LpDND: Reunions

[Blackferne]

"Magical relic? do you know how to wield it?" The Baron asks very intrigued.

[Jimer Lins]

"I believe we do, but we would strongly advise against using it or attempting to. From what we understand, it seems to be, at best very chaotic in its effects. And given its history and origins, I'm not sanguine about any attempt to actually use it. I suggest we look into these events and work to address these various cults and secret societies which have no good intent for this area or the people of Belholt. And perhaps find a way to destroy that thing without either endangering ourselves or the area."

[Blackferne]

"Your objection is noted. However I would like to see this object in action. In the back yard there is a practice dummy. Perhaps we could use it on that? If this is an object of power, then it may be a gift. Something we need to keep Belholt safe from these various threats." He says.

The sheriff starts to look a bit uneasy.

[Jimer Lins]

"I... " Trinal looks at the rest of the group. "You are, of course, in charge, my lord. But please consider the origin of this... thing. It is not for nothing that it was coveted by very dark powers."

Trinal looks at Syric, and holds out his hand for the sack, with a resigned expression on his face.

"If you insist, my lord, I ask that everyone else be well back."

[Blackferne]

The Baron leads you to his rather large back yard. On the far end of the yard is a standard wooden target humanoid.

It is about 50 yards away.

[Staris]

"If the Baron is adamant on learning what the shard can do, might I suggest not trying it in town. The tower we received it from is at least far enough that should it have disastrous effects will be less likely to adversely affect the town and its people."


Diplomacy Roll(1d20)+9:
20,+9
Total:29

"Though personally I would rather not try should the shard be a true piece of darkness the consequences could be much greater then any good that could come from using it."

[Blackferne]

"How far is this tower? We could use the device against it I suppose." The Baron says moved by Stavis' words.

[Whiteness]

"I'm sorry Baron, I can't agree to that." Syric says ashe stuffs the Bha'al sack back under his armor.

"We don't know with certainty what will happen, this was just to show you that the cultists are after relics, it was not a gift to you"

[Furiel]

Tony steps between Syric and the Baron and fixes a glare on the Baron...

"Or how about we don't. Toying around with forces that we don't fully understand, that are chaotic in nature and need Tony Plush remind everyone were used by the champion of an evil god is fundamentally stupid on more levels than Tony Plush can begin to describe. This relic is wanted by the cult of Bha'al to bring him back to life. It is our duty to keep this relic from them. PERIOD. We will not be using it and that fact is non-negotiable. Is Tony Plush clear on this point?

Tony Plush understands you want to protect your people, but WE are doing that by rooting out the evil here. We are going to continue to do so. But the relic is ours and will be used, or in this case NOT USED, at our discretion, not yours. Instead of messing around with an item of power we do not fully understand our attention should be on the questions of why here, why now and what are our next steps to putting a stop to it. So let's get to that now, shall we?"

[Blackferne]

"Are you refusing to comply with an order from nobility? I am the Baron of Belholt, and extension of the will of the Earl Karlkyns, and doing the work of the king! You all say there are grave threats, and that this is a potentially terrible device, but refuse to do a demonstration so I may make an informed decision? I am ordering you to surrender the device for a demonstration of it's power so I can properly advise the Earl and the King about it." The Baron says rather agitated by Syric's refusal.

[Dood]

Ham'mon has some more wine in the back of the room. He walks out through the back door, indicating to the guard that he has to pee.

[Jimer Lins]

"Gentlemen. While I am in agreement that this thing poses a risk, I will point out that, as the professor also noted, devices such as these are not typically intrinsically evil or good. They are but tools. The Baron does have a point, in that it might be useful to us to understand what this thing does, because it might give us greater insight into what those who had it intended to do with it. I don't believe that using it on the tower poses much of a risk to us or Belholt."

[Whiteness]

"Baron, you are correct. There are grave threats, and this could be a terrible device. I am not one who plays around with terrible devices to see what they do with no real understanding of how to use it. Your suggestion is wreckless. Do you want to be responsible for the destruction of Belholt by trying to harness chaotic magic?"

[Whiteness]

Syric looks around at his teammates, "For all we know, the Baron has been corrupted by the Spectral Alliance and is just trying to get the relic from the Bha'alists."

He looks back at the Baron, "That is not an accusation, sir, but an example of what dangerous creatures we are dealing with."

[Furiel]

"Tony Plush believes the answer to your question is yes, WE are refusing to comply. Unless of course you would like us to tell the Earl that there is a Cult of Bah'al uprising in your lands, that we recovered a relic they intended to use to bring him back from the dead, then YOU insisted that the relic be used. Tony Plush is sure that there would not be any questions into you and yours if that came up. As Tony Plush recalls your family does not have any kind of ties to the cult in the past. Or do they?"

[Blackferne]

As the tension in the room is thick enough to cut with a knife, a servant comes from the other room.

"My lord, you have a visitor. The Earl is at the front stairs."

"Well let him in. And...put him in the library. I'll be there momentarily." He turns to the sheriff. "Get the wino back in here, and keep them here. Do not let them leave until I say so."

"Yes my lord." The sheriff says. He sends the deputy off to retrieve Ham'mon.

The Baron leaves closing the door behind him.

The Sheriff says sitting down. "Listen boys, and lady. I understand your feelings here, but he is the face of the crown, and he is not accustomed to people talking to him the way you have today. I don't like that thing you brought back anymore than you do, but his obligations to protect pretty much mean he has to know what is what. So try to think of a way to sort this out before you piss him off to where you are spending time in prison."

