Dungeons & Dragons 2.0 (Active RP topic)

Alysa studied the newcomer from a distance as he taked about spiritual premonitions and other such nonsense. She approached him.

"And what did your angelic buddy have to say about me?" She asked, half jokeingly.

Sandor turned to face the other Ranger and with as much sarcasm as he could muster replied, "She said you'd welcome me more warmly than this. I suppose she was wrong." Turning back to the others, he continued, "I am, however, unanimously decided to joining your party and helping you defeat the kobolds. You have seen that I have no hostile intentions. I did save your halfling prisoner, after all."

"Well, maybe we don't want you here. Staffy just pointed out to me that by adding individuals to our gang, we must split the loot more ways. We don't need this many people for a few Kobolds. You're unnecessary." Azul said. He leaned on his staff. The obvious retort to Azul's statement was that without spells all he could do in the last fight was cry in the corner...but they didn't have to know that.

Sandor's patience was wearing thin. "That's odd," quipped Sandor, "From where I was, I didn't see you taking a stand against those overgrown mosquitoes. You hid behind a tree. Any particular reason for that, Sir Azul?"

"Unfortunately, we wizard's can easily be compared to candlesticks. You light one up, and suddenly that light is really useful. Slowly however the wax melts and all your left with is a candlestick. Wizards have a variety of useful spells, but eventually the mental strain it puts on our bodies dries our powers up to the point where we can't even remember our incantations. So yes, I was hiding. Unless you want me to go all barbarian on the mosquitos like creatures with Staffy, I had no other options." Azul scratched the pale face behind his mask.

"Which reminds me, we should consider getting some shelter and some shut eye so that we'll be ready to face the kobolds tomorrow. Anyone agree?"

"I suppose I'll set up camp with the lot of you then?" asked Sandor following the masked figure, "I'm staying even if you object."

The party is exhausted at this point and realizes that they are in dire need of a good night's sleep if they're going to deal with these kobolds in the morning. They have to make the most of what time they have left, and collectively they decide to delay the issue regarding this Sandor character. One way or another, he didn't seem intent on leaving any time soon. The party retired for the night and slept, taking turns staying awake to watch all of the new people that they had just met, since at the moment none of them could be trusted. There was Alysa, the female ranger, Dwellervorn, the suspicious-looking Halfling, and Sandor, the woodsman - none of their true intentions were known.

The rest of the night passes without incident, and the next morning the party awakens to find that they are all surprisingly alive. They prepare breakfast and eat together in the clearing while the magic-users study their spell books and Gerhild prays for her god's blessing. The morning's conversation reveals that Sandor knows of the kobolds' lair, just as Dwellervorn does. The two of them bicker for a few moments over which of them knows exactly where the lair is located, but after a bit of discussion they realize that they are talking about the same exact place.

With the morning's preparations complete, the party sets out into the forest on the heels of Dwellervorn and Sandor, who have a few disagreements about which route to the lair would be best. After walking for a few minutes and getting to know their new allies better, the party members stop dead in their tracks. Several party members have heard something in the forest, and while straining to listen a few more of them notice the sound of ruckus as well.

Without further warning a dark shape darts out of the trees, dashes across the path, and dives into a cloud of bushes, paying no mind to the party. Though only catching a fleeting glimpse of the shape, Alysa, Sandor, and Dwellervorn are all able to discern that it is some sort of humanoid concealed by a hooded cloak. The rest of the party is so surprised by the sudden encounter that they are caught off-guard and see only a vanishing shadow.

Seconds later a group of four armed men come stumbling out of the trees, tripping over roots and fighting their way through branches while trying to keep their balance. These men are well-protected by studded leather armor and equip themselves with longswords and shields, their identical apparel suggesting they are part of an organized group. Out of breath and frantic-looking, they look both ways once on the path and seem startled by the presence of an adventuring party, specifically a very large one.

"Did you see that bastard?" one of the men asks them, gasping for air and sweating from under his armor. "Which way did he go?"

"Based on your clothing and your...eugh...smell, I would guess that you are an adventuring party too?" Azul asked. He skipped into the view of the newcomers and bowed to the point where his over sized hat touched the ground. "Greeting friends, my name is Azul, the wandering conjurer of all manner of beasts, and I bid you good tidings."

"As for the man you're looking for...well, I'm going to follow Staffy's advice." The conjurer said while looking at his instrument of destruction. "If you have information that other people want, then never give it out for free. What sort of reward are you talking about for finding this man, and can we get in on it if we help you out?" Azul said.

