Worthless Junk

Marpenoth 19, 1367 DR - Year of the Shield

“Alas I do not,” Justian admitted. “Does anyone here have rope?”

“Haeming, take care as it is magical in nature.” Coryn stated as he watched Justian and Haeming figure out their plan.

“I have a rope,” Remenissions said, as he pulled one from his backpack and threw it to Haeming before turning back to the ranger. “Dorian, the title you give yourself is a pretender to the title given to you by another. The title you truly are is a pretender to the title given by yourself. Remember that, ranger.”

 “Everyone, don't forget there is a pile of goods also here on a tapestry,” Justian reminded the fellows as he watched Haeming make a loop with the rope.

Haeming dipped the rope into the murky water and shook his head as he pulled the sword from water no more than six inches deep. The skald hit himself in the forehead with his dry hand and stared directly at the blue eyed warrior. With a flick of the wrist, the muck covered and the damp rope landed hard against the rocky outcropping.

             “Haeming, you have found it? You are my hero!” Justian shouted as he walked over to and picked up his blade. “Thank you, good man.”

“Shall we be off then if there's nothing else here?” Coryn said. The cleric was grimacing, the pallor of his skin an odd mixture of red rage and green nausea.

Dorian had been staring hard at the paladin, “I don't need your preaching, fool.

Let's go.”

“Wait,” Justian interrupted. “We should try to bring back as many of the treasures on the tapestry with us, as those runners will come back for them.”

Dorian removed the shield he strapped to his back, as well as the backpack attached to it. “Load this up with whatever you want to take. Mind the shield.”

Justian grabbed the backpack off the shield and looked over at the ruined tapestry. Even from a distance he could tell the tapestries that lay upon the ground were ruined beyond any worth. And what he had thought were treasures were mostly shiny, albeit worthless pewter wear. All of it broken and bent. “Hmm. It seems there is no treasure here after all.”

Remenissions nodded before noticing the look on Coryn’s face. The paladin walked over and gently patted the cleric on the back. “Come now, cleric. You can understand the true nature of life another day.”

Coryn shrugged off Remenissions gesture, “anyone else in need of healing?”

Justian nodded, “if you can spare more for me cleric, I could use more healing.”

Coryn placed one hand on the young warrior and another on his holy symbol, "aid this warrior and ease him of his pains.” A white light briefly flashed around the duo.

Justian rolled his shoulders, “my thanks again. Surely your god is the one who has brought us through this day.”

“I am but his tool,” Coryn replied, “but I shall pass on your gratitude in my next prayers.”

Remenissions began to pace off the rock, as the party watched at his continued bizarre behavior. The paladin stopped and looked back at the fellows. “Does anyone else find it odd that there's a rock only about 20 foot by 20 foot by at least 30 foot rock in the middle of a swamp?”

Dark Knight?

 Marpenoth 19, 1367 DR - Year of the Shield

            “You believe they wouldn't beat him to death?” Remenissions countered, “instead of just outright killing him?”

            “I know I would have done the same,” Haeming said as he stepped away from the dead leaders body, carefully sliding an object into his pocket.

            Justian shook his head, frowning, “how can you be so sure he would be beaten to death, Remenissions?”

            “It's not up to you to decide!” Dorian snapped, “Your role does not give you the right to be judge, jury, and executioner!”

            “Because I know people,” Remenissions stated.

             “Remenissions,” Justian pointed his finger a the paladin’s chest, “just what god do you serve anyway?”

            “You just committed the murder of a helpless creature,” Dorians face was turning red.

             

            “Torm, Justian, “Remenissions answered, “I am an Expatriate of Torm.”

             “What is this 'expatriate'?” Justian asked, Dorian over the spitting sounds of Dorian’s rising rage.

             “One who knows the mentality of people,” Remenissions replied.

            Haeming snorted in derisions, "next time charge me with the execution, if that would make them happier."

            “That wouldn't make it any more RIGHT, Haeming.” Dorian spat out, his teeth clenched.

            Haeming shrugged, "I thought you didn't want him to be all THREE."

            Coryn’s shoulders sagged as he watched his companions fall apart so soon after a victory. The cleric of Torm pulled out his holy symbol and silently prayed over the bodies of the fallen lizard men.

            ”Well, I can't say I am at all convinced that there was any torture or beatings in that creature’s future.” Justian said as he shook his head, “but I am certain there was an assassin in it.”

             “The fact that a paladin would stoop so low is disgusting,” Dorians jaw line was set firm, and looked as though it would break his teeth with his own clenching jaw.

            “I also told you there are no such things as true paladins anymore.” Remenissions snapped back at the ranger.  “People's perception of us is not entirely accurate. Just as mine wasn't of the one's who taught me the ways.”

            “So you did Remenissions,” Justian admitted, “So you did. “

            “Then the one who taught you the ways was a pretender to that title. A paladin does not mindlessly murder those who can't defend themselves,” Dorian retorted.

            “What is done is done,” Coryn said as he finished his prayer.

            “If we're done here let's just go,” Dorian said, “There’s nothing more to be gained.”

 “Haeming,” Justian at last turned from Remenissions victim to the scavenging skald. “If you find anything, please share it with the group.”

            "Just the Baron's ring," Haeming shrugged.

            “We could return some of these goods to their rightful owners,” Coryn said, his eyes a little wider, his slight frown a little less. 

            “That is a good find.” Justian said. “Perhaps we can also salvage the Baron's remains on the way back as well. Haeming, would you mind helping me fish my sword out of the swamp?”

             "I can fish for food, swords are a new thing for me," Haeming chuckled.

