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Post by enchilada on Jul 30, 2019 21:29:28 GMT
“I can shoot them.” Dhaunmyr said, fairly flatly, perhaps more noticeably dull coming from his usually animated and exaggerated tone. He expected Solstice to take charge, and for Kieran to more or less ignore what she said. Perhaps it was a rude assumption, or unwarranted — he had no real basis for his ideas — but Dhaunmyr was confident enough in his thoughts that he would work around the prediction accordingly. “I have to admit that I won’t be at my best, though. Unless the trees are thick enough to make it like evening when you walk under them. I’ll assume a significant decline in my abilities, though. Maybe I can charm them. Sort of... a lover’s arrow, but far less amorous, more friendly I... I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore.”
He sighed, expecting a pearl of wisdom to drop from the teeth of someone who could be a bit more assertive without prodding to be so. Dhaunmyr also hadn’t quite seen the way they were set up, maybe if he had, some strategic general would inhabit his body and speak commands. Maybe he’d remember some fieldcraft from manuals that had been long discarded to be removed from society and rewritten in the current style of calligraphy.
“So, what? Just... stab them? Kill them dead?”
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Rinn
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Posts: 36
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Post by Rinn on Aug 9, 2019 19:08:48 GMT
Rinn raised an eyebrow when she was forced to come out of her carriage, but she listened to Kieran’s explanation in stoic silence. She showed no recognition at all of the Zhentarim when the name was mentioned.
“Who are these people?” She asked, “Why could they possibly want to stop me going and talking to a bunch of savages?”
Conversation moved on fairly swiftly to tactics after that, though, and she hmphed, folding her arms across her chest.
“I wouldn’t ask you to take my place.” She said to Solstice, “That seems somewhat ill-advised. If they’ve been watching us, they’ll know how many of us there are, and a missing one might raise suspicions. I can see two clear options.”
She held up her hand, extending one finger.
“First, we carry on down the road, and I pretend to be terribly upset when you hand me over to them. Then I kill their leader and you attack the rest in the confusion.”
She held up a second finger.
“Two, we set up an ambush of our own here. Eventually they’ll figure out that we’re not coming, and have to come and meet us. Hopefully by that time, the sun will have gone down and Dhaunmyr won’t be suffering so badly. Why, if we just hid the horses and you all hid in the bushes, I could make it look like you’ve all just abandoned me to my fate.”
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Post by sojourn on Sept 1, 2019 19:58:22 GMT
"I 'm hardly charmin'. Even I know that 'bout m'self." Kieran smirked, brushing away any semblance of a compliment from the firbolg, far too full of nervous energy and adrenaline to stand still. One hand on the short sword against his back, he ignored the cool touch of sweat that had settled there and let his other hand run a rough, scarred palm over his face. "Th' illusion'd be an interestin' start." He hummed, violet gaze shifting to Dhaunmyr with an uneasy sort of chuckle at the drow's offer to shoot their enemies, aware of the other man's disadvantages in the daylight, "They were also armed with crossbows an' a short bow 'r two. We'll have t' get th' drop on 'em, no' th' other way 'round. I'm not—"The half-drow would have continued his opinions on the matter, but Rinn finally chose to join their discussion. It was fair, really, considering it was her life on the line, but her words were still sharp and Kieran's smirk became a sneer, gritting his teeth. She knew nothing of the Zhentarim? She was calling more elves savages? He'd heard enough. Or so he thought. When she flat out said she'd kill their leader single-handedly, he laughed. It was rude and louder than necessary and it wound down in his dark-skinned, tattooed chest with obvious reluctance. He shook his head, shifting uneasily on his feet, "Damn right you're not, but you're not gonna do that all by y'self, neither. N'offense, but I'm not sure y' can convince anyone you're heartbroken over anythin' other than, say, bein' so far away from that perfect home 'f yours. If that's how y' want t' play it, we may 's well jus' turn yer ass in t' them an' at least walk away with some coin in that case. I've got more trust 'n an ambush than I do in us walkin' straight back int' their faces. Th' Zhentarim are well-trained an' ruthless mercenaries, not jus' small time bounty hunters."Like himself. But he wasn't about to bring that up. Incredulous and clearly doubtful Rinn could handle herself in battle given her propensity for whining about the wilderness, he glanced around, feeling the flutter of his own nervous heartbeat against his sternum like some wild bird eager to be uncaged. Had they been in the familiar streets of Waterdeep, his ability to strategize an ambush would have been much more impressive. Out here in the middle of fucking nowhere? He felt useless. Uneasy, he mulled over the options one more time while cracking his calloused knuckles, "If an ambush would give Dhaunmyr better opportunity t' fill folks with arrows, then I'm all for 't. To be fair, I work better 'n th' shadows but for totally diff'rent reasons. Makin' th' carriage an' everythin' seem like we cut tail an' run back toward th' way we came may give us a bit 'f a chance at surprise. Maybe—"Kieran looked back to Solstice, "—can y' look like any one 'f us? I've got an idea."
