Mund gets pissed
Subject: Mund gets pissed
As Harp steps forward with Acer, Flint signals for some other druids to go help. They take the old man and Flint moves closer, inspecting Acer. He turns to Salix. "What has been done to him? What of the others?"
From: Karl
Subject: Mund gets pissed
"I do not know what has been done to him aside from what you can see yourself. He says he has not been poisoned. We have been running non-stop since we found him several hours ago. We have not had time for a more thorough examination. As for the others . . ." Salix chokes on his words as the memory of being attacked by one of his own - only, not one of his own any longer - comes rushing back. "Th-they are all dead as far as I can tell. Faldor has been systematically slaughtering them, sacrificing them to his dark god. What remained of one, now a vile empty husk of dead flesh, attacked us and . . . did something . . . to me and one of my companions. I have felt a hole in my very soul ever since."
Salix remembers something suddenly. "Sister Sephira! Mountain Father, she was imprisoned in the mayor's mansion in town. She refused rescue else it tip off Faldor that we were coming for the Stormfather. I promised we'd go back for her." He turns to Harp. "Harp! We have to go back for her. I promised."
From: Mark
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Grief and rage flow over the man's face. Salix is surprised becuase Flint is known as one whose face is like stone. "Sephira is still alive?" Relief fills his words. "That is a blessing. Where is she? Maybe we can help. But wait, I go to fast. Acer is our first concern. We must restore him." He turns to the other druids and tells them "Summon all of the Council. The circle must be formed and decisions must be made." He hands Acer over to two other burly druids " Clean him and treat what wounds you can. Take him to the alter.The Council will be there shortly and will take care of the rest." The two druids nod and gently carrry Acer deeper into the forest.
Flint turns back to Salix and the others "Now tell me what you have found out."
From: Karl
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Salix relates the entire mission to Faldor, skipping only those details that are clearly unimportant. He give special attention to the feeling of disorientation and sickness he felt in the raped and slaughtered portion of the forest where the party stepped out originally, as this is most likely the reason all of the other druids had been captured. "The Stormfather must have felt it a hundred times more intensely than I," he says. "I can barely describe the desolation. Never did even an Orc defile the land as Faldor has done. If it weren't for my companions I would surely be with the brothers we have lost. We owe them an immense debt." Here he turns and bows his head in the direction of his friends.
Salix further mentions the Upright Man, and the help he gave and the help that he promised. "It's possible that he has Sister Sephira in his care. It's just as possible she's still trapped in the basement of the Mansion. If she was not rescued, Faldor will undoubtedly be sacrificing her with the utmost haste. Mountain Father, we must move quickly to save her. I will go myself if I have to. I owe her that, at least."
From: Randy
Subject: Mund gets pissed
"Salix, we are in no condition to mount a rescue at the moment. You and I in particular require a special healing as Ragnar mentioned he could perform after he has a chance to pray for the blessing. We have no magic of our own right now and our healing graces have been exhausted. I am usually the person you would expect to rush in without thought but at this point I think we have to wait until we have at least rested and hopefully healed of the life draining that we experienced."
From: Mark
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Flint looks at Ranthir and Salix. He then studies the rest of the party and then turns to Salix. "Your friend speaks true. You are too close to see it, but it is obvious to those with fresh eyes that your party is spent. You have done more than we possibly thought you would. There were those of us who thought you were on a suicide mission, but you have proven them wrong. Tell me more about this "Upright Man" and how you were to contact him to get Sephira back. I think we will be able to help." As Flint talks he signals for Salix and the others to follow him.
The party is lead to a simple wooden table, made out of a tree that had been hit by lightening. It has been placed on some soft ground covered in moss. On the table is drink and food. "Eat and drink and tell me more of this story. If we can rescue Sephira as well, this may not be the disaster we had thought."
From: Kevin
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Go back to that damn town now?? How were they supposed to do that?? The whole country side was crawling with Faldor's men. The town would be on high alert. Maybe Surin could sneak in, but there was no way he or Salix would be able to do it. Well, maybe Salix could fly into town, and then turn back to his normal form once he was in town, but Harp sneak in?? Who was he trying to kid.
But, they had promised her they would return and help rescue her. He had to see that done, if possible. But, maybe one of the druid leaders would be able to help. If they could get into the city now, they could go to the Upright Man and sneak Sephira out and back to safety.
"Salix, I will go with youif that ends up being our path. But (turning to the Mountain Father), is there a way that you can help get her out of the city? The way between here and the town is swarming with Faldor's men, so getting back to town overland would be almost impossible. We could give you the location of where we met Jimmy the Hand and a code word to let him know that you were coming on our behalf."
OOC: Harp will go if needed, but he's really tired and does not see a great chance of success in trying to walk back to town, getting into town, and the sneaking out with a person missing their hands.
From: Porter
Subject: Mund gets pissed
"Oh really?" Mund speaks up in reply to the belief that they had been sent on a suicide mission. Scanning the faces of the druids present, he says "Which ones of y'all thought that?"
