OOC:  At this point, no one is physically constrained.  The guardsman in question has just issued his injunction, and Tot could pursue the boys if he so chose.  Let me know what your decisions are--I can pop up a map to reflect folks' positions tonight, if it's warranted.

Cheers,
Kev

Garryn looks at Hau'dn with a look of confusion. "You misunderstand me, Barbaras is not dead, but rather has some means of controlling the behavior of others. At least that is my theory, I have no solid proof."

I'm assuming only 1/2xp for the boys Kevin?

V

Tot queues Vil--"We do not have time to wait for the authorities."

I think you may need to be tasking your charm and good looks on the gaurdsman and woodsman.

"Tot thinks it will be in the best interest of the party if we delay the Alderman by whatever means necessary."  Tot will embellish Haud'n with a piercing stare.

And continue "Vil, give Tot the word and it shall be done."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:26, Wed 01 Sept 2004.

OOG: Is this being said In character?

Hau'dn shrugs, "I have nothing to fear.  Let them come.  I am merely a witness to what has occurred.  Though, now that you have eliminated the possibility that he died and is doing this by a most unnatural means, that does leave the fact that the culprit is likely running around in your uniform as cover."

Hau'dn does carefully watch these others though to see how they react to the pronouncement.

Hau'dn smiles grimly, "Not that I put much faith in it myself but I have seen a few strange things in my time."

Despite the fact that Asher has never considered himself a diplomat, he musters up his most civil tone and tries to sound as authoritative and convincing as possible as he addresses Hau'dn and the guard, " We did not come to Bordertown with the intention of joining the volunteer fire brigade, we were complelled to help as the Inn errupted in front of our eyes. We have, so far tonight, saved a small child, an elderly woman and a helpless merchant from certain firery deaths. And while Ulmos death was unfortunate and perhaps even unnecessary, he was without question, attempting to set yet another building ablaze. While I understand the need to sort out Ulmo's unfortunate death; I do not feel that we have the luxury of time. There have been two, and very nearly three, fires in a little over an hour. And there is almost no doubt that the culprit is running about in disguise to fulfill his revenge against the people of Bordertown. The towns people have been of little assistance and even directly opposed to aiding in the prevention of these atrocities. Which means that, whether or not we asked for this challange, it is up to us to try to prevent further distruction and death. We need to be free to guard the water tower and the Manor; and we need to do it now. Any attempt to delay this will assure the death of more innocent civilians"

Asher rolled an unbeliveable 21 (20 + 1) for his unskilled diplomacy check.

OOC: Vill, I agree with Tot that I would like to see a diplomacy check from you here (as opposed to a massacre) so that we might move on without any additional charges leveled against us. If I remember correctly we have money to collect here in town and if we are in jail or fleeing the city officals, I think we will be greatly diminishing the odds of collecting. Your call.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:48, Wed 01 Sept 2004.

OOC:  Asher's truly impressive skill check pertains, of course, only to the guard and not Hau'dn.

The Narvilian monk launches into a reasoned speech--one that is nonetheless infused with a quiet urgency.  The guardsman wavers, a look of slight doubt coming into his eyes.  His face quickly hardens, however, and the doubt is replaced with resolve.

"If what you say is true, sirrah, then you're t' be commended.  But I can't have y' leavin'--leastaways, not all of you."  The man considers.  "Th' gent what helped me out, then, he's free t' leave."  The guardsman indicates Hau'dn.  "Th' big fella what done for Ulmo, he stays.  An' I need two o' th' rest o' you as witnesses t' stay.  You," here he points to Aine, "on account o' your testimony as t' th' fire arrow.  An' one other."

OOC:  If you choose to comply, this one other should be drawn from Vil, Dom, or Asher.  Neither Caylin nor Garryn were present until after the fact.

Entertaining a 'My Lai' type situation is actually not in alignment with ..well.. Vil's alignment.  Scott and my posts last evening were simply (an albeit poor) attempt at injecting some levity into the situation...

