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[Cheesecake]

((Dammit. I'll just roll for what needs a tie-breaker.))

Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)

Explorer: 1-3
Smith:4-6

Result: (4) Smith

Stone-caster: 1-2
Iron-fighter: 3-4
Deep-hider: 5-6

Result: (2) Stone-caster

The council of Rock had given its blessing earlier this morning. Each one hammered at a perfectly rectangular stone obelisk until it shattered into pieces. Picking up a piece each, they circled you and pelted you with the rocks. It didn't hurt at all, surprisingly. The council of Steel gave its blessing next, branding a hot iron into your skin. It didn't hurt either. Finally the council of Magma gave its blessing, deep in the lowest pits of the mountain. You bathed in magma unharmed, and you were ready.

You are Orion Bloodsight, daughter of Zogosh Bloodsight. You share the blood-red eyes of your ancestors. Clad in fine steel plate, armed with a longsword and shield and provisioned with a pouch of gold and a rucksack of provisions you set out to the wilderness. Your long-time friend Rigel Stoneblade was adamant about following you. He is regarded as one of the strongest dwarves in the mountain, and a great Iron-fighter. In heavy plate-mail of black iron, he's nearly your height but still falls a head short, though he's much broader and intimidating. He has a two-handed warhammer, crude but strong.

You and Rigel quickly descended the mountain thanks to your stone-casting. You slid down the mountainside on a large boulder with Rigel at your back, making a two-day trip half an hour long. The woods surrounding the mountain are old and dark, but a worn path half-hidden by roots and leaves is your way through the forest. Night is nearly over and dawn slowly begins to creep up into the sky when suddenly you hear the sound of battle nearby. You try to avoid it, but somehow you actually manage to find your way directly to the battleground by mistake!

You see a small clearing with a pool. A bunch of ragtag looking humans have their weapons drawn, with one of them holding an elf child hostage at knife-point. The man doing so is standing straight in the middle of the pool. Strangely, no one else is taking one step near him. His allies are holding their enemies, a small party of armored elves, back with their swords and shields. The elves are armed as well, though they seem hesitant to press on. You and Rigel attempt to go back to the woods slowly, but you are heard and found.

"Dwarves? Down here? You don't look like hunters or merchants," one elf says.

"My, my, you're a tall one, aren't ya?" a human quips. "What say you help us, miss? Don't let this scene of kidnapping fool ya, that elf boy there ain't a child, and that pool ain't just a pool. Them's foul magics involved."

"Lies!" an elf screams. She seems to be the leader of the elf party. "That 'elf boy' is my son! This pool is sacred to our kind, a place of serenity and meditation. Listen, good travelers, if you are of kind heart please aid us! My son has done nothing wrong!"

"Don't listen to her, miss, she's a lying whore! She and her son of hers cursed our village! Now we have a drought, a famine, and a plague all at once. Just yesterday we had an earthquake. Everyone's leaving, probably to go die somewhere quieter!"

"For the last time, we had nothing to do with that curse, you daft idiots! Killing the mistress' son in our pool will do nothing to solve it!" one elf shouts back.

"That's what the Wizard said. She said you cursed us, bless the lady, and that all would return to normal if we killed this demon child!"

The elf lady turns to face you and drops her sword. Her eyes are red and teary. "Please, I beg you! We are forbidden to step into the pool. Please, please fair dwarf, save my son!"

The man in the water holds the knife closer to the boy's neck. On a closer look he's half starved and has glimmer of hope in his eyes, as if you are a savior of sorts. "She's lying! I can't finish the ritual with all these elves around! I have to save our village! Please, drive these elves off!"

You're faced with a predicament. What shall you do, Orion Bloodsight?"

[~Neri]

"If the elves had nothing to do with the curse. Perchance they know who did do it. Generally sacrifices don't remove curses. They make curses. So killing the kid is unlikely to lift the curse. Elves. How about you help locate who did it. If not. The humans are free to try what they think will work. I'm a tad suspicious of this Wizard you mentioned. Oft times, the first to place blame is he who did it."

[Cheesecake]

The two fighting parties take heed of your words. The elf lady solemnly shakes her head. "We don't know why all these misfortunes have befallen their village. All I know is that killing an innocent child will not stop it!"

The humans lower their weapons ever-so-slightly. "Oh, the Wizard is no blighter, be sure of that. She's helped us out of hell, she has. She's given us bread and biscuits to feed us 'til the famine ends. She's gotten a well built as well, sweetest water we've had."

"Harold's girl, Anna, she was lost to the plague," a thin, elderly man says. "But she brought her back before she passed on. None of that necromancy or alchemy, divine miracle! She brought the girl back, body, mind and soul!"

"Your sorceress is a trickster. No one can bring back the dead," an elf says.

"She can!"

"Look, human, bring me back to your village so I may see this Wizard of yours."

The man in the pool shakes his head frantically. "I can't do that yet. I have to do the ritual now, before the sun rises! These damned elves are in the way!"

"We are not leaving without my son!"

Rigel gets his warhammer ready. It seems a fight's about to break loose; the elves are getting desperate, and the humans are frantic. It doesn't seem like this will end peacefully... Will you pick a side? Will you leave this battle? What will you do?

