"I was bid to bring him to Mr. V, because of his knowledge of the swamps. But there's NO way in the hells that Morwen will release him into his custody. You, however,... you she doesn't know. Yet. She only knows you've just been hired for your first job for Mr. V, as far as she's aware. She won't hold that against you. And if you follow my lead, you probably won't even have to lie. Maybe just... leave out certain things. I don't know. It's all going to depend on who else is present. There are powerfully influential people that have her ear, some that would see reason, and others that would be even more stubbornly fixated on hanging an already defeated and helpless prisoner. We have to hope - pray even - that there's more of the former at the table tonight than the latter. And we have trust in our instincts of persuasion," she looks at Geren, giving him a half smile.
"If we're unable to convince her, then we'll have to resort to more... drastic measures," she frowns. "If that comes to pass, then we'll talk about 'extra rewards', but let's just hope it doesn't come to that, because that's going to be a serious problem. That's why we HAVE to succeed in convincing her. I don't want to permanently burn my bridges with Morwen, and I'm sure you'd all like to be able to come back again someday. Though if it DOES come to that, I'll take full responsibility - she probably won't even suspect any of you were involved. Not unless we get caught in the act. But that's such a last resort its almost doesn't bear mentioning. Let's focus on the task at hand - persuading her to temporarily release him. Maybe with a little luck we'll catch a break with whomever else will be present at supper. She's got a couple of 'regulars' that hang around here, and a lot of people that might be here or might not. We're going to have to play it by ear a little. I'm going to need you to just trust me that this is the best course of action - not just for my employer, not just for me, or for yourselves, but also for Morwen and for Daggerford - she's just too stubborn to see it, unless we MAKE her see it."
"If we get him, is he going to still face justice for his crimes? I don't like the idea of helping a known pirate escape justice."
"Absolutely - there's NO outcome here that will result in him not paying for his crimes. It's a question of what ELSE he can do for the good of Faerun before then."
"If we're unable to convince her, then we'll have to resort to more... drastic measures," she frowns. "If that comes to pass, then we'll talk about 'extra rewards', but let's just hope it doesn't come to that, because that's going to be a serious problem. That's why we HAVE to succeed in convincing her. I don't want to permanently burn my bridges with Morwen, and I'm sure you'd all like to be able to come back again someday. Though if it DOES come to that, I'll take full responsibility - she probably won't even suspect any of you were involved. Not unless we get caught in the act. But that's such a last resort its almost doesn't bear mentioning. Let's focus on the task at hand - persuading her to temporarily release him. Maybe with a little luck we'll catch a break with whomever else will be present at supper. She's got a couple of 'regulars' that hang around here, and a lot of people that might be here or might not. We're going to have to play it by ear a little. I'm going to need you to just trust me that this is the best course of action - not just for my employer, not just for me, or for yourselves, but also for Morwen and for Daggerford - she's just too stubborn to see it, unless we MAKE her see it."
"If we get him, is he going to still face justice for his crimes? I don't like the idea of helping a known pirate escape justice."
"Absolutely - there's NO outcome here that will result in him not paying for his crimes. It's a question of what ELSE he can do for the good of Faerun before then."
Bree thinks about it then says
"If he will still face his due justice then I see no reason not to try to get some use out of him."
She continues: "He didn't target slavers out of the goodness of his heart, mind you. So don't go too far the other way as to make him a 'folk-hero' in your mind either. He targeted them because he knew that their 'cargo' would most likely be willing to join him without him even having to ask. For those that didn't, he let them go. He'd set them on one of the slaver ship's skiffs, point them to the coast, give them enough rations to make it to shore, and bid them a fond farewell. Also, not because he's a kindly soul - but because he understands the benefit of having sympathizers in every town around the coastal areas he operates in.
"In the 8 years he's been famous, he's been captured three times - and all three times he escaped. In part because of operations begun by his own men to break him free, but every time he found assistance amongst a growing number of commoners in the town that had him captive. Daggerford is the first place he's been a captive that has a proper castle, with fortifications his own men would never be able to breach - remember what Morwen said about the impossibility of Daggerford being attacked by sea? But that points moot given he doesn't HAVE any men at his command anymore anyway. Almost certainly it wasn't every one of his men that was involved in the mutiny, but it was clearly a sizable portion. That he escaped, however, speaks to the likelihood that at least some of his own men remained loyal to the end - and it almost certainly WAS their end, because I found him entirely alone."
