Hell on earth

[Kaim_the_angel]

The last thing any of you remember is a flash of light and a sudden pain, now you awake on what feels like a wet stone floor.
Your heads are bound in sacks, obscuring the world around you. Heavy breathing fills the air around you as your cell mates awake around you. Chains hang loosly from your arms and necks binding you all together, as hands move clumsily for equipment that is no longer there voices echo around the room, mocking each one of you.
A voice breaks calls out in an unknown tounge
If your character speaks infernal you may read the following, the same occers for all spoilers in this post
"Round up the prisoners and bring them to the court house!"
You hear cell doors opening and heavy footsteps approcing, quickly each of you feel a blade placed on your backs
"Stand mortals!" Someone calls out in broken Terran (Common) "Stand and Walk!"
As each of you rise to your feet you feel the chains tighten and draw you together, they actually pull you closer to one another untill you are each stood a foot behind each other.
You begin to walk forward, your course constantly being redirected via whip cracks. You keep walking on aching bare feet over cold wet stones for what seems like hours. Occassionaly you feel tiny hands scraping on your masks, trying despreatly to reach you, then giving up and hopping off of you. As you walk your escorts speak to one another
"What have these ones done?" a voice says
"They have unlawfully killed property of the master apparantly" another mutters
"Ahhh, stupid mortals, they pissed off the wrong devil then, the session will be short then I supose?"
"I assume so.....did you hear they captured a dragon?"
"For the same reason?"
"Yeah, thats what I heard"
"Ahahaha....I havent seen a dragon in a while, this will be good"
After what seems like an eternity of walking you stop suddenly as a whip crack slams across the ground. You hear the sound of large wooden doors being pushed open, then the yammering of countless voices. A whip cracks across each of your backs and a voice calls out
"WALK!" you quickly shuffle inside, almost glad to be inside, off of the cold stones.
A loud voice calls out over the noise of the crowd.
"Remove the accused's masks!"
Suddenly the bags are torn from each of your heads and you see where you are.
You stand in a large court room, dressed in rags and chained together, your Ice Devil guards stood behind you and an uncountable number of devils and other creatures in the stands, sat in a judges chair is a large Pit feind, growling lowly and holding a large hammer in one hand. You look at your fellow captives to see they are all dressed as you are, then you notice the runes carved into the chains.
The Pit Feind leans forward and raises a hand, the room goes silent and all eyes focus on him.
"Let the accussed speak their names" He Growls in Terran. Before any of you can answer a loud bang breaks the silence and a door across from you bursts open. A Pyroclastic dragon is dragged into the room by a spined devil, roaring in defiance but struggling in vain, the devil pushes it down to the ground, pinning it whilst a group of bone devils attach chains to it. The pit feind smiles.
"Ah the final suspect....." He turns again "Speak thy names.."

[Trodon]

The pyroclastic dragon roars in defiance and struggles in his chains, he then looks around gazing at each devil with hate in his eyes. When his eyes reach the ice devil fire burst out of his nose as he roars as loud as he can.

"HOW DARE YOU CAPTURE ME, LIEKLIE, I AM A DRAGON AND I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE"

[darkillini]

the bag removed from his head char looks around. seeing himself surrounded by demons, and devils. his heart falls for a second. "I guess i failed to redeem myself in time" he thinks to himself "at least I had the chance and for that i must be thankful"

However seeing a dragon brought in and being called a prisoner, snapped him out of the funk. he could still feel blood flowing in him, and the solid ground beneath him making him believe he was still alive and well. looking up at the pit fiend defiantly he says with a calm determination.

You are not the one meant to judge me for my actions. I shall never again bow to devils wills. my name you will not be told

having said his piece he looks down at the signals on the chains to try and determine any effects they have
knowledge arcana [roll0]

[Re'ozul]

'Oh swell, why do these things keep happening? Why did I not put more energy into learning how to call actual weaponry instead of just ammunition, not that it would help much, but at least it would be show of strenght.'

Standing still while blinking away the spots from the sudden brightness, Jack decides to better follow the instrunction. No use in getting punished now and be in even worse shape later on for whatever death-game the devils thought of as his punishment.

"Jack, exile, formerly known as Jonathan Stravit to the fickle and traitorous swine that are the people behind the wall."

'Maybe playing up a dislike for chaotic behaviour helps, any bit counts.'

[tuesdayscoming]

Karrel Embehr, dressed as he is in rags, is a painful sight to behold. His torso is covered in thick scars so old they have turned white, interweaving in such a way that there can be no mistaking their inflicting for having been anything but the result of deliberate cruelty. These scars stretch down his thighs and arms, and up his neck, stopping midway on his cheeks (which sport an amount of stubble that many elves might find uncomely). His black hair falls loose on his face.

The elf stands resolute, back straight, as he stares at their judge. Remaining silent, he attempts to recall whatever he might about the court and its trial proceedings, as well as the nature of their runed bindings.

Only after the dragon bursts into the room does his attention break momentarily. Now this is something, he thinks.

His eyes snapping back to their judge, he finally speaks: "Karrel Embehr. Now of what do we stand accused?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

As the judges eyes move over to the members whom have not spoken, he waves a hand to the spined devil who brought in Lieklie, who quickly smashes his hand onto the dragons skull causing it to crack the floor.
"Silence yourself worm." it hisses as it marches over to Char, locking eyes with him the whole way, within a few steps he is stood before Char.
Suddenly his hand flashes forward and clasps Char by the neck,
"The Aducator asked your name"

[darkillini]

the hand around his neck made it difficult to breath, yet char answered as best as he could. and i cannot awnser, I said i serve the light, and will not serve a devil again in my life. he then adds in infernal if you must call me something, monk or hellborn will do for your 'judgment', what property is this we are accused of destroying.

[Kaim_the_angel]

As you struggle in the Feinds grip it seems to pay no attention to your words, in fact the second you refuse to answer its question it turns to look at the Pit feind.
"He refuses to give his name!" It calls out, the crowd begins to shout out at this, some seem to be angry!
The Pit feind shouts for order and the crowd quietens down, then he turns his head to look at Char
"You are found guilty of wasting the courts time, you are sentenced to three months imprisonment or untill you will co-operate." with that he slams his hammer on the table and the chains holding you to the others retract and wrap around you limbs. With that the Spined Devil picks you up and hurls you across the room (Damage is meaningless at the moment) leaving you bound on the floor a mere 6 feet from the dragon and his guards.

[darkillini]

looking at the others, one who proclaimed himself a decendant of the human who caused this mess, he thought to himself 'can i leave them to this, non of them know what can come from working weith these devils' looking at his own clawed hands.

"so be it, it will be another sin to atone for, call me char"

[Kaim_the_angel]

looking at the others, one who proclaimed himself a decendant of the human who caused this mess, he thought to himself 'can i leave them to this, non of them know what can come from working weith these devils' looking at his own clawed hands.

"so be it, it will be another sin to atone for, call me char"

The pit feind looks down at you.
"Compliance...good." the spined devil begins to walk over but is stopped when the Feind waves his hand.
"Leave him there."

[McStabbington]

As the hood is pulled off him, Cyrano takes a moment to size up the situation before feigning terror, something that admittedly wasn't particularly hard to feign at the moment. That is a lot of devils, and it looks like even if I had any weapons, any one or two of them would be more than a match for me. He risked another quick glance. No apparent exit, and doubtless they know this place better than I do, so nowhere to run even if I got out of the room.

"Let the accused speak their names", growled the Pit Fiend who looked to be in charge of the room. He looks particularly surly. Of course, this being the first Pit Fiend I've ever seen, Cyrano mused while trying to keep up the cringing, it could be they all look like that. Ah well, irrelevant under the circumstances. It seems that if I want to live, I have to dance to his tune. . .

The shouting of the dragon jerked his attention left, which gave him a good view of some spiny thing give the dragon a really good whack. Then, to his side, somebody who looked like a fairly serious burn victim said "And i cannot answer. I said i serve the light, and will not serve a devil again in my life," before continuing on in some language that sounded hard to master and not particularly fun to speak. Cyrano avoided ceasing his cringing and putting his palm in his face, but it was a near thing. By Aemon's underpants, there's always one who has to do these things the hard way. . .. If there was going to be a rescue, clearly he would have to be the one to do it.

As the spiny thing tightened its grip on the burn victim's neck, Cyrano climbed to his feet, cringing all the while. "Cyrano Copperbolt, a modest tinker gnome at your service. Forgive my impudence, oh . . . Red one, but might I ask what need such as you have with me?"

I'm not sure I'm bluffing at this point so much as harnessing the fear anyone would feel at this point and channeling it into looking like I'm about to wet myself, but that's basically the look I'm going for. In the meantime, I'm actually trying to be a bit more clearheaded about the situation.


Edit: Confound these dice rolls! I can't seem to make it work.

1d20+8

I think I may have to just start going to some different site and posting die rolls. The die roller on here seems to be quirky at best.

Edit 2: Not a good roll, but it worked. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3069090/)

[Kaim_the_angel]

As the hood is pulled off him, Cyrano takes a moment to size up the situation before feigning terror, something that admittedly wasn't particularly hard to feign at the moment. That is a lot of devils, and it looks like even if I had any weapons, any one or two of them would be more than a match for me. He risked another quick glance. No apparent exit, and doubtless they know this place better than I do, so nowhere to run even if I got out of the room.

"Let the accused speak their names", growled the Pit Fiend who looked to be in charge of the room. He looks particularly surly. Of course, this being the first Pit Fiend I've ever seen, Cyrano mused while trying to keep up the cringing, it could be they all look like that. Ah well, irrelevant under the circumstances. It seems that if I want to live, I have to dance to his tune. . .

The shouting of the dragon jerked his attention left, which gave him a good view of some spiny thing give the dragon a really good whack. Then, to his side, somebody who looked like a fairly serious burn victim said "And i cannot answer. I said i serve the light, and will not serve a devil again in my life," before continuing on in some language that sounded hard to master and not particularly fun to speak. Cyrano avoided ceasing his cringing and putting his palm in his face, but it was a near thing. By Aemon's underpants, there's always one who has to do these things the hard way. . .. If there was going to be a rescue, clearly he would have to be the one to do it.

As the spiny thing tightened its grip on the burn victim's neck, Cyrano climbed to his feet, cringing all the while. "Cyrano Copperbolt, a modest tinker gnome at your service. Forgive my impudence, oh . . . Red one, but might I ask what need such as you have with me?"

I'm not sure I'm bluffing at this point so much as harnessing the fear anyone would feel at this point and channeling it into looking like I'm about to wet myself, but that's basically the look I'm going for. In the meantime, I'm actually trying to be a bit more clearheaded about the situation.


Edit: Confound these dice rolls! I can't seem to make it work.

[roll0]

I think I may have to just start going to some different site and posting die rolls. The die roller on here seems to be quirky at best.

Edit 2: Not a good roll, but it worked. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3069090/)

The pit feind glances at you and produces a large quill, almost symoltaniously a group of imps climb onto his desk with what appears to be a roll of flayed skin.
The imps roll out the skin and the feind begins writing the names of those whom have spoken. Again he glances at Cyrano, he is either oblivious to the ruse, or doesn't care.

[veven]

As the hood is ripped from his head Richter struggles to get a grasp of the situation. He examines the other prisoners. Another hellbred? I suppose the way things are these days they'll be becoming more common... he thinks to himself. He continues thinking during the Dragon's commotion, barley able to hear his own thoughts. He mutters "what are we even accused of?" but before repeating himself at a louder volume he hears a familiar voice expressing the very same thought.



"Karrel Embehr. Now of what do we stand accused?"


It can't be.....there is no way he could have survived The Spire..... Richter struggles to get a look at the man speaking to confirm whether or not it truly is his old commander.

"My name, fiend, is Richter." He says with a calm defiance.

[chrisrawr]

"Filth!" Yielthen screams as his mask comes off, making a spectacle of himself, "I will not be chained with filth! Whatever claims you whore-begotten ilk have against m personage grant no rights to degrade nobility in such manner! Have at least the cunning you value so highly to have separate pens for the people and animals." Taking a pause for breath, he carries on - "Your courts and abductions hold no sway with Elven propriety! There will be retribution for this!"

[Kaim_the_angel]

"Filth!" Yielthen screams as his mask comes off, making a spectacle of himself, "I will not be chained with filth! Whatever claims you whore-begotten ilk have against m personage grant no rights to degrade nobility in such manner! Have at least the cunning you value so highly to have separate pens for the people and animals." Taking a pause for breath, he carries on - "Your courts and abductions hold no sway with Elven propriety! There will be retribution for this!"

The pit feind looks at Yielthen, then nods to the horned devil. From his position next to the group the Horned Devil reaches over and grabs Yielthen by the scruff of his neck, picks him up and forces him to the ground.
"Give us your name elf!"

[RaggedAngel]

A tall, powerfully built man near the end of the line looks up at the pitiful mockery of a court with a righteous fury in his startlingly blue eyes. The rage seems to spill from his eyes, which glow from within, even while shackled with the nullifying chains. He is powerfully built, lithe, and hale, and his long blond hair falls to his shoulders.He seems every bit a paragon of his race, and when he opens his mouth to speak it becomes clear that he has power inside of him. He speaks in the tongue of angels, and his admonition is made all the more fearsome because of the Celestial tongue in which it is spoken.

"Heathens, cowards, defiliers, plagues of the world. You are vermin. You are less than vermin. I represent light of the world, you filth; I represent hope, and love, and joy, and the righteous will to live. I am the fist of the gods, and I will lead this world from the vile shadows into which it has fallen. I will smite you all, cowards, and you know that I can. If you do not fear me, then unchain me, and let me bring to you the justice that you deserve."

He turns the others and speaks quickly and firmly, in a tone that sounds strongly of a military commander. "I will save you all, I swear this on my life. By my blade and my helm and my soul, I will bring you out of this darkness into the light. My name is Laenis Caerulan, Azurin Incarnate of Good, and I will crush every vile demon in this place."

He knows that the chains are suppressing magic, due to his lack of a sword, but here's a Spellcraft to figure out exactly what it is.

[roll0]

[veven]

Upon hearing the man who calls himself Laenis speak Richter smiles to himself and begins to mull over plans.

I hope to heaven he doesn’t attempt a breakout now...The only advantage I can see in that is that the whole lot of us are together. There are far too many devils in this place though. And we are without our weapons.

He looks upwards at the spiraling black horn protruding from his head.

And apparently without our abilities as well...I am in my true form.... It is a sturdy looking crew though, hope is not yet lost. If Karrel was able to escape the spire, surely he already has something in mind.

Richter continues to cycle through plans, searching for flaws in each, after which he examines the devils in the room, struggling to recall some bit of knowledge on those he can see. The importance of tactical analysis was a lesson hard-learned after his first death. Hopefully he won’t make the same mistake again before he finds redemption.

[McStabbington]

The gnome sits down. Okay, so that didn't work. Clearly they're going to stick to their procedure. The gnome sucked for a moment on the inside of his lip, and idly picked a bit of dirt off his breeches. He studied his clothing for a moment Part of my explorers garb. Not sure how they caught me so unawares . . . I wonder where the rest of my stuff is?

His mind came back to the present as he listened to a tall blond announce he would save them all. You get one of those in every group too. . ., he noted sourly. Which might help us if you could break a chain with honor. Time to evaluate his position: in a room surrounded by devils, on trial for something. His companions had the air of men who had seen a fight or two in their day, and like men who have seen a fight or two were reacting in the predictable range, from bewildered fury to righteous indigniation to futile attempts to resist. Sad truth, but most people when confronted by crisis will sooner beat their head against a wall than use it to escape. Still, the human seems to have his head on his shoulders . . . as does the scarred up elf. One of the burn victims seems pretty calm too. While they weren't relaxed, they seemed to be processing the situation a bit faster than the others.

I need to get control of the group into one of their hands, but which one? Second truth about men in crisis: give someone some authority, and most people will naturally fall in until their own heads come back. They'll trust the pit fiend before they trust me, but I might convince someone they would accept to step up. Cyrano noted his options: Human won't do. He's thinking, but what he said just threw everyone in the Bastion under a warhorse.. Similarly, he didn't think the calmest of the crisped guys would work. He had a certain . . . something to him, but wasn't doing anything to really take command. The scarred elf, however. . . That one's been through hell, pardon the expression, but he's still got his head on his shoulders. Blondie can serve as the face and the man of honor all he wants, but the elf is the one people will follow. Now all Cyrano had to do was put him in charge.

In the meantime, he noted as the pit fiend scribbled more words and the devil made to squeeze the life out of the other elf, he figured he might as well help his position by thinking about what he knew about his compatriots, especially the three who looked like they'd been worked over by the dragon, and the blond with the piercing blue eyes. Despite their ragged skin and too fair by far features, what they were was not immediately apparent. To pass the time, Cyrano tried to think through stories he knew and see if he could guess about these men.

Cyrano will bide his time by making a bardic knowledge check to see if he can figure out what the hellbred and the "Azuran", as he called himself, are. The rolls proceed in that order.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[tuesdayscoming]

Karrel stands silent through the varied outbursts of his fellow captives, noting down each of their reactions in turn. His hands are clasped into loose fists at his sides and he stares unblinking at their judge.

Hearing the tongue of the celestials, however – it... catches him off guard. It has been so long since Karrel has heard the liquid silver sound of its words bathe his ears. And such words they were. And in such a place as this...

This one may be quite useful, indeed...

Adopting the celestial tongue himself, Karrel speaks two words, just barely loud enough for the one calling himself Laenis to hear:
{Celestial}"Peace, friend."

He returns to silence, still staring down the devil whose accusations he waits to hear.

[Kaim_the_angel]

The Pit feind begins to read from the his list, stating the crimes of each man who has spoken their names.
"Char, Accused of unlawful possesion of a soul, destruction of property and Tax evasion." with a florish he tears a portion of flesh off his scroll and hands it to an imp, whom flies over and places it before Char.
"Jack. Accused of Murder, Theft and the destruction of property" again hye tears a portion of flesh from his scroll and an imp flies it over.
"Laenis, Accused of the destruction of property, murder and tax evasion." again and imp delivers the written part to the prisoners.
"Cyrano, Accused of theft, tax evasion and the with holdal of information concerning The "Last Bastion" "
The skin is delivered
"Lieklie, Accused of Murder, assault, threatening an officer of the law, destruction of property, theft and tax evasion. the skin is left before you.
"Richer, Accused of the betrayal of Lord Dispaters trust, murder, the destructon of property and the use of a false name/."
The skin is dropped before you.
"Karrell, Accused of Murder, destruction of property and the unlawful escape of the Spire." The skin lies before you.
"Yielthen, accused of murder, theft, tax evasion and the destruction of property." he throws the skin at you himself, with no other names on the scroll.
He looks at those who havent spoken with distaste for a moment, before speaking again.
"How do the accused plead?"

