[Fred] Chapter 5: A Change of Leadership

[Throndir]

You see the girl about to pull her hand back, as her other arm began to move to her side, you clearly saw her attempt to start reaching for a knife.

[Linwelin]

Without a moment of hesitation once he noticed her trying to arm herself, Fred uttered a single word, tension visible on his face.

"Destroy."

Fred uses Destroy.

I wanted to avoid doing something like this in a crowd of new allies, but...not much of a choice.

To be fair, Fred doesn't see anything socially wrong about it haha.

[Throndir]

At that moment the girl's clothes exploded off her body. For a brief moment she lost her composure as she stood nude among the crowd of other Dark Ravens.

"Oh honey! ☆ Save that for after he buys you dinner."

Eris however, drew her own blade up. "Jed, it's not that. Lingxin pulled out a knife on our new leader. I wasn't fully paying attention though." Eris continued to eye both you and Lingxin.

"Lei Lingxin, explain yourself. Fred is the new leader of the Dark Ravens." Lai Fen said sternly, though, her eyes went up to you questioningly as well.

Lei Lingxin however, had eventually pulled out her knife, with her legs tight against each other to prevent herself from exposing herself, and one arm covering her chest. Her last remaining hand held the knife up in front of her. With as much dignity as she could manage she spoke.

"Isn't it obvious, my clothing suddenly removed itself?"

"We can see that. Fred did that before when we were last at the emperor. What's this about the knife?"

Lingxin didn't respond however.

Temporary out of combat, if you decide to act, we'll use the same initiative order, and you'll be able to move first in the scene.

[Linwelin]

"She's not Lei Lingxin, she's Mo Ruogang, a Red Hand member. When I confronted her about it, she went to pull a knife on me. So I did what I could to get rid of any other weapons she had." Fred shortly explained, trying to wrack his brain for anything he could do in this situation.

There's got to be some way to restrain her, but I don't have anything other than Destroy and that Flame Serpent spell....wait, spell? Didn't they say you can do basically anything with magic? I need a lot more training, but maybe I can manage something in a pinch. Just focus! What's a strong binding feeling I've experienced...

Fred quickly scans through his mind before quickly realizing the only oppressive thought he could remember was falling to the earth before death. He couldn't shake that thought, no matter how much he tried, as he hadn't yet had a chance to confront that trauma. He almost began to shake and lose himself in that moment before a thought occurred.

Wait, rock doesn't budge...can magic manipulate the ground and rock?

Fred tried gathering his magic, using it to feel out the ground in the room, focusing below Mo Ruogang's feet. With a steady, quiet tone, Fred verbally exercised his will to the best of his ability.

"Durable earth spirits! Rise and lend me your stoic strength to restrain my foes. Earthen Tomb!"

Fred tries to cast an earth element binding spell on Mo Ruogang.

[Throndir]

Your spell triggered then, however, due to the fact she had to cover herself, she couldn't get out of the way fast enough at all. She had attempted to stumble backwards, but the earth had risen up and held her down. She tried to get herself out, but she failed.

She'll be attempting to get herself out each round.

[Linwelin]

Fred let out a sigh of relief that his spell worked. "Thank you, spirits." He muttered under his breath while stepping forward. "Someone prepare a more permanent restraint for her, this magic may not hold long, since it's my first time using it."

Fred then turned to Lai Fen, "How long has she been in the Ravens?"

As an after-thought, Fred also called out to the group, "Oh, and I suppose we should get her some new clothes, too. Though I really don't understand why it matters..."

[Throndir]

Dialogue color change for readability.

"A couple of years." Lai Fen said. It was Lu Zhihao who decided to be the one to strap her more securely. She pulled a set of chains from her clothes, for some reason, that didn't really surprise you.

"She doesn't need clothes." Lu Zhihao said as she brought the chains up to her mouth, and seductively licked them. "She should be bare, like her sins, for all to see." With that, Lu Zhihao began to tie the chains securely around her.














Gritting her teeth as Lu Zhihao began to secure her tightly, Mo Ruogang shot a glare towards you. "Let me go! If you don't, I'll-"

"You'll do what?"

[Linwelin]

"I think she'll tell us all we want to know. That's what she'll do." Fred said, meeting Mo's glare while answering Lai Fen. "After all, pretending to be an ally to your opposition is one of the more cowardly things that can be done, so I'm sure she'll act the coward when questioned."

Fred then kneels down beside her, continuing to meet her gaze, "Though the first thing that I want to ask is why? The Ravens accepted you with open arms, I'm sure. That's my first impression of them. After all those years being treated like family, you chose to become, and continue being, an ally to the same people that would continually kill those that took you in? Did you feel no kinship at all? Granted, I only really know animal culture well, but even for animals that's seen as low."

[Throndir]

Roll some sort of social skill.

[Linwelin]

Diplomacy:  1d20+4 : 12 + 4, total 16

[Throndir]

Instead of responding, she bit into something in her mouth. Her body stiffened.

Putting it back into initiative order for actions. Long dialogue will increase number of rounds, so short commands and actions.

[Linwelin]

"Hey, she just did something! She bit down and her body seized. What was that?" Fred asks in obvious confusion, hoping someone can clear it up for him.

Weird that she wouldn't even say a word...

[Throndir]

"Damn it! Quick!" Lai Fen called out. "It's a poison!"  The rest of them exploded into action. Lu Zhihao had pushed the spy down, at the same time opening the girl's mouth, and trying to reach in and pull out whatever it was. Lu Zhihao's face scrunched up slightly, as pain wracked her body.

"Contact poison. It hurts. It feels good." Zhihao's movements slowed as she shivered.

Round 1
Mo Ruogang poisoned herself
Zhihao attempted to remove poison

[include u=2]Leng's Tears   contact   18   1 rd.   1/10 min for 1 hr.   1d2 Wis dmg and Paralyzed 10 min   1 save

Moonberries   contact, ingested   18   1 rd.   Once   3d6 Con dmg   

Tears of Death   contact   22   1 min   1/min for 6 mins   1d6 Con dmg and Paralyzed 1 min[/include]

[Linwelin]

"Poison? She poisoned herself!?" Fred was horrified. "Is it that normal? I've never heard of killing yourself on a whim like that..."

After experiencing death himself, Fred had a very close attachment to life, holding it extremely dear. Before becoming human, he'd already had a strong survival instinct; but that instinct had nothing on the subtle, philosophical thoughts human minds could entertain. There was so much more to cherish as a person from his short experience, even with the chaos. Seeing someone waste that ignorantly instead of at least trying to survive with all they had upset him greatly.

And worse yet, he was helpless to stop this woman. He had no way of stopping toxins; his general knowledge of the human body was severely lacking. All he could do was grip his fists and watch.

"Is there anything I can do?"

[Throndir]

"You don't happen to have any ability that can remove poison? If not, there's nothing much we can do."

"You have to do something. Lingxin was one of us." As Jed spoke, Mo Ruogang gagged as foam bubbled from her mouth. Though Zhihao was evidently in pain from the contact poison, the girl continued to attempt to pull out whatever was left in her mouth.

It was then that Eris spoke.

"I think I can save Lingxin. A darkness spell..." She glanced towards Lai Fen. Lai Fen shook her head. "You could die Eris. Even if Lingxin stayed true to us, and even if I was still the leader or our merry band, I have no right to suggest that kind of action."

Eris' eyes moved towards you. "I can take in her suffering. She... she is still family."