The Affairs of Wizards

[Telcontar]

The words speak for themselves.

[Telcontar]

Persuade? Wont work with my dice but awe doesnt make sense. Lets see what story the dice say.

Rolled 1d12 : 10, total 10

Rolled 2d6 : 1, 2, total 3

[tomcat]

Esgalwen fervently nodded at Hathcyn's statement, "Aye, I will not leave Arbogast and his family to this cruel fate. Pick your battle as you please, Master Saruman, but the folk of the Black Tarn are more than just pawns to play a part."

[Eclecticon]

"Yes!" cries Radaghast, pre-empting any answer that might have flowed wine-rich from the White Wizard.  "It is as I have told you," he continues, his gnarled hand slapping the table hard enough to rattle the wooden bowls still set upon it, " for nigh five centuries I have watched over the Mirkwood clans!  I know well the folk of the Black Tarn, as I knew their grandfathers and their grandfathers before them!  It may be that a battle by the lakeshore cannot be easily won, but I know the strength of these Men better than any, and I cannot move myself to think it impossible, not when there are heroes like those who stand here before us!" 

Only then does Saruman's equinamity fall away.  Suddenly he stands, and he does so the light from the hearth doubles and redoubles until the hall of Maracar is beset by its brilliance.  New screams come from the booths where Maracar's daughters try to shield their children.  The wizard stands tall and straight and hard as a stone statue carved by some long-vanished race, his voice waxing in his wrath. 

"The task given unto you, Aiwendil, was to keep a watch upon the Hill of Sorcery, not to make pets of the people who dwelled about you!  Do not mistake them to be like the other creatures you have bred here, for they are Men, and must abide in Middle-Earth with all its wonders and terrors!  If it is their will to bring battle to that which assails their kin, then they shall go with my blessing, and with my pity for the many that shall not return, but you shall remain by my side!" 

Radaghast, cowed almost to the point of cringing, opens his mouth to reply.  "I..."


Saruman is piling on the pyrotechnics here, so anyone who wants to speak up and bolster Radaghast needs to pass a Fear check (TN 16, because he's literally being awesome):

Esgalwen

1d12 : 5, total 5
Rolled 4d6 : 3, 5, 1, 4, total 13

Grimbeorn

1d12 : 2, total 2
Rolled 4d6 : 2, 1, 2, 6, total 11

Hathcyn

1d12 : 3, total 3
Rolled 3d6 : 3, 5, 1, total 9

[Eclecticon]

Okay, Esgalwen can say something, and Grimbeorn or Hathcyn can pipe up if they want to drop some Hope on it. 

At the risk of pulling back a little too much of the curtain, keep in mind that you're now at three failures, and that your Tolerance for the encounter (based on Esgalwen/Grimbeorn's wisdom) is only five.  Two more failures, and anything else you say will fall on deaf ears.   

[Telcontar]

Hathcyn by nature was a man of action and his words were chosen with cunning to persuade others to reach his goals. Now however, a verse came to him. From out of the depths of his mind, or perhaps the rising flames sent a message from Aulë to Saruman and Hatchyn was just the mouth piece.

"Lord Saruman, you are wise and deep seeing. The light and fire are about you and speaking of the fate of men now these words fly from the flame to my mouth...

'Before setting forth on that inevitable journey, none is wiser than the man who considers—before his soul departs hence—what good or evil he has done, and what judgement his soul will receive after its passing.'

Do you have meaning or explanation?"

Ooc: insight roll to understand saruman or maybe to get him off balance and to reflect himself, or maybe a warming from the Vala. Little deus machina here maybe but it seems cool. Drop a Hope point to say it.

Rolled 1d12 : 7, total 7

Rolled 3d6 : 2, 2, 6, total 10

[tomcat]

Cowed by the presence of his power but taking umbrage from his condescension, Esgalwen speaks again. "No, we are not beasts of the land, Master Saruman, and neither are we his pets, but he can love, can he not? To live around the clans has certainly allowed Master Radagast to become a member of our community, yes? To see our births and our deaths - something that I do not understand as to why, though you are aged but still ageless - certainly we have come to love and respect each other."