To continue -- here's Vil's actions:

From Vil's vantage point (still 30 or so feet from the crowd), he decides to make a command decision WRT the guard:  He will cast sleep on the man -- targeting him in such a way as to not impact the other party members.  Kevin, he's not on the map - so please add some direction here if required.  Also - I believe I should be out of earshot from the guard as well here.. ?  We can feign his, uh, fainting (for the benefit of the nearby woodsman) should it be necessary..  (which is actually conceivable if Tot's handywork proved to be his initiation into such things..)

It's my belief that we simply don't have the time or the manpower to abide by his request.  And while I'm *quite* impressed at our Monk's diplomatic abilities - and have thought over how those may be compromised somewhat by my actions - I don't believe we have a real [civilized] alternative here.  We can perhaps leave one party member behind w/the guard to temper him a bit as he comes out of his slumber..  Your call.  We simply need to get moving to our next objective.

And I think Clean-up duty is yours here Tot.. =)  May want to have the boys assist you w/wrapping up Ulmo Fossum - and put him out of site for now...

That's my view of it anyway.

Kevin, Vil will now cast his sleep spell on the guard...

Jas

Garryn turns to the guard and says, "He speaks the truth, though I did not witness this tragedy I have been at the scene of two fires and believe that two more will be started soon if we fail to prevent it. I swear to you that we will make ourselves available as soon as the danger has past."

OOC: first of all, Vil, if your going to make out of character jokes make sure we know it, I suggest using a different color and labelling it like I have. Second, Tot, we called the alderman to get you out of trouble with the town guards which, I assume, are also on their way. Third, Vil, you're risking turning Tot's act of defending a companion into outright murder by subduing the guard and fleeing the scene, are you sure that is a good idea?

Asher addresses Hau'dn, "Are you skilled with a team and wagon, such as this?" Asher refers to the fire wagon.

OOC: I am assuming that "take to their heels" means we are still in posession of the fire wagon?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:08, Wed 01 Sept 2004.

Bret,

WRT your comments.  all fair.  let me respond:

1) regarding the post last night... I had hoped that those on this distro who have played w/me for the last several years would have seen through the jesting rather quickly..  I realize Vil leans towards the "chaotic" of the "chaotic-good" blood in him.  But come on - butcher two innocent teens?!
One maybe.
But two?
out of the question..
With that being said, however, I'll take your suggestion to heart for future posts.

2)  I think calling the Alderman over at this point was pre-mature TBH.  Ceist la vie.  My thoughts remain - I believe we need to get moving if we want to intercept Barby at the next target.  We can sort all this out after we've completed our mission.  I don't want us to get any more sidetracked than we already are at this point.  If the guard realizes it was me/us who put him to sleep vs. the sheer psychological impacts of the events which just transpired, not a huge deal.  We'll work it out in the end..  Perhaps we should leave one behind as I mentioned earlier to be there when the guard comes to -- helping him out of it -- tell him he swooned -- and that the rest of the party needed to complete the tasks set out for them by the Alderman.  Something like that..  This assuming, ofcourse, that my sleep spell goes off successfully.

V

"Should we split up or concentrate on the water tower?" Garryn asks looking around.

Tot is in favor of putting the two to sleep (or at least make an attempt).  Tot, however, will not stay behind to provide them a back rub and breakfast in bed when they awake.

If the sleep spell is unsuccessful, Tot will voluntarily remain behind as instructed.

Tot will sheath his Great Axe.

Tot then speaks so all can hear, "Do not pass judgement on Totmacher of the Wilds, Tot's blade can be quick, but is always true."

LMAO

Vilhallas manages the gestures and odd, twisting syllables that accompany his spell--without, apparently, alerting the guard.  The sorcerer-rogue positions the spell so that it will affect the guard, but none of his party members or the big, fire-trained draft horses that pull the wagon.

The spell warps the fabric of reality slightly, and the guardsman's eyes grow heavy--but snap awake again, just managing to overcome Villhalas' spell.  The man mutters, "More tired'n I thought.  Hope th' reinforcements come soon."

The guardsman does not appear to be aware of Villhalas' spell having been cast.


