Later, Humus approached Jardel. "No offense, but next time, let us quietly discuss what we are going to do before announcing to the world our intentions. It helps to have all our ideas out before acting sometimes. Some of the others might have had ideas of how we might be able to use Grog to our advantage, but as soon as you told him his fate, that possibility was lost. He isn't going to nicely roll over and die for us. By announcing his fate before we were all ready, you were jeopardizing the villagers and the quest. We couldn't let him have the chance to get away - he now knows too much. Also, we most definitely couldn't let him go - his crimes were too great. This time there was no major loss - but next time ?" He laid a reassuring hand on Jardels shoulder and added, "Just please try to think about your actions before you do them next time." Then Humus went over to Kethas. "I know that you were opposed to Grogs execution, but we could not let that monster go. He knew that we were here and that we defeated a Blood Knight. We cannot let word of our passing through here get out. Also, by Grogs own words - he was not a ‘nice’ ogre. Did you not hear of his crimes against the people here. Would you have him do that to another village ? I did hope that Grog might have been different from the others of his race, but his actions showed otherwise."
After having seen Grogs life force spent by Humus blade Jardel nodded in approval. "Sorry for having spoken such harsh words. Seeing the evidence presented - and recieving the ogres true evil feelings - I saw no chance in granting this beast a second chance. As to the Kings words we will surely be encountering a multitude of evil beings of various power and time aswell as our resources will not permit to grant each being a lengthy trial. In the future though I will try to refrain from acting or speaking prematurely. As you say it is better to discuss the matters together. It seems this quest is continuing to stress my nerves as in my eyes a large portion of responsibility rests on my shoulders - much is expected from me - and that not only from mortals !"
Kethas wore a sad expression. "I realize that the ogre was not able to be saved, but, in the future, please try to let other people be the jury at least." He then looked around, and his face brightened considerably. "Who is for the idea of eating now, and then riding towards our goal ?" He fumbled around on the ground and grabbed a large handful of rocks. "Just in case..."
Finally the little halfling came out from the shadows of the buildings and looked towards the huge ogre. "Any luck with that dummy ? I heard a story once about a really really smart ogre who tried to walk across the sea. He drowned. I dare say this one is probably not so bright - Oh he’s dead. Well, are we finished with the pleasantries ? I'm hungry !" Culdat bent to the ground and picked up a shiny black rock. He flipped it up into the air and caught it with ease.
That night, the villagers threw a feast in the heroes honor. Hogs and cattle were butchered for the nights festivities and set to slow roast over pits of hot coals. Drink and music was plentifull, as well as cheer. Ladies of the town flirted shyly with the heroes as fathers looked on approvingly. Humus was partially healed by Jardels hands, but was still in pretty bad shape. The crowd held him in awe as an Ogre-Slayer. Ladies were already fawning over him, trying to make him comfortable. Kothas sat alone set apart from the festivities. He drank spirits quickly as his childhood friends told the group that his entire family was murdered by the ogre and Olar. His men tried to comfort him, but he wished to be left alone with his drink. Jardel began instructing Caladan with the heavy two-handed sword from Olar. Caladan was clumsy at first, but as a natural with a blade began picking up the basics quickly. As Jardel held it for the first time, he felt that it was light for a two-handed sword, as well as well balanced. It also had to be the sharpest edge on a sword he had ever seen. Culdat was seen roaming the food trays set about for easy pickings, which was exactly what the little one did. The night went on with nothing but enjoyment, except Humus and Kothas, though Humus did seem to be enjoying the female attention.
Sitting around the fire Jardel enjoyed the good food, drink and music - all in all - the warm friendship the villagers brought forth in these troubled times. Moving over to Humus, he boosted his spirits by talking over religion and honor. "Humus, here is my answer to the test your father gave you. First, I pledged my loyalty to the king and his crown. Initially swearing such oath will have been duely reasoned. Therefore it is my duty to obey any orders given. Second, if the evidence presented is so grave in favor of the mans innocence, then I would try to persuade my king to change the sentence - at least to sparing the mans life. Anyway - is it my privaledge to question my kings judgement ? Should my appeal fail, then a last choice is presented. Either I am willing to trade my life for that of a presumed innocent man or concede to dealing a swift and unpunishing sentence - meaning off with his head with one clean blow. This is a personal choice though, only to be made in real life. As you see Humus, the choices are limited and difficult. How did you choose when asked ? Let us toast to our success and the prevalence in our first common battle. I see your jaw is still set at a rather awkward position. If you can solicit no healing spells from our priest Da Ghiri I will gladly provide you with Heimdalls healing touch in the morning - after resting. We need you - our best and most capabale warrior - at full strength. After all Humus, you are THE Ogre-Slayer of Valmour !" Jardel laughed.
