Tensions Run High
Well. What can be said about the past few days. So much has happened, and yet it all seems a blur. We arrived in Moray several days ago, brought once again by the Last Elixer. While on board, we were attacked by a mercenary band of Harpies. We fought them off, but not without losing several crewmembers, and the engineer, to their ghastly music. We took one of them captive, in order to question it. It claimed to have been hired by the Prince of Moray for fifty gold, to assassinate the engineer. When we arrived, we met with this man, and his brother; the King. The King seemed trustworthy, even friendly. The Prince, on the other hand, seemed to be guarding his words all the while we talked. After he left, we voiced our concerns to the King, who did not take well to the idea of his brother as a traitor. He allowed us to leave peacefully, but warned us that what we were saying could be considered treason.
We had planned to visit the town's historian the morning after we arrived. Before he got the chance, however, an unknown party blew up the historian's shop, killing the historian in the process. Examining the ruins, we found a note clutched in his hand that had somehow survived the blast. Milo pocketed it, so we could read it later in privacy. When we got the chance to, however, we found it written in an ancient language, completely uninteligible. We asked people who knew the victim, and they pointed us to a contact of his; Larenn, a wizard residing in Waterdeep. We were told, however, that he was supposed to be in Caer Callidyr at the same time that our return was scheduled for. It seemed like we owed him a visit.
After docking and reuniting with the rest of the Protectorate, we set off in search of the wizard. Our unofficial guide to the city had placed him in the warehouse district, one of the seedier areas of the city. When we got to the address he was supposed to be at, we were met with two armed half-orcs, who seemed to be holding him against his will. Upon hearing Stolig's name, he leapt to his feet, sputtering greetings, and apologies for not writing. He promised to write a letter for Stolig, his "old friend". Looking over it, Adrian noticed something, odd. He took the letter and studied it for a while, and then returned to us with a decoded message scribbled down. "help hostage" We immediatly set about figuring out a plan of action. I wanted to talk to his captors, Milo just wanted to storm the place, but Stolig eventually convinced us to let him use Gond's magic to extract Larenn. We went over to the bar they were residing above to prepare. Elrose convinced the bartender to take the day off, for the price of eight gold. Just as we were about to begin, however, the bartender returned with a small group of thugs. They announced that they were here to apprehend Xelretch, and that it would be easier for everyone if he did not resist. Still hoping that they would leave without incident, I attempted to scare them away, but to no avail. Xel honorably made his presence known, and they moved to take him. Seeing that conflict was inevitable, we moved to protect him, and a fight broke out. We managed to hold our own for the most part, with some difficulty. Milo was separated from the rest of us, and badly injured. Thorik was pinned underneath one of the bounty hunter's dogs as it bounded in through the door. Despite these problems, however, we turned the tide of battle in our favor. Near the end of the fight, however, Elrose seemed to have had enough. The long day we had endured had seemingly brought him to his breaking point, and these mercenaries had apparently sent him far beyond it. Swearing, he pulled a scroll out from his robes, and used it to conjure a dense sphere of flame on the ceiling of the bar. I know not what his plan was in doing this, and I am not entirely convinced that he did, either. The end result, was, of course, the destruction of the bar, who's safety had been entrusted to us. The life of the man we were trying to rescue was endangered, along with his captor's, and ours. That is not even taking into account the damage that could have been done if the fire had spread past that one building. Everyone involved managed to escape unharmed, but the bar was lost, taking with it the livelyhood of the bartender. When he returned to his establishment, he was shocked, to say the least, to see what had happened in his absence. Distraught and angered, he took a swing at Elrose, and landed a glancing blow. Overreacting once again, Elrose decided to give the man the same fate as his establishment. Taking a step back, he engulfed the bartender in a stream of magical flame. What happened next was just as villainous. Thorik hefted his axe to his shoulder, and ran at the charred, terrified man, apparently moving to "defend" his comerade from the wounded, untrained and unarmed ex-business man. Stunned, it took me a moment to react. Luckily, Thorik's axe motivated the bartender to move faster than the rest of us, and he fled down the street. I searched him out afterword, but to no avail. I left a note in what remained of the bar, apologizing for what had happened. I only hope that he found help somewhere, and that Elrose has not cost the life of an innocent.
We cannot conduct ourselves in this manner. Care for those weaker than ourselves is one of the things that separates us from the depraved. The pirates that attacked the Last Elixer, the followers of Cyric that threaten Uuldegger's life aboard the ship; and who betrayed our location to the bounty hunter, the harpies that lured crewmembers to their deaths in the sea, they are all marked by the taint of Evil. Using violence as a first resort to get what you want from others, or abusing those weaker than you, for no other reason that that you know they cannot defend or retaliate. These are all halmarks of the wicked, and what separates the Righteous from the Vile. Might does not make Right, the ends do not justify the means. Trite as these words may seem, they have an eternal, and unshakable, truth. We're the Good Guys. That gives us an obligation to others. We cannot abandon that without slipping toward Evil.
Well. What can be said about the past few days. So much has happened, and yet it all seems a blur. We arrived in Moray several days ago, brought once again by the Last Elixer. While on board, we were attacked by a mercenary band of Harpies. We fought them off, but not without losing several crewmembers, and the engineer, to their ghastly music. We took one of them captive, in order to question it. It claimed to have been hired by the Prince of Moray for fifty gold, to assassinate the engineer. When we arrived, we met with this man, and his brother; the King. The King seemed trustworthy, even friendly. The Prince, on the other hand, seemed to be guarding his words all the while we talked. After he left, we voiced our concerns to the King, who did not take well to the idea of his brother as a traitor. He allowed us to leave peacefully, but warned us that what we were saying could be considered treason.
