Talion locks eyes with the warrior, frowning, and unsure what to make of it. Is that a 'yes', or a 'screw you'?

He watches Onyx the he retreats in to the other room, then turns back, "If the for of us can agree, it will be enough..."

RP Insight in case Talion might gain more information about Onyx's intent: 10

Erven's pent up rage, coming from the heat of battle and the pompous lecturing of a priest of Vecna (Vecna!) who was hiding behind a corner rushes through his head, he can contain himself no longer.  His joy of survival and apparent teamwork is overthrown by this representative of necromancy in their midst.  The words from Talion are buzzing in the background, he doesn't even hear them.  He lunges forward from behind Sho and trips/shoves him to the ground, moving swiftly. 

He points his rapier to his throat and says "One more ******* word out of you and I'll run you through.  I killed Mrs. Durst and that ghoul back there.  You don't know what the hell you're talking about.  If you don't know what I was doing in that battle then you as stupid as you are misled about your damn religion.  You probably want to learn how to make more of these... things.  Right?  Am I right?  Maybe I should just take care of you now to do the whole damn world a favor.  I'm sure that that would please my lady Moonbow as well.."

His hand is shaking as the sword is pointed at your throat, his rage is palpable.  

 Talion False Life: 5

Sho felt the cold steel pressing against his neck, as he looks up at the shaky elf. “Tell me where I got wrong.” He starts, with every word he felt the vibration of the blade, “You didn’t run? You didn’t push us to cover you? You didn’t grab that cloak you are wearing right now? You didn’t swoop in for the kill at the end to be the hero?”

“Ah.” He says, can’t help but feel a smile spreading across his thin lips when the elf mentioned his goddess. So this is the teachings of Sehanine Moonbow - greed, cowardry, ignorance. He doesn’t know what he expected. “I’m sure she will.”

“Know that I am not the only one you betrayed today. You betrayed Onyx, you betrayed Talion, and you betrayed Bertolt. So wear that cloak well, because that will be the only thing you have left after you betray everyone around you.”

“A brigand has honour.” He says finally, “You are an oathless coward. A blaggard.”

((Edited speech above -- said more to Bertolt; will edit/move to correct timeline position when done))

Talion waits for an answer from Bertolt, but as the argument rages, and Sho does not appear, he frowns and glances at the bard. The word brigand catches his attention, and he moves into the Fun/Happy room to see what is going on....

Erven stands over Sho, his eyes do not waver from him.  He is on high alert at this point, muscles tense and ready to pounce.  "Really..."  his eyes dart to the left and right, then back and locked on Sho.  "Bert, did I betray you?  Talion, did I betray you?"  He calls a little louder.  "Onyx, did I betray you?"  he pauses for a second. 

"I took this cloak because I felt it would help me fight those ghastly ghouls, and it was lying there.  Nothing more.  I don't care what you feel about me.  I find it odd that you hold brigands in such high regard.  A group of brigands decimated my village long ago, then they were turned to undead by the likes of someone like you.  I really can't stand your jibbering anymore.  Whatever priest pumped you full of semen and evil and set you on this path is really the problem.  So why don't you just shut the **** up."

Erven keeps his eyes locked with Sho, his rapier ready, seeing red.

Talion stares at the crazy elf and sighs. He's gone again. Didn't last long. He shakes his head, and moves a little closer, trying if at all possible to get between Ervan and Sho.

He speak in a calm and measured voice, "Betrayed? Well...you did wreck my fine plan by running off like that and distracting the troll so it didn't follow us, and..." he frowns, "...apparently took valuable time to pick up and put on that cloak." He peers at the elf and cloak closely. Gods, is it speaking to him? Everything in this damned house is probably cursed.  "So...yeah...let's just say, I don't feel -- how do you fine folk put it?" He looks at Bert quizzically, "I don't feel all that ''Well disposed'', just at the moment. But...kill the priest, and that would really cross a line."

Bertolt nods as he smiles but then pauses as he turns towards the others, shaking his head as he wonders of this is what he will deal with if and when he has children. "Well it would he that and the fact we would then lecture you to the point you wish to throw youself off the nearest cliff or some such." He jokes half heartedly as his glares at the those arguing. "Alright children that is enough. Now all of you quiet down before I become involved."

