Game: Blades of Git'riban : Primal State

Doh

I swear that is the shortest son of Gith I have ever seen. Ya'shenn keeps the silent observation to herself, of course, not wanting to give offense to the newcomer. The psion also notes that the spellcaster instinctively assumes that Ar'dru is the commander of their informal band, rather than Gy-Nath or even the knight. A fact which, combined with the dragon-headed mace, tells her a great deal about him already.

As the spellcaster speaks, Ya'shenn's eyes scan him for any sign of rank insignia -- she doesn't know whether this one has a formal title like Ii'Jyka'Vaar has, and would not wish to give him offense through ignorance. "I am honored to make your acquaintance -- however inadvertently." If he has ever heard its like before, the woman's cultured accent, interspersed with an archaic word here and there, immediately places her among one of the more erudite citizens of Tu'narath. If she takes any notice of the spellcaster's abrupt manners, she doesn't show it.

"In truth, I was hoping to keep one of the thralls alive to question it. However -- you may well know more about this place than this creature, and at the moment, I'm rather more concerned about ceiling collapse." She leads the spellcaster's eyes upward.

[Kirath may well have heard of the Order of the Double-Edged Mind, to which Gy-Nath referred, implying that Ya'shenn is most likely either a telepath or a clairsentient. I think every single member of Gy-Nath's party, except maybe K'tch, is wounded.]

Though Du’minh is genuinely pleased to join forces with a like-minded band of brethren, he is nevertheless cautious about the convenience of timing – they have experienced treachery among their own before.

After Gy-Nath has provided introductions, the Rish greets Kirath and his warriors with what respect and custom is appropriate for the newcomer’s perceived rank, but for now keeps a strictly unassuming disposition.

“It is truly an honor to rally under an operation of this scope and with equal dedication to purge the Great Enemy wherever it may hide. Certainly a fortuitous, if unexpected, turn of events...”

“How far have your troops progressed throughout the Palace? Have we arrived merely to finish off the desert or are first courses only just now being served?”

OOC

[ooc- Ar'Dru's about 25 hp's down]

Ar'Dru gives a toothy smile to the newcomer "Surely the ghaik will scatter like ash in the wind before the strength of our forces sibling, I am eager to hear more of the layout of this lair"

Ar'dru happily accepts aid if given, keen to be back at the for of any fighting.

Kirath spends the next few minutes the party (I having trouble with the dice roller as far getting everyone's heals  separated out so I just rolled it all at once so I guess Iwill use as many charges as it takes to get everyone up to near full health) 

After healing the party (except the knight who she shoots a quizzical look) He says to Gy'nath "I truly am glad to have the assistance of your band. Could you perhaps tell me your group's capabilities so we can coordinate better? " He then turns his attention to Du' Minh and says "The raid has just begun my brother. our intelligence reports indicates there at least a dozen illithid and as many as twenty."

To Yashenn he says "The pleasure of our meeting is all mine"

To Ar'dru he says "I expect nothing less from a dunka'gith"

To Ii'Jyka'Vaar he shrugs and says Well suit your self but know the offer still stands if you decide you need it" 

He then goes into more detail on the basic layout of the complex noting that his squads are taking out the softer targets while his squad was to take out the tougher defences

He then smiles and says "Which will be much easier now with your group's help"

Ya'shenn thanks Kirath courteously for the healing (feeling an inward relief that she doesn't have to spend even more of her psionic strength at the moment). As the others converse, she turns the bulk of her attention to the thrall, mainly trying to read how this one is faring, and what his (or her, or its) station in life might have been prior to its enthrallment. The psion has many options for dealing with a graith, and the barbarian's appearance and demeanor might let her know which might be optimal.

She glances up to the ceiling more than once, obviously concerned about how well this chamber will hold up, under the circumstances.

[No obvious mind-marks on this one, right? Race, gender, age? How is the graith being restrained? Is the thrall still looking 'blank and fanatical' or...?]

[Does it sound more like spellcasting, trebuchets, or...? Just the typical sounds of a githyanki military assault?]

Du'minh notices no illusion magic on the tiny gith. He does notice a moderate aura of necromancy coming off his mace and a moderate aura of evocation coming off a necklace that he wears. The warlock also has a few wands that leave a small impression of necromancy taint and one with an evocation aura. 

Gynath said

"We are strong blades, be assured."  Gy-Nath crypicly replies, "But we lack arcane spell-fire.  Still, we have done well for ourselves and between us count a full rrakkma this night."