[Trodon]

"Innocent! I attacked through self defense! They drove me out of my home!" Lieklie tries to bite at the imp, but fails due to the horned devil.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis grins for a moment; the smile transforms his features. It's been a long time since he's smiled. He speaks in common to the devil in charge. "Vile worm, I must say that if there is a single devil in this room that has not evaded taxes, I have sorely misjudged your kind." The humor slowly fades from his face, and it is replaces with stoic determination. The bedrock of faith and strength in Laenis's face makes the devotion of a fanatic look like a wisp of steam. His voice grows louder, and cuts clearly through the din in the courtroom. "I have not murdered, beast, I have only slain your kind in the defense of my people. I have not destroyed your property, beast; I have only broken the chains that hold my people and cleaved through the doors that held them. And I have not evaded taxes, beast; I have simply been to busy crushing your kind with my righteous blade to fill out any damned paperwork. I plead not guilty."

[Kaim_the_angel]

Laenis grins for a moment; the smile transforms his features. It's been a long time since he's smiled. He speaks in common to the devil in charge. "Vile worm, I must say that if there is a single devil in this room that has not evaded taxes, I have sorely misjudged your kind." The humor slowly fades from his face, and it is replaces with stoic determination. The bedrock of faith and strength in Laenis's face makes the devotion of a fanatic look like a wisp of steam. His voice grows louder, and cuts clearly through the din in the courtroom. "I have not murdered, beast, I have only slain your kind in the defense of my people. I have not destroyed your property, beast; I have only broken the chains that hold my people and cleaved through the doors that held them. And I have not evaded taxes, beast; I have simply been to busy crushing your kind with my righteous blade to fill out any damned paperwork. I plead not guilty."

The Pit Feind looks you over, then smiles and turns his head to an imp.
"Add theft of property to his list of condemnations." a vicous laughter echos around the room from members of the audience before the Pit feind speaks again.
"Jury, how do you find Laenis?"
A bone devil rises from the stands and hisses out a sentence.
"As the creature has just admitted to unlawfully killing our kind, destroying Lord Dispaters property via act of rebellion and clearly avoiding the soul tax, we the members of the jury find the defendant...Guilty as charged my lord." Cheers go up from the crowds as the Pit feind raises his hammer.
"LAENIS! YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND GULITY OF MURDER, TAX EVASION, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, THEFT AND THE ACT OF REBELION! THE LAWS OF DISPATER ARE CLEAR, YOU ARE SENTENCED TO DEATH VIA PUBLIC EXICUTION!" the hammer comes crashing down, suddenly the chains around you detach from the others in the group and wrap around your arms and legs, shackling them in place, one of the Ice devils push you forward into the center of the room. Two imps fly onto your shoulder holding the scrap of flesh, with your hands bound you cannot stop them as one of them holds it to your chest. Then the second climbs down with a needle and thread and stiches the flesh onto your chest...slowly, you shout out in pain as it finishes.
Looking down in horror you see what is now attached to you, the thread slowly writhing in place as if alive whilst blood red word glow with a malign light.
Laenis Caerulan: Murderer, Theif, Rebel.
GUILTY
Crys of joy erupt from the crowd, and you are thrown to the ground.
"You have been judged." The pit Feind growls.

[Kaim_the_angel]

"Innocent! I attacked through self defense! They drove me out of my home!" Lieklie tries to bite at the imp, but fails due to the horned devil.

The Devil relases you and steps away.
"Plead your case mortal."

[Trodon]

"Seven months after you kind came to this plane a group of ice devils entered my volcano and relentlessly fought against me, I only survived because I fled my home. He then turned to the ice devil. "YOU DAMNABLE DEVILS RUINED MY LIFE!" He returns his gaze to the pit fiend. "For twenty long years I have been wandering in hopes of finding a new home with no luck, then I was brought here."

[Kaim_the_angel]

"Seven months after you kind came to this plane a group of ice devils entered my volcano and relentlessly fought against me, I only survived because I fled my home. He then turned to the ice devil. "YOU DAMNABLE DEVILS RUINED MY LIFE!" He returns his gaze to the pit fiend. "For twenty long years I have been wandering in hopes of finding a new home with no luck, then I was brought here."

The pit feind looks down at you.
"And I have a report here saying that you have been eating devils to survive. Killing any that cross your path....do you say otherwise."

[Trodon]

"Everyone must eat, even if it means something as disgusting as devils. No."

[veven]

"Richer, Accused of the betrayal of Lord Dispaters trust, murder, the destructon of property and the use of a false name/."

Richter cringes upon hearing his last crime. Damn....they know. Of course they know! I can't let the others find out just yet.. While thinking about how to plea he hears the devil speak these words,




"Karrell, Accused of Murder, destruction of property and the unlawful escape of the Spire."

So it is Karrell!! unbelievable! Then it is settled. They can never know about my past. Without at least a modicum of mutual trust we'll never get out of here alive.

Richter speaks for the second time in a powerful, determined voice, "The crimes of which I am accused were committed by another man. Perhaps at one time this man and I were one and the same but no longer. He is dead and I, Richter the Contrite, have been reborn. I plead no contest."

Richter hopes that pleading no contest will by him some time. He searches his mind for any bit of knowledge relating to the laughable legal system these fiends maintain.

Knowledge: The Planes to figure out how long after judgement it takes for punishments to be enacted in the fiendish court [roll0]

[Kaim_the_angel]

"Everyone must eat, even if it means something as disgusting as devils. No."

"The you are guilty." the Pit feind slams his hammer down and your chains tighten, holding you firmly down.
"Mark him.." the same two imps appear before you, this time each armed with a pair of wicked looking blades, a sadistic grin on each one of them. They begin work.....
A minute later the magical blades have torn through your flesh leaving a symbol the crown of your head. The infernal symbol for guilty..
"Prepare it for the arena." The pit feind says.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Richter cringes upon hearing his last crime. Damn....they know. Of course they know! I can't let the others find out just yet.. While thinking about how to plea he hears the devil speak these words,




So it is Karrell!! unbelievable! Then it is settled. They can never know about my past. Without at least a modicum of mutual trust we'll never get out of here alive.

Richter speaks for the second time in a powerful, determined voice, "The crimes of which I am accused were committed by another man. Perhaps at one time this man and I were one and the same but no longer. He is dead and I, Richter the Contrite, have been reborn. I plead no contest."

Richter hopes that pleading no contest will by him some time. He searches his mind for any bit of knowledge relating to the laughable legal system these fiends maintain.

Knowledge: The Planes to figure out how long after judgement it takes for punishments to be enacted in the fiendish court [roll0]

You learn quickly from simply watching the rest of the procedings that punishments are handed out immediatly after the hearing, unless the guilty are useable within the arena.
The pit feind looks at you quizically.
"You are the same man, these crimes have been commited within this life time as well as the last, by simply standing in this courthouse you are guilty of the first crime, Lord dispater rewarded your act in the war and now you face the punishment for your betrayal." the feind leans forward.
As an act of gratitude for previously rendered services, you are offered an oppertunity to change your plea and recive a quick death."

[McStabbington]

Cyrano listened to his fellow prisoners in mounting horror. No no no! This is spiraling out of control. I have to get these fools' tongues back into their head before they all kill themselves. Cyrano silently bet himself that only half of these men had ever been arrested for anything; Cyrano, on the other hand, had talked his way out of innumerable duels and various threats of arrest. Such is the life of a fool with a rapier wit who plays by sabre rules. He studied his paper for a moment. Tax evasion, theft and withholding information about the Bastion. Hmm. . .

Cyrano's attempts to collect his thoughts were cut short by the dragon.


"Everyone must eat, even if it means something as disgusting as devils. No."

As fast as he could, Cyrano was back on his feet, standing on the chair for elevation. "Your . . . honor, if I may, he said as loud as he could, "my compatriots and I are having difficulty answering for two reasons. First, I do not know what these charges entail." He glanced at the paper for effect. "I'm not sure what taxes you refer to, nor do I know what I have stolen from you, and I am uncertain how I can withhold information I have not been asked to provide." He ticked off his finger. Play for time, and make him tell what he knows. With luck, he'll even tell you how he got it, so you'll know who sold you to these beasts. "I cannot answer when I do not know what defenses I can use. This dragon, if I may, has pointed out that sometimes killing is necessary to survive. If one of your bailiffs, though I'm sure their loyalty is total, were to try and take your life, I doubt you would convict yourself for merely protecting yourself." He drew himself up as best he could under the glower of the pit fiend. Since I do not understand, I request the aid of counsel to smooth the process of this court. He sat down.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Cyrano listened to his fellow prisoners in mounting horror. No no no! This is spiraling out of control. I have to get these fools' tongues back into their head before they all kill themselves. Cyrano silently bet himself that only half of these men had ever been arrested for anything; Cyrano, on the other hand, had talked his way out of innumerable duels and various threats of arrest. Such is the life of a fool with a rapier wit who plays by sabre rules. He studied his paper for a moment. Tax evasion, theft and withholding information about the Bastion. Hmm. . .

Cyrano's attempts to collect his thoughts were cut short by the dragon.



As fast as he could, Cyrano was back on his feet, standing on the chair for elevation. "Your . . . honor, if I may, he said as loud as he could, "my compatriots and I are having difficulty answering for two reasons. First, I do not know what these charges entail." He glanced at the paper for effect. "I'm not sure what taxes you refer to, nor do I know what I have stolen from you, and I am uncertain how I can withhold information I have not been asked to provide." He ticked off his finger. Play for time, and make him tell what he knows. With luck, he'll even tell you how he got it, so you'll know who sold you to these beasts. "I cannot answer when I do not know what defenses I can use. This dragon, if I may, has pointed out that sometimes killing is necessary to survive. If one of your bailiffs, though I'm sure their loyalty is total, were to try and take your life, I doubt you would convict yourself for merely protecting yourself." He drew himself up as best he could under the glower of the pit fiend. Since I do not understand, I request the aid of counsel to smooth the process of this court. He sat down.

"A mortal with sense, how intresting" the Pit feind begins.
""You have already been questioned gnome, whilst your loyalty to the bastion is admirable, it is foolish, you have with held information. You may play the fool if you wish but it will not help your case." he raises one scaled finger.
"It is common knowledge to all outside of the Bastion that a tax is applied to all soul trades in Lord Dispaters territory, you refused to pay this tax and are therefore....here, ignorance is no reason to ignore the law" he growls and raises a second finger.
"Finally, if one of my Bailiffs attacked me they would be guilty of assault against a superior, I have every right to dispense justice among my subordinates as I see fit. he raises a third finger before curling his hand into a fist.
"Now seize your prattling."

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen, still madly trying to remove himself from the human and demonic presences he's chained with, takes a moment to clue in once more. "Tax evasion? Surely you must be mistaken - or joking - the Elves are not accountable to your taxations, fiend. If you're going to put on a hanged trial, at least make it a believable one." and then, "Besides to which, the habitats in which your human pets reside can hardly be called property - nor has slaying animals ever been construed as murder. I plead not guilty to your flippant claims!"

OOC: After which he realizes that... him and the fiend have the same voice! Speaking loudly, "THE ELF HAS SWAPPED BODIES WITH ME! TAKE MY BODY IN FOR TORTURE, BLEED HIM OUT OF ME! I DEMAND MY BODY BACK!" [roll0]

[doliest]

Lord Percius, who'd had quite the hard time waking himself up, finally creeks his eyes open to look at the assembled demonic beings-lovely. He'd been intending to get to work on actually clearing a few of these beasties out of his lands, but, apperantly, they were stronger than he'd expected. He should have known; he could still remember young Kenneth's screams as they roasted him.

"Oh. Oh my. I appear to gotten a little too drunk. Tell me, who's sister did I impregnate this time?"

Playing the fool was easy; he'd lived as one all his life until the war.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Yielthen, still madly trying to remove himself from the human and demonic presences he's chained with, takes a moment to clue in once more. "Tax evasion? Surely you must be mistaken - or joking - the Elves are not accountable to your taxations, fiend. If you're going to put on a hanged trial, at least make it a believable one." and then, "Besides to which, the habitats in which your human pets reside can hardly be called property - nor has slaying animals ever been construed as murder. I plead not guilty to your flippant claims!"

OOC: After which he realizes that... him and the fiend have the same voice! Speaking loudly, "THE ELF HAS SWAPPED BODIES WITH ME! TAKE MY BODY IN FOR TORTURE, BLEED HIM OUT OF ME! I DEMAND MY BODY BACK!" [roll0]

The pit feind looks at Yielthen for a moment, and then bursts our laughing.
"The elves have been under our taxation for years you fool! Or has your pride robbed you of your memories as well as your sense! he stops laughing and fixes you with a glare.
""You have destroyed Lord Dispaters Propertywhen you slew the human rats.When you attacked Feinds, you committed murder. his hand grips his hammer tightly.

[veven]

You learn quickly from simply watching the rest of the procedings that punishments are handed out immediatly after the hearing, unless the guilty are useable within the arena.
The pit feind looks at you quizically.
"You are the same man, these crimes have been commited within this life time as well as the last, by simply standing in this courthouse you are guilty of the first crime, Lord dispater rewarded your act in the war and now you face the punishment for your betrayal." the feind leans forward.
As an act of gratitude for previously rendered services, you are offered an oppertunity to change your plea and recive a quick death."

It's looking like it's going to more difficult than I thought to get out of here without revealing some secrets....at least half of these men have their wits about them. The gnome is certainly a crafty one. This is going to be risky.

Richter took a deep breath and spoke, "I received no reward. Surely this is some sort of breach of contract. I do not wish to be rewarded for my sins but I must say that no reward was given. Also, I fail to see how me standing in this courtroom is a betrayal of trust. I was brought here against my own will. I won't sit and feign innocence but if you are going to be the one judging me, at least have your facts straight. I would've assumed a court such as this would not be so callow in the ways of the law. My plea stands."

[Kaim_the_angel]

Lord Percius, who'd had quite the hard time waking himself up, finally creeks his eyes open to look at the assembled demonic beings-lovely. He'd been intending to get to work on actually clearing a few of these beasties out of his lands, but, apperantly, they were stronger than he'd expected. He should have known; he could still remember young Kenneth's screams as they roasted him.

"Oh. Oh my. I appear to gotten a little too drunk. Tell me, who's sister did I impregnate this time?"

Playing the fool was easy; he'd lived as one all his life until the war.

The Feind looks at you and begins writing again.
"Lord Percius. Accused of Murder, Destruction of property and fraternizing with rebels. How do you plead. when he finishes writing the imps fly over with the skin.

[doliest]

Hm. Wordy, that one. He approved deeply; a nice mixture of legalize and statements, just the kind of thing to keep one out of trouble.

Percius turns and looks at Richter, still content to play the fool, So we're in trial, then? For what? And can I get someone for this hangover? And I plead hungover and confused. Or innocent.

[Kaim_the_angel]

It's looking like it's going to more difficult than I thought to get out of here without revealing some secrets....at least half of these men have their wits about them. The gnome is certainly a crafty one. This is going to be risky.

Richter took a deep breath and spoke, "I received no reward. Surely this is some sort of breach of contract. I do not wish to be rewarded for my sins but I must say that no reward was given. Also, I fail to see how me standing in this courtroom is a betrayal of trust. I was brought here against my own will. I won't sit and feign innocence but if you are going to be the one judging me, at least have your facts straight. I would've assumed a court such as this would not be so callow in the ways of the law. My plea stands."

The feind smiles, allowing full view of his hideous maw
"Your reward was to live, and by claiming your own life you spat in the face of Lord Dispater....and Asmodeus." he leans over his desk.
"Now you stand, alive before our eyes, after your soul was promised to Dispater. And yet you still hold onto it, little mortal....you have proven your guilt by breathing.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Hm. Wordy, that one. He approved deeply; a nice mixture of legalize and statements, just the kind of thing to keep one out of trouble.

Percius turns and looks at Richter, still content to play the fool, So we're in trial, then? For what? And can I get someone for this hangover? And I plead hungover and confused. Or innocent.

The Pit feind looks at you for a moment. And sighs.
"I do not have the time for a fool playing drunk." he waves a clawed hand,
""Take him away untill he decides to be co-opritive." The horned devil begins to march over.

[doliest]

Lord Percivial sighs, Fine. Fine, I'm sober. No need to introduce me to your...mens tender loving embraces. I plead innocent on the basis that I've done none of those things, and the prosecution is simply making things up.

Playing the fool would just get him tortured, then. Fine, different tactic. Play lawyer with them. Keep them occupied. Everyone would need time to wake up and be ready when the inevitable verdict came.

[veven]

Percius turns and looks at Richter, still content to play the fool, So we're in trial, then? For what? And can I get someone for this hangover? And I plead hungover and confused. Or innocent.

Richter, shocked that this man has only now seemed to regain his composure leans over and whispers, "We are accused of a host of misdeeds. It looks bleak but hold fast, we are not dead yet."








The feind smiles, allowing full view of his hideous maw
"Your reward was to live, and by claiming your own life you spat in the face of Lord Dispater....and Asmodeus." he leans over his desk.
"Now you stand, alive before our eyes, after your soul was promised to Dispater. And yet you still hold onto it, little mortal....you have proven your guilt by breathing.


"It appears as though your decision was made before the trail even began. This court is a mockery of the law. Throw me to the arena, I am content to move on to the next act in your pathetic little play."

This is getting out of hand...I need to reign myself in. Richter steels himself for his sentence. God, though your power be limited in this dark time, I pray to you for protection and strength.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis grinds his teeth but makes no sounds of protest as the skin is sewn onto his chest. He simply stares at the great diabolic judge with pure hatred in his eyes. Once the judge's attention is diverted, however, he slackens a bit; the muscles in his chest stop bulging, and the tightly sewn skin ceases pulling on his own skin, though it still looks quite painful.

He turns his head to face Cyrano for just a moment; in the poor lighting and hectic atmosphere of the room, his gesture would be lost. Laenis's glowing blue eyes, however, convey his single, purposeful wink very clearly. He turns back to face the judge with a strong, resolute expression on his face.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Lord Percivial sighs, Fine. Fine, I'm sober. No need to introduce me to your...mens tender loving embraces. I plead innocent on the basis that I've done none of those things, and the prosecution is simply making things up.

