Trevisi! Fourth-largest town in Sefonia.

Neide was already a little tired of it, though.

She'd been there for three weeks so far, and somehow there was just something a little irritating about it.

Maybe it was just that after one had spent time living in Vierna, the capital, as had Neide, almost everywhere else seemed pretty second-rate by contrast. The markets had less variety, the criminals were of a cheaper and less-sophisticated level, the parties were less exciting.

Not that Neide went to any parties. But she saw revelers, carrying earthen mugs of ale through the streets as they sang, and thought in Vierna, they'd be carrying Northland-made glass flutes of wine through the streets, and the songs they sang would have a lot less barnyard humor...

Not that Neide longed to be a sophisticated urbanite.

...But she longed for something, that was for sure, and she had a feeling that soon she was going to be able to put her finger on what it was exactly.

Not that she was trying to put her finger on it, because Alara frowned on giving in to one's secret longings.

Alara frowned on a lot of things.

Right now, Neide was on guard duty at the front entrance of the Temple of Alara.

The Stronghold of Alara might have been a more accurate name for it. It was the most solid and impervious building in the city.

But whom are we worried might attack? Neide thought.

There. That was the kind of thought that'd been popping into her head lately. Those kind of thoughts eventually led to trouble... but Neide couldn't help having them.

It was a gray sort of day, complete with a very light drizzle. If she'd been on march, it might have been almost refreshing. After 5 hours of guard duty, it just made her feel damp all over.

Neide glanced over at the other side of the main entrance, at her fellow guard.

(--Who is Neide's fellow guard?
--What does Neide know about her fellow guard?
--What sort of relationship, if any, does Neide have with her fellow guard?)

OOC: Neide's fellow guard is tall, broad-shoulder man named Irgen. He's nearing thirty. Neide doesn't know him too well - she didn't have many occassions to talk to him after she arrived. Also, he doesn't seem to be a very gregarious type - he's somewhat stiff and doesn't keep that much company with other people.

Irgen notes Neide glancing at him, and he grunts. "...Been wetter'n this," he comments, resuming staring straight ahead. "...In The Western Isles. On Irla, the biggest one, with all the ruins." He pauses again, for many long seconds. "...Still annoying, though."

"Agreed", Neide shuddered, "Don't really like standing in all this rain..."

She tilted her head thoughtfully.

"So... you've been to the Western Isles?"

Almost a minute passes. "...Yah," replies Irgen. "...In the service of Our Lady Alara. Like you. Like this. As always. Only that mission was punishin' them Westerners. Y'know how they are. Always wantin' t'blow somethin' up. Or otherwise destroy somethin'. 'Cause'a stuff what happened a'fore any of us were born. Y'know how Westerners are."

"Right", Neide replied, without much of real conviction in her voice.

"So... how long have you been there?", she added after a pause, "How was it?"

"How long was I there...? Eight months. How long since I've been there? Little over three years. How was it...?" He grows quiet again. "Nasty... Whole island of people who hate you for being Sefonian, and they can immediately tell by looking at you who and what you are..." Unsurprising, as Irgen's skin was sun-tanned and his brown hair bleached almost sandy from years of outdoor guard duty under sunnier conditions than the present. "...As if it wasn't enough that our breastplates showed that we served Alara and were therefore there to put a stop to them making trouble for Sefonia... But... what're you gonna do? They hate us for the history between us, they hate us for keeping a tight rein on 'em now, some of 'em want to kill us, so we can't not keep a tight rein on 'em..." Another long pause. "...The final action was bloody. Bad business. We put 'em down, all right, but they killed a couple of us, too. Dangerous folk, Westerners, when they've got their mind set on it... I'd rather face 10 Easterners in a dark alley than 5 Westerners..."

Neide didn't comment on Irgen's words... She had no experience with Westerners and she didn't feel like she could add anything. From what she has heard, Westerners were just like Irgen said: violent and hateful. But was it true? Neide couldn't tell. Based on her own experience, she knew that the common opinions might not be true...

"And when it comes to Easterners...", she decided to change the subject, "... did you meet any of them? What are they like?"

"Mm." Long silence, but Neide was getting used to that. "...They're tough. Strong. Perhaps not as tough as you or me, individually... or even a Westerner... but they're very good at teamwork. And they don't think like you nor me nor anyone else, especially when it comes to battle. It doesn't even occur to 'em to retreat when it'd seem like a certainty to anyone else. If they do, it's 'cause they're actually leading you into a trap. That's what my old sergeant always said. I've only met any once, years ago, when my company went to back up a negotiation up in the Northlands, in the northeast. Was glad I wasn't going t'have to fight 'em. They don't flinch."

Neide nodded slightly.

"So, you haven't been in the Eastern Lands...", she muses, "But you went to the Northlands. What were the Northlands like, then? And the Northlanders?"

"Nah, no Sefonian goes there except diplomats. Or spies. Or mercenaries, but that's not me either."




"Mm. They're all right. A little wild. Party harder than anyone around here... Great weapons and armor, not that I could afford their best. ...Odd, though. But those northern winters'd make anyone a bit odd. They huddle down in their mines when the worst of it comes-- and the worst of a Northern winter'd kill you or me in three seconds. I could hardly believe they could stand what I saw them call autumn, up there. Made me understand why they're such party animals-- I figure it's a result of surviving up north, every day you're still alive must be cause for celebration. But... they're decent folk, more or less."

"I see", Neide nodded.

She frowned thoughtfully.

"You say these northern winters are that bad? I've heard about them, but I find it hard to imagine a winter as harsh..."

Irgen glanced at Neide for the first time in a while. "They're bad. Very bad. Any stories you've already heard about what they're like are true." He goes back to staring straight ahead. "And there are... threats. ...Wolves, for example. Hungry ones."

Neide shuddered slightly at the mention of wolves. Yes, wolves could be dangerous... even here, in Sefonia. The idea of hunger-crazed wolves in an icy land... that notion made her uncomfortable.

"You... travelled quite a lot", she changed the subject, "I must admit I envy you. I have never been away from Sefonia, nor have I met any foreigners..."

"No? Hardly surprising in the case of Easterners, but..." He shrugs.

(17:37, Today: Perception Check: The GM, on behalf of Neide, rolled 9 using 2d6 ((6,3)).)


Neide hears something to her right. She turns her head.

A man is running up in her direction... not a Warrior of Alara... he's dressed in normal traveling clothes... At this moment he's still, oh, say, well, more than 50 yards away... but he's moving pretty fast...

It looks like there's a couple of people chasing him...

"Hey", Neide interrupted Irgen, "Look at that..."

A man running... some other people chasing him. That looked like trouble...

Putting her hand on her sword's hilt, she stepped forward and observed the situation, ready to intervene. Was the man running away from danger - or was he a criminal chased by lawful people?

The man in front had long black hair, and was pale, Neide could see as he got closer.

The two men in back had nightsticks. "Stop him! You Alarans! Stop that man!"

The man in front was quite close now... in scant seconds he'd be in arm's reach. He looked like he wanted to run to the side, but the left was solid wall, and the right looked like thick mud, so...

It still wasn't clear to Neide what the situation was about... but, whatever the reason for the commotion was, no solution would be possible if the pursued man just ran away.

And so, Neide stepped firmly into the man's path, blocking his way.

"Halt!", she said, trying to sound commanding, "What's this all about?"

(08:23, Today: The GM rolled 12 using 2d6+1 ((5,6)).)

WOW. The man just dodged right past Neide like she wasn't even there. Guy seemed to be fairly quick on his feet.

Turning her head, however, Neide saw that the man hadn't gotten past Irgen. There'd been a muffled thud, and then the man was wincing in pain-- she'd turned barely fast enough to see what looked like Irgen punching the man in the stomach.

He wasn't on the ground writhing in pain or anything, but Irgen now had a firm hold on the man's shoulder, specifically the fabric of the man's cloak and tunic. "What's going on?" Irgin asked casually, within earshot of the two men running up.

"Dirty Westerner caused a disturbance at the Bardic College," says one of the men. "Pulled a sword on me when I asked 'im t' leave..."

A Westerner! Yes, that'd explain the man's looks...

"He pulled a sword on you?", Neide repeated, as she heard the pursuer's accusation. Then, she turned to the Westerner.