The warlock replies with a grin  "The Arcane firepower I will provide." "If you will agree to let me travel with you."

Gynath said

"We are strong blades, be assured."  Gy-Nath crypicly replies, "But we lack arcane spell-fire.  Still, we have done well for ourselves and between us count a full rrakkma this night."

The warlock looks suitably impressed at this  "Well then let's add to your count eh?"

[I figure very detailed dialogue here would require a number of posts, so I'll try to keep it relatively short.]

As first Du'minh and Gy-Nath, then later Gy-Nath and Kirath engage in their own conversations, the psion glances over each time with mild curiosity. She decides not to attempt to listen in, though, as she places much trust (for the most part) in the Rish-i-Chal and the kith'rak at this point.

Instead, Ya'shenn begins to ask her questions of the ex-thrall -- beginning with the simple matter of his name. (Should he still be able to remember it, of course.) As she speaks, her voice is thoroughly mild -- almost gentle. The contrast between her own demeanor and the numerous large, armored, fierce-looking githwarriors is likely to be startling for him.

"Would you be free of your foul masters? More, would you avenge yourself on them, if you could?"

The psion watches the thrall closely for any sign of either resistance or untruth, and asks a few probing questions to try to get a sense of whether this one knows anything useful to their informal warband in the first place. "What do you know about the portals here? Has there been any pattern to their skipping in the past?"

"How many mind flayers --" she uses the term deliberately, since a barbarian might not even know the word 'illithid,' much less ghaik -- "are in the Palace right now? Do they have any plan of response in the event of an attack?"

"Where are the nobles usually? How are they likely to respond to an attack?"

The Double-Edged looks at Du'minh for a moment, being aware of his very tactically-focused mind. The Rish-i-Chal may well have questions of his own to ask.

[Ya'shenn may well end up using either Charm Person or Detect Thoughts on him, but it depends on how he responds initially to questions. Plus, that was a pretty good Sense Motive roll.]

Du’minh nods thoughtfully back, though he has only two questions to add to Ya’shenn’s interrogation.

“Your former master spent its last words ordering you to the gardens – what lies there? Will more mind flayers be there or heading for these gardens?”

If the thrall at all hesitates in answering questions, Du’minh circles up next to it and leans in threateningly to play up the contrast between himself and Ya’shenn.

OOC

Du does the Good Cop - Bad Cop thing to aid Ya’shenn’s interrogation.

Ugh. It's too easy to imagine the ghaik putting such places to use...

She 'asks' the slave to describe the layout of the place in detail -- the banquet hall, statue gallery, and all the other locations mentioned. "How many... servants..." thralls, "are we likely to find in each place?"

"You say that the mind flayers are strong -- very strong. Perhaps your noble masters are in need of some assistance themselves. Assistance we can provide, if they will only allow us to offer it. Our hatred of the flayers is more intense than you can possibly imagine. Are you quite sure there is nothing you can tell us about the nobles, the better to help us help them?"

[Bluff check here. Ya'shenn could hardly care less about the yuan-ti one way or another.]

"Note, we dont want to kill unneeded targets that would distract us from our true focus, so any "Masters" that do not stand in our way of killing any Mind Flayers we come across, will have no fear of death from our hands..." Ii'Jyka'Vaar says whilst leaning on her weapon and looking casually around her...

“I am quite satisfied – the graith seem to have provided us with information to the best of his ability. Since it further holds no real connection to the resident ghaiks, I suggest we simply cut it loose and be on our way.”

Du’minh has no vested interest in the fate of the slave, and will not object if another gith should wish to put it to the sword instead.

“Kirath might have some more solid intel on how to proceed, but otherwise I suggest we head for the closest of these “sanctuaries” – which I am guessing are the gardens. The ghaiks of the palace appear to be on the run and we want to move quickly to minimize the number of escapees.”

OOC

Naturally, Du is speaking in the githyanki tongue as well when he's not adressing non-githyankis.

"My forces should keep the soldiers of the yuan-ti busy so we can busy ourselves killing the Enemy"  "As far as the thrall goes do what you want Knight"

Kirath looks to Gy-Nath and asks "Have we decided on where we would like to start slaughtering the mind flayers?" "That way I can order my troops to steer away from that area so we can have more fun." 

He smiles as he then hears the sound of blade on bone as Ii'Jyka'Vaar slides her great blade through the helpless thrall. With a grin he turns and says "I am surprised it took you this long Knight"