Playing the fool would just get him tortured, then. Fine, different tactic. Play lawyer with them. Keep them occupied. Everyone would need time to wake up and be ready when the inevitable verdict came.

"Innocent?" you sense the cynisisum in its voice.
"We have evidence you have activly been fighting and killing men and feinds loyal to Asmodeus, this makes you a murderer and a Rebel Percivial.
The Devil watches you carefully as he speaks

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen goes quiet. He'd been so out of touch with his own people that he hadn't even been notified of their taxation? How had this happened? The scum had gone too far - maybe his family would listen, and mobilize, now. You cannot tax Elves any more than you can tax beauty, or grace.

Yielthen balls his fists, trembling with rage.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Richter, shocked that this man has only now seemed to regain his composure leans over and whispers, "We are accused of a host of misdeeds. It looks bleak but hold fast, we are not dead yet."










"It appears as though your decision was made before the trail even began. This court is a mockery of the law. Throw me to the arena, I am content to move on to the next act in your pathetic little play."

This is getting out of hand...I need to reign myself in. Richter steels himself for his sentence. God, though your power be limited in this dark time, I pray to you for protection and strength.

The Pit feind smiles and raises his hammer
"GUILTY! RICHTER YOU ARE HEAR-BY SENTENCED TO AN HONORLESS DEATH! YOU WILL BE BOILED ALIVE IN MOLTEN IRON AND YOUR CORPSE DISPLAYED ON LORD DISPATERS WALLS!" His hammer smashes down and the crowd cheers, your chains lock you down and the imps appear, skin and needle in hand, powerless to resist they begin their dark work.

[doliest]

Lies! I demand to see this evidence, speak to these witnesses and face my accusers!

He was a coward, a thief, a noble, and a soldier. Funnily enough, none of them meant a thing here. At the end of the day, though, he was going to employ all those skills to keep doing what he needed to. He was afraid of death, and that propelled him forward. He had mastered lying, and so he would keep up a convincing front. He was a noble, so sounded unthreatening and entitled was in his blood, and he was going to kill as many of these things as possible, even if he could only kill their time.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Lies! I demand to see this evidence, speak to these witnesses and face my accusers!

He was a coward, a thief, a noble, and a soldier. Funnily enough, none of them meant a thing here. At the end of the day, though, he was going to employ all those skills to keep doing what he needed to. He was afraid of death, and that propelled him forward. He had mastered lying, and so he would keep up a convincing front. He was a noble, so sounded unthreatening and entitled was in his blood, and he was going to kill as many of these things as possible, even if he could only kill their time.

The Pit feind smiles and nods.
A bald feind with a black robe walks in holding your lance.....
The new Feind holds the weapon up, which is still covered in blood, and speaks a few words.
Suddenly a black mist flies up from the lance and swirls around the room forming images. An image of you appears, atop a horse backed by 5 men, Charging a group of feinds and rengades, killing two on the charge, the mists keep forming images showing you fighting devils. By the time the mists fade a few minutes later you see all the blood is gone.
"Those were the last images each and every Feind saw, just before this weapon claimed their lives.....this man killed them and the dead cannot lie." the Pit feind looks at you again, a dark gleen in his eye

[doliest]

I was under mind control at the time. Brainwashed by the filthy rebel scum, I assure you.

He wondered what had happened to his horse; it had been a very good horse. Not afraid of charging into slaying demons.

[darkillini]

looking at the preceding char realized regardless of what he said he would be marked again by devils this day, looking at his clawed hand he resigned to face what he had done once again. looking up he decides for the time being Infernal would be a fitting language for speaking of what damned him before. calmly he speaks in the devilish infernal tongue
"Possession of my soul? I thought more of you devils then that back in my past life. You seemed to know things back then. I'm sure you know the laws of what has happened to me by now, I;m sure you've seen others of my... race. My soul is not mine, to this day it remains chained to one of your kind. If you chose to make me a martyr because you could not wait for me to fail in redeeming myself for serving your kind once in killing elves, what chances do you think you've got at holding onto my soul then. And in the case that my soul is redeemed by martydom, would that not make you a thief of a soul, as the one who arranged my untimely redeption? Thus requiring you by your position to mark yourself and face the wrath of this Lord Dispater yourself. So come mark me guilty of having no say in what happens to my soul. but be ready to have your imps mark you as well. Char loved semblence of law, and hoped that the devil would have to face his own judgment for what he did here, if chars life meant that one more devil was removed from the world, he felt it was a justified use. having said his peace he sat calmly waiting for the fiendish coward to send his minions to do their work.

[Kaim_the_angel]

looking at the preceding char realized regardless of what he said he would be marked again by devils this day, looking at his clawed hand he resigned to face what he had done once again. looking up he decides for the time being Infernal would be a fitting language for speaking of what damned him before. calmly he speaks in the devilish infernal tongue
"Possession of my soul? I thought more of you devils then that back in my past life. You seemed to know things back then. I'm sure you know the laws of what has happened to me by now, I;m sure you've seen others of my... race. My soul is not mine, to this day it remains chained to one of your kind. If you chose to make me a martyr because you could not wait for me to fail in redeeming myself for serving your kind once in killing elves, what chances do you think you've got at holding onto my soul then. And in the case that my soul is redeemed by martydom, would that not make you a thief of a soul, as the one who arranged my untimely redeption? Thus requiring you by your position to mark yourself and face the wrath of this Lord Dispater yourself. So come mark me guilty of having no say in what happens to my soul. but be ready to have your imps mark you as well. Char loved semblence of law, and hoped that the devil would have to face his own judgment for what he did here, if chars life meant that one more devil was removed from the world, he felt it was a justified use. having said his peace he sat calmly waiting for the fiendish coward to send his minions to do their work.

The pit feind looks at you grinning.
"We have no intention of killing you Char...we shall give you the opertunity to fall to darkness again...to the arena with him" two Ice Devils apper before you, grasping your shoulders and preparing to march you off.

[darkillini]

devils, so predictible. say a fewthings about them having to face what they themselves hand out, and they become terrified of what may be. I will not turn, and you shall be forced to kill me. be prepared for your consequences, for you send me to this devil. Char grins looking directly back at the pit fiend. showing his first emotion as the ice demons come towards him. if your wondering the other hellbred over there is likely in the same situation I am, you might as well keep us together, double your chances of damnation yourself form your oh so precious lord. Or would it be halving them? well who can say with your fiendish ideas anyway sending us to two different fates, who knows maybe only one of us will net you a guilty verdict.

[chrisrawr]

"Arena?" Yielthen quails. "Locked in pens with vermin and worse, humans? I'll take the boiling lead!"

[tuesdayscoming]

Still staring at the pit fiend judge, Karrell considers the words of those around him.

The gnome, Cyrano, was of a quick wit, no doubt. Verbose, clever, bold. Useful in a pinch, but of the sort to crack quickly once the screws start turning...

Percivial was headstrong. A bit brash. A decent liar, but one who had trouble sticking to a story... A cavalryman of at least some skill; but what without a horse? Light willing, time will tell...

The other elf - Yielthen, was it? Not much to be said, really. Equal parts blind chauvinism and self-righteous indignation. Traits that plagued too many of their people, even after the fall. Old nobility, no doubt. Managed to hold on to just enough luxury to be able to turn a blind eye to the world as it is. Likely has some skill with a rapier or a bow, but will break easily and is useless when the situation calls for subtlety...

Again, the Azurin... Bold, strong. The type you want at your back when the fighting breaks out. If nothing else, you know he can swing a sword - and there's no doubt which way he'll swing it.

And the two hellbred. Seems every day you met more and more of these. No surprise, really. No lack of people willing to hand their families and friends to the devils for a chance to save their own skin. Haven't met one yet who seemed to deserve his second chance, though...

And the dragon. A beast of fire and rage. Unpredictable to say the least, but, if it's support could be gained, the beast might prove a valuable asset...

All in all, no shortage of muscle or mundane trickery. Still, he would be more at ease if there seemed to be another with talent for magic among them.

When the judge meets his gaze, Karrel finally replies to the accusation. His voice is flat, calm, but not without a hint of icy resolve. "Devil, I am familiar enough with your court proceedings to know that our presence means we are already guilty in your eyes. As such I will not waste your time with pleas or falsehoods. It is true that I and mine escaped from the Spire. Such was necessary so as to continue to thwart the goals of you and yours wherever we might. It is true that I have killed your kind. One for every elf to have fallen by my side. It is true that I have razed your structures, burnt your supplies, blighted your fields. Such is my duty and my pride.

These things all have I done, and for these things might I be convicted. But know that, for these things at least, I bear no guilt."

[veven]

Damn..stalwart defiance didn't work. Next time it's reverse psycology. This Char character is noble, I'll have to thank him when we get out of this.

"Char is right fiend, in condeming us you may ultimately grant us our redemption. Dispater would not smile too kindly at the thought of you letting not one, but TWO souls slip through your fingers. Especially ones that your kind were once so close to possessing."

Boiled in Iron...ugh. This better work

[Trodon]

"Arena? You would have me fight for you own amusement like a mere human?" He spits that last word out with disgust. "I refuse to play your game, I will be free if it's the last thing I do." After saying this Lieklie throws himself back and fourth, attempting to break his chains.



Strength check: [roll0]

[Kaim_the_angel]

The pit feind watches as Lieklie struggles to no avail within his chains a small grin on his face before he turns to the two defiant Hellbreds.
"Your argument is strong" he says "If we were to kill you there is a chance you may in fact be redeemed, so I supose there is only one thing I can do..." The pit feind points at the two " Release them! They will fall in there own time!" two ice devils look up in shock, but hop to there orders and begin to walk over.
As one reaches out to touch your manacles a roar of laughter goes up around the court house, from every single devil attending. The ICe Devil pulls away as it too laughs, a harsh sound at best.
The Pit feind risrs from his chair. "Foolish mortals! Do you not remember what happened to your precious god? Lord Asmodeus resides in heaven now!! SO redeem your selves if you can! You will only go to Asmodeus who will welcome you with open arms!" The whole court begins laughing again, and more imps appear before you
"THEY ARE ALL GUILTY! DO THE ACURSED HAVE ANY FINAL WORDS BEFORE SENTENCES ARE DECLARED!" The Pit Feind bears a wide smile, fire gouts from between its teeth.

[McStabbington]

Well great. Summary conviction, Cyrano thought sourly. Still, I had better say something. I don't want to find a sentence to rhyme with "And the gnome sat quietly while they stitched skin on him." He rose again to his feet on the chair.

"Your . . . honor, if you are going to pass sentence on this humble gnome, would you at least do me two courtesies. First, could I see the evidence that convicts me as you granted . . . Percivial. Second, could I at know a name of the one who convicts me?"

I show you courtesy now, fiend, but I promise you a day will come when the shoe is on the other foot. And on that day, I will have something to sew to your skin before I send you back to the abyss!

[Kaim_the_angel]

The Pit feind clicks his fingers and the same feind as before walks in, holding a mirror this time, rather than stoping in the center of the room he walks up to you and speaks a few words so quickly you cannot make themn out.
Suddenly an image appears in the mirror, you see yourself tied to a rack being interrogated by a feind, who repeatedly asks about the layout of the basitons inner defenses, of which you just shoot back insults and jests between screams of pain. After a minute of viewing the feind pulls the mirror away and places it within his robes, a forked tounge flicks from his lips and he hisses
"You are here at Lord Bel's Pleasure, as a prisoner of war"
The feind then steps away agin.
I wont post again untill evryone else has, give our beguiler freind a moment to catch up :smallbiggrin:

[Trodon]

"N-no." The dragons head drops. So this is what has become of me?

[darkillini]

seeing the dragon's head drop char says in it's direction. do not bow your head, you only let them win. They chain you because they fear you. Stay proud great beast. you will be free of them one day. we all will be. with that he straightens his back and stands tall. the jagged scar running down the center of his chest, and matched scar on his back visible to all. turning to the fiend I deny your right to judge me, and the mockery of justice which you have put forth today. One day you will learn what true lawful justice feels like. and on that day may GOD have mercy on your pitiful soul

[tuesdayscoming]

Still standing silent, Karrel glares at the judge.

Bastard won't even tell me which group I'm to be lumped into, arena or death. Makes it rather tricky to plot if I don't even know who I'm to be bound to...

"Hand down your sentences, devil."

He is caught off guard by the image he sees of the gnome being tortured - and, more specifically, resisting.

Perhaps I haven't given this one enough credit. I must be slipping... Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I've misread a companion...

[veven]

"Your argument is strong" he says "If we were to kill you there is a chance you may in fact be redeemed, so I supose there is only one thing I can do..." The pit feind points at the two " Release them! They will fall in there own time!"

Upon hearing these words Richter strains to suppress his visible surprise. What....there is no way it's that easy. Well good, now to break the others out.


"Foolish mortals! Do you not remember what happened to your precious god? Lord Asmodeus resides in heaven now!! SO redeem your selves if you can! You will only go to Asmodeus who will welcome you with open arms!" The whole court begins laughing again, and more imps appear before you
"THEY ARE ALL GUILTY! DO THE ACURSED HAVE ANY FINAL WORDS BEFORE SENTENCES ARE DECLARED!" The Pit Feind bears a wide smile, fire gouts from between its teeth.

Of course. Idiot, it's never that easy. These creatures killed you once before, deserving though you were. They'll gladly do it again.

Richter looks at Karrel as he speaks and stands in silent agreement, awaiting the judgement of the fiend.

[Kaim_the_angel]

seeing the dragon's head drop char says in it's direction. do not bow your head, you only let them win. They chain you because they fear you. Stay proud great beast. you will be free of them one day. we all will be. with that he straightens his back and stands tall. the jagged scar running down the center of his chest, and matched scar on his back visible to all. turning to the fiend I deny your right to judge me, and the mockery of justice which you have put forth today. One day you will learn what true lawful justice feels like. and on that day may GOD have mercy on your pitiful soul

At the mere mention of God the court room again bursts into laughter, the Pit Feind joins in for a moment before shouting out again, As he shouts the imps leap onto those without the markers and begin sowing.
"LIEKLIE: GUILTY, CONDEMED TO FIGHT IN THE ARENA UNTILL HIS SOUL IS SPENT!
CYRANO: GUILTY, CONDEMNED TO FIGHT IN LORD BEL'S ARMY AS A SLAVE UNTILL DEATH CLAIMS YOU!
KARREL: GUILTY, CONDEMNED TO PUBLIC EXICUTION!
CHAR: GUILTY, CONDEMNED TO FIGHT IN THE ARENA UNTILL HIS SOUL IS SPENT!
RICHTER: GUILTY, CONDEMNED TO BE BOILED IN IRON AND DISPLAYED ON DISPATERS PALACE
JACK: GUILTY, CONDEMNED TO BE THROWN INTO THE MAGGOT PITS TO BE SLAUGHTERED BY THOSE HE ATTEMPTED TO SLAY!
LAENIS: GULITY, DEATH BY PUBLIC EXECUTION!
YEILTHEN: GUILTY, CONDEMNED TO FIGHT IN THE ARENA UNTILL HIS SOUL IS SPENT! MAKE SURE HE IS KEPT WITH THE HUMANS!
PERCIVIAL: GUILTY, DEATH BY PUBLIC EXECUTION!
LET JUSTICE BE DONE!

The whole court is cheering now, the guards move up to take you all away as the imps tear away from your newly "tattooed" bodies.
Final actions chaps, make em count :)

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis closes his eyes, takes a breath, and begins straining against his chains will all his might. He doesn't have long to break them, but he sets his strong jaw firmly and forces the chains hard enough to make the chains creak and twist. As he strains he calls out in a clarion voice. "If I die, filth, I shall return with an angelic army at my back to destroy you. You will be purged from this world, foul beasts, and I intend to aid that great purging." As hard as he tries, however, the disconnection between himself and his usual source of power has weakened him too much to shatter the hard metal.

I believe he has time for two or three Strength checks. I hope he gets lucky.

DC 20: [roll0] [roll1] [roll2]

EDIT- Damn. It was a long shot, but it was there.

[veven]

The reality of the situation sets in as Richter watches Laenis struggle against his chains.
This is it.

Richter utters a quick, short prayer and begins to struggle against his own chains.

Not sure how many strength checks I have time for so I'll just roll a handful
DC 20
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]


damn..so close. Also, I accidentally deleted my last roll, it was a 16.


He is unable to break their hold on him.
Would they melt these chains with me? Perhaps I'll have a small window with which to act

[McStabbington]

Cyrano leaps to the table just ahead of the imps. "Your honor, if a humble gnome such as myself is good enough for Bel's armies, surely these mighty warriors", he says, gesturing emphatically at Laenis, Percivial and Karrel, "are even better. And since they got here for fighting against you, what better punishment than making them fight for you? By handing them over to Bel, you hurt them, he yelled while kicking as the imps clawed at him to yank him off the table, help the forces of Hell, and put this Bel in your debt. Think of the gain!"

[Trodon]

Lieklie thrashes his body against the chains, trying to break free again.



Strength rolls again! (I don't know how many to do...)
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[tuesdayscoming]

Hearing his sentence, Karrel breathes out a long breath, closing his eyes. Damn. The arena would have given me more time to think. Now I can only hope for a few days in a holding cell to escape these chains...

Opening his eyes once more, he draws his breath back in, steeling his nerves. If there was one thing the Spire had taught him it was to never show these devils any sign of distress.

He stands silent once more, but the gnome's outburst does draw his eyes. Clever, gnome. The judge will never submit to such an appeal, regardless of the potential personal gains - at least, not out in the open. Still, this could just buy us a bit of time...

[Kaim_the_angel]

Cyrano leaps to the table just ahead of the imps. "Your honor, if a humble gnome such as myself is good enough for Bel's armies, surely these mighty warriors", he says, gesturing emphatically at Laenis, Percivial and Karrel, "are even better. And since they got here for fighting against you, what better punishment than making them fight for you? By handing them over to Bel, you hurt them, he yelled while kicking as the imps clawed at him to yank him off the table, help the forces of Hell, and put this Bel in your debt. Think of the gain!"

