Battle of Trelling

[Squall255]

[Zanaikin]

[Mr_Praetorian]

[Squall255]

[littleangryman]

[Zanaikin]

Coric stares at Derovarr, his annoyance increasing in an all-too-obvious manner, then his attention was diverged inwards, the all too common sign of digesting an incoming message...

"Stand back and withdraw weapons!" he gave an order to the perimeter troops. They looked hesitant to comply, but drew back a good 20ft while sheathing their swords. They did not lower their guard any bit though, hands still firm on handles and watching Derovarr & Kati's every move.

Coric: "I'll offer you one good chance, commander. Now, care to explain yourselves to the rest of us? Seeing as how your... ally, at least in this scenario, blew away those of us who actually knows what's going on."

it was about this time that Kelmik finally closed in with the group, spellvials held between his fingers and in a combat-ready stance of his own, he hovered in the air and added his own question in a most provoking tone while staring intently at Derovarr. "and also, why this ... benefactor of our dear allies just attacked my men."

(EDIT: We're out of combat mode, effectively...)
(Due to finals, I'm going to slow down my posting speed and certain aren't going to force anyone to post , but I WILL post as long as I get responses.)

[Mr_Praetorian]

"I called no-one with such power to this place. Nor, did I call down such a hateful demise upon the soldiers of Archeron. Never have I desired to bear the blood of my allies." he responded, looking at the pools of blood and corresponding corpses about the room, and obviously sad expression on his face.

"What reason would I have do so?" he asked, looking back at Coric.

[Squall255]

Looking at Kelmik: "Lady Gant did not fire that spell. I recognized it as a Deceptive spell, as would anyone with enough knowledge of magical political manipulation. She would never attack her own troops."
Turning to Kati and Derrovar: "So please explain what just happened, and give us any information on who just blasted our men that you have."

[Zanaikin]

[Mr_Praetorian]

Derovarr's Abstract:

Following the responses, Derovarr will have the following counter-points to any questions of his behavior:

1. Calling the airship: Derovarr will respond by pointing out that he was only responding to aggression, and, that in the beginning it appeared that he would need something to bear in order to be able to bargain. Yet, since Coric is being reasonable once again, he dismissed it, as there was no longer any need for it.
Furthermore, if the words "aggressive" or "confrontational" are used in personal attacks or inquiries into his behavior, he will simply point out that neither he nor Kati attacked anyone throughout the skirmish, with exception to Derovarr incapacitating the guard, which, obviously, saved his life.

2. Kati's betrayal: Derovarr will point out that he's obviously no expert in the arcane, nor has he ever heard of a Deceptive spell, but, also, that he refuses to believe that Kati would attack her own troops. If persisted, Derovarr will stress that Kati's attack was too convenient. Pointing out the fact that he saw a Sacrosanct in the room casting a lot of "magic with no noticeable effect."

3. Mystery Man: Derovarr will reaffirm that he has no idea who the mysterious attacker was, and that he certainly had no desire for the bloodshed that followed. If anyone opposing him points out that it seemed "convenient," Derovarr will quickly cut them off with the line, "[Name], war desensitizes us all to horrors that should never be brought down upon even our worst enemies. Still, it sickens me that you would even describe being cloaked in the blood of your brothers and sisters as convenient."

4. The Question of Loyalty: If brought up again, Derovarr will not move from his earlier points. He will deny charges of treason, and draw away attention from his "misdemeanor" by drawing the conversation back into the main issue. He will, also, be quick to point out that, "you don't need an Inquisitor to tell you common sense."

He will offer a formal apology to Ulrich, should he point out that he knew about Derovarr and Kati's supposed contingencies. Derovarr will say that there was never an assassination plot, or the like, and these plans were made with scarce information. He will point out that, now, it is quite obvious that, Ulrich, despite ideological differences, is clearly not the enemy.

5. "Cary and Kovis ran from a standard investigation..":
"For the love of the Gods, Ulrich! Wake up! Nobody defects and takes half of the Paladin Guard because of a 'standard investigation!'"

Diplomacy= 52 (AP boosted)

[Zanaikin]

Dmitri arrives at the scene in less than a minute. Aelle does the same, coming down from the NE battlements, looking decisively angry.

Aelle does claim that something compulsive, most likely result of a long duration spell effect, urged her to do not question the 'traitors' and simply attack them once their colors are shown. She was not able to shake off the compulsion until the crusaders closed in the distance and upgraded the choice to continue attacking to a near life-or-death scenario. Whether or not Derovarr and Kati actually made the attack, it's clear the Inquisitors violated all civil and military law in that action by itself. And given the ways her skirmishers performed, she suspects some of them are also under magical suggestion.

It was that time that one of the Crusader captains said that a surviving inquisitor, who was simply hit and nauseated, left the area after noticing the situation took a turnabout.

Drew: I want 4 more diplomacy checks from you.

'counterargument' to #2:
--The sacrosanct was casting clerical support spells on the troops, so the blast did not come from him.
--Kati's attack did indeed come in as 'too convenient', although she seems to be a little known for being 'impulsive' and given the situation, it's hard but not impossible to believe. Although, the fact she did not follow up with an immediate action afterwards does help prove your opinion.
--I presume Ulrich will give a general overview on Deceptive Spell? No you don't know the specifics either. Dmitri can definitely guarantee its existence if he's willing, given his profession has definitely come across similar cases before.

[Mr_Praetorian]

Diplomacy Check 1: 46
Diplomacy Check 2: 42 (AP burn to re-roll)
Diplomacy Check 3: 41
Diplomacy Check 4: 57 (AP boosted)

[Zanaikin]

[littleangryman]

[Zanaikin]

Note: It's not really my turn to do anything, since frankly... the NPCs aren't doing anything.

If you're waiting for the DM to raise a hand, I suggest you look towards having one of the PCs drag out the next course of action.

(2 more finals & 1 more essay to go...)