"Is that so?", she asked firmly, "Is that man telling the truth?"

"Yes and no," says the man. His voice has an almost sing-song accent to it. "The 'disturbance' I made was when they wouldn't let me in to take the exams, as is supposed to be any musician's right if they choose to exercise it. When I started shouting, these lackwits threatened to throw me out physically-- and they raised their weapons ere I did."

"The college's for Sefonians only," says one of the man's pursuers. "Just because they occasionally make an exception for the odd Northerner or two doesn't mean they have t' let the likes of you in--"

"--It's for any musician-- Odhran passed 'is exams at the bardic college," says the man.

"So some say," says his other pursuer, "but that was four hundred years ago, and I wasn't there and neither were you, and today, I say, you're not setting foot in the college again, not this week, not next month, not ever..."

"Wait", Neide raised her hand, her voice taking on a subtle sterner note, "So, you people pulled your weapons at this man? And you were first to do so? Also... what happened next?"

She eyed the two pursuers, her eyes not entirely friendly.

The first guard looked like he thought it was rude for Neide to interpose herself, but that the fact that she was a warrior of Alara kept him from saying so. "He engaged me in a bit of swordplay--" (Neide checked-- yes, the Westerner was wearing a sword... a longsword, specifically) "And when my colleague here came to help, the coward turned and ran for it."

"Two to one? I'd do the same if I was being robbed in dark alley," said the Westerner. "And after all, the situation was hardly any different from being robbed in a dark alley..."

Neide turned toward the Westerner.

"And who actually started that fight?", she asked him, "Who drew the steel first? Was it you? Speak truthfully."

She still didn't have the complete picture of the situation...

"Them," the Westerner says simply.

He's giving Neide a slightly unusual look-- as if he's surprised that she's bothering to care about the truth.

"I see", Neide nodded, then turned to the pursuers, "And what do you say to that? Did you pull the blades first, as this man claims? Speak, I want the truth."

(CHR check, please. (Which for you would be 2d6 -1, since you made CHR your lowest score...))

OOC: 12:23, Today: Neide rolled 8 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 3,6.

"Yes--" "--No."

They speak simultaneously. One man says yes, while the other says no at the same time.

Each of the two guards gives the other a resentful Why'd you have to say THAT, that just makes it worse look.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:19, Mon 17 Dec 2018.

Neide couldn't help giving out an exasperated sigh.

"All right... let me get this straight", she said to the two men who had been pursuing the Westerner, "You two got into a disagreement with this man here - and, because of said disagreement, you attacked him? And now, after he had to flee from you, you actually accuse him of causing the whole commotion? How... brazen of you."

She put her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"The way I see, it is you two that might need to be punished..."

"Hey, it wasn't just 'a disagreement.' He started yelling about injustice and stuff just because they told 'im t' get lost, that they weren't going to let him take the exams or whatever. That's up to them. And when someone causes a disturbance at the college, it's our job to kick 'em out. If someone walked in your barracks or temple or whatever and demanded you go arrest their neighbor for letting their leaves blow into his yard, wouldn't you tell 'im t' get lost? And if he started yelling about injustice or whatever instead of leaving, wouldn't you draw steel on 'im?"

Irgen looks sympathetic to this line of thinking, Neide notices.




They shrug, clearly believing they're in the right.




They raise their heavy batons defensively. "Hey, we're just doing our jobs. We've broken no laws-- just keepin' th' peace."

"Yes, you truly did 'keep the peace' this time around", Neide snickered, "That's why we're all here, talking about you two getting into a sword fight with this man..."

She sighed.

"All right... The way I see it, the Bardic College can have its own rules, true. And you are allowed to enforce them. But I can't help thinking that you let this whole situation get out of hand. I'm sure there are better ways of sorting out this kind of disagreement then drawing steel..."

She looked at the pursuers, then at the Westerner, then back at the pursuers.

"I say you two forget that all of this happened and go back to your duties. As for our friend here, I'm certain he'll reconsider the way he voices his objections regarding the College. And so - everything solved. No need to continue with all this mess, don't you two agree?"

"That's a matter of opinion," says the guard who said 'no.' "We didn't just want to kick 'im out. We wanted to convince him not to come back."



The two guards glance at each other, shrug, and turn around and walk off-- glaring at the Westerner just a little over their shoulders as they head off the way they came...

Neide's eyes followed the two guards for a moment - then, she turned to the Westerner.

"So... what about you?", she asked, sounding a little more friendly than when she had been talking to the guard, "I hope you don't plan on going back to the Bardic College and causing more trouble?"

She frowned slightly.

"By the way, would you mind explaining to me what was it all about? You mentioned not being allowed to take the College's exams... whatever these are?"

The man sighs. "...I think they've made it clear they won't have me."



"You've surely heard of bards... to be official, one must pass the Exam of the Bardic College, a test of both bardic knowledge and musical skill judged by the masters of the college... No Westerner has passed it for a few hundred years, and none has tried for at least 150, but I thought I'd give it a shot... At best, to force them to pass me, at worst, shame them for their own hypocrisy in failing me, look them in the eye as they lied and said I wasn't good enough, and they would see that I knew their secret shame, if they were man enough to have any shame. But they won't even allow me to try. It's not that I care that much for their opinion, exactly... it was more an attempt to get someone-- who in any way represents the Southlands-- to respect something about the Isles of Dhan. But it's not to be."

The stranger's words tugged at an old string in Neide's heart. The yearning for acceptance and respect... she could empathize with that.

"You sound... resentful", she observed, "I can see you care about your Isles a lot..."

"They all do," said Irgen before the man could answer, "and they're all resentful, too..."

Neide noted that Irgen had not actually released the grip of his hand on the man...

"Well, I can't say I don't sympathize", Neide replied, "In that particular case, at least"

She furrowed her brow, as she spotted that Irgen was still holding the stranger.

"Anyway, I think you can let our friend here, go, Irgen. There's nothing for us to do here - he's free to go"

"...Is he our friend? Maybe we should invite him inside for questioning..."

(What will Neide do now? A new CHR check, perhaps...?)

"Why?", Neide protested, "You heard it, it was all just an argument that got out of hand. Nobody got hurt - and the whole altercation was actually started by the College's guards. This man did nothing wrong. Let him go, Irgen."

Neide's voice grew sterner, as she was speaking...

OOC: 02:07, Today: Neide rolled 5 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 4,2.  CHR check.

(Ooops. Neide marks 1 xp...)

"They were just doing their job as they saw it," argues Irgen. "Maybe they were a little overzealous, maybe not. But he started it, by not taking 'no' for an answer in the first place. I'll grant you that no one got badly hurt-- because there was more than one guard nearby. But who knows what might've happened otherwise? And whose idea was this, anyway? Did someone put 'im up to this-- or at least put the idea in his head, maybe? Perhaps you're right, and it was just a misunderstanding. But I think Lieutenant Aekins would be interested in talking to this fellow for a bit, before we just let him go..."

Irgen looks like he's about to either strongarm the man inside... or else call for assistance... or both...

The man looks like he's just about ready to do something panicky, but first he waits to see what Neide does next...

Neide took a step closer to Irgen and the Westerner.

"Don't be ridiculous", she said, "Arguing about being allowed to take the exam at the College is *not* a crime. As for your suspicions about someone else being behind this - you can't be serious. I know you've had bad experience with Westerners, but you *are* reaching. I won't allow you to bully this man just because he's from the Isles..."

As she was speaking, she gestured at the Westerner in a manner suggesting that he should calm down and not do anything rash.

Irgen gets a particularly steely look in his eye. "Bully? Bully? I'm deadly serious, Neide. No, no terrible crime has been committed... but a thorough investigation may prevent one from happening... And somehow, I didn't think you were so soft." And he raises one eyebrow. "...Or is it that you've fallen for a pretty face...?"

"Nonsense!", Neide barked out angrily, as Irgen accused her of falling for the Westerner's looks.

She took a deep breath, then, trying to compose yourself.

"Listen to what you're saying, Irgen", she spoke up again, trying to sound calm, "A 'thorough investigation'? Because you suspect that this man might've been... inspired by someone to - what, try becoming a College-recognized bard? Again, this is absurd, Irgen. Stop that. What you're doing is... shameful."

