As I sit here, up in a tree believe it or not, quenching my thirst with my waterskin while taking a break from my hunt, I consider the events of last evening. Since my thoughts in common are of the same poor quality as my fractured speech my moments of self-reflection are, as always, in Tehir.

Grishom Stone, the Seer, deceived us. That in and of itself is nothing new, he is, after all, a master of deceipt, and he's a good one. He's been doing it for a very long time and has had a lot of practice. What I find hard to understand is the large number of people who were so slow to realize that something wasn't right. Is it that I and others like me are far more suspicious of events than we need to be, or are most not suspicious enough? The Tehir Priestess Hadya was speaking in our language to Stone, I assume she has spoken to him in Tehir before and the conservation went both ways, but last night she could not garner an answer from him; it was as if she were speaking jibberish to him. This to me was a dead give-away that things were not as they seemed; that and the fact that the Stone I've come to know would never have went to his imprisonment so easily. I was immediately on my guard.

There is little blame to be laid at anyones feet for last night; it was a culmination of events that led to this debacle. The ease of access to Stone by people and his seemingly free run of the town played no small part in this mess we find ourselves in. It has been proven that he had access to others minds and it was allowed to continue; a grave mistake, but it is done. No individual blame should be called forth, it was the mistakes of many of us that caused this to occur. One could say that mistakes were made many years ago that brought us to this point, and I doubt that fault could be found in this.

The Hall of Mages, Grand Magister Pylasar, and Magister Raelee can each expect to have a fair amount of blame directed their way, of this I am certain. I can honestly say that I feel no small amount of pleasure at most of this. However, the purple mage has been the only one to actually help our town on a regular basis, the others seem to go out of their way to hold back our people and to find fault in everything we do. I find it very difficult to hold Pylasar accountable for the events of last night after all he has done for us. I would say that if anyone should be forgiven any error in this it should be him. He has stretched himself very thin in helping us with our defense of the town and he has done us great services in these trying times. The others? I care nothing for them and would welcome their fall into oblivion.

This is the second time that a prisoner under the control of the Empire has been lost in recent times; I seem to remember a hefty amount of finger-pointing and accusations going on when the Gryphons gave over a prisoner to an imposter not so very long ago. I also feel a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that even with Magisters, Imperial Drakes, and Knights of the Empire surrounding the Brass Tower that this occured. The Empire, in it's pride and vanity, has lost track of one of the most notorious criminals to ever walk these lands, and it happened on their watch, and more importantly, right under their noses.

While I found myself troubled last night (I did not agree with placing anyone in something like one of those coffins) I could not bring myself to assist Stone in any way. The man is a criminal and fugitive from justice, be it Empire law or Landing law. The punishment, in my opinion, for the most part fit the crime, though I would rather have seen the man put to death; there is no honour for either captive or captor when something like this is even considered. At least Davards death, though painful to watch, had a modicum of finality and honour. But to allow the Hall of Mages to hold and study the man and then keep those results to themselves for their own purposes was well beyond what I would consider justice. If they had wanted to do that then why did they not confine the man to their own Hall instead of in Wehnimer's Landing? In my opinion it was so that if Stone had escaped they could easily lay the blame at the feet of the town, giving them a reason to occupy the town and never leave. In a way I suppose we owe Stone a small bit of gratitude in waiting to make his escape when it was the Empire who had total control over events and all blame rests solely on their own people.

Glethad, the curator of the museum, seems to have been used as nothing more than a pawn by Stone. To say the Curator was to blame is ludicrous. Stone's machinations and mind-bending skills are such that I do not feel we can hold Glethad completely accountable for the events of last night, not should we. Glethad was a means to an end for Stone, as I am sure other people were as well.

Many accusations flew about the area last night after Glethad regained his wits; accusations pertaining to who gave Stone what supplies and items. Few were able to discern that all of these accusations were statements to Glethad from Stone. Stone is and always has been a master at sowing discord among the rank and file, why should last night be any different? It seems it will be very difficult for some to seperate fact from fiction and I'm sure are those who aren't even trying. I would take nothing that Glethad said at face value.

We also had a visit from the Palestra Blade before last nights debacle. She stated that we now have under a week to prepare oursleves for a major battle to be fought on three fronts. I find this a poor tactical decision, hell, we have a hard time securing two gates into town when all are present and fighting, how will three fronts be accomplished? I am as yet unsure how I will proceed, though Phever has brought an interesting option to my attention which I think might work. We shall see.

