Virro stops and puts his hands down, having confused the situation. He turns as he hears IronMaiden and Corlith address the man. He speaks up saying, “Sometimes it is confusing, who is friend and who is foe here. I am no “demon lover.” I have no wish to die, but I am curious about your “collection of undead.” Out of curiosity. But they speak the right of it, we are here looking for the Duke. I mean no harm to you if you mean no harm to us. With everything we have faced here, we almost torched the lot of you, but I’d be curious about what you have to say… who are you, and who do you serve?” Virro pauses to hear a reply to their questions. (If no attack forthcoming, he plans to dodge.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Reed keeps quiet. Taking advantage of red-eyes focusing his attention on Virro, he falls back into the shadows, still keeping an arrow at the ready on his bowstring. Slobberchops chooses that moment to follow into the chapel to see what's going on. Reed almost steps on the flying cat's tail but luckily notices it at the last second. He still stumbles slightly but at least doesn't make things worse.
"I thought the devil guys were bad too," he says quietly so only Corlith can hear.
Spinning around to face IronMaiden, you see the fact he didn't realize you got past him flicker on his face and then disappear. "No, I am not a duuke. I am Gideon Lightward." At Corlith's comment, he looks to both mezzoliths and back to the tiefling, "They do well at guarding this staircase, we must keep the demons out of the chapel. At all costs."
The Mezzoliths look at Corlith but do not talk. Gideon regards Virro, hatred clear on his face. "I serve the great Zariel of course. My undead collection? Well... one must have an army to serve someone as great as Zariel. As for a duuke, I did allow a group of humans down to the ossuuuary level, but with what just came up, they must also be in leagues with the demons!!" He narrows his eyes, "Are youuu sure youuu aren't all in leagues with demons as well?"
Reed finds this Gideon guy fairly creepy. His anti-demon stance is a big plus in Reed's book, but this pro-devil position leaves him uneasy. The red-eyes were kind of cool but didn't seem very human. Reed tries watching him from the shadows to try and figure out if Gideon is something other than a zealous human.
"your zariel condemned this place to the demons and yet you are here to protect it in her name, what does zariel want with this chapel?" As they speak the IronMaiden lowers their weapons and moves slowly up the stairs, making their way through and past the two fiends to see if they will attack.
Reed finally puts two and two together but waits to see what the others do first before giving up his hiding spot to let them know what he's discovered.
"Indeed", Corlith whispers back to Reed, "And yet that one doesn't appear to be a demon or a devil".
When the man introduces himself as Gideon, a servant of Zariel, it is clear he is not to be trusted. And yet his own powers were depleted, and another conflict might be pushing it. Ironmaiden was right, Zariel had some interest in the chapel, that was clear. It made sense to try and find out what. But first they had to find the Duke and make sure he was safe.
"Neither we nor the Duke are in league with demons, as you have just witnessed. In fact, if the Duke is indeed in danger from the demons, we should make haste to help him. It might also serve you well in your task to root out the demons below and find where they are coming from", he says tentatively, hoping to use them as a distraction. Demons fighting Devils suited his purpose just fine.
Not risking speaking, and staying in the shadows so that Gideon can't see him, Reed touches the Earring of Message and sends first Corlith and then Virro the same Message.
"Condemned this place to the demons? I think not. She brought this place to her, to serve her. The fact demons are getting in is something I must take care of and I take my jobs very seriously. Do youuu?"
He scratches his beard and considers Corlith's words. "Yes, I think youuu could be uuuseful indeed. Root out the demon problem, that would be good." He gestures to one of the mezzoliths, the one that did get hit by the scorpion, "Take it to help youuu. I must keep a watch on the chapel. But yes, your humans went down below."
Corlith looks at the Mezzolith indicated by Gideon with barely contained contempt, however he nods in agreement.
"Agreed", he answers Gideon in common before switching to infernal, "It seems Gideon has loaned you to us. In order to help us as he orders, you will do as we instruct. We will also need to know what you are capable of".
