Episode 10: Run to the Hills ...

[EvilGenius]

Bannock immediately steps up, from Onarra's blind side, raising his polished metal shield (but not his sword), interposing himself between the Oracle and Onarra.

He speaks directly to Onarra, towards her, with his back and shield towards the nothic.

"Do not do this thing. The price is too high. Already we have all we need. For a few measley trinkets, we have learned the Master is a were-tiger hiding in plain sight in town, much like that were-jackal Hackett had been. The fragments we have are making much more sense. We have prisoners and know their story. We can bring them to town, hand them over to the sheriff, and confront Lemend and the town leaders about what happened to the girl and by whom. Balfe here can corroborate. We have names of the Masters cohorts in town, bot human and tiefling. We have allies to whom we can present this info. Pelor's Light, we can even get Shining Justice involved. We don't, you don't need to make this sacrifice!"

Point of Order: The Master is NOT the tigerman hiding in Farweald. The tigerman is one of the Master's top lieutenants.

[Jonkga]

Bannock was saying that in character, in distress, and to be convincing to Onarra.

[EvilGenius]

And the Oracle is pointing out that the Master is not the Tigerman.

[erilar]

Jareth slowly approaches, interposing himself between Onarra and the Oracle.

"Friend Bannock, you speak the truth. We are making progress, and learning from this... Oracle ... at a price which we can stomach. Our company is armed with a number of options and angles with which to pursue. While I have, by proxy, pledged safe passage to the Oracle, in exchange for a price on knowledge, I have not, and did not however agree to barter the safety and well-being of one of my comrades. This Creature of Avarice will not take advantage of a desperate friend, for want of insight or opportunity. Beware, Oracle - I have spoken. Accept Onarra's bargain at you own mortal peril."

Jareth interposes himself between Onarra and the two strangers' selves, ostentatiously transforming himself into his newly-learned Dire Bear form. He huffs a basso warning, pawing the ground before him, before roaring with all his fury in defiance of a friend in mortal peril.

[EvilGenius]

As Bannock steps up to Onarra and the Oracle, the strange blue ogre readies his glaive but the Oracle appears calm. However, when Jareth steps up and transforms into a friggin HUGE bear, the Oracle and his bodyguard seems genuinely awed, though they recover quickly.

The Oracle scampers back a bit from JaerBear. "Heh heh haaaahhhhh! Choice is Elfbird's to make, but see that all of you are not ready. Consider the offer rescinded, then.

Heh. Heheheheheh. Think our interactions here are concluded. Safe passage, remember. Safe for me .... and for you. Heh. Heh heh! On our way we will be. Blueberry, fetch my chest!"

The strange blue ogre edges warily around JaerBear and easily hefts the heavy chest under one arm, glaive at the ready in his other hand. All of you watch intently, hands on weapons as the ogre sidesteps back to the Oracle, then watch in wonderment as the Oracle opens his bulging belt pouch impossibly wide and the ogre drops the chest inside. The Oracle quickly folds his belt pouch back closed as they both back away from the party.

"Heh. Goodbye for now, TwiceBorn. I look forward to finding out more about your quests when next we meet. Heh. Heh heh!"

With that, the Oracle and his blue ogre bodyguard step behind a tree and you all feel the subtle telepathic contact abruptly end.

[Upweekis]

Quarion, tending to his wounds, was not interested in playing the Oracle's games. He doesn't trust him at all and is glad that he is gone.

(Sorry I'm so late to the party)

[EvilGenius]

[EvilGenius]

After a few minutes you begin to relax a little, confident that the Oracle and his strange ogre have truly gone. Bannock, maintaining his connection to the forest, cannot sense the Oracle nearby, which means that the Oracle is at least 6 miles away from you now.

Now that you know the Oracle has gone you take stock of your situation. Almost immediately you notice that Balfhe is kneeling next to Markle with an empty potion bottle in his hand. Markle is conscious and looking around. Apparently some of his wounds have healed. You also note that Balfhe has left Markle securely tied up.

Lonz and Balkakas are also still securely tied, next to one of Lonz's wagons. They both look a little shaken by the encounter with the Oracle and probably also by seeing Jareth's transformation into the largest bear they've ever seen.

Balfhe sees that the PCs have taken note of him once again. He clearly steels his resolve and stands up, looking the PCs in the eye. He is nervous, wound as tight as a spring, but you also see defiance in his eyes. "So. Now what?"

[Jonkga]

With the Oracle and his strange blue ogre gone, Bannock relaxes, and comfortably turns towards Balfhe to speak:

" It's Balfhe, right? I don't think we've been introduced, actually. The name is Bannock, and I hail from a ways away from here. It seems as though, through forces beyond our ken, my companions and I have been drawn here to Farweald, and it also seems as if a powerful evil might have employed us to do its bidding in the recent past. We know not for sure, but we aim to find out, and to thwart this evil. "

At this point Bannock raises his hand to forestall Balfhe's objection, then continues:

"No, wait, let me finish. You asked, 'what now' and I plan to tell you just that. For, my companions and I, we each have reasons to be here, and to fight against this evil. Me, I serve the Shining One, in my way, and the Sun Father led me here to bring light to the darkness. Now, just like my companions, you don't have to share this belief, but the time has come, Balfhe, to realize that you do have to decide just what you DO believe in. For, perhaps uniquely among us, you are in a very important position, and have quite the important decision to make.