The pit dwindling merely laughs you off

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen's only words are maddened gibberings, hateful curses, and tasteless threats, as he's carted off to who knows where, with humans! "YOUR MERCY WILL BE YOUR DOWNFALL! YOUR MISTAKES WILL HAUNT YOUR FEET AND YOUR DREAMS WILL RUN RED WITH YOUR HEART'S BLOOD! NONE OF YOU WILL LIVE TO HAVE BUT REGRET FOR THIS DAYYYYYYYYY!"

[doliest]

Lord Percivial sighs; he'd had this great arguement to confound them and waste their time, and, with some luck, trick them into letting him go while they're brains tried to process the information. Actually, there was a chance he could still...yes, yes!

Your honour, I use my words to say this, and only this-I(and likely several people here) are not guilty...because you are guilty! I knew I recognized your countenance; you were the one who mindcontrolled me into attacking loyal soldiers!
Bluff Check
[roll0]

[Kaim_the_angel]

Lord Percivial sighs; he'd had this great arguement to confound them and waste their time, and, with some luck, trick them into letting him go while they're brains tried to process the information. Actually, there was a chance he could still...yes, yes!

Your honour, I use my words to say this, and only this-I(and likely several people here) are not guilty...because you are guilty! I knew I recognized your countenance; you were the one who mindcontrolled me into attacking loyal soldiers!
Bluff Check
[roll0]
The pit feind laughs again and walks over to you, he clearly sees through your lie, "if that's your defense, were is your evidence?" he lowers his head to your level to look you in the eyes

[doliest]

Pity; he'd put a lot of conviction into that statement-he'd really thought he'd been on a roll there for a moment, well...he'd just need to come up with a good counter, Evidence!? Is it not the prosecutions job to provide evidence!? I demand he show proof that he did NOT mind control me into performing those actions! So!? Where were you!? He was soon for death anyway; not like lying was going to dig him any deeper.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Pity; he'd put a lot of conviction into that statement-he'd really thought he'd been on a roll there for a moment, well...he'd just need to come up with a good counter, Evidence!? Is it not the prosecutions job to provide evidence!? I demand he show proof that he did NOT mind control me into performing those actions! So!? Where were you!? He was soon for death anyway; not like lying was going to dig him any deeper.

The Robed feind steps foward again, and opens his hand toward the pit feind, who, begrudgingly hands his hammer over.
The robed feind holds up the hammer and speaks the same words as before, the black mist flowed from the hammer producing images that fade and reappear with startiling speed, each image shows either the court room or a group of feinds, after the images fade the robed feind passes the hammer back.
"Lord Xicoracz has never seen this human before, the courts magic does not lie."
With that the Pit feind looks back at you
"You lose human.....take them away."

[darkillini]

hmm Lord Xicoracz where have i heard that name before?? char thinks to himself. is there anything we can use.. shifting through his memory, and what flashes he can remember of his previous life.
knowledge religion [roll0]
knowledge arcana [roll1]

[veven]

Richter's mind is running at full speed. He needs to get in that arena.

I doubt I can convince him to change my sentence now...although pretty much anything is better than being melted and turned into a fiend's conversation piece.

He scans the other prisoners as they make their last arguments.

I need to get with Char, I'm sure he'll trust me more than the others will. OK Richter, this is probably your last chance.

Richter speaks loudly to the judge and musters up something sounding like respect although for this creature he has less than none.

" Imagine the pleasure derived from watching two damned souls, hopelessly fighting for redemption. Against each other! The irony would be delicious, I'm sure. Throw me to the arena, if I lose, cast my body in Iron and do with it as you please. Hell, if I win cast my body in iron! Surely you'll want to get as much pleasure out of my suffering as possible. This way you get to watch me fight for my life even though I'm already bound to lose it and I get more time to plan my escape, even though we both know such a thing is impossible. Consider it."

Diplomacy check to convince the fiend that this would be a good idea: [roll0]

[McStabbington]

Cyrano's heart fell when he heard the laughter of the gallery. Damn you. I could have saved them if you had just let me! He gathered the chains up in his hand, using it as a makeshift club to swat at the imps that were clawing at him. He danced down the table, trying to stay ahead of them. Well, there's nothing for it, unfortunately. I can't save them. I can only save myself. Being shipped off to fight as a grunt in the ranks of Hell was not an immediate death sentence, but it was unappealing enough. Being a slave sounded even worse; somehow Cyrano doubted his commander would be amenable to suggestions that would allow him to, conveniently enough, stay alive. For some reason I can't think of any stories he thought as a swing with his chain caused an imp to lose his balance and fall off the table, but I still remember the name. The Blood War.

His musing was cut off by one of the burn victims pleading for his life. Richter, he thought he remembered the name. The man was asking, nay, begging for the chance to be placed in the arena. Better late than never on sensible arguing. . . he thought as two imps jumped on him to try and hold him down so a third could stitch the skin onto him. A quick roll threw one imp off his legs, while the other landed solidly beneath him. An elbow later for good measure, and the imp released his hold. If I have to go anywhere, it strikes me that the arena is best. He made his move.

Doing his best to careen past the row of prisoners, some of whom were sitting while others stood next to the table, he dodged, juked and jived to the end of the table, where the pit fiend was taking back his sceptre after speaking with Percivial.

Tumble check: +8 bonus because there are no armor check penalties.
[roll0]

Getting as close to the pit fiend as he dared, Cyrano went for one last gamble. "The burned man raises a good point, your Honor. While it is, with all due respect, improper to convict a man of withholding information when his torturer was incompetent, I do confess that in my last life, I was but a poor court fool. So poor that many a man has said how much he wished to see a bugbear brain me, a feeling which a devoted servant of law must share for seeing the poor jests I have used in your court room. Consider then, how rewarding it would be to see me fight in the arena! Imagine how entertaining it would be to see a gnome tossed and torn, knowing that you put him there! With that, the imps managed to dogpile him onto the table.

Diplomacy roll:
[roll1]

[Kaim_the_angel]

The pit feind is done listening now, even as you speak he begins to walk away waving to have you all rechained, which is promptly done.
Now you all stand chainEd together, each marked for death and facing the end
"Take the scum away." the pit feind says as the crowd begins baying for your blood, the Pit feind turns and opens his mouth as if to address you when suddenly the main doors burst open and six figures march in.
The six of them all dress similarly, black robes adorn them which is worn below dull breastplate, metal gauntlets and light amounts of chainmail. Each one carries a different weapon on their belts but a similar oversized executioners blade on their backs. They all have ragged hoods up covering their faces, but the figure at the front captures the most attention, he stands almost a foot taller than the others and his hood is down, showing his lOng shaggy hair and glaring red eyes, his pointed ears show him as an elf, bit his muscular stature would say overwise. A metal mask hides his lower face. He seems to only be carrying the executioners sword, but in his hand is clasped a scroll.
The pit feind seems surprised to see the men, but as they cross the room the Feind seems to become more at ease, in fact he smiles.
"The head of the executioners? Here?" he chuckles and turns to you,
"you are honoree" he laughs, you see as the exicutioners walk up to you, and then Past you....
The pit feind looks in confusion as the lead figure moves up to him and raises his hand allowing the scroll to open.
The feind looks at the elf, who nods his head towards the scroll. The feind looks down at it, and begins reading. the whole court is in silence, watching the executioners in the room, who stand silently.

[doliest]

Lord Percivial watched the others with something like shame; they either faced death with dignity or came up with better lies than he did-admittedly, only the second one rankled him. If those sods could face death calmly, then they were crazy or stupid. Now, the one arguing for the arena? Fine chap, if they somehow survived all this, he was going to like him. He sighed; well, time to hear what was to be said.

[tuesdayscoming]

Karrell must work to hold in his surprise as the executioners burst in. An ELF? There's something wrong with him, certainly - the eyes, the girth - but an elf nonetheless...

When the judge refers to the leader of the hooded newcomers by his title, Head Executioner, Karrell cannot stop himself from gasping - albeit quietly.

Why would they send him here for us?

Frantically, he wracks his brain for any knowledge on the imposing figure he now finds before him.

Not sure what this calls for, so I'll roll them all. Note that Karrell has at least one rank in all knowledge skills (that I am aware of, at least)
Religion: [roll0]
Arcana: [roll1]
Planes: [roll2]
All others: [roll3]

[Trodon]

Lieklie's shows confusion, then concentration as he tries to remember anything he might have learned about these executioners.


Knowledge: (The Plains) [roll0]

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen calls out to the newcomers, a frantic hope rising in his chest. The obvious deformities lost on him, he sees only an Elven procession "HELP!" He shouts, "FREE ME AND WE'LL FLEE! THEY CANNOT HOLD US HERE!"

[darkillini]

"HELP! FREE ME AND WE'LL FLEE! THEY CANNOT HOLD US HERE!"
seeing the elf on verge of hysterics Char shakes his head, for he remembered the elves as having been calculating, intelligent, elegant foes in the war, this one seemed to have no grasp on keeping a cool head about him in a bad situation. he hoped that this wasn't what all the elves had been reduced to as a result of his previous races actions.

looking at the situation again, with disfigured elves in the room. apparently some elves also made the mistake of allying with devils.. maybe this hot headedness is a desired alternative to what may have occurred with the elves. he thought to himself.

[Kaim_the_angel]

From what any of you can remember the order of executioners is a feared orginozation that is available for hire by the most powerful creatures in Terran, other than that not a lot is known about them, no one knows were they came from,'what their true motives are or why they do what they do. But they are feared for a reason

[veven]

Richter awaits with baited breath.

What in God's name could this be?

He searches his mind for any knowledge of these strange elven-looking creatures

Knowledge:The Planes [roll0]

[Kaim_the_angel]

Richter awaits with baited breath.

What in God's name could this be?

He searches his mind for any knowledge of these strange elven-looking creatures

Knowledge:The Planes [roll0]

The Exicutioners are definatly of this world, although many people claim they have powers which are...not of this world.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Xicoracz finishes reading, he pulls his head back and looks at the elf in shockz then.over at you, then back to the scroll.
"This can't be right" he wisphers "this must be some sort of trick! he shouts, lowering down to the executoners hight "WHO SENT YOU!!" spittle flies into the elfs face, who calmly lowers the scroll and replies in a cold voice.
"Lord Dispater" the executioner locks eyes with Xicoracz, who in turn takes a sudden step backwards, as if scared.
The devil quickly regains some of his composure, he then speaks softly
"Release them...." the horned devil looks at him for a moment in confusion
"RELEASE THEM!!" Xicoracz bellows across the room, the horned devil leaps backwards at the command and turns to release you all.
The executioner turns to watch as you are released, in that moment you see a smile play on the feinds lips behind the executioners back.
Suddenly he raises his hammer above his head, screaming in defiance
"THEY ARE MINE!!! MINE EXECUTIONER MINE!!!!!" Xicoracz brings his hammer swinging down towards the Executioner.
What happened next happens in the space of four seconds.
As the hammer swung down the Executioner was already in motion. The executioners blade flashed from its sheath and around in a single bloody arc, first connecting with and tearing through Xicoracz's arm at the elbow, before the arm even hit the ground the blade had reached his neck....decapitating Xicoracz in a single fluid motion. The Robed Feind lept from the shadows, a bolt of magical energy shot from its out streched hand at the lead executioner, who, still riding the momentum from his swing, span in a wide circle allowing the bolt to fly past him and impact into Xicoracz's corpse, causing it to fall bakcwards. The executioner then launched a conceleald dagger from his free hand, which found its mark within the folds of the robes of the now dead feind. The Head Executioner then stops in place and recomposes himself, sheathing his main blade, as he does Xicoracz's head hits the floor, his face twisted in anger and pain as it rolls across the floor to your feet.
The whole room stands on shocked silence.

[veven]

The hellbred remains entirely silent as he watches the Pit Fiend's head tumble across the floor leaving a bloody trail behind it.

Lord Dispater sent them. This is not good. Boiled in Iron is starting not to look so bad.

He glances over at Kerrel to see his reaction to this startling turn of events.

[tuesdayscoming]

Karrell smirks as he is released, and chuckles to himself when he learns that it was Dispater's will that had saved them. Not that I enjoy being at the mercy of a devil, but it is good to be reminded that the enemy is not of a single mind. In-fighting between the Nine... Perhaps it could be used to our advantage...

"Executioner," he calls out as the red-eyed elf sheathes his blade. "Why would the iron city of Dis take interest in us. It is, apparently, no secret that each of us opposes the Hells in his own way. Why snatch the enemy out from the fire?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

Karrell smirks as he is released, and chuckles to himself when he learns that it was Dispater's will that had saved them. Not that I enjoy being at the mercy of a devil, but it is good to be reminded that the enemy is not of a single mind. In-fighting between the Nine... Perhaps it could be used to our advantage...

"Executioner," he calls out as the red-eyed elf sheathes his blade. "Why would the iron city of Dis take interest in us. It is, apparently, no secret that each of us opposes the Hells in his own way. Why snatch the enemy out from the fire?"

The elf eyes you
"Silence yourself" he mutters as you see an imp scuttle across the floor towards the scroll which now lies on the floor dripping in blood.
Murmurs begin growing In the crowd.

[RaggedAngel]

The chains fall away from Laenis, and there is a brilliant blast of light and energy. For a moment he is totally blocked out by a blazing white light, light more pure and clean than anything the vile courtroom had ever seen.

When the light fades, he stands there not transformed, but empowered. His head is now sheathed in a glittering crystal helm, and faint motes of light fall from the helm down across his body. His legs below his knees are now a bright blue color, the same piercing blue as his eyes. His hands are now tightly bound in powerful gauntlets, and crackling sparks flash between them.

He smiles broadly, and holds up his right hand. There is another blazing flash of light, and then a massive longsword appears in his hand. The oversized weapon is made of a strange gold metal, and as you watch the electric power of his gauntlets fuses with the blade. The blade itself glows with a faint blue light, and it is clearly magical.

Laenis seems to focus for a moment, and the blade dims a bit. He then steps into the air, moving quickly over the heads of the people below. He touches down next to the executioner, who he looks at with interest.

"If you've come to take us away I offer my thanks. However, I'm not sure that I wish to be brought to another devil quite yet. That said, I'm only in a decent position to argue, and you are clearly stronger than I am. How can I help you get us all out of here?"

Swift action to transfer 3 essentia from his sword to his airstep sandles. Double move to the elf.

[Kaim_the_angel]

The elf looks at you, unimpressed he raises an open hand to your chest, placing it gently on the verdict stitched into your flesh.
The murmurs turn to clear voices.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis's blade begins to glow more brightly as the man reaches for him, but other than than he does not react. He closes his eyes for a moment, however, and when he reopens them they glow with a stronger blue light than before. "Tell me, sir elf, what should I call you? I am Laenis, an incarnate of Good." Laenis reaches for the skin on his chest and he attempts to tear it off.

Detect Evil on the elf.

[Kaim_the_angel]

As you look into the elfs eyes you see a dark void, you detect no bend of good or evil on his soul, but it's irrelevant as he replies
"YOu don't, you leave in chains like the others." its at that moment he releases his hand and the wording on your chest burns brightly for a second, before you can react the chains fly across the room and relatch onto you, your blade and helm instantly disappear
"Back in line" he mutters.
The voices become raised.
Ragged please do a spot check.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Finally one of the fiends call out
HE KILLED THE JUDGE! TRATOR!!" another screams imposter! More cries go out as fiends begin to climb over the stands towards the executioners, another cry of traitor goes out, you see a fiend pick up the scoop and proclaim it a forgery, many of them draw weapons. Approximately 40 devils now march towards the executioners.
The head turns to laenis "out the way you came, 100 paces forward the 75 right a carriage waits for you, your equipment is there, the chains stay on. with that he turns a draws his blade, the tide of devils stops for a moment as he does, but quickly begin to surge again, the head watches calmly.
"blood and souls brothers." the other executioners then step forward and draw their weapons, then like bats outta hell they charge into the fray.

[McStabbington]

Cyrano knew better than to look a gift pony in the mouth. I don't know why Dispater is saving me from Bel, but it keeps us all alive. Good enough for now. "Go!" he shouts to the burned man who was now in front of him. Need to make sure these guys don't stand around."We can't help them in chains. Just don't drag me!" He shoulders forward, his legs already pistoning, trying to drive Char out the door.

[tuesdayscoming]

"Move!" Karrell shouts. "We must not be swept up in this tide!"

As they exit, Karrell will attempt to survey their surroundings, and will begin formulating a possible escape plan. {OOC: Not having seen the wink,} he is anxious to be reunited with his spellbook, but has no intention whatsoever of going along blindly with these men claim to serve the lord of the second layer and who put him back in chains.

[doliest]

Lord Percivial frankly doesn't care who saved him, simply that he has forstalled the noose; he still had so very much to do and so very little time; ending that time permaturely would put an even greater strain on his schedule.

Indeed, let us leave this place, as quickly as possible!

[veven]

Richter swiftly follows Karrel and remains behind him as the group rushes towards the door.

My crimes were against Dispater....this may be a stroke of luck for the others but I seriously doubt this will end well for me.

He speaks not a word but follows his old commander as he once did. He feels a small pride but it is tempered with a deep feeling of shame and regret.

How could I ever have betrayed this man? All for such absurd reasons as well. I deserve damnnation.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis isn't happy about the chains, but he follows the others as quickly as he can, dodging the imps and devils of the place. "The halfling is right, we need to get out of here! We'll deal with these thrice-damned chains when we're out." He moves quickly, counting out first 100 then 75 paces.

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen is swept along in the charge toward the carriage, laughing and clapping as best he can at the style and grace of the Elven Executioner. "Dawn Cleaves the Blossom... Magnificent! Or was it Swiftly Through a River? I never was good at bladeforms..."

[darkillini]

Char goes along with the rest, waiting to see everyone was able to make it since his chains had been seperated from the rest when he was hurled across the room. Turning to the dragon he shouts comon great one, squeeze in behind us, and follow us out. then turns and runs after the others.

[Kaim_the_angel]

You all speed down the street running as fast as possible, you hit he 100 paces mark and go to turn the corner when you see two bearded devils blocking your path, they laugh as they see you lowering their tridents as they do, behind then you can make out the shape of a large carriage.

[Kaim_the_angel]

You all speed down the street running as fast as possible, you hit he 100 paces mark and go to turn the corner when you see two bearded devils blocking your path, they laugh as they see you lowering their tridents as they do, behind then you can make out the shape of a large carriage.

[darkillini]

great.. more devils to bar our path to freedom. lets see if we can do anything about it this time. as he quickly struggles with his chains, trying to invoke the devil's own luck in the endeavor at the same time.

escape artist check [roll0] includes the +2 from devil's favor ability.