"This matter is none of your business, stranger," the leader of the group of men said to Azul. "The reason for our search is none of your business, and our reward is not yours to be shared. If it is that important that you receive something in exchange for not standing in the way of our duties, then how about you tell us where that man went, I agree not to run you through on my sword for obstructing our mission, and we all call ourselves even?"

The man's grip was tightening on the hilt of his sword. Clearly, he was deadly serious and had no interest in negotiating with a strange wizard.

Garrel (to everyone else the guy in the bushes), swore under his breath. " I'm losing my touch. The only other time they were ever that close was when I had been chased for 3 days by an army. That was a wild day.". The weird looking man in the floppy hat bowed suprisingly low. Listening to their conversation, Garrel picked up two things. The weird guy talked to his staff (odd little person) and was a pragmatist. That could work for him, or it couldn't. Still, preparing for the worst, he unknotched his swords and reached up his sleeves. To kill them fast, he would need the element of surprise and one he'll of a good aim. And luck, was rarely on his side.

Gurry frowned when he caught sight of the four men. The wizard seemed to think they were adventurers, but their equipment suggested they were mercenaries, or maybe even bounty hunters. Either way, they were professional ruffians.

"Th' wizard is right. Ye don't get nothin' fer nothin'. Make it worth our while an' we'll tell you where yer friend went," Gurry said, stepping forward to stand beside Azul. The dwarf rested a hand on his sword's pommel; it never paid to be too careful.

"Something is amiss," Sandor whispered to Alysa, "When that hooded figure ran by us, he seemed to mouth something to me in that instant. It looked to be something comparative to 'No.' or 'Don't.' If thats the case, I think we should allow him to go on his way." Then turned to the search party and eyed them with suspicion. He pondered for a moment about misleading them, so as to aid the mysterious fugitive.

Athuk slowly clutched the handle of his blade, something felt wrong, and he had the strangest feeling that they were all being watched from the woods.

((srry for short post))

Azul's eyes seemed to narrow as he stared back at the man, his hand gripping his staff hard enough to turn his knuckles white. It seemed as though Azul's mind had completely changed, as he no longer stood in a slouch or spoke in a goofy and high-pitched squeal. The change was so sudden that a few of the other party members were shocked. Once in a rare moment, Azul actually managed to look like what he was, and that was a deadly young conjurer whose abilities surpassed his wisdom on how to use them. In many ways, Azul was a volcano, and not one that took kindly to threats.

"Look, I don't care how tough you are boy," Azul said in a commanding voice. "But no one threatens me with mere swords. You are standing before a conjurer with enough power to feed your entire little force to my horde of snakes. If anything, you should be bowing to me, but out of professional courtesy I had hoped that we could end this in a kinder manner. Let me make two things clear. First, we know where your target is, and we will not be telling you unless you give us proper payment." This was partially a bluff, but Azul did have a general idea of where the cloaked figure had gone. "Second, if you threaten me again, I will ensure that my snakes don't leave enough of you behind to bury. Now, are we going to deal with this problem like gentlemen, or shall we go our separate ways?

"Something is amiss," Sandor whispered to Alysa, "When that hooded figure ran by us, he seemed to mouth something to me in that instant. It looked to be something comparative to 'No.' or 'Don't.' If thats the case, I think we should allow him to go on his way."

Alysa arched her eyebrow at Sandor.

"You must have exception eyesight then. I doubt his actiona have been honorable since he was beset by such a zealous band, but perhaps you are right. Maybe he does deserve a second chance."

She rested he hand on the pommel of her sword, ready to draw should the situation become hostile.

"Tis the archery training. Quite good for the eyes, Miss," Sandor whispered to Alysa. He didn't take his eyes off of the band of hunters and maintained his composure. His hands were on the hilt of his hunting knife in case the situation should go downhill.

The armed men and the party of adventurers eye each other for a long, silent moment as all present finger their weapons and prepare for an all-out battle. Some present are twitchy, and seem to be more likely to suddenly draw their blade and attack. Most of these individuals are more heavily scrutinized by the others in the standoff. If a battle were to begin, it would be on their move.

Then, one of the men in the back of the group steps forward slightly, placing a hand on the shoulder of the man in front. The leader of the men does not remove his eyes from Azul, but steps back a foot or two while the other man carries out an exchange with him in a hushed voice. His words go unheard by the party members. A few seconds later, he steps away and the leader comes forward again.

"Very well then," he says, nodding towards the party. He reaches slowly for a pouch on his belt and scoops out a handful of coins, stacking them between his thumb and index fingers and showing them to the party. "We will offer five pieces of platinum in exchange for information regarding the whereabouts of our target, an amount equivalent to fifty gold pieces." He transfers one coin to his other hand and uses his thumb to flip it through the air towards Azul, who snatches it up with one hand without a word. "Show us where our target ran off to and you get the rest."