For now I feel the most important thing we can do is to try and establish some common ground amongst ourselves, to find some unity. The parting shot from Stone last night, having Glethad spread the falsehoods about good people, did not help our cause. We must overcome what happened last evening and prepare for the upcoming battles. One tends to fight better when they trust the people around them, when they know their backs and flanks are covered. I must constantly remind myself of this, trust does not come easily to me.

General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq




Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato

3 part attack. Group one gets led to the void by the blade to attack althedeus.
Group 2 follows his purpleness under the reach to confront the golem and cross. The third group defends the town.

All things considering what althedeus has done to me and my friends all these years...rtune says he will poke his eye and pup claims the other one.

>We also had a visit from the Palestra Blade before last nights debacle. She stated that we now have under a week to prepare oursleves for a major battle to be fought on three fronts.<

nobody has yet to tell me this in character though I heard bits and pieces of this out of character. So.. I'm having to ponder where I would want to go and why but I'm leaning towards fighting inside in the shadow's own terf if but only to bring the battle to them and thus at least help prevent more innocent lives from being lost.

Are groups being pre determined? Who would I talk to or do I assume Sir Cryheart or Pup?

__________________________
- Kobold in Disguise Falvicar

You swing a silver-edged black veil iron katana at Sevynne!

* Sevynne drops dead at your feet!
* Sevynne just bit the dust!

<Are groups being pre determined? Who would I talk to or do I assume Sir Cryheart or Pup?

Honestly I don't know. I know Radeek will go through the veil and Phever will stay to fight Cross, at least that's their plans as of now (everything is subject to change, or the gleaning of new information may change this as well). I don't know of anyone forming groups. It may be a spontaneous thing or groups may already be forming, I don't really know.

General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq




Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato

<<I'll make this well known IC as well, but I'll post it OOC to get the ball rolling. We're not taking Crosslings with Pylasar to fight Cross so any of you considering that are going to find it difficult doing so in my estimation.>>

I think this should be Pylasar's call, if anyone's.

I can imagine some of the "Crosslings" to be quite excited about getting their own closure (vengeance or vindication or whatever) on the event.

I think it would supremely unfair to try to exclude anyone from choosing their own path here. You can RP out not liking them along, but this is a public type event, and everyone wants to have their own fun.

Please don't try to interfere negatively with other people's stories (outside of consensual RP of course.)

-The mind behind Rowmi's eyes.

I'll make this well known IC as well, but I'll post it OOC to get the ball rolling. We're not taking Crosslings with Pylasar to fight Cross so any of you considering that are going to find it difficult doing so in my estimation.

---

I would think they have the most to gain from going. Closure and what not. No one can dictate how your character feels but I agree that no one should be excluded from the finale or where they want to be. There's great rp in there.

>>Aryleste, the Palestra Blade, will lead the group into the veil to confront Althedeus directly.


Just to clarify; Aralyte is the Palestra. Aryleste is a PC (hate to have people tracking her down Friday night and being confused!)

~Nichoel, the Muse.

Nature of rebellion, means to an end. Sometimes men are tempted by money and power and they forget what end they're serving. ~Brendan Roarke, SOA Irish King

AIM: LdyStrmyRn

>>I'll make this well known IC as well, but I'll post it OOC to get the ball rolling. We're not taking Crosslings with Pylasar to fight Cross so any of you considering that are going to find it difficult doing so in my estimation.

I would also say that the Crosslings absolutely should be allowed to participate in this. I would be shocked if Pylasar says differently.

~Nichoel, the Muse.

Nature of rebellion, means to an end. Sometimes men are tempted by money and power and they forget what end they're serving. ~Brendan Roarke, SOA Irish King

AIM: LdyStrmyRn

I knew the response would be some kind of revenge on cross angle but that's been code for betrayal through most of this. I was careful to word it as my opinion but within the realm of suspended reality I don't buy the revenge angle personally. We have a bunch of crosslings go against him and we're at the culmination and he just points his hand and freezes all their blood.

They are a liability

<I knew the response would be some kind of revenge on cross angle but that's been code for betrayal through most of this. I was careful to word it as my opinion but within the realm of suspended reality I don't buy the revenge angle personally. We have a bunch of crosslings go against him and we're at the culmination and he just points his hand and freezes all their blood.

