Caboto rides north with the others. If Antonia needs help loading the shaman on Grey, he helps her do so.
Caboto and Antonia are able to gather up the shaman, and Tolik gathers up her spiked goblin-head mace and elf-skull rattle, apparently with some plan in mind. Though the shaman is clearly dead, she is not very heavy, and they are able to gather her up and put her aboard Grey, which seems to anger the dog-men quite a bit.
Smiling at Caboto, she nods her head in appreciation of his help. After the Shaman is on Grey, she gives Shadow an affectionate pat and leg up on to Grey's back behind the shaman. She is glad that she can use her hands on the shaman instead of having to use reigns as the others do, glad that Grey would allow no harness of enslavement upon his proud body. She shifts her weight a bit for the comfort of the horse making sure to have most of her and the shamans weight on his forequarters. Grey moves as if of his own violation going in the direction that the others lead.
As the others begin to circle, the squad of gnolls rushes at Ullar, but he manages to kick Zephyr into action quickly enough to retreat from them, joining the others, who have circled Rhune and are heading north. Antonia and Rhees see that they do not have time to coordinate any real attempt at communication with the band that is now moving after them, as the party feels urgency to gather up Arkady and move out of immediate danger.
Within moments, you are leading Arkady's horse with the still-sleeping Slav upon it, moving North into the mist. The howls are hard on your heels, as it seems the dog-men run with some speed even in the now-thinning mist. Up ahead you hear responding howls coming from all around, and push your pace to try to get by before they can organize an ambush. While traveling, Antonia and Pietro offer their thoughts on leadership and speaking, which results in a brief conversation.
In his sleep, Arkady mutters darkly and his jaws gnash and clatter drooling foam while his voices try to rouse the magically sleeping Slav.
Antonia turns to the group and speaks, "We have little chance in talking to them in any language other than the most common. So when and if we have the chance to speak with them again we should use slow speech and make our talk as simple as possible. What use have they for knowledge of the bishop ? None...all they could understand is that there is a rabid beast who will use the tube in ways to hurt them along with the rest of the land. I am hoping that if we speak slowly and concisely that we will be able to make them understand. At the same time that anyone is talking I will also try to posture as best I can our words in a way that I would posture to Shadow with all the vocals I can manage. If all else fails, I will dance what has happened and do my best to dance our words to them. Who knows how closely they resemble the canines that half their bodies seem to convey.
We should pick one person to talk to them, to be recognized as the mediator or leader, however they choose to see it, and only the one person should speak. When all of us try to speak and all at once or even quickly after another all we can do is confuse them and make them think we are no more than puppies who have no discipline. My guess is that in their eyes we are a pack. If the alphas cannot keep the pack in line how can they possibly feel the desire to talk to puppies?" She pauses for a bit and then resumes, looking each one in the eye, "This is the biggest reason I don't talk that much around the whole group. When there are just a few of us the clatter created in the arguments is so unruly. It does not seem that respect is given to any one person in the group as everyone seems to interrupt everyone else. If we cannot respect ourselves, how can we hope to be respected by others?" Having addressed the whole group more in this one moment than ever before, she goes silent.
Ullar's mouth falls open. After a minute he regains his senses, although he has stared to Antonia all the time. "Well said, lady of the Wilderness! You are right, I think, there should be one who starts to speak with the Gnolls. I'd say Rhees does the talking, while you use any other way of communication you have to try to get the message through as well."
"However, as this is about the most delicate issue we will be dealing with, all of us should be able to whisper or speak to Rhees and come up with suggestions if the communication with the Gnolls is not turning out the way we want it to turn out. I do trust Rhees that he is capable of pulling this stunt, however it could well be that he needs additional information from Rhune or me, or from anybody else in the group. Is that a solution you feel comfortable with?" inquires the ex-gladiator.
Antonia smiles, "I think that it is a great idea."
With a look of pleased surprise Rhees turns to Ullar, "Thank you, Ullar. When we have a semblance of an opportunity, I will do my best to parley with the gnolls. If I could get everyone's advice, though. I worry that Antonia's wolf-pack analogy may not be any more accurate a fit to the gnolls than it is to us. The gnolls exhibit more complex social patterns - the combatants were taking orders for a physically smaller and weaker member who led from the rear. When their leader fell, they still maintained ranks. On the other hand, I agree that they appear to be more aware of their animal natures than we are. I shouldn't be surprised that they would respond more favorably to negotiating from a position of strength. It will be difficult to assert a position where we appear strong, yet willing to talk. Deception will be our ally in this as well. It seems that these gnolls are quite nocturnal, do you think it would be possible to use the coming daylight hours to rest and prepare?"