"So, there's no one to help him escape anymore. There's nowhere for him to run to, and nowhere for him to hide. So long as you don't take him to a town and brag to everyone you see that you've got Feydon the Cold in captivity, you're probably not going to be troubled by his misguided devotees. If you recognized him, it was because the wanted posters for him have been strategically placed in locations that people like yourselves would see them, not in random farming towns. So just don't tell anyone, and leave him well away from any town before you enter in," this last part she says almost to herself, in self-rebuke, as clearly, she hadn't hidden him well enough away from Daggerford so as to not be seen.
"You don't have to trust me on that part, or Mr. V. I'm not going with you - I'm head of Mr. V.'s security forces. I need to get back as soon as possible. He doesn't like being without... protection for so long. You'll understand more when you meet him. But the point is that what you do with him after he's served his purpose will be up to you - or maybe more likely up to whatever geas one of Morwen's more powerful wizards crafts to place on him. You do know what a geas is? Gus, explain to them what a geas is, and why they won't have to worry about him escaping or harming them."
"If we're unable to convince her, then we'll have to resort to more... drastic measures," she frowns. "If that comes to pass, then we'll talk about 'extra rewards', but let's just hope it doesn't come to that, because that's going to be a serious problem. That's why we HAVE to succeed in convincing her. I don't want to permanently burn my bridges with Morwen, and I'm sure you'd all like to be able to come back again someday. Though if it DOES come to that, I'll take full responsibility - she probably won't even suspect any of you were involved. Not unless we get caught in the act. But that's such a last resort its almost doesn't bear mentioning. Let's focus on the task at hand - persuading her to temporarily release him. Maybe with a little luck we'll catch a break with whomever else will be present at supper. She's got a couple of 'regulars' that hang around here, and a lot of people that might be here or might not. We're going to have to play it by ear a little. I'm going to need you to just trust me that this is the best course of action - not just for my employer, not just for me, or for yourselves, but also for Morwen and for Daggerford - she's just too stubborn to see it, unless we MAKE her see it."
"If we get him, is he going to still face justice for his crimes? I don't like the idea of helping a known pirate escape justice."
"Absolutely - there's NO outcome here that will result in him not paying for his crimes. It's a question of what ELSE he can do for the good of Faerun before then."
Bree thinks about it then says
"If he will still face his due justice then I see no reason not to try to get some use out of him."
Reyna nods, visibly relieved. Two down, four to go, you can almost read on her face.
Dawn finally spoke up, "I know a little about Guis, but I'm a long way from being able to cast such a spell. So I'm relieved that is a Wizard here that can cast it. But the command will have to be worded very carefully, otherwise he may find a loophole. He won't be able to harm the caster, but nothing but the command would protect us, so if the command isn't worded just right... Well it won't be pleasant. And getting him to return afterwards might be difficult. Even guis can't force some to do some suicidal, and returning to justice when he has a death sentence waiting for him sounds suicidal to me. To get the Guis to work, his sentience may have to be reduced to something short of certain death."
She pauses for a moment, then continues, "I think having him help us will be a form of having him pay for his crimes, That might be justification to reducing his sentence, especially if he can be used in other ways. But we will have to be very very careful. He's proved that he's very clever and scheming. If there are any loopholes in the command, I fear that he WILL find them."
[She tends to be quiet and shy, but Dawn is smart, wise, and charismatic. I'm assuming she knows about the cleric version of the Guis spell as part of her religious training. And she could be completely off the mark as to how hard it is to have him work with us. After all, the DM decides how the spell acually works :-) ]
Reyna smiles and relaxes a bit more. "Exactly - I'm glad you can see the logic of this. But don't worry, I don't expect any of you to perform the ritual. I expect Gus can explain what it is, to any of you that don't understand. But Morwen has a regular visitor I suspect will be here that can handle the casting. It's far beyond my power as well. If you'd like to explain it though, Dawn, then please, by all means."
OOC: Also, Dawn - did you want to choose a suite? The remaining options are: the Tethyr suite, or the Moonshae suite. If you're entirely uncomfortable sleeping in such large rooms, I suppose you could either ask to bunk up with one of the others, or ask Morwen over supper for a smaller room lol. There are sofas in each of the suites, though, so you can share one with someone they're okay with it - or you know enough about temples of Lathander to know that if you went over to the temple they'd let you in and put you up; they're closed to the public, but you're not 'public', you're one of the flock. Your character would know she has that option, though it would require a ~10 minute walk to get there, and might be seen as a mild insult to Morwen (something she'd also know intuitively).