Radeek has been outspoken before about the followers of Cross and his distrust of them. However, if true redemption, revenge, satisfaction, absolution, whatever, is what all or some of them seek by fighting the Shadows then it is unfair of anyone to deny them this. Radeek will fight beside them if he has to, though their trust will have to be earned, and he will remain wary of all of them until they prove otherwise.

<They are a liability

While the Crosslings may be a liability they are also a threat to Cross, as proven with Masrath and the Chimera affair involving Bekke. We'll have to see how that plays out.

The biggest threat to the Landing besides the Shadows, from Radeeks point of view, isn't the Crosslings, it's all these Empire troops playing Boy Scout Jamboree just outside the gates. None have made any mention of leaving, in fact, some even came with building plans and to Radeek that rates a Kenstrom style "Dun Dun Dun!". Radeek realizes that at the moment those troops fight with us, but will they leave when it's all over without adding ears to Radeeks necklace, or will they build an annex to the Hall of Mages right under our noses and expect the people of Wehnimer's Landing to bow and scrape as the rest of the Empire does? Only time will tell and besides, time gives me the opportunity to fletch more arrows.

General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq




Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato

>I can imagine some of the "Crosslings" to be quite excited about getting their own closure (vengeance or vindication or whatever) on the event. I think it would supremely unfair to try to exclude anyone from choosing their own path here. You can RP out not liking them along, but this is a public type event, and everyone wants to have their own fun.

Chiming in to agree with Rowmi's player as well. It's entirely understandable that people whose characters were duped or used by Cross would want to get some of their own back. Others are free to RP not liking their presence, and GMs might even decide to pull the strings on some blood oaths in some fashion, but I'd hope players don't try to limit what other players do even as their characters might take a dim view of it.

Cross-Over.



~The red-robed summoner steps forward, bows respectfully, then steps back. His hood falls back slightly and his dark sea blue eyes stare out from the shadows. He grins wickedly, then steps into the shadows.

>The analogy would be akin to sending Glethad after Stone and seeing how that works out.

That's absolutely fair. There's been a whole heckuva lot of "I told you so" that some of us have had to endure throughout these escalating events, and it may well be that whatever notions I have for my long, patient, laid out plans fall flat in the face of Cross' unholy power and Kenstrom's unholy evilness in the first five seconds.

And that's a lovely conversation which we may have in game, in character, assuming I even get a chance to log in this week. RL, what a bear, huh?

To be clear.. my own expectations are very tempered for this whole thing. There's too many personalities and considerations and threads. Some of those voices are louder than others, but it will be somewhat impossible that all thirty-fifty-seventy active players involved in this quest, at some level or another, are going to have everything fall out the way that they want.

At the same time - some few will, and frankly, whether it's me or not, some few should. This is how legends are made. Someone's gotta be the hero.

While inhabiting Turinrond's mind, and the particular narcissistic personality disorder that encompasses, he thinks he can always fix everything, and he's right about everything. Obviously, that's rarely the case (which is fun for me to laugh about or grumble about from time to time). But, as his player, it only needs to be right ONCE. And maybe that ONCE is this time, so I must indeed give it a try. So long as we're clear about who and what is granting permission to participate, the rest is gravy.

I agree with Lylia's post, at least where concerns the RP opportunities.

I disagree with anything that suggests there are emotional or sentimental reasons for Turinrond's participation. For him, it's all opportunities and business, and best to get it done, before he gets locked up again (which seems quite inevitable). But others? Yes, others may want their revenge - or - maybe one last chance to help Elithain Cross destroy the world. Who knows. It should be fun.

You know that phrase, "Dance like no one is watching?" For Turinrond, it's "Kill like Onar is watching." And Elithain Cross has a big fat 'NEEDS TO DIE' target on his neck. He doesn't have the mechanical skill, but he's hoping that some of these other machinations, or his cunning, or his faith, will somehow become relevant. Myself, I expect he'll get killed like everyone else, as is normally the case during these things, but even a broken watch is right twice a day, surely ole boy will get it right one day. Thus, I must give it ye ole college try, every time out.

Respectfully,

---

~ Bill, Coyote.

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.
~ Voltaire

>Group 2: Guards the hole in the veil that group 3 goes through. Creatures from the other side of the veil will probably be able to pass into our plane at this point which I assume will be atop Mel's Reach.<

I'm confused about Group 2. I thought they would be confronting Cross and the urnon golem. This description makes it sound like it's more of a defensive mission. Which is correct? (Or is it somehow both?)

Rishi
- Player of Kembal

---

Speaking to Plur, Belnia says, "You're no Kembal."