The party awaits in the dark silence. Despite the short period of time everything seems to take forever.
Inara replies to Qwyn’s question first.
"Might I point out that *A* priest attacked Ronak. He also attacked us when we tried to protect Ronak and the child. But full tilt slaughter against an entire priesthood might not be called for right now. We are also trespassing, might I remind all of you. The Flyers probably don't need much incentive to side with the priests, and they now have it, and are quite nearby."
Inara dumps her backpack to the ground. Whatever she is planning will have her be lightly armored.
"Discretion, gentlemen. Stones, the door if you would? I am going to take a quick look around. Hopefully we can make a better decision based on what I find."
Voss lowers his blade. "Then we shall wait for you. Qwyn, count to 900. If Inara isn't back by then we'll assume some ill befell you, and shall seek you out."
Remsfeld grunts something at her. You don’t quite make out what he says.
"Sorry Remmy," Inara smiles warmly at her friend. "Not right now. I'll be back by your side within fifteen minutes."
"Inara, wait. Let's decide on the plan first. If you get in trouble, keep in mind that we have several other people we need to protect right now. If you are drawn into combat while scouting, we may not have the resources to help you and defend everyone Ronak, Elby and Brin here. Remember that the soldiers T'alon had with him in the inn were quite capable. We should expect to be facing off against more of the same here in this temple. “
There are words of respect in what Qwyn says. Nothing offensive, merely stating what he sees as the obvious.
“So, Radegast, Voss, Elby, Alion -- what do you think? What is our goal here? What do we want to accomplish? And if worst comes to worst and we are outmatched, do we have a plan of escape?"
Radegast says nothing.
“I agree with Qwyn,” replies Elby in a voice barely above a whisper.
Qwyn nods, happy at some sort of acknowledgement.
“However, I do totally agree with you about our current position relative to the Flyers and the Priesthood. We need to choose our plan cautiously, lest we end up battling the priesthood and the Flyers at the same time.”
Alion also says nothing.
Stones grunts and motions to the door, "It will let any of you pass now. Inara, if you believe you can move undetected, then by all means, provide some recon."
He then moves closer to her and seems to hand her (of all things) a fist sized stone. He says a few words to her and then turns to the others. Qwyn takes note of the exchange, a look of resignation on his face.
Inara quizzically looks at the stone, shrugs, and slips it under her robe.
"My goal here is simple. Find where Suresh may be imprisoned and free his soul. Also to crush my enemies and see them driven before me, and hear the lamentation of their women. Ronak, where do we go and we shall make our way there...and try to keep you and the boy as safe as can be. You are, of course, free to find your own road from here if you choose.”
Ronak looks about. Taking everything in. Whatever madness he has been thrust into he is holding his tongue.
As Inara heads to the door Stones continues to speak, "until Inara returns I will keep this room cloaked in silence to outside ears..." he begins another ritual...
Inara opens the door slowly and carefully, peeking her head out, looking in all directions, and then closes the door again.
"Yah... pitch black. Dawn is in about an hour. You said there were windows I think. Unless someone has a hooded light source I can control, we should wait. I'm not walking around with a flaming beacon. Stones? Any more toys?"
Remsfeld sighs in relief.
Stones stops his ritual. Disappointed, he puts his hand out to Inara, obviously wanting the stone back. "no, no more toys."
“Thank you for the item, Stones." Inara hands Stones back his property.
Stones opens the door, and looks down the stairs. "I tire of waiting and will not mill about like a lamb scared of its own shadow. We will move on and sort things out as we go."
Qwyn speaks again, this time more forcefully. “Stones, hold. We do this as a group or not at all. I have no interest in dying in some dimly lit temple."
Stones gives Qwyn a nasty look.
Qwyn musters up all of her diplomacy skills. Aided by Radegast’s presence itself and Elby’s previous support he proves his words carefully.
"My suggestion is we leave Brin, Elby and Ronak in this room with the protection of Silence and the Wizard locked door. We will come back for everyone once we've scouted the area. If it's dark in the temple, we'll need light. I suggest we put Voss or Radegast at the front.”
Qwyn opens his hands in an open gesture toward Stones. The universal sign of, This is all I’ve got. The words sink in slowly on Stones. Enough to stop him from going out the door.
Inara takes the opportunity to add words of her own.
"I agree with Qwyn'lan on the need to scout. I just don't see the massive need to do this right now. It strikes me as silly. It's pitch black, and if we walk around with torches, or with Voss and Radegast clanking around in armor, we might as well kill each other and get it over with. We have no idea how many priests there are, what they have for defenses, how many more mercenaries are going to come at us...”
Inara smiles at Stones. He hasn’t left yet. Definitely a good sign. It takes her considerable skills to add to what Qwyn has already started.
“Now Stones tells us he's been here before. And he protected this room. And here it is, untouched. I say there is a very good chance that his magic is not detectable by the priests or this place would have been torn upside down.”
Qwyn nods in agreement. Everything makes sense to Stones. At least enough where he is willing to take in the words of people he doesn’t exactly like.
“But if we wait one hour for for some light, I can check this place out easily. No noise, no torch. I'm not saying sneak out, I'm saying, 'know thy enemy' before we engage.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” says Ronak to Inara. She ignores him.
“Besides, in an hour, this place should be much more chaotic. The Flyers will have sent news that we have escaped, the priests will be mobilizing search parties... should be much easier to look around with all the noise and confusion. They may even send out more of their mercenaries to search for us leaving less to deal with..."
Inara lays down on the ground to rest.
"Besides, I barely know any of you. Radegast in particular... have you ever thought about relocating to the Berkshire Mountains? I could maybe set you up with some equipment? Remmy REALLY though you made good stuff. And Qwyn'lan... should I buy you suspenders for your pants?" Inara smiles, content to wait a short period of time.
DM Note
- Rick made a suggestion to me that I think is useful in making the game go a bit faster. Elect a leader who, in situations like this or in a dungeon makes the basic decision on what direction to go. This will keep long decision making conversations a bit faster
- The Diplomacy skill and other "soft skills" effect characters in such a manner that it isn't changing an opinion of someone, merely the situation.
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