You are the only one amongst us, well, the only one not currently bound, who hails from Farweald. This is your town, your home. And, as you said earlier to Lonz, you are on the cusp of becoming an adult and a leader here in town. The decision before you, and don't for a second doubt its seriousness, is what sort of leader are you prepared to be? And, I don't mean Lonz's operations, as far as I am concerned, those can all be yours and Markle's, for all that they matter in the grand scheme. No, I mean what sort of leader of Farweald will you be, for certainly we have learned that the evil we face is deeply entrenched in town. We plan to root it out. When we succeed, and succeed we will, there will be a vacuum that needs to be filled. You know your town; we as outsiders could never truly fill such a gap. But you, you and Markle maybe, certainly could. Scions of the town, you could easily rise to power.

Does this interest you? For we could certainly use your aid returning these prisoners to town and explaining to town just what has occurred here. Do you want to be the returning hero, or would you stand against us for your own ends? Would you help us find this evil and remove it to town, so that both you and the town have a chance at the future you so obviously wish for? Or, in healing your friend are you gearing up to struggle against us before we can confront the rest of the town?

'Now what, indeed, Balfhe? That was your question, and while I have given you our answer, and our plan for returning these prisoners and the answers we have uncovered about Leigha to town, I do believe your question is really one YOU must answer, and NOW would be a good time for us to hear that answer. What say you - what will you do right now?"

Bannock looks at Balfhe, expectant and hopeful, arms loosely at his sides with open palms facing Balfhe, trying to look as calm and conciliatory as possible.

[EvilGenius]

That's a pretty speech. I think you're going to need to make a Charisma (Persuasion) roll.

[EvilGenius]

And you can make the roll on Roll20.

[EvilGenius]

As a matter of fact, it was a very good speech, so Bannock totally gains Inspiration for his roll.

[Jonkga]

Bannock's Charisma (Persuasion) roll is:

d20 roll of 8 + 1 Persuasion skill = 9 total

I'll use the inspiration for advantage on this roll:

d20 roll 16 + 1 skill = 17 total (on roll20).

[EvilGenius]

Balfhe appears to be reassured by Bannock's speech. "All I ever wanted in Farweald was to matter. I know it's stupid and it's just some isolated town in the middle of nowhere, but it's where I'm from. I don't like certain things in town but I don't think it's actually evil, like really really eeevvvilllll. I mean, Leigha's kidnapping is the worst thing that's happened there in years and years. But now she wasn't even kidnapped! She just CHOSE to leave! So what have Lonz and Balrakas even done wrong, huh? Killed some monsters in the forests? How wrong is that? I'm sure you've killed a bunch of things in the forest, too, right? I mean, don't get me wrong, Lonz is a first class asshole and one day I might just drop him down a well, yeah, I'm talkin to You, ASSHOLE! But it's not like they're murdering puppies, right?

So what's this big EVIL you're going to uproot out of our town, huh? Because if it's there, I'll TOTALLY help you, ESPECIALLY if it messes with Asshole here. But so far, I just don't see it."

[Jonkga]

Bannock continues the dialog with Balfhe:

" What is the evil? Where exactly is it? I'll level with you, Balfhe, we don't have all the answers. In fact, there is a great deal we don't know.

We do know there was a jackalwere running loose in town, carrying out all sorts of schemes that didn't seem to be good. We've got his journal right here (shows to Balfhe if he wants to see) admitting to some bad stuff, and claiming to be working with others in town, and for this Master. He even seems to have been working with Lonz here. And yes, working with Lonz has been good for you, and seemed to be a good thing in town, but as you've found out, Lonz himself has been working with this Master, and helping folks like this jackalwere Hackett do these bad things. And, truthfully, we seem to have been involved in the past, but our memories have been messed with, and we are trying to correct for those past mistakes now.

We're not against you and Markle if you two don't work to oppose us, and possibly the same goes for Lonz, but pretty much every time we've seen him, he's actively tried to hinder us. That goes double for Balrakas - he's attacked us every chance he could. We've had to fight him numerous times, while we've been trying to piece together what is going on in Farweald. He was even working with the gnolls we found outside of town - not killing things in the forest, but working with them and ordering them around for the Master.

Lonz, says Leigha left on her own, but more information we have here shows that he certainly helped her out of town, and into the clutches of an Efreeti called the Fire Lord - that may be more exciting than Farweald, but it certainly doesn't sound to us like a good thing. (Shows Balfhe notes from Balrakas' own journal corroborating this.) There seems to be a big operation happening on the orders of this Master, and we don't know who that is, but it seems as if Lonz and Balrakas were working for him, and helping bad stuff to happen in town.

And, with the aid of that weird creature you just saw, we've learned that these weird magical chests are being made in town. You might know the craftsman making them, this Illorg, but we know they are being enchanted for some odd purpose. How, I'm sure growing up in Farwelad, you know the town's general impression of magic, although guessing by the bottle and whatever else you are carrying, you don't necessarily share it. Why are these magic items being crafted in town, and who in town is enchanting them, and for what purpose?

Balfhe, does all this seem wrong to you? Maybe evil might be too strong for you to accept yet, but does all this add up? I don't think it does, and we are trying to fill in the blanks, get some answers to these questions. If you want to help us get those answers, that'd be great. I'm sure your town would greatly appreciate you for helping to suss all this out.

Do you know what else is in the goods that you all were transporting, and where in fact you were taking them? That information could in fact help us glean some of these answers?

I know you've got some loyalty to Lonz and Balraks here, and I appreciate that. However, as they've been working against us, I can't say I want to release them. Our plan is simply to bring them back to town. We also don't want to hurt them any more, should they not attempt to fight us or hinder us in any way. Same obviously goes for you and Markle. In fact, if my companions agree, we could release Markle as well, if you think he's with you on working with us as well.

What say you, Balfhe? Does this not sound like something you could be a part of, help spearhead for the town even?"

Again, while saying all of this, Bannock will try and remain as nonchalant as possible.

Also, he will make sure his companions are watching the prisoners, listening well to the conversation, and have the opportunity to jump in as they see fit.