(Hmmmmmm. I'm gonna say that this calls for a second CHR check...)

OOC: Here ya go!

22:02, Today: Neide rolled 6 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 1,6.

(Neide gains 1 new xp.)

"I admit it can be surprising what sorts of things can be political acts, but I think I know more about it than you do, Neide. And shameful? I'm just doing my job." Irgen takes a deep breath and raises his voice. "Lieutenant Aekins?! Front gate!"

The unauthorized bard once again gives Neide a panicky look-- even sharper this time than previously...

Neide barely managed to stop herself from cursing, as Irgen called for the Captain. Her fists clenched in anger, she walked over to the Westerner.

"Don't worry, I'll sort this out...", she whispered to him in a comforting manner.

She really hoped the man would get the clue and would not try running. In this situation, running would only cast further unnecessary suspicions on him...

"Really? Because it's not going well so far..." says the man.

The front doors open. Lieutenant Aekins comes out.

Lieutenant Aekins is female, about an inch taller than Neide, about 10 years older.

Lieutenant Aekins is not Neide's favorite person. "Irgen...?" Her eyes light up a bit when she sees the Westerner. "What have we here...?"

Neide didn't reply to the Westerner's comment. Instead, she stepped forward toward the Captain.

"A simple misundersting, Captain", she said quickly, "This man was trying to convince the people at the Bardic College to allow him to take the exam. There was an argument - and the guards attacked this man and chased him across town. We intervened and an understaning was reached. Irgen says we should retain this man for questioning, but I think it's absolutely excessive. The matter is solved, the man should be free to go. No reason to treat him with suspicion just because he's a Westerner..."

Lieutenant Aekins raises one eyebrow slightly, glances at Irgen, but says nothing.




The eyebrow raises higher, but still Lieutenant Aekins is quiet, just letting Neide continue.




Both eyebrows raise. Under other circumstances, Lieutenant Aekins'd be asking more questions at this point, but for now she's content to hear Neide out...




Lieutenant Aekins gets a bit of a look on her face. A bit more, anyway. Oh was it, it says. Another very fast glance at Irgen.


 

A very slight tilt of Lieutenant Aekins' head. He does, does he... it suggests she's thinking...




The eyebrows lower. The brow almost furrows. This is the first obviously negative sign on Lieutenant Aekins' expression.

...You would, it says.




"...And there, Neide, your logic fails you. I do not agree..." says Lieutenant Aekins...

"Why, Captain?", Neyde shook her head, "I don't understand. As I said, the man didn't do anything wrong - aside from getting into a fight with the guards at the College. Which, as far as I can tell, happened because the guards from the College overreacted..."

"I'll be the judge of whether there's been any wrongdoing or no," says Lieutenant Aekins. "There may be more to this than first appears. Good job, Irgen." She turns back to Neide. "Now, are you ready to stand down and go back to your duty, Neide? Or will this have to be difficult?" It's clear she means difficult for Neide, specifically...

Neide gave out a small, helpless sigh.

"I do not want to usurp your authority, Captain", she said, "It's just that I really don't think this man poses any kind of threat. Holding him for questioning... it just doesn't seem *just*, Captain..."

"Alara will decide what is just, Neide," Lieutenant Aekins says coldly.

Lieutenant Aekins is about to move the Westerner inside.

Neide senses, more than sees, a certain tension of body language... the Westerner is about to attempt something drastic.

What does Neide do?

At loss as to what she should do, Neide just turned to the Westerner. She gave him small, discrete headshake that said "Don't do it"...

He does it.

(GM rolls dice)

The Westerner's expression shows that he's convinced that he's quite likely to come back out of the front in nothing like the condition in which he'd be entering. Like lightning, Irgen gets an elbow to his head, hard and fast. He's not knocked out, but the Westerner is free, and he starts running down the dirt road to the south.

Lieutenant Aekins draws her sword, clearly about to give pursuit--and (since Irgen is still a bit stunned and trying to get his bearings for the next few seconds) she orders Neide to do the same: "--Neide! After him!"

Neide hesitated for a second... then, she sprinted after the Westerner.

She didn't know what she'd do if she caught him, though...

Neide and Lieutenant Aekins hurry after the Westerner.

He runs south for a short while, neither outpacing his pursuers nor allowing them to catch up... then there comes a moment where he has a choice-- to go right (west) into the woods (Alara's barracks are somewhat on the southwestern edge of Trevisi), or to go left (east), back into town.

He chooses left (east, toward the center of town).

Neide isn't sure if that'll make things harder or easier than if he'd gone the other way...

(STR check, please (because Dungeon World's definition of STR includes not only muscular strength but the general phrase "physical power"...))

20:13, Today: Neide rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,1.

(Neide gains 1 xp)

As Neide and Lieutenant Aekins are running up a street in the commercial district increasingly narrow with crates and boxes, Neide misses a step and falls. Her legs just couldn't keep up the pace.

(Neide takes 1 point of damage.)

Lieutenant Aekins looks over her shoulder and glares at Neide as if Neide had done it on purpose, but runs on.

In seconds, neither of them is in sight.

Neide cursed under her nose, then got up as quickly as possible. She looked around, trying to guess where the Westerner and the Lieutenant went...

OOC: So... is Aetkins a Captain or a Lieutenant? Irgen called for a Captain...

(1. Int check, please...

2. Lieutenant. That's what Irgen called her when he called for her. You've just been saying captain every time, and I haven't been correcting you, and when I quote you, you calling her captain shows up in the quotes of your posts that I've responded to. But Irgen and I have been consistent all this time...)

OOC: Yes, you're right. I kind of assumed she was a Captain, because Irgen initially called for a Captain :) Sorry. Feel free to correct me, if I mix up such things.

Anyway...

20:16, Today: Neide rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,5.

No, honestly, he didn't, I checked. Neide was the first to mention the word. Truly, you can see that that post where Irgen called for her hasn't been edited...




It just didn't seem like a big enough deal...

Part of me was no-prizing it... "I wonder what traumatic Captain in her past Lieutenant Aekins reminds Neide of that she keeps ubconsciously (my own term for when I'm not sure if I mean unconsciously or subconsciously) thinking of Lieutenant Aekins as one," I pondered to myself...




...Neide isn't very sure about it, but based on her knowledge of the layout of the town, and the last glimpse she saw of the Westerner... She thinks her best bet of catching up with him would be if she made a right turn and headed in that direction for a bit...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:20, Mon 07 Jan 2019.

OOC: I guess I'm more scatter-brained than I thought I was. I'm nearing forty, maybe that's the reason... ;)

Having a made a guess as to what way the Westerner went, Neide ran in the same direction. She hoped she had guessed correctly...

(Hmm... give me a Wis check...)

17:27, Today: Neide rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,2.

Well, on one hand, Neide didn't exactly find the Westerner. On the other hand, she find herself in the right place at the right time...

"Psssst," comes a psssst.

It seems to be coming from behind some nearby crates.

No one is in sight on the street... they're all staying out of the weather, and this is a sort of warehouse-y neighborhood, anyway.

"Pssssssst," comes the pssst again, when Neide has stopped-- a little more insistently this time...

"Huh?", Neide thought, "What could that be..?"

Cautiously, she peeked behind the crates...

It was the Westerner. His hand was on his swordhilt, but he made no move to attack. "Get back behind here, out of sight, please, quickly..." he stage-whispered...

Neide hesitated for a blink of an eye - then, she hid behind the crates along the Westerner.

"What are you doing?", she whispered at him, "You know I should bring you in..!"

"Of course I know, but I also know you don't want to. You don't seem like the rest of them... you have a... more accurate sense of right and wrong. Or maybe a better term is a wider sense of right and wrong-- you're willing to extend it so it covers people who aren't just like you."

"You think you have me figured out, huh?", Neide replied and sighed, "But I guess you're right... Maybe I'm a fool, but I don't think there's any need to take you in for questioning. I don't think you did anything too bad and I'm not going to treat you as suspicious just because of who you are..."

She peeked from behind the crate.

"Where did the Lieutenant go?", she asked, "Did you see?"

(Wis check, please...)

01:53, Today: Neide rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,2.

(Partial success.)