OOC:  Slightly modified combat map up on site.  All, please roll initiatives (Vilhalas is assumed to have taken his action in a partial round, but will still roll).

Asher addresses Garryn, "Since we are working purely on a hypothesis, I think we should cover both the tower and the manor. As the tower does seem the next likely target, I believe we should bring the wagon there. How convinced are you that the unfriendly guard may be under the influence of Zante? And does anyone here have the ability to gleen whether or not he is?

OOC: Asher can use "sense motive" skill, but the DC is 25 and his skill mod is only 7; so the odds are poor; see the last three attempts on the roller. Has anyone got high levels in "spellcraft" (dc 20 + spell level, if applicable).

Asher rolled 17 on initiative (14 + 3).
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Thu 02 Sept 2004.

Lol - check out those rolls below.

Alright - let me get back into character here...

Seeing the rather lackluster results of his spell take effect, Villhalas offers a slight shrug, resigning himself to other avenues.  With this, Vil offers the familiar perched on his cloaked shoulder, Mal'ach, an affectionate nudge with his free hand.  [Vil wills the owl to first take note of Garryn's scent and appearance, then to make for the area of the water tower - circle overhead - and wait for his instructions].  As the owl releases her talons from Vil's shoulder, the Sorcerer-rogue makes for the gathered party.

Addressing the Guard - "Aye, my associate and I will stay with you for the moment Sir'ah (nodding in the way Totmacher).  The rest of our party, however, can delay no longer in search of this malefactor - who left to his own will - will raze this town to the ground.  I had full view of the events just now and - as unfortunate as they may be - understand the necessity of my associate's actions."  Nodding in the way of Ulmo - "This man's arrow was leveled - and drawn to fire - at my female colleague here (he nods in the way of Aine).  This was clear.  The treachery of Barbaras' actions - as we've seen earlier this afternoon - have cost this man his life..  We can permit him to roam unchecked no longer."

"I will provide Savin a full debriefing of these events as soon as he arrives."

<This approach should allow Asher, Garyn, Dom, Aine, Caylin and Haudn to continue with the manhunt...>

Vil turns to Garryn,  "Watch for my familiar, she will meet you at the 'Roadside's Provisioners' and guide you to Barbaras if she's been able to spot him.  If she has been unsuccessful - she will perch on your shoulder briefly before retuning to me.."

V

Kev-
Associated Rolls:
Diplomacy = 28 (hehe)
Sense Motive = 4 (doh)

Also - I'm trying to keep the actions of my familiar w/in the confines of animal empathy.  If I'm out of bounds w/the actions/expectations I've set above, please let me know...

"I understand, but how will your owl recognize Barbaras?" Garryn inquires as he prepares to run towards the water tower.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:26, Fri 03 Sept 2004.

"I'm not sure she will be able to.  The connection between my familiar and I is still relatively new.  She'll be looking for a humanoid - in black - on or around the water tower."  Continuing with a wry smile "It's better than nothing."  With a clasp of his hand on the rogue's shoulder, Vil nods - "Good Luck"

V

Hau'dn shakes his head rather ruefully, "Unfortunately, I have no training as a teamster though I may have a minor talent at handling the horses, I would more likely cause an accident."

Hau'dn listens to all that is being said, continuing to watch the others warily but trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.  It was obvious something was going on but he did not know anyone here, even the guard was an unknown except for the situation Hau'dn had found him in.  That allowed him some leeway, but these others...

IGA: Initiative 19.  Did Hau'dn notice the gestures of Vil at all since I had stated earlier I was keeping an eye on them all.

"Dom and I will go to the Manor and keep a watch on it and the guards."

Asher eyes the Woodsman, "We could use someone with your gift for words, if we are to convince the Manor guard of the possible threat." then to Vil with a nod in the direction of the injured guard, "Vill, can you help make this man comfortable while you wait for the alderman?"

Looks like we may need to employ, as a contigency, Tot's half-spell, the "Sleeper Hold."  This does however require "touch."  The duration is extended (sometimes indefinitely) when Tot administers while wearing his spiked gloves.

Tot rolled an 18 for Initiative.