grins slightly at how chaotic the group is and wonders if Eochaid finds it amusing since the group almost seems to be at its own throat, at least verbally, yet at the drop of a hat the entire group can focus on dealing with a common threat placed before it.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:24, Thu 10 June 2010.

  "Bridget, if all it took was our comments to mar Unity's reputation then it is in worse shape than I could say.  Though I'll assume you don't think Joukaku's actions and the ensuing ones of those to become Unity's new rulers have any bearing on Unity's current moral standing.  Even I'm not so far gone as to believe so.    Thse old ones were bastards, I'm willing to be optimistic about the current setup. Besides, while we are far from reverential of Unity our comments don't quite reach the degree of vicious mock..."

  Blake trails off as Mittens begins her Bridgit impression.

  "...Okay, I don't quite reach the degree of vicious mockery.  And even if I did, I would find it difficult to treat Joukaku and the ensuing mind rapists with respect regardless."

Eli is getting distracted. "Hey now. Bridget never accused you of being the enemy or of worshiping a god of evil, Mittens. That's just mean. Where is your evidence? Both of you stop making accusations. Freedom is right. There is a time and a place for everything, but insults to your allies when you're on your way to work together to save many is bad form for both. Honestly, I look up to you two. Please don't nullify that. And what of the challenge I gave you, Mittens? Is it, in all irony, because you know you'll have to go a week without violence of any kind that you are trying to squeeze in as much as you can before your time comes to stop? That would defeat the purpose of the challenge."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:16, Thu 10 June 2010.

Bridget says, "Freedom agrees with me. I had offered we only speak on things we agree on. Such as agreeing to disagree and move on."

Bridget says, "Do not worry yourselves, Eli and Freedom. Mittens is just upset that she can not spar Reverie and is throwing accusations in hopes of causing Reverie or myself to spar. If she really meant what she was saying, she would attack me. I took no offense, for none of it is true. It would be like taking offense to a dog barking when it is just bored. However, this is why I decided to not engage her in conversation. So the squabble is rather one sided at the moment. Therefor not a squabble."

She looks at Blake. "I do not mean for us to stop discussing the past, Blake. But just that we not make fun of the present state of Unity. To say Unity and morals with sarcasm is to say Dragon and scales with sarcasm. It is illogical and will eventually only make the one who said such look like a fool. I also did not mean that making fun of Unity would destroy its reputation to the whole city or surrounding cities, but to people around you, such as Gilant, Emerald and Mittens who are new here."

Bridget pulls out one of the maps and examines it.


(As a side note, I imagined a cartoonish scene where Bridget and Mittens both look at Freedom immediately and say "SHUT UP!" XD)
This message was last edited by the player at 01:52, Fri 11 June 2010.

Emerald hrms as she listens. "Well... while I find it difficult to believe Unity's officials couldn't have any corruption, I don't find it impossible. Strict enough rules and even the craftiest corrupt official will eventually be caught and new precautions taken. Still, you should keep your heart on guard and prepared for when someone betrays Unity."

Emerald looks at Mittens and says, "If your words are true, then back them up and I will help you take her to justice. If they are not, then what purpose do the words serve? Be careful what you say, for you can not un-say what has been said. And if you are found to be false, that is less faith people will put in what you say. And some day, less faith in what you stand for."

If Emerald knew of Elle's overzealous actions and the extreme guilt consequences that followed, she could use that as an example. But alas, this is not Supermegatopia.

Emerald sits back up, smiles and says, "Bridget, you said pride is a stealthy enemy. I know that you believe strongly in what you say, but apologizing for being misunderstood is acceptable since it would have been at least partly your fault for not communicating well enough. An apology from both of you is what should be done. For where there is no apology in error, there is pride. Mittens, what you said was so low it hurt *me* and I'm not even her. She may not act like her feelings are hurt, but I'd bet my life they were. How can you fight at her side and say those things? She saved your life, Mittens. Or did you forget that quickly? You would be dead if not for Bridget. Dead. A corpse in a cave to be forgotten. I don't know how she did it, but she did. So you could fight on. I daresay Tempus was proud of her in that moment."

Emerald then looks around at the group. "I don't mean to sound corny or hokey, but Freedom has the right idea; Let's all get along. If differences CAN be sorted out, now's the time. But if they can NOT? Then it's best to wait for a professional to help."

Bridget nods. "I have no problem apologizing for misunderstandings."

(Words of Friendship: +5 power bonus to next diplomacy check. No immediate stuffs going on? Take 10! So 15. Plus my diplomacy skill of 5. 20 total.)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:35, Fri 11 June 2010.

Liberty frowns deeply. "Damn straight I won't forget... the Illithid and Githyanki raised me, Gilant. I don't remember anything but them before two years ago. I'm still trying to grasp what family is. So I guess you and I will have to learn that together, no?"

Liberty glances at Emerald. "...." she makes a mental effort to not get involved. She refuses to be made a fool of. She looks back at Gilant. "It would seem I understand you a whole lot more than you think, Gilant."

Reverie is quiet, watching to see how Mittens will respond. She was moments from offering a spar in exchange for keeping Mittens quiet. But she may not have to.

"Contrary to popular opinion," Mittens begins brooding, "There IS a method to my madness.  It takes a lot of heat and hammering to turn a bunch of scrap into a usable sword.  Some materials don't mesh quite as readily as others, and they take more work to turn them into something usable.  In the same way, each one of us is made of very VERY different stuff than the others.  If we're to be turned into an effective unit, it would be very unwise to quit hammering halfway through the forging process.  Like it or not, our destinies have crossed, and if we wish to work together we'll have to... you know... work together?!

"Unity is very basic concept, but apparently I'm having a hard time putting that across.  So I swing harder and hotter with my word hammer to try and beat it into the collective consciousness the not-so-subtle obstacles to unity.  Obstacles like 'my way is the only way' ultimatums and ideologies.  Not to pick on Liberty or anything, but she just told us she spent years tormented by Githyanki and here she is having a civil talk with one.  Now how many shifters tortured Bridget as a child?

"They say the truth hurts.  If that's so, then any heartache I may have caused only punctuates I'm barking up the right tree.  I may not be a professional word smith, but I've done my best to be transparent to those I considered allies.  Yeah.  I admired Bridget and appreciated her help, but in return I get betrayal.  You ask for evidence?  Reprimanding someone for openly warning a populace about impending conflict for starters.  I'd recount the others, but I tire of repeating myself.

"Bridget's example is marring my opinion of Unity far more than the bit about a lunatic queen from the past.  Yesterday I just thought her overly dutiful and serious, but now I wonder if city law enforcement kept that kind of brain-washing magic around to turn her into the perfect thought police officer.

"As for my own faults?  Maybe it was less than shrewd of me to confess I have my doubts about Bridget, but I'm brash that way and I believe in giving a person the chance to defend their position.  If my fears of her being an agent of Vecna are true, it would be smarter to have mentioned them without her around just like when someone I know shouldn't have openly admitted suspecting a shape-shifter.

"Maybe it was immature of me to use the threat of openness to twist Reverie's arm to spar with me, but her answers have convinced me all the more to drop any pretense of avoiding violence.  I've made up my mind to dare the first evil mind bender to do his worst on my head.  Since Reverie insists she can't pull punches, I may as well go straight for someone who's at least willing to fight me.  I plan to go out of my way to find one.  First thing.  If I can't hold my own against the magics that I suspect turned Bridget into what I think she is, then Tempus made a mistake in choosing me as his prophet and I don't want him wasting any more time on me.

"I hope it's just misunderstanding, but I have yet to get even a hint of that.  Freedom's right about the gravity of the situation.  I can't afford to be weak.  I can't afford to have 'allies' that turn against me for what I believe in.  That said, I'm returning Bridget's ultimatum."

She takes off her gauntlet and presents it to Bridget with a serious look on her face.

"If I'm wrong, correct me.  If not, I kill you."

Freedom looks back and forth as he feels that his words have fallen on deaf ears given Mitten's last 'statement' to Bridget as the Warforged becomes increasingly concerned that a duel to the death is about to take place which would hinder the mission each team has been assigned, “The seriousness of the situation is why such a petty duel should not take place at this time. We have objectives to complete and we cannot risk its success just to satisfy the urge to prove oneself in battle. If everyone here wished to truly prove their mettle, would it not be more prudent to focus on completing the objectives that have been placed before us and not creating new ones?” as Freedom's eyes flare up briefly as it is obvious that Freedom is starting to get annoyed at the present situation.

Although the Warforged Warden restrains himself from voicing his next thoughts on the matter, but even then a faint, harsh sounding growl of disapproval can be heard from Freedom while he keeps his suspicion of possibly having to sit on someone to prevent a duel from taking place to himself.

Gilant seemingly ignores the bickering about dueling to the death as to the Githyanki, such duels are not uncommon when a group is formed and there are those within it that do not approve of the current chain of command for the group.

