Return To The Ruins (Warlords Palace)

[hedgeknight]

Belloc - "Firstly, let's secure the prisoner. If anyone has shackles or rope, it would be useful. But more importantly, we need to appoint a leader—someone we all trust to speak for us and take the lead. We can hash out our agreements and arguments before or after we are in front of potential enemies or allies.
I don't want to be caught off guard again, blindsided by creative ideas with no warning or opportunity to discuss them.
i propose Ceana"

Ceana wheels around when Belloc mentions her name, her eyes wide and confused. "What? Me as leader? Erm...I don't know about that, Belloc. I-I'm just a druid...from the mountains. And erm..."
Then Sik nominates her as well, and she stammers some more, "Sik! I-I don't know what to say. I definitely don't want to cause a rift in our group...and will defer to Akhilleus...unless he...wants me to, um, lead."

[Belkregos]

Ceana wheels around when Belloc mentions her name, her eyes wide and confused. "What? Me as leader? Erm...I don't know about that, Belloc. I-I'm just a druid...from the mountains. And erm..."
Then Sik nominates her as well, and she stammers some more, "Sik! I-I don't know what to say. I definitely don't want to cause a rift in our group...and will defer to Akhilleus...unless he...wants me to, um, lead."

Ceana, being a leader means to serve, i know you enough to know its a burden you can carry
i ask this of you because we need someone we can all trust, and agree will have the best interest of all of us in mind

then turns to Akhilleus
i don't doubt your heart and skill Akhilleus, if the majority falls on you, i'll abide 

Then to the rest of the group
I only ask for someone we can rely on in moments of disagreement, especially when the urgency of the situation demands swift decisions without the luxury of debate and consensus. Despite our differences, we are united. It's not about tactics or objectives; we each know our capabilities and the best ways to apply them. As for objectives, we have found common ground.

this is about this situation not reoccurring
he gestures to the dead and wounded
thats all

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus listens attentively to all his companions, taking a couple of seconds to think.

"I'm honored by all those who have selected me." He turns to Ceana. "Judging by the way you speak, I'm unsure if you're willing to take on the role of the leader of this group. I wouldn't be against it, but I have to be honest." Now he addresses the whole group. "I was a soldier in a Kimmerian mercenary company for almost my whole life. My father was one of the marshals of our host, and I learned a lot from him.

That said, I am a warrior, accustomed to fighting alongside fellow warriors. I understand we're not a mercenary company, and we're not all cut from the same cloth." He thinks of the diverse array of professions and backgrounds that make up this party. "If you want me to be the leader, we'll all have to contribute with our opinions and thoughts." He looks at Cyric. "But let's all agree on a course of action before attempting to do anything."

He now looks down the hallway where the other dwarfs left. "I suggest we gather anything of value we may find here, interrogate that poor wretch, kill him if he remains hostile, and go chase the others that left this way. We must have our backs covered before going further down."

[Rex]

Drest

"Agreed, we will have to face them again and I would prefer it on our terms."

[hedgeknight]

Akhilleus listens attentively to all his companions, taking a couple of seconds to think.

"I'm honored by all those who have selected me." He turns to Ceana. "Judging by the way you speak, I'm unsure if you're willing to take on the role of the leader of this group. I wouldn't be against it, but I have to be honest." Now he addresses the whole group. "I was a soldier in a Kimmerian mercenary company for almost my whole life. My father was one of the marshals of our host, and I learned a lot from him.

That said, I am a warrior, accustomed to fighting alongside fellow warriors. I understand we're not a mercenary company, and we're not all cut from the same cloth." He thinks of the diverse array of professions and backgrounds that make up this party. "If you want me to be the leader, we'll all have to contribute with our opinions and thoughts." He looks at Cyric. "But let's all agree on a course of action before attempting to do anything."

He now looks down the hallway where the other dwarfs left. "I suggest we gather anything of value we may find here, interrogate that poor wretch, kill him if he remains hostile, and go chase the others that left this way. We must have our backs covered before going further down."

Ceana nods and listens to the Kimmerian warrior before replying. "I will follow you into battle any time. And I agree, a leader needs good minds around them. I vow to give unselfish advice to move us forward and for what is best for the group. I think all of us should do this, and you, Ahkilleus, will have the final say.
"As for what we do next, we plunder this cavern and the dead, and then go after the others. I don't trust our captive and we really can't communicate with him very well. We have two solutions: use him as a bartering chip when we catch up to the others, or...kill him and be done with it. I'm good either way."

[silifi]

Sik nods in agreement with Ceana. "I say that we give the remaining dwarfs a chance to surrender. If they don't throw down their arms and come out, we kill this one. Then we give them another chance, then kill the maggot. Then we close in on them."

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril

"I vote for myself as leader...however judging by the lack of additional support, I will follow the majority and provide my support to Akhilleus. He is a good second choice."

"As for the dwarfs, Sik's idea has merit. We do not need to indiscriminately kill them. We can be quite systematic in our murder, if necessary."