(As Hnefa) The Goliath looks on towards the Dalelands suite and the Far North suite, both having been taken, and representing her first and second choices respectively. Hard to beat a cat and a gnome for reaction times, however, she muses. The next closest area to her homeland, The High Forest, is her third choice: she rounds the hall in time to see its door closing, having been selected by Bree. Now what? she wonders. She doesn't have a strong opinion on the matter, thankfully, otherwise she might have taken issue with someone taking her top three choices. She had no argument with Reyna taking the Amnian suite, or Geren taking the Lords Alliance suite. But of the three remaining, Tethyr and Moonshae represent regions far away from her homeland. The Dessarin valley, however, is closer to home than Daggerford is. Shrugging, the Goliath disappears into the Dessarin Suite, a surprised shout emerging from the still open door can be heard by any in the halls still before it shuts. Something that sounds like "Har! My feet don't hang off the bed!"
Sometime later, she emerges to join the others in Reyna's room in time to hear her explain the current predicament.
She will wait until the others have all decided on what to say before responding.
(OOC: Sorry Hnefa, feel free to rewrite your own action here when you come back if you want - it's obviously not that important, but it's your right to do so. I'm just making a placeholder decision for you until then, which you can opt to use as your actual decision or not, but it won't alter the course of things going forward).
Eltra had sat quietly listening to the others. He really was in no position to object, not that he would. A pirate who freed people, stole from the rich, and pumped his own ego....doesn't seem different than legitimate government officials who steal from the poor... "Alright...convince her to allow us to use him for the benefit of the realm....perhaps it can be spun to benefit her directly?"
Eltra had sat quietly listening to the others. He really was in no position to object, not that he would. A pirate who freed people, stole from the rich, and pumped his own ego....doesn't seem different than legitimate government officials who steal from the poor... "Alright...convince her to allow us to use him for the benefit of the realm....perhaps it can be spun to benefit her directly?"
She nods, slowly at first, then more vigorously. "Yes. That's where our best chance lies, I agree. Good thinking - this... favor she's going to ask of you could be the key. After we determine what it is exactly that she wants, you can then make the argument that his release into your custody will be a way to make that more likely. She's not asking me for help, she's asking all of you. She trusts me mostly because she knows my mother, but she doesn't trust my employer, and thus the less speaking I do probably the better. But I've got a card I can play here she doesn't know about. Something I learned from Mr. V." She turns to Eltra, making sure she has his eye contact.
"See?" her voice is heard in his mind but her lips didn't move, and no one else in the room heard a thing. She repeats the same process with each of you. "I can do that all day long," she says afterwards, laughing a little. "I can't, however, hear anything you try to say back. Not that way. There are ways we can do that back and forth, but it may be detected at the table if her favorite court wizard is present - which I frankly hope he is, because he'll have to do the geas, and he's always in favor of being needed, so he'll probably be an ally in the argument. But that little thought message trick I just did is too quick and makes too little disturbance of the weave to be noticed. I can't say much that way though. Just little prompts, short phrases. Which is why I wanted this chance to speak with you all so we could strategize at greater depth."
She looks at Geren. "You can always try to see what help she can provide in the form of material assistance. And there may be people at the table you can try to persuade for help as well. Talk to everyone. Find out what they're good at, what they know or have that might help you - then work that charm of yours to try and get it. But just keep in mind what the first priority is."
She looks back at the group. "So, to that end - my advice is to play up your inexperience, not your experience. If she thinks you're all practiced dragonslayers, she's not going to see why you'd need Feydon's help. Make sure she knows that you have NO experience with the marshlands, or with lizardmen - even if that's not true. If you DO have experience with lizardmen... just... don't mention that." She finishes and looks over your faces for comprehension and acknowledgement. "Are we agreed then?"
Dawn finally spoke up, "I know a little about Guis, but I'm a long way from being able to cast such a spell. So I'm relieved that is a Wizard here that can cast it. But the command will have to be worded very carefully, otherwise he may find a loophole. He won't be able to harm the caster, but nothing but the command would protect us, so if the command isn't worded just right... Well it won't be pleasant. And getting him to return afterwards might be difficult. Even guis can't force some to do some suicidal, and returning to justice when he has a death sentence waiting for him sounds suicidal to me. To get the Guis to work, his sentience may have to be reduced to something short of certain death."
