a reasonable reaction? [Archive] - Wizards Community

a reasonable reaction? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Fable
10-27-03, 09:25 PM so... in my little world one of the moons was drawn towards the planet in an attempt to destroy the world. The destruction was prevented but the moon was moved closer and it made the the seas so rough they could not be sailed. One of the countries invented airships - magically powered ships that travel in the air. The powers that be realized that this was a huge advantage and formed a council to defend the magics behind making the ships. Power corrupts and these men were no different and they decided that not only did they have to protect the magics behind the ships but the cause of the sea's turbulence - the location of the moon. They recruited loyalists to hunt down and kill those people found to be researching the making of the ships or spells to return the moon to its proper location. Saul(one of the PCs)'s master joined the council a few years ago along with another powerful mage, Blaze and they put a stop to the assassinations but many people had already been killed. Two of the people killed in this hunt were the parents of the NPC bard, Israfel. Saul had no knowledge of the council's actions and took no part in the groups killing but the retrieval and destruction of some magic crystals was on their behalf. Israfel hates the council with a passion and has personally killed several of the members with help from the cult - although he does not personally believe in the cult or have any loyalty to them - he just shared their hatred for the council. So Israfel hangs out with the party for a few days, thinking they are just fellow travelers. They tell him about the evil of the cult and he listens - weighing the information against what he knows - remaining neutral on the subject. He believes that the party believes that they are telling the truth and that the cult has performed massacres, killing children, infecting thousands with the plague, etc.. The cultist capture a young acolyte from a good aligned church to sacrifice her to their dark god and the party goes off to save her and asks Israfel to go along and help. He does and the girl is there, clearly having been brutally tortured, and during the battle one of the cultists accuses Saul of being a pawn of the council. Now - my question is - what is a reasonable reaction for Israfel?

I have troubles with this because I LIKE the NPC. He is a chaotic neutral, womanizing, drunkard and lots of fun to play that way, but he is a chaotic neutral, womanizing, drunkard whose parents were killed by this council. But he also knows that the cult has engaged in some evil actions but would that matter to someone who is neutrally aligned? Plus he only has the word of a evil cleric that Saul even has any knowledge of the council, much less be a member. Saul looks like a 19 year old kid due to an accident with some potions of youth. If you have thoughts on how you think Israfel should react please post them!
megeddo
10-27-03, 10:27 PM Yah... sure he is.

Israfel should ignore it for now and bring it up when this whole business with the cult is over. He is CN, but he went with the party for a reason. Perhaps he sees in the cult the same qualities he sees in the council and decides to help Saul destroy them. Later he should approach Saul and confront him about the council. If Saul's explanation does not satisfy, then Israfel should act against him using whatever strategies he has available.

Ask yourself this though. Does Israfel mindlessly kill people, or does he weigh the consequences of his actions, law excluded? Will he invite retribution from the other party members? Does Saul know powerful friends who will seek to avenge his death? As a bard he would check into these things first, as well as whether killing Saul is really necessary ie.) Is Saul guilty of the level atrocities that other members of the council is. He could just be ignorant, in which case Israfel would enlighten him. (This would probably branch off into another adventure altogether. The Mystery of the Past.) He should keep it to himself until he makes a decision.
A few things he could do if Saul's explanations don't satisfy him... he could kill Saul. Or he could spread nasty stories about how Saul belongs to a murdering cult himself. The party won't believe them, but the commoners will, and that could be disastrous for the party. A bad reputation is a fate worse than death for an adventurer who tries his best do good by others, and stories and tales, whether true or false is a bard's most powerful weapon.
Fable
10-28-03, 01:58 PM Thanks, that helps me think it through. Israfel could certainly make the party's life hell - there is a anti-mage sentiment left over from the mage wars long ago and fueled more recently by the cult. Having a very popular bard re-telling the tales of the mage war and the death they caused would certainly make everything they are trying to do much harder. Also the northern alliance which is fighting against the cult back in Saul's homeland is in the region trying to hire troups and a backlash against mages would seriously hurt their chances of hiring warriors.

