Wick moves to put himself in the path of the running fellow (Ric).  He's not sure what's going on, but apparently the others have already been dealing with the fellow and has lied about the blade.  Of course, if Wick was surrounded by strangers, he'd probably not want to advertise carrying either.  But there'd be time for questions after the situation calms down.

"Shoulda tol' him it wouldn't work," muttered Ric, edging toward the wall which held the fireplace, and with the wall behind him, toward the door to the hallway.  His expression was a mask of desperation.

"You're clearly outnumbered!" Dak said loudly to the man as he put a hand on the pommel of his sword.  "Tell us the truth now or face the consequences!"

Lenelle took her mace into hand, but remained on the periphery, not advancing.   There were more than enough now to deal with a single adversary, if he did anything aggressive.

Now, it remained to be learned who 'him,' was, and what sort of scheme 'it' was referring to...

Westin takes a measured retreat, grateful for the assistance of his companions. Even so, his dagger in hand, just in case. Ric has shown himself to be quite resourceful. He wonders what Ric is muttering about, risks glancing around to see if he can spot anyone else who might be watching. Apparently, someone else was around, perhaps in the house as well.

Ric glanced about, his expression showing a mixture of desperation and grim determination, and with a sudden spurt of speed he ran at Westin, grabbing hold of the smaller man, his blade now resting cold against the elf's neck.

"Ye've pushed me to it," he said.  "Now jus' stan' back!"

Seeing Ric run towards Westin, Storm tries to dash and intercept.

OOC;May I try to intercept him?

Storm attempted to catch Ric before the man reached another, but fell a few steps short of stopping Ric from seizing hold of Westin.

"Stop you nonsense Ric. You come with his quietly and I guarantee we will not harm you. Hurt my frend and you wont leave this place alive because then you are evil and evil deserves to die," Storm says.

"You might want to listen to him Ric," Westin says in a distant voice. "Kill me and you seal your fate. And if you want to have any chance of anyone ever trusting you, you need to let me go and soon."

"He's meaning t' do me for," said Ric, not releasing his hold on Westin.  "An' I'm not wantin' to go wit' ya.  Lemme go my way, you can go yours, but keep 'im offen me."

"Drop him and tell us the real story and I promise you on my honor you wont be harmed," Storm persuades.

Westin will resist being moved, do his best to stay put and not be taken out of the room. With his free hand he will grab anything that comes within reach such as furniture, curtains, tables, etc, using to keep his in place or, at worst, forcing Ric to pull it along as well if he pulls him out of the room.

"An' ya won't make me go wit' ya when ya leave here?" said Ric, his expression one that was quite full of fear.  "You go yer way, an' I get my things an' go mine?"

Telemachus spoke up, literally from above as he looked down through the hole that they had made in crashing down to the first floor, "Ric we came here looking for something and came across a tossed home and you bound up.  We don't know you from Francis and you don't know us and this place is creepy beyond belief...and seeing as not so long ago we'd been taken by slavers to be sold as chattel perhaps you can understand wanting to leave a place that could be rife for ambushes and deception that would lead back to the same result."

He shrugged his shoulders, "We just wanted to help but we're a bit paranoid ourselves right now cause of what I just told you.  I was certainly willing to give you my boots to head to the church and get you some rest and food and figure out who tossed you, this place while also trying to solve what was going on.  You want to go, go.  Be on your way.  Prove yourself to be foul and what our fears tell us and then yeah you likely won't be going anywhere."

He tilted his head continuing to lay out simple facts and unambiguous terms, "Would you do any different if a stranger held a companion or friend of yours under equally strange circumstances?  So is this simply a big misunderstanding because we're both on edge?"

In reply to Ric (msg # 110):

"As long as you aretruthful and do not harm my friend, I assure you WILL not be molested! You can like my friend says, head to the church and find help. But if you lie, I will know and then it wont be good for you. So please Ric, tell us why you are here and what happened in this place?" Storm asks.

In te meantime, he will not move forward but will stand ready to dash forward if there is a need to.

Lenelle nodded her own confirmation of those words to Ric, putting a hand to her holy symbol.

"I swear to you, as a cleric of most merciful Atu, what these men tell you is the truth.   You are in no danger from us, if you offer us none.  And, you are a free man, and may go where you please.  But that all changes instantly if you do murder.  So please, let our comrade go, now."   

"I can see that," said Ric, a look of relief washing over his face, though he still looked rather frightened.  He let go of Westin, taking a step away from the elven man, though not making any move to put away the dagger just yet.

"I'd like to get my things upstairs," he added, glancing up through the ceiling at Telemachus.  "They be in the room next to ya."

"Would you mind answering our questions first Ric? I ill escort you to get your stuff later. Do not worry," Storm replies.

"Storm just walk with him.  He accommodated us by trusting us and letting Westin go.  Let's accommodate him in just asking for him to tell his story as he walks." remarked Telemachus from upstairs.

It looked like the others had things under control again.  Dak nodded to Storm and then returned to the hallway to see if there were any surprises on this floor.

Looking wary, Ric took another glance up at Telemachus, and nodded his head, and started to edge toward the door to the hallway.

"Thank you," Lenelle said to Ric, for releasing Westin.   She began to move to walk with him and Storm, attempting to be a calming presence, if Ric was at all a religious person, or at least recognized the church as benign.

She did not, however, get too close, and remained on guard.

Storm follows Ric and asks him to explain what happened. He will walk beside him and keep him in his view while being ready to tackle him at anytime.

Westin immediately backs away from Ric once he is let go. He rubs his throat, thankful it was not cut and moves to put others between him and Ric. Having had a dagger at his throat, he is not inclined to believe anything Ric might say. However, out of appreciation for the words of his comrades which convinced Ric to let him go, he refrains from saying anything.