Journal Entry of Tyson Harcord.
Day of Penance, Mycius 13th - Year 867;
The Morning was fresh, I was feeling spry and plucky, like a spring chicken. With a renewed vigor I gather the team up, we were going to go get that Warriors Guild contract, go clear out some cultist and makes some money. Money always made me feel better.
My enthusiasm must have been contagious because as soon as I got to the Warriors Guild and commenced with my typical bartering they awarded the contract to our team and even gave us a forward that I asked for!
With the money secured I went to my team to gather them and scout out for the cheapest method on getting to Sworn. To my dismay the Ranger stopped me, from the look in his eye I could see he had been planning this for some time. He wanted to renegotiate our contract! He started out by stuttering out something about more money for the team, weapons, armor, staying alive, etc I walked circles around his logic with my finely tuned negotiating skills. But then he said something that gave me pause, He reminded me that I had a blood burden to pay, for him saving my life. It was about that time that another member of the party began bartering again, this time I acquiesced, I would give them another 10%.
We had just reached a consensus and turned to exit the Warriors Guild when we ran smack dab into the Fuzz. Some slack-jaw lackey of the church was bringing charges against the entire team for Murder, Illegal Magic use in the Streets of Alaspar, and Apostasy. I could feel the tensions rising, some members of the team immediately started looking for a method of escape, some attempted to negotiate feebly, and my pet quarter-orc started shaking badly (I could tell he wanted to eat one or more of the guards). I was about to speak up for the team and try to strike a deal with Sergeant when the Rogueling Twin Aura stepped up to the Sergeant. She batted her eyes and started talking, shortly the sergeant was all but agreeing with her about letting them all go.
The sergeant looked up at the party, and I swear, he was about to do it, but then he looked back at his response team and seemed to realize that he wouldn't be able to do that. He reluctantly told us that, with the exception of Leyla, Gwenyth, and Balerion, the party was free to go. With that said tensions grew even more. I could see the team wrestling with ethical and moral decisions, at which point in time the rogue-scout Owla attempted to take something from Leyla (presumably to prevent her from getting in further trouble). Unfortunately, two of the guards surrounding us saw her do so and they immediately pointed it out. the situation escalated and Mik stepped forward to diffuse the situation, at which point in time he blurted out "Listen, we don't mean any harm. There is just an Evil Magical Relic inside that pouch that could possibly kill everyone here". Apparently this wasn't the right things to say as we were all being arrested again. Eventually they had us all stripped of our gear, except for Zahara, she had a weird smile and the eye of some blushing guard. I'm not sure what she did, but i'm sure that won't sit for long.
We were quickly transported to the courthouse and I pretty much knew what was going to happen. We were going to be convicted and shipped off, my goal was to make it so we got shipped off to Sworn. I could work with my Entrepreneurs Guild Contacts later to get our records "Expunged". When it was our time, I took the opportunity to try and be an example for the group, hopefully they would follow suite. I took to the stand and told the judges that I was guilty of the charges against me, and due to my experience as a warrior, that i would be best put to task helping the church clear the Dead Lands and reclaim the land that belonged to the Kingdom of Men.
The courts heard my plea and decreed to send me to the deadlands. I could only hope that team would do something similar. I was led back into the Jails and made to change into prison scrubs, the remainder of my guild was collected and placed into a chest that I was sure would be redistributed to the guards after we were shipped of, it was a shame to loose so much money.
I was probably sitting there for 10 minutes or so when the first of my group was led into the dungeons. One by one they trickled on, most of them being deposited into my cell. I witness Balarion come in, and get deposited into a different cell, but it wasn't until Leyla was dragged in kicking and screaming that I realized the plan hadn't kicked off as perfectly as I thought it would have.
It turned out that Leyla had been sentenced to a lifetime of servitude in the mines to the north while Gwenyth and Balarion had been sentenced to be executed at dawn, not exactly the ideal scenario.
Some time had passed since the sentencing and I was sitting on one of the benches trying to figure out what what we were going to do when the Jailer admitted a small group of Church Paladins into the Jailhouse. They came up to our shared cell and began speaking to Mik. They told him they wanted to reinstate him to the Paladinhood, to his place of honor, but I had an uneasy feeling when they told him they were going to get him out of "here".
They had just locked our cell again when the first one struck Mik. They quickly ganged up on him striking him over and over. He fought back, almost whooping for joy when one of the paladins crumpled to the ground in an unconscious heap. We were all yelling and screaming at the Paladins as they beat him, but it wasn't until Mik really started to bleed that we realized they weren't just there to beat him up. With that Realization Gwenyth and I attempted to reach through the bars and grab the guards, but were unable to get ahold of any of them, while Roth attempted to strike them through the bars, possibly breaking his hand in the process. Eventually Altus managed to strike their leader with some pole-like device that had managed to sneak into the Jailhouse, knocking the leader to the ground. Unfortunately the intervention came just too late, the blows landed over and over on Mik and he eventually fell, unconscious to the ground.
We all hoped and prayed that the deed was done, that the Paladins would put Mik beaten and bruised back into the cell and leave, but they didn't, The leader got up, brushed himself off, walked over to Mik and sunk a blade into the spine at the back of his neck. Just like that Mik was gone, murdered in the darkness of a Jailhouse, all delusions of grandeur and importance gone. We watched as the leader dropped his lifeless husk to the ground with naught but a sneer.
Our companion, friend, and protector was dead.
(to be continued...)
“Once more into the fray. Into the last good fight I’ll ever know. Live and die on this day. Live and die on this day.” ~The Grey
A Warrior’s Open Letter To Death
Dear Grim Reaper, I’d like to warn
That I won’t run like most
I will not flee, I will not hide
This is not a proud boast
It’s not a threat or challenge
Just a promise what’s to come
When we are face to face, this Warrior
Will not succumb
To fear, to doubt or regret ‘cause
For years I have now walked
The path that so many have only
Dreamed and wished and talked
I know you wait until some are
Breaking down and quite old
Know regardless of my grey
I’ll always be this bold
Come for me while I’m still strong
In muscle and in mind
Come for me before my ears
Go deaf and eyes go blind
And though the outcome’s definite
I only have one goal
When I do battle with you, it’s
To exact a great toll
I do not doubt your victory
But I assure one truth
If you come for me while I am
Still in my years of youth
When you are finished, you will have
To stop and take a breath
You’ll know it was a Warrior
That has just battled Death
See you somewhere down the road
On that cold, lonely night
I’m not afraid for I know it
Will be my last good fight
-Michael "Mik" Rawlins