[veven]

Upon seeing the devils Richter immediately tries to break free of his chains again.


[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Kaim_the_angel]

The chains refuse to give way, time to be inventive

[tuesdayscoming]

Putting on his best 'holy god I'm terrified' face, Karrell screams out, seemingly frantic:

"An army of Solars in the courtroom! For the love of Asmodeus, run for your lives!!!!

Bluff
[roll0]

[Kaim_the_angel]

The bearded devils simply laugh and prepare their weapons

[darkillini]

turning to the crafty gnome in the bunch char whispersyou mind telling them about our big friend back here, that wed hate to lose on them? they might believe you. if it don't work I'm charging the one on the left, someone take the one on the right, and the rest should probably run then.

[chrisrawr]

Sobering slightly, Yielthen turns to the devils. "Run through, to the carriage! Drag whoever they grab. They can't hold us back!"

[darkillini]

seeing the impatient elf char turns back to the devil's
in infernal he says to them you can see were slaves, we've been marked as such, yet currently we have a dragon with us who we were told to take and chain to the carriage, for transport to the armies, if you don't let us pass id hate for it to get loose in this hall way. who knows what could happen. and gets ready to throw himself at them if they decide to ignore the dragon remarks.

[McStabbington]

Cyrano's legs were starting to ache. While 100 yards wasn't particularly far and the chains weren't hampering his movement as much as the larger elves and men, his stride was smaller and he had to keep effectively double the number of strides he took in order to keep Char, who was in front of him, from yanking him off his feet with the leg chains. The strain was beginning to tell. Need to add some running into my fitness regimen, he thought to himself.

Suddenly Char's head turned, and the burned man spoke to him:


you mind telling them about our big friend back here, that wed hate to lose on them? they might believe you. if it don't work I'm charging the one on the left, someone take the one on the right, and the rest should probably run then.

Cyrano drifted to Char's left as much as he could to see what he was talking about. The sight of two more devils with tridents blocking the way struck him like a punch in the solar plexus. Cyrano shouted the first thing that came to mind: "Let us pass, or answer to Lord Dispater for injuring his property!" Half of him was more or less shocked at what just came out of his mouth. If they're going to claim that right, might as well take advantage of it, retorted his more cynical half.

Since I don't really think Cyrano believes this, I'm treating this as a bluff rule. If you think it's accurate enough to treat as a Diplomacy roll, just subtract one from the roll.

1d20+8

Oh, for the love of Mike, you can't even fix an improper HTML job! Check the OOC for my bluff roll.

[veven]

Richter tries to shuffle through the chains to the front of the group, so as to make sure he is in full view of the two devils.

"The executioners are here. They have slain your lord Xicoracz with one blow and are now slaughtering the horde of devils within the courtroom. If you do not turn and leave immediately they will soon be upon you like a swarm of buzzards on rotting carrion. Go now, while you still have the chance to live."

Intimidate check: [roll0]

[Trodon]

Lieklie follows everyone and stops 10ft away from the devils.

"We don't have time for this!"

He bursts out in to thrashing claws, teeth, tail, and wings.


Attacking devil #1, if he should die while attacking the other one will be attacked.

Claw 1: [roll0]
Claw 2: [roll1]
Bite: [roll2]
Wing 1: [roll3]
Wing 2: [roll4]
Tail: [roll5]

Damage
Claw 1: [roll6]
Claw 2: [roll7]
Bite: [roll8]
Wing 1: [roll9]
Wing 2: [roll10]
Tail: [roll11]

[darkillini]

seeing the dragon lunge for one of the devils char tumbles and dives towards the other, attempting to trip the fiend, and follow up by bashing it.

tumble to avoid AOOs dc15 [roll0]
touch attack [roll1]
trip str roll [roll2]

[veven]

Knowing he cannot contribute much without his weapons or abilities Richter simply tries his best to keep up with what ever direction the chains are tugged in.

[McStabbington]

Cyrano's jaw nearly falls off as the dragon barrels past, nearly knocking him over, and jumping on one of the devils. Any quips he might have come up with, however, were quickly snatched away as Char, the man in front of him, nearly ripped him off his feet while rushing at the other devil. Aemon's underpants, are they insane?!, was the closest approximation to a coherent thought he could manage for a long moment.

Still, Cyrano knew an attack approach when he saw it, and he knew once committed, the group would have to fight. Best to do what you can to help, he thought as his balance recovered and he (barely) managed to match speeds with the much stronger man in front of him. When Char dove low, and when his leg knifed in between the devil's, the gnome did his best to help the man drive the devil off his feet, by trying to wrap his feet behind the devil's heel.

Tumble roll: [roll0]
Aid another roll (raw roll, unmodified by size and attack modifiers): [roll1]
Initiative: [roll2]

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen had always appreciated dragons. Elves were descended from them, you know.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Lieklie falls on the devil, its trident snapping against the dragon bearing down on him. Lieklie snaps the feind up in his teeth slamming his teeth through its body, allowing the two halves to drop lifelessly to the ground. The second devil looks on in abject horror as he narrowly avoids a similar fate, allowing Char to catch him completly unaware. Char sprints up and slides under the Bearded devils legs, a tridents swings by his head as he kicks one of te Devils legs out from under him, Char is already up and running by the time the feind hits the floor. Giving the creature no Time to recover Cyrano runs past with the others, delivering a sharp kick to the feinds ribcage causing it to roll acorss the ground towards Lieklie.
The Feind has enough time to look into the dragons eyes as it brings a large clawed foot down on its head, Lieklie scrapes the mess from his heel and continues on.
The carraige is now in sight, its large enough to fit you all (execpt Lieklie) and a horse (that lord Percival instantly recognises as his own) stands close to it, you see no driver however.
\Listen check from everyone please.

[doliest]

Lord Percivial runs up to the horse, petting it lovingly on the head, Crazy! Alright, fellow fugatives from demonic incompetence, it's time to ride into the sunset; I'm driving! He slides easily onto the horse; not only had he forstalled the noose, he'd gotten Crazy back! Lovely day overall.

Listen

[roll0]

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis, too, has a horse waiting for him. It was a light warhorse, strong and sturdy, and it greeted him with affection. He turns to the others, and begins struggleing with his chains. "If anyone can help me out of these, I can help protect you. Once they are off my soulmelds will return to me, and they represent the majority of my power."

As soon as he has spoken, however, he finally manages to give the chains an almighty jerk, and they fly off of him, shattered. There is an explosion of white light, and then he stands before you fully armed. His chest is still bare of armor, however, but he grabs his heavy steel shield off of his horse and puts it on.

He steps up into the air, moving quickly, and calls out to the others. "Let us ride, friends, and get away from these thrice-damned devils. If any of you would like to use my horse while we flee, I will not mind. I do not see the need to wait for the executioners; if they wish to catch us, then they will. We are only exposing ourselves to danger here."More Strength checks!

[roll0] [roll1] [roll2]

[McStabbington]

Cyrano blinked away as the blue-eyed man burst his chains and exploded into light. When his vision cleared, the man was again in full armor. I'm going to have to ask how he manages that, he thought idly to himself. No time to waste. The men seemed momentarily confused. "Quick, find a small box on my belt and then into the carriage! With a bit of luck, I can slip your chains!" With that, he struggled to pop the door on the carriage to check inside for his gear. The sword elf said our gear would be with the carriage.


Listen check: [roll0]

Once he pops the door open, Cyrano will make a spot check for his gear. He's looking for his masterwork thieves tools.
Spot Check: [roll1]

[darkillini]

Char making sure every one is inside the caridge, and checking to see noone else is following them.

Assuming noone he notices, he will jump in aswell as begin struggleing with his chains again.

listen [roll0]
escape artist [roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

After a few moments he finaly manages to slip out of the restraints. Again feeling the warm glow wellup inside of him which the light provided him. At the same time the cracks in the skin caused by the twisting into clawed shapes were again filled by the goldish color he was used to seeing on them.

[Kaim_the_angel]

As you open the door the first thing you see is your equipment, neatly laid out in piles for each of you.
The second you move towards it you hear a high pitched scream, turning your eyes up you see two Erinyes speeding towards your location
"THERE THEY ARE!" one screams as she produces a longbow and notches an arrow.

[tuesdayscoming]

As he snatches up his spellbook and component pouch, Karrell's eyes dart back and forth, searching for his old companion - the hummingbird Tieret. Karrell, pursing his lips together, lets out a quiet, chirruping whistle, attempting to draw Tieret out of wherever he was (hopefully) hiding.

When he hears the screech of the Erinyes, his eyes dart up to the sky, counting their number before he leaps into the cab. Finding the pile that, judging by the size of the equipment, could only belong to the gnome, Cyrano, he grabs up the belt, tosses it to the talkative gnome and shouts "Anyone not in fighting condition, up in the cab! Let's get these chains off and get back in the fray!"

Escape Artist: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1] (Don't know if you still needed that, but there it is.

[veven]

As he hears the screeches of the quickly approaching devils Richter begins to struggle with his chains once more.

They have to break eventually, I cannot just be useless throughout this entire ordeal

Can someone help me get these off?


[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]


Richter's muscles twitch and vibrate as he pulls against the accursed chains. He summons all his strength and the chains begin to give, finally snapping in the middle. He breathes heavily and starts searching the cart for his gear.

No time to put my breastplate on...this is not good.

He slips on his spiked gauntlets, his fierce battle mask, Masterwork intimidate tool grabs his exquisitely crafted glaive and readies himself for battle.

Maneuvers granted: Mountain Hammer, Vanguard Strike

He turns to Karrel and says,"Should I aid you with the chains or fight with the others?"

[tuesdayscoming]

Realizing that he will never be able to wriggle free from the chains, Karrell begins struggling with all his might to burst them. Straining against the chains, he answers Richter in a series of grunts.

"If I am freed, I can help the others take to the skies. Do you think you can break my chains? If not, get out and fight! Take my bow if you need to!"

Strength check
[roll0]

[McStabbington]

Cyrano grabs the belt with both hands and jumps into the cab, wriggling on his belly to get his legs in. Sliding past Karrel, he flips over and slides his legs around as much as he can to let the others in. He checks his bindings. No! No locking mechanism. He couldn't pick either himself or his fellow prisoners loose. "There's no lock! I can't open your chains! You'll have to burst or slip them!"

I can't help them, at least not until I'm free. . . Too bad these aren't ropes. I'm really good with ropes . . .


Cyrano is going to attempt to slip his chains with escape artist until he can get free.

Attempt 1: [roll0]

[Kaim_the_angel]

As the enrinyes get closer you see something dart across a rooftop and leap towards one of the flying devils.
The head executioner speeds through the air, blind-siding the first of them, his hands outstretch and he grabs hold of the creatures wings, the two of them barrel towards the ground, blood spurts up as he rips one of the creatures wings off with his bere hands.
As you watch on you here a voice behind you
"you had to break the chains didn't you, why couldn't you listen to a simple order?"

[veven]

Before he sees the executioner leap through the air Richter instructs Karrel to spread his chains as wide as he can. He steps back and strikes the chain with his glaive.


Using Moutain Hammer (automatically overcomes hardness, +2d6 damage)
To hit:
[roll0]
Damage:
[roll1]+
[roll2]

18 damage to the chains, overcoming hardness.


After hearing the cold voice behind him Richter replies,"Because I am not the type to sit idly by and let other people save my life."

[Kaim_the_angel]

As you bring your glaive down a white gloved hand darts before you and knocks the blade away, not making you drop the weapon, but making you miss, you look up to see a human in his forties with tied back black hair and the garb of what would appear to be a manservant, he smiles warmly at you when you look up.
"The chains are hiding your presence by dampening your magical essence, by taking them off you are blaring our location to every devil in the city."
he lowers his hand and bows deeply,
"Osuma, butler to the Veari family at your service sir." he raises his head and gestures to the carriage
"Everyone inside please" he smiles and holds the door open for all.

[darkillini]

I wish to thank you for your assistance in this, however as for the chains, I would prefer not to wear them again, would it be sufficient to merely hold onto the ones i slipped out of to hide a presence? asks char in a careful even calm voice. he wasn't quite sure what to make of this butler who seemed so calm surrounded by devils. also he realized he didn't like the idea of not feeling the presence of the light within him again so soon.

[chrisrawr]

"Well then", Yielthen snorts, "No wonder they're so itchy."

[Kaim_the_angel]

I wish to thank you for your assistance in this, however as for the chains, I would prefer not to wear them again, would it be sufficient to merely hold onto the ones i slipped out of to hide a presence? asks char in a careful even calm voice. he wasn't quite sure what to make of this butler who seemed so calm surrounded by devils. also he realized he didn't like the idea of not feeling the presence of the light within him again so soon.

"I'm afraid not Mr Char, I can however promise to remove them the very moment they are no longer needed" the man seems truly sympathetic. A eryines crud out from behind on pain.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis freezes when he hears the butler explain the purpose of the chains. He glances down at his soulmelds, especially the powerfully magical blade in his hand. "Dammit. I'm a bloody beacon, aren't I?" He looks at his horse, and considers simply leaping on and leading the devils off to some distant location, far away from the others. That option, however, would surely lead to his death, and the executioners seem to know what they're doing. They may not be good, but they are not evil either.

Laenis moves forward, dropping his sword. It reappears a few seconds later at his feet. "I need you to rebind me, then, I can't do it myself. I can help fight, however, and that may be the better option."

[darkillini]

how does he know my name thought char to himself
sense motive [roll0]

if man seems truthfully sorry, then
very well rebind me if possible, though if possible leave my legs able to move and kick.

if not completely truthful
I've already been chained for dark purposes once today, without knowing the motive, il not submit to it again. may i see your hand for a moment? that being said before submitting to being bound again, he will reach out and touch the man with his hands, if the man is evil aligned the golden ice response will let char know about it.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Laenis freezes when he hears the butler explain the purpose of the chains. He glances down at his soulmelds, especially the powerfully magical blade in his hand. "Dammit. I'm a bloody beacon, aren't I?" He looks at his horse, and considers simply leaping on and leading the devils off to some distant location, far away from the others. That option, however, would surely lead to his death, and the executioners seem to know what they're doing. They may not be good, but they are not evil either.

Laenis moves forward, dropping his sword. It reappears a few seconds later at his feet. "I need you to rebind me, then, I can't do it myself. I can help fight, however, and that may be the better option."
Osuma smiles and bows to you, he then straightens up and places his hand on your chest, quickly speaks an incantation and the chains reappear on your arms.
He lowers his head in apologies and gestures to the open door.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis nods sternly to the man as his power vanishes. "Please watch after my horse." He moves inside the door, and calls to the others. "Come one, everyone. We need to leave, now, before things get even more out of hand. We'll sort this all out later." He steps back to give the others room to enter.

[tuesdayscoming]

Already sitting in the cabin, Karrell scoops up the rest of his belongings, and moves to the far corner to make room for the others.

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen sneers at the two who'd broken their bonds after being told not to by their betters. "Lead them right to us - good job, that."

[McStabbington]

"Lead them right to us - good job, that."

"Elf, not now," Cyrano barked as harshly as he dared. Setting his lock pick kit on top of his gear and saddle pack, he smushed the gear as far back into the cabin of the carriage as he could to make room for the seven others. First rule about escaping imprisonment: get your hands and legs free. Cyrano was pretty sure he'd never actually heard this rule, having never been put in leg irons nor arrested for anything more serious than public intoxication, but as far as rules for escaping prisoners go, it made for a fairly decent first rule. He fished his little crossbow and a quarrel of bolts from off his pile as his fellow prisoners clambered in. He turned to Karrel, sitting next to him.

"Hand this to the guy who gets the window. Should be small enough to fire out from in here." He looked at the faces inside and still outside the carriage, particularly the two out of irons and this Osuma. I don't know what is going on, but you don't exactly say no to people who just hacked a pit fiend and forty of his friends to death. If they wanted us dead generally, they should have just done nothing. "Hate to say it, but it'd be best to get you two back in chains." He raised his voice to a bellow. "Lieklie, stay close to the carriage for cover and don't break your chains."

[darkillini]

no man is better then another Yielthen, we are all equally able to do both good, and bad. You would do well to remember that before you make a mistake one day which you cannot repent for turning back to the human butler withdrawing his hand before touching him, he says very well reattach the chains, and let us be gone from here.

having said this he moves to his pack, to see if his gear is all there. and looks out to see if the eryines ever had a chance

[chrisrawr]

"Of course no man is better than another - all men are rabble. That's why there's Elves, to make up for such crimes against beauty."

[doliest]

Yes, quite the beautiful people. It's why I can't tell your men from your women. It's why I avoid elven bars!

[McStabbington]

The gnome's brows furrow. Good gravy men, get your priorities in order! "That's enough!" He leans over from atop his saddle and snaps his fingers to get everyone to focus on him before things got worse. "Escape from devils now. Metaphysics later." He checks to see if everyone has piled in.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis notices the gnome, and moves as near him as he can, making sure to give everyone room to cram on and in. He settles down, sitting at a hight that will make it more comfortable for Cyrano to converse with him. He speak fairly quietly, but he doesn't attempt to hide his words from anyone listening. "You have a strong head on your shoulders, ...Cyrano, was it? Right. When this little joyride ends, we may or may not be in another little chuck of hell. If we are, we have little choice but to attempt to fight our way out. If that happens, we're going to need a plan. I was hopeing that you could help with that."

[veven]

How many more players are there in this game? This is absurd!

Richter leans into the cart and snatches his breastplate out from between Cyrano and Laenis. "Pardon me gentlemen" he says as he accidentally bumps his armor into the gnome's shoulder.

He looks at the strange man and says,"In the event of another attack, how quickly will you be able to remove these chains from us?"He undoes the armor straps and slides into the breastplate before presenting his arms to the omniscient butler to be rebound.

He squeezes into the cart and begins fiddling with his breastplate, having some difficulty securing it while in chains. While making sure the armor is equipped properly Laenis begins speaking quietly to the gnome.



"You have a strong head on your shoulders, ...Cyrano, was it? Right. When this little joyride ends, we may or may not be in another little chuck of hell. If we are, we have little choice but to attempt to fight our way out. If that happens, we're going to need a plan. I was hopeing that you could help with that."

Richter leans forward and speaks in the same muted tones,"Agreed. You have demonstrated your clear head. Considering the situation we need all the minds we can get."Except perhaps the crazed elf.... I need to find a way to get Karrel in charge of things without betraying the fact that I already know he's capable.

