"Leaving him for a guard probably wouldn't work. I'd assume any confrontation would cause suicide or death by guard....Hey! Why don't we just ask Captain Arturo though the journal? Maybe he'll have some idea what's going on..."

Valenar withdraws his journal from his pack and holds it up with a quill, gesturing as if to say, "Objections?"

"Go for it, and write quickly. Let's hope he's paying attention." Rakash watches the approaching farmers and starts looking for the fastest way to leave the area.

Valenar quickly whips the book open and, writing on his knee, jots down "have captured + ko'd man under arcane control--blood ritual mark--pls advise quickly"

Barely a minute passes before words in a tight plain script start forming on the page below your message: "Question him, see if target is involved, try to decipher spell point of origin. DO NOT ALLOW HIM into King's Citadel custody; consequences may be dire. Destroy this page."

Cruxil reads the answer from over Valenar's shoulder. It wasn't the easiest solution but at the very least but probably was the better idea. Shifting his khopesh off to the side to make things easier to carry, Cruxil makes his way to the prisoner. He pulled the prisoner up roughly by the shoulder, getting him onto to his feet. "Now that we have an answer, we should hurry. Although I have no idea as to where we're going to keep a magically controlled prisoner and not some how raise suspicions."

[There was a back entrance to the Inn that, if you're careful, you could easily see yourselves moving him in with little effort. Another option would be the numerous abandoned buildings in the downtown of the city.]

"We should bring him to one of the abandoned buildings in the town--bringing him to the inn risks exposure."

Sariel nods and waves vaguely in the direction of the wagon. "What about...them?" Several seconds pass and the elf suddenly realizes what she implied by the statement. Her face flushes red and she quickly waves her hands in the universal "No, not that" sign. "I don't mean like that! I mean...should we question them?"

"Mayhaps, but there's a chance that they're outside of this affair and don't know anything. If some people would like to observe them to see what they did, then by all means. But, right now," Cruxil pauses to readjust his grip while holding the man, "My main concern is to get this man out of here. Anyone care to give me a hand?"

[Moving on, let me know if you want to back it up.] You carry the limp, unresisting man with you as you dart deeper into the city, taking pains to make sure your path is unwatched. It's really quite easy; the deeper you go, the plainer it is that this part of the town's completely devoid of anything but dogs and rats. Spying a likely building a few blocks away, almost in the heart of the city, you scout the premises, verify it is abandoned, and carry the man inside. As far as you can tell, the building you select used to be some kind of business office; there are numerous desks and overturned chairs, and empty shelves perfect for ledgers and tomes and books and records. It's two-stories tall, plain and squat, made from gray bricks and molding timber. Quick guess would say that this place has been abandoned for at least 5 years, but not more than 10. Up the stairs you find a handful of cramped single-person offices, some of which still have engraved nameplates nailed to them. It is in one of these rooms that you carry the man, a room with no windows and stuffy air, illuminated by your everburning torches setting him in a chair and tying him firm. The sun outside is moving just past 2 in the afternoon when your guest first starts to stir again. The man's eyelids flutter, then his head moves, and soon he's rolling his face up towards you, struggling with the last vestments of unconsciousness as his eyes try to focus on each one of you in turn. With a snap, recollection seems to come back to him and his face turns angry. He scowls and struggles a little against his bindings, sneering and spitting towards you for a couple minutes before quieting down again and sinking to his fate. To no one in particular, he mutters under his breath, "You're all dead. The King will kill every one of you." [Don't worry about waiting for responses from me, just post your questions and actions and I'll make sense of them. Roll whatever checks you feel are appropriate to your line of questions.]

Cruxil sighs as he finally finishes carrying the man to his temporary jail. Cracking his knuckles, he's actually surprised when the man started talking. Well, it wasn't all that particularly loud, but the fact that he could form complete sentences changed things a little. At first he was worried that the cursed removed any higher thinking. Maybe they could get some information out of him. "I assure you that most anything is welcome to try but, we don't die easily" Cruxil quips in, right before leaning in closer to the man "Now, tell me about this King. Since I doubt you're referring to the King of Breland." Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Diplomacy: Trying to get through to him Insight: Seeing how he reacts 1d20+7 = (23); 1d20+7 = (23)