The bad news was that Neide saw Lieutenant Aekins coming, jogging along with the gait of someone who's in a terrible hurry, but who's not running full tilt because she doesn't know for sure that she's going the right way...

The good news was that Neide saw Lieutenant Aekins before Lieutenant Aekins had a chance to see her, and therefore Neide had time to duck back out of sight.

...But did she...?

"Shhhh", Neide whispered to the Westerner, "The Lieutenant's back..."

She really hoped that Aetkins wouldn't notice them. If so, they would both be in a lot of trouble...

The good news was that Neide saw Lieutenant Aekins before Lieutenant Aekins had a chance to see her, and therefore Neide had time to duck back out of sight.

...But did she...?



(...Sounds like the answer to the above question is: Yes.)

Neide could hear Lieutenant Aekins run right up to where she and the Westerner were, and then about 8 feet past where they were out of sight. "Damn..." Neide could just barely hear Lieutenant Aekins mutter to herself. The Lieutenant must have paused at the nearby alleyway. "...Damn...!"

Lieutenant Aekins ran off in some other direction.

OOC: I admit I felt your wording was vague. Was this the intention?

Neide waited for another moment to make sure the Lieutenant was gone. When it seemed they were finally safe, she turned back to the Westerner.

"I think the way is clear", she whispered, "You should go... and get out of town fast"

(No. I think that was a result of me trying to ask the question using an in-game narration style rather than me dropping ooc to ask it.)



"...Yes, I should... Maybe you should consider coming with me, though... I've... heard things about Alara... and those who serve her... Things that I don't want happening to me... And that you shouldn't want to happen to you. You're not like them."

OOC: Ah, I see! The way I read it, it was: "Neide managed to hide in time... but, maybe not, at all?".

Neide tilted her quizzically.

"Things..?", she asked, "What have your heard, exactly?"

She wasn't entirely sure what the Westerner could be getting at...

(Intention: "But did she choose to duck back out of sight...?")



"...I've heard that some who they capture are never seen again. ...I admit this could be rumor, but I'd rather not chance it. ...I've also heard, however, that they can be very, very unforgiving about people in their own ranks who ask too many questions about how things are done, who don't follow orders blindly... Or who find their heart yearns for things other than Alara. You wouldn't have heard, I'd wager, a ballad I know, 'Elegy for an Alaran Soldier...' It's about a man who served in the Isles four or so years ago, 'keeping the peace,' but he fell in love with a Dhanian woman... he was not allowed to leave Alara's service to be with her. He dies at the end of the song... guess who kills him? I'll give you a hint: it's not anyone from the Isles, nor by his own hand...!"

OOC: Okay, before I reply, here's a question: Neide has been with the Church of Alara for a few years now. Has she ever seen (or heard about) anything that might suggested the Westerner is right? Maybe I should do some sort of roll to check that?

(I would be fine with you just deciding what you want the answer to be and going with it, but sure, if you like, you can do an INT check to see if Neide recalls anything in particular that might corroborate such ideas...)

OOC: Let's go with a roll!

20:11, Today: Neide rolled 10 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 5,4.

(...I... take it that by posting just that, you're asking me what Neide has heard, as opposed to you telling me what she's heard...?)

OOC: Yes. :) You're the GM and you control this world, so I feel it's up to you to decide?

(Mmmmokay...)

The man's words definitely ring a bell with Neide... She'd heard a couple of disturbing rumors... --never from other followers of Alara, mind-- but in marketplaces, patrolling down crowded streets... The looks of fear, from people who looked like they shouldn't have anything to hide, bothered her. And now that she thought about it...

...hadn't other people's talk about leaving Alara always been quickly silenced with a hissed word or a dangerous glance from a superior officer?

...hadn't she overheard, now and then, phrases like "...never seen again..." from townspeople...?

The Westerner's words made Neide pause momentarily.

"Ah, I...", she replied, then, not sounding too sure of herself, "... I really cannot believe that, sorry. I've heard such rumours, but these are some nonsense..."

She shook her head.

"I mean, there are upsides and downsides, yes - but the things you say? No, they aren't true..."

The man shakes his head. "Well I don't have time to sing you 'Elegy for an Alaran Soldier' right now, and I think you need more time to reflect on things anyway. In the meantime... I think I ought to leave town... any possibility you can help me with that, at least...?"

Neide furrowed her brow.

"That depends... what would you need me for? Do you have a plan?"

She wanted to help the man, but she also couldn't go against her superiors in some drastic way...

"No, I was hoping you had a suggestion... I shouldn't make straight for the coast, they'll be expecting that... I think... I think I'll go north... but first I need a way to slip out of town unseen... Do you know anyone in this town? Have any friends who aren't Alarans?"
This message was last updated by the player at 00:57, Wed 23 Jan 2019.

"Not really, no", Neide admitted, "I'm rather new to the town myself..."

She rubbed her neck, thinking.

"I suspect that the Lieutenant will alert the rest of the Temple", she said, "She's not going to give up on catching you easily. Soon, every guard from the Temple will be on the look-out for you... You have to sneak out of town carefully. Not sure how that can be done, I admit - you might have to really hope your luck favours you today..."

She was feeling at loss. She wanted to help the Westerner, but didn't have any idea how...

(Int check, please...)
This message was last updated by the GM at 00:56, Wed 23 Jan 2019.

22:02, Today: Neide rolled 12 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,5.

Neide has a thought: The worshipers of Veles will give sanctuary and protection to anyone who request it... and even Neide knows the location in town of the shrine with the big rock that Northerners and those who honor Veles feel is so important... Maybe they could help...? Westerners even honor Veles themselves, more or less, don't they...?

Neide tapped the crate next to her thoughtfully, as a thought struck her.

"You know, there might be another option", she said to the Westerner, "There is an important shrine of Veles here in Trevisi... and the worshippers of Veles are known for protecting people who are persecuted. Maybe they could help you? Admittedly, I'm not certain what would happen, if Alara's priests came to them and demanded for them to give you to them..."

She shook her head, frustrated.

"Well, that's one idea I have. Aside from you taking your chances and trying to sneak out of town, that is..."

"...That's not a bad idea... The only two problems are that first, what if there's not enough people there to help protect me right away, and secondly, even if there are, then they'd still have to find a way to get me out of town... but Veles is nothing to sneeze at, even here in the south. ...How about we head toward the Veles shrine... you walk ahead, and look around and make sure you don't see anyone at each intersection on the way... and if something goes wrong on the way to the shrine, I can always run south, or better yet east...?"

Neide nodded her head thoughtfully.

"I think it might work...", she said, "Of course, I can try escorting you out of the town that way, too. But the Lieutenant might've raised the alarm already, so there would increased patrols near the town limits..."

She looked at the Westerner.

"It's your choice. But I'll try to help whatever you decide..."

"...Go on. I think it's best. Head toward the shrine of Veles. You lead the way. Check at each intersection. If it seems completely clear, go on. If you see another Alaran, wave at them, a big wave, in their direction. That'll let me know you've seen something, and I'll try to hide..."

(Neide does know the way. Make a Wis check... with a +1 bonus...)

"All right", Neide nodded, "Let's go..."

She raised from behind the crates, then paused.

"Come to think about it - I didn't even get your name..?"

OOC: After the Westerner gives his name (or not...), we can move to escorting him to the shrine. So:

22:28, Today: Neide rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 5,1.

Hmmmm...

"Aden is my name. And yours...?"

(Neide, I think we can presume, gives her name.)




Neide goes to the first big intersection-- looks around... Oops, here's another Alaran soldier coming from the north, from the far end of the block... But there's time to wave at them and warn Aden... (I presume Neide does so...?)

"Neide", Neide nodded, "Pleased to meet. Now... let us go."



Having seen the Alaran soldier coming, Neide gave a wave. She hoped that the soldier would go the other way, without approaching her...

Neide glances surreptitiously back-- no sign of Aden.

The Alaran who approaches is a fellow named Conway. "Ho there, Neide. Any sign of the Westerner that Aedkins's all heated up about?"

"No, unfortunately", Neide shook her head, "Actually, I ran right after the Westerner and Aedkins, when the guy took a break for it back at the temple, but I've lost them. I haven't seen either of them since then. I gather that Aedkins is having us look for him?"