[chrisrawr]

"Pah, you'll see what becomes of trusting them. Now, if no one objects, show me how to work that gizmo so I can place shafts in demons, the way nature intended!" Yielthen says, referencing the crossbow that was offered earlier.

[Kaim_the_angel]

The door to the carriage swings open and the head executioner steps in, lowering himself signficantly so he may move around, his eyes first dart to osuma,
"More are coming, are we going? Osuma nods in reply and taps the side of the carrrige, a second later you all feel the transport begin to roll forward.
The executioner then turns to laenis
I told you to keep the chains on, why in Kaims name did you take them off?!" he barks, as the sound of more devils approching are heard. Before you can answer the carrige begins to speed up. The sounds of arrows thunk into The outside of the carriage and Osuma calmly offers all aroubd him a hot drink.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis looks up at the powerful executioner with nothing but fierce strength in his eyes. "I took them off so that I would be better able to protect those around me. When I remove the chains, all of my soulmelds return to me; with them, I could have at least put up a fight if any devil slipped past you or your men. You gave me no reason to not remove the chains, executioner, and I do not obey orders simply because they are there. I work for the greater good, executioner, which is something that I doubt you can claim. I put the chains back on as soon as I knew that I was a threat to these innocents. Do you understand my actions now?"

[veven]

Richter shifts in his seat to get a better view of Laenis telling the executioner off. I'm glad someone said what I was thinking. I've been talking entirely too much today. From now on any non-pertinent thoughts remain in my head. I don't need to add even more noise to this already chaotic situation.

He makes eye contact with Laenis and gives him an approving nod.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Laenis looks up at the powerful executioner with nothing but fierce strength in his eyes. "I took them off so that I would be better able to protect those around me. When I remove the chains, all of my soulmelds return to me; with them, I could have at least put up a fight if any devil slipped past you or your men. You gave me no reason to not remove the chains, executioner, and I do not obey orders simply because they are there. I work for the greater good, executioner, which is something that I doubt you can claim. I put the chains back on as soon as I knew that I was a threat to these innocents. Do you understand my actions now?"

As you speak the executioner sits down, taking a small china cup from Osuma, draining the contents of the cup in a single gulp, he watches you carefully as you speak, lowering the cup only when you finish.
"You are not in a world were you can think like that any more, these are Devils not demons, if you think there is an eventuallty they have not thought of a defense to, then you are underestimating them. he pulls one of his gauntlets off as the carriage shudders from another set of arrows bouncing off. He holds his arm out to show a maze of scars across his arm.
"One for every brother who has fallen, each a life taken to early, each because I underestimated our quarry." his red eyes focus on Leanis,
"Your actions have caused more harm than they would good, because a few of you have broken your chains, the devils know you have escaped, if we had simply taken you then we could have covered it up." he places his gauntlet back on.
"Now they will be sending men after you, ones equipped specifically to capture or kill you. And I guarentee they will question innocents about your location, many of them won't survive the questioning."
he then turns to Cyrano.
"There is nothing you can do at the moment, fortunatly our employer planned for this eventuallity."

[McStabbington]

Cyrano nodded at Richter and Laenis as he handed the quarrel of bolts and the crossbow to Yielthen. He then turned his attention to the elf. "Works just like a normal bow, except instead of pulling back on the string," he gestured to the crank, "You wind that up and then set the bolt in the groove. Trigger on bottom releases the catch. Pointy end goes in the devil. Repeat as needed."

Explaining the crossbow gave him a moment to think. They don't strike me as the flattering type, and there's no advantage to doing so at the moment. They must be sincere. Still, while they may not have meant to flatter him, Cyrano had to remind himself that it could easily happen anyway, and one should never be too proud if one wanted to remain among the living. He looked back at the two larger men. Still, fair words deserve a fair response. "I appreciate your confidence, especially from two men who just met a sticky situation so calmly. For what it's worth, I'll do my best. But don't put too much faith in me. We're not out of danger yet, and one stray arrow could dash our hopes."

As the executioner climbs in and the other man (Osuma, I think he said) offered a hot drink, Cyrano waved it away. They may have just saved his life, but their motives were still unclear, and every man has an agenda. He listened to the conversation between Laenis and the executioner. "With all due respect, sir elf, why he did what he did is beside the point. For what it's worth, I understand how one could think self-defense to be the best defense despite the error. But the damage is done, and we need worry now only whether we can escape. Can any of us help you in that regard?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

Meanwhile outside Lieklie has been joined by a group of 6 hooded executioners, each riding a black horse.
They Gallop alongside the carrige firing off light crossbows at the group of 6 eyrines screaming after you, who are in turn loosing arrows at you all, one of the Executioners rides over to Lieklie.
"Stick close to the Carriage!" he throws one hand out towards it
"We will deal with the Devils! Kaim be with you!" with that the executioner pulls away from you and fires of a series of shots, killing one of the Eyrines.
"KILL THEM ALL!!!" they scream down, the group speeds through the city street, bells toll all around and bursts of magic alert all nearby to your location.

[darkillini]

"Now they will be sending men after you, ones equipped specifically to capture or kill you. And I guarantee they will question innocents about your location, many of them won't survive the questioning."

hearing sends char back to the moment of his damnation for a second, he shakes himself out of his thoughts after a moment, and focuses on the moment at hand. yet more to atone for.. he mutters
turning to the executioner, and politely accepting the tea offered, but not drinking it yet he asks
"why are the devils after us in the first place? from what i heard some of us have pasts with them, but all of humanity is behind a wall and they focus on us, why?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

Osuma answers that question whilst calmly handing you a cup of tea.
"We arn't sure Sir, my assumpton would be that you broke the law in the wrong place." he offers you a fine whitee substance on a spoon,
"That is the most likly conclusion, but these are Devils so the chances are its somthing else. Hense where we are going."

[darkillini]

and where by chance are we going? replies char, motioning the he doesn't need any additions to the tea. he takes a smells the tea, and then takes a very small sip, to judge if he can detect anything in it. before continuing. pardon us asking so many questions, if you cannot answer you still have my thanks for getting us out of their hands turning to the executioner in the wagon and I truly am sorry if any of our actions cost any of your men their lives, I for one can never repay the debt i now owe to them.

[Kaim_the_angel]

and where by chance are we going? replies char, motioning the he doesn't need any additions to the tea. he takes a smells the tea, and then takes a very small sip, to judge if he can detect anything in it. before continuing. pardon us asking so many questions, if you cannot answer you still have my thanks for getting us out of their hands turning to the executioner in the wagon and I truly am sorry if any of our actions cost any of your men their lives, I for one can never repay the debt i now owe to them.

The Executioner grunts at you, before producing a wicked looking blade from his belt and begins slowly inspecting it.
Osuma smiles and withdraws the substance
"Dont worry Sir, we wouldnt go to all this trouble saving you, just to poison you when you are, essentually, helpless." he places the tray down,
"We are going to see my master, Lord Veari, he is the one who orginized this little venture." the Butler sits down again.

[McStabbington]

Cyrano sat in silence for a bit, absorbing the news. I gave my family up for dead a long time ago. Those outside the wall were smashed, and they would not have suffered the leader of a city to live. And there's no one inside the city to miss one clownish gnome. Point of fact, I'm curious to know who sold me out. He shifted in seat. But it is likely that these others have friends, family. They will need to be protected. He watched Char speak with the two others; glanced at Karrel and Yielthan. The slow glimmerings of a plan entered his head.

"Honorable elf" he began again, addressing the Executioner more gently this time. "I am sorry for your loss, and grateful both for your efforts generally and here today. But in war overestimating your enemy can be as dangerous as underestimating him. I have no doubt there are traps that can defeat me, but there is no such thing as a trap that cannot be defeated. These devils, however extensive their plans, are not gods, merely His jailer for a time. And like all jailers are not above fearing the jailed. If they will come for our friends and family to find where we've hidden, then I suggest we invent a hiding place ourselves." He glanced at the other two elves. "A hidden city, for instance. Thanks to you, there should be few who know why we were really arrested. We could spin a tale for the rest that plays on their fear that their victory is incomplete. Tell them we head for the hidden city to save the world. By throwing a clear trail, however false, we remove the need to find where we've gone to ground."

[veven]

If they speak the truth then God forgive me. Richter thinks solemnly to himself.

Irritated by the claims of the two men and the fact that he has not been able to contribute one bit in the last hours Richter adjusts in his seat, careful not to pierce the roof of the cart with his horn. He turns to listen to Cyrano as he explains the beginning of his plan.

A solid plan for sure, although where it leaves us I'm not certain. I would rather not spin tales and go into hiding, although given the situation I can't see a more sensible option. If I am to find redemption it will not be from the shadows. It may be better if we split up...maybe. In the very least we won't all be killed in one fell swoop. The pensive Hellbred eyes the gnome carefully, listening to each detail of his plan. I'll wait to see what the others say. If it comes down to it Cyrano has my support although I have a feeling that the other more....righteous members of this crew would mirror my desire to take the fight to the enemy if at all possible.

Richter awaits patiently for any other input from his co-passengers.

[chrisrawr]

My grandmother died this morning (Sunday, June 19, 2011). I'm going halfway across the country to her funeral, and will be largely unable to post for the next week. Sorry for the inconvenience. If the need arises, DMPC me as an Eldar Exarch.

[tuesdayscoming]

{Terribly sorry for your loss, chrisrawr.}

Karrell takes the tea and sips at it as the others ask their questions. When they are finished, he turns to the executioner and says, "I wonder just what you or your employer – this 'Veari'? – know about the circumstances surrounding our capture." He glances down at his teacup, swirls its contents, and purses his lips to blow a breath of cooling air onto the beverage before continuing.

"It is a curious thing that we should all be gathered together in such a way, and that your master should already have an elaborate plan in place to free us." He sips once more, eyes finally rising back up to meet the executioner's. They pause there for a moment before shifting over to Osuma.

"And I further wonder just what type of a man might have carved himself out such a seat of influence, even after the fall." He takes a long sip of the tea, his eyes not leaving Osuma's.

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen sobers for a moment, long enough to comment. "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy." He goes back to sneering at the corruption of marksmanship that is the crossbow.

[Kaim_the_angel]

(Sorry to hear about your loss Chris.)
The Executioner is paying you no attention, in stead he has started drawing the dagger across his arm, causing a deep vut.
"Thank you brother, may you find peacce in your next life." Osuma however answers you.
"Lord Veari is just a man, a man who disagrees with the Laws that have been forced upon us." he looks at your group "And you, your fortunate that he seems to have taken a shine to all of you." placing his tea tray down eh continues "You should keep any more questions for him, we will be their shortly." he smiles warmly to all of you.

[doliest]

(Incrediably sad to hear that you lost a grandmother. :smallfrown:)
Percivial is silent on the mattters so far; he recognizes the executioner for what he is; one of his leader's soldiers-he likely knows nothing about the situation and asking him these questions is just irritating him. He knows the feeling, oh how he knows that feeling.

He sighs, looking up at the cieling of the little cart. He'd almost died today; he couldn't die yet. Too many promises left to keep. Too many oaths sworn on friends' graves. Demons and Devils still roamed the land, and he wouldn't stop until they were forced out. No matter what, they were going to leave.

[Trodon]

Lieklie nods to the executioner as he rides away, he then looks about, taking in his surroundings.


Spot check (Looking for anything): [roll0]

[darkillini]

feeling they had been inside the carriage for a while char turns to the butler and asks how much longer do you think we will be traveling for?

[veven]

Richter glances around anxiously.

How far could they possibly be taking us? he asks himself.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Lieklie sees it first, a shimmering aura begins to eminate from the carriage, envolPing him.
The world around becomes hazy and blurred, all light fades for the briefest of moments, before it comes flashing back, in a completely diffrent place.
YOu now stand in an expansive wasteland, rocks, sand and rubble surround you the only exeption is a tree you see in the distance.
A cherry blossom tree is full bloom, in the middle of the waste lands and you swear you see a figure stood beneath it.
Meanwhile within the carriage Osuma nods and oPens the door with one hand. "we have arrived gentlemen."

[darkillini]

does that mean that these chains can come off now? questions char or is there another reason we don't know about to keep them on longer?

[chrisrawr]

"What it said, I might develop a rash if this ruse persists much longer," Yielthen chimes in.

[Kaim_the_angel]

As you step from. The carrier the chains seem to unlock themselves, falling uselessly to the ground.

[RaggedAngel]

The light once more swirls around Laenis, and closer up you can actually watch his soulmelds, as he called them, reforming. In a moment he is fully armed, and he goes to his armor, hastily putting it on. As he does, he leaves his sword stuck in the ground near his hand; the oversized golden longsword parts the earth like butter.

As he puts on his armor Laenis turns to the executioner. "Why have we lost the chains? It seems that my power will draw them right to us. I can unshape my melds, but that would render me much, much weaker for the rest of the day, so I would prefer not to. Are we safe right now?"

[chrisrawr]

"Honestly, human, would you assault your enemy in his stronghold? This lord our fine hosts have talked about is obviously someone of influence, and power. If the devils can even sniff your magic anymore, I doubt they'll come dancing straight to a center of their opposition's power."

Turning to the Osuma with a sneer, "This is a center of the opposition's power, is it not? There were rumors, before the resistance fell into the hands of the most... resilient, and noble, individuals. I didn't think they amounted to much, but apparently I was wrong."

Returning his attentions to the impressive human, he continues, "I suspect we're here for precisely that reason. Resistances need heroes, leaders. Which need lackeys. I just never thought I'd be the lackey..."


And with a sigh, he adds wistfully to himself, "...well, at least I'll have servants again. Filthy as they are, humans have their uses"

[veven]

Richter silently scoffs at Yielthen as he rambles on, By God, I've never heard a man who talks so much say so little.

The weary hellbred carefully inspects his armor, making sure everything is in it's right place. Having done so, he swings his halberd onto his back and approaches Osuma.

Richter leans in towards to the butler and asks quietly, "Is there a place around here where I could pray for a few minutes? Alone I mean. I'd rather like to clear my head after the last few hours."

[Kaim_the_angel]

The executioner Steps past you, walking over to the tree in the distance, Osuma gestures at the carriage"if you must pray, then the carriage is the only secluded place nearby. he pauses and looks at laenis
"We are quite safe here, the devils wouldn't dare show their faces now." pausing to open the carriage door for Richter
"Not with myself here." he adds with a warm smile.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis looks at the man again with renewed interest. "I have to ask, where would 'here' be exactly? I've quite lost my bearings, and it's a bit disconcerting. I could fly up and take a look around, but exposing myself when it's unnecessary seems like a foolish action."

[Kaim_the_angel]

Osuma simply smiles
"Cherry blossom hill

[tuesdayscoming]

Stepping down from the cart, Karrell's chains fall away, and he takes a moment to slip into his clothes - rugged travelwear, well worn. As he does so, a humminbird flies out from a pocket in his vest, landing on his shoulder.

He taps the bird's nose lightly, smiling at it. Then, brushing his hair behind his ears, he nods to the manservant. "Thank you, Osuma. I suppose now it would be rude to keep our host waiting any longer."

He begins walking over to the figure beneath the eponymous cherry blossom tree.

[veven]

"I suppose it can wait then, thank you Osuma."
Richter bows as best as he can inside the cart before shuffling towards the exit, careful to duck through the door so as to avoid any accidents with his horn.

He straightens out his clothes and makes sure he has all of his possessions.

What was that flash that brought us here? he wonders before advancing towards the tree after Karrell.

[darkillini]

Char grabbing his pack and slinging it over his shoulder as he steps out of the cart, offers his hand to osuma as he passes.
i'd like to thank you again for the assistance, and the tea was fantastic, I must know what you made it with sometime.
Weather osuma shakes his hand or not, he will move on towords the tree following the others.

[McStabbington]

Cyrano pulled a fresh pair of pants on and stripped off the filthy, stinking remnants of his old uniform. I'll have to ask for a bath; I must look a fright. He checked some of the purpled welts across his shoulders and arms for any sign of infection, but he couldn't see anything wrong, nor did they stink. The wounds were old, and as a consequence fairly painless. I'll have to have one of our healers look at these just to be sure. He pulled on a shirt of clean linen with sleeves only to the elbows, and then his boots.

Seeing the others start to disembark, Cyrano grabbed the gear he hadn't donned yet. A thin jerkin of soft, supple brown leather padded his chain shirt and prevented the rings of the mail shirt from digging into his skin. The mail itself went under a tunic of green with a soft leather sleeveless doublet keeping everything hidden and in place. A belt, sash, scabbard and cloak rounded out his pile of goods. He assembled them into a bundle at the corner of the entrance to the carriage. The ragged remains of his last outfit he dropped to the ground before he jumped out, but as soon as he hit the ground he gathered them into a small pile. As he pulled the jerkin on, he called out to Osuma: "I assume it is okay to leave some of our things here?"

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen quickly separates his belongings from the rif-raff. "Donning armor, gearing up like barbarians off to war," he tsks, "It's a blessing our host is so sure of his power that such actions aren't met with swift retribution. Disgusting, none the less." Once everything is neatly folded and stowed, in pack or on person, he checks his bowstave for nicks, and then slings it over his shoulders. "There was a time when humans had manners, at least."

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis finishes adjusting his armor and shield and turns to the elf with a smile, wry amusement on his face. He balances his massive longsword on his shoulder with apparent ease. "Now then, my friend, you must think before you speak. Yes, I am fully armed, and yes, I could kill a swarm of lesser devils with my current level of power. But the people who brought us here? They could kill each and every one of us without any effort at all. Did you see the head executioner kill that devil in charge? Because I have never seen such power in all my life. If you think that me, wielding a blade and wearing armor will frighten them, then you clearly do not know what power is. If you are finished with your ignorant chatter, make yourself useful by finding a healer for the wounded."

[Kaim_the_angel]

Osuma nods to Cyrano and shakes Chars hand with a smile on his face, gesturing over to the tree afterwards.

When you approch the tree you see a lone man, stood in a black kimono with a white harori, which bears the pattern of cherry blossoms upon it, at his side is a sheathed shortsword and a crow, which watches you all intently....unlike him.
The Man stands with his back to you all, he seems to be carefully inspecting the tree, running his hand over it slowly, stopping once or twice as he finds a change in the wood.
You watch as the blossoms slowly fall around this dark haired man, an oddly peaceful scene in this dark war torn world. A few of you feel incredibly at ease, yet find yourself in a slightly hightend sense of being.
All neutral aligned charcters gain a +2 morale bonus to AC, Attack rolls and saves untill you leave this mans presence.
But he doesent seem to have noticed you at all.