She pauses for a moment, then continues, "I think having him help us will be a form of having him pay for his crimes, That might be justification to reducing his sentence, especially if he can be used in other ways. But we will have to be very very careful. He's proved that he's very clever and scheming. If there are any loopholes in the command, I fear that he WILL find them."
[She tends to be quiet and shy, but Dawn is smart, wise, and charismatic. I'm assuming she knows about the cleric version of the Guis spell as part of her religious training. And she could be completely off the mark as to how hard it is to have him work with us. After all, the DM decides how the spell acually works :-) ]
Gus smiles as Dawn talks, when she's done he adds "impressively good show, well spoken. If I may add, the spell, and I'm nowhere near experienced enough to cast it, I doubt even if my master Orbos could cast it, last for 30 days I believe. You'd be limited to one specific command, such as carry out some single service, or refrain from some action or activity. So, you could ask him to take you to his old hideout and he would, but he'd not help you fight or advise you of traps, and, if I may add, could lead you to anyone of his "old" hideouts.
Gus thinks for a minute after speaking, "not to sale our most charismatic friend short, but should he fail to convince her grace shouldn't we have a back up plan? I know it may sound risky but could we come up with documents from someone higher up the ladder to present that state the subject in question is to be released to us. Perhaps from grand duke Ravengard and the council of four?
Dawn finally spoke up, "I know a little about Guis, but I'm a long way from being able to cast such a spell. So I'm relieved that is a Wizard here that can cast it. But the command will have to be worded very carefully, otherwise he may find a loophole. He won't be able to harm the caster, but nothing but the command would protect us, so if the command isn't worded just right... Well it won't be pleasant. And getting him to return afterwards might be difficult. Even guis can't force some to do some suicidal, and returning to justice when he has a death sentence waiting for him sounds suicidal to me. To get the Guis to work, his sentience may have to be reduced to something short of certain death."
She pauses for a moment, then continues, "I think having him help us will be a form of having him pay for his crimes, That might be justification to reducing his sentence, especially if he can be used in other ways. But we will have to be very very careful. He's proved that he's very clever and scheming. If there are any loopholes in the command, I fear that he WILL find them."
[She tends to be quiet and shy, but Dawn is smart, wise, and charismatic. I'm assuming she knows about the cleric version of the Guis spell as part of her religious training. And she could be completely off the mark as to how hard it is to have him work with us. After all, the DM decides how the spell acually works :-) ]
Gus smiles as Dawn talks, when she's done he adds "impressively good show, well spoken. If I may add, the spell, and I'm nowhere near experienced enough to cast it, I doubt even if my master Orbos could cast it, last for 30 days I believe. You'd be limited to one specific command, such as carry out some single service, or refrain from some action or activity. So, you could ask him to take you to his old hideout and he would, but he'd not help you fight or advise you of traps, and, if I may add, could lead you to anyone of his "old" hideouts.
Reyna nods. "Thank you - that's a fair summary as far as I understand it, though the court wizard here is quite powerful, and may be able to push the time limit well past 30 days. He may even be able to layer two or three commands on him. It's been awhile since he's been really needed, I think he'll jump at the opportunity to show off a little. The poor bastard disappeared for a century, only to reappear about fifteen years ago without having aged a day, and no one's been able to get him to explain what happened. He left when an entirely different Duke was in power, and came back right after Morwen was restored to her position. I think because he has not explained what happened, Morwen has been reluctant to make use of his talents. He doesn't seem to really... do... anything, anymore," she laughs a little. "He could be a resource for assistance as well. Maybe he's got some scrolls or spells he can teach you?" Reyna shrugs.
She then listens to your document idea. "Well, that's a much better plan B than what I had in mind. We'll call my plan B plan C then. If you know how to forge documents, by all means, but we're running out of time. That creepy butler is going to be calling on us any moment. If Geren fails to persuade someone, it may be the case they might respond to someone else trying. Let's not abandon plan A until its clear we have to. Tymora may bless us with something to make the persuading easier," she adds, more to herself it seems, and seems to be saying a short prayer to Tymora. She pulls one of two pendants out from hiding under her shirt, and indeed it is a symbol of Tymora. The other, a symbol of Tempus, she lets fall back into hiding. As she finishes her prayer she kisses the pendant to Tymora. When she sees people looking at her she shrugs, flushing slightly. "Can't hurt," she says uncharacteristically meek.