"You bet she is-- woo! Mad as I've ever seen 'er... Mad at you, too. If you know what's good for you, you'll catch 'im first..." Conway looks around. "...You came from that way? Westish? I'll go south... you go east." This fits perfectly with Neide's plans... "...Unless you wanna look south, and I'll head east...?" Conway asks.

"No, I'll go east", Neide replied, "I was already planning on doing that. You go south and make you sure you catch that guy if you see him..."

As she was speaking, she was hit with unpleasant thoughts of having to meet Aetkins eventually... She tried to push them away, though.

As Conway leaves, Neide gets out of his sight by going out of the intersection, to the east.

But just so she's out of his sight. After a minute or so, she sees Aden peeking out from a doorway. She goes back and checks the same intersection. No other Alarans around, this time.

She motions to Aden that it's safe now. He nods and follows.

(New WIS check, please...)

15:39, Today: Neide rolled 3 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,2.

Hmmmm...

(Neide gains 1 xp...)

Just as Neide enters the next intersection, another Alaran, a woman who was a recent transfer, whose name Neide hadn't had a chance to learn as yet, rushed into the same intersection at almost the same time. "Hey, you're Neide, right? Have you--" She glances to her right-- "--Hey! We're looking for a Westerner, and there's one over there about half a block back, following you!" She's alarmed, but not quite shouting yet...

"What?", Neide feigned surprise, trying not to show signs of panic.

She looked aroud, pretenting that she was trying to spot the man the other woman referred to.

"I don't see anyone...", she said in a confused voice.

She hoped this delaying tactic would given Aden enough time to hide...

"Right there-- there he goes--!" She runs toward Aden.

Aden had ducked out of sight into a doorway again... but on hearing this, he jumped back out. Apparently the door was locked...

Looks like he's trying to decide if he should run or fight (obviously he wants to run, but the direction he most wants to run is toward the shrine of Veles, which is the same direction from which the Alaran woman is running at him, so he's having a second of indecision himself)...

"Oh no..!", Neide despaired, as the other guard ran toward Aden.

After a second of hesitation, Neide sprinted after the other guard. As she ran, she tried to wave at Aden, gesturing at him to run away...

20:51, Today: Aden rolled 7 using 2d6+1 ((1,5)).

Aden tries to get past the guard, so as to get to the shrine... He does, barely... but then he runs into Neide.

Startled and confused-- he was so focused on the other woman-- he hesitates for a moment.

"Yeah!" says the other woman. "Now grab 'im, Neide!"

Having no choice but to think on her feet, Neide jumped toward Aden, pretending that she was trying to grab him.

"Hit me..!", she whispered at him, as she did so.

Aden punches Neide in the jaw. It looks like a not-very-strong punch, but it's actually even weaker than it looks, because he's pulling it. It doesn't exactly feel good, but it's about as bad as if a six-year-old child (standing on a large step-stool) punched her in the jaw, which is to say, hardly anything, especially since she was expecting it...

Aden doesn't wait for Neide's reaction-- he immediately runs east, toward the shrine of Veles...

"Ow!", Neide grabbed her face, pretending to be in pain. That gave her an excuse to pause for a blink of an eye...

"Stop!", she shouted, then. She turned east and started running after Aden... without any intention of catching him.

She could only hope that the other guard won't notice her tricks...

This works! It turns out that Aden's not fast enough to outrun the other Alaran soldier, but he's fast enough to keep her from actually catching up.

She and Neide run almost side-by-side (Neide had a slight head start) after Aden... but soon, he runs right into the shrine of Veles, a sort of empty lot with a large, dark-gray stone in the center of it with lots of small rocks placed in multiple circles around it. "Sanctuary!" cries Aden, resting one hand on a cleric's shoulder as he pants for breath.

"Sanctuary? From wha-- oh, I see," says the cleric, noting two Alaran soldiers running up right behind Aden...
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Fri 08 Feb 2019.

"He did it!", Neide thought, relieved, as Aden got to the cleric of Veles and asked for sanctuary. Now, it all depended on what the cleric would do...

"Damn it...", she said to the other soldier, "What do we do now..?"

"This man is wanted by-- by Alara-- for-- for resisting arrest," says the other woman. She obviously realizes how weak it sounds. "What did we originally want him for, anyway? No one's stopped to tell me..." she hisses quietly to Neide...

"He got involved in a fight at the Bardic College", Neide whispered back, "Irgen and Lieutenant Aetkins thought he was suspicious and they wanted to take him for questioning - but he ran away..."

She tilted her head.

"Not sure what we should do, now that he's requested the sanctuary... We can't just drag him out of there, can we?"

OOC: Neide is 'unsure' what to do, because she doesn't want to give the other woman any good ideas :)

"He was involved in a fight at the Bardic College," says the woman, "and is wanted for questioning."

"I've heard things about how Alara's soldiers 'question suspects,'" said Aden. "Perhaps you have as well. Here is what truly happened--" Aden tells his story to the cleric, just as he said earlier that it happened to him.

The cleric of Veles seems pretty persuaded by the story.

Just then Lieutenant Aekins walks in, with Irgen and Conway. She's furious. "That man," she says, pointing at Aden, "comes with us."

"No, he has requested sanctuary from Veles," says the cleric.

"And you will grant it?" snarls Lieutenant Aekins.

"I shall," says the cleric. He's holding a staff... and he shifts his grip on it in such a way that suggests that he not only knows how to use it to fight, but also that he's about to do so.

Two more lesser-ranking clerics of Veles come and stand at his side. Aden's hand is ready to go to his sword.

And the same could be said for Lieutenant Aekins. She honestly looks for one second like she's thinking of killing everyone present who isn't under her command.

There's a bit of a gasp from Conway, though, and a smaller gasp from the female Alaran whose name Neide doesn't know.

Lieutenant Aekins' eyes flick to them-- but also to Neide. She gives Neide the longest look, in fact. Her face suggests she's thinking No, word would get out.

"Soldiers, come with me," she finally says, turning toward the street...

Neide's heart started beating faster, as she witnessed the stand-off between the clerics of Veles and Lieutenant Aetkins. She noticed the Lieutenant's fury, her apparent eagerness to strike down the clerics...

"She wouldn't dare..!", Neide thought, "She wouldn't..."

But she wasn't completely sure about that...

When the Lieutenant relented, Neide couldn't help letting out a small sigh of relief. Following the Lieutenant's command, she followed her away from the temple...

But in the street, out of earshot of Aden and the clerics of Veles, Lieutenant Aekins stops. "Irgen, you and Palisa stand guard here. Don't let the Westerner leave until I decide what the next move is. Irgen, you're in charge."

"Understood, Lieutenant," said Irgen.

"Conway, Neide, follow me back to the garrison. Some of us need to have a talk." This last was said while giving Neide a look. It wasn't necessarily a look of hatred, but to describe it as a "glare" would be an incredible understatement.

"Yes, Lieutenant", Neide nodded, trying not to look worried.

She *was* worried, though... both of what Aetkins would say - or do - to her back at the barracks, as well as for Aden. The Westerner had found a sanctuary... but it seemed he was still trapped.

Primarily, though, Neide was worried for herself. Did Aetkins see through her game..? If so, what would the consequences be..?

"First, though... Stay right there." Lieutenant Aekins goes over and talks to the other woman, apparently named Palisa. They talk for just a couple of minutes, with Palisa doing most of the talking, but quietly, where Neide can't hear.

Lieutenant Aekins keeps glancing at Neide, though.

After the couple of minutes, Lieutenant Aekins says, a bit more loudly, "I'm not really surprised." Then she comes back to Conway and Neide. "I'm done here for now. Let's go. Back to the barracks." She motions to Neide and Conway to start walking... She, apparently, will walk behind... which is a bit unusual, usually Neide would expect Lieutenant Aekins to walk in front...

As commanded, Neide started walking in the direction of the barracks. She expected Aetkins to take the lead... but, strangely, the Lieutenant chose to walk last.

It... didn't feel right. Come to think about it, what did Aetkins hear from Palisa? Did she see through Neide's misdirections and false attempts to capture Aden?

Neide had really, really bad feeling about all of this...

Back at the barracks, after the three soldiers return and walk through the front gate, Lieutenant Aekins gestures Conway and Neide onward. "To the brig," she says...

Neide's heart sunk, as she heard Aetkins' command.