Humus strained to answer. "Jardel, before I tell you all the possible solutions, I want you to know that there was no way to ‘win’ the situation that I presented to you. In life, there must be compromises at times. I shall now tell you the effects of what each choice would have been: For doing the king's will. You would lose pride and personal honor - by doing something that you felt was wrong, but your family honor would remain intact. And should the man be proven innocent later after his demise, you would lose the good faith of the people. You would retain the good faith of the king for offering your service no matter. You would also retain unselfishness and courtesy - for not letting the man suffer any more than necessary, but in another way, you would lose unselfishness for not giving up everything to save him. You would retain liberality for keeping an open mind. "For not performing the execution, you would have given up the good faith that the king put on you. You would also have sacrificed liberality - by not even considering that he might be guilty. knights need to have an open mind. You would also have given up courtesy and unselfishness - by letting that man suffer for no reason. However, with all these losses, you would have retained your pride and personal honor even though your family honor might have suffered a little. Should evidence later be presented that cleared the man, you would retain the good faith of the people - even though you lost that of the king. "For trying to save the man, you again would have sacrificed the good faith that the king put on you. You again would also have sacrificed liberality for the same reasons as the previous case. In a way, you would also have retained up courtesy and unselfishness - by giving up all that you hold dear and trying to save a man that you thought innocent, but in a way you would still lose them - for all the guards that you injured or killed as you made your escape to satisfy your belief. You would have glory and bravery - for successfully fighting your way out against the odds. You would have retained your pride and some amount of personal honor even though your family honor would have suffered a greatly. You would most likely be a hunted man. Later, should the man be found guilty without a shadow of a doubt - you would lose all that you had retained - pride and personal honor. Should he be truly innocent, you would gain the good faith of the people. As I said before, there was no one right answer. You would lose no matter what you chose - and like you said, it would be a personal choice that you would have to live with. The evidence against the man was equally for and against him. We must think in broader terms - there is more to the knights code than just honor and glory, and we must always remember that. As to how I chose when I was presented with the question, I chose performing my duty to the king by carrying out the execution myself. Should I not be fully healed by the morning, I would greatly appreciate any healing that you will provide. We need to press on as best we can tomorrow. On this quest, too much time has been lost, and we need to make up for it the best we can. Maybe you could ask some of the villagers if there is a quicker way to the cave from here and if there is any danger between here and there that they know of. I would ask around myself," Humus rubbed his aching jaw, "but I'm currently not in much shape for moving about asking everyone questions."
After Humus told his tale, Jardel clasped him on the shoulder as a sign of friendship. "Humus, I am getting to savour your friendship. It is not always easy to make honest friends in a hostile environment as this world has been over time with respect to my profession and the deeds that are expected, yet for the short time we have known each other - I am pleased to serve our King Edmund beside such a fine young man. I will heed your words wisdom and speak with Kothas. It pains me for Kothas, whose entire family has perished to Olar and Grog. Perhaps he and his friends know some shortcuts to avoid all evil eyes. I will also speak with Da Ghiri, if he is willing to spare some healing magic on you. If possible I would prefer to start the day with some healing possibilites in reserve." Giving him a sly eye wink "Hero, forget not thy pleasures with the fair maidens here !"
Jardel moved over to where Da Ghiri was seated. Toasting an ale mug "To you mighty priest - Da Ghiri. Were it not for your powerful spells, Kothas and Humus would not have subdued Olar so easily.
Da Ghiri nodded and bowed, "That is well, we will all be depending much upoon each other in the days to come."
The holy knight asked the priest, "I have just spoken with Humus and all differences have been put aside. We are on the best way to becoming good friends. After recieving such a devastating blow to his chin from Grog though, he is still in need of a healing hand. I myself am not quite capable of patching him up completely. Perhaps you could see to him if you still have any healing spells left. If not, I would appreciate you memorizing an extra healing spell for him and casting it in the morning. As things are, I presume to be the only other person with serious healing capabilities and I would not like start tomorrow having already spent my power - but I will if necessary. May your wisdom guide you in choosing the right spells to pray for tomorrow. I only know that healing spells are high in priority. Happy spirits tonight."
The priest bowed again, "I will do what I can for the mighty Humus. Pleasant sleep to you as well". Da Ghiri walked to Humus and placed his hand gently on his broken jaw. A pale blue light emanated from his hand as he chanted quietly. Humus jaw moved upright into position and was movable once again, Humus now fully restored to health.
Jardel grabbed his half full ale mug and trotted off to where Kothas was sitting alone. He talked to him trying to ease his pain, building him up for the forthcoming tasks at hand. Talking about the local area, Jardel inquired any possible travel routes to safely reach their destination unseen. Kothas, quite drunk by the time Jardel reached him, simply ignored him mostly. When asked about any undetected ways to the Caves of Wind, he replied "There ish no other way than the main road, unlessh you take to climbing mountainsh or going through Drow country. We can alwaysh barrel through the Valley of the Drow to get to the Cavesh. But, ash a child, I never went into those woodsh because of the dangersh of the dark onesh. They have magic and poison, a deadly combination for thoshe who walk the night unsheen." he finished, taking a large swig of a jar of dwarven spirits and careening straight to the ground face first, unconscious.
Talthan kept away from most of the festivitys musing instead on the next move the party should make and on the fascinating whims of normal humans, "An Oger could be put to many useful purposes with meerly the threat of force not to mention a charm spell, and killing one who is otherwise unarmed, increadably stupid and that such would be heralded as heroic, well no wonder elves consider us foolish but it is best not to think on it too much" was just one of his many muttering he made well out of range of the party. He managed to get some food and then quickly went to sleep.
Kethas sought out his companions, and told them what he had learned. "The Caves of Wind are in the mountains north of Vain. If we go north on the main road, through Vain, then continue on many miles, we will reach an area which is cursed, and the wildlife barren. We will know where to look when we come to the dead trees and plantlife. It is said that none have gone there and returned, so there is no true landmark we can attempt to look for. If we look for the decaying forest and listen for the silence of the lack of animals, we will be near the caves." He then had a large mug of mead and headed off to memorize his spells. The group listened to Kethas words thoughtfully but without reply as they each fell into a deep slumber.
Dreams of ogres and giant platemailed humans haunted there very dreams. All awoke a few hours after dawn, lying here and there. Valmourians lied scattered about as well, a few ladies were found to be cuddled up next to some lucky adventurers. Kothas was the only one not awake. One of his soldiers,Winston, went to awaken him gently. He woke up with a loud shout and a cry. He quickly grabbed his head in pain and stumbled to retrieve his belongings, staying away from everyone. The sky was grey with clouds, darker clouds looming on the horizon.
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