We had planned to visit the town's historian the morning after we arrived. Before he got the chance, however, an unknown party blew up the historian's shop, killing the historian in the process. Examining the ruins, we found a note clutched in his hand that had somehow survived the blast. Milo pocketed it, so we could read it later in privacy. When we got the chance to, however, we found it written in an ancient language, completely uninteligible. We asked people who knew the victim, and they pointed us to a contact of his; Larenn, a wizard residing in Waterdeep. We were told, however, that he was supposed to be in Caer Callidyr at the same time that our return was scheduled for. It seemed like we owed him a visit.
After docking and reuniting with the rest of the Protectorate, we set off in search of the wizard. Our unofficial guide to the city had placed him in the warehouse district, one of the seedier areas of the city. When we got to the address he was supposed to be at, we were met with two armed half-orcs, who seemed to be holding him against his will. Upon hearing Stolig's name, he leapt to his feet, sputtering greetings, and apologies for not writing. He promised to write a letter for Stolig, his "old friend". Looking over it, Adrian noticed something, odd. He took the letter and studied it for a while, and then returned to us with a decoded message scribbled down. "help hostage" We immediatly set about figuring out a plan of action. I wanted to talk to his captors, Milo just wanted to storm the place, but Stolig eventually convinced us to let him use Gond's magic to extract Larenn. We went over to the bar they were residing above to prepare. Elrose convinced the bartender to take the day off, for the price of eight gold. Just as we were about to begin, however, the bartender returned with a small group of thugs. They announced that they were here to apprehend Xelretch, and that it would be easier for everyone if he did not resist. Still hoping that they would leave without incident, I attempted to scare them away, but to no avail. Xel honorably made his presence known, and they moved to take him. Seeing that conflict was inevitable, we moved to protect him, and a fight broke out. We managed to hold our own for the most part, with some difficulty. Milo was separated from the rest of us, and badly injured. Thorik was pinned underneath one of the bounty hunter's dogs as it bounded in through the door. Despite these problems, however, we turned the tide of battle in our favor. Near the end of the fight, however, Elrose seemed to have had enough. The long day we had endured had seemingly brought him to his breaking point, and these mercenaries had apparently sent him far beyond it. Swearing, he pulled a scroll out from his robes, and used it to conjure a dense sphere of flame on the ceiling of the bar. I know not what his plan was in doing this, and I am not entirely convinced that he did, either. The end result, was, of course, the destruction of the bar, who's safety had been entrusted to us. The life of the man we were trying to rescue was endangered, along with his captor's, and ours. That is not even taking into account the damage that could have been done if the fire had spread past that one building. Everyone involved managed to escape unharmed, but the bar was lost, taking with it the livelyhood of the bartender. When he returned to his establishment, he was shocked, to say the least, to see what had happened in his absence. Distraught and angered, he took a swing at Elrose, and landed a glancing blow. Overreacting once again, Elrose decided to give the man the same fate as his establishment. Taking a step back, he engulfed the bartender in a stream of magical flame. What happened next was just as villainous. Thorik hefted his axe to his shoulder, and ran at the charred, terrified man, apparently moving to "defend" his comerade from the wounded, untrained and unarmed ex-business man. Stunned, it took me a moment to react. Luckily, Thorik's axe motivated the bartender to move faster than the rest of us, and he fled down the street. I searched him out afterword, but to no avail. I left a note in what remained of the bar, apologizing for what had happened. I only hope that he found help somewhere, and that Elrose has not cost the life of an innocent.
We cannot conduct ourselves in this manner. Care for those weaker than ourselves is one of the things that separates us from the depraved. The pirates that attacked the Last Elixer, the followers of Cyric that threaten Uuldegger's life aboard the ship; and who betrayed our location to the bounty hunter, the harpies that lured crewmembers to their deaths in the sea, they are all marked by the taint of Evil. Using violence as a first resort to get what you want from others, or abusing those weaker than you, for no other reason that that you know they cannot defend or retaliate. These are all halmarks of the wicked, and what separates the Righteous from the Vile. Might does not make Right, the ends do not justify the means. Trite as these words may seem, they have an eternal, and unshakable, truth. We're the Good Guys. That gives us an obligation to others. We cannot abandon that without slipping toward Evil.
posted by Kraellor Fellblade | 2:34 PM
1 Comments:
Well said, Paladin of the Broken One.
Right now, the actions of the some of the group are walking that delicate line between good and evil, leaning a bit toward the evil side. In defense of your comrades, I think that the frustrations of the past few weeks are wearing their patience thin, and tempers are flaring.
Sleep well, Amaren, confident in the fact that you are performing your duties well. No man can, or should, control others- you are simply the conscience, the quiet voice that reminds them when they stray toward the darkness. Consequence is left to their gods, if they decide not to heed your words.
Things may be better in the weeks to come. The Protectorate is gaining a reputation with powerful people (both good and evil) as a group that can get things done- even if their methods are a bit suspect at times. The pay is good and pieces of the puzzle are beginning to appear. Some of the frustrations are working themselves out.
Remain on your path, it is righteous and just. Your example may prove more influential than you realize.
Pavel encourages.
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