"The brig..?", she asked with a note of apprehension in her voice, "Lieutenant..?"

It seemed that her fears were coming true...

Lieutenant Aekins stops walking for a moment. "You heard me... You have a problem with that destination?" Aekins says as coldly as possible.

The few soldiers visible in the large courtyard stop what they're doing, and look at (and listen to) the exchange...

"N-no...", Neide replied, trying to remain calm, "Of course, Lieutenant. The brig."

She resumed walking, heading in the direction of the brig. As she walked, she really hoped the situation was not what she feared it was...

Straight to the brig, then, and inside.

The gaoler on duty didn't know what was going on, but Lieutenant Aekins' gave him two or three rapid expressions, and he interpreted them accurately. He hurried and unlocked the nearest empty cell.

Then Aekins gestured that Neide-- and only Neide-- enter the open cell.

Neide noted that the gaoler didn't seem particularly surprised by this. Had Lieutenant Aekins had soldiers locked up before, and Neide just hadn't heard about it...?

That could only happen if the others didn't talk about such things when they happened... which was seeming more likely than she would've thought...

So far, Neide had played along... but she wasn't going to allow herself to be imprisoned without any kind protest.

"Me..?", she said, turning to Aetkins, "Why, Lieutenant? What have I done wrong?"

Of course, she *knew* what she had done - but she wasn't going to admit it just like that...

OOC: Sorry for the delay - the last few days were a little crazy for me.

(Hmmm... CHR check, please...)

22:44, Today: Neide rolled 4 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 4,1.  CHR check.

(Neide gets 1 new xp.)

Lieutenant Aekins seems confident. She puts her hand on her swordhilt. "You'll have plenty of time to think about it where you're going. Move it, Neide. Now."

Neide felt panic building inside her. All of the options flashed through her mind: should she comply? Should she keep protesting? Or, maybe, she should try running away? But there was no chance of her moving past Aetkins...

No, she decided. She need to play this *smart*. And so, she took a deep breath.

"All right, Lieutenant", she said, trying to sound calm, "As you command"

She stepped into the cell.

Lieutenant Aekins seemed almost disappointed by the lack of resistance. She partially satisfied herself, for the moment, with slamming the steel bars of the cell's only entrance (and its only exit) shut with a CLANG. "There will be questions," said Aekins, "asked by me. And there will be answers. And there may be a court-martial... if you're lucky. I will have the truth of exactly how that Westerner got as far as he did without getting caught... And I don't think the consequences will exactly go well for you, my lass..."

Lieutenant Aekins sneered at Neide, and then left.

Neide followed Aetkins with her stare, as the Lieutenant was leaving - then, she retreated deeper into the cell.

With a heavy sigh, she sat down on the floor.

"Damn", she cursed in her thoughts, "This is bad..."

She needed to think of some really good explanation for what happened today. She needed to convince Aetkins that she hadn't helped Aden to escape. But she feared it wouldn't be easy...

She wondered if there would be anyone else aside from Aetkins listening to her explanations. Aetkins was out for her blood - but, maybe, Neide could find a more sympathetic ear..?

For hours, Neide sat in her cell. She was brought only bread and water for her supper. Lieutenant Aekins apparently decided to let Neide rot until Aekins was good and ready to deal with her.

(WIS check, please...)

13:25, Today: Neide rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,5.  WIS check.

Around midnight, there comes a sound.

pssssst

Neide slowly comes awake.

pssssssssssssssst

She looks around.

The soldier assigned to be gaoler is over there, very obviously fast asleep. But it's not him who's making the intermittent noise (thank goodness).

psssssssssssssssssssst

Neide noiselessly looks around further.

There's someone's head at the barred window.

Someone's standing outside the barracks, looking in at Neide through the barred window, trying to get her attention.

As the day passed by, Neide sat in her cell, waiting - and worrying what Aetkins might be planning for her. Eventually, after supper, she fell into a shaky sleep filled with unpleasant dreams...

... and then, she was woken up by someone whispering at her.

"Huh..?", she thought, her mind a bit cloudy after such an awakening.

She looked around and realized that the sound was coming through the barred window. Cautiously, she walked over to the bars and whispered back:

"Who's there..?"

"It's me... I'm the cleric of Veles who accepted the sanctuary of the Western bard... remember...?"

"Ah, yes!", Neide replied, surprised by the cleric's presence, "What are you doing here..?"

She eyed the guard outside her cell. She hoped he didn't notice anything...

The gaoler still shows every sign of being asleep.

"I have come for you, sister. Aden, the Western bard, was sure you were in danger, and frankly he convinced me, as well. It did not take much convincing, truly. I have come to free you, if you will have it so."

OOC: Paranoid question: is Neide seeing the cleric clearly? Is this really the guy from the temple of Veles?

(Yes, she recognizes him.)

"Oh... that's very kind of both of you...", Neide replied, surprised by the cleric's offer.

"I... don't really know what to say", she shook her head, "Do you really think I should run? Am I really in that much trouble..?"

She looked at the cleric questioningly.

"Aden has said some... scary things regarding what might happen to me. Do you think he's right?"

"In my opinion? I think you should run. I think you're in that much trouble. I think he's right."

"So...", Neide replied, "... you agree with what Aden said about the Church of Alara? I've served them for years... Now, it turns out they are bad people..?"

She shook her head again.

"I don't know what to think. This... is my life, you know? Is it all a lie?"

"It depends on who's in charge of a given regiment or whatever you call it, as I understand it... Some Alaran commanders are all they're supposed to be, I'm told. Some aren't. But the ones that aren't... those under them who don't follow orders...? Sometimes they disappear."

"As for your last question... Alaran soldiers have done a lot for queen and country. But sometimes their definition of 'lawful' is... rather... well, 'harsh' doesn't cover it. At all."

"And you think this is the case here?", Neide asked, "You think that I have no chance of getting out of this mess..?"

She sighed heavily.

"But if I run, I'll be a fugitive forever... This is not a good solution, either..."

"Your long-term solution is up to you. I am here to offer a solution to your immediate problems..." The cleric raises one eyebrow. "Where there is life, there is hope. When life is done... only the gods know."

"That's true...", Neide agreed.

She bit on her lip thoughtfully for a moment.

"Please tell me...", she asked, "If I decide to run and you get me out of this cell - do we have any plan for what would happen next? You won't be able to hide me in your temple forever... The same goes for Aden, actually. Would you be able to get the two of us out of this city?"

"Yes. Aden-- and you, should you come-- will go north. I will be coming, as well. This city is no longer safe for either of you-- Nowhere in Sefonia will be, for a time..."

"The North...", Neide sighed. Leaving Sefonia was not something she would be keen on doing. This country was her home...

Did she have any other choice, though? As she thought about it, Neide realized she didn't have one, not really. She had a really bad feeling about her chances of dealing with Aetkins' accusations successfully - also, considering what she had witnessed today, she started to realize that she just couldn't remain a part of Church of Alara...

"Alright", she said to the cleric, "I'll be going with you and Aden. But... how can I get out of here?"

The man smiles. "My dear. I serve Veles, the god of stone." He steps forward and pours some sort of oil all over and around the bottom of the barred window.

The bars are unaffected...

...But the stone and mortar underneath them turns to very wet mud.

Thanks to the force that draws things with weight to earth, there is, quickly, a growing mud puddle in the cell... and one three times as big in the alley outside, made up of the stones that were recently comprising the wall. Where they rested, there is now a hole in the wall that's four feet long and three feet wide, and growing.

The cleric extends his hand, to help Neide step out of the cell and into the alley.

"Ah... That's one impressive trick", Neide commented, as she looked at the melting wall incredulously.

Without wasting any more time, she took the cleric's hand and made her way out of her cell.

"We need to hurry", she commented, "I suspect that, when the people in the temple see this, they'll have no trouble guessing who did it..."

"A good point. Let us make haste. First, to the shrine, to get Aden..."

"Yes", Neide nodded, "Let's go"

As they headed to Veles' shrine, she allowed the cleric to take the lead, as she assumed he would know the best way there.

The two hurry to the shrine.

Once there, supplies have been provided for Aden and the cleric. "Glad to see you again," said Aden. "Ready to go...?"

