Turn 9: The Diplomatic Approach
As the group stops to ponder this choice,
Jacob makes the first response, saying
"...Now, I happen to prize my blood and well-being, so I think I'll go with the price'n iron. And more'n that, I'd like to have it be known that I did recommend turnin' around when we saw... Calamaxes", to which the Grey Man responds with a disturbingly enthusiastic
"The iron price it is!"[?, Magic: 2+?]
[Jacob, END: 6-1]
Jacob grits his teeth as red-hot lines criss-cross the skin on his wrist, branding a symbol into his flesh. The symbol appears to be composed of a circle, with three interlocking triangles within it.
[+Brand. Effect: ?]
"The iron price has been the same among my people for generations. You must obtain a single iron coin from the Untergang, and bring it back to me. The brand will guide you to the coin. Now, who is next?"However,
Gary and
Jerila attempt the diplomatic approach, negotiating their way out with claims such as "
I don't see what killing us will solve. We are too impoverished to pay your price, and if you kill us, you just have a pile of dead bodies to deal with. Letting us go is the most logical solution." and
"We're terribly sorry about what happened to Calamaxes, we simply didn't know better. General rule is that our kind assumes elementals are not really set on making us tea and inviting us to dinner, but now that we know that the ones here are under control, we can learn from our mistakes instead."[/glow]
[Gary, CHA: 6]
[Jerila, CHA: 4+1]
The Grey Man thoughtfully strokes his chin in response to these arguments.
"Well, I'm certainly not going to kill you. What would the point of killing you be if my goal was to discipline all of you?
However, the girl makes an excellent point. I suppose that if the rest of you help the other fellow pay off the iron price, such would be a sufficient lesson. How about that?"Ae-Hale vigorously nods in agreement to this revelation, but
Ardelion has a definite bone to pick with the grey man.
"You need to understand your preposition old man. If you really think me is going to become an indentured servant to you, than you better get a recheck of yourself. I have very important business in the deeper layers of this dungeon and if have to lay down my life to get their than, I hold no repercussions and no emotional loss if it were to happen. You need to go accept the weakness of your pride that your lava elemental is in fact very territorial and was the aggressor, we were just responding in self defense. So, you need to go walk away before things get rather uncivilized. I suggest accepting your loss and accepting it before you get ill-tempered, because truly no one wants that"The Grey Man's mouth quickly pushes itself into a frown.
"You, whelp, really need to learn some respect."[?, Magic: 6+?]
[Ardelion, END: 2]
Ardelion suddenly falls to the ground as the Grey Man frowns. He opens his mouth to deliver another retort, but instead of words a stream of vomit spews forth, drenching the ground as he curls up in a ball. The Grey Man casually ambles over to the fallen
Ardelion, and places his foot on the fallen mage's neck. His voice is icy cold as he says,
"I can have your debt or I can have your life. I don't care for one over the other. Choose a price or die."For good measure, the Grey Man grinds his foot into
Ardelion's neck, eliciting a tortured grunt as the vomit pools underneath the prone body.