Video hears Corlith’s message in Infernal and joins the conversation. “Right, we need to know that you will aid us as Gideon instructed, that you will aid us in attacking the demons if needed. We need to know that you are reliable..” Virro’s eyes keep moving over to Gideon, studying him.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Not seeing the same amount of anger in Lulu, Zariel's old friend, or Reya, a member of the people of this city who have been condemned to the hells, IronMaiden takes it upon themselves to elaborate.
"Yes Condemned! Zariel brought this city to her, to serve her? How does innocent people, non combatants, women and children being slaughtered in the streets SERVE HER!? we are in the hells! And she is directly responsible for that! So why should anyone look up to her? Why should you?"
As IronMaiden speaks they approach Gideon, pointing an accusatory finger at him for the callousness.
Looking over to Reed, Ironmaiden catches themselves a little and lowers their pointer finger, the intese blue flame behind the visor dulling slightly back to normal, "Something still doesn't sit right with me though, we shall leave you for now, but answer me this Gideon; how many more cities will have to suffer the same fate before Zariel is satisfied, she has marked more for condemnation, ones she has no ties to, did you know of this?"
Corlith's attention shifts back to Gideon as Ironmaiden has their outburst, curious as to how the undead creature would react, if they react at all. They seemed to have an all encompassing need to follow Zariel's order to the letter, and he doubted they would question it for even an instant.
And their time would come, whatever truce existed right now is most certainly temporary.
The mezzolith appears to raise an eyebrow as it gazes it's big red eyes at Corlith, it responds in infernal, "What capable of? I am strong, what you need to know?" Turning to Virro, "Always attack demons. That is job."
Hearing IronMaiden, Reya draws her eyes away from the staircase. Her quest to finding Ravenguard has clouded all other things that surround the situation. Her face hardens as she hears what they say and glares at Gideon, waiting on a response. Lulu herself appears conflicted by the situation, very uneasy about the mezzoliths and Gideon himself.
Gideon's eyebrows furrow and he raises a taloned claw back at IronMaiden and starts walking towards him. "They should all be GRATEFUL!! Grateful to serve a creature as beautiful and wonderful and POWERFUL as Zariel is!! And if they die? Well, they can be brought back as I have, and serve her in a different capacity. Maybe you should JOIN THEM!!" Since IM backs down before Gideon, he doesn't use his weapon against them, but doesn't back down. "How many more cities? ALL OF THEM!!"
There is a noise coming down the stairs before Roo appears, the glowing mace in one hand as he looks at some ******* who is pointing at Archie and shouting like a maniac. Luckily enough for Roo, beaks can't make sneers of revulsion, saving him from some very uncouth facial expressions, but it is still clear that the Gallus is not happy to find his friends in this situation.
"You there, cluckface!" Roo says, pointing his mace directly at this chud in as threatening a display as he can muster. His feathers bristle and he puffs his chest out as far as he can. "I demand you put that ridiculous looking simian booger-picker of yours away posthaste, lest the mighty Roo' Stor should break it off and stick it in your single-purpose mammalian cloaca!"
Roo's head cocks side to side, fast, as he sizes up the room.
"Really, buck, I only left the lot of you alone for a little bit!" He says to his friends as he examines the situation. "Now what is this nonsense about joining the falsest of false idols, this ridiculous Zariel? Puh! And all of the cities or whathaveyou? I shoulds think not. Now how about you back the cluck up off my friends?"
Steam starts pouring out of the IronMaiden's head as they get themselves worked up, fists clenched, the flames within intensifying again until they very suddenly change colour, but instead of calming down the amber flame near shoots out of all of the armoured joints as the group hear Archies voice respond to Gideon with more volume than he was giving, "****!! OFF!! *******!!" and then she just starts swinging her fists! Like some crazed ape with a punching bag.
(16 to hit, 13 thunder. 22 to hit, 9 thunder. 12 to hit, 4 thunder)
Virro stops and puts his hands down, having confused the situation. He turns as he hears IronMaiden and Corlith address the man. He speaks up saying, “Sometimes it is confusing, who is friend and who is foe here. I am no “demon lover.” I have no wish to die, but I am curious about your “collection of undead.” Out of curiosity. But they speak the right of it, we are here looking for the Duke. I mean no harm to you if you mean no harm to us. With everything we have faced here, we almost torched the lot of you, but I’d be curious about what you have to say… who are you, and who do you serve?” Virro pauses to hear a reply to their questions. (If no attack forthcoming, he plans to dodge.)
