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-----Raven says to Sarah, "Either Sol kills them and calls it a duty done for the Lord of this land. Or I kill these orcs and call it a duty done for the Great Hunter. Those are the options I'll accept."
-----"Done." Sol utters quietly. The Gorian then raises his now hollow voice to the bard, "Seth, perhaps ye'd like t' start on ahead t'Oakwood. I guess Raven needs t'see this through, but perhaps th' rest o' ye should join Seth. I'll catch up, yeah?"
-----The Dread Pirate shakes his head in disgust at Raven's continued acts, "A fool I might be. But there isn't another person in this group who has expressed any desire to slaughter these orcs. Actually some have expressed that they'd just as soon take 'em to Oakwood rather than indulge in a bloodbath. Since no one else agrees with you, I guess we're all fools and yer the intellectual of the group, eh?"
-----The Dread Pirate tugs on the rope, pulling the orcs along behind him, headed towards Oakwood, "I was more than willing to let Sol execute these orcs if he thought it served justice. He stated that he'd be doin to keep ye and Rinda in the group. That's not justice, that’s justification to keep ye around. Frankly, I don't think yer worth the sacrifice of my integrity, so I'm taking these orcs to Oakwood. By myself if need be." Gimplefwick continues down the road, hauling the orcs in tow.
-----Seth just shrugs his shoulders. He puts away his harp, and nudges his horse in the direction of Oakwood.
-----The humanoids, quiet until this point, gain surly looks upon their brutish faces. As the train of orcs begins to follow the halfling pirate’s pony, they begin to mumble lowly in their hateful language.
-----Raven ignores Dread.
-----"Gimplefwick." Sol says aloud, "In th' name o' Lord Lambert, I ask ye t'turn over yer prisoners t'me so that they may face th' land's justice. Yer right. I'm doing this so that Raven will stay. Let's face it, it makes no difference whether I execute them now, or some Oakwood guard does it. It's th' same result. Thanks t'th' writ, same law too. So on Hearthorn's behalf, hand them over."
-----"You know, Sol, if it makes no difference, then you got no right to ask him to hand over the orcs against Oakwood," Kazel interjects. "You're not the only one acting in the name of Hearthorn."
-----She starts on her horse and begins to follow Gimplefwick and Seth. "Besides, would you have done the same for each of us? And if so, what would you do if two with opposite views both threaten to leave unless their will is forcefully imposed on the others?"
-----The Dread Pirate nods at Kazel's remarks, "Aye, it’s a good point. But I know what the difference is, even if Sol doesn't. It's a question of moral integrity. Do you needlessly butcher those that have surrendered to you, no matter what their race? Sol is willing to let himself be extorted into sacrificing his integrity to appease Raven's whim. Otherwise Raven forswears himself, abandons the mission, and runs off back home. Personally, I'd hesitate to call someone who'd force such a choice on me 'friend', but that’s not my decision to make. Sol has decided it’s justice for him to kill these orcs, so it’s his problem now. Bring my rope back to me when yer done." The Dread Pirate slips his end of the rope off of his saddle horn and continues on to Oakwood, leaving the orcs to Sol and Raven.
-----Seth mutters something about "second class heroes, they wanted us... they can put up with us."
-----Sol replies, "Kaz, if that happened, I'd make a choice and pray that it's right. Just like I have now. I still don't want t'do this, but my point stands. From where I see it, ye'd all take these orcs down th' road t'die, so ye can wash ye hands of it and keep yer 'integrity', instead o' them dying here by letting Raven carry out what he sees as his duty. And don't talk to me about needlessly butchering, pirate. What it comes down to, is that we're all doing what we see is right." He nods at Dread as he departs and adds, "I'll make sure ye get yer rope back."
-----"No, wait, this issue has to be resolved here." Sarah says forcefully, hoping to delay the rogues’ departure with her voice. "I don't mean the orcs, really, I mean what Raven's doing. There's something he wants to do. Rinda supports him. But no one else does. More of us want to let the orcs live and be taken to Oakwood. But when we try to show Raven why we feel that way he ignores us and threatens to leave. That's not something I can tolerate. That sets a very bad trend. Any of us could do that. 'No. Give me all the treasure or I walk,' etc. I know this is hypocritical of me to say this, but that's really not something I can deal with at all. I need to know what right Raven thinks he has to boss us all around and bully us the way he is, and more importantly Sol Herron, why you are giving in to him." She says, terrified of what Raven might do to her just for saying what she thinks.
-----Raven says to Sarah, "Just because the majority thinks something is right doesn't make it so. I made an oath to the Great Hunter. If I break my oath, I become nothing in the Hunter's eyes." Raven pauses, "As for bad treads I remember you left the group when you had 'issues'. You thought the group was making wrong choices, so you acted on your own and went off with the gem guy. To this day I don't understand why you left, but I didn't come down on you for doing it." Raven sighs, "No I don't think I can boss the group around. This is just something I cannot let go. I thought the group would support me, but instead they protect orcs. We've captured many other enemies and I haven't wanted to kill them. The one time I speak up and let the group know of my oath and you all piss on me." Raven is getting angry again. Raven stops and takes a deep breath, "Damn it! Enough talk. My blood boils just seeing those orcs breathing." Raven shakes his head as if to clear it, "The Hunter fills me with the need to kill these orcs. It is the Hunter's will that these orcs die."
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