The revelry still in his eyes, Pietro moves his horse next to Grey. "Your words contain a lot of wisdom, Antonia. We need to take care of our own, especially now that we are in foreign territory. I think the problem in the group cohesion is not as much as a lack of respect, but more as not having a leader and clear goals. Do not forget that everybody has been pulled from their normal lives, and put through a lot of trials. Personally, I have just been surviving in the last few days, no time for anything else. I think this will be a good time to start making some pretty simple agreements. We have to split tasks like leadership, and simple but effective ways to deal with standard situations. For example, prisoners have been a pretty hot issue in the last few days.
As Ullar is probably the most charismatic and able person to lead this group, I do not think that he is at the moment. We are in the wilderness now, as you just said, different rules exist over here. I am proposing to give you, Rhees, or Daegwyn the leadership of the group while in this wilderness setting. Since you know a bit more of the ways of the lizard men than most of us, I think it is a very wise idea to let you do the talking with the gnolls, just as you proposed. That is, if everybody agrees that is. I think we need to start to rely on each other. Have faith in another person's abilities is one of that. When it comes to fighting, I think that Ullar should take charge, he is one of the most gifted warriors in our midst." Looking at Arkady and Forte, he adds. "I am not showing disrespect for your abilities here, just proposing simple things. The spell casters have to study together, so that we can benefit from a wide array of useful spells. The same goes for Rhees, Antonia, and my little person. Together we have got quite a lot of prayers, if we use that wisely, it might save our lives later on." The priest grins from ear to ear, finishing with. "Value the words just said, weigh them, and speak! Life is too short to be silent!"
Ullar listens to Pietro his words but remains silent. He contemplates the proposal for some time and then shakes his head.
"I thank you for your plea, Pietro, but I doubt it's going to work. We cannot divide those tasks as easy as you say. We have managed to keep ourselves alive the last couple of weeks by doing what we thought what's right. And although I admit that your logic makes sense, I will not refrain myself from speaking with the Gnolls when we have one selected spokesman or woman. Perhaps that sounds stubborn, but that's not it. I have a pretty impulsive nature and do what I think is right in a situation. For as far as I can judge the others in our group, I think almost all of us have that in us, perhaps that's the reason why we're bound together in this mission against the Bishop of Florence."
"However, of course the experts should have a say when it comes to their area of expertise. I will blindly follow Antonia's, Daegwyn's and Rhees' their suggestions when we're in the wilderness. Of course I'll follow Rhune her suggestions when we're dealing with elves, follow your suggestions when we're dealing with priests of Hermes, or perhaps even priests in general." Ullar looks at Pietro and falls silent once more. "Did I explain my reasoning enough for you to understand my motivations behind it?"
As he rides with the maid alongside the others he cocks his head towards Antonia and replies to her with seriousness. "I fear we not likely to ever have a single speaker, Antonia. Why, when I was trying to interrogate this priestess Jolenta in town, half the party butted in after her every answer. It took much effort on my part to keep her from being distracted. I agree with you, a spokesman should not be undermined by a cacophony of distracting side comments. I will hold my tongue if and when Rhees or whomever negotiates with the gnolls or any other guardians of the ancient's lore that we encounter."
"Unless" he adds with a nod to the gladiator, "as ye suggest, the situation requires the intrusion of a new voice."
Antonia nods her head in agreement with Caboto and it is clear to tell that she is holding back a laugh in response to his last statement.
"In fact we should just have ONE person asking the questions, while the other could whisper their suggestions to the spokesman. It's not perfect, but I think it's suits us all." replies Ullar.
"And if someone disagrees with the inquisitor, what then?" Forte asks with a tired smile.
"It may well happen, Forte, and someone may have to speak out. All I can suggest is that we discuss what our spokesperson can say or do as best we can before he speaks for us. Than might reduce the likelihood of everyone needing to but in, si?" asks Caboto. "Anything in particular you would disagree with?"
"No, nothing that I can think of right now." He smiles and offers a quiet laugh. "I'll just keep my distance during any future interrogations. If that's agreeable to everyone."
"Or better, you should be the interrogator" suggests Caboto.
"Well, I'm certainly willing, but I think others might...well, object...or be better at it. Or both," says Forte, as he wraps his blue cloak tightly around himself for a second.
"You hide your wisdom with humility, Forte." says Rhees with a supportive smile. "Whether they agree or disagree with you, I think none here would deny that you acted in what you saw as our best interest. Nor would any deny that you were righteous in your anger. But you are right Forte, there are many different belief in our little group and it may be in our best interest to agree on what we owe our opponents. I wouldn't be surprised to hear you say we owe them nothing - and there would be reasons to believe that. I myself, believe it would be in our best interest to agree that we will honor the words we promise. I am no idealist to pretend we should honor some vague notion of the intent or spirit behind those words, but if it becomes known that we speak only lies, then no one will listen to us - and then we fight alone. What worries me, and I think it worries you, Forte, is this notion that we owe all our prisoners an impartial trial before execution. Twice now, those we sought to give the benefit of the doubt to have betrayed us. Two betrayals that a quick dagger to the throat would have prevented. Whatever concessions an opponent can force from us, so be it; but why should we hamper ourselves with conditions we never promised?"
