Turn 16 - Hearing VoicesGronok, realizing that he just revealed his spiritual allegiances to a man representing a different, not particularly tolerant religious sect, a man who seems to be carrying a very, very sharp sword, no less, tries to get out of this situation as painlessly and smoothly as possible.
[Charisma roll: 1-->2+1]
"As a holy man, you must have a creed, correct? Then you know the importance of following said creed. I was compelled to reveal the false priests - by the way, you really should question the ninth and eighth priests - because my god cannot stand it. Their lies benefitted none, nor revealed some great truth, nor even entertained! They were just that - lies that taught nothing and sought to reveal knowledge."
"You are correct in assuming that I am not a worshiper of Kezilam; I serve Mo'kar, the Teacher, the Wise One, who wishes for his children to learn so they may ascend to his side. And I come to spread word of his teachings, which are very similar to Kezilam's, from what I know.""So, this god, this... Mo'kar, he... teaches you things? Tells you things?""Yes. He is a force of enlightenment, and I see far more clearly due to his influence.""How does this god appear to you?""Usually as a niggling voice in my head telling me to do things."[Priest 3 escape roll: 1-->4]
Gronok sees the escaping priest stumble confusedly to the door and try to pull, only to find it locked.
"And you do them?""Yes. It is the will of my god, after all.""I see."[Crowd pursuit roll: 2]
The crowd slowly begins to recover from its pile-up and advance toward the priest. The coordinator gestures to one of the alcoves. Several guards come out.
[Priest 3 escape roll: 5]
The priest, noticing the crowd after him once more, runs for one of the side doors. It appears to be open, interestingly enough.
[Crowd pursuit roll: 1-->4]
The crowd clearly sees his avenue of escape, but one of them shouts something about the area being sacred and not for the uninitiated. The people seem to stop at this remark. Interesting. Gronok turns back to the advancing guards. The coordinator pulls out a wicked-looking sword from a scabbard on his belt and speaks once more.
"It is rather clear that you are possessed by an evil force of some kind. Submit for purification. It is for your own good."Well now.
* * * * *
Seeing the guard raise an alarm disheartens
Phiali. Well, maybe tomorrow will be better. He starts to walk away after saying a few words.
"Oh, hello. Congratulations on losing the third chance you had. Have a good day."[Guard pursuit roll: 2]
The guard seems confused by this remark. Confused enough, in fact, to not pursue Phiali as he walks away. Poor guy. Well, at least he'll get to practice his excuse-making skills. Phiali is soon out of sight and earshot, and it seems like no one is following him. Still not stabbed. This is a good thing.
* * * * *
Sejena purposefully walks over to the old lady and tries to be as friendly as humanly possible, given the circumstances.
[Charisma roll: 3+1]
"I'm here to see Naphezim of Vipuka," she says to the old woman.
"Satjap sent me."The lady gives him a critical look.
"Naphezim of Vipuka? Satjap... do you mean Satjap of Adokiim?""Yes, it indeed him.""Are you the whore he was promised?"Well, that's quite... blunt.
* * * * *
Elizas knows that time is of the essence and acts accordingly, seeking out the merchant and his companions.
[Merchant condition roll: 5]
The merchant is fairly easily woken up, as are his companions. They are a little bit drowsy, but that's probably natural when you consider the previous night's entertainment. Especially when Elizas realizes that they seem to have had a bit more luck in the loose women department than himself. Shaking them out of their sleep, he manages to get them to head with him to the execution square, post-haste.
[Pathfinding roll: 3]
It takes him quite a while to find the place, but the execution square is eventually reached. Looks like a few executions have happened already, judging by all the blood on the ground. A man is being currently led over to the stoning pole.
"Crap, it's Patalim! They're executing him already!"It looks like the people are getting their stones ready, and a fellow in gray robes is preparing to read something from a scroll next to the pole as Patalim is being secured to it. Patalim himself has a look of defeat on his tired features.
All in all, it's a depressing, bloodthirsty-looking place.
* * * * *
Shashari is about to investigate the tracks, but realizes that she should probably fill the Siren in on her findings first.
"Hm... definitely tracks. Less definitely witchtracks, but I say we go for it. Don't see why a notwitch or wolf would be wandering around here anyway. Other than to find out why a notwitch or wolf was wandering around here anyway, I suppose.""It is most regrettable that witches do not have easily recognizable tracks. It would make life much easier for me. Anyway, I have nothing against a little investigation. After all, all the witches are petrified at this time of day. We are probably in no real danger. Probably."Now that that's cleared up, Shashari gets on with her detective work.
[Tracking roll: 1-->6]
After a monotonous hour of following the tracks, Shashari comes to the saddening conclusion that she has no idea what she's doing due to two reasons: one, yesterday was literally her first time in the woods. Two, she's pretty sure the tracks didn't look like this when she started following them. Hm.
Gronok: 0 MP
Phiali: 1 MP
Sejena: 2 MP
Elizas: 5 MP
Shashari: 5 MP
I have decided to use something I proposed in Roller's Block: on a 6 or 1 (exploding cases), I will apply relevant bonuses to the second degree instead of the first one like in most cases. It makes more sense that way and makes amusing failure much more probable. So, a win-win.
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Topic: Prophets of the New God: most unfortunately dropped. (Read 73452 times)