In reply to Jesse (msg #15):

Yana gives Jesse a very skeptical and amused look.
Well, I know that good or evil done by something that you don't expect to do it would SEEM more extreme and strange, but the evil and good, by itself, wouldn't be different.  Maybe people's reactions, I guess.  I'd feel a lot more "betrayed" by an evil saint then an evil demon, I guess.

"What I meant was the truest evil is not achieved by the men who think themselves the villain. The truest evil is done by the good man who does what he feels he must, and thus he does it without hesitation. The reverse also, The truest good is not achieved by the men who think themselves the hero. The truest good is done by the bad man who does good for he has done evil, and thus knows the cost of action. It is the contrast and match; repel and merge." Jesse finished. "...please tell me the truth, did I make a fool out of myself?" He asked with an embaressed smile as he scratched the back of his head.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:18, Mon 27 July 2009.

The dark haired lass laughs.

I'd LOVE to say "yes" to you, but I think you lost me about half way through.   

She snickers and grins at him.

Well, actually, I think I know what you're trying to say.  It's like the 'betrayal' thing that I mentioned.  If I stab a hated business rival, it's and evil act.  But if I stab you, especially after inviting you to sit here, it seems more evil.

As she nods, she stops suddenly.  Her face lights up with understanding.

OH!  Wait, I think I see.
You mean, like a good man doing something evil, but thinking that it's for a good cause.  It's more evil because he wouldn't THINK that it's evil, where an evil man might limit himself more, knowing that he's doing an evil thing?

"Yes and no, there are alot of situational conditions, but in the interest of moving on yes you mostly got it." Jesse give an embressed chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. *gurgle* His stomach was protesting its emptiness.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:09, Mon 27 July 2009.

Tori looked around the room and shook her head.  She needed to think for a bit.  She looked around and noticed that the young girl with purple hair had not returned, nor had the man that had escorted her.

She stood and went to try and find them.  It would at least give her some time to think as she did so.
<<side room 1>>

Yana seems to cock her head when Jesse's stomach gurgles.  She smiles a bit, but it she's embarrassed or disgusted, she hides it.

I'm sorry, I've kept you talking when you should be enjoying the food here at the Tavern.  I love the stew, but then again, I haven't tried too much yet.  Also, this coconut cake is DELICIOUS!!!

The young girl waves over a tavern server for Jesse's order.

"I'll try it." Jesse nods in thanks. "I havn't eaten all day...?" He looked unsure of the time past. "So what does one "do" around here?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:10, Mon 27 July 2009.

Yana takes another slice of cake and drinks some more milk.

Yes, I feel full of energy.  They say it's an ingrediant called "sugar".  I've seen it in expensive candy shops in large cities, but never knew you could BAKE with it.

She grins.

"Was it a white or brown grainy substance distilled from sweet plants?" Jesse asked. "Or was it developed from something called coca? Expensive shops, Ay? You must do very well for yourself." He smiled warmly.

Yana laughs a bit.

"Do WELL for myself"?  Well, if having to sneak into a Ogre's lair, and kill him to save some villagers, then have to root around in his filth for whatever possessions are actually worth something is "doing well", then I suppose I am. 

She smiles.
I guess I've done alright.  There are many evil creatures in the world that need "stopping" and they usually have plenty of gold that they don't need.

"Wow. Why you've done better then me!" Jesse said, amzaed. "I've mostly been trying to survive with bits of altruism and semi-kind-hearted mercenary work peppered in. You're one of those Bona-Fide Adventuring Heroes, am I right? Saving the day and getting paid well for the deed." He said.

Yana grinned, and blushed a bit at the look of amazement on Jesse's face.

Weeeeeeellllll....that's a "sort of" to both points.    We DID go after evil cults and the like, but most of our "pay' was robbing them once we killed them.  Um...well, I guess "looted" would be a more accurate word.

Still blushing shyly, she also grinned a bit at the memories.

"Oh?! A fellow looter." Jesse smiled brightly. "We need to compare looting statergies and we got to exchange stories!"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:35, Mon 27 July 2009.