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Reed keeps quiet. Taking advantage of red-eyes focusing his attention on Virro, he falls back into the shadows, still keeping an arrow at the ready on his bowstring. Slobberchops chooses that moment to follow into the chapel to see what's going on. Reed almost steps on the flying cat's tail but luckily notices it at the last second. He still stumbles slightly but at least doesn't make things worse.
"I thought the devil guys were bad too," he says quietly so only Corlith can hear.
Stealth: (
1, Halfling Luck reroll - 2 + 11) = 13Spinning around to face IronMaiden, you see the fact he didn't realize you got past him flicker on his face and then disappear. "No, I am not a duuke. I am Gideon Lightward." At Corlith's comment, he looks to both mezzoliths and back to the tiefling, "They do well at guarding this staircase, we must keep the demons out of the chapel. At all costs."
The Mezzoliths look at Corlith but do not talk. Gideon regards Virro, hatred clear on his face. "I serve the great Zariel of course. My undead collection? Well... one must have an army to serve someone as great as Zariel. As for a duuke, I did allow a group of humans down to the ossuuuary level, but with what just came up, they must also be in leagues with the demons!!" He narrows his eyes, "Are youuu sure youuu aren't all in leagues with demons as well?"
Reed successfully hides.
Reed finds this Gideon guy fairly creepy. His anti-demon stance is a big plus in Reed's book, but this pro-devil position leaves him uneasy. The red-eyes were kind of cool but didn't seem very human. Reed tries watching him from the shadows to try and figure out if Gideon is something other than a zealous human.
Insight: (7+9) = 16
"your zariel condemned this place to the demons and yet you are here to protect it in her name, what does zariel want with this chapel?" As they speak the IronMaiden lowers their weapons and moves slowly up the stairs, making their way through and past the two fiends to see if they will attack.
Reed finally puts two and two together but waits to see what the others do first before giving up his hiding spot to let them know what he's discovered.
"Indeed", Corlith whispers back to Reed, "And yet that one doesn't appear to be a demon or a devil".
When the man introduces himself as Gideon, a servant of Zariel, it is clear he is not to be trusted. And yet his own powers were depleted, and another conflict might be pushing it. Ironmaiden was right, Zariel had some interest in the chapel, that was clear. It made sense to try and find out what. But first they had to find the Duke and make sure he was safe.
"Neither we nor the Duke are in league with demons, as you have just witnessed. In fact, if the Duke is indeed in danger from the demons, we should make haste to help him. It might also serve you well in your task to root out the demons below and find where they are coming from", he says tentatively, hoping to use them as a distraction. Demons fighting Devils suited his purpose just fine.
Not risking speaking, and staying in the shadows so that Gideon can't see him, Reed touches the Earring of Message and sends first Corlith and then Virro the same Message.
"He's totally undead."
Corlith whispers back to Reed, "That does make sense. I did wonder after the effects of Virro's spells. Or lack of effect in one case".
"Condemned this place to the demons? I think not. She brought this place to her, to serve her. The fact demons are getting in is something I must take care of and I take my jobs very seriously. Do youuu?"
He scratches his beard and considers Corlith's words. "Yes, I think youuu could be uuuseful indeed. Root out the demon problem, that would be good." He gestures to one of the mezzoliths, the one that did get hit by the scorpion, "Take it to help youuu. I must keep a watch on the chapel. But yes, your humans went down below."
Corlith looks at the Mezzolith indicated by Gideon with barely contained contempt, however he nods in agreement.
"Agreed", he answers Gideon in common before switching to infernal, "It seems Gideon has loaned you to us. In order to help us as he orders, you will do as we instruct. We will also need to know what you are capable of".