To Radagast, the noblewoman smiled and her face was fair and comforting, "I do not understand this order in which you are part, but certainly Master Radagast, you cannot stand idly by and watch the people of the Vale die. If not to offer a sword arm, then surely you could offer your presence and guidance, and so bolster the hearts of many?"
Okay - she is going to pull out all the stops on her traits: Noble lineage and Fair along with her Persuade roll... and let Manwë hear her plea (or maybe Ulmo)!

I am not sure you will offer me my second feat die (and take better of two) for Noble Lineage, but I will include it. Also - you say we have 3 fails, how many successes?
TN 18 (?) persuade 3d

2d12 : 2, 5, total 7
Rolled 3d6 : 6, 6, 2, total 14

[tomcat]

WOOT!

That is a 19 success, I believe. So hopefully she just put a little backbone in that brown-clothed old man.

I am going to mark my third box on my sheet for Personality.

Let me know if anything is wrong with that plan.

[GandalfOfBorg]

Grimbeorn, lord of a great hearth and heir of the Bear, is cowed by only a few but not by this wizard.
 "Bah! Bandying words about with Wizards while others suffer and die when we could do something about it sits sour in my gut.  You have offered us nothing more than delay and ill temper.  Unless either of you," looking at his companions, "care to waste your time further, I wash my hands of this and will prepare for the journey ahead."

 
Spend Hope.

[Eclecticon]

Also - you say we have 3 fails, how many successes?

Well, eight now, which pretty much gets you everything you could take away from the encounter. Tom, you came so close on that Insight roll!  If it'd been a Riddle, I would've given it to you,but these old guys are inscrutable the best of times.

[Eclecticon]

"I... I..." Radaghast stutters as Esgalwen and Grimbeorn give voice to their frustrations.  When Hathcyn's words sound, though, even the White Wizard looks momentarily taken aback, and in the momentary silence, Radaghast finds his voice once more.  "I will go!  You, who look out from your grand tower over many lands forget, I fear, that the lives and doings of those closer to the soil are just as real, and of as much import, as the deeds of great lords.  I will go with those whom I have taken as my friends, in defence of a folk I have come to love not as lesser beings but as family, and not all your wrathful petulance shall bid me do otherwise!" 

The Brown Wizard's staff fairly leaps into his hand.  For half a heartbeat, Saruman's hand twitches toward his own.  Upon his face is his wrath plainly writ before an even quicker flash of heartache, seen only by Hathcyn, who has himself known the pain of being scorned by the closest of kin.  But the moment passes, and the great and ancient dignity of the Wisest of the Wise reasserts itself.  "Very well," he says, his tone that of a lord pronouncing a heavy sentence upon a wrongdoer.  "Await the warriors of Rhosgobel here, and may such powers of the world that watch over the adventures of the foolhardy spare you not their gaze." 

[Eclecticon]

Before I move things on, is there any business you guys want to take care of here and now?

[Telcontar]

  i want to use my Orc Lore to clean whatever I can about this goblins. Are they scouts from the main army? Attracted by the fight doing their own mischief?

Any badges or tokens worth noting?

[Eclecticon]

Good questions, Tom.  The dead goblins are of a type Hathcyn hadn't seen for a while - these sorts of creatures usually dwell deep in Mirkwood and had set up lairs in several of the Dwarven watchtowers along the Forest Road.  These particular examples might have been scouts seeing how far they could push north and west from the Tarn, but just as likely had skulked away from the main force and were living it up at Maracar's Hall in the short-sighted way that goblins often have when there's food around and people to bully. 

The bodies bear some scars that seem a little too consistent to be combat-related, but no markings that he recognises. 

Maracar, for his part, has passed on to whatever awaits the souls of Men.  His body shows signs of torture (not least being hung from his own roof) but not, as far as any of the Fellowship can tell, over a long period.  It looks like they arrived no more than a day or so before you did.   

[Telcontar]

"I am sorry for your loss and the state of things here in your house. Have you any kin or family among the woodmen you may fly to? The path behind us is relatively safe and groups of men are coming to pay back these fouls creatures.

If you have no where to go and are willing to travel to the forest road you may come to the Wolf's Tale. I will see that you and your children are taken care of and provided shelter. My inn is small but growing. I could find work and space for you there should you wish to stay and live farther north than here."

I'll attempt to inspire the women of the hall. If they do not accept
My offer maybe I can help them to make a decision or have a goal and feel less helpless.

Rolled 1d12 : 10, total 10

Rolled 2d6 : 6, 2, total 8