[veven]

This Laenis fellow seems to always say what I'm thinking, Richter muses to himself.

He glances around at the other members of the group and decides to speak.
"Lord Veari I presume? We all owe you a great deal for our rescue. I would like to extend my gratitude."

[Kaim_the_angel]

"Yes"
The man mutters, he remains with his back to you
"I am Lord Veari" his hand still moves up and down the tree trunk, as if searching for something, somthing he cannot find.
"Why does this elude me.." he mutters to himself
"Changing.....always changing..." then suddenly he straightens up, and turns his head slightly, looking over his shoulder at the three men behind him.
He smiles.
Lord Veari turns to around to face you, showing himself to be a remarkably handsome and young human, with a single tattoo running from his right eye. His main feature though is easily apparant, his eyes, are a piercing yellow. Other than that he seems normal....
He bows slightly to you,
"I apoligise for my rudeness freinds, I am Lord Veari, and I imagine you have some questions for me?" he straightens up and smiles slightly, allowing you to speak.

[tuesdayscoming]

Karrell bows his head, sending the hummingbird there perched flitting into the air, where it buzzes around the tree's cherry blossoms.

Straightening up, he speaks. "Lord Veari, an honor. My name is Karrell Embehr, and it would appear that I am in your debt. Your men fought bravely to save us," he continues with a glance back at the Executioner, "But not without losses. As a man who has seen some conflict himself, I know the pain of such a loss – particularly of men so seemingly exceptional as these. But I also know that the wise do not expose themselves or those they lead to such risk without the promise of substantive gain."

With this, the emerald hummingbird returns to its roost, perching on the left shoulder of the scarred elf.

"I would, if I may, inquire as to just what such gain our rescue promised."

[chrisrawr]

"Human!" Yielthen scoffs, astounded. "Where is the Dragon Lord, the Dwarven Blacksmith-King, the Elven Council of Elders, returned from their void-travel?" he stammers. "Surely this is a farce?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

"Human!" Yielthen scoffs, astounded. "Where is the Dragon Lord, the Dwarven Blacksmith-King, the Elven Council of Elders, returned from their void-travel?" he stammers. "Surely this is a farce?"

Veari looks at Yielthen. And smiles
"Yielthen Ythylian, you are as brash as I thought you'd be, I apologise if I am not what you expected." he bows his head slightly and turns back to Karrell
"What makes you think, Master Karrell, that I have anything to gain here? Perhaps I just felt like you needed saving" he smiles as he says this.

[chrisrawr]

"Come now, do you expect an Elf to be unable to see through the schemes of a mere human?" Yielthen can't help but chortle. "No wonder our escape went so poorly. Human, without the Dragons to divine your paths, without the Dwarves to equip your armies, without the Elves to slay your foes, can your expect victory, even with us? Surely some suicide mission is at hand, in exchange for our timely escape. Humans are so predictable."

[veven]

"Come now, do you expect an Elf to be unable to see through the schemes of a mere human?" Yielthen can't help but chortle. "No wonder our escape went so poorly. Human, without the Dragons to divine your paths, without the Dwarves to equip your armies, without the Elves to slay your foes, can your expect victory, even with us? Surely some suicide mission is at hand, in exchange for our timely escape. Humans are so predictable."

Richter looks at Yielthen dumbfounded. In his mind he screams out, "SILENCE! were you not, just five minutes ago, chastising us for donning armor in the presence of this great power? And now here you are, content to harass this man who could quite obviously end your life in an instant and think nothing of it! Do you posses the ability to form rational thoughts? Or has your absurdly misguided pride grown so that there is no longer any room inside your head for anything else?

He breathes heavily. No, it's not worth it. I'm sure Veari was expecting him to act exactly as he has, my interference won't make this situation any better.

Richter turns to Lord Veari, almost unnerved by his calm politeness and says,"Forgive me for being depressingly pragmatic Lord, but it is not often that one receives a gift, especially one so grand as that which you have granted us, from a stranger without the expectancy of some sort of remuneration."

[Kaim_the_angel]

Veari looks Yeilthan in the eyes at his comment, stepping forward so they are a mere foot from each other.
"You make Judgments quickly Yeilthen Ythylian, you who slays any human who stands in your path for merely doing so. You who has killed so many, purely because they are the wrong species." he takes another step forward, still maintaining a calm voice, his eyes never leaving Yeilthens.
"I am not a refugee, nor a mercinary, nor a cultist and if you wish to adress me as a dog then know this Ythylian, without this dog you would be a puppet of the devils, a wounded animal left in chains to dance for its masters enjoyment."
Anyone observing the conversation may make a DC 15 spot check, if you pass also make a will save.
"Without me Ythylian.....you would die cold and alone" he keeps his eyes on the elf for another moment before stepping back and turning his head to Richter
"I require nothing of you freind" he smiles to you warmly
"Although I would ask what you plan to do next?"

[McStabbington]

Spot Check: [roll0]

[McStabbington]

Uh oh. Bad time to be side-eyeing the conversation so intently. . .

Will save: [roll0]

[veven]

Spot check:[roll0]

"To be completely honest I am not certain. As far as I know no one in this group had any previous connections Bluff check in case you deem it necessary: [roll1] so it is unsure whether or not we will even remain together. I myself plan on fighting. The how and where are yet to be determined but justice must be served and I intend to do so in the name of the Captive God.

Richter thinks to himself, I'm talking far too much again, if things keep going like this i'm likely to find myself leading some of these folks...I'd much rather avoid that particular responsibility.

[chrisrawr]

Impossible for me to fail the spot check, will save: [roll0] - I'm going to assume failure.

Shaken by the man's gaze, perhaps something of the content in his words reaches Yielthen. He quiets, and sends an almost apologetic glance towards him, before averting his eyes.

[darkillini]

Char had been sitting quietly waiting the the impressive man to turn from the cherry blossoms. Upon his turning, and stepping towords yeilthan he suddenly has chills running through his body. Seeing the tree blossoms standing stil in the light breeze he gets the distinct impression this man has frozen the air around him with his mere presence.
this is not a man to mess with though char to himself as he tries to stop his feet from shaking.

Looking to the man, summoning what curage he can to awnser without any quake in his voice he says for now I am interested in how they found us and took us without any sort of fight. I feel there may be awnsers to why they took us in the first place along the way. But overall I seek a way to atone for my grevious misdeeds in a previous life. One may have just found me.

Speaking this had been harder then any words he had said with the devils chains around him.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis watchs the conversation passively; though the azurin had strong opinions of his own, this arguement had enough elements. For him to get involved would only add confusion and aggression, and it would not be for the better good of the group. He simply pays attention to what is said, and the actions of those around him.

Spot: [roll0]
Will: [roll1]

[Kaim_the_angel]

"Noble Goals indeed!" Veari says happily, clapping his hands together
"But I'm afraid there is nothing you can do alone." his voice remains pleasent as he speaks, a twinkle in his eyes.
"But with others, perhaps you can change this wasteland into somthing else...perhaps you may even save it!" he waves his arm towards the wastes behind him
"Thrown into chaos you will fight, and the world will shape around you" stepping forward he smiles
"How far are you willing to go for this, are you willing to risk all you have left for a chance?

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis steps forward with a smile, his armor and soulmelds glowing with power and light. "A chance to save the world? A chance to drive back evil, shatter the power of demons and devils alike, and to bring light back into the world? A chance to redeem and save the souls of all the humanoid races?" Laenis's bright blue eyes gleam with hope, and he shoulders his mighty golden blade. "When can we start?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

Laenis steps forward with a smile, his armor and soulmelds glowing with power and light. "A chance to save the world? A chance to drive back evil, shatter the power of demons and devils alike, and to bring light back into the world? A chance to redeem and save the souls of all the humanoid races?" Laenis's bright blue eyes gleam with hope, and he shoulders his mighty golden blade. "When can we start?"

Veari grins,
"Don't get me wrong here, I am no warrior, this is your story, I have merely opened the book." he walks past you for a few steps,
"But you have garned my intrest, so for a time I will aid you." he bows low
"For the next few minutes I will answer any questions you ask." he raises his head slighlty
"Lord Victor Veari at your service."

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis takes a deep breath, and looks to the more intelligent members of their party with a meaningful glance; we mustn't waste this opportunity.

He turns back to Veari with a respectful bow. "If I may the, milord, allow me to begin with a few basic questions. Why were we brought before that court? Is there a chance that we will be targeted by them again? And, most importantly, do you know where we could find more like us, more people to join our cause?"

[chrisrawr]

Perhaps wanting to avoid that disapproving gaze again, Yielthen asks with a mote more politeness - "If I may, perhaps I overstepped myself earlier. But I would like to bring to the table a valid concern - Where are the Dragon Lords, the Elven Council, and the Dwarven Craftmasters? Surely, I would not expect any one of them alone to be the sole overseer of this rebellion, nor do I expect, despite your obvious magnificence, you to be the only one organizing such a resistance. It has been too many years since I've heard news from my homeland - might you or your informants know what has become of the Elven Realms?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

Veari answers Leanis first
"You were brought before them for the exact reasons they said you were, you broke their laws and they finally caught up with you. I heard that the bone devils were given a hint to your location, by someone known as the listener" he looks up for a moment,
"I have no idea of his location. As for your other questions, yes you can expect them to hunt you ruthlessly, and the last rebelion I heard of was headed by a man named Flinn, he was last sighted west." he turns his head to Yielthen
"The dragons are all either dead or enslaved, the Elven concil was executed by Malaboge and the dwarfen lords have gone into hiding. As for the elfs, wereas many of the high elves were killed, a large amount of them joined up with hell, their pride caused that particular downfall. The wood elves have faired...better depending on your views, most of the clans have fallen in a war with Malaboge a few are still fighting against her." he looks at you with actual concern in his eyes.
"Your families wereabouts are unknown....even to me.

[McStabbington]

Try as he might, Cyrano couldn't stop his hands from shaking. Something in the way he looked at that elf. . . He took his time, slowly adjusting his mail shirt to get the fit right, hoping that time would get his hands to settle down. Finishing with the mail, he pulled his tunic over his head. No one who can frighten me like that gets to where they are by doing random acts of goodness. He's got an agenda, and for all his openness, he isn't telling. Still, maybe I can get some news. I just need to be able to look him in the eye. . .

As he pulled on his leather doublet and began, despite his trembling figures, to lace the front, he heard Veari describe what happened to the races outside the Wall. Unbidden, the question came out of his mouth as soon as he'd thought it: "What about the floating gnome cities?" He paused, trying to keep his voice from squeaking in fright. "Have you heard anything about them?

[Kaim_the_angel]

Try as he might, Cyrano couldn't stop his hands from shaking. Something in the way he looked at that elf. . . He took his time, slowly adjusting his mail shirt to get the fit right, hoping that time would get his hands to settle down. Finishing with the mail, he pulled his tunic over his head. No one who can frighten me like that gets to where they are by doing random acts of goodness. He's got an agenda, and for all his openness, he isn't telling. Still, maybe I can get some news. I just need to be able to look him in the eye. . .

As he pulled on his leather doublet and began, despite his trembling figures, to lace the front, he heard Veari describe what happened to the races outside the Wall. Unbidden, the question came out of his mouth as soon as he'd thought it: "What about the floating gnome cities?" He paused, trying to keep his voice from squeaking in fright. "Have you heard anything about them?


He turns his head to Cyrano, again his face becomes slighty sullen as he looks at you.
"The cities devestated by Aemos fell, all who were on them died years ago, as you no doubt know. he grimaces
"I'm afraid the gnome cities that fell are better off. Baalezbub took an intrest in the Gnomish inventions, they belong to him now.....I am truly sorry Mesar Cyrano."

[darkillini]

thinking for a second trying to calm his shaking body. he ventures a question himself.
when were done here, where can we expect to be dropped off? and do you know of any locations of devil troops/ outposts near here or that location? looking down to his chest for a moment he notices the torn flesh 'scroll' attached which was brutally sown onto his chest, and thinks for a second also I hate to sound narcissistic, but is there anything that can be done about these sentences which were attached to us? i feel as though it both makes us extremely easy to recognize, and it mars the bodies which we were given by the creator.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis walks over to Cyrano and puts his hand on the gnome's shoulder, gripping him firmly but gently. "We will avenge them, Cyrano, and we will save the gnomes that are still enslaved. We have the power to save this world, and your people will be free."

[tuesdayscoming]

Karrell listens quietly, ever staring at their host, as the others ask their questions. He cannot help but smile as Veari rebukes the racist elf, or at Laenis's sudden righteous, naive confidence.

He jumps to conclusions, this Incarnate, and trusts blindly. Weaknesses, certainly, but not ones I can say that I myself am wholly innocent of.

Sense Motive against Richter's earlier bluff: [roll0]

Whether or not he catches the bluff, he will not pursue the topic. Yet.

"I am compelled to ask, Lord Veari, just what the nature of your interest in seeing the devils' fall is? And what's more, the nature of your authority over these executioners, and their place within the conflict? No attempt was made to prevent their entry to the court, and so I can only assume it is not one of direct and open conflict."

[Kaim_the_angel]

Karrell listens quietly, ever staring at their host, as the others ask their questions. He cannot help but smile as Veari rebukes the racist elf, or at Laenis's sudden righteous, naive confidence.

He jumps to conclusions, this Incarnate, and trusts blindly. Weaknesses, certainly, but not ones I cannot say that I myself am wholly innocent of.

Sense Motive against Richter's earlier bluff: [roll0]

Whether or not he catches the bluff, he will not pursue the topic. Yet.

"I am compelled to ask, Lord Veari, just what the nature of your interest in seeing the devils' fall is? And what's more, the nature of your authority over these executioners, and their place within the conflict? No attempt was made to prevent their entry to the court, and so I can only assume it is not one of direct and open conflict."

"My intrest in seeing the devils fall? Freedom Mesar Richter, freedom. Somthing this land has been starved of for too long.....far too long." he looks over at the Executioner close to the wagon.
"As for the Executioners, well I have no more control over them than the Devils do, they work in exchange for certian items...the Arch feinds have them on the pay roll, so the courts weren't expecting the Head executioner to walk in and free you, so thats exactly what I paid him to do.....in laymans terms" he winks and laughs before looking over to Char
"Where your being dropped off? well my freinds your already there, this is the safest location I could get you to in the wastelands, where you go from here is up to you." he looks to the marks on your chests.
I'm afraid I don't know how you would remove those....but I do know someone who might....Domonic Esseiri, he's with the resistance to the west, he'd be the best to ask...untill then I can only say to cover the markings up...and pray that no-one removes your armour."

[veven]

Richter furrows his brow, imagining a life working for and against devils, simply for pay."Forgive me but I'm quite curious as to what sort of items would interest men such as those? How can you allow them to see this place with the knowledge that tomorrow they could be payed by devils to destroy it?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

Richter furrows his brow, imagining a life working for and against devils, simply for pay."Forgive me but I'm quite curious as to what sort of items would interest men such as those? How can you allow them to see this place with the knowledge that tomorrow they could be payed by devils to destroy it?"

Veari actually laughs at that, smiling afterwards
"Trust me, even the Executioners wouldn't move against this place, Osuma simply would not allow it" he smiles with genuine humor in his eyes.

[darkillini]

thinking for a moment, about what he would do next char came to a decision, well I;m going to start this going west to find this 'resistance' it seems a decent place to start as any, especially if they can get this.. thing off of us. The last thing i would like to ask if you don't mind is this, what was it your were attempting to find on that divine cherry blossom tree as we were approaching? you seemed quite devout in your attempt to locate something.

[Kaim_the_angel]

thinking for a moment, about what he would do next char came to a decision, well I;m going to start this going west to find this 'resistance' it seems a decent place to start as any, especially if they can get this.. thing off of us. The last thing i would like to ask if you don't mind is this, what was it your were attempting to find on that divine cherry blossom tree as we were approaching? you seemed quite devout in your attempt to locate something.

He looks at the tree, then back at Char
"I was searching for the same thing as you, an answer."

[McStabbington]

The words hit the gnome like a hammer blow. I'd always suspected. But to hear it from someone else . . . His head hung low as the stress of the day threatened to overwhelm him. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the large angelic man looking over him.


"We will avenge them, Cyrano, and we will save the gnomes that are still enslaved. We have the power to save this world, and your people will be free."

For a moment, Cyrano wished he had a longer arm, so he could reach high enough to smack the larger man. What does this man know about vengeance and loss? Cyrano felt the words about to pop out of his mouth . . . but he stopped as he looked at the larger man. He steadied himself. This man may be a bit naive, but his heart was in the right place. There's no need to insult him. He didn't do anything to hurt you. Cyrano blinked back any tears, breathed deeply once, and looked back up at the bigger man.

"I appreciate the thought . . . Laenis, I believe it was. But kind thoughts alone aren't enough. The plain truth is that an hour ago, every one of us was facing certain death at a pit fiend's whim. None of us was strong enough to avoid being captured, even those of us in the Bastion. And now, we don't know where we are, we don't know what this "resistance" is doing, where it is, whether it still exists or how to get to it. Nor still do we know what the devils will do to those who knew us, or how far behind they are."

He clapped a hand over the hand the big man's on his shoulder.

"You have a stout heart, and your words are well-taken. But none of us will free anyone if we're dead. Survival is my immediate goal for now, and I don't know if we can manage that." Whether it was the emotional crash or simply the tension of the rescue finally bleeding away, Cyrano felt famished and exhausted in equal measure. "For starters, I have no idea where a man can get a meal and a decent night's rest around here."

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis nods and removes his hand. He looks around, then turns back to the Cyrano. He looks at his massive blade, and then tosses it to the ground. It catches the light with a dull flash, and vanishes. "You... have a good point, Cyrano. A good point indeed. I have limitations; sharp limitations, in fact." He straightens up, and looks to the scattered crowd around them.

"Yes. Right now we are weak. We are limited. But that need not be the case forever. The power of humans, of elves, of halflings and gnomes and orcs and dwarves is to grow. It is to change. We have the power to grow and change, the power to become more than what we are." Laenis gestures out into the wastes. "This world is burnt and broken, scarred by war and demonic devastation. This is a world of war, of death and pain and conflict. But it will not be that way forever. I know that we are weak."

