[ We find Our Heroes still in the room with the crates! Some of them are having an animated and possibly fruitful discussion! The rest might be bored with it, but if they are, they can explore some on their own. ] [ Session Start! ] * Istvan pokes idly at the hole in his side. "Got a question for ya, Kenji. Not an angry question, not a criticizin' one. For the moment. Just a question." * Alcinoe reaches her corner and sighs. She has a seat, running a hand through her hair. * HKenji doesn't answer. He's not doing much of anything besides staring at the wall. It's not very interesting. * Patrick whispers to Seylin, as usual. * Seylin sighs and whispers back. When you did that jump... you hadta know you were gonna get shot up to high holy hell. Coulda easily killed ya. But ya did it. Why? * Will takes a seat next to Alci while listening in on the discussion. * Alcinoe looks at Will, offers a weak smile, and goes back to watching Istvan and Kenji. She looks more or less done being angry. For now at least. Because somebody had to take the shots. Okay. But if you'd waited until me'n Alci had attacked, there woulda been at least two or three less 'bots shootin' at ya... but that ain't what I'm gettin' at. Why ain't really the question. s'more... how? I don't understand the question. You're standing there. You know, if you wait a minute, there'll be less guys shooting at you. But you go anyway, damn the arrows. How the hell do you get yourself to do that? * Seylin turns her head towards Kenji and looks at him intently. * HKenji looks strangely at Istvan. "How could I not do that?" * Patrick watches the exchange. Easily. Self-preservation. You coulda easily said "I don't like getting shot. Lemme wait a minute, and I'll get shot less." I would have exposed you to danger you obviously did not want to face. Damn right I didn't wanna face it. But I was going in there to face it anyway, 'cause I had to. s'my role in this little group. You didn't have to face the danger you did, but ya did anyway. And I'm wonderin' why and how. * Alcinoe blinks, then tilts her head slightly. Oddly, she's watching Istvan, not Kenji. * Ariake is leaning against the wall, looking between Istvan and Kenji. I don't think it's possible to explain this adequately to you. Try. 'cause I don't get it. My theory'a fightin's always been based around how to get things done while minimizin' the risk to myself, given the limitations of my role in the group. I'm the big armored guy, so I'm gonna get attacked a lot. Don't like it, I'd prefer to be the quick guy that doesn't get hit a lot, but them's the cards I got dealt. But I tend to prefer plans that don't involve me getting mauled, 'cause I don't like getting mauled. You don't seem to mind, though. Why would I mind? Because you're getting shot. It hurts. And it could kill ya. ...so? * HKenji looks mildly confused. Pain bad. Dying worse. Both are generally considered things to be avoided. But you don't seem to give a damn. I didn't die. But you're experienced enough to know that leaping at eight archers coulda ended up with you dead, or too injured to fight. It was unlikely. Basic survival instinct shoulda been telling ya not to do it, but you did it anyway. I mean, if this was some critical battle, and the fate of the world... maybe I understand it. But it was a nothing fight. Room clearing. And still ya jumped right into a mess of archers, knowing you were gonna get torn up but good. Again? Why and how? Is it not written, "Treat every fight as if the fate of your family depends on it."? * Alcinoe coughs into her hand. "Ah know Ah'm the last person ya might see defendin' Kenji there..." She glances at Kenji. "But if he brought up what he was gonna do before doin' it, Ah might've gone along with that plan, with the idea that Ah was the one chargin' in instead of him." She gets to her feet. And I would be askin' you the same question. Why'n how. * Ariake nods. * HKenji ponders for a time. The problem here is one of perspective, I think. Because you're talkin' weighin' your life against the lives of others. If Ah believed Ah could take a hit meant for Will, or Ariake, or you, Istvan, an' Ah could take it better, then Ah'd do it. Ah'd rather bear pain than let someone else have it. * Patrick whispers to Seylin. Again. * Alcinoe twitches her ears and eyes Pat 'n' Sey. * Patrick smirks. "Yes Alcinoe?" * HKenji stares up into Istvan's eyes. "You think I'm insane, don't you?" Insane? No. If y'all have somethin' ta say that ya can't bear others ta hear, why don'tcha wait 'till later ta talk about it? Because we might forget? It's nothing bad. Ah believe it, but it's kinda rude. * Istvan shrugs. "Maybe you're braver than I am. Maybe you've got somethin' you're convinced is worth fightin' and bleedin' and dyin' for, and I don't. I dunno." * Patrick shrugs. "Would you rather us step out of the room?" Sorry. We aren't trying to be rude. * Alcinoe nods. She ignores Patrick. Because who can pay attention to a guy who *smiles* all the time? I just don't get it. My primary goal in all of this is to survive long enough to retire, find a nice girl, find some not-so-nice girls before finding said nice girl, and have a life. * Patrick snerks. * Ariake grins. * Seylin giggles very softly. You think of yourself as a person. * Alcinoe fingers the ends of her hair, looking down at it. Huh, it's red. Well, yeah. I am a person. *pauses* Unless Seylin missed a polymorph trap somewhere, and