[Bob's TB] See, I told ya, while away the time with conspiracy theories... :)

At Sandarkar's response, I smile grimly, perhaps despite myself.

"I do not care at all what your true name is, but rather your nature, and for that I accept your blood oath. I care not for the secrets of Amn, which are her affair, but for what you know of this orcish plot. What, for example, of this Barrs, who we go now to interrogate? I know little of humankind, but something of the ways of men, if you get my meaning. If I knew something of what has gone on with him, I might be able to assess the truth of his words, and surely another judge of him cannot hurt matters, eh? In any case, I think you understand my situation, and I shall try to acquit myself so as to assuage any suspicions you might have of me." I genuinely smile at this, as the idea of being suspicious myself is somewhat amusing.

"Ah, Captain, you speak words of great history, and you speak with great eloquence, and yet you seem not to know what you ask. `Sandarkar' here has done an admirable job of seeing the situation from my perspective -- consider it yourself. Were I to ask you to take an oath to rescue the lost heirs of my lord, with some people, who, valorous as may be, you have just met, and not always civilly, how could you respond? You, of course, would not be able to make such an oath unless it did not interfere with your duties to your Duke, to your men...and how could you know such a thing? You would need to know of the party you are asked to travel and fight with, and you would probably have to ask leave of your superior.

"There are dwarves, and courageous ones at that, who might boldly leap into such obligations while the heat of battle is still upon them, and later find themselves in zwang, which is a place from which there is no honorable path. I am not such a dwarf.

"However, neither am I a dwarf who cannot think for himself, or has his decisions thrust upon him, and I bear a duty to those who were kidnapped under my nose here in my lands. In addition, I believe that this attack portends ill for my people as well as yours. Here is what I can offer you. Understand that my first loyalty is and must be to my family, my clan, my people and my home. Understand that in any case, I must communicate to Argunn Lode my current whereabouts and circumstances, and later other information if it is necessary for their safety. Understand that my bond to this group is as strong as the loyalty they are worthy of, and should one or more prove false, they shall receive no quarter from me. If you understand and accept these things, then I shall freely bind myself in word and soul to free those who were captured this day, in this place, from those that hold them, so long as such endeavors do not endanger my family, my clan, my people, or my home."
posted by Scholeologist at 12/18/2003 03:52:00 PM

[Bob's TB:] Third time, actually, Sandarkar -- we passed the second watch tower without incident.

Barik is in no mood for pony sentiment, but quickly rattles off this haiku before pressing his point:

"Veins of earth are filled
With Dumathoin's rich bounty:
Silver, gold, iron.

"Sandarkar, even you have questions, to make sure we don't make the same mistake if nothing else. And try to see things from my perspective. Just now I learn that, in fact, you all _knew_ a kidnapping attempt was planned? Grell has (or had) an unknown twin, arranging this attack? Had I known this, I don't know if anything would have turned out differently, but I daresay I would have pointed out that the ambush site was effective before, and might well have asked the Captain and his Lieutenant about outriders along the cliff-edge, and signals from the watch tower. And these bits of information, I am certain, are just the first glimmers of the lode. I think we must be forthright with each other, here and now, lest we fly apart as you fear.

"Consider what a suspicious dwarf might think, given the traces and clues. To wit: a supposed merchant's son talks to a Captain as his equal, and the Captain heeds him. Later, he climbs up a cliff in a way that I, an experienced climber, can only describe as unnatural. In fact, he climbs a cliff when there is no particular reason to do so, and just happens to climb at just such a point that he happens upon a tunnel entrance that even I, for whom the cliffs of this land are home, didn't know was there. Fortune of fortunes! He found this tunnel none too soon, for it is exactly then that the ambush begins, and a lightning bolt slams through his comrades, and may well have killed him had he not fancied to climb the wall at just that time. Luckily, though he spends lightning bolts like rain elsewhere, the skull-faced shaman does not fry this merchant's son when he has the chance, but fires some minor magicry at him instead. I surmise [DM, you can INT check here if you want] that you knew that the wagon-driver of the Duke's kin, this Barrs, was suspect -- why was he not held by the guard in Twin Towers?

"I will leave off, though there are other curious circumstances, for I am not so suspicious a dwarf as all that. But suppose, now, that we decide at some point to go to Argunn Lode. Were you in my stead, would you think it wise to offer surety for such a fellow? Should I be so confident, given what I have seen, that my people, my family, are as safe with you inside the city walls as out?