Instead Gilant nods to Libery and says, “Possibly, but I doubt I'll ever grasp what a family is supposed to be like, since from what I can tell, no two families are the same.”

Gilant tilts his head to the side slightly when Liberty says she may understand him,  “I doubt it is that hard to understand me, I'm not exactly a mystery that needs to be unraveled since I have been forthcoming with providing answers to questions asked of me.”

While Michael notices that his conversation with Eli is being 'put on hold' due to the other conversation going on becoming more important as having people from both teams at each others throats won't help either team accomplish their mission. “This is neither the time nor the place for a duel, and neither group has the time to waste that would be spent dealing with a duel along with its aftermath. Mittens, I recommend that you delay your challenge till after the tasks at hand are dealt with.” Michael figures it would be better to not make a comment drawing a parallel to mitten's lust for battle and some of entities that he knows a Wizard can summon forth. Michael suspects that if Mittens became aware that there are creatures that can be summoned which have such a strong lust for combat that they would turn on the Wizard who summoned them to slate their hunger for battle, then Mittens would want to 'duel' such creatures, which wouldn't exactly be helpful in trying to convince Mittens to not have a duel with Bridget right now.

Shale grows quiet when the 'talk' about a duel turns serious and possibly violent as Shale finds the situation disconcerting. The gnome warlock knows that Eochaid would not approve of such actions as there is no way that the Feywild would benefit from them, as the duel is more likely to hinder efforts to protect the Feywild.

However, while Shale doubts he is in a position to stop them he simply stands up from his position on the wagon and holds out his hands, while saying, “Can such a duel be postponed till after we deal with these visions and warnings that we have received? I'd hate for the Feywild to be harmed, not to mention all the citizens of whatever city was struck in the vision, because we were busy dealing with personal duels.”

  Blake goes for the double facepalm.  They think to themselves,  'Mittens.  Please shut the censored up.  Sincerely, Blake's remaining credulity at this situation.'

  "Mittens, this is why Bridget thinks ignoring you is a viable option.  Because trying to deal with the far end of your crazy makes the brain want to jump off the cart.  More so than mere visions of Hadar."

Eli immediately stands between Mittens and Bridget. "You'll have to kill me first." he says with a frown and definity. "Cut it out. NOW. As Blake pointed out, you're only proving Bridget's points and making yourself look bad."

Bridget turns her attention to Mittens and says, "If I were evil, my words alone would be meaningless and thus I would have no means of providing what you need this instant. Being of good and moral backing, my words alone should be enough that when I say I am not evil, that should end this here and now. But my words mean nothing to you, so there is nothing I can say in my defense or that would dissuade you. So I will simply answer you with a refusal to fight you. Even if you strike me. However, know that you will be held accountable to the law and if you kill me, you will eventually know I was innocent of your claims and you will have the blood of an innocent on your hands. And at that point, I would not be in your shoes even if it meant living."

She doesn't so much as have a hand on her sword.

Liberty watches Bridget and Mittens with some curiosity, but like Gilant, is not too concerned. "If you kill your own ally, you won't last long. For your other allies will know they can not trust you with their lives any more than Bridget can." she states simply and with apparent apathy for the situation. She looks back at Gilant. "When you chuckled and said "explain in terms you might understand", it sounded suspiciously like the egotistical manner in which the Githyanki spoke down their noses at me. So you'll understand if I thought you meant that I could never understand you."

Upon seeing Eli move in between Mitts and Bridget, Reverie is getting concerned for Eli's safety. She doesn't move, however, she is prepared to show Mittens why she doesn't want to merely "spar" with Reverie should she make one false move. She is loathe to do so, but is seeing her options thin out more and more before her very eyes.

(Readied Action: Dreadful Word vs Mittens)
(Trigger: Mittens attacks an ally)

And Emerald thought Bridget was frustrating. Emerald makes a mental note never to complain about mere 'jerks'. She shrugs and says, "Don't leave, Blake. It should be OK for now..." before clearing her throat and watching the goings on with how the others are dealing with this. She walks over to Mittens, unlatches her sword and walks back to her spot in the cart without Mittens so much as noticing the lack of sword-weight on her hip. She did this right in front of anyone that was behind Mittens.

(Take-ten didn't seem right in this stressful situation, though it would have been enough to steal the sword without Mitts noticing. So I rolled. Got an 18 on the dice. +12 = 30. The DC check, according to the PHB is 20+charlevel. I kicked that DC's butt so hard. Emerald now has Mittens' sword.)

Mittens retracts her gauntlet and puts it back on, not noticing that her sword is missing.  She gives an impressed frown to Eli and nods in approval.

"I expected at least one of you to catch my turn-around," she says calmly, "But at least I've extracted from you all the point I was trying to make, even if you don't yet realize it.  Eli.  You've got a lot of guts if you actually thought I might stab through you to get to her.  At least one person takes me seriously.  I sincerely hope your courage isn't wasted on Bridget."

She addresses the group.

"The word duel between Bridget and I began when she threatened my life as a consequence for not agreeing with her.  I was willing to overlook her thinking it better to let the ignorant masses remain ignorant of impending disaster.  Inconsistent with my ideologies, and probably inconsistent with the very authorities of Unity she worships, but I let it go in favor of... you know..  Unity.  In favor of working together with capable allies who just might be able to avert the disaster.  I wasn't going to let my ideologies or her hypocrisies get in the way of saving a city or three.  Even paid her compliments.

"But she said something that flies in the face of the most fundamental principals of Unity.  One of the most evil thing's I've ever heard someone masquerading as 'good' say.  Allow me to recount.  'If your morality doesn't jive with mine, You're. Off. The. Team.  I'll let you try and save the world on your own while I hunt down my quarry.  You may as well be dead to me for all I care.  Just 'cause you don't worship at the altar of my ego.'

"Never mind that she took it upon herself to usurp authority over me.  Never mind that she's throwing the very founding principals of the nation she supposedly serves in the garbage.  Never mind that she dismisses what Michael and Blake said about Unity's past as if it had no bearing on it's present or future, even accusing them of wrongdoing for sharing this vital information with us.

"Never mind all that.  When I threw her death threats back in her face, your eyes were opened.  Discarding an ally who could help save the world because they don't match up to your idea of right is: Petty as Freedom said.  Untimely and dangerous as Michael and Shale pointed out.  Sounds crazy and looks bad as Blake and Eli mentioned.  Traitorous as Liberty said.

"You can't argue ideology if you're dead.  You all understand this oh-so-basic concept.  Unity for survival.  DUH!  Good, Neutral, and EVIL gods had to unite to win the war with the primordials.  They set aside their ideologies for something more fundamental.  But Bridget knows better than the gods.  She'd rather the world die than allow what her pot self considers kettle black stand at her side.

"She claims that there is nothing she can say that would dissuade me.  This is not true.  There's nothing she's willing to say that would dissuade me for she'd have to admit that she was being petty, untimely, crazy, traitorous, and all that.  Or... I'm wrong.  Maybe she'll dismount this death steed she thinks is a high horse and apologize.  Maybe the 9th hell will freeze over, but I wouldn't complain much if either happened."

(( Perc check of 19 fails to notice sword is missing because I as a player allow it to be so.  PHB or no, no PC or creature will ever be able to pickpocket a PC without them noticing unless they consent to said plot device.  ))

  "Mittens.  Bridget being more of a nitpicker than I am and tossing her weight around is not the same as threatening to kill someone.  Even if you were not serious, but I feel you would kill her over this at this rate.  You are already off her team anyways, even if she could make it stick.  Making this annoyance worse is you both honestly feel you are right and the other is a moron, or your choice of wishy washy term.  And if the gods could not be woefully wrong due to spectacular arrogance, then Io wouldn't have been sliced in half.  Claims of being made in the image of the Gods makes so much more sense when you consider things like that."

  Blake resists the urge to sigh melodramatically.  "I would enjoy it if Bridget's claims about Unity at present are true.  I suspect it is far from the moral perfection she believes in just as the Gods are far below the respect they are given outside how much they can destroy those that annoy them or their followers.  But I also suspect that in both cases, it's probably close enough to both your claims that who cares if they are not perfect."

  Blake is this close to saying 'Right, that is it.  You two are in Time-out.'

Emerald says, "Calm down, Mitts. As Blake pointed out, Bridget didn't threaten you with anything beyond not being on a team. Which is just the same as saying you're a civilian at best. You gonna honestly sit there and tell this group Bridget is guilty of murdering anyone who dies in Unity because they aren't on her team? Once you are no longer capable of protecting someone, that someone is not your responsibility. Frankly, I don't see the connection. Ms continent-sized-brain doesn't see the connection. If an insult to your morality or pride is enough to think your life is in danger or that someone else's life is worth threatening, then as Eli said, you're proving that Bridget is right and that you aren't cut out for adventure. But Blake's points say it all if you ask me. Oh and I have your sword. You can have it back when you promise not to kill your team mates." she says, wiggling the sword in her hand.

