[Taocow PBEM] Book 3 - Chapter XIII - The Millennium Druids

[Aaron Clausen]

 >> [GM]
 >> The old semi-glowing man in the corner, seemingly asleep, suddenly
 >> opens his eyes, which glow brightly now.
 >>
 >> "I detect that you are not of this dimension, Ted Smythe." he says.
 >> "I cannot see your world lines, but I suspect you have a good deal
 >> of wisdom of many places."
 >>
 >> The odd old man then closes his eyes and goes back to sleep. The
 >> other druids look baffled, and perhaps a little annoyed. "That's all
 >> very interesting, but not terribly helpful." one says.
 >>
 >> The head of the Council thinks for a moment. "There is a reason the
 >> Splugorth have cloned you, as it were, Mr. Smythe. Somehow this
 >> relates to your illness and your northward journey. Our only concern
 >> is to not allow a possible enemy in our midst to escape, but I sense
 >> no ill intent in you."
 >>
 >> The head of the Council turns to the group. "Please allow us time to
 >> deliberate upon these matters." The druidic council does not dismiss
 >> them, but the six men huddle together, close their eyes, and become
 >> immobile for several minutes.
 >>
 >> Finally they turn back to the company. "We have decided that it is
 >> not our place to obstruct any of you. Ted Smythe, despite his
 >> similarity to the Splugorth General, is not that being, and indeed,
 >> must seek northward if he is to attain his healing. We shall do what
 >> we can to give Mr. Smythe a potion to hold back the symptoms, though
 >> wiser minds than ours must achieve the ultimate cure."
 >>
 >> The head of the council turns to Oz. "You are a knight of New
 >> Camelot. We request that you send word to your government expressing
 >> our thanks at the timely aid they sent. You may use our radio
 >> equipment."
 >> [/GM]

 > [Oz]
 > The German knight nodded. "I will."
 > [/Oz]

 >> [GM]
 >> "That leaves a remaining matter." the head of the council says.
 >> "That is  your two prisoners. The one, the Altara Blind Warrior
 >> Woman, I leave in your care Sir Osmar. You may take her, if you
 >> will, or she may remain here."
 >> [GM]

 > [Oz]
 > "Perhaps I'm growing complacent in my old age, but I believe the woman
 > when she says she would fight the Splugorth. If she cares to travel
 > with us, I will take her in my company."
 > [/Oz]

[GM]
The chief of the Council nods. "Then we shall release her into your 
custody at your discretion."
[/GM]

 >> [/GM]
 >> "But the other... thing." he says. "It is an ancient evil. I have
 >> questioned it myself, and it asserts that with its aid, Mr. Smythe
 >> will not achieve healing. It is beyond our power to determine if it
 >> lies or speaks truth. One thing we know to be true is that is evil,
 >> and it will kill, for necessity and for pleasure, and that it rarely
 >> discerns between the two."
 >>
 >> "We could, perhaps, chain it once more into a prison, perhaps return
 >> it to the dwarfish prison from whence it was freed. Though it is
 >> bound to Mr. Smythe, the cold iron would prevent it from following
 >> him. Or we will allow it free, though when it is freed, it must
 >> leave the realm about this Tree by the shortest route in a single
 >> day, or we shall recapture it and we will imprison it."
 >>
 >> "What say you all?" the druid asks. "Shall we end its freedom, or
 >> will you take the thing with you?"
 >> [/GM]

 > [Oz]
 > Oz shakes his head. "If we can't kill it we must imprison it. It's
 > killed dozens, if not hundreds of people. We can't let it roam around
 > loose. That's the closest thing to justice Jacek's people are likely
 > to see. We owe them the thing's incarceration, at the very least."
 > [/Oz]

[Jacek the Borg]
Jacek, who had been sitting quietly, now speaks up in his eery digitized 
Eastern European accent. "The Knight of Camelot speaks for me and my 
people. This thing has done much harm to my people, and my leader was 
brought here at the gates of death. There must be justice for such 
atrocities!"
[/Jacek the Borg]

 > [Alex]
 > "I have to be honest, I think it is a really bad idea to take this
 > demon with me. Being that I am the one person with something she is
 > actually afraid of, I have to argue that it best she kept bound up."
 >
 > The scout looks for others that might support her arguments.
 > [/Alex]

 > [Ted]
 > "Well, it seems that I have no choice: I take the thing with me," Ted
 > replied. "I will just watch it... her... like a hawk and slap her
 > around if she tries anything."
 > [/Ted]

[Louissa]
Louissa stands up and glares at Jacek, Oz and Alex.

"None of you understand!" she shouts. "Ted needs this creature. Yes it 
is evil, but you said it yourself, Alex, you have the means to control 
it. And so do you, Vesper. You have that cold iron that can apparently 
hurt it. And if Jacek and his men come, and Oz and his soldiers, that's 
a lot of firepower. And maybe you druids, you know, because we helped 
you so much, could give us some aid as well."
[/Louissa]

[GM]
The chief of the Council smiles sadly. "There is little in the long run 
that can be done. We have nothing to slay such a thing. The best we can 
do is give you some wards that might hold the thing. But if your journey 
is long, which moving into the North, past the Splugorth, the Fomorians 
and all the other things that lie between you and your goal, they too 
may fail."

The druid sighs. "I shall question the thing some more in the morning, 
when I have rested. You do not have to decide tonight. You have seen 
what we all face, and are brave and quick-minded souls. Is there 
anything else you all might have of us? We shall give what aid we can."

As the druid is speaking, one of Oz's men enters the hall and quietly, 
but quickly, moves to Oz and whispers something in his ear.
[/GM]

-- 
Aaron Clausen