Thanks again.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Fable 10-27-03, 09:25 PM	so... in my little world one of the moons was drawn towards the planet in an attempt to destroy the world. The destruction was prevented but the moon was moved closer and it made the the seas so rough they could not be sailed. One of the countries invented airships - magically powered ships that travel in the air. The powers that be realized that this was a huge advantage and formed a council to defend the magics behind making the ships. Power corrupts and these men were no different and they decided that not only did they have to protect the magics behind the ships but the cause of the sea's turbulence - the location of the moon. They recruited loyalists to hunt down and kill those people found to be researching the making of the ships or spells to return the moon to its proper location. Saul(one of the PCs)'s master joined the council a few years ago along with another powerful mage, Blaze and they put a stop to the assassinations but many people had already been killed. Two of the people killed in this hunt were the parents of the NPC bard, Israfel. Saul had no knowledge of the council's actions and took no part in the groups killing but the retrieval and destruction of some magic crystals was on their behalf. Israfel hates the council with a passion and has personally killed several of the members with help from the cult - although he does not personally believe in the cult or have any loyalty to them - he just shared their hatred for the council. So Israfel hangs out with the party for a few days, thinking they are just fellow travelers. They tell him about the evil of the cult and he listens - weighing the information against what he knows - remaining neutral on the subject. He believes that the party believes that they are telling the truth and that the cult has performed massacres, killing children, infecting thousands with the plague, etc.. The cultist capture a young acolyte from a good aligned church to sacrifice her to their dark god and the party goes off to save her and asks Israfel to go along and help. He does and the girl is there, clearly having been brutally tortured, and during the battle one of the cultists accuses Saul of being a pawn of the council. Now - my question is - what is a reasonable reaction for Israfel? I have troubles with this because I LIKE the NPC. He is a chaotic neutral, womanizing, drunkard and lots of fun to play that way, but he is a chaotic neutral, womanizing, drunkard whose parents were killed by this council. But he also knows that the cult has engaged in some evil actions but would that matter to someone who is neutrally aligned? Plus he only has the word of a evil cleric that Saul even has any knowledge of the council, much less be a member. Saul looks like a 19 year old kid due to an accident with some potions of youth. If you have thoughts on how you think Israfel should react please post them!
megeddo 10-27-03, 10:27 PM	Yah... sure he is. Israfel should ignore it for now and bring it up when this whole business with the cult is over. He is CN, but he went with the party for a reason. Perhaps he sees in the cult the same qualities he sees in the council and decides to help Saul destroy them. Later he should approach Saul and confront him about the council. If Saul's explanation does not satisfy, then Israfel should act against him using whatever strategies he has available. Ask yourself this though. Does Israfel mindlessly kill people, or does he weigh the consequences of his actions, law excluded? Will he invite retribution from the other party members? Does Saul know powerful friends who will seek to avenge his death? As a bard he would check into these things first, as well as whether killing Saul is really necessary ie.) Is Saul guilty of the level atrocities that other members of the council is. He could just be ignorant, in which case Israfel would enlighten him. (This would probably branch off into another adventure altogether. The Mystery of the Past.) He should keep it to himself until he makes a decision. A few things he could do if Saul's explanations don't satisfy him... he could kill Saul. Or he could spread nasty stories about how Saul belongs to a murdering cult himself. The party won't believe them, but the commoners will, and that could be disastrous for the party. A bad reputation is a fate worse than death for an adventurer who tries his best do good by others, and stories and tales, whether true or false is a bard's most powerful weapon.
Fable 10-28-03, 01:58 PM	Thanks, that helps me think it through. Israfel could certainly make the party's life hell - there is a anti-mage sentiment left over from the mage wars long ago and fueled more recently by the cult. Having a very popular bard re-telling the tales of the mage war and the death they caused would certainly make everything they are trying to do much harder. Also the northern alliance which is fighting against the cult back in Saul's homeland is in the region trying to hire troups and a backlash against mages would seriously hurt their chances of hiring warriors. Thanks again.