Bridget says, "Considering you think I lie, then even if I said what you wanted me to say, you could just pass it off as lies, Mittens. So no. There is nothing I could say, willing or otherwise. Therefor, there is nothing I will say. My words are wasted on you as yours are on me. Like I already said a bit back."

She turns to Emerald, doesn't object, and finds some other place to sit, tugging Eli with her.

Eli is calmed by the fact "I was only kidding" was brought up. But he's no less upset. "I did believe you would stab me through, Mittens. And I will keep believing that." he follows Bridget's tugging and says, "Be careful of accusing someone of being on a high horse or throwing so many insults. For only those on high horses of their own do so. She won't talk to you, but I will. The foundation of Unity is not to be unified with every last thing. It is to unify those who despise evil against those who love evil. To unify the races and give everyone a chance. In that regard, Bridget seems to be giving you less of a chance. But really, Mitts..."

Reverie says,

"This was all my fault, my friends,
I do apologize.
For if I, in fact, sparred Mittens
She would not,
And could not
Have been so unwise."

She looks at Mittens.

"If the spar is so important and stuff,
That you threaten the life of Bridget,
Perhaps you are abbarent enough
That my powers are comparable midgets."

Liberty has nothing to say at first, as she mulls over the words spoken. She then looks at Mittens and says, "We're all hypocrites. We all sin. We all are arrogant and think our own opinions are the right one. If you think Bridget is any different from you, you're just fooling yourself. And if you think throwing insults around makes you better than her, you're just plain stupid." She tosses a pebble out the side of the wagon, looking out at the ground that's moving underneath them.

Freedom appears to not care that Mittens 'was just joking' and says, “If comments about harming an ally are not to be taken seriously, then there is still a lot about social interactions that I do not understand. Personally I find such comments offensive no matter who they are directed at. And if I was ordered to, I would physically restrain someone attempting to carry out such a threat by whatever means necessary, including sitting on them if that was the only way to keep them from being able to carry out the threat.” While Freedom doesn't specifically call out Mittens with his statement, the Warforged makes it clear what lengths he would go to in order to prevent such a threat from being carried out.

Gilant still remains uninterested in the shenanigans between Mittens and Bridget that have drawn in the rest of the group on the wagon. Especially since Mittens is now claiming that she never was going to carry out her threat. Instead, the Githyanki glances up at the sky looking at the clouds and any birds that happen to fly by as Gilant remembers the astral ships he had traveled upon in the past and that using a wagon pales in comparison.

While Michael is slightly comforted by Mitten's admission that she wasn't going to carry out her threat, he is still annoyed by the entire argument between Bridget and Mittens.

Since Michael thinks it would be best to get everyone focused on something else he mentions, “If the theatrics involving threats and ideology are over, can we get back to planning what our two groups will be doing?” Michael hopes that others will be willing to shift to an important task at hand without continuing to dwell on the argument between Bridget and Mittens to the exclusion of everything else.

Shale ponders Liberty's latest comment as the gnome has reached the extent of his ability to keep things serious asking, “If everyone sins and is hypocritical and arrogant. What sins have newborn babies committed? How are they arrogant or hypocritical? If not at what point in their lives do you judge them guilty of those things?” As Shale brings up an example of someone who it would be ludicrous to consider to be a sinner, hypocritical, and arrogant. And Shale grins slightly in anticipation for what he expects to be an amusing response from Liberty as the gnome can't see how a baby could be considered to have done things that can be classified as hypocritical, arrogant, and sinful.

Liberty turns her attention to Shale and says, "I have little to no experience with babies, but from what I've seen, they are arrogant enough to believe the entire world revolves around them. This attitude only being somewhat tamed at around age 5 or so when they finally start to understand there are perceptions besides their own. Sinful, not only because of the arrogance, but because of their greed. Give me, give me, give me is all they ever say or do. And if they were not sinful, their parents wouldn't need to correct them, now would they? Lastly, hypocritical? Pfff... you got me there. Babies and young children actually say it how it is. But then, my dealings with babies, as I said, is limited. I've only lived in Unity for 2 years. Before then? Never saw a baby in my life. But you didn't ask to get an answer. Did you. You just asked to make yourself look big. Didn't you."

Shale shakes his head and replies to Liberty's statement, as the gnome chuckles a bit, “Look big? I'm a gnome nothing I do is big.”

Shale is however somewhat dissapointed that Liberty doesn't really answer the question as she has no experience with infants, and only seems to have dealted with small children that are far older than the infants he was asking about.  “I just asked since I thought the answer, whatever you give would most likely be humorous since I find the concept of a newborn baby to be any of those things absurd. But you do admit that you have no real experience with a newborn baby as you only described toddlers and spoiled children so that may be the best answer you can give even if it is about children older than I was asking about.”

"So promised," Mittens says, reaching out to snatch her sword back.  She's impressed that brainy girl swiped it without her noticing, but she can't complain because it was the smart thing for Emerald to do.

"In order for us to plan what our teams will be doing together as Michael suggests, we need to be in the same book before we can get on the same page.  No I wouldn't stab you, Eli.  I would consider that to be evil.  Even if it meant killing an evil person.  That's the point I was trying to make, Blake.  I shall one last time attempt to make my position clear.  I'm going to use a dragon as a metaphor for the danger we're up against."

She takes a deep breath then recounts a conversation between herself and Bridget, being as monotone and blank as possible when mimicking Bridget.

"Me: 'There's a big white dragon on its way to the city to freeze it!'
Bridget: 'You shouldn't warn people.  You should welcome dragons as heroes.'
Me: 'Yes I should warn people.  Dragons are evil.  But I'll let that one slide for the sake of Unity.  I'm sure the people who sent us had some idea of what they're doing.'
Bridget: 'Of course.  They're perfect.  They'd agree with me that dragons are nice.'
Me: 'That's funny!'
Bridget: 'How dare you question our perfection?  And if you think dragons are evil, I'm sending you home.'
Me: 'You've no authority.  I'm the boss of my own team so there!'
Bridget: 'No your not.  And you're evil for doing the exact same thing I just did- assert yourself.  By doing so you're going to get your team killed.  Of course, that rule doesn't apply to me.  Sowing discord is only murder if you do it, not me.'
Me: 'That's silly.  Tempus put me in charge, but I'll vote Emerald leader and see what the others say.'
Bridget: 'You're ignoring me.  I'm not talking to you any more.'
Me: 'That's IT!  I'm going to throw every last backwards thing you've said to me right back at you!  You're evil!  You're trying to get myself and everyone else KILLED!  I'm not going to let you!'
Everyone Else: 'Mittens.  You're being unreasonable.'
Me: 'Exactly!  I was emulating Bridget!  But I'll drop it if she's sorry.'
Bridget: 'I'm going to hide behind the excuse that you wouldn't believe me if I agreed with you.  I stand behind what I've said.  You're evil.  Dragons are good.'
Everyone Else: 'Bridget's right.  Dragons are evil.  Stop disagreeing with her or you'll be sat upon.'

"WHAT?!  You guys are stabbing at my brain with your knives!  I don't know how much more my sanity can take!  Next thing I know your eye sockets will sprout tentacles and you'll be telling me that unity is discord, and that Bridget never accused me of putting the team at risk of death!  With the exact. same. thing. SHE was doing!  I want us to get along, but what am I supposed to do when all my efforts toward that end with 'words have no meaning?'

"I'm done trying to talk sense.  Emerald, if you still can't wrap your brain around my very simple point of view, I'll just have to say 'see I told you so' when Bridget's backwards talk makes YOUR head spin.  Until then I'm just going to put on a ludicrous smile as Reverie suggests and let YOU deal with all the insanity."

She points at her mouth, forces a grin, then folds her arms.  Grinning.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:38, Fri 18 June 2010.

Eli listens carefully. "You misunderstood Bridget every step of the way, sounds like. And she got tired of explaining things to you. I, however, am not tired of it. Honestly, Mitts? If everyone else seems to think you're nuts and that Bridget is not, who is the common denominator? You're not evil. But Bridget is saying if you WERE, you can't be trusted. Which is true. But the fact remains you don't even HAVE to worry about Bridget since she's not even on your team, Mittens. So. Let's make our plans separately. Emerald, you're the leader of your group. So lead." he looks at Michael. "Any chance that forget-spell could be linked to our respective missions?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:37, Fri 18 June 2010.

Emerald nods to Mittens. "OK. Now. To put it bluntly, my powers can control people. Ally and enemy alike. Obviously, I control allies for their benefit. For instance, if I see a chance for an ideal position, I can make you move to a nicer position. Please keep this in mind. You should be able to tell when you are being moved by me or moved by the enemy. Now, as I move you, I will be giving commands that go along with the new positions."

Liberty looks over at Mittens and then to Shale again. "I still have a lot to learn." is all she says before going back to highway hypnosis.

