IC VIII

[riftstone]

Thordin the dwarf sheaths his sword and spits on the ground.

(in Dwarf) "Who are you and what are you doing here? Which clan do you hail from? Who is your master this night? Fear not, for you are still kinsmen and soldiers; we will not slaughter you without the chance for battle."

(in Common) "These are called Duergar - Grey Dwarves, cast out when the mountains were new and mines still shallow. Still, they are dwarf, and deserve some respect, but do not trust them. They do not leave their homes except when exiled or commanded."

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Innana feels Bregelad relax out of his fighting formation and turns to see that the Dark Elves had thrown down there weapons. Innana follows Thordins lead and sheaths her sword. Innana stands behind Thordin and crosses her arms.

"Well, I am glad to see that the Dark mutants see your conviction in jewel making. I would hate to kill them on account they could not understand fractions." Innana listens in as Thordin continues his conversation in Dwarvish.

[Finglas]

Innana the Fighter:

Innana feels Bregelad relax out of his fighting formation and turns to see that the Dark Elves had thrown down there weapons. Innana follows Thordins lead and sheaths her sword. Innana stands behind Thordin and crosses her arms.

"Well, I am glad to see that the Dark mutants see your conviction in jewel making. I would hate to kill them on account they could not understand fractions." Innana listens in as Thordin continues his conversation in Dwarvish.

Bregalad the elf

"Hahah! I would not put too much stock in my earlier interpretation, warrioress! Thordin used jargon that was unfamiliar to me. His words to them now, however, are clear..... He asks who they are, and why they are here, and assures them they will not perish by our hands without a chance to defend themselves."

Bregalad is calm, but wary -- ready to fight again, should the party be ambushed by other creatures.

Sensing discord within the group, the elf says his piece, "The Grey Dwarves are Thordin's distant kin. It is he who should decide their fate."

[thirdkingdom]

The duergar in plate throws down his sword and calls out in archaic dwarfish: "Let us live and leave and I will deal with you honestly, for the nonce. If you cannot swear that, then you had better slay us where we stand for you will get no more words out of me."

[Alethan]

Rhys the Traveler

Sword now at the ready (again), Rhys' eyes dart from the duergar in front of him to Thordin and then back to the duergar, wondering what the reply was and watching to see what Thordin does.

[frobozz]

Lanny the elf

The duergar in plate throws down his sword and calls out in archaic dwarfish: "Let us live and leave and I will deal with you honestly, for the nonce. If you cannot swear that, then you had better slay us where we stand for you will get no more words out of me."

Posts like this are always helpful in these situations, in that they tell us exactly what the party must give up in order to get information from surrendering or captured enemies (in lieu of using a charm spell). In this particular case, what we must give up (freeing the duergar) might not be worth the information we obtain. However, Lanny will defer to Thordin's knowledge of the duergar in this matter.

[riftstone]

Thordin the dwarf will relay the words of the Grey Dwarves

"If they give their word, they will not go back on it, following the oath as given. In this, we can trust them. They will not hesitate to bring arms against us, however, at a later time."

[Bouv]

Tratiln, pacing back and forth, his mind going back and forth on what to do and mumbling to himself the options.

Pulling Thordin aside, Tratiln will, in a whisper, ask

"What are the chances if we let them go, even if they promise never to return to this area, will they? I may want information but I don't want to risk our lives or the lives of others in getting that.

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Innana listens to Bregalads explanation of what was taking place with Thordin, and the Dark Duergers. Innana rubs her chin in deep thought. "That makes so much more sense."

" I for one would not kill someone who surrendered in good faith, especially after what Thordin just verified." These Dark Mutants fight admirably, and have my promise not to kill, unless they raise their weapons first. If we find them in a future battle with weapons drawn, that will be the day I will fight to kill."

[sulldawga]

Marodin

"So you all want to let evil murderers go free, to commit other crimes and kill other innocent people, or maybe even to go back and gather their clansmen to kill us, because they're going to give us information about these caverns? Does that sound like a good idea to everyone?"

The cleric shakes his head.

"I can't wait to go back to Threshold and explain ourselves. 'Oh, your caravan got sacked by marauding duergar? Sorry about that, we could have prevented it but we found this nifty castle and the duergar helped us secure the caverns beneath it. You understand, right?'"

[frobozz]

Lanny the elf

Lanny looks over at Marodin.

"I do not understand your words... Are these dwarves branded with an "E" to indicate their evilness? What murders and crimes have they commited, what innocents have been slaughtered by their hand, to which you are privvy? You speak as though you know something about these dwarves... Tell me, exactly how long have you lived underground?"

Lanny then turns to Thordin, speaking quietly.

"I believe you when you say that these duergar will abide by whatever they swear to do... However, the only thing that they have sworn to do thus far is to "speak honestly" in response to our questions, and that is not really much of a concession. I would expect, and indeed I would demand, a much more serious oath from them, if they are to be released. Not only must they answer truthfully all the questions we ask of them, but they must also swear, upon their honor, to return to the depths from which they emerged, and to never again set foot inside the man-made passages of this castle, or to deliberately harm any creatures dwelling upon the surface. If they cannot swear to this, then they should pick up their weapons and die fighting like true dwarven warriors!"

Lanny is ready to follow Thordin's lead on this matter.

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Innana responds to Merodin, "I guess as a warrioress I have to find my honor by the choices I make in battle. I do not look to the immortals for guidance, only have my conscience. If someone surrenders their weapons, and I have reason to trust their words, then I will not kill. I would not respect anyone who would either."

