It was not heard of, people eating other sentient races in times of dire need, so he could understand it to some degree. Now they just had to find a remedy to this situation.
"Well let us get about finding a solution and we can clean this up."
With a smile towards Mila he makes a hasty retreat to the streets before he can be offered any stew. He had rations enough for himself and perhaps another but not all the kids.

Hai Tao gives a friendly smile and a slight bow to Mila and her brother before following Ra'Mer out of the house. Once out in the street he lets out a long breath before sliding his sword back into it's sheath. Keeping his voice low he speaks with the tall human.

"That was rather unpleasant in there. I'm at a bit of a loss on how to handle things. My order forbids the eating of flesh from any animal and I believe that goes double for the flesh of sentient beings. I understand that these orcs and kobolds are in a tough situation but...I certainly can't condone their actions. My only suggestion would be to get them on a boat and out of this city. Immediately if possible."

In reply to Hai Tao (msg # 53):

Taking a hand and wiping it down his face he tries to clear his mind of the house, HE was a barbarian and he never thought of that in all his years. Ra'Mer would eat cats, rats or dogs first.....people....never...he would go vegetarian.
"You may just be right on this. I do not think the city would stand for the thought of it in no circumstance. So, getting them out of the city would be their best hope."

The Knight strode closer to his companions to share in their whispered council.  He nodded his helmeted head at the words spoken by Hai Tao, and Ra'Mer, before voicing his own thoughts.  "We will find that difficult to do if we try to force a passage for them through to the docks.  Perhaps, however, we could bring this woman back with us.  There she can plead her case with the Captain himself, and perhaps bargain for some more appropriate meat for her brood.  If she can prove to him that her charges are under control then he might be willing to help her."

He glanced between the three companions.  "Otherwise, we are in a tough place.  Either we risk everything to bring them through territory we have no knowledge of, or we break our word and do as we were bad to do."

(you can either hack them to bits, try to negotiate a spot for them with New Phlan's council, or just leave them in place and go on. What'll it be?)

(Negotiations with the Council is my vote.)

(Negotiate as well- at least get them outta town and a new diet)

(Agreed on the negotiations. They are scavenging corpses that others have killed. While that fact and the fact that they seem to not have any sign of remorse over it is unnerving, they aren't actively being aggressive.)

(you're all acutely aware that the Council hired you to remove denizens such as these from the Slums, right?)

Stockholm syndrome
Or somethi like that


But if they get out of the city they are removed and that is the most RaMer can hope for. It woukd be a large number of hem removed without violence, reservi brute tactics for the next encounter.

(Agreed. Negotiations, though difficult seems our best bet. Removed doesn't necessarily mean terminate.)

(I'm, as a player and character, expecting negotiations to go horribly wrong, but turning around and attacking now would feel too much like murder instead of righteous justice.  If we were going to do that we should have done it from the start.)

(Definitely too far down the rabbit hole to turn back now. And even though the group may be hanged, drawn and quartered as collaborators at least we gave it a shot.)

In reply to Ser Desdichado (msg # 63):

Agreed, awkward....

Long story made short:

The party comes back to the gates and converses with Boros about their findings. The man is hardly amused about the cannibalism and perceived softness of the party.

"Hrmph. If it was me, I'd have burnt the whole charnel house. To sanitize it. Kobold tastes terrible, by the way." he laughs, but his eyes are cold.

Some maneuvering with the council can result in a few rowboats being put to the use of evacuaing the kobolds from the north shore and onto the plains just eeast of Phlan. The costs for this will vary according to what kind of approach you take.

(A charisma rol, or an appropriate skill, with the check determining how much you have to spend to rescue them all. A 20+ result means you only forefit the reward money for clearing that part of the Slums.)

A man watches from the sidelines as you argue for the lives of the Kobolds. He is of average height and build, dressed in barely functional, worn woolen robes. A wooden medallion with Ilmater's symbol hangs from a simple rope from around his neck. You get the feeling he approves of your actions, but he stays quiet unless one of you wants a word with him.

Of the council members, only Cadorna seems genuinely irritated by your move. The others take a pragmatic view - after all, you did clear some of the slums.

When talking with the authorities or anyone dealing with business outside the group Ra'Mer takes a backseat. In fact he actively avoids speaking to them, his personality is such that it has been know to really rub people the wrong way. Granted people he knows tend to be able to deal with him others do not fare so well.

Hai Tao doesn't do well in most social situations. He isn't off-putting or overly aggressive he just isn't trained to convince others. So he'll leave the talking up to Risshil.

risshil will take point on this, as he was the one who pushed the party in this direction he feels it's only fair he focus the eyes and negativity o.to his person. He is also used to debates both political and philosophical. He would approach the man on the sidelines but only after business was done.

I will roll a persuasion check when I have time. If there is an assist mechanic I would appreciate it. He would make the case that the cannibalism, while gristly, was for the most part unavoidable. With that many mouths to feed and no stable food source outside of corpses, anyone would turn to such a deed. The fact that they said they would be happy to not have to do such a thing is a good sign, along with the non violence they showed, so giving them one shot to better themselves is an admirable goal. He would also state that such things are a rarity in the world, that tye orcish pantheon has few dieties who are not aggressive towards other races.

Risshil attempts to negotiate on behalf of the half-orcs and their kobold "children". It doesn't go too well - even though the elf puts on a respectable effort and brings forward a good amount of common sense, the prejudice against kobolds is just too strong. Once the council hears of the charnel meal, they just wrinkle their noses, the subtle shift in their behaviour enough to let Risshil know he's wasting air. Cadorna's reaction seems to be related to the team's failure to follow orders instead of the outrage at kobolds eating humans and demihumans.

So there's no help from the council to be expected. There is another avenue to solving this problem: you can hire boats to ferry the merry band over the northern bend of the poisonous Stojanow river and on the other bank, presumably into freedom. It will cost you around 60GP, depending on the negotiations with the boatmen. Those are gruff, business-like, and just one step above thugs and extortionists. Their boats are just barely afloat, the acid and poison of the river eating through the boats' wooden hulls in a matter of days.

Well damn..... All these efforts have proven futile. Making a run for wall would make them fugitives as they would have to fight their way out. Unless.....
Outside away from all authorities he asks the others.
"Two options, I see... bribe the gate guards, might be cheaper. Or find access to the sewer systems and try to exit that way, cheapest."

Scratches his chin and sighs in frustration. "Both those ideas seem logical but I fear the fates may be against us. The sewers may be the most dangerous but definitely more cost effective for our rather coin light group. Bribing a guard is fraught with many perils as well. Whenever a plan relies on someone that can be bribed one runs the risk of being betrayed."

OOC- Anyone else have an opinion?

This message was deleted by the player at 18:43, Tue 19 Jan 2016.

After being abandoned in their mission by their comrades Hai Tao and Ra'Mer stand among the starving kobolds and their matriarch in the run down building preparing plans. It had been decided that the only option to get the group out of the city would be to take the sewers. Though dangerous it seemed the only way to attempt to save lives.

Hai Tao runs his hand over his short cropped mohawk and sighs, "We'll need to find an accessible entrance and the most direct route out of the city. Also we'll have to attempt to stay out of the toxic waters as much as possible. We could try and find blue prints to the sewers but after our showing in the council I imagine they may be weary about letting us near any official documentation. Which would leave us with haphazardly wandering the sewer tunnels, a prospect I don't relish but one that may be unavoidable."

"Find a hole close to the wall near the river, once in head towards water. Oh and we might need some supplies. Sledgehammer, crowbar and perhaps some acid. does wonders for persistent locks."