[~Neri]

"All of you shoosh. You're acting like children. Humans. Show me the Magi. If this 'ritual' needs doing at night. Should the elves prove guilty, you can try it tomorrow. Elves. You're coming with. I have a feeling this Wizard might be more then she seems. There will not be a drop of blood spilled until all evidence is gathered. As much as I dislike elves, wanton slaughter of children is Not acceptable. I demand proof before I allow you to kill what appears to be a child. Bring me to your Wizard. The elves will come with. If she's as powerful as you claim. She should be more then capable of handling the elves should they be the guilty party. Should the Wizard be the guilty party, then the only blood spilled shall be hers. And the elf states a truth, nothing can bring back the dead beyond the God of Death themself. It's possible to bring back someone on deaths door, but not once the axe falls and the soul is severed from the body. I see a few possible possibility here. One, the Wizard is naught more then a necromancer, who  has preserved and puppeted your child's corpse, although that raises the question as to why didn't the necromancer just let the corpse stay in rest. The second possibility is the Wizard is really a Priest of Death or a manifestation of the Death God, which raises a fairly large number of questions. Third is the Wizard is just a Wizard with a gratuitous level of skill in healing, aquamancy, and cooking, although why the wizard thinks killing an elf will help is beyond me. Fourth is the Wizard is a priest with similar but more divine sourced abilities to the previous possibility, although that raises questions similar to the second option. Fifth is the Wizard is just an abnormally skilled illusionist and you've been eating maggotbread and stagnant water and your childs a corpse rotting in your home with the plague."

"I feel like we should have a chat with your wizard. The Arbiter has spoken."

[Cheesecake]

The elves and the humans listen intently. The human in the pool lowers his knife completely. "Well, she didn't mention it could be only on this night. Fine. We'll go see the Wizard." The elf boy runs to his mother, crying.

The elves agree as well and follow the humans warily. Both parties refer to you as Arbiter from here on out. You can see Rigel smiling beneath his helm; clearly this is fun for him. The humans lead you through the forest and out into the fields. It's chilly now, and the sun has just risen. Far out in the middle of the plains is a hamlet. This trek's lasted you around half an hour, you guess.

The first step into the village is an unpleasant one. You've stepped in something, you don't know what, but it's something. The stench of dung and decay is heavy here. In the center of the small town is a well, and you see a few bone-thin women drawing water from it. They hiss and spit when they see the elves.

"This way, Arbiter."

The man leads you to a magnificent blue tent, the only color in this bleak, grey town. The flaps of the tent are opened by a gust of wind. Or so it seems. Inside is a single desk with a young woman sitting in it. She seems to be writing a letter. A metallic symbol is hanging from a chain around her neck. You can't tell what metal that is, or if it even is metal.

You are shaken from your thoughts by the sound of a young girl's voice. "Hello there." She glances up at you. "Dwarf." She stands up and walks over to you. The pen she was using is still writing. "What can I help you with?"

[zomara0292]

We should actually inquire about her, the town, and. . . . . what ritual she is trying to have preformed in the middle of the lake that is dangerously similar to a cursing ritual.
but I leave that up to Kevak, who seems to be our voice.

[~Neri]

"You are the wizard I presume?"

[The Froggy Ninja]

"I have learned the great histories of my people as well as many others in the great libraries. And from what I've learned ritualistic murder solves problems even more rarely than ritualistic sacrifice."

[~Neri]

((We drop that later. I has a plan for the convo~

[The Froggy Ninja]

((Cool.))

[Cheesecake]

"You are the Wizard, I presume?"

"You presume correctly. What brings dwarves all the way in the open?" she asks, eyeing you warily.

You hide your true quest, untrusting of this woman. "We seek to expand our mountain. It's getting crowded and the mines are running out." Rigel and you agreed to use this excuse in case anyone asked.

The Wizard harumphs. "Of course. So, I'm guessing there's been a dispute between the elves and the humans?"

[The Froggy Ninja]

"Well you did tell them to murder a child on sacred land."

[zomara0292]

"Well you did tell them to murder a child on sacred land."

I dont think we should play the direct game, yet. Rather, I think its time to lie. . . . Mention what we saw, possible, about a man, with an Elvin child in his hands, a knife at its throat, and ready to kill it, as the elves had him surrounded and were ready to slay him and his group, in turn. Se what Her reply might be.

[~Neri]

"The humans were convinced by someone that killing what appeared to be a child in what appeared to be a sacred pool was the path to lifting whatever they claim curses this village. My question is why do they think Killing would even do anything. Killing creates curses and fouls the land, only an inexperienced magi or uneducated farmer would believe that it would ever create a benefit. On the flip side, if someone had something to gain from the land being further fouled, then it would make sense for the person to use the lack of education to convince them to foul the land."

[zomara0292]

"The humans were convinced by someone that killing what appeared to be a child in what appeared to be a sacred pool was the path to lifting whatever they claim curses this village. My question is why do they think Killing would even do anything. Killing creates curses and fouls the land, only an inexperienced magi or uneducated farmer would believe that it would ever create a benefit. On the flip side, if someone had something to gain from the land being further fouled, then it would make sense for the person to use the lack of education to convince them to foul the land."

. . . . . . .  Even that would seem to end in us being attacked. Wether because she has a short temper, and is feeling wrongfully accused, or because she has a short temper, and she knows we are on to her.