Bridget pulls out a map and begins double-checking the terrain. "Does anyone here happen to have the ritual "portend weather"?"

  "I've thus far avoided methods that unexpectedly shuffle around my allies.  It's likely somewhat easier for that to be forgiven of you to recent acquaintances than it would for me." Blake comments to Emerald.

  They just shrug in regards to Mittens (and ignore the 'Babies: Little Satans? or something worse?' talk) and say "I was in agreement with you over the letting people know unfortunate things are coming, but possible by way of vague visions misfortune doesn't deserve announcements of guaranteed war.  If it was a guarantee then we wouldn't be bothering to try and stop it due to more 'oh the Gods are right again' outlook.  As for my thinking you're more out of line than Bridget, it's easier to ignore her than it is to ignore direct death threats.  Not the most polite for the former fact, but should be obvious regarding the second."

Reverie offers to Mittens,

"So much anger, so much rage,
To put yourself in a cage
Faking a smile to throw a fit
Won't solve problems one bit.

If you're feeling alone, Mittens,
I offer you hugs and kisses.
Don't feel bad, you're with friends!
Around us, you need not pretend."

She spreads her arms towards Mittens.

"Come here, darling, for me to hold
And forget for now what you were told.
I'll give you the love you need
Though only if you allow me..."

Mittens loses the grin when Eli speaks.

"Trust is a beautiful thing, Eli," she says, "I suppose it's rarity is part of what makes it so valuable."

She decides against answering another boast from an ally that they can control her.  She's grateful to Blake for saying that he ignored Bridget to some extent.

"Just relaying the words as they were given to me," Mittens answers, "I don't know just how immutable fate or prophesies are, but I do understand my duty to defend."

Then in reply to Reverie's offer of a hug she pat-pats her sword.

"I don't speak the language of hugs," she says, "Eli spoke the language I understand when he accepted my challenge.  I tried befriending you with compliments and a challenge.  You instead boast, belittle, mock, accuse, and reject.  Yes.  It's been a long time since I've been this angry."

She begins quoting a song.

"I love this, please push me harder!
I just keep getting meaner!
I’m growing from the pain!
How about you!?

Life, it’s hard, it makes me stronger!
A warrior seeking victory!
I’ll push it ‘til the end, push it ‘til the end!

Knee deep in your pit!
All together in the pit!
All forever in the pit for this!

Pirate, poet, vengeful killer!
It’s all what you’ve made me!
What has life made you?
Made you?!

Life, chalk it up to desire
Of which I’ve had my fill
I just keep pushing forward, keep pushing forward still
Keep pushing forward still, pit, still, pit, still!

So if you feel the need, bring it, bring it!
And if you just want to spit it out, bring it, bring it!
And if you just see your way clear then, bring it, bring it!"

Liberty doesn't even bother looking and ponders to herself what she might do in Mittens' shoes. She thinks hard on whether her words would be hypocritical or not. Then decides the best way she thinks she can put it. Liberty says, "Be honest, Mittens. Do you see yourself as better than everyone here? Or is your rage blinding you to an ally showing concern for you? If you're that angry, then stop talking about how upset you are for now or you'll just wind up saying things you'll regret later and make your allies hate you more. Which defeats the purpose of what you were after, if your claims of unifying are to be believed."

Emerald says, "To clarify... I can not force you to do anything that benefits you. If I were attacking you, that'd be different. But as my allies, if you *want* my help, you have to let me."

Reverie says,

"I never meant to upset you, Mittens,
So I now apologize.
Take it how you wish then,
But don't cut all your ties..."

Eli says, "Once again with misinterpreting. A person telling you a knife is sharp is not a boast. It's a fact. I don't see where Reverie boasted. But as for what you're quoting? I get the point and all, but be careful not to blame others for who you are. "Pirate, poet, vengeful killer. It’s all what you’ve made me." Liberty just told us how much hell she went through and wound up fighting for the right cause. So don't lay any blame on someone else for who you become. That's entirely your choice." he says in a lightly concerned fashion.

  Blake wonders if the vision of fire he saw was in reference to the dreaded Drama Bomb/Verbal Flame War.  But it probably meant something less painful.

  "I'm less concerned with better than anyone else and more concerned by anything that makess me look reasonable or calm by comparison."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:02, Thu 24 June 2010.

Mittens pauses and considers Reverie.  Bridget has made her cynical, but Reverie looks like she means what she says and hasn't been full of hypocrisy.  Just very very maddening enticements.  If not for such a powerful distraction Mittens might have noticed Emerald practically reading her mind.  Or notice that little miss angry Liberty is telling her to chill out.  But Eli's words register because she's had this conversation many a time before.  People tend to disapprove of her philosophy so she's armed with some replies.  Reverie, however, confounds her.

"Apology accepted, believed, trusted," Mittens answers Reverie with a confusing look on her face, "I believe you that you didn't mean ill.  But that means I have to believe that you're so completely unable to understand me that I wonder if you'll believe what I say when I talk frankly with you.  I'd offer to try and talk your hugging language, but they would be hollow words.  However, if you would accept my challenge...  if you defeat me in a duel, I'll even hug you and mean it if that's what you want."

She looks over to Liberty and simply replies, "Nope."

To Emerald and Blake she replies, "K."

To Eli she replies, "They say 'the easiest thing in the world to find is fault.'  There's a reason they say that.  Do I accept responsibility?  Yes.  Will Bridget accept responsibility for provoking me?  Of course not.  But Reverie did.  So..."

She turns back to Reverie.

"Hard for me to imagine, but it's quite possible you're just as uncomfortable with fighting me as I am with hugging you.  It was not my intent to hurt your heart, if that's what I did.  And if I did, I accept responsibility and apologize.  But I believe in conquering myself.  Hence the challenge and the offered trophy."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:54, Fri 25 June 2010.

Reverie nods.

"It was not so much the hug I seek,
But rather to calm you down.
And since the future does seem bleak,
We shouldn't so soon be drowned.

It was not so much that I hate fighting
Or abhor violence like Eli
But I've made my point in sighting
The reasons I don't fight and why.

I will spar you on one condition:
That you conquer your own attrition,

Say sorry to Bridget for using mean tones
For whoever has sinned can't cast any stones
I'll even spar first, to show you I mean it.
And end this horrible, dis-unifying spirit."

Liberty looks at Blake and says, "Congratulations. You are calm and sane. Compared to me, compared to Mittens, and definitely compared to Illithid."

Liberty looks at Mittens when she replies. Liberty says, "Fine then." as if taking Mitts' word for it.

Eli thinks up a nice chunk of text. Really. Bridget still saved your life according to Emerald. Apparently, when someone does that for you, you owe them insults and life threats at the first sign of hurting your pride. But saying this makes no difference as Emerald proved. Not everyone is going to agree with you and sometimes, to the point of believing your opinions all but criminal. However, she has not so much as threatened to arrest you, much less endanger your life. But he really believes those words wasted on Mittens. And is much more fascinated by Reverie's cruel torturous use of Mittens' desire to fight against her.

Emerald and Bridget have something in common right now as they are both silent for the moment. Emerald is thinking ahead of time for things to say. Bridget is thinking ahead of time for plans.

  "A cranky questionable sensible man being calm and rational by comparison seems more like something to be warned about than congratulated about, but thank you."

"Fffff...." Mittens answers Reverie as the full weight of her counter-challenge begins to crush her mind.  More maddening enticements!  AAARGG!  Mittens wrestles the frustration and puts on a disgusted frown like she just caught a whiff of rotting flesh.

"I'm finding it harder and harder to believe you," she answers Reverie darkly, "This sinner throws stones back at anyone who throws them at me.  I apologized to you because for a brief moment you had me thinking that maybe you didn't want to torment me.  That maybe it was all just your completely misunderstanding everything I've said and done.  Everything I am.

"But now you tempt me to compromise everything I stand for in exchange for a chance to prove to myself that my mind is tougher than what you claim.  No.  I won't lie to Bridget with a fake apology.  If I find real proof that she intends to put thousands of lives at risk for the sake of her own pride like her lunatic backwards talk implies, I'll just stab her directly.  No need to be dishonest with her even if she's evil to the core.  Not that words have any meaning with her by her own admission.

"But you..." she narrows her eyes at Reverie, staring directly into the poison girl's eyes, "You say you want to calm me down?  You're doing the opposite!  Tell me.  How many times do I have to tell you the things that make me angry before you stop provoking me?  How many times is a person supposed to get away with contradicting their intentions before I can conclude they're lying to me?  I tolerated 5 hypocrisies from Bridget before I wrote her off as a lunatic at best.

"For the sake of salvaging what's left of my own sanity, I'll just assume that with your counter challenge you meant to say that my friendship is worthless to you.  I can handle rejection.  Have all my life.  I just hope you didn't mean to amuse yourself with tormenting me with a choice between humiliating myself by lying to a lunatic just to get what I want from you.  I'm not for sale.  I fight for friendship.  I won't compromise that."