Talion nods at Bertolt's comment, a little confused perhaps, but he's happy that Bertolt seemed to be trying to calm the elf as well, "Ervan, think about what you are doing. A little while ago you said that I had treated you well, that we were in the same pack, and then you gave me some advice. I'd like to repeat that to you now. 'This bickering must stop if we are to succeed here....I don't want to give these bastards the satisfaction of seeing us fall.' Do you remember saying that? Has that changed now? Because if just one of us dies by our another's hands then we will fail as sure as night follows day."

Erven seems most affected by Bert’s words, he calms down somewhat when he hears the scholar and straightens up.  “Fine.”  Curt.  He looks to Talion.  “That was before you ran down the hall away from the fight and then accused me of fleeing the battle.  I had no idea about your plan.”  He turns back to Sho.  “And you seem so into this one.”  He kicks Sho’s boot lightly.  “Do you two have some secret agreement we don’t know about?  Have you taken an oath to Vecna as well?”  He turns and walks out of the room, to check on Onyx, preferring the company of the Paladin.  

((mobile))

Sho seemed mostly unbothered by the elf’s insults, or he was just tired. The blood was mostly drained from his face, and he only lifted his eyelids at Talion’s words. He felt the pressure of the blade loosened, Sho slowly stands up, bracing against the wall. He rubs his throat absentmindedly, and looking straight at Erven’s retreating form.

“You took the cloak to fight the ghasts, nothing more. Now the fight is over.” He says, “Leave the cloak.”

Talion watches the elf's back, shaking his head, then turns back to Sho offering a hand to help him up. "For someone so old he behaves like a spoiled child." He looks around the grisly room, his gaze lingering on the unsettling statues of the man and the wolf. "It has to be this house. Or the cloak -- could the cloak be like the sword that affected Onyx?" He glances at both Bertolt an Sho.

He turns back at Sho, then away and finally back. "Thank you, by the way, for keeping them off me." He smiles and shakes his head, remembering the gravely wounded priest rushing up the corridor to help him. No sense of self preservation. I spotted that early on. "Not many people have willingly done for me what you did."

As Sho stands, Talion can not help but grimace at his wounds. "You took a hell of a beating. You should rest. Do you want to rdo it here, or in the next room?" He rummages in his pocket for a moment and produces a potion of healing and offers it to Sho. "Greedy bastard took my other one when he didn't even need it. You, on the other hand, do."

(( Crossed posts ))

When Sho mentions the cloak, Talion shakes his head, "Leave it be, it's not worth the effort. He and Onyx can take the lead now. Shiny cloak and shiny armour. Let's just hope that was the last of the horrors, but the unending chanting tells me otherwise."

Erven walks into the master bedroom, to check on Onyx.  “Those two worry me.  I don’t know what sort of dark magic they are up to…”. He looks Onyx over.  “Sorry I couldn’t help you back there.  You just froze and fell over.  I don’t know how to fix something like that.  You look roughed up.  Here, perhaps you need this.”  Erven offers Onyx a healing potion.  

Sho gives Talion a look. "No." He says with finality, "Anything that works like that needs attunement. There is not nearly enough time."

He pauses for a second, before letting out a soft exhausted sigh. He leans against the wall and looks over at the stairs where they sat, and where he bled. His thoughts drift away and he remains silent for a couple more moments, before answering. "Here's fine."

“I can’t…” He starts gradually, he looks down at his bloodstained fingers as he slowly moves them, open and close, “I can’t let them win. I can’t let them take you. Not until I figure out what it all means.”

“There’s something about this place,” He glances at the unmoving statue in the middle of the room, then back at Talion again, “it makes people do the ugliest to survive, doesn’t it? At least, the faithless ones. Let him have the cloak, still will be the first to run.” 

“Keep it.” He says to Talion as he offered him the potion, he thinks about it for a second before going through his own pocket and pulling out one of his own. He holds it in his hand and looks at it, then looks at it some more.

“And thank you too.” He says.