Excitedly, Yana begins related "treasure hunting" stories, about digging through an ogre's midden for his hidden gold and cutting open a giant slug for swallowed gems, seemingly oblivious to the fact that people are eating at the table.

Aramen slid the cake away from Yana when she wasn't looking, remembering how hyper she got last time she was indulging in the cake. 

"Money seemed to find us, I guess. I never really worked for coin, well not recently. Money just seems to fall into my lap for the same reason. No point in letting gold or goods go to waste of corpses.  Its hardly my motivation but I guess its a nice perk. As long as the work done is for the greater good, I think motivation really matters little."

Aramen listened to some of the stories, being a player in a few it was fun to hear from the outside. It was also nice to hear a few from when they parted ways.

Yana laughed and gave Aramendel an exasperated look.

"Never WORKED"?  Look, "O Great Sword Savant", killing goblins, ogres, and evil priests might have been boring to you, but SOME of us considered it "work"!

She laughed again, seeming much more amused than offended.

"Relax dear, I don't mean it wasn't work. I sweat same as you. I mean that I didn't do it for the gold. Knowing I was helping people out and controlling the goblin population was more of a reward to me than the shiny metal we got in return."

"There was this incident with a deranged survivor living in a small...market, if you will...I could tell there was nothing worth having there, no food, no water, no nothing; but he kept attacking me, I was forced to kill him least he draw every undead prick on the block. Found out he was guarding these." Jesse said, pulling out a kevlar bank bag from his backpack. He opened it to reveal jewelry and 50,000 cash bricks. "The madman hadn't bothered with food or water and taken this, I only took it as another reason to survive so I could spend it. Of course the authorities would have probably arrested me for doing that."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Mon 27 July 2009.

In reply to Aramendel (msg #34):

Yana gave a sheepish smile and shrugged.
Well.....keeping the gobs under control is a fine thing, and could be very enjoyable, but a girl's GOT to have nice things.   You know, like food and shelter.   

She chuckled a bit and blushed.
Annnnnnddd........maybe a few other things, like jewels, and magic weapons, and expensive clothes. 
Still smiling, she sighed.
Perhaps my motivations were a little less....altruistic than yours, my love, but I'm learning.  Besides, once I don't have to worry about money anymore, THEN I'll be able to do lots of good without worrying about such things.

Yana looks at Jesse, her eyes sparkling at the jewelry.  She looks at the cash questioningly, probably assuming that they're currency, but obviously not familiar with paper money.

Well, Jesse, there's an old saying on my world: "The dead don't need gold to stay dead".   If you defended  yourself, fair and square, I think that you're entitled to the spoils of war.

She nods encouragingly.

"Well the we have laws against that sort of thing. If I had just found this in the street and waited a month for the Police to find the owner, I would have been able to keep it if no owner was founded." Jesse shrugged. "But since I killed a man and took this of his corpse, even if it was self-defense, I would have probably be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Yana chuckled a bit, covertly dragging her plate full of cake back to her.

Yes, we have something similar in our civilized areas.  That's why we adventurers usually go to the wild lands to do our adventuring.  It's outside the magistrate's jurisdiction.  Then again, in a city, I'd have no compuction about keeping found money.  I suppose you could find the owner of a bag of coins, but the process would cost more money than what was probably in the bag.

"The police would actually handle that. There is just a law that states you must turn in lost valuables when the worth is at a certain number. There is nothing actually stopping you from keeping what you find. It is an unenforcable law." Jesse shrugged.

Yana giggles.
The "police" are like the town militia or city guard?   And they have a "law" that any citizen must "turn in" found valuables so that the authorities can find the "lawful owner"?   Yes, we have that scam in my world too, but our guards aren't quite so blantant about it.

"Actually they do return items to their lawful owner. Most people usually just complain that they're slow, brutal, racist, or incompentant. They are not militia, or guards. They enforce the law and maintian the peace. We have the ability to from malitias on our own, we also have the National Guard. Also we have federal agentcies and five mainline Military branches." Jesse said, thinking about how he would explain the USA.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:24, Tue 28 July 2009.

Yana's brow crinkles in astonishment.

Wow!  You just have almost no crime except the zombies, eh?  That's a LOT of town guards.