Innana turns to Lanny, "I have made my choice, and will not take up arms against these Duergers. I thought what you had to say was spot on."

[sulldawga]

Lanny the elf

Lanny looks over at Marodin.

"I do not understand your words... Are these dwarves branded with an "E" to indicate their evilness? What murders and crimes have they commited, what innocents have been slaughtered by their hand, to which you are privvy? You speak as though you know something about these dwarves... Tell me, exactly how long have you lived underground?"

Marodin shakes his head at Lanny.

"For an elf, you have such a short memory. What crimes have they committed? What do the elves call it when parley is requested, yet answered with steel? Is that not a crime where you come from? These dwarves branded themselves with their own actions. If you don't understand that, then we probably shouldn't be traveling together. Because I am not of a mind to wait for my enemies to kill one of my companions before I finally decide they are evil, as you appear to be."

[sulldawga]

Innana the Fighter:

Innana responds to Merodin, "I guess as a warrioress I have to find my honor by the choices I make in battle. I do not look to the immortals for guidance, only have my conscience. If someone surrenders their weapons, and I have reason to trust their words, then I will not kill. I would not respect anyone who would either."

Innana turns to Lanny, "I have made my choice, and will not take up arms against these Duergers. I thought what you had to say was spot on."

Marodin replies, "That's a funny attitude coming from someone who was almost killed by a pack of marauders who slaughtered every other traveler in her caravan. What if you encountered a group of adventurers who fought your enemy before you did, but let them go because they asked nicely. Would you tell them no hard feelings? Or would you see innocent blood on their hands?"

[frobozz]

Lanny the elf

Marodin shakes his head at Lanny.

"For an elf, you have such a short memory. What crimes have they committed? What do the elves call it when parley is requested, yet answered with steel? Is that not a crime where you come from? These dwarves branded themselves with their own actions. If you don't understand that, then we probably shouldn't be traveling together. Because I am not of a mind to wait for my enemies to kill one of my companions before I finally decide they are evil, as you appear to be."

"I do not recall any one of us waiting to defend our companion once aggression was shown by the duergar. When did this supposedly happen? You say that an opponent requesting parley and having it answered with steel is a crime, yet that is exactly what you are proposing we do in this situation. This is not about their code of conduct in battle, it is about our code of conduct in battle. They have offered surrender by dropping their weapons. We are not obligated to accept their offer, but if we reject it, then we should allow them to take up their weapons again and continue fighting. To do otherwise would be murder and an act of cowardice."

[sulldawga]

Marodin

"I do not recall any one of us waiting to defend our companion once aggression was shown by the duergar. When did this supposedly happen?"

"I never said that. I said that it appears you don't take attempted murder seriously, since you're ok with allowing those guilty of such crimes to walk away free as long as they promise, on their 'honor', not to do it again. So I'm wondering, what does it take to get you to realize some beings are evil and don't deserve anything less than death. Is it when attempted murder turns into actual murder?"

"You say that an opponent requesting parley and having it answered with steel is a crime, yet that is exactly what you are proposing we do in this situation."

"Uh, no it's not. They're not requesting parley. They're trying to surrender after they attacked without warning, attempted to kill us, and discovered they were outmatched."

This is not about their code of conduct in battle, it is about our code of conduct in battle. They have offered surrender by dropping their weapons. We are not obligated to accept their offer, but if we reject it, then we should allow them to take up their weapons again and continue fighting. To do otherwise would be murder and an act of cowardice."

"I never suggested we should do anything other than kill them, as their crimes warrant. It wasn't my idea to stop and talk. I have a very simple code of conduct: anyone who tries to kill me gets the same courtesy in return."

[frobozz]

Lanny the elf

"Two historical adversaries charging and engaging one another in battle, which is what happened, is hardly attempted murder. I disagree with your definition of this alleged "crime". Yes, of course I wished to talk to them. I want to know if there are more of them down here. Don't you? Yet, if the price of obtaining this information is their release, then I have indicated that I will defer to Thordin's judgment of their reliability of their word and their character. And no, there is nothing you can do to convince me that some beings are completely evil and deserving only of death. I have lived too many years in this world to see things in such black and white contrast. There are only shades of grey, some darker or lighter than others..."

[sulldawga]

Marodin

"Lanny, you're not a knight and we're not at war with an honorable foe on the other side of the battlefield. We're scavengers, thieves, and killers. The sooner you wake up and realize that, the more likely we live long enough to enjoy some of that stolen loot."

[frobozz]

Lanny the elf

"True, I'm not a knight... not yet, anyway... I do understand that we are in line to receive some sort of lapel pin, though, for meritorious service to the state... And yes, perhaps at times we do have some scavenger, thief, and killer inside of each of us... Yet still - and I mean this with sincerity to the deepest fiber of my being - all the loot in the world I would never enjoy if I failed to live my life on the lighter side of gray."

Lanny looks back at the duergar.

"It is time to decide what to do with them..."

Party Caller: I would suggest a quick vote OOC on what to do to wrap this up. To keep it simple, let's offer two choices:

1. Refuse the surrender, ask no questions of them, and resume the fight to the death after allowing them to pick up their weapons.
2. Accept the surrender, ask all of our questions, and release them after having them swear an oath never to return.

For the record, Lanny is ok with either option, but he will defer his vote to Thordin.

[riftstone]

Thordin the dwarf

Thordin chooses #2.

(in Dwarf) "Who are you and what are you doing here? Which clan do you hail from? Who is your master this night?

This still applies and will be repeated if necessary. Thordin will interpret for the group.