Quote from WhiteByakko >>

“I can’t…” He starts gradually, he looks down at his bloodstained fingers as he slowly moves them, open and close, “I can’t let them win. I can’t let them take you. Not until I figure out what it all means.”

“There’s something about this place,” He glances at the unmoving statue in the middle of the room, then back at Talion again, “it makes people do the ugliest to survive, doesn’t it? At least, the faithless ones. Let him have the cloak, still will be the first to run.”

"Seems to have the opposite effect on me. My life's been one long tale of ugly until recently." Talion stares in the directon of the door, "Don't be too hard on him. I think his mind's gone again. Broken, like before. He accused me of things I didn't do, and judging by that burned and blackened corpse, it wasn't a rapier that ended it." He shakes his head sadly, before turning back to Sho, speaking quietly. "What did you mean when you said 'I can’t let them take you'? And all that other stuff. What are you not telling me?"

“Perhaps.” Sho sighs softly. He says so, but he is too tired to believe it. 

“If you die here,” He nods at Talion, “What will you become?”

“Those weren’t regular undead,” He continues, “...and they weren’t trolls. They were Mr. and Mrs. Durst - but you might have figured it out by now. I had a feeling they weren’t just going to eat us, if that were the case, Onyx would be dead by now. Gifts, didn’t they say?”

“For whom? And how?”

Talion snorts, poking the burned corpse with a spectral hand,  "Not trolls, eh? Figured as much. Far too easy to kill."

Durst-Slayer isn't the same as Troll-Slayer. He sighs and turns back to the priest, thinking back to the dolls house, the map, the notes and letters. "As to what they want? We all know as much as each other on that count. One thing is certain though: it's time for Onyx and Ervan to take the lead. You're in no fit state and, for whatever the reason, the things here seem to home in on me: The way the troll -- whatever -- was on me, and the ghoul appeared almost next to me. Something here has it in for me."

He moves away from the burned corpse, and sits with his back to the west wall, keeping an eye on the statues while looking at Sho. "But ... I have to say ... you have not set my mind at ease. You said you couldn't let them take me until you knew what they wanted. That doesn't sound very reassuring." He laughs and holds up a hand, "Don't get me wrong: It's better than the threats of murder and backbstabbing from the other two, but only by a small margin."

Onyx doesn't answer Erven as he begins to sort through what was left of the bedroom.  He's clearly listening, though, as he takes the potion from Erven and greedily swallows its contents.

7

[okay a bit of a summary here...]

As Erven and Sho one-two destroy the last creature, they stand gasping in the darkness.  Sho eyes the elf, looking at the new cloak with surprise....and then with disdain, which he makes clear.  Having just finished battle, it is more than Erven - despite his recent rescue from the grips of madness - can bear.  He hops up and grabs Sho, tripping and pushing him to the ground.  Sho does not resist.  Sweat and spittle nearly fly off the elf as he point his rapier against the neck of the cleric.  Bertolt runs to them at the sound of the commotion, and it's not long before Talion and Lucky Bear appear.  Talion and Bertolt seem bewildered at what is happening.  After some quick words from both, Erven removes his rapier from Sho's neck.  The cleric just lays there, watching the erratic elf.

Around the time Erven begins to walk away, a deep laughter can be heard.  You all seem to catch some words......Good!  Oh good!  You'll do it to yourselves!....

Onyx - you are not interested in whatever is going on away from you.  You hear some yelling and shouting but you decide to loosen your muscles and walk over to the chest that Talion and Erven had opened and peek inside.  You find:

- a small wooden coffer (unlocked) containing four potions of healing and one other tincture you're not sure of...
- a chain shirt
- a mess kit
- a flask of alchemist’s fire
- a bullseye lantern
- a set of thieves’ tools
-  a book with a yellowing leather cover

Talion - when you walk into the fun-happy room, it is as you remembered it.  Looking at the statue of the humanoid, its smile seems wider than before, it's eyes somehow exuding a condescending attitude....you think you might be getting a touch of whatever Erven had!

Are you all thinking of resting for a short time?

If you are, roll one of the following:  history or religion.

[Check the OOC thread for more info...]