Reverie says,

"Your pride has spoken, so now you see
How much asking Bridget to say sorry
Has just as much to do with her pride
As yours for you to apologize.

If you do not apologize, then do not be cross
With Bridget for having apology loss
For now you are guilty of the very same thing
That you accused Bridget of: pride peddling.

Now that I've shown you
We're all victims of pride
I will now spar you
No need to apologize."

Eli says, "At this point, you're just ostricizing yourself, Mittens. She meant well, but because you couldn't wrap your mind around the idea you may have been wrong about your assumptions regarding Bridget, you took it out on Reverie -who *did* apologize to you- by accusing her of things as well. I'm tired of this. If you don't want on this team of people who clearly don't meet up to your standards and who you do not trust, why are you still on this wagon? Bridget saved your life and I happen to know she grew up in Unity yet you accuse her of high treason because she dared tell Queen Mittens to not worry the people. You obviously know more than she does about how her hometown runs. Reverie offered a hug which you spat on until she apologized and, despite you saying apology would change your mind about Bridget, you're now treating Reverie -with almost equal malice to Bridget- for daring to turn your same standards on you. Here's a thought: Accept that they are decent people and you just can't comprehend what they are saying and they can't comprehend what you're saying. Maybe you're wrong. Maybe you aren't. But I repeat: The common denominator here was you, Mitts. Even if everyone else but you is wrong, that's still an obvious sign you don't belong on a team with any of us. At best, some of us have simply ignored your drama. Do you want to fight alone? Because that is what will happen. At this point, I and most likely Bridget and maybe a few others, will not trust you with our lives. Nor should you trust us with your life if you meant anything you said. So when you go into the fray and fight something a whole team should take, what makes you think we'll back you up? I *will* back you up to keep you alive, but after the accusations you've thrown around, do you honestly trust your life in anyone's hands? Maybe you should pray to Tempus and ask him if you're in the wrong group. Because if you can't trust Tempus, you're finished as a paladin. But beware... if Tempus says you can trust Bridget or Reverie, then that means you were wrong and will need to apologize. Heaven. Forbid."

Emerald rolls her eyes and says, "Take it from someone who's known some shady characters; if Bridget grew up in Unity and actually meant it harm, yet has not been detected as a spy her whole life, you would not know it. She would have agreed with everything you said, Mittens. You would be loving her. She would have read you like a book, sparred you to pacify you and we wouldn't be having this conversation."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:42, Sun 27 June 2010.

Liberty says, "You and I probably think alike in that regard, Blake. I rather think myself crankier than anyone here, but the fact I'm feeling sensible by comparison is a bad sign."

She watches Mittens while Eli and Emerald continue to think reason works. She then looks at Blake. "Anyway. While they fail to work things out, I may as well be getting to know my team a little better. What makes you have a low opinion of yourself? Most people have opinions of themselves as high as the heavens. Most cranky types do not describe themselves as such."

In real life, trying to have such a conversation while drama is going on would be near impossible. Thanks to the wonders of RP, this isn't a stress on the players. But RP-wise, Liberty is used to worse going on all around her while she's concentrating on something. Though the next time someone threatens a life, Liberty will blow up. Maybe.

However, upon Mittens ragging on Reverie, Liberty squirms. She is trying to calculate if Mittens' conclusions are true about Reverie so as to figure out who to stand up for and who to hate. She decides to side with Reverie.

Liberty says to Mittens, "I like Reverie. That's your only warning." she then looks at Reverie. "Ignore Mittens. For my sake. I'm doing everything I can to contain my rage."

Bridget listens to everything said. Mittens is not on her team, so she isn't too concerned for the success of her own mission. However, the way Mitts has been acting, even Bridget is beginning to doubt the otherwise capable paladin is safe to be with.

Bridget says, "What Eli said is the best thing I've heard all day. Mittens? How would you like to lead everyone in prayer to your god? Clearly, if the gods and other such great signs have guided us, then evil spirits and such are working against us to dis-unify our team. Once you have prayed, let's you and me work out our differences one by one and crush disunity together."

  "I think my self awareness might be a precaution against my ranting getting as far gone as what we find ourselves dealing with now.  That or an extra layer of self pity, it is a toss up."

  They look over to the Bridget/Mittens/increasing amounts of people spectacle.  Just because Mitten's has taken up the focus of attention doesn't mean Blake's forgotten 'point out terrible things they did in the past' means 'you bastard you're deliberately defaming Unity to the impressionable masses'.  Godwins Law qualifying comment goes here.

  "I'm honestly somewhat expecting Tempus to suggest 'Kill them all, and let me sort em out' if we feel this is worth resorting to divine intervention over."

Mittens agrees to say a prayer.  "And my prayer shall be my spar with Reverie.  I need to get that out of my system before I can answer you guys' bazillion word barrage."

She has the driver stop the wagon and steps off.

"I want you to hit me with everything you've got," she says, "There's no point in this spar if you're just going to throw feather pillows at me."

Reverie moves over to be several paces from Mittens and is about to say something, but hiccups. She covers her mouth in embarrassment and jogs backward a bit. As she does, she seems to be enveloped in shadow even though it's broad daylight.

(( Mechanic:
Reverie init: 16+1=17
Mittens init: 6+2=8

Reverie Curses Mittens, uses Dreadful word. Miss. Moves farther from Mittens. Shadow Walk activated, Mittens takes -2 to attack vs Rev. ))

For a brief instant, Mittens thought she might have seen the horrifying visage of a man in a frog suit out of the corner of her eye, but the thought fades as quickly as it came.  Shaking it off, she charges forward, her right hand reaching for the hilt of her sword.  She snarls and draws her sword, hitting Reverie in the belly with the pommel.

"A hiccup?!" she shouts, "And some smoke?!  Is that all you got?!"

(( Move, Minor, activate Razorclaw shifting, Standard: Charge.  Hits!  6 damage before any counter measures. ))

Reverie gets sucked into a dark hole the moment Mittens hits her and she materializes elsewhere before stepping back a bit and . "I am not meant to fight allies. I'm meant to make foes die. And from their deaths, I use their souls. To AID my allies is my roll. I can not force myself to hurt you. As such, I'm holding back. To do otherwise would be untrue, to who I am and who I attack."

She rubs her belly some, standing up straight as if already recovered from the hit Mitts delivered. "Even now, as I call on the stars, they will not answer, for you would be marred. They tell me now is not the time and doing so would be a crime. I'll fight you again when the stars allow. But I'm afraid you'll have to wait for now."

"You'll have no respect for me until my powers you truly see. It seems my powers can't work on Mittens. Perhaps thanks to Tempus, perhaps because prophecy written. The fact is, my melee stinks, but I'll give it a shot and see what you think..." she offers.

(( Mechanic:
Caiphon's Leap. Reduce damage by 4, teleport 2 squares.
Decided to pause the spar there. Rev would refuse to use a daily on Mittens. I rolled it to see how low I'd get. Got low as expected. ))

Mittens stares at Reverie for a moment, then sheaths her sword.  She loses her primal appearance and stands up straight.

"OK then," she says, holding out her shield, "Give it your best shot."

Reverie walks over to Mittens. She gets into a cringed stance, then cocks that rather big mace of hers and THWAM!!! clangs Mitts' shield with such force, she leaves a dent in it and throws Mittens back while rattling her very bones.

"....
My melee is nothing
Compared to my power
But at least it's something?
And will do for now?"

She gives Mittens a hopeful look, biting her lower lip.

(( Mechanic:
Eldritch Strike. Hit. Slide target 1 square. 1W+Cha (4) or Con (4). rolled 4. Total 8. ))

Mittens is surprised and impressed with the girly-girl's THWACK!

"Not baaaad!" she says with a smirk, regaining her balance and rolling her left shoulder, "Not bad at all!  I believe I have a better understanding of what you were saying earlier.  Tempus has answered my prayer!  I guess I will just have to wait and see these mighty powers of yours in action."

She returns to the wagon and offers a hand to help Reverie back on.

Reverie takes the hand and says,

"That smile is genuine.
So let's start over.
Bridget is not a swine
But you aren't either.

Can we agree to disagree?
And let the sword show our colors?
That is your way, it seems.
Not so much the way of others."

Mittens loses the smile, ponders Reverie's words, then addresses the group.

"Thanks for the smile comment.  Once again I find myself being asked if I'm willing to accept the very points I've been trying to make all along, but apparently was unable to get across for whatever reason.  Is there some sound imp that warps my words in the ears of those who hear them?  Immeasurable frustration aside, I wonder if this next bit will be warped.  I'll try and keep it simple and hope for the best.  I agree with Bridget's one-issue-at-a-time suggestion.