            “Perhaps you would be willing to try?”

            Haeming shrugged, "you got rope?"

Darkness in our Hearts

Marpenoth 19, 1367 DR - Year of the Shield

            “Remenissions,” Dorian grunted, “mind giving me a hand with this guy?”

            The paladin nodded and knelt next to Dorian and the lizard man.

            “I’ll take his left arm, you take his right.” Dorian explained as he eased his weight up off of the injured creature. “We’ll have to walk him back.”  Dorian grabbed one arm and Remenissions the other. Its arms firmly in their grasp they hoisted the creature up and walked it back toward to the rock outcropping in the center of the muddy clearing.

            “Well now that that is settled,’ Justian began as he watched the lizard man being expertly handled, “does anyone here know how to fish?”

            “Fish? Why?” the rain had begun to let up, Haeming wiped water and blood from his face and turned to nod to Coryn. The cleric was lost in prayer in an attempt to heal the skald.

             “Well, I have, sort of a sword-fish to catch,” Justian chuckled.

           

            Remenissions grabbed the lizard man’s head with his left hand and running the blade of his scimitar across its throat with his right.  The creature jerked for moment, then lay still.

             “What in the Nine Hells!” Dorian shouted, “You’re a paladin!”

            Haeming nodded in approval to Remenissions before moving over to check the leader’s corpse.

Remenissions wiped off the blood that had poured from his neck onto the dead creature’s loin cloth.

“And a creature like this deserves nothing more and nothing less than death,” Remenissions stated.

“It's not a matter of nice,” Dorian stood up, letting go of the lizard man’s body, “you just executed a helpless opponent who surrendered.”

“It seems there is a vicious one among us.” Justian said, staring at the Remenissions blood stained gloves. “Please Remenissions, explain your actions here.” Justian pulled his arms out of the water, his upper body soaked and stained with the grime of the swamp.

 “That's an outright evil act.” Dorian pointed his finger at the paladin.

Remenissions glanced at his fellows, his eyes narrow. “He was about to be put to torture. He did not torture our fellow warriors. He killed them in battle.”

 “We,” Dorian waived his arms frantically, “hadn’t decided what we were going to do with him yet!”

“He deserves nothing MORE and nothing LESS than a swift death.” Remenissions repeated.

“How was this lizard about to be tortured?” Justian scratched his head, only to realize he had mashed a coating of swamp sludge into his hair. “By whom?”

"Apparently we had decided," Haeming snorted as he checked the myriad pouches on the dead leader.

“To be taken back to town or to the red-cloths,” Remenissions tried o explain. His eyes still narrow as he glared at Dorian.

“We were still working on that,” Dorian’s face turned red as the veins in his forehead began to bulge, “you just murdered him for no good reason! And he was our ONLY lead!”

Justian scratched his head, mashing in even more of the black grime into his hair. “And you believe that the red cloths or the humans would torture him?”

Reptilian Prisoner

Marpenoth 19, 1367 DR - Year of the Shield

“Aye,” Coryn agreed, “I believe Redeye would like to speak with him.”

“Let his own kind deliver their justice upon him,” Justian nodded his head.

Dorian checked over his bow. The string had frayed when it snapped, and was now beyond a simple field repair. “Anyone want to climb up there and force him down?”

“Everyone,” Remenissions said, “keep the rock surrounded. Justian, Coryn take the north and east side before it bolts off the rock.”

Coryn rolled his eyes as Justian jogged in response to Remenissions’ order.

“Do you understand our words blue feather?” Coryn shouted up to the lizard man.

Dorian sheathed his swords and pulled his dagger out from its boot sheath. He walked up to the face of the large rock and started to look for hand holds, his dagger clenched between his teeth.  

“Rem, can you make it understand we mean to bring it to that other tribe?” Justian asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

 “How could I talk to it?”

 “I dunno,” the young warrior replied, “you did well with the others, I just took a chance.”

Remenissions squinted his eyes, “I talked to the others because they already knew common, and I was figuring out if they were lying or not.”

           

“All right then, my apologies for troubling you,” Justian said.

Coryn shook his head at the confused warrior. A sudden motion at the top of the rock caught his attention.  The lizard man had gone to the far east of his boulder and ran toward the west, and the water, as fast as his anatomy would allow. When it reached the edge it jumped. Coryn froze in shock.

Dorian, however, did not. As the lizard man made contact with the soft mud of the clearing his he pulled his dagger from his teeth, throwing it at the creature.  Remenissions followed close behind the thrown dagger, hammer in hands.

            The paladin and the ranger needn’t have bothered. As the creature landed it shrieked as its leg buckled. Even from his distant vantage point Coryn could see bone protruding from mottled green and grey skin.

Dorian collected his dagger from where it landed after missing with his throw. Slowly he walked over to the now crippled lizard man.”Now that wasn't very smart.”

Haeming moved from his place near the rock to behind the lizard man, his blade ready to strike should it try anything.

“Haeming, Can you see if he carrying any more weapons?”

“Club, and shield.” Haeming responded.

The injured man ignored the fellows, using his lands and uninjured leg to crawl toward the water. Dorian stepped on his tail, and once more the creature shrieked in pain. What few birds still remained in the area scattered.

            The ranger knelt on the creatures back, placing his full weight on the injured lizard man, and placing a knife at the creature’s neck. “Stop struggling.”

            The lizard man stopped its crawl. 

Dorian was not sure of the creature understood his words, or just his intentions, but the result was the same. They had their prisoner. “Take his club.”

            Remenissions nodded and pulled the club off the creature’s baldric, tossing it into the nearby reeds.