From: Jason
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Ragnar speaks up, "Salix, though I share some portion of your concern, I truly hope you are not planning on going back tonight. There is no way that I could make it, and you need to be healed of the damage the wight did to your soul. I had not mentioned this, because I did not wish to alarm you unnecessarily, but if you are not magically restored within 24 hours there is a small chance that the damage could be permanent. We simply must rest and recuperate before we can be of any use to Sephira."
From: Josh
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Kal says quietly, "I will certainly go after a nights rest. To go before then would just be suicide."
From: Mark
Subject: Mund gets pissed
"My friend Mund, it was Acer himself asked for Salix and you others to follow him. The ones who thought is was a suicide mission were trying to save your life. If you have anger at any one here, let it be at me, for I was willing to risk you in this mission. I hoped your party would fine Acer and bring him out, which you did, but I was sure that many of your party would die in the process. I am glad to be proven wrong."
From: Porter
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC: I'm assuming that nobody warned us that they thought many of us would die, right?
Also, what race is Flint?
From: Mark
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Well not came out and said as much but several druids had disappeared and Acer had gone missing. The fact that it was hazardous was well known to the party, I think.
It might have been more a reflection of the pride of the druids. If they could'nt handle it, how could mere fighters and mages do it? Take it how you want it.
From: Mark
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Flint is human.
From: Porter
Subject: Mund gets pissed
"You was sure many of us was gonna die, eh?" Mun spits on the ground between them. "Thanks fer the warnin'. You was almost right."
From: Mark
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Flint's voice hardens like his name sake "Those were not druids out there chasing you, Northman." His voice softens a bit as he continues "You followed a friend who asked for your help. That is admirable. If you had known of the risk would you have chosen differently?"
From: Porter
Subject: Mund gets pissed
"I guess we'll never know, will we? You didn't give us a chance to make that choice, now didja?"
OOC: Too over the top? Does Mund's constant bickering get on anybody's nerves? (I'm asking about the players, not the characters. :))
From: Kevin
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Harp looks over at Mund, and says in an exasperated voice "Give it a rest Mund. We knew we were goin' somewher dangerous. Hell, if someone like Acer over there could get in trouble, you probably should have expected we would have trouble. As it is, we made it, Acer is safe. That's all that matters."
From: Jason
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC: It doesn't bother me really. Ragnar certainly wishes he wouldn't do it.
IC: Ragnar, too exhausted to be sharp, says "Mund, there was never any question that this would be dangerous. They never hid the dangers from us, and we weren't doing it for them anyways. We did it out of friendship to Salix, and some of us out of loyalty to the Order of the Silver Sword. They don't deserve your anger."
From: Josh
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Kal grows visibly angry when Mund speaks. He starts to speak, but Harp speaks first. Kal seems at least mollified by what Harp said, and goes back to his silence.
From: Porter
Subject: Mund get pissed
"It might not matter to you, but bein' hoodwinked sure matters to me."
Allistair steps over and softly puts his hand on Mund's bare arm. "Whether we agree or not on how this was done, I think we can all agree that it's a good thing that we rescued Acer Stormfather, stopped Faldor's sacrifice, and likely saved the lives of the northern tribes."
Mund spits and says "Yeah, I reckon you're right on that count." Looking to the druids Mund asks "So, y'all have any ideas what might be wrong with 'im? I ain't never seen nuttin' like that before. Is he gonna get better?"
From: Kevin
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC: Echoing Ragnar's comments, he sure as hell gets on Harp's nerves when he gets like this. Of course, Harp and Ragnar are USED to being ordered around to some extent. So, instead of manning up like a good barbarian, when he goes all emo on us, it just grates on their nerves.
From: Mark
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Flint's concern for Acer is obvious on his face. "I don't know what is wrong with him. That is why I have summoned the Council. They are all near. You remember how the circle joined their power to give Salix the power to bring you here? Well we are going to have to do something similar. However, it will actually be harder. Now rest for a few minutes and refresh yourselves. It will take a quarter of an hour for all the members to arrive."
"In the mean time, let me see what I can do about Sephira." Flint asks Surin to join him and they talk about the arrangments that had been made with the Mockers. When Flint is done with Surin, he summons three other druids, one human, one elf and one half elf, over whispers to them for a few minutes and the ushers them out into the woods. Flint comes back several minutes later "There, that is set in motion."
He joins the party at the table and drinks from a jug of water. Addressing the party "What should we do about the Mayor and Bodentown? You have been there."
From: Randy
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC: I actually really like this stuff. I think it adds to the character and totally adds to my enjoyment of the game. Ranthir is pretty ambivalent. Sometimes he agrees with Mund, other times not so much.
From: Kevin
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC: Kill'em all and let God sort it out.
Oops, there's more than one god here, and the one in control would probably LIKE that idea.
Never mind.
From: Kevin
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Harp sits at the table, drinking slowly and deeply from the water provided. He had not realized how refreshing regular water could be. The food was simple, but nourishing, not that he really needed to eat any more. It was more out of habit than anything else, something to do while his body adjusted to the release of the tension of past so many hours.
