Skull Church - In Character Discussions
Since business here seemed to be taken care of, Branwyn turned to the smithy and said, “When you see the Paladins, please tell them to look for us at Old Man Miller’s,” and looking back at the others, “We should probably get back to the inn.”
As the group approaches the tavern, they see Kristelle saying goodbye to Old Man Miller and preparing to leave to do her hunting. Branwyn waves at Kristelle to hold for a moment until she can catch up to her. “Good luck with your hunt. I shouldn’t say anything since you will probably just get upset with me, but I’m going to go in and talk to the Pilgrims a bit more. They might not have any idea who took over the church, but there are still things I want to learn from them. And you shouldn’t worry, I’ll be fine. As long as I play along with them, I don’t believe they will hurt me. Besides, I can’t get much worse than I am now anyway.”
As the two are talking, Miranda, Imari and Indigo move past them and enter the tavern.
Brother Fotopoulos steps between Hoffman and Branwyn. "You two better stop this. Hoffman, you have to accept the diffrent approaches people make as thier own path for your so called GOD. Branwyn, I was the one who determined this statue, while as much of a creature as the rest, the stone itself is far to diffrent to be part of the existing church, thus we felt we had enough information. All we can ask is that we all work as a team as all our lives are at stake.
Branwyn pulls the hood of her cloak up over her head and tugs on the edge to try and hide the horrible abscesses and boils now covering her face. "Hoffman, please let us just get back to the Paladins before this disease creates any permanent scars. But your question seems to be, Will I learn some sort of lesson from this? Hmmmm, perhaps.
But if I am going to be honest with you, most likely not.
Every statue in here is as hideous as the newest one added. It was not enough for me to think the statue alone proved much of anything since you and I are not familiar with the gods and saints of this church. This ugly beast could have been some god of fertility ... or war ... or something else for all I know. In hindsight, I probably should have walked away after seeing the altar and dagger, but the statue was right there. It was only just a few steps away. And we could have learned much more. I still didn't get a chance to look at the base of it.
My biggest regret was that I did not act quickly enough when I saw who it was who had caused this. I was so very worried about Indigo, then in pain from the spell, and then in shock that I recognized the man at the altar that I did not react in time before he escaped." Turns towards Indigo but keeps her head down. "I should have cast and stopped him from running. I am so sorry Indigo for failing you. I will not let it happen again."
Sheepishly Hoffman aproaches Branwyn. "Please don't take this the wrong way, I know things happen. We believed there was dark magic at work here and I thought the statue gave us enough confirmation We really don't know what happened, if the dagger gave you the disease or if that mage in the red cloak did, but I still do not see the benefit of your risk taking. I hope you recover physicaly quickly but also the the memory lasts you a long time. If it is any consolation, you certainly are a much braver mage then the man in red.
Hoffman looks back at the warrior mage, "I can tell you this much. I tried it your way and found the rush of almost dying quite the experience. Maybe GOD is calling me back, but seems to me HE is testing me to follow HIM and not you. So when you find yourself in front of me next time, do turn around from time to time to make sure I am still there.
Branwyn responds:
I disagree that we simply run in with no regard. Perhaps we are just confident in our abilities and are not afraid. Or perhaps we just do what needs to be done. In the instance of the spider, if we wanted to explore that part of the cavern, we needed to walk into that area. I would think that you would have been happy it was me walking into it rather than you; and now we know what is, or rather was, in that corner. The bullywugs and me was I suppose a simple misunderstanding. At the beginning of the journey below the cellar I did not have the torch and was not paying attention to your instructions [i.e. I was not there]. By the time I caught up with the group and was handed the torch, I was responding to your and Kristelle's wish to see more inside the cavern. I am simply not afraid of a few frogs. I would rather move ahead and risk danger than stand around outside a doorway for hours fearing for my personal safety in the event that I might possibly take a hit or two. I am also not opposed to turning and running to fight another day if I find myself surprised and overmatched. But at least that way we would know what we were up against. If I had come into the cavern and saw a dragon, for example, you better believe I would have run right back out before you could finish shaking your head in consternation at my recklessness.
You are quite right that we have no idea what may be inside this church, but most likely it will be undead. Or perhaps even our sought after necromancer. But this is simply a reconnaisance mission for the Paladins and so we do not have to fight anything we do not want to fight on this trip inside the church. Foriso shall be of great aid to us in his stealthy abilities. Even the Paladins recognized that when they gave us this task. I am confident that we shall all be fine and have this church investigated in short order.
Hoffman, I know you have a brave heart. I see it when you fight, as you get much closer to your foes than you need to and seldom try to pick creatures off one by one. When you do move in for battle you have a tendency to throw yourself deep in the middle assuring yourself more damage if they happen to live to be able to attack you. No one wishes you to step into the worst area of danger above everyone else. You must learn to trust that we are pretty capable of taking care of ourselves and do not need you to sacrifice yourself for our safety.
And yes, we are all alive. So smile, dear Hoffman. We'll turn you into a Dragonslayer yet. You can't tell me that running headlong into a room full of zombies didn't get your heart racing for a moment.... just a little bit?
I told you. I tried to fight like you, running in with no regard. I guess it worked as we are all alive. But now we are going into the Church, there is a much beter chance for danger and orginized defenses. Please, just just take ur time, a litle.
Foriso looks at Hoffman and says "What you dont seem to understand Hoffman is this is how we fight and how we have always fought, and yes we may get hurt more than what you are used to we manage to survive against odds that are stacked heavily against us. I dont think you will be able to do much to change that but maybe we can incorporate some of what you know with what we know and vice versa. Just remember that we are 2 seperate groups right now and that will be the first thing we need to overcome."
Hoffman talks to whomever survives the fight under the house. "You guys are a little reckless. I know I was the first to enter but I thought I made it clear we stay together and be careful. I know I am just a hirred Ax but now I truly understand while GOD has sent me here.