Laenis smiles, and resummons his blade to his hand, with a blast of light and golden fire. "But not every devil is as powerful as a pit fiend. There are demons and devil, hellspawn and monsters, that we can fight and defeat. We all have powers and talents, abilities and skills. If we begin at the bottom, weakening their forces and cutting away at their hold, then we can learn to become stronger as they become weaker. I can draw upon the souls of this world to empower me, friends. This helm on my head is forged of the intelligence and brilliance of every scholar killed by the demons. These gauntlets are empowered by the strength of every warrior struck down by the devils. This blade in my hand, this golden weapon of death, is not a blade; it is the rage and pain of every man, woman, and child killed by those monsters.

I have power, but I do not have enough power. All of us together, however? We do. We not only have strength, but we have the potential to have even greater strength, strength without limits. The devils and demons, those evil outsiders that we face, are immutable and unchanging. They will fight, and bicker, and tear at each other as we tear them apart from the bottom up."

He spreads his arms wide, and his voice booms in your heart and mind. "We cannot kill them as we are. But we can kill them as we will be."

[tuesdayscoming]

Karrell, as usual, stands quiet through most of the dialogue.

During Laenis' monologue, he closes his eyes and clamps his jaw. The words are at once painful and – in a strange way – soothing. It has been so long since he's heard such confidence from a member of the resistance – even if he wouldn't call himself such. And yet Karrell has seen enough of this new world to know that such confidence – such bold and righteous trust in the inherent justice of the world – is bound only to get one a knife sticking out one's backside.

Was there a time that I sounded like this?

Karrell snaps out of his brief introspection when Tieret, the hummingbird, pulls sharply at a lock of his hair. His eyes open in a flash, and he is surprised to find his hands balled up into tight fists.

Glancing down at the ground, he stares for a moment, gathering his thoughts before speaking. His voice, as always, is low, deliberate, some might even say gravelly. But in this moment it sounds almost... haunted... hollow...

"Brave words, Incarnate. Brave words..."

But words only. Trust as he will in growth, it is not what defines us now. Rather it is change. And change is not nearly so kind a lady.

[Kaim_the_angel]

Veari smiles and pats Karrell on the shoulder as he strides over to Leanis.
"Brave words indeed" he chuckles "But brave words and speeches do nothing in this world, actions are all that matters." he stands in front of Leanis, slightly hunched over, his messy hair covers one of his eyes as he looks at the Incarnate. Its only now you can see how young he really is, Veari appears to be in his early 20s, amazingly young in a world where only the strong can survive.
"Well Sir Leanis? What action do you plan to take?" he questions, a strange gleam in his eye.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis smiles, and he watches the powerful and apparently young man with interest and a bit of caution. He continues to speak confidently as he answers. "First of all, we all need to eat and sleep, but that is self-evident. After that, and a few days to heal, we will determine the closest pocket of resistance and a means to reach it. If we have to fight our way to them, then we will determine if it is a fight we can win. Before you ask how that will be achieved, I will point out to you the sheer number of us; furthermore, each and every one of us did something to anger the devils, and that means that these people all had the power to act. I am assuming, and I can confirm after we eat and rest, that there is enough power in this group to enact simple reconnaissance.

After we contact the nearest resistance group, we will help them secure a more long-term holding. After that, we will take with us supplies and warriors enough to reach the next large group, hopefully growing our numbers, and we will repeat the process, each time using the concentrated power of this smaller group of individuals to help the people as a whole become better seated and able to live without constant combat. Resistance groups will turn into communities, and communities will be able to donate weapons and warriors to our cause. Eventually, we will become strong enough to challenge the greatest of devils and demons. Mortals can crush them, given enough training; our executioner friend proved that."

[chrisrawr]

Yielthen much preferred the Executioners' style. Get directions, carry them out, repeat. Hewas quite grateful to be spared the indignity of being forced to fight with humans, and those who've displeased their abominable masters... his own kind's masters, might he add insult to injury, but what he didn't want to be part of was another 'rebellion.'

"We need a clearer objective than that," he interjects, "It's fine to say, "Start at the bottom, and work your way up," but where is the bottom? Does anyone really think there's enough silver or cold iron to put an arrow or a sword through every imp and dust-devil that poofs out of the aether? 'Twould be as fruitless as shoeing the Tarrasque. What, then, is the metaphorical target where our aim should focus?"

Looking around with his earlier disdain temporarily replaced with a keen, piercing squint, he asks, "And what happens when they begin to ware us? The world hath no bureaucracy finer than hell's - minutes for their telepathy to convey orders across the vast distances, contingency after contingency in place to wear down a siege or disrupt a militant protest - To simply begin attacking their lords, their cities, or their strongholds - even by raid and attrition, would soon be met with an army descending upon us."

"So I ask - for I have pondered this myself - where might we strike, where we might ensure a piton to secure another blow?"

[Kaim_the_angel]

Veari simply shakes his head.
"Sehra Yeilthen's words are all too true, attacking the leigions directly would resort in nothing less than your absolute destruction"
"Besides, their is only one Gathering of a resistance, and they have long since vanished from my sight, finding them will be impossible" he smiles slightly as he turns "But them finding you is a completly different matter, if you want to join the resistance, I recommend making enough noise for them to warrent intrest. its at that moment Osuma walks into the little meeting, stopping before Veari, who looks at him for a moment before the Manservent makes a simple nod. Veari turns to face you all again.
"It appears it is time for me to be on my way, you will find provisions attached to your horses." as he goes to leave he shouts somthing back.
"About a days jorney west their is a small slaver camp set up, In a cave I belive, there will be supplies there, as well as a few Devils to wet your blades on." finally he reaches the carriage and hands the Executioner a small package and whispers somthing in his ear, the Elf grunts in response and gets into the carriage, alone.
Osuma and Veari stand outside, and Offer a single wave of their hands before a black pool opens below them into witch they calmly sink, when their heads are below the pool falls into itself and vanishes, as does the carriage, leaving you stood by a tree in the middle of hell.

[veven]

The elf shows remarkable clarity...perhaps he is not so completely overtaken by overt xenophobia to prevent him from at least thinking.

Richter looks at the others,"Shall we rest before heading to this camp? I am prepared to leave now if need be."

He was not so much eager to wade into battle, but he was eager to test himself. It had been quite some time.

[chrisrawr]

"Rest? When there are vermin to kill? Slaves to free? Lazy and honourless to the last, I see."

Their host gone, he sprints back to the wagon and his supplies, ripping off his filthy shirt and hastily sliding the smooth, cool mithral over his skin. He dons his boots and gloves, before bracing his bow for stringing. After a few practice pulls, he sends an arrow straight into the air while the others talk, catching it a few feet away as it lands some time later.

[darkillini]

Char noticing the elf's skill with his bow is quite impress, and infact distracted from the conversation the others hve form a moment.
realizing plans are being made he turns his attention back to the others and says, while I can understand the need for rest, I do not like the idea of leaving innocents in the hands of such slavers. So I would lean towords heading out to dispatch them now. However either way if we are to remain hidden from the devils, or plan to avoid recapture as yeilthan says. I feel we should check these things motioning towords the skin sown on in disgust before continuing to see if they are any sort of tracker, do we have anyone capable of sensing magical attributes who can test them to see if they emit any beacon or the like?

[veven]

Richter ignores Yielthen to the best of his ability. If you actually listened to anything that anybody said instead of only hearing what you want perhaps you would have heard me say, "I am prepared to leave now." Fool. He better be as good with that bow in a fight or I doubt I could put up with him for much longer.

Richter looks to Char and says quietly,"Yes, I do believe that would be prudent." He approaches Karrell and asks politely, "Can you divine weather or not these sentences of ours are magical in anyway?"

[tuesdayscoming]

Karrell raises an eyebrow. "If we are to travel together for a time, then, anxious as you may be to depart, I would ask for but an hour to prepare myself and to ready my spells."

He turns his head to look at Char as the hellbred speaks. "Very well. Will you please bare your chest?"

If he does so, Karrell takes a full round action to cast Detect Magic via Uncanny Forethought, and spends the next several rounds inspecting the graft.

[darkillini]

i don't mind at all, i feel il need to get rid of this outift anyway in the condition it currently is in refering to the tears, and gashes in the outfit he had on. char will remove the shirt he ahs on to bear the graft. anyone behind him can see a large straight scar down half the length of the center of his back, almost exactly where his spine would be.

[McStabbington]

Cyrano ignored the others as he quickly and efficiently separated what he would keep from the pile left behind the carriage. He winced momentarily as he put his saddle in the "leave" pile; not only was the saddle too heavy to carry, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know what happened to his pony.

Next, he pulled his old entertainer costume, a garish robe with white stars sewn over a blue field, with a few mends here and there from where Cyrano the Magnificent, Master Alchemist had gone a bit overblown in his comedy routine and actually damaged his outfit. The outfit made him smile briefly, but in the wastes, it would be useless. He put it aside.

To his left, he heard Karrel say "If we are to travel together for a time, then, anxious as you may be to depart, I would ask for but an hour to prepare myself and to ready my spells." An hour is better than nothing. He arranged his saddlepack into a makeshift pillow. "So long as we're marching together, can someone wake me in an hour? It has been a long day, and I feel the need for a bit of sleep before marching." With that, he laid down, shaded his eyes with his hat, and tried desperately to sleep.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis nods, and goes to check on his horse. "If anyone, especially spellcasters, needs to sleep, I will be standing watch. We will leave in two hours, if that's alright with everyone. That should give you all time to sleep, eat, and prepare spells." He then sets to cleaning and properly affixing his armor, and tending to the animals.

[tuesdayscoming]

As Karrell continues to stare at the graft so crudely sewn onto Char's chest, he begins to wince. The maddening voices grown in his mind until finally, perhaps 12 seconds after he began probing, he can take it no more. Gritting his teeth, he snaps his head to the side and closes his eyes, taking a single deep breath to settle himself.

"They are, indeed, magical. Though what sort of energy they hold I could not say. Something of a sort I've not seen before. And I am not anxious to encounter it again soon."

"We should be cautious whilst we yet bear these marks. Their purpose yet untold, I know only that they were not placed upon us for our benefit."

Hearing Laenis's declaration, Karrell nods. "Your vigilance is appreciated, Incarnate. Unless any others require my immediate services, I will begin my preparations beneath the cherry tree."

[Kaim_the_angel]

The next few hours go by quietly, although you do see several devils on the horizion, whenever they come close enough that you can make them out they suddenly turn as if they forgot something and leave. Eventually two tense hours pass.

[darkillini]

char will have spent the past few hours in quiet contemplation, studying the cherry blosom tree, trying to find the hidden meaning that had eluded the powerful man.

search/ spot/ any other checks? that hed need to do?
search [roll0]
spot [roll1]

[Kaim_the_angel]

Without any knowledge of what you are looking for you cannot find anything, in all honesty you have no clue what Veari was doing, or looking for.

[RaggedAngel]

Laenis checks his horse's barding and saddle a final time before turning and letting out a shout. "C'mon everyone, rise and shine. I'm sorry, but it's time for us to go. If everyone's eaten, prepared spells, and gotten a nice nap, I think it's time that we head off. Whatever force or power is turning the devils away may not be permanent, and I do not want to be here out in the open when it runs out. If anyone doesn't feel like walking I would be honored to let you ride my horse; he's strong, and an able fighter. Any of the little folk get first claim for him; he should be able to carry two halflings or gnomes with no trouble." Laenis walks around, helping people up and getting gear ready. "We need to get a move on."

[veven]

Richter takes a cue from Cyrano and begins rifling through his things, keeping only that which will not weigh him down.Damned fiends probably ate my donkey, he mutters in his own head. He sets the rest in a small pile and turns to the rest of the group.
"I do not have the space for these things. If anyone can find a use for them, they are yours."
Richter has left behind 1 pack saddle, 2 tanglefoot bags, 6 days of rations, 1 waterskin, 50ft of silk rope, and 2 pints of oil,

He ponders his situation as the others wait. Would Karrell remember the signs of binding a vestige? I never quite learned to suppress them...perhaps I should bind a vestige with a less conspicuous sign. Naberius is too obvious. I'd rather not summon a vestige in front of this group anyways and it appears as though there is a shortage of places where I could find some privacy...I suppose it will have to wait.

[chrisrawr]

Travel light, travel swift. Yielthen was used to living off the land, and had no need for much of the frivolities of his temporary companions.

[McStabbington]

"C'mon everyone, rise and shine. I'm sorry, but it's time for us to go."


Cyrano grumbled as he got to his feet. He really could use a few more hours. . .

No, you need to avoid being captured. And that means staying awake for the time being. He shook the cobwebs out of his head and stretched. Reaching down, he grabbed his sword and slid it into its position on his belt at his left side before slinging his small dwarven shield over his back.

"Laenis, can I borrow you for a moment," he asked as he lifted his saddle pack. "I'm afraid I'd never be able to get that pack on your horse." Cyrano turned his head as he heard Richter make his announcement. He looked down at the pile as he waddled over to Laenis' horse. "I'm fairly certain my pack has room for those rations. And are you sure you want to leave your waterskin?"

[veven]

"I'm fairly certain my pack has room for those rations. And are you sure you want to leave your waterskin?"

"Thank you Cyrano, that would be a good idea, We may need all the food we can get.Richter's cracked red-grey skin shifts upwards into a small smile."In regards to the waterskin however, I have two in addition to the one I am leaving behind."

If it turns out we all have horses this these actions may need to be reversed

[tuesdayscoming]

Returning from his meditations just in time to hear Richter's offering up of his equipment, Karrell looks down to the pile at his feet.

"We would be best served by leaving as little as we can behind. One should take advantage of what resources one has. I, for one, would appreciate the waterskin."

[veven]

Richter hands Karrell the extra waterskin and in a moment of clarity realizes he has a horse waiting for him. He shakes his head at his own lack of perception and begins gather the other things from the pile and packing them onto his newly acquired horse.

[doliest]

Lord Percivial awakens; he'd actually been asleep for most of their dialogue, then the time everyone else spent asleep. He'd been rather tired, he'd admit. Besides, he'd been prepared to head to the slaver camp whether everyone else agreed to or not. Killing devils AND adding to the resistance? His dream. Well, actually, his dream had involved a particularly attractive serving girl from before the war, but that wasn't the point.

He checks what little he owns, making sure it is now safely in his horse's traveling bag. So, slay the devils, rescue the slaves, and ride off into the sunset? Best to play himself up as naive, yet heroic. Make more friends that way, not that he considered anyone here a friend. They'd be useful, however, and so he needed them to at least like him.

[Kaim_the_angel]

The moment you settle down on your mounts they immediatly start moving, without you even trelling them where to go.
No matter how you pull they refuse to divert course, although you quickly notive that they are moving west, in the right direction.
Night falls, allowing you a medium more cover as you travel, but you can see devil patrols in the wastes and in the air. Although the horses are keeping to more covered areas you can see the devil patrols are starting to get steadily closer.
As the horses tire slightly you are allowed a medium of control over them, but you need a plan to get across the wastes, lest the devils tighten their grip.

[chrisrawr]

"If they would fly a little closer, or a little tighter together, I'd have little trouble simply shooting them down. Damnable beasts, we need a distraction." He laughs. "Perhaps the-" he cuts himself off, remembering their strange host's gaze - "Horses could be used..." he finishes, dejectedly.

[darkillini]

Hearing the suggestion, char thinks it over for a second before awnsering, while a good idea having a decoy, I don't think the horses would be a good choice. Think, how do they keep finding us with their 'net' I think they are tracking us somehow, and the horses were never in the devil's possesion to my knowledge. Id bet these special 'magic' tatoos are the tracking becons they are using. For long distance, and they use visual observation for closer range spotting. turning to the rest of the group he continues does anyone have the ability to make us invisiable, or else transport us a good distance?

[McStabbington]

"I've seen such spells performed, but they are far beyond my ability," replied the gnome. "And that may not be of much help. It could be that they're using something like Manute's Rangefinding Magimeter." Cyrano stopped for a moment. Cyrano, you have to remember: you're the only gnome here; no one else even knows who Manute was, much less what a magimeter is. He cleared hiis throat and began again.

"Uh, I guess none of you know what that is. A famous gnome of our city once theorized that there are hot spots for magic; places where magic is easier to tap into than others. So he made a device to help find them. Since gnomes don't like being straightforward, however, this device only told you how close you were, not what direction this hot spot was in. But we found that two of these devices, placed reasonably far apart, would give different answers, and the differing ranges allowed us to find the hot spots." He paused again. "Of course, we never found out what we could actually do with these hot spots once we found them, but we did develop a whole new form of mathematics just to triangulate where they were.

The point being, that if they're using something similar, then more magic won't help us, but varying our speed will. If we stand still, we're easy to find. If we go at one speed, we're still easy to find once they realize we aren't standing still. If we vary our speed, they might be smart enough to get in front of us, but it would be our best bet to keep them from figuring out where we are. All we'd need to do then is figure out where in our path the best place to lay a trap would be.

Anyone know this land? I'm afraid I'm out of my element in the wild."

[darkillini]

somewhat baffled by the talk of mathmatics char felt the beginning of a headache coming on. he promised himself he would never ask a gnome how they had gotten those rocks of land up into the sky in the past, for he knew he would just be baffled for the conversation.

even though he had not a single clue about the items cyrano was talking about, or these mathematics he mentioned, he thought he had a general idea about what was being said.

did your people ever encounter moving hotspots? or hotspots close together? if so did you ever have trouble following them if they moved apart, yet remained somewhat close? could that cause, what would you call it? interference? in the determination of where they were?

[McStabbington]

did your people ever encounter moving hotspots? or hotspots close together? if so did you ever have trouble following them if they moved apart, yet remained somewhat close? could that cause, what would you call it? interference? in the determination of where they were?

Cyrano paused and pondered for a moment. He chewed on the inside of his lip as he tried to remember. It was so long ago. . .

"I don't know" he admitted. "I only recall my father talking with my mother about it at the dinner table one night maybe . . . thirty years ago. He wasn't involved in the research directly; he just allocated equipment to researchers. As I recall, they were more interested in the math they had to develop to make it work right than in the device itself. Which is fairly typical of tinker gnomes," he ended with a snort.

"But whether they did or not strikes me as unhelpful right now. Our mounts are headed in a single direction, so splitting apart to confuse our trail isn't an option. The options seem to me to be either go as fast as our mounts will allow and outrun the trackers, or keep varying our speed in hopes that they never figure out where we are at any one moment. Either way, we have to consider where we're headed, and whether there are any really bad places ahead to get caught from behind or for someone in front to lay a trap."