Hearing Flint's question about Bodentown, Harp thinks to himself 'Simple, send a couple dozen of your most powerful druids and flood/fire/shock the Mayor and Faldor out of existence. Drown the estate with 5 days of rain, knock it to hell and back with lightning bolts for a full day. Infest the place with rats or snakes or some such thing. Blow it down with some huge wind. Now that they could get there (in fact, the most senior of the council were on their way here right now), they should just take out the cause of the problem.
But, it was not Harp's place to speak. Long term strategic goals had never been his strong point. There was probably some good reason to NOT destroy the whole place - he just could not see what it was. Leave the long term plans to others, Harp says to himself, and stick to short term things. Things were you can see the end.
From: Jason
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Ragnar has trouble concentrating on the matter at hand, and when Flint excuses himself to talk to some other druids he actually nods off for a few minutes. When the druid asks about Faldor, however, he hears the question, and after a long pause to organize his thoughts, he says "For many of us, our primary purpose in coming here was to find the location of the magical gem that only Acer knows. Once he is recovered enough to tell us its location, we must continue with that quest with all possible haste. On the other hand, my greatest regret at leaving Bodentown so suddenly was that we left Faldor in power, to continue whatever nefarious scheme he had planned. Until we can communicate with the Stormfather," and here Ragnar looks at Harp for approval, "I think we'd all be happy to help kill or capture Faldor to assure his dark work is finished."
From: Karl
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC - Sometimes ya just gotta love Mund.
From: Karl
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC - isn't there someone among the druids who could cure that??
From: Porter
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Mund spies a pretty-looking druid and asks her if he can get something stronger to drink.
In response to Fint's question, Allistair says "I am very interested in learning your thoughts on why we were able to get in and investigate Bodentown while all the members of your order, excepting Salix, were incapacitated."
From: Karl
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Salix interrupts. "Mund! We knew the risk. We knew nothing good could be happening there. Did you expect everyone with doubts to express them to our faces? There's a time for warning, but the council knew nothing we didn't know ourselves. Just because they feared we might fail, or die in the attempt is no reason to poison our faith with their doubts."
He continues more softly. "I'm grateful for the risk you took. I've never thanked you properly for the sacrifice you gave, and the terrible sacrifice you nearly gave at that last battle. You probably saved one or more of the others of us. No one else would have survived the hit you took."
He hold out a hand toward Mund.
From: Karl
Subject: Mund gets pissed
"Kill him" Salix says, flatly. "And dismantle the town. There is nothing there worth protecting, and some of the worst of human kind. Let them disperse to other towns where their evil will be diluted. The Great North Woods owes them no concessions now."
From: Karl
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC - Isn't Faldor the mayor? I didn't think they were two separate people.
From: Karl
Subject: Mund gets pissed
"Remember, I *was* incapacitated. If you all had not been there to fight off that evil swarm I would have been killed, or at least weakened to the point of being easily captured."
From: Mark
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Yes as far as everyone knows they are the same person.
From: Porter
Subject: Mund gets pissed
OOC: Oops. No, I didn't remember that.
OK, how about this retcon:
In response to Flint's question, Allistair says "Do you know of a way to overcome Bodentown's defenses? They seem to be most efficacious against members of your order. I suspect that we were able to overcome them because, with the exception of Salix, none of us are druids. Unless you find a way of neutralizing those defenses, I'm not sure there's much you can do."
"And while we would all enjoy seeing Faldor fall, I don't know what we could do about it. We barely got in and out last time, sneaking around like we did. We wouldn't stand a chance if we tried to take him and his forces directly."
From: POrter
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Mund takes the half-elf's hand and shakes it in friendship. Despite their disagreements, they really were friends, and Mund appreciates the gesture. "I guess you're right -- they didn't keep nothin from us."
Turning to Flint and the other druids he mutters an apology. "Sorry about that. Almost dying makes me pissy, I guess."
From: Kevin
Subject: Mund gets pissed
Harp looks up in surprise when Salix mentions destroying the town. Had he been reading Harp's mind? Then a memory comes to him, unbidden. The memory of a 1/2 orc girl/woman who had shown Harp some bit of kindnes.
"MountainFather, I'm not qualified to give advice on what to do to that town. My gut instinct is like Salix - destroy it. You have to understand what we saw there. People taken as the walked down the street, children sacraficed BECAUSE thier death would bring more suffering to others, undead creature not just made from the bodies of others, but infused with their blood, souls so tortured that the suck the life from those they touch. Salix can vouch for that fact. There is wanton brutality, unneeded suffering, and a growing sense of despair in the town. But, even with all that, there are still pockets of good, such as they can be. The Upright Man was honorable, and without his help, we would not have been able to succeed as we did. There were those we met who showed, if even in a small way, a bit of kindness to strangers.
I don't know what the final solution to that town is. It was beyond a normal frontier town in its disregard for life. But, if Faldor were removed, I think it might revert into the rough, tough town it always has been. but, I don't know if if has been permanently corrupted or not. I'm not worthy to make that decision."