(As Hnefa) "I see no problem with this. Freeing slaves for his own benefit is still freeing slaves. Getting rich by taking from the rich makes nobody poor. Killing those who try to kill him makes him a better warrior than his attackers. Sounds like he should be given a trial by combat. Where is the honor or glory in killing someone that cannot fight back? Let him prove to the Skywatchers his worthiness. Or make him face nature - the deep deserts, or the frozen wilds in a trial of survival, that the Skywatchers may see his strength and resolve." She looks at Reyna, noting her scars, and the suit of half-plate she has laid out on her bed, virtually every inch of which is marred by signs of battle, despite its excellent shape and craftsmanship. "Reyna has a warrior's spirit. I feel my fate is bound to hers, somehow. So, it was decreed, and so I am here. So, I will choose to trust her in this. For now."
(As Hnefa) "I see no problem with this. Freeing slaves for his own benefit is still freeing slaves. Getting rich by taking from the rich makes nobody poor. Killing those who try to kill him makes him a better warrior than his attackers. Sounds like he should be given a trial by combat. Where is the honor or glory in killing someone that cannot fight back? Let him prove to the Skywatchers his worthiness. Or make him face nature - the deep deserts, or the frozen wilds in a trial of survival, that the Skywatchers may see his strength and resolve." She looks at Reyna, noting her scars, and the suit of half-plate she has laid out on her bed, virtually every inch of which is marred by signs of battle, despite its excellent shape and craftsmanship. "Reyna has a warrior's spirit. I feel my fate is bound to hers, somehow. So, it was decreed, and so I am here. So, I will choose to trust her in this. For now."
Reyna nods, shaking off the strangest sensation that she was having a conversation with herself. "Thank you, Hnefa. I'm honored by your trust. I hope you can extend your trust to your companions as well - they too have been brought here by the same fate, and thus must also be bound to yours."
Prompted be what Hnefa had said, Reyna decides to put her armor on. "Morwen respects martial skill as well. The more I remind her that I'm like my mother, a warrior, the less she'll be thinking I'm like Mr. V - not that she distrusts wizards. Frankly, I don't think she knows he's a wizard. I think she thinks he's just a pampered noble. She doesn't know he was born in an orphanage in the outer city. Because he doesn't tell people that - by the way, none of you heard that from me, understood? Good," she answers her own question. A moment later, just as she's fastening the last buckle to her armor, a knocking is heard down the hall followed by a confused voice. It's repeated once more a little more closely, this time it's clearly the butlers voice, going from door to door, looking for where everyone is. Reyna sighs. "Ok. That's our cue."
Gus answers Reyna, "my apologies, I'm not much of a forger. I can copy from written text fairly well. I guess we could write something up but would have to magically alter it to make it believable. Perhaps Dawn could give Geren some devine guidance when he makes the sales pitch as well. I've seen enough legal notices from the council of four. Let me see what I can come up with. Gus runs to his room and sets about writing up and order as described, mentioning the party members by name as taking possession of the prisoner and returning him to the council to stand trail, signed by the duke with the seal of the flaming fist.
OOC: Also, Dawn - did you want to choose a suite? The remaining options are: the Tethyr suite, or the Moonshae suite. If you're entirely uncomfortable sleeping in such large rooms, I suppose you could either ask to bunk up with one of the others, or ask Morwen over supper for a smaller room lol. There are sofas in each of the suites, though, so you can share one with someone they're okay with it - or you know enough about temples of Lathander to know that if you went over to the temple they'd let you in and put you up; they're closed to the public, but you're not 'public', you're one of the flock. Your character would know she has that option, though it would require a ~10 minute walk to get there, and might be seen as a mild insult to Morwen (something she'd also know intuitively).
Thinking that even asking for a smaller room might be seen as an insult, Dawn will make do with these overly elaborate rooms. She'll take a quick peak into the two unclaimed rooms, and take whichever one is plainer and smaller (though neither is plain nor small at all). She'll change out her her armor, and into her priest's robes. Cleaning up and then using magic to heal the spots where the unfamiliar armor had chaffed. She'll leave her dagger behind, but will take her holy symbol (the one that's a necklace, not the one that's painted on her shield). She then heads for the meeting in Reyna's room.
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"I was bid to bring him to Mr. V, because of his knowledge of the swamps. But there's NO way in the hells that Morwen will release him into his custody. You, however,... you she doesn't know. Yet. She only knows you've just been hired for your first job for Mr. V, as far as she's aware. She won't hold that against you. And if you follow my lead, you probably won't even have to lie. Maybe just... leave out certain things. I don't know. It's all going to depend on who else is present. There are powerfully influential people that have her ear, some that would see reason, and others that would be even more stubbornly fixated on hanging an already defeated and helpless prisoner. We have to hope - pray even - that there's more of the former at the table tonight than the latter. And we have trust in our instincts of persuasion," she looks at Geren, giving him a half smile.