"I guess so...", Neide sighed, "Well, you know - I'm not *really* ready. Even this morning, I wasn't expecting to be leaving this town... But I'm as ready as I can be. We can go..."

She gave Aden a weak smile.

"Anyway... thank you for helping me out."

"It is literally what you did for me... Let's go, shall we...?"

"My plan is to go east, straight out of town, and then north, through the woods, maybe a little easterly, too. Any objection...?" the cleric asks Neide...

"The woods are a good idea", Neide nodded, "But we need to be really careful while moving through town... I fear me vanishing could've already been noticed."

She looked over herself, still clad in Temple of Alara's colours.

"Do you have any disguise or spare clothes I could use? I think I'm quite easy to spot like that..."

"All we have is a robe, like I'm wearing... but it would make it rather awkward for you to draw your sword in a hurry..."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:10, Fri 05 Apr 2019.

"I see", Neide replied, "I guess we'll have to try not to get noticed, then..."

She turned to Aden.

"All right", she said, "I'm ready to go, if you are"

You manage to make it out of town, and into the woods to the east.

(Make a stat check, please...

+DEX if you focus on using stealth to move through the woods

+WIS if you focus more on listening and watching for anyone else moving through the woods.)

To Neide's relief, she and Aden actually managed to get out of town and into the woods. Now, they needed to get as far away from the town as possible. Aetkins might've sent people after them...

OOC: Going with option #2:

00:43, Today: Neide rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,2.  WIS check.

Gah! I think that's bad...

(Neide gets 1 new xp, and -1 to her next roll...)

Neide and her two companions are surprised, after a couple of hours' travel through the woods, by Lieutenant Aekins and six other Alaran soldiers, just as they're crossing a trail. "There they are," said Aekins. "This spot's fine-- in a few days we'll come back, say we found the bodies, and they must've been killed by bandits. Kill 'em."

There is one instant to say or do something before anyone acts... does Neide say or do anything...?

"Stop!", Neide said loudly and looked at the soldiers that accompanied Aetkins, "I beg you not to do this. What the Lieutenant wants you to do is neither lawful, nor just. This is not Alara's way!"

(Hmmm... give me a CHR check... but remember you've got a -1 penalty coming...)

02:41, Today: Neide rolled 3 using 2d6-2 with rolls of 3,2.  CHR check.

Hmm. This seems bad.

(Neide gets 1 new xp, and -1 to her next roll...)

"I beg you not to do this. What the Lieutenant wants you to do is neither lawful, nor just. This is not Alara's way!"

Lieutenant Aekins is not impressed, and neither are those with her. "If you understood Alara's way better," says Lieutenant Aekins, "perhaps you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Alara's law and justice isn't always the same as that of mortal laws and justice..." She raises her sword. "Especially when it involves her own children..."

They attack.

...Well, they start attacking.

They all stop suddenly when something CLANGS loudly off Lieutenant Aekins' sword.

Everyone looks at where it came from.

Standing over to the side is... an Easterner! One can tell because her clothes are, well, foreign... but mostly because she's got no hair... it's been cut so short that it was probably shaven bald a week ago... Everyone knows that Eastern women tend to have super-short hair... "Three minutes ago, this had nothing to do with me," she says. "Alara and her ways mean little to me. I follow Ossein. But it's obvious that some sort of crime is about to be perpetrated here, and the odds aren't exactly fair. And when I was allowed to come and study in this country, I swore to follow all the laws, and not to do anything illegal. So I'm not about to aid and abet three murders, am I? If you want to harm those three people... you'll have to also learn what a life lived honoring the ways of Ossein have taught me." She draws a large knife from her belt. "I guarantee you it will be a hard lesson."

The Alarans all look at Lieutenant Aekins. Aekins only hesitates for a moment. "So be it," she says, and she rushes at the woman, and all the other Alaran soldiers attack.

Two run up to Neide...

Neide eyed the Easterner with surprise... but there was no time to ask questions.

As two of Aetkins' soldiers ran at her, she pulled out her sword and steadied herself for the fight...

OOC: I assume Neide *has* a sword, right?

Also, please walk me step by step here. What do I roll to attack / defend?

1. Sword: Yep. Here's what you're carrying (besides the locket (as I recall) that was important to you, I'm saying you already had that on you)...

- Sword - Range: Close
        - Sharp (+2 piercing)
        - Well-crafted (-1 weight)
        - Look: Unblemished
        - (Weight: 1)
- Scale armor - Armour: 2 (Weight: 3)
- Rations - 5/5 uses (Weight: 1)
- Healing potions - 2/2 (Weight: 0)
- Money - 22 coins (Weight: 0)

2. Attack: To attack in melee is the Hack And Slash move, so you roll 2d6 plus your STR modifier... so, 2d6 +1.

I see. What about the initiative in combat? What should I do in a situation when I want Neide to fight defensively - or, at least, not to be the first person to attack the enemy? I see that there is the Defend move, but it seems to cover a whole action of protecting a person, a passage etc., not a single instance of defending oneself from a strike?

The Defend move also notes that it can be used to just Defend oneself.

Defend
When you stand in defense of a location, item, or person (including yourself), roll+CON.
On a 10+, hold 3.
On a 7-9, hold 1.

As long as you stand in defense, when you or the thing you defend is attacked you may spend your hold, 1-for-1, to choose an option from the list below:
■ Redirect the attack from who/what you're guarding to yourself.
■ Halve the attack’s effect or damage.
■ Grant an ally +1 forward against this enemy.
■ Deal half your damage (rounded up).
■ Hold them back
■ Draw all attention from your ward to yourself

The red options would still apply.

Okay, so let's have Neide Defend herself:

23:02, Today: Neide rolled 3 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,1.  Defend.

Oops...

(Neide gets 1 new xp, and takes -1 forward.)


(16:07, Today: The GM rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,6.
16:07, Today: The GM rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,3.
16:07, Today: The GM rolled 2 using 1d10 with rolls of 2.)

Whew! The first soldier missed, the second didn't-- but Neide's armor protected her from harm.

(GM rolls more dice)

The cleric got a cut, but smacked his attacker with his staff... Aden dodged, but nearly got hurt...

Lieutenant Aekins attacked the Easterner... And got a magic bolt in her left shoulder for her trouble! So that was what had clanged against Aekins' sword! The Easterner was a mage!

But Aekins had closed ranks now...

But in a way, the most surprising action might have been Aden's... he broke into a chant... A fast song of battle and mayhem... and the air seemed to shimmer... Neide felt different... stronger...

(If Neide hits any target in the next round, she'll do an extra 1d4 worth of damage...)

Neide didn't even have time to curse, as the blade of one of the soldiers slid off her armour. Instead, she immediately swung her sword at her attacker...

OOC: 22:55, Today: Neide rolled 5 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,3.  Hack and Slash.

Oh, for crying out loud..!!!

(Neide gets 1 new xp, and takes -1 forward.

10:17, Today: The GM rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,5.
10:17, Today: The GM rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,1.
10:17, Today: The GM rolled 10 using 1d10 with rolls of 10. Neide takes 8 damage.)

Neide misses... and so do one of her attackers... but the other does not. Now she's really in trouble...

(GM rolls many more dice...)

--Perhaps the use of magic is throwing Aekins-- she misses against the easterner, and gets another magical bolt, this one in her ribs, for her carelessness.
--The cleric also does well against a soldier, although his opponent is still fighting...
--Aden dodges attacks once more, and tries a different chant... It's faster, more spirited... (Neide gets 5 points of damage healed...) Neide feels much better! As long as nothing happens to Aden, maybe this fight can be won after all...!

OOC: Okay, a question - Neide was previously at -1 to rolls and this round she took another -1... Are these cumulative? Does she roll at -2 now?

No. It's a matter of terminology...

"Take -1 forward" means it's a one-time deal each time.

"Take -1 ongoing" means a -1 penalty of some kind until something changes (like, until combat ends, or you kill the spellcaster who hexed you, or something like that.

Each of your -1 experience have been a one-time thing each time, and your next roll uses it up.

OOC: Thanks!

Neide cried out in pain, as the soldier's weapon cut her flesh... She secured her grip on her sword - and, to her surprise, she noticed that her wound seemed to be knitting itself close! It seemed like Aden's chant caused that...