[Sorry 'bout the delay, had an exceptionally bad day yesterday.] The man sneers at Cruxil, spitting out words of pure hate. "Of course I'm not talking about that poser royalty, I'm talking about the King! The King of Vathirond, and soon the World!" You can definitely tell he's acting oddly; as though he's being controlled or parroting responses to you from a part of his brain not wholly his. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Bad news: Rius has officially dropped this campaign, and I think we are coming up on the 'Two Combat Blues', where many PbP's tend to putter and die out after the second combat session. Can I get a quick roll-call on who's here and who wants to keep going? No hard feelings, I know things happen and we move on sometimes, though I am fully prepared to keep this thing going as long as y'all want. If I get some people who want to keep going and some who quit, I could start looking for some replacement players as well. Also, at this point, if you want to continue, I am fully open to honest and open criticisms and suggestions for improving this thing.

Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I'm here, I was just waiting for some other people to do rolls before Sariel jumped in. I think the game is going very well, but I haven't been in many PBP's so there might be something I'm missing.

Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Still here and willing to continue on. I got no real suggestions since I'm still pretty new to D&D to begin with and the game seems fine to me. I'm kind of also going to wait to let someone else post by later today.

Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Heya folks =( It's not that I think the campaign is dragging, I actually am kind of enjoying the setting. I'm about to put up a recruitment post for my own PbP and I'm trying not to spread myself too thin, hehe.

Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler still here, willing to continue, ecksedra

Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Here and enjoying it. Sorry I've been lax at posting lately; just started a new job, plus I was house sitting for the past week.

[Alrighty, we have our answer, let us go all Good Cop, Bad Cop on this guy's @$$.]

"Where can we find this King of yours?" Kabren tries to sense if the prisoner is still as bound by the spell as before, or if moving him has weakened it, both by sennsing the magic, and by observing the man's actions. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Arcana 16 Insight 23 I'm really bad at the communications skills so someone else should take point on that.

He wishes to speak about this king, or else he would of said nothing. He is not a trained soldier, conditioned to resist interrogation, so don't worry about any torture. Just press him. Yes, your expert as getting people to talk...ness. Didn't work as well as you thought it would when you start that title, did it? Not really. "So, if we're going to die by this King, why not at least let us know the real identity of our apparent murderer? I mean, it can't really do any harm." Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Diplomacy: 19

While still hostile towards you, the prisoner seems to be relaxing a bit, speaking more freely and starting to act halfway human. You start to suspect this is the first conversation he's had in a good long while, and an air of simple honesty hangs over him as he phrases his responses. Turning to Sariel, he shrugs his shoulders as much as his bindings will allow. "My King is... My King. My Lord. My Master. My Liege. He needs no other name, and none call him otherwise. Well, I've never heard anyone call him otherwise, though truth be told I don't hear much talking down in his Royal Chamber." Turning to Kabren, the prisoner's face seems to redden, as though almost from embarrassment. "My King... trusts not his simple servants. As we come and go, our eyes are shut and we are guided by the King's Guardians, like we were on this trip. We climb and walk, and when we open them again we are inside the City. You see, my King is wise, he will control you and kill you, every last man!" Glancing back at Sariel and then back at the room at large, "Every woman too, even pretty ones!" [As far as you can tell, he is still well under control of the spell; you can't determine if it's weaker or stronger over him, though. And no need to be stingy on questions; he's not going anywhere, lob a few at me at once.]

"That mark on your chest...was it forced upon you, or did you take it willingly?" Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Diplomacy: 2 See, this is what you guys get for making me ask all the questions.

"So, have you actually seen this King of yours? Or do you believe in someone that you've never met, and is controlling your actions?" Cruxil snapped back at the man. This whole situation was getting more irritating and he feared that this conversation will come full circle very quickly. All the while, he tried to drum any connection between what the man was saying and whatever knowledge Cruxil had. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Diplomacy 1d20+7 = (15) History Check: to see if anything that the man is saying is clicking with anything Cruxil might know 1d20+9 = (22)

Valenar touches a hand to his ear. "Hold on, he speaks to me." He looks up at the ceiling as if receiving some kind of communication. "Lord Bahamut has delivered another into our grasp. I will step outside to speak with him." He glares at the bound man. "Then, I will return to end this conversation." Valenar slams the door behind him and quickly searches the area for something soft and thick, like an old sack. He props it up against a wall, close enough to the room to be within earshot. "TALK, GODDAMN YOU!" he roars, punching at the sack. He shifts forms quickly to that of a human, and approximates a human scream as closely as he can. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I really hope this works. Bluff: 1d20+11=22