A Paladin’s Mission (for shinyhappyfitsofrage)

[HeroicSpirit]

“I bet he knocked you clean out, didn’t he?” Urgash said, smiling at Bastion. “I mean, if my punch was strong enough to knock you back like that, I don’t doubt the minotaur’s hits were a bit harder on you-even orcs wouldn’t want to get in a fight like that!”

Madeline nodded. “So I’ve heard-my father led a raid against a Minotaur tribe and he said a single warrior cleared through an entire squadron of veterans from the Orc Border Conflicts! That’s why he says it’s his greatest failure.”

Urgash grimaced slightly when she had mentioned the border conflicts, but held back from saying anything-she didn’t want to get angry again, after all. Instead, she merely looked to Bastion and said, “I’ll be scouting up ahead-we should be pretty close, but it’s good to check anyway-besides, they’re might be some people there already.” She then ran off, heading to the stream.

Hest, smiling, asked Bastion, “so, what happened afterwards? Did the Minotaur make any special requests?"

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion listened to them, and chuckled at Urgash's question. "Yeah... felt like it shattered every bone in my body. Healer wouldn't comment when I asked, so I've assumed this whole time that it damn near did." He'd upset her with his foolishness. He wanted to know he could hold his own under such a daunting situation, against a foe consummately superior to him. He'd almost died for his self testing, and many were those upset with his recklessness.

Madeline's tales of her father, Bastion honestly found inspiring. "Your family has quite the martial tradition. In my eyes, that puts you a par above most nobility. Most nobles with any amount of power would cast aside any notion of self risk, and leave that to others."

He wouldn't talk further on the subject once he saw Urgash's reaction, though. He could understand that it was a sore subject.

When she went off to scout and Hest asked her question, Bastion blinked. "Ah, yes... at the time, he believed me female, as well. As a minotaur, he had the outrageous sex drive of his kind as well as their aggressive instinct... he turned to the monkhood to learn the discipline to control himself. Still, I wagered a stake of pleasure to goad him into fighting me for real. I serviced him orally, which he praised more highly