nobody told me. * Patrick grins at Seylin. * Seylin giggles again. "No, I got all the traps." * Will cracks his neck and stretches. That is the important difference in your perspective. * Ariake nods. "I think I see..." You don't see yerself as a person? Of course not. * Seylin blinks. "What are you, then?" ... tool for a cause. Essentially, yes. I am a weapon. I serve those above me, and defend those below me. * Istvan looks at Kenji, and then Alci. "Fightin' for somethin' greater than yourselves and all that jazz." * Seylin ohhs softly. There's many things greater than Ah am. Just one woman, an' Ah do what Ah can. But if Ah can't do as much as that, then Ah'm fallin' short. But thinkin' that Ah don't believe Ah'm a person is off the mark. * Alcinoe fixes her eyes on Kenji. "Thinkin' that Ah don't believe *Kenji* is a person is off the mark, too." * Istvan shrugs. "Maybe that's it. I don't got a cause. Hell, I don't *want* a cause. This ain't my life... s'just a job." Then maybe ya should think of doin' somethin' else. He has. But he won't abandon this... "job". Why is something he declines to reveal. * Alcinoe looks back at Istvan. "Then what's the problem? This is the easiest thing for ya to do?" Nah. Easiest thing would be to just work the forge. Frankly, s'what I'd rather be doin'. But I ain't got a choice in the matter. But he is afraid of something. * Istvan frowns, but nods. "Not how I'd put it, but yeah. s'basically accurate." Ain't no shame in bein' afraid. Courage comes from actin' even though you are. * Will nods in agreement. * Ariake nods. ... heh. Guess that don't speak to well of me, then. * HKenji says nothing. * Alcinoe shrugs. * Seylin looks like she wants to say something, but can't quite find the words. She sighs softly. * Patrick pats Seylin on the back. Ah'm just sayin' ya ain't as suited ta bein' a front-line fighter as yer armor, yer weapon, and yer stature indicate. Ah hope ya overcome whatever forces yer path, so ya can do what ya *want*, but until then, if ya need someone ta take hits instead of you, Ah'll do it. Screw that. I don't like taking hits, but I'm part'a this group. And in this group, my job's ta take hits and keep the things with the claws and teeth off our back line. I may not be Mr. Courageous, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna hide and let someone else take hits for me. Like I said, this is a job. I may not like it, I may rather not do it, but it's my job, and I ain't gonna shirk it. * Will smiles. "And I'm always around to patch you up Istvan. No need to fear...too much." * Ariake grins. * Alcinoe eyes Istvan, then Kenji. "Speakin' of patchin' up." * HKenji looks down at the bloodstains that have expanded to cover nearly his entire front side. Does anybody have a way to clean silk? Um, sorry. I don't. I know a few tailors that do. Not me personally, though. I don't really do silk. * Alcinoe clanks over to Kenji. "Not unless ya want me ta dump water over yer head." She pulls a wand from her pack and gets to work on the healing. * Istvan blinks at Alci, then looks back at the hole in his side. "... yeah. I should probably get that to stop bleeding." * Patrick chuckles. "I could, but I didn't exactly think to make some before comming. Next time we have a break in an inn, I'll see about cleaning it up." * HKenji shrugs. "I could use a bath." ... that'll prolly hafta wait. * Istvan looks around. "... so what the hell is this room, anyway, that it was guarded so heavily?" * Will pulls out his wand too and goes over to Istvan. "Here Isty. Sorry about burning you earlier." * Ariake hmms, and takes a look at a crate. * Seylin pokes at one of the brass blocks. "Stuff to make more constructs, it looks like." * Patrick watches the poking, then taps Seylin on the opposite shoulder whenever she pokes the block. * Seylin whirls around, startled. "Wah!" She may accidentally smack Patrick with her wings. He probably deserves it if she does. ;p [ Seylin notices that the blocks on this end don't look quite like brass. ] * Patrick gets smacked, but he's still grinning. "Gotcha." ^_^ * Seylin mock-glares at Patrick. "Well, I got you back!" Then she looks at the block again. "Huh. This one doesn't look quite like brass, though." * Ariake moves over to where Seylin is. "Hm?" * Istvan watches as his burns fade and his wound closes up a big after the first wand use, and then sighs as the wound fully closes after the second wand use. "Thanks Will." Really? * Patrick starts poking it too. Because poking it is in! * Istvan wanders over. "Not brass?" * Will stands back after much hand/wand waving. "You're welcome, Isty." * Seylin shakes her head. "Not brass." * Ariake blinks. "That's gold!" I wonder how pure... This is all gold? * Patrick takes his hand and grasps one of the blocks on the corner. Is it mallable? * Seylin examines it more closely, then blinks. "You're right! It is!" ... that would definately explain the guarding. * Ariake looks around. "There's some gold, a lot of copper, and then all the brass." How are we going to get all this out of here? That's a good question... Hire some orogs as porters once we finish up? * Alcinoe finishes healing the Kenji and tucks her wand away. That took a bit. She looks around. "Why don't we worry about that after we take care of the problem." Yeah. This'll still be here. We need to keep going. * Ariake nods. Yeah. [ And so then they went off and explored some more! Session End. ]