She'd have to ask Aden about that, Neide decided - if they survive this fight...

Focusing her attention on her opponent again, Neide hacked at him once more.

22:57, Today: Neide rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,4.  Hack and Slash.

(There you go... roll 1d10 now to determine damage you to do 'im...)

OOC: Yeah!

01:40, Today: Neide rolled 8 using 1d10 with rolls of 8.  Damage!

It's a good hit, and it greatly dismays the soldier in question... Especially since Neide keeps on fighting in spite of being hurt... can it really be just because the Westerner is chanting and singing...? (Answer: yes.)

(GM rolls dice)

This time, sadly, luck was not with the innocent, as the Easterner, Aden, and the cleric all take hits (one each). None of them goes down yet, though...

Neide is technically hit twice, but one glances off her scale mail... the other, however, hurts quite a bit. (After subtracting for armor, Neide takes 6 new damage.

However, due to one man's imperfect roll (which happens to be the one she hit), she also has a counterattack coming... roll to make a new attack... If you roll 7 or higher, roll for the damage you do...

I forget, would you prefer me to roll things like that for you, or do you wanna do 'em all yourself? I'm fine either way...)

OOC: I'd say I prefer to roll my checks myself, in general - aside from the ones that need to be made in secret etc., of course.

Anyway, here's Neide counterattack!

22:04, Today: Neide rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,6.  Counterattack!
22:04, Today: Neide rolled 2 using 1d10 with rolls of 2.  Damage!

The soldier's armor seemed to protect him from most of Neide's counterattack, if not all of it...

Still, that was just the counterattack...

And yet...

The cleric casts a spell. "Hark!" he says loudly. "Bear witness! You attack a son of Veles, god of stone! His eyes and ears are everywhere! He feels every vibration, every footfall! He waits in judgment! Your goddess of vengeance has no place here! Begone!"

And he backs up and touches... a large rock.

And this... works, somehow.

Actually it absolutely does not work, for most of the soldiers. But it has an amazing effect on Lieutenant Aekins. Her eyes widen in horror, staring at the rock-- which gets her a knife cut across the back of her hand from the Easterner-- and then Aekins panics. "Retreat! After me! Retreat! Go! Move!"

The other soldiers look at each other for just an instant, like Seriously? It's a rock. We outnumber them. We can do this, can't we?

But then their training-- and the reliance on following chain-of-command that's been beaten into them-- kicks in, and they follow Aekins as she retreats.

The cleric pants. "...A spell... of fear... I don't normally ask Veles for it, but I thought it might be useful this time, so I prepared it... It'll last as long as I want, but it's tied to the rock, so we should move, because we can't stay here forever, and it only affects one person. Let's go!"

Wide-eyed, Neide watched as Aetkins - the scary, unrelenting Aetkins - ran away in abject fear. That was some powerful magic...

"Yes... let's go", she nodded, her voice still a little flat after what she just witnessed, "Before they come back..."

She eyed her companions.

"But... which way now? Where should we go so that we don't get found again?"

She turned to the Easterner.

"How much time have you spent in these woods?", she asked, "Do you any safe route for us?"

"Safe?" she says. "That depends... why are we running? I mean, if you just want to move far and fast, this path behind me could be good... But if we're trying to lose someone who might start chasing us soon... I'd go... north...? But maybe that's what they'd expect us to do...?"

Aden and the cleric fill the easterner in on how the three of you came to be in this situation, in as few words as possible.

"Ah," she says. "Right, then, don't want to go toward Trevisi. Then... bow about we go up this road, right now, fast... but only a little way... then let's turn off into the woods and go north...? How's that sound? It's too dark for anything but an expert tracker to follow us, I would think... and since our pursuers aren't mages... any objections...?"

"I'm fine with that", Neide replied, "How about you..?"

She turned toward Aden and the cleric.

"If you agree, let's get moving", she added, "Aetkins' men could come back any moment now - and I fear we might not have another chance of beating them"

OOC: If the rest of the group agrees, Neide will head along the route the Easterner came up with.

Five hours later, you seem to have given your pursuers the slip.

Aden suggests that the four of you make camp-- fireless, for now, just in case. The cleric and the Easterner are amenable to this idea... so you do so. It turns out that the cleric has packed blankets for all of you, which is quite useful...

"...Well," says the cleric, sitting down. "It appears to me that there are a few things we should talk about. Where should we start...?"

Neide sat down, too - then, she looked over her companions.

"Yes, we need to... catch up with some things", she said, turning to the Easterner, "I didn't have time to thank you for help back there... We'd be in a very tight spot, if it wasn't for you. I don't believe I caught your name? I'm Neide."

"Indeed, there was no time to offer my name-- it is Ondreya." She bows, and then sits down on the ground herself.

Neide nodded to herself, as Ondreya introduced herself.

"I see", she said, "As I understand, you come from the East? How come you ended up here in Sefonia?"

"It is part of the training of all mages and other scholars to see something of the world. Sefonia is preferred, since Ossau has most often fought Sefonia in the past... and has not always lost. It is considered wise to study such strength, so unlike our own."

"So you are... a mage?", Neide asked, "I saw what you was doing back during the fight..."

She turned to Aden.

"Come to think about it... what about these chants of yours, Aden? Were they magical, too? I didn't know you had this kind of power..!"

"I am..." confirms Ondreya...



"When I'm in a fight by myself, two against one, there's no time to sing or chant and fight too. With allies, though, I can try to inspire them in battle, and hope that they can help defend me..."

"But... how did you learn it? Is it some sort of magic, too?", Neide asked, "What else can you achieve with these chants? I think they made me feel less in pain during the fight..."

"It's hard to say if it's magic like our new mage friend can do. I think so, personally, or something similar. Others disagree. All I know is that I sing, and it works. The two main things I've mastered of that nature are 'Saoirse's March to the Sea,' which helps with fighting, and 'Veles' Blessing,' which heals." He glances at the cleric before continuing to explain to Neide: "We honor Veles in the Isles of Dhan, too... but we see him as a sea god, more than that of the earth... It's the sea that's important to us."

"Which we in Quayern find odd, but we're pleased that you, too, honor Veles, so we don't argue," smiles the cleric.

"It's all really amazing...", Neide said, still pondering on the magic and wonders she had witnessed.

She turned to the cleric of Veles.

"And what is *your* name?", she asked, "I'm embarrassed, but for all of the things you did for me and Aden, I didn't stop to ask about it..."

"Don't feel badly... there wasn't time, and other things were much more important. I am Kerran."

"Pleased to meet you, Kerran", Neide gave the cleric a smile.

"I already know that you can make wonders happen, too, Kerran", she said, then, "You freed me from jail and we all saw the spell you put on Aetkins... Out of curiosity, what else can you do?"

"A number of things, technically... I can usually heal, though I need to be right next to the person needing healing, unlike Aden... I can make something glow about as bright as a torch... I can sanctify food and water, or ground... Sanctifying purifies food and water of poisons or mold or other spoilage, and holy ground alerts me when something bad is happening, which can be good if someone sneaks up while we're asleep... It's easier to heal on holy ground, too... I can bless allies while in battle, though usually just one at a time... I can bless weapons, too, though more than one at a time is hard..."

Kerran sighs. "I can do all those things... technically. The issue is that I have to prepare my prayers ahead of time... and right now, I've got a maximum of two types of prayers at a time... I can't start my day prepared to heal and bless weapons and sanctify, if you understand what I mean... I have to guess ahead of time at what I'm most likely to need..."
This message was last updated by the player at 16:39, Thu 23 May 2019.

"It's still does sound... amazing", Neide assured Kerran. Then, she gave a short laugh.

"And when it comes to me, well...", she said, smiling, "I can swing a sword. And I can punch. That's all I can offer you three... Nothing thousands other people couldn't do, I guess!"

"I'm not so sure about that, not at all," says Kerran.

"I agree," Aden says to Kerran.

But they say no more about this line of thought. "Is there anything else you wish to ask, Neide...?" Kerran asks...

"Me? Not right now, no...", Neide replied, "I think I'd like to take some rest now, in truth. Unless there was anything you wanted to talk about..?"

Kerran smiles. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together traveling. I think anything further can wait until tomorrow... Let's all get some rest... I'd say we've earned it..."