[Whiteness]

"I'm not sure what are options are. We tell the Baron we have a relic the cult of Bha'al wants and he asks us to test it out on his dummy. Does he want us to open it up and throw the fragments at it? Stuff the Bha'al sack in the dummy's mouth and say the control phrase? Nothing about this seems right."

[Whiteness]

"And why has all this happend under his thumb in Belholt? How did both the cult and the alliance setup camp here?"

[Jimer Lins]

"I'm pretty sure I know how to use it and I know the control phrase. You basically aim it and speak the phrase. You don't open it or anything like that. And the numbers on it, which currently stand at 20, would in my best guess represent the number of times it can be used before becoming inert."

"And as to the Baron, I don't think that it's a good idea to accuse him of being in some kind of collusion with these people, or even to imply it. Certainly not while you're in his home with his sheriff standing nearby. He IS nobility, and there are severe consequences to what you've contemplated."

[Blackferne]

The Professor says, "Well I think I agree with Ham'mon that telling him about the relic was probably a mistake. However the cat's out of the bag on that one. As for why Belholt I think I can speculate as to that. We are currently on the part of the kingdom known as the eastern shelf. It is the transitionary land from the great mountain ranges to our immediate west and the great green sea to the east. As you will no doubt know, the green see is a great plains area with many nomadic barbarian tribes. The kingdom's strongest areas, and most civilized areas now are in and around Waterdeep. They have the most trade, the most people, the most power. But that was not always the case. In former eras other places had greater power. Sagemoor to the south used to be the capital of the Tiber Empire. Victae's father serves in a citadel up north that has stood for 4000 years serving over a dozen different ruling dynasties. But what has remained constant in most of that time is that the mountains have largely gone untamed. that is why you find goblins, orcs, and numerous other nasties populated throughout. Similarly the green se4a is equally hard to tame. When the king's great grandfather wanted to expand the only other place that at the time was not really settled was this area. The transition from the nasty mountains and the nasty green sea. This is a place with little historical governance, a frontier being tamed. Belholt has stood for maybe 80 years as a town. And most of the supporting farms only go back a few generations. But the Bha'alists in the mountains and the barbarians in the plains have existed in outlier lands like this for thousands of years. As for the Spectral Alliance, undeath like that could be anywhere where people are, we just happened to stumble upon it here as well."

[Whiteness]

"Trinal, it would have been nice to know this earlier. Maybe you could elaborate for those of us that don't walk in the arcane. Are you saying you know how to use the sack or the pieces inside? Are you aiming the sack at someone? I'm sorry but i'd prefer to have more than a 'best guess' when it comes to using this thing."

Syric sighs and shakes his head, "As to the Baron, I'll try to repair any damage I've caused, but I can't say he fills me with much confidence. the evil we are facing are highly organized and can have their agents everywhere, I was just trying to explain how we must be careful whom we trust, even if that person is nobility."

[Furiel]

"So you THINK you know how to use it... You THINK you aim it and say the control phase... And if you were to do that what do YOU THINK would happen? Do you even know? Bottom line is the thing is dangerous and we don't fully understand it. It's dangerous and foolhardy at the least to play with it. And if it does have limited charges as you suggest then using one for demonstration purposes is not a wise use of whatever power is has as well. Not to mention that again, the Bha'alists want to use it to bring their dead god back. So the fewer people who know about it the better. And if people do know about it, knowing it's powers and how to activate it is something else to keep under wraps as much as possible. The fewer who know the safer EVERYONE is. And that is ultimately why we are here. To stop this evil and make the lands safe."

[Blackferne]

Victae says in a joking tone. "If we think it has a set number of charges, why not use it all to make it inert? What's the worst that could happen?"

[Whiteness]

Syric motions to Tony to hold, "Hang on Tony, I agree with you, but let's give Trinal a chance to explain. He does have the most intimate knowledge of things arcane. Maybe we missed some things last night when he and the professor were discussing it. I know my mind was a bit taxed with all the things we'd uncovered."

He tries to take a moment to lay it all out, mostly for himself "Now we know the cultists are after relics to bring back Bha'al, but this one is said to be pieces of a sword that can possibly be rebuilt to be used against Bahamut, and originally was used by a wizard. Since we found it on some goblin scum outside a small unimportant place like this, it may not be one of the relics that they need to bring back Bha'al"

A quick pause and he continues, "Now the sack apparently has some powers, but I'm not clear on them"

[Jimer Lins]

Trinal looks at the group, his usual smile gone. "I cannot agree with the Professor that telling the Baron was a bad idea. For good or ill, he is the lord of these lands, and if we want his assistance, we can't be holding information critical to the issue from him. And regardless of what we might think of our abilities, we're not stewards of the land, the people or the kingdom. I don't think that withholding information from the Baron is a good idea- even if it turns out not to be relevant, if I were him I wouldn't trust us as far as I could comfortably spit a rat after that point."

Trinal then turns a baleful eye on Syric. "And as to your implication that I didn't tell people about this, I seem to recall you were physically present during the discussions, and I very clearly said I understood how to use it and even mentioned that it had charges. I'm not responsible if you don't pay attention."

He visibly pauses, obviously trying to get his temper under control.

"May I suggest that if we're intent on securing the assistance of the Baron that we treat him as his station requires? I don't see that coming here helps us in our mission if the only thing we're going to do is insult him or accuse him of being either incompetent or in collusion with criminals. And I don't relish going to prison."