"Absolutely - there's NO outcome here that will result in him not paying for his crimes. It's a question of what ELSE he can do for the good of Faerun before then."
Bree thinks about it then says
"If he will still face his due justice then I see no reason not to try to get some use out of him."
She continues: "He didn't target slavers out of the goodness of his heart, mind you. So don't go too far the other way as to make him a 'folk-hero' in your mind either. He targeted them because he knew that their 'cargo' would most likely be willing to join him without him even having to ask. For those that didn't, he let them go. He'd set them on one of the slaver ship's skiffs, point them to the coast, give them enough rations to make it to shore, and bid them a fond farewell. Also, not because he's a kindly soul - but because he understands the benefit of having sympathizers in every town around the coastal areas he operates in.
"In the 8 years he's been famous, he's been captured three times - and all three times he escaped. In part because of operations begun by his own men to break him free, but every time he found assistance amongst a growing number of commoners in the town that had him captive. Daggerford is the first place he's been a captive that has a proper castle, with fortifications his own men would never be able to breach - remember what Morwen said about the impossibility of Daggerford being attacked by sea? But that points moot given he doesn't HAVE any men at his command anymore anyway. Almost certainly it wasn't every one of his men that was involved in the mutiny, but it was clearly a sizable portion. That he escaped, however, speaks to the likelihood that at least some of his own men remained loyal to the end - and it almost certainly WAS their end, because I found him entirely alone."
"So, there's no one to help him escape anymore. There's nowhere for him to run to, and nowhere for him to hide. So long as you don't take him to a town and brag to everyone you see that you've got Feydon the Cold in captivity, you're probably not going to be troubled by his misguided devotees. If you recognized him, it was because the wanted posters for him have been strategically placed in locations that people like yourselves would see them, not in random farming towns. So just don't tell anyone, and leave him well away from any town before you enter in," this last part she says almost to herself, in self-rebuke, as clearly, she hadn't hidden him well enough away from Daggerford so as to not be seen.
"You don't have to trust me on that part, or Mr. V. I'm not going with you - I'm head of Mr. V.'s security forces. I need to get back as soon as possible. He doesn't like being without... protection for so long. You'll understand more when you meet him. But the point is that what you do with him after he's served his purpose will be up to you - or maybe more likely up to whatever geas one of Morwen's more powerful wizards crafts to place on him. You do know what a geas is? Gus, explain to them what a geas is, and why they won't have to worry about him escaping or harming them."
Reyna nods, visibly relieved. Two down, four to go, you can almost read on her face.
Dawn finally spoke up, "I know a little about Guis, but I'm a long way from being able to cast such a spell. So I'm relieved that is a Wizard here that can cast it. But the command will have to be worded very carefully, otherwise he may find a loophole. He won't be able to harm the caster, but nothing but the command would protect us, so if the command isn't worded just right... Well it won't be pleasant. And getting him to return afterwards might be difficult. Even guis can't force some to do some suicidal, and returning to justice when he has a death sentence waiting for him sounds suicidal to me. To get the Guis to work, his sentience may have to be reduced to something short of certain death."
She pauses for a moment, then continues, "I think having him help us will be a form of having him pay for his crimes, That might be justification to reducing his sentence, especially if he can be used in other ways. But we will have to be very very careful. He's proved that he's very clever and scheming. If there are any loopholes in the command, I fear that he WILL find them."
[She tends to be quiet and shy, but Dawn is smart, wise, and charismatic. I'm assuming she knows about the cleric version of the Guis spell as part of her religious training. And she could be completely off the mark as to how hard it is to have him work with us. After all, the DM decides how the spell acually works :-) ]
Reyna smiles and relaxes a bit more. "Exactly - I'm glad you can see the logic of this. But don't worry, I don't expect any of you to perform the ritual. I expect Gus can explain what it is, to any of you that don't understand. But Morwen has a regular visitor I suspect will be here that can handle the casting. It's far beyond my power as well. If you'd like to explain it though, Dawn, then please, by all means."