[shaidar]

Xenos

"I say we give Sik's idea try. If they surrender, what then? Do we just let them leave? They could ambush us on the way back"

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus

"Let's do that. Although they might laugh at us. We still don't know how many of them there are. But there's a way to find out." He turns to Belloc and then to the dwarf prisoner. "Belloc, can you ask him? I hope that we don't have to resort to torture." He still stands guard at the entrance of the hallway the remaining dwarfs escaped through.

[Rex]

Drest

Drest stands by to watch the interrogation.

[Ahlmzhad]

Cyril

"I vote for myself as leader...however judging by the lack of additional support, I will follow the majority and provide my support to Akhilleus. He is a good second choice."

"As for the dwarfs, Sik's idea has merit. We do not need to indiscriminately kill them. We can be quite systematic in our murder, if necessary."

Chuckling "Well that wins my vote for you Cyril, as I too prefer non-systemic murder."

[Monsieur Rose]

Well, that was a nice weekend wall of exposition.

Kainaxarthos

Kain shakes his head at the whole situation. "All the leader talk is fine and good, but I agree that when it comes down to it you need someone capable of diffusing situations. A soldier as leader is customary, but you will need a spokesperson. And I suggest myself. One voice, one message."

He smiles and jests with Belloc. "And Belloc, my guy. You just could not have translated it."

Kain turns to the lone dwarf. "Now about this guy. They said something about showing us the way to the snake-people. I don't think that's further in, but somewhere else. Since the snakes went up to the fortress, they would have had to come through here, which is dwarf territory. No. The Dwarfs don't have the gem, and the snakes aren't further in the tunnel. Why go further in?"

Now jesting with Cyril. "Unless you mean to drop off your ward?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Under The Zakath Desert
Dwarf Chaos Abound
No Idea On Time Of Day

The group discuss who should be calling the shots the next time they get themselves into a situation like this, and 4 or 5 members agree that they will be the leader of the party from now on.

In the meantime, the forest of bones Xenos summoned earlier eventually wither and fade once his magic spell runs its course.

Ceana can't decide what to do with the green statue, so she puts it back where it was before looking around for anything secretive in the surrounding stone. She finds the roughly hewn stone cave to be just that, revealing no unseen doors or other hidden secrets.

Several people suggest the remaining dwarf should be tied up, so Kain uses either his cord or his lasso to bind the brutes hands. He then rummages through the bodies of the fallen dwarfs, finding only a few handfuls of small coins among them, equalling 54 gold pieces in total. The giant insects have nothing of value on them.

With the grasping bones now gone, Akhilleus pokes his head down both of the remaining passages, finding one ends in a small room, while the other heads deeper into the cave complex.

Actions?

IMG_3656.jpeg (84.23 KiB) Viewed 314 times

Drest (Sc4) FA:3 AC7 10/22
Xenos (DS3) FA:3 AC5 9/17 Torch
Akhilleus (F4) FA:4 AC4 23/35
Kainaxarthos (C2) FA:1 AC6 5/11 Torch
Sik (Ba1) FA:1 AC5 6/12
Cyril (Pr2) FA:0(20) AC8 2/12 CLW
Ceana (D2) FA:1 AC5 9/13 Torch Light:50
Taibhse (Sh2) FA:0(20) AC5 11/11 Torch
Belloc (M2) FA:0(20) AC6 2/14

[Belkregos]

Akhilleus

"Let's do that. Although they might laugh at us. We still don't know how many of them there are. But there's a way to find out." He turns to Belloc and then to the dwarf prisoner. "Belloc, can you ask him? I hope that we don't have to resort to torture." He still stands guard at the entrance of the hallway the remaining dwarfs escaped through.

Belloc nods
we haven't seen any females,

he turs to the prisoner,
OOC: belloc will stop every fe words to translate so we are all on the same page

tell the rest of your tribe to surrender, we dont plan on harming them, but they need to come out unarmed, be quick about it or your life is forfeit

[Rex]

Drest

Drest stays alert and watches for any sneaky dwarf's.

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril mutters a spell, closes his eyes and opens his mouth. Black smoke streams out momentarily, before dissipating in the air. He looks much healthier.

Cure Moderate Wounds...and I'm all out of healing
Azathoth lends you [2d8]=11 points of healing

He opens his eyes and looks at Belloc. "You will be next once I have a few hours to prepare. You don't look good though. Stay towards the back. I will protect you.

Now what shall we do with this green statue? I would propose taking it although I do not look forward to the inevitable reprisal of the dwarfs as they come for us."

[silifi]

Sik begins to move down the bottom hallway, ready for an attack, but does not advance beyond what is currently visible to him and within the torchlight of his comrades.

[Monsieur Rose]

Kainaxarthos

He moves to examine the statue while he waits for the dwarf to reveal nothing. He suspects it may be valuable, and he intends to put his mining expertise to the test.

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus

"Maybe they value that statue even more than their larva. We should take it with us. I'm sure it can fetch a good price."

To Kain: "I agree that you would be a good spokesperson for our group. I've seen you in action with the Matron. It's only to our advantage that you act as such on behalf of the group. At least when we are dealing with people that can understand us."

[Ahlmzhad]

Taibhse

He approaches Belloc, "would you like to me work a healing on you?"

If he accepts Healing of Raven[1d4]=3

If not he'll work down the list of most wounded until someone wants it.