Something about this explanation irks IronMaiden a lot, they cast a glance over to Reya and Lulu too trying to gauge their reaction. (Insight 4)
Video hears Corlith’s message in Infernal and joins the conversation. “Right, we need to know that you will aid us as Gideon instructed, that you will aid us in attacking the demons if needed. We need to know that you are reliable..” Virro’s eyes keep moving over to Gideon, studying him.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Not seeing the same amount of anger in Lulu, Zariel's old friend, or Reya, a member of the people of this city who have been condemned to the hells, IronMaiden takes it upon themselves to elaborate.
"Yes Condemned! Zariel brought this city to her, to serve her? How does innocent people, non combatants, women and children being slaughtered in the streets SERVE HER!? we are in the hells! And she is directly responsible for that! So why should anyone look up to her? Why should you?"
As IronMaiden speaks they approach Gideon, pointing an accusatory finger at him for the callousness.
Reed slips along the walls until he gets closer to IronMaiden.
"Psst. Hey IM, let's deal with this guy later after we see what's going on downstairs," Reed whispers. "Lots of time to kill him then."
Looking over to Reed, Ironmaiden catches themselves a little and lowers their pointer finger, the intese blue flame behind the visor dulling slightly back to normal, "Something still doesn't sit right with me though, we shall leave you for now, but answer me this Gideon; how many more cities will have to suffer the same fate before Zariel is satisfied, she has marked more for condemnation, ones she has no ties to, did you know of this?"
Corlith's attention shifts back to Gideon as Ironmaiden has their outburst, curious as to how the undead creature would react, if they react at all. They seemed to have an all encompassing need to follow Zariel's order to the letter, and he doubted they would question it for even an instant.
And their time would come, whatever truce existed right now is most certainly temporary.
The mezzolith appears to raise an eyebrow as it gazes it's big red eyes at Corlith, it responds in infernal, "What capable of? I am strong, what you need to know?" Turning to Virro, "Always attack demons. That is job."
Hearing IronMaiden, Reya draws her eyes away from the staircase. Her quest to finding Ravenguard has clouded all other things that surround the situation. Her face hardens as she hears what they say and glares at Gideon, waiting on a response. Lulu herself appears conflicted by the situation, very uneasy about the mezzoliths and Gideon himself.
Gideon's eyebrows furrow and he raises a taloned claw back at IronMaiden and starts walking towards him. "They should all be GRATEFUL!! Grateful to serve a creature as beautiful and wonderful and POWERFUL as Zariel is!! And if they die? Well, they can be brought back as I have, and serve her in a different capacity. Maybe you should JOIN THEM!!" Since IM backs down before Gideon, he doesn't use his weapon against them, but doesn't back down. "How many more cities? ALL OF THEM!!"
There is a noise coming down the stairs before Roo appears, the glowing mace in one hand as he looks at some ******* who is pointing at Archie and shouting like a maniac. Luckily enough for Roo, beaks can't make sneers of revulsion, saving him from some very uncouth facial expressions, but it is still clear that the Gallus is not happy to find his friends in this situation.
"You there, cluckface!" Roo says, pointing his mace directly at this chud in as threatening a display as he can muster. His feathers bristle and he puffs his chest out as far as he can. "I demand you put that ridiculous looking simian booger-picker of yours away posthaste, lest the mighty Roo' Stor should break it off and stick it in your single-purpose mammalian cloaca!"
Roo's head cocks side to side, fast, as he sizes up the room.
"Really, buck, I only left the lot of you alone for a little bit!" He says to his friends as he examines the situation. "Now what is this nonsense about joining the falsest of false idols, this ridiculous Zariel? Puh! And all of the cities or whathaveyou? I shoulds think not. Now how about you back the cluck up off my friends?"
Turn Summary
Roo' Stor tries to Intimidate Gideon: 17
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Steam starts pouring out of the IronMaiden's head as they get themselves worked up, fists clenched, the flames within intensifying again until they very suddenly change colour, but instead of calming down the amber flame near shoots out of all of the armoured joints as the group hear Archies voice respond to Gideon with more volume than he was giving, "****!! OFF!! *******!!" and then she just starts swinging her fists! Like some crazed ape with a punching bag.
(16 to hit, 13 thunder. 22 to hit, 9 thunder. 12 to hit, 4 thunder)