Dropping the corners of the blue cloak, Forte smiles at Rhees. "I guess, I say we should stick to what we promise. But no more. Nothing is implied beyond the literal words to which we agree. No matter what their idiot bodyguards like Slige *think* we should do. Boy, he was really a moron."
The warrior shakes his head a bit at the memory of the Crossed Sword battle's denouement. "I never promised not to hurt the woman. Or not to hurt the man, once the spell wore off. If Slige was too stupid to see that, well, that's his problem."
Forte shrugs his massive shoulders. "No doubt, he and his evil master are out spreading lies about us, anyway, so it doesn't matter. We should have killed them then, just to save us the hassle of killing them later. The next time I see either one of them, they're dead. Now, I may not rush right up and attack them; I'm patient enough to wait until the best opportunity....or at least a better one."
Forte looks hard into Rhees' eyes. "That last little battle was the perfect example of what happens when we don't tie up loose ends." After a thoughtful pause, he adds, "Next time, tie 'em up. Literally, we tie up the people. And figuratively, we tie up the loose ends. Then maybe we can get that damnable blue tube opened."
As the conversation is taking place while riding, Rhune is within hearing distance. Looking up at Forte's words, "What do you mean the last fight was an example of a loose end?" she asks still under aware that Gactis was working for yellow robes.
Ullar mumbles: "I don't recall fighting that Gactis guy before..."
"We heard someone in the mist, and ignored them. Then, just as we're talking to the gnoll priest, someone kills her. I'd lay money it's the same person. Who the hell else would be out here?" Forte asks. "There was even some mention of giving chase when we first heard them, but we didn't. And now that 'loose end' has just screwed up our plans," the warrior answers.
"Should we attack everybody who we just happen to bump into when we are in a fog?" Pietro dryly asks.
"You know it isn't that simple, Pietro," Says Rhees. "The speaker in the fog was identified as Gactis, someone who tried to kill members of our group and turn Tolik into a hunting trophy - something which is never good for the target's health. We chose to let someone we knew was hostile to us run free and just now we saw him kill our best chance at cooperation with the gnolls. How much does he have to do before we agree that Gactis must die - whether it is in combat, in his sleep or tied up and gagged - he must die."
Before Forte can answer Pietro, Rhees provides a response. "Rhees has summed it up very nicely," concurs Forte. "I certainly don't intend to let any more hostiles run free--bodyguards be damned."
Antonia growls in agreement, remembering how badly she wants to hamstring Gactis and then rip his throat out with her own teeth.
"If he possesses such a threat to you, us, why didn't someone mention him BEFORE we ran into him today?" Ullar inquires, raising an eyebrow.
"Still, and I think Pietro agrees with me on this part, we should never just kill somebody because they are our opponents, unless we're engaged in combat. My mind was clouded with Yellow Robe's woman, and you are right Rhees, we have been betrayed for two consecutive times now. However, I do remember a time where Forte wanted to get rid of a bunch of sleeping Goblins. I tried to prevent that and with those Goblins as hostages we were able to exchange the live of a prisoner for it. It's a delicate issue but your main point, as I see it, is that what we say we have to honor, otherwise our group will quickly fall apart." replies Ullar
Pietro nods. "I agree with Ullar. We tried to gain access to a guide by taking the mercenary as a prisoner, it didn't work, and he betrayed us. It happens, it also could have given us access to a guide, which would have been really valuable. As with Golthar, we had him prisoner. We could not kill him though, without losing a few of our own as well, because the bodyguard was there. Prisoners can be very useful, keep that in mind. Treat the world as you would like to be treated, otherwise we will never make a difference."
"I think we need to have the means to be more sure," replies Rhees. "I agree with you that what we have been through have been difficult situations, that perhaps could not have gone any better. I also agree that prisoners can be useful. Furthermore, with some of the magic we have at our disposal, we will often be faced with disabled enemies. We won't always have the time to deal with them strategically or humanely - in those cases, I think we need to be able to take the requisite action. If we are going to try trusting someone, we need to know we can trust them - anyone under the Bishop's control cannot be trusted. If we can't trust someone, we need to insure they won't be coming back to get us.