"I repeat.  I. agree. with. Bridget's. suggestion!  Gasp!  Anyone got a pen and paper?  We've got a LOT of ground to cover, so it makes sense to be all methodical about it."

She waits for someone to indicate they'll take notes before continuing:

"Let's start with the latest cans of worms that have been opened:

Blake: "I'm honestly somewhat expecting Tempus to suggest 'Kill them all, and let me sort em out' if we feel this is worth resorting to divine intervention over."

Liberty: "I like Reverie. That's your only warning.  Ignore Mittens. For my sake. I'm doing everything I can to contain my rage."

Emerald: "If Bridget actually meant Unity harm, and was a skillful villain, you would not know it."

Eli: "Your brain's so small, you can't conceive that you're wrong so you take it out on Reverie who can do no wrong.  Why not quit if you don't trust us?  You arrogant, ignorant, self-absorbed blankedy-blank!  How dare you have personal space!?  How dare you for a moment have any semblance of individuality or imply that your twisted heart might be hurt!?  Here's a thought: Split open your skull and allow us to shove our private parts into your tiny brain.  It doesn't matter if you're right or wrong, you're a reject and a failure and you'll die alone.  How 'bout you pray to Tempus to show you just how pathetic you are."

Reverie: "You are guilty of the very same thing that you accused Bridget of: pride peddling."

Mittens takes a deep breath.

"Emerald.  You made the most sense this last barrage.  You choose which can of worms to pick at.  I'm too stupid to defend myself verbally when I'm outnumbered."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:40, Mon 28 June 2010.

Emerald is taking notes as fast as she can. She clears her throat once Mittens addresses her. "Alright. First, lemme make some rules of communication: First rule is, as suggested, one at a time. That means no interrupting and you only respond when addressed. Second rule, please refrain from rephrasing what someone says. If you must, then say what you intemperate it to mean. Then how it makes you feel. I will moderate and very carefully pick who will have a turn and when. Please refrain from other conversations. It is important we sort this out and having background noise will confuse. Besides... we all need to hear this so that we are all on the same page."

She takes a deep breath herself before saying, "Well the imp must have contorted either Eli's words or your attempt to quote him. So I say ignore it since you are not quoting him correctly somehow. If we get emotional when rephrasing what people say, this whole cycle will just repeat. So... let's start with what you claim made the most sense and we'll go from there: If Bridget actually meant Unity harm, and was a skillful villain, you would not know it. Mittens, you're up."

(My alts will only post when they are either addressed.)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:53, Mon 28 June 2010.

  Blake was tempted to take notes, but that would be effort.  He does raise a finger to interject "My comment was more along the lines of bitter commentary than meaningful.  Searching for practical reasoning to go along with it would be a waste of time."

  Yes, Blake can slip in comments out of exact order too.

Mittens eyes Eli and Liberty for signs of objecting to Emerald's rules.

"Hence my writing her off as a lunatic," Mittens answers, "Instinctively I guess.  If she were a Vecna agent, she wouldn't have said the things she did so blatantly.  I think.  Instead she's a Cyric type and openly makes my head spin while everyone else shrugs it off.  I suppose?  Maybe not.  I agree that a more skillful villain would probably not have provoked me.  Which leaves me with the option of lunatic.  Or...  Bully?"

She tilts her head at Emerald like she's trying to use Emerald's eyes as a dictionary.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Mon 28 June 2010.

Eli and Liberty make no indication of objecting or talking yet.

Emerald says, "Making assumptions about people based off what they do and say is natural, but also natural is the instinct to exaggerate when either offended, frustrated or confused. Mittens acknowledges she was wrong to assume Bridget serves Vecna, and agrees that Bridget is not a skillful villain. That said, Bridget, you are up."

Bridget says, "Bully would be more accurate than any other accusation you have made thus far. As a law enforcer, it is my job to be harsh on people and it comes naturally. As you are a paladin, I assumed you had boot camp of some sort, and thus, assumed you could handle harsh words. You can not. Therefor, I will speak to you as a civilian, which will still be harsh, but not as harsh as I would speak to a fellow soldier." she then nods to Emerald.

Emerald looks back at Mittens. "Answer? Or move on to next topic?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:14, Mon 28 June 2010.

"This is exactly the sort of twisted talk that makes me so angry," Mittens says as calmly as she can, "Let's pick apart what she said, shall we?

"First: 'Bully would be more accurate than any other accusation you have made thus far. As a law enforcer, it is my job to be harsh on people and it comes naturally.'

"Bridget begins by admitting she's done something bad.  She says it's her JOB to do something bad.  She says it comes naturally for her.  And yet somehow she maintains that she's a saint.  And that her employers who do not punish her for being bad are also saints.  And somehow the group accepts this.  They do not see it as contradictory or hypocritical.  When I point out 'Being a bully is bad,' they turn around and say, 'No, Mittens, you're wrong.  You're being a bully.  That's bad."

"Second: 'As you are a paladin, I assumed you could handle harsh words. You can not. Therefor, I will speak to you as a civilian, which will still be harsh, but not as harsh as I would speak to a fellow soldier.'

"Here Bridget insults and belittles and makes it sound like she's right for doing so.  As if being a bully is a good thing.  That it's a sign of respect to be nasty.  And to top it off, she makes it sound like talking down to me is some kind of concession or compromise and that I'd be unreasonable to reject this offer of her being a lesser bully, but still a bully.  So once again, if I object, 'Mittens, stop being unreasonable.  Bridget is trying to be nice to you.'  You know...  I've actually studied hard at how to get under my enemies' skin with insults as a combat tactic, but this girl has it down to an art.

"But let's put this so-called logic to the test.  Mr. Driver, Sir.  I remember hearing that you're a war veteran.  Tough as nails.  Which would you rather?  Would you rather me insult you with loftier insults like 'you're not worthy of being on this team?'  Or would you rather me treat you like a sissy and just call you names?"

Emerald says, "I think we all know the answer to that. But just in case, what would you rather?" she asks the driver. "Neither." he answers. Emerald looks back at Mittens and says, "Now before I have Bridget answer, remember we are focusing on one topic at a time. So please do not bring up other problems you have with Bridget, such as her saying "you're off the team" until you are ready to close another." She then looks at Bridget. "Your answer?"

Bridget says, "At no point did I say being a bully is good. I simply stated it was more accurate than any other accusation. For instance, it would be more accurate to say you are a bully than to say you are the enemy. You are not a bully. Simply confused. However, on the matter of words, you continue to prove my point by responding the way you do. Emotions are an extreme hindrance when trying to sort things logically. You will note that, no matter what I said, I never raised my voice in anger, never gave you an angry look and certainly never threw you off any teams. Simply brought up an if-then scenario that required you to meet a number of requirements, not all of which you met."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:10, Mon 28 June 2010.

Mittens takes another deep breath to compose herself.

"And once again we have another case of the law-enforcer breaking the rules and supposedly there's nothing at all wrong with that," Mittens answers, "Or do the rules only apply to Mittens and nobody else has to obey?  I'm not going to play that game.  Multiple worms at a time it is.

"Worm number one: "At no point did I say being a bully is good."

"Nor did you deny that you're a bully.  Let's talk basic logic.  Bridget: 'I'm good.  I'm also a bully.  I'll even prove it.  You're a sissy so I'll treat you like the pansy you are.' Me: 'Being a bully is bad.  But you claim it's good.'  Bridget: 'No I never said being a bully is good.'

"Come ON!  Am I the only one seeing this?  This is fundamental stuff!"

"Can of worms number two: 'For instance, it would be more accurate to say you are a bully than to say you are the enemy. You are not a bully. Simply confused.'

"Here again we have another masterful twisting of words.  'To say that you are something that you are not is more accurate than to say that you are something that you're not.  Oh and by the way you're a moron if this confuses you.'

"Can of worms number three: 'However, on the matter of words, you continue to prove my point by responding the way you do.'

"Another brain-stab that makes no sense.  I dismantle her logic and somehow that proves her point?  What point?  That being a bully is both good and bad simultaneously?  That insults are respectful?

"Can of worms number four: 'Emotions are an extreme hindrance when trying to sort things logically.  I never raised my voice in anger, never gave you an angry look and certainly never threw you off any teams.'

"I'll gladly take emotions over your twisted heartless logic.  Your lack of feeling is a large part of what had me convinced you're not right in the head.  But once again somehow this makes you better than everyone else.  Better than people who have hearts.  Somehow being heartless is a good thing.  At least if you got emotional I'd figure I was speaking with a normal, sane individual.

"Can of worms number FIVE: 'never threw you off any teams. Simply brought up an if-then scenario that required you to meet a number of requirements, not all of which you met.'

"That one alone is several cans of worms all at once.  Already mentioned the usurpation of power a number of times.  Already mentioned the double-standard that it's only wrong to do this when Mittens does this.  Also mentioned the fact that the 'requirements' are incompatible with the mission at hand.  Let's unpack the core assertion here.  'Bridget make the rules.  Bridget set the standard for what is good and moral.  Bridget the bully.  If you disagree with Bridget, you are bad.  You do not deserve to be breathing the same air.'