OOC: Also, Dawn - did you want to choose a suite? The remaining options are: the Tethyr suite, or the Moonshae suite. If you're entirely uncomfortable sleeping in such large rooms, I suppose you could either ask to bunk up with one of the others, or ask Morwen over supper for a smaller room lol. There are sofas in each of the suites, though, so you can share one with someone they're okay with it - or you know enough about temples of Lathander to know that if you went over to the temple they'd let you in and put you up; they're closed to the public, but you're not 'public', you're one of the flock. Your character would know she has that option, though it would require a ~10 minute walk to get there, and might be seen as a mild insult to Morwen (something she'd also know intuitively).
(As Hnefa) The Goliath looks on towards the Dalelands suite and the Far North suite, both having been taken, and representing her first and second choices respectively. Hard to beat a cat and a gnome for reaction times, however, she muses. The next closest area to her homeland, The High Forest, is her third choice: she rounds the hall in time to see its door closing, having been selected by Bree. Now what? she wonders. She doesn't have a strong opinion on the matter, thankfully, otherwise she might have taken issue with someone taking her top three choices. She had no argument with Reyna taking the Amnian suite, or Geren taking the Lords Alliance suite. But of the three remaining, Tethyr and Moonshae represent regions far away from her homeland. The Dessarin valley, however, is closer to home than Daggerford is. Shrugging, the Goliath disappears into the Dessarin Suite, a surprised shout emerging from the still open door can be heard by any in the halls still before it shuts. Something that sounds like "Har! My feet don't hang off the bed!"
Sometime later, she emerges to join the others in Reyna's room in time to hear her explain the current predicament.
She will wait until the others have all decided on what to say before responding.
(OOC: Sorry Hnefa, feel free to rewrite your own action here when you come back if you want - it's obviously not that important, but it's your right to do so. I'm just making a placeholder decision for you until then, which you can opt to use as your actual decision or not, but it won't alter the course of things going forward).
Eltra had sat quietly listening to the others. He really was in no position to object, not that he would. A pirate who freed people, stole from the rich, and pumped his own ego....doesn't seem different than legitimate government officials who steal from the poor... "Alright...convince her to allow us to use him for the benefit of the realm....perhaps it can be spun to benefit her directly?"
She nods, slowly at first, then more vigorously. "Yes. That's where our best chance lies, I agree. Good thinking - this... favor she's going to ask of you could be the key. After we determine what it is exactly that she wants, you can then make the argument that his release into your custody will be a way to make that more likely. She's not asking me for help, she's asking all of you. She trusts me mostly because she knows my mother, but she doesn't trust my employer, and thus the less speaking I do probably the better. But I've got a card I can play here she doesn't know about. Something I learned from Mr. V." She turns to Eltra, making sure she has his eye contact.
"See?" her voice is heard in his mind but her lips didn't move, and no one else in the room heard a thing. She repeats the same process with each of you. "I can do that all day long," she says afterwards, laughing a little. "I can't, however, hear anything you try to say back. Not that way. There are ways we can do that back and forth, but it may be detected at the table if her favorite court wizard is present - which I frankly hope he is, because he'll have to do the geas, and he's always in favor of being needed, so he'll probably be an ally in the argument. But that little thought message trick I just did is too quick and makes too little disturbance of the weave to be noticed. I can't say much that way though. Just little prompts, short phrases. Which is why I wanted this chance to speak with you all so we could strategize at greater depth."
She looks at Geren. "You can always try to see what help she can provide in the form of material assistance. And there may be people at the table you can try to persuade for help as well. Talk to everyone. Find out what they're good at, what they know or have that might help you - then work that charm of yours to try and get it. But just keep in mind what the first priority is."
She looks back at the group. "So, to that end - my advice is to play up your inexperience, not your experience. If she thinks you're all practiced dragonslayers, she's not going to see why you'd need Feydon's help. Make sure she knows that you have NO experience with the marshlands, or with lizardmen - even if that's not true. If you DO have experience with lizardmen... just... don't mention that." She finishes and looks over your faces for comprehension and acknowledgement. "Are we agreed then?"
Eltra nods with no questions or suggestions to ask or make
Gus smiles as Dawn talks, when she's done he adds "impressively good show, well spoken. If I may add, the spell, and I'm nowhere near experienced enough to cast it, I doubt even if my master Orbos could cast it, last for 30 days I believe. You'd be limited to one specific command, such as carry out some single service, or refrain from some action or activity. So, you could ask him to take you to his old hideout and he would, but he'd not help you fight or advise you of traps, and, if I may add, could lead you to anyone of his "old" hideouts.