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Jarovbees
Approved
Playing: Solstice (Paladin 6)/Umbrae (Sorcerer 1/Warlock 4)/Avren Wands (Rogue 2/Sorcerer 1)
Posts: 706
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Post by Jarovbees on Sept 1, 2019 21:55:00 GMT
Solstice darted a sympathetic glance at Dhaunmyr, who evidently wasn't going to be at his best even without his declaring so. It wasn't in her to complain about what couldn't be helped, especially when it wasn't his fault and he would be the one hindered. She didn't envy him there, but the situation wasn't going to go away on its own, so they would have to deal with it somehow. Nodding at his question, she was about to say more when Rinn spoke up. The elven woman's shooting down her own half-hearted suggestion was met with a resigned nod. She would gladly put her life on the line and was about to anyway, but impersonating Rinn didn't seem as though it would accomplish much upon later consideration. Oh, well. Firbolg tactics are usually better solo, anyway. This time she has to think as a part of a group. "The shadows don't affect me either way, so I'm fine with an ambush. The quicker option is usually what I'd prefer, but Dhaunmyr deserves a chance to be at his best. I'm fine with buying him as much time as we can, that'll only benefit us against them. And if they send someone to check on us and we can weed them out a bit first, all the better. Looking as though we decided to cut and run isn't the worst option open to us, especially if we can catch them off-guard."
Turning to Kieran, she nodded with a curious glint in her eyes. "For an hour, aye. What do you have in mind for my illusion? Remember, it's just visual. And I'm not great with accents." Still, despite her disclaimers, a smile quirked at her lips. She would give his idea her full attention, as long as he made it quick. enchilada
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Post by sojourn on Sept 1, 2019 23:31:50 GMT
"O' I don't need y'talkin'. Yer gonna play dead. M' corpse, t' be precise. No actin' needed." The half-drow thumbed his nose with a wink, "It's no' much 'f an idea, but y' could be th' ruse while th' rest 'f us 're in cover. Th' underbrush 'd be enough for th' three 'f us t' hide in an' th' driver can hunker down somewhere out 'f th' way. Then we can stage a good death scene an' th' carriage abandoned." It was an idea. The mercenaries had seen his face and he'd agreed to their deal. Seeing Kieran dead wouldn't be a shock—probably less of a shock than seeing Rinn handing herself over, in his mind, considering he'd been asked to bring her head. "We've no' got much time, anyways. I'm sure they'll come lookin' should I no' check in." He smirked, perhaps amused by his own poor, pieced-together ruse more than the longshot of any plan he could ever conceive. Out of his element, the half-elf street rat was doing his best.
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Rinn
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Posts: 36
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Post by Rinn on Sept 7, 2019 12:00:43 GMT
Rinn’s lips drew into a thin line at Kieran’s judgement. She clucked her tongue, and folded her arms across her chest, but – perhaps surprisingly – she didn’t rise to the bait and lash Kieran for his rudeness. She tried, hard, to hold herself in check. This was a tense situation, and one outside of her wheelhouse. Whilst she was fairly confident she could kill any mercenary stupid enough to let her get within arm’s reach of them, she wasn’t going to press the point when the half-drow was clearly quite agitated.
“I don’t like the idea of abandoning the carriage.” She said, “We do need that if we’re going to carry on. We could send it back, but what happens if they come searching for us when half of us are sending it back and half are setting up an ambush? Or, do you want to just send the driver back on their own?”
Her jaw clenched just a little bit tighter as she carried on.
“Besides. If we send the carriage away, presumably that means I’d need to kneel down. In the dirt.”
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Post by Kai Wren on Nov 26, 2019 11:42:44 GMT
Soooo we've been waiting on an action for over two months now.
I'm calling it here - awards have been given out.
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