"Here's a concept for all of you to consider.  Maybe you can swallow it.  Suppose there's a fire in the city.  Suppose the jailor notices that the inmates could die and opens the door.  Suppose one of those inmates notices a screaming child in the window of a burning building.  That inmate grabs a ladder to save the child, but Bridget stops him.  'No.  You're evil.  You're not allowed to help rescue people.  You can't be trusted.'

"And in all these many many cans of worms that Bridget opens, I'll be accused of getting off topic when she never addressed the original can of worms we were talking about.  She never said one way or another whether hurling insults was good.  Right after I proved my point."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:59, Mon 28 June 2010.

Emerald leans her head in her hand about halfway through Mittens' rant, though she is taking notes. The final part makes Emmy annoyed. "My turn." she looks at her notes. "Mittens. You said: Here's a concept for all of you to consider.  Maybe you can swallow it." she glances at Mittens to make sure she's following. Then says, "Translation: A few of you have belittled me, so now I have the right to belittle all of you. Even the ones who didn't belittle me."

She looks back at Mittens. "Just so you know, I understand the concept you're saying with the jail example. Being evil doesn't mean you can't help. But we'll cover that when we get that far. I agree that being heartless is bad, but just like everything in this world, there is always such a thing as too much. This is one such case. We made rules. If you felt Bridget was not following them, breaking them yourself is not the answer. Siting the rules and forcing Bridget to answer a question is. What do you want her to answer?"

Mittens wants to moan like a sperm whale in heat about being made the villain while Bridget's evil is overlooked just like she predicted, but her player denies her!  Ooops.  Exclamation point baaad.  In any case, she instead carefully considers what Emerald said.

"No rule is worth a darn if it's not equitably applied," she answers, "Therefore... I will accept your chastisement for my implied insult to my intelligent allies and apologize to them if offense was taken.  I want to be held to my own standards.  Now.  I shall apply the same to you, Emerald.  I expect you to apply the rules to Bridget equally.  If she will just admit that insulting allies is a bad thing.

"So there's your answer.  Can of worms to focus on first: if my insults are bad, then hers are too.  If I must obey the rules then so must she.  Simple."

Emerald says, "Fine. Then we need to establish team rules. Bridget seemed to pull rules out of a hat earlier, but they were not rules we all agreed on or signed up for. Bridget, do you agree insulting team mates is bad?"

Bridget says, "Yes. I apologize for any insults or statements taken as insults towards my allies."

Emerald looks back at Mittens. "There ya go. Next?"

Mittens stands up and dances a jig!

"Progress!" she exclaims, sounding genuinely pleased, "At last!"

She sits back down.

"I asked you to pick the topics, Emerald, because it seems my methods are fail.  But since you asked... now that we've established insults are bad... I guess next in line is the preceding statement.  Rules need to applied equally.  Can we agree on that?"

Emerald says, "This is something we all need to answer. I say yes."

Bridget, Eli, Liberty, and Reverie all say "yes", though Reverie's is more poetic.

Emerald looks back at Mittens. "Well sure, I was supposed to pick topics, but I figure I'll pick who we talk about and you pick what you want to deal with accordingly. Currently, we're on Bridget. So. Next point of interest?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:19, Mon 28 June 2010.

Mittens can hardly believe she actually managed to get the group to all agree with her on anything.  Even if it is something she considers to be so very basic, she's been trying to make this point all along, but she kept getting 'No it's only bad when you break the rules, Mittens.'  She shrugs, wondering at what point sanity crept back into the discussion.  Right.  When Emerald took over.

"OK!" she says, "Insults bad!  Rules should be equally applied!  Next up: Ignoring disagreements is not better than talking them out.  Several times now it's been suggested that I 'just drop it.'  Or 'I'm not talking to you any more.'  Can we agree that in order for a team to function as a group they have to be able to communicate?  That there needs to be some common understanding?  That if disagreements are left un-addressed, it hinders unity, not the other way around?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:18, Mon 28 June 2010.

Emerald says, "I say it depends and I will explain why. When two people can not communicate, when two people can not speak the same language, when yes means no for one while no means yes for the other, then silence is better because settling differences is impossible for them. However, when you have a linguist handy..." she winks at Mittens. "It's always worth a shot to try in the first place. But some things are more effort than they are worth. Like chopping a tree down with a fish. Better to either get an axe or wait for an expert tree-chopper. But yes. For the most part, it is better to talk out differences. However, ability to do so is only part of the equation. Sometimes it's better to wait. I'll borrow a page from your book, Mittens, and give an example by story. Once upon a time, there were two men who lived in the same neighborhood. Since childhood, they never really got along save once in a while on common things like "murdering in cold blood is wrong". One day, they have yet another argument. The one storms off because he's in a bad mood and doesn't want to say or do anything he'll regret. The other chases him and says "Hey! I'm not through talking to you!" and the locals try to stop him and tell him he needs to cool off. He only gets even more upset, thinking they are telling him he's not allowed to have feelings and not allowed to stand up for himself. But the obvious happens. In the heat of his bad mood, when he catches up to the other man, he tells the man if he isn't careful, he'll kill him. Mittens, you were being way too passionate for comfort. Maybe the reason Bridget had us fooled that she was right is because you looked like a raging volcano while she looked like a field of ice. But either way, you were so heated, you were making others mad just from it rubbing off. When you are mad... no matter who you are, no matter how awesome or great you are, that is not the time to work out differences. Now... outside of anger and inability to even speak the same language? Yes. I agree you should talk out differences rather than be silent. Just keep in mind there is a time for everything. OK... anyone else?"

Eli sighs. "....yeah. I agree. I was pretty mad and all it did was cause me to insult Mittens. Sorry about that, Mittens. Still mad at you, though."

Bridget says, "Working out differences is better than being silent. But Emerald's points are, in fact, the reasons I decided to be quiet."

Liberty says, "Maybe it works that way for you all, but in my case, I disagree. I'm not mature enough to work out differences with someone. I was raised to kill people who didn't even upset me. My not being in jail these past two years is a miracle of Erathis herself. If you have a problem with me, tough. It's better you not address it at all."

Reverie says, "What Emerald said rings true. I hope it true for you too."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Mon 28 June 2010.

Mittens listens to Emerald's speech and the resulting answers.  She sits in silence, staring at the road passing by as she considers what's been said and applies it to what she remembers.  She then raises her eyebrows, tilts her head to the side, and answers, "Eh."

"As Reverie pointed out earlier, my favorite language is combat," she admits, "Wordsmithery isn't my thing.  Particularity when the person I'm speaking with drops one of the most fundamental means of expression: emotion.

"Yes I lost my temper.  I had good reason to.  I may not be a lumberjack, but at least I was trying to cut down the tree who's roots will tear up the foundation of your home.  Here I am whacking at the tree with a fish, and I'm surrounded by lumberjacks who say 'You're doing it wrong' at best.  But nobody picks up an axe.  So I drop the fish and try a hammer.  Still no one picks up an axe.  When finally I start mimicking the tree to mock it, everyone gets angry at me and picks up their axes to swing at me for being a tree.  I'm not a tree!

"I'm so very very very very very very very very very frustrated you guys still don't get my turn-around earlier.  That story you gave leaves out a very important point.  Before he walked away, Mr. calm-and-perfect guy said, 'You're an evil killer.  It's my job to execute scum like you.  This conversation is over.'  That's why Mr. Angry said, 'Hey!  I'm not through talking to you!.  I'm not going to wait for you to murder me at your convenience.  How 'bout I call you an evil killer?  It's my job to execute scum like you?'  Quoted words turned around and used against the aggressor.  But of course everyone thinks Angry Guy is the villain.

"Ordinarily I'd say that you should answer words with words, fists with fists, and swords with swords.  But now Eli's mad at me for trying to take a non violent approach.  I guess I should just drop any illusions of making peace in a non violent way and simply punch first and sort things out afterward.  Maybe I should just adopt the whole Bridget attitude of 'I'm always right and anyone who disagrees with me is evil.'  Never allow room for another person's concept of right and wrong.

"But I can't.  I'm not like that.  Yet somehow everyone thinks I'm worse than that.  Here's Liberty saying, 'If you disagree with me I'll just kill you,' but somehow when she says that it's no big deal.  If I dare tell her 'you first' everyone here will jump down my throat.  Remember that bit about applying the rules evenly?  I guess you didn't mean it.

"Is that what you guys are telling me?  That because I suck at talking I should just stick to fists and swords when someone accuses me of being evil or threatens me and those I care about?  'Cause waiting for a lumberjack is hardly an option if they'll only wind up swinging their axes at me."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:14, Mon 28 June 2010.

Emerald says, "Eli. Are you mad at Mittens for trying to make peace?"

Eli says, "No."