"Let me sum up. Since I have met you, most of my understanding has been through guesswork and supposition. For example, Bishop is the illegitimate son of the Duke, is he not? Grell -- though I mean no insult -- no longer basks in Pelor's light, yes? As comrades in arms, is it necessary for me to piece together chance misstatements to find even this much out? And in particular you, Sandarkar, are obviously not what you say you are, and you have many secrets, albeit poorly guarded ones, as your reference to `the one who will hold you answerable' demonstrates. Your compatriots seem satisfied at this, and perhaps the Captain knows more, but I am no longer in a position to assume that your intrigues are merely human politics and don't concern me. I want to know what you're really about, and more evidence than words would be most convincing.

"I know of Hextor's Flail, and the cult of his Fist, though I thought that it was destroyed long ago. I shall tell a tale of history about it, but I'd like to hear about you first."
posted by Scholeologist at 12/17/2003 06:40:00 PM

Sorry I've been out of touch. (Although, for part of it, so was Barik...)

Jacob: got LOTR tickets for Thursday night. Hopefully fewer rabid teenage Orlando Bloom fans... :) All the interrogation scenes I remember involve Gollum, and hobbits don't do the bad cop routine very well.

Barik, after thanking Grell for healing him, is clearly furious, though what it's directed at isn't immediately clear -- probably frustration at his missing the fight because of an orc's lucky blow. He watches the interrogation of Joe with keen interest, but doesn't say anything. He seems dissatisfied with the results.

[Barik]
When Joe gets tied up, and Bishop starts to head towards the tower [Bob's TB: which I guess is after Sandarkar gives his anti-Taur'egk speech, but I don't know], I shout "HOLD!" If some soldiery are nearby, he says "I think these men can escort the captives to the tower. We have affairs which _must_ be settled, here, now." If it can be arranged, I would like the principals (Kray, Bishop, Alonzo, Grell, Drusilla, Sandarkar, and me) here while the soldiers bring the captives to the tower and wait there for us.

"This battle clearly was a victory indeed, but unless my reckoning is faulty, several orcs have escaped. Bad enough that the enemy will surely get news sooner rather than later that there are survivors of the caravan on their trail, but worse, we have no indication of when reinforcements will return. This orc clearly knows nothing, and I doubt I need to remind you that more than one of our assailants vanished and reappeared at will. I do not know how this magic was wrought, but since we did not find those they kidnapped in the tower, it is clear that the range of this teleportation is considerable. How long it takes for reinforcements to march here matters little -- do you think that now, without any means of healing ourselves, we could face another helping of lightning bolts from this enemy we can't damage, should he reappear inside the tower?"

"We need more information to estimate how long it is safe to remain here, whether to go to Argunn Lode, retreat to Twin Towers, or pursue some other course. Of course, our best source of information may lie in the tower -- but he will keep a few moments while we figure out what best to ask him. There are many other sources of information among us, here, to address the question that may give answers to many other questions, the question that surely is on all of our minds, except Alonzo, who was not witness to it -- the question, in short, of HOW THIS HAPPENED!?"

I sweep out with my arm the valley below us, indicating the vast swath of destruction we were lucky to survive through, and so many others weren't.

"Let me begin by telling you my impression of the events leading up to this. When I told you all of the plight of the dwarves of Argunn Lode, everything happened in a rush, and all I found out was that this considerable caravan had a considerable guard, accompanying some member of the Duke's family, was unafraid of the threats I described, and was in a ferocious hurry -- barely had I arrived in Twin Towers, but the head of the caravan had already left, while the business of some of this esteemed company (indicating Sandarkar) was not yet completed, and the rest of us (excepting the Captain) had to shoulder our way up through the caravan to reach the head.

"Perhaps each of you can fill in the background and events that I know not, which might have a bearing on the purpose and means of this devastating attack?" Despite the wording, I'm not asking politely -- from my tone, it's clear that I am demanding to know what has been going on.
posted by Scholeologist at 12/16/2003 12:35:00 PM

Sorry this is late, but I've been flying back to the states and I had to figure out how to get this file where it needed to be remotely:

posted by Scholeologist at 12/14/2003 11:51:00 PM