These were woods, the 'target' was fast, agile and stealthy (at least from what Athuk had gathered) and they had been standing here for quite a while. That shady bunch would never catch up with the figure they were hunting, it was at least rather unlikely. And hey, 50 gold, just like that, is a good deal.

He felt slightly conflicted, on the one hand, they would get a lot of money for little information and the odds stacked against the chasers anyway, on the other hand, he would be 'betraying' someone, someone that he didn't know, but who was clearly on the run, he may have done something wrong, but judging from the shady bunch following him, that was not the case. After a few moments of grumbling and consideration, Athuk's dragonborn honour kicked in and crushed any will in participating in a deal with these people. He just stared blandly into the forest, wondering where the guy had gone and who he had been anyway, before sitting down on a nearby rock. It could take a while until they would get moving again. Athuk did, however, not take his hand off of the hilt of his blade, still having the feeling that a sudden battle was a very real possibility at this point.

There is a lengthy silence, and for the moment it seems as though the party is unwilling to divulge the desired information despite the fact that they are being promised what they have asked for. The group of hunters begin to become impatient, and the leader clenches a fist.

"Well?" he asks the party, sounding on-edge and urgent. "Will you tell us where our quarry is or not?" There is more silence, and in the silence the leader growls angrily and throws the remaining four platinum coins on the ground in front of the party, visibly frustrated. "There! You have your money so tell us where he is!"

The man's companions step forward slightly and remove their swords halfway from their scabbards, preparing for the command to attack.

"Don't ye raise yer voices at us, lad. We'll tell when we're ready," Gurry said sternly, his hand resting on the pommel of his blade. "Now, if ye and yer companions wait jus' over thar..." he beckoned to a tree about twelve yards away, "we'll collect our coins an' tell ye. No need fer anyone t' get 'urt."

"Aye, let us discuss this matter for a moment," Sandor quipped as a slight smile spread across his face. He turned to Alysa. "Shouldn't we just take the coins and run? Who cares if the hooded figure gets away? He didn't seem like he'd cause us a problem anyway. This lot is probably all hitmen hired to assist some snake in grabbing power by getting rid of him," he whispered.

The situation seemed to be going well. The party of adventures had not yet revealed his position and a fight had not broken out. If those soldiers survived to tell of a fight to their master, both them and Garrel would be in trouble. Everything was going well but then, those soldiers revealed the 5 platinum coins for payment. This became a problem. That was a lot of money, even just for betraying a person. Well, at least in the world of assassins and mercenary. For the time being, it appeared the adventurers were not betraying him, amateurs. For the time being, Garrel thought he was in no danger. That is, unless he decided to take the money for himself. He could use his secret weapons to down two of the soldiers and then kill or at least incapacitate the other two. Whether the adventurers intervened was trivial. Then, if he did want to join the group, it would be a small chance that they would accept him. Then it would be back to running again. That is one thing Garrel knew he could do without. So, Garrel thought, "Remain hidden or go for the gold, or platinum in this case."

Azul looked at the shiny coin and smiled. Platinum certainly was an attractive form of currency. Either way, he was taking the hunter's money, whether or not they gave up the man they were looking for was inconsequential.

"I like to make it a policy to not make new enemies if I don't need to." Azul whispered. "The man means nothing to us, and the hunters did do what they were asked. However, I don't want to have us bicker over this for too long, or these men might become impatient. Thus, for the sake of preserving time, I agree with Sandor. Lets point them off to a point far enough away from here for us to make a quick getaway, and then we can find the hooded fellow they were after. To have a group like this after him means that he must know or have something valuable."

Aylsa listed the Azul give his opinion to the group. Looking at him with only her eyes, she nodded her head, almost imperceptibley. They should give the hooded person a chance, and makeing gold while they were at, it... Well, it was a win-win.

After the decision is made, Azul turns back to the hunters and turns his body, pointing down the path in the direction from which the party had just been walking. He tells the hunters that their target ran past their party and ran off into the forest just before they emerged from the trees. Azul's explanation is not very convincing, but fortunately for him his mask makes a good poker face. The hunters seem to believe him.

"Not exactly an answer worth five platinum," the leader of the hunters grumbles. He shrugs his shoulders and says, "Good enough, I suppose," and then waves his men onward in the direction Azul pointed. "C'mon boys, move as fast as your legs can carry you, our quarry's getting away!" The hunters run around the party and pass them, darting off down the path as fast as they possibly can. In just a few seconds, they cut into the forest and disappear from sight.

Five platinum pieces sit on the path in front of the party, and the woods are dead silent.