Emerald says, "Then you're mad at her for a different reason?"

Eli says, "Yes."

Emerald says, "There. See? Stop assuming stuff. Now. Liberty. You just admitted you haven't been jailed in two years. Right? Have more faith in yourself." Liberty doesn't answer. Emerald looks back at Mittens. "That clued me in that she is simply underestimating her own resolve. You, however, are new here like myself. It's OK that you want to kill evil people, Mittens. Same for you, Liberty. But please stop with the threats, everyone. Any threats." she looks her notes over. "Bridget never threatened your life and that, if I recall, was addressed before. I don't know why you keep insisting this, but the fact is she did not threaten your life. Ever. At any point in time. Threaten to remove you from the team, maybe. But never your life. You invented that out of something else she said. As for rules applied evenly, we all meant it. But we are also all taking turns. Nobody can address what she said unless they are told they can speak. That's one of the rules. Remember? To keep things from spiraling back to chaos. Now speaking of spiraling to chaos, Mittens, please please stick with one thing. One. Not several. One. Ask one person one thing. If they "open a can of worms", keep pressing for the one answer. Otherwise, this whole talk will not make any more progress. Do you want to address Liberty? Or are we sticking with Bridget until that's resolved?"

"Now you're doing it to me too, Emerald," Mittens answers, "'Mittens.  Stop breaking the rules.  I'll give you a bazillion things to answer to, but that's not breaking the rules.  One topic for you only.  Everyone else gets to pummel you with buckets of worms.  And you're not allowed to be frustrated or point this out.'"

Emerald says, "One person at a time. One topic at a time. Agreed or not?"

"Did you even hear what I just said?" Mittens answers with a face-palm, "Back to the beginning then.  'Rules apply evenly.'  Riiiiight?  That includes you too, Emerald.  I just said you just now broke the rules with your story-telling, metaphors, philosophizing, and then follow-up of my answers.  If the rules only apply to me, I don't see any reason to follow them."

Emerald says, "I thought you meant team rules generically. Not rules concerning the moderation of this conversation. In that case, no. The rules are different for me because my function in moderating this conversation is different from everyone else. So let's re-establish what my job here is: I pick who gets to speak and when. When needed, I try to help with translating or address that person to make sure they are communicating what they want. If the rules applied the same to me, then I would have to shut up until told to talk which means I could not tell anyone who's turn is up. Do you agree to this? If not, then offer a suggestion on how I can do my job without the freedom to do the things mentioned."

"Mya," Mittens answers, "A lumberjack is asking me how they're supposed to swing an axe?  Um...  I'll go with a big fat 'no' then.  If only Emerald is allowed to dump kingdoms of worms on me at a time, I still wind up swimming in an ocean of worms, allowed to only pick one of them.  If your worried about 'don't speak unless pointed to' ...try pointing?  Oh wait...  That's two separate topics.  You see?  If I'm not allowed to answer but one arrow that's shot at me, I'll wind up a porcupine rather quick."

Emerald says, "I guess you don't believe me. Fine. I'll apply the rules to me too and you'll *see* what I'm talking about. Agreed?"

In the interest of moving the plot forward, Mittens is ever so slowly convinced that Bridget didn't mean to imply a threat and that Bridget won't shatter the team if every last member doesn't believe exactly as she does.  By the time this is accomplished, it's late, it's cold, and it's raining buckets.

Eli has conjured a magical umbrella to keep any wind-blown water from touching him while he reads a book by magic light. Yay cantrips... light spell + prestidigitation = read comfortably during rain storm at night.

Bridget is keeping a watchful eye out for any movement in the shadows. "It's time we set up camp." she declares. "It's dark and we've been traveling a long time."

Emerald had fallen asleep, emotionally exhausted from earlier. She ear-twitches and peaks an eye open. "Yeah... I recommend we find a cave if possible. All this wind will just blow our tents to kingdom come."

Liberty and Reverie had also fallen asleep. On each other. The two girls wake as camp is being suggested, but wait more or less to see what consensus is reached.

The wagon driver hears the suggestions and notes, "We should be almost to the next town," he says, "Any minute now."

  Blake's from Narfel.  Even though due to 'limit one BG bonus per customer' he doesn't have the regional bonus, some rain compared to where he's from is Meh weather to Blake.  The fact he has a good CON helps too.

  "I suppose I shall spare you the 'are we there yet?' question if that is the case then." Blake says to the driver.

During the long trip to the present location, Emerald was able to uncover Mittens' paranoia with Bridget.  Apparently the whole bit about "If you believe a certain way then there'll be consequences," translated in her mind that Bridget was "Thought Police" and that she was going to execute Mittens in her sleep.  Bridget of course explained she meant no such thing only that she wouldn't allow an evil person to jeopardize the safety of the group by lowering moral.  No apologies were made by either for the misunderstanding because they both felt that the other was at fault for it, and both felt they had acted rightly given their understanding of what the other had said.

Since then Mittens has been quiet but alert, hoping for something exciting to happen to banish the boredom.

"Oooh!" she chimes, "I see a lantern!  We must be there!"

A voice in the distance can be heard calling out from the direction of the light.

"Who goes there?!"

"Officers on official business!" the driver answers, "Have we reached Towerton?"

"Officers?!  You mean like soldiers!?  Thank the heavens!  Yes!  Yes you have!  Please.  Hurry inside!"

The creak of an opening gate can be heard.  The rain is so thick the team can hardly see the gate or it's guard until they're right on top of them.  Once inside, the gate is closed again and an escort takes everyone to he local tavern which is overcrowded with very frightened villagers.  Some of the children whimper and cringe behind adults at the sight of the intimidating looking heroes... namely everyone save Shale and Eli.

The escort takes everyone to the bar where sits an old human man in fine clothes with a bandage covering both his eyes.

"Officers on official business, sir," the escort says in an excited, hopeful tone, "Armed to the teeth it looks like."

"Official business?" the old man asks, "What sort of official business?  Any chance you could spare a few hours to rescue this village from being destroyed by tomorrow?"

"Of course!" Mittens answers, "We're heroes!  It's what we do!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:08, Tue 29 June 2010.

Emerald wiggles her fingers at the children with a reassuring smile and turns her attention to the old man. "She's right. So what seems to be the problem, sir?" she asks in her fitting, little voice.

Thanks to Emerald's great performance of smoothing things earlier, Bridget has decided to let Emerald continue to take the lead in general. Besides, there is nothing to add to that question for now.

Eli smiles and waves to the kids, grabbing Emmy's tail while following her. Emerald glances at him with a smirk.

Reverie is also silent as she listens to what ails the town. Liberty mutters, "I hope their "problem" has a face, so I can beat it in."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:24, Tue 29 June 2010.

  "I am more on the unofficial business side of things.  Though I somehow doubt this means I won't be making an attempt to help."  Emerald has quite fortunately fielded the Most Obvious Question™

  He looks down to Liberty and mutters "Pleasant sentiment, but it won't do to limit your payback options."

The old man cracks a smile at the answers he's receiving, figuring small voices of Emerald and Liberty must be from halflings or something.  Surely children wouldn't be allowed on official business....

"This morning a group of goblins took over the old guard tower the town is named after," he answers, "They surprised and overwhelmed what guards were there, and only one escaped to warn us.  No doubt they'll wait for the rain to let up before they come to burn this village to the ground.  We've too many unable to make the journey to escape... especially in weather like this, so we're trapped.  The guards in the tower were all the protection this town had..."

Bridget speaks up, "What about arms? Where do you keep your weapons and armor? Perhaps I can take advantage of the rain and train up some of your people so they can back us up. Make no mistake, the goblins will kill you whether you fight or surrender. Best to put up a fight on the chance you will win."

Liberty points out, "It's not just a chance. We *will* win. We'll just win faster if your people help us."

Bridget doesn't object to positive thinking. In a situation like this, false hope is still more hope than the town would otherwise have.

  Blake asks Bridget, because really even with all that's gone on in conversation she's the one with the most proper militaryish (as opposed to transplanar pirate) experience on the cart.  "If all the Goblins are in the tower, and only one made it out, wouldn't barricading the tower closed work while any archers are shot back at?"

  He'd suggest lighting it on fire, but it's both dramatically raining and it's probably made with a lot of stone.  That and if he suggested that it would be guaranteed there some guards are still alive inside the tower.

The Githyanki keeps one hand on the hilt of his sword as he glances to Blake and says, “And what would prevent the Goblin archers from doing the same back to us, except they would have the high ground. I doubt we have the time to just wait them out, so we'll have to just go in after them and eliminate them like rodents they are. Although keeping one or two alive for interrogation could determine if their actions are related to our original task or not.” It is obvious that Gilant is thinking about the manner from a professional, but academic perspective as the swordmage considers the goblins to be nothing more than practice dummies for him to hone his skills on. “We gain nothing by ignoring them, so we might as well deal with them.”