I'm not in Italia to make the world a better place - most humans here have long forgotten about how to treat the world - I am here to oppose the cult of Jerboha led, as I understand it, by the Bishop. My death, at the hands of someone we decided to treat 'as we would like to be treated' will not help stop the Bishop and his minions (OOC: see, I must be a good guy, I'm fighting someone who has 'minions' "Although I do favor the fact that decisions are made by the majority of the group, I will never tolerate that someone is slaughtered without a reason. Look, ... " says Ullar, while looking at Forte, ".. I'm not accusing you for being solely responsible what has happened, heavens no, I was kinda on the edge myself as well, but still I will protest and try to prevent such actions when I have the opportunity, no matter how many people are in favor of it!"
When Ullar looks at Forte, the warrior from the north manages to hold his tongue until Ullar is finished. "First, I had reasons. Second, what do you mean by 'responsible for what happened' anyway? I killed Jolenta. And I had reasons to do it. No big deal. I didn't sick the troll on Manus or force Plebius to leave or kill anyone else. What actions will you protest? As soon as I can, I will kill Golthar, Slige, Hrothgar, this Gactis character, and anyone else who has previously tried to kill me. I don't need your permission, approval, or understanding to do it. If someone attacks me or my friends, that is the only reason I need to kill them. Method and circumstances are irrelevant. If someone threatens to kill me or my friends, that is reason enough to kill them. The long-term greater good -- our safety -- is more important than any short-term morality play you feel you must perform in. The simple fact of the matter is, you can't watch me 24 hours a day, and if someone tries, or even threatens, to kill any one of us then they will die."
"And due to that reasoning ALL goblins we will ever encounter have to die, because a couple of them attacked us earlier. Look Forte, if we are attacked, and I think I've stated that several times, we have the right to defend ourselves. Not only during that attack, but also later on. For that reason I can follow your reasoning. However, what did Slige do to us? He defended his master, is that a mistake? What if the story Golthar told was actually true, wouldn't you do the same as he did? What has this Gactis guy done to you?" Ullar asks.
"Uh, no, I never said all goblins. Just those goblins that attacked us," Forte explains to Ullar. "In the future, I will feel no remorse for killing any goblins that try -- or threaten -- to kill us. Is that so hard to understand? If someone threatens us, I will extinguish that threat. That is all. I never said I would kill all humans, because Golthar tried to kill us. Just Golthar and his minions. At one point, Jolenta said she would kill me when she got the chance. Lucky for us, I got the chance first and that's one less 'loose end' to worry about."
"As for Slige, he was part of Golthar's group that attacked us. Remember, they kidnapped two of us, killed Amibar, and threatened to kill all of us. If Slige thinks those are the actions of an honorable man and wishes to do what Golthar says, fine. And fine by me if I kill him for threatening us," Forte says matter-of-factly. "Just so there is no confusion, I only mean to take action against two groups. Those that have attacked us. And those that threaten to attack us. Is that clear?" Forte looks at Ullar, but it's obvious the statement is directed to everyone in the group.
"VERY clear. Don't you think it's a bit of an overkill to kill everyone who threatens us? You do not value life very high, do you?" says Ullar, trying to hide any emotion in his voice.
"Yes, I value life very highly. Remember, that were it not for Leslie and myself, you would be dead right now. The only reason we turned on Fyodorll was to save your lives. All life is not good and wonderful, Ullar. Some people are bad. And I value my life more than the life of someone who threatens me." Forte answers.
"Quite clear" answers Caboto. "As Rhees, Ullar and Pietro have said, we need to be careful what we say promise to our enemies, to lessen disputes amongst ourselves. I curse the Bishop, for he leaves a seed of doubt in my mind. Who among those that attack us free-willed or charmed by him, their talents exploited and minds easily subverted to his propaganda and who are not? This distinction is why I did not wish to slay the priestess Jolenta outright. I sensed that she, if uncharmed, might not have been our enemy. Curse him. The Bishop will have to answer for that, among his many other atrocities."
"You don't need my, or anyone's, permission to act the way you please, that's not what intended at all. However, and I'm pretty sure you got that, I will try to prevent such unnecessary killing whenever I can. If that means .." and Ullar falls silent, wondering if he should continue or not.
"Means what?" asks Forte sharply. "Preventing someone from killing me, by killing them first, is 'unnecessary' killing?" Forte laughs, an odd tone in his voice, "I'd call that a *necessary* killing, my friend."
"Killing anyone who threatens us is not necessary, but perhaps you can make a difference between threatening and 'threatening'. If a little gnome is angry and calls to us, hypothetically speaking of course, that he is going to get us for that, it would be ridiculous to kill him up-front, wouldn't it?" Ullar says, clearly quite a bit calmer now.
"I'd say that 'perhaps' is the operative word in that sentence. As you point out, it all depends on the situation at hand." Forte looks thoughtful for a moment before adding, "Perhaps I can make that distinction."