In reply to Sorsha (msg # 31):

"I heal. Genocide is not part of Gods beliefs."

In reply to Melchizidek (msg # 32):

"Personally, I could care less about them but we are here to help the trolls and they attack the trolls. If they wipe out the trolls will they keep coming to the surface? I am just asking"

In reply to Sorsha (msg # 33):

"There were folks who said that about Trolls, such as those who hired the witch. I do not know, but perhaps they would like to live on the surface in harmony with the city of Northport?"

Don't they have to sing before we can have harmony?

In reply to Johan Stark (msg # 35):

He looks at Johan and smiles.

"With your singing that is unlikely to help in creating harmony of any sort..."

Yeah, so the Harmony thing is out ... so what are we going to do? Haunting? Ulo?

In reply to Johan Stark (msg # 37):

Melchizadek rolls his eyes.

"With such diplomacy, no wonder people send pyromanical fire mages to 'negotiate' with you."

In reply to Sorsha (msg # 33):

"If pit people kill all trolls, they climb up to city above."

In reply to Fenric (msg # 39):

"Who will no doubt send the blue haired one and many like her to deal with them."

So no fire mage here, one lightening mage... one bright good guy... but nothing to fight a city with...  unless we get a better idea, we go back and get forces we need.

"Yes, now that we know what we are dealing with, we can't deal with it. So we need reinforcements"

Ulo strides up to Melchizidek and spits at his feet.

"You are coward!  Where was this talk before when you kill this creatures with no hesitation?  Now you see how many there are, you speak of diplomacy?  Of sending another in your place?  Coward!"

In reply to Ulo (msg # 43):

Melchizadek stands his ground, glowing a little extra with righteous indignation.

"This coming from someone who ran from a single witch and her friends? That is rich. I fight to right wrongs, not to perpetuate them. I kill soldiers, but you are asking me to kill women and children too! You are the coward.. you run from the strong, but have no hesitation killing women and children!"

In reply to Melchizidek (msg # 44):

"We no fight the people of the pit?"

In reply to Fenric (msg # 45):

I don't see how we can win, Fenric... many of them, a few of us... if you know more than me, tell me what I miss;  But fighting to lose is not our way unless we have no other choice. Now we can get more power, better power and come back and win.

Gorgath had quietly listened to the other, slightly smarter, people converse about the problem at hand. They discussed the morality of killing monsters. No one else seemed more qualified about being a monster than him.

The ogre cleared his throat, "They not want to talk. We fight their warriors then they will talk."

In reply to Gorgath (msg # 47):

Melchizadek smiled.

"Wisdom and Intelligence are often not found in the same people. Perhaps if we kill their soldiers, we will not have to kill the women and children. I can come at that."

Perhaps so... I wonder how many soldiers they have... and what we need to do to get better traction for our feet.... anyone do Summon Sandstorm?

In reply to Johan Stark (msg # 49):

"Sorry. Could you even cast that in here?"

Johan looks at him and shrugs...

Ulo's voice is no longer loud, but hard and edged.

"I did not run from the witch.  I did my duty, I led the other children and the elderly to safety.  Then I returned to see if it was safe.  She had killed everyone, everyone, and was looking for the children, to burn them as well.  So I again did my duty and lead the elders and children to Svetlana's town.

You do not care about who you kill.  You did not care earlier when you slew these creatures.  Those were not soldiers.  Those were creatures from this place.  Your words now are only to pretend you have honor or goodness.


You are no better than the blue-haired elf you keep defending.  In fact you are worse for pretending to any differences."

In reply to Ulo (msg # 52):

Melchizadek finds her defences amusing, and laughs slightly.

"Those killed earlier were attacking, so if is a fair assumption they are soldiers. Here we are in their home. We started negotiating with Svetlana because we were in her home, and because we did care who we killed."

He pauses for a minute, as if something dawned on him.

"So you accused the witch of killing children, but now you tell me you led them all to safety. Meaning in fact she only killed capable combatants. That means that you want to commit genocide by killing the children, but in fact you have no evidence that, faced with children, she would have done the same. It makes me wonder who is the genocidal one of the two of you...

I don't defend her. I abhor Genocide, as I have said repeatedly. I just see that what you are doing is no better, and may in fact be morally worse. I am a priest, and protecting the innocent is part of what we do. You had no problem with that when it was your innocent we protected when these creatures attacked, so you should not be surprised now when the same values surface when you talk of killing the children of others. I use her as an example to point out that genocide of any creature is morally wrong."

"The thing that was eaten by the strange occurrence did not attack.  Nor did the creatures behind it that you attacked from afar.  Yet you attacked them, as they were far away and you were safe."

Ulo's fist holding the lightning clenches.

"I did not say the bluehaired elf attacked children.  I never said that.  I said she wanted to.  She laughed about making them burn as well.

Of course the children were safe.  We knew she was coming back with her murderous friends.  Your friends.  She announced her intentions to return, so my town prepared.  It was not enough.

She came to destroy my town for pay.  These things come to destroy Svetlana's town for the hunt.  The only difference between them and the bluehaired fire sorceror is the purity of these creatures.  But goodwill and understanding does not save a town when it is beset by hunting, warring foes.  Only reducing them in number, or destroying them entirely can do this."

In reply to Ulo (msg # 54):

"They came to hunt, and were attacking Svetlanas defenders when we arrived. We went to fight them straight away, and were far from safe as they also employed ranged weapons. That clearly meant the attackers we attacked were soldiers, not children. But the witch warned you of her return so you could move, presumably. That is more than we are offering these creatures, and more than you want to offer them.

I have no problem, and never have had, killing off the attacking soldiers or raiders. I always have had a problem killing off the children. You need to stop allowing cowardice and your concerns for such, which you keep bringing up, get in the way of logical and moral reasoning.

So Johan, do we raid their troops, or do you want to go and return to find a psychopath to kill the women and children too?"

"I speak not of what you killed before we met.  I speak of just up the cave, the creatures you attacked with no provocation.  Were those things, not far from their home, not attacking anyone also soldiers?  If so, then simply call this the barracks of the enemy and continue pretending they were all soldiers.  Or admit the truth, you are merely frightened by their numbers."