Gus thinks for a minute after speaking, "not to sale our most charismatic friend short, but should he fail to convince her grace shouldn't we have a back up plan? I know it may sound risky but could we come up with documents from someone higher up the ladder to present that state the subject in question is to be released to us. Perhaps from grand duke Ravengard and the council of four?
Reyna nods. "Thank you - that's a fair summary as far as I understand it, though the court wizard here is quite powerful, and may be able to push the time limit well past 30 days. He may even be able to layer two or three commands on him. It's been awhile since he's been really needed, I think he'll jump at the opportunity to show off a little. The poor bastard disappeared for a century, only to reappear about fifteen years ago without having aged a day, and no one's been able to get him to explain what happened. He left when an entirely different Duke was in power, and came back right after Morwen was restored to her position. I think because he has not explained what happened, Morwen has been reluctant to make use of his talents. He doesn't seem to really... do... anything, anymore," she laughs a little. "He could be a resource for assistance as well. Maybe he's got some scrolls or spells he can teach you?" Reyna shrugs.
She then listens to your document idea. "Well, that's a much better plan B than what I had in mind. We'll call my plan B plan C then. If you know how to forge documents, by all means, but we're running out of time. That creepy butler is going to be calling on us any moment. If Geren fails to persuade someone, it may be the case they might respond to someone else trying. Let's not abandon plan A until its clear we have to. Tymora may bless us with something to make the persuading easier," she adds, more to herself it seems, and seems to be saying a short prayer to Tymora. She pulls one of two pendants out from hiding under her shirt, and indeed it is a symbol of Tymora. The other, a symbol of Tempus, she lets fall back into hiding. As she finishes her prayer she kisses the pendant to Tymora. When she sees people looking at her she shrugs, flushing slightly. "Can't hurt," she says uncharacteristically meek.
(As Hnefa) "I see no problem with this. Freeing slaves for his own benefit is still freeing slaves. Getting rich by taking from the rich makes nobody poor. Killing those who try to kill him makes him a better warrior than his attackers. Sounds like he should be given a trial by combat. Where is the honor or glory in killing someone that cannot fight back? Let him prove to the Skywatchers his worthiness. Or make him face nature - the deep deserts, or the frozen wilds in a trial of survival, that the Skywatchers may see his strength and resolve." She looks at Reyna, noting her scars, and the suit of half-plate she has laid out on her bed, virtually every inch of which is marred by signs of battle, despite its excellent shape and craftsmanship. "Reyna has a warrior's spirit. I feel my fate is bound to hers, somehow. So, it was decreed, and so I am here. So, I will choose to trust her in this. For now."
Reyna nods, shaking off the strangest sensation that she was having a conversation with herself. "Thank you, Hnefa. I'm honored by your trust. I hope you can extend your trust to your companions as well - they too have been brought here by the same fate, and thus must also be bound to yours."
Prompted be what Hnefa had said, Reyna decides to put her armor on. "Morwen respects martial skill as well. The more I remind her that I'm like my mother, a warrior, the less she'll be thinking I'm like Mr. V - not that she distrusts wizards. Frankly, I don't think she knows he's a wizard. I think she thinks he's just a pampered noble. She doesn't know he was born in an orphanage in the outer city. Because he doesn't tell people that - by the way, none of you heard that from me, understood? Good," she answers her own question. A moment later, just as she's fastening the last buckle to her armor, a knocking is heard down the hall followed by a confused voice. It's repeated once more a little more closely, this time it's clearly the butlers voice, going from door to door, looking for where everyone is. Reyna sighs. "Ok. That's our cue."
Gus answers Reyna, "my apologies, I'm not much of a forger. I can copy from written text fairly well. I guess we could write something up but would have to magically alter it to make it believable. Perhaps Dawn could give Geren some devine guidance when he makes the sales pitch as well. I've seen enough legal notices from the council of four. Let me see what I can come up with. Gus runs to his room and sets about writing up and order as described, mentioning the party members by name as taking possession of the prisoner and returning him to the council to stand trail, signed by the duke with the seal of the flaming fist.
Thinking that even asking for a smaller room might be seen as an insult, Dawn will make do with these overly elaborate rooms. She'll take a quick peak into the two unclaimed rooms, and take whichever one is plainer and smaller (though neither is plain nor small at all). She'll change out her her armor, and into her priest's robes. Cleaning up and then using magic to heal the spots where the unfamiliar armor had chaffed. She'll leave her dagger behind, but will take her holy symbol (the one that's a necklace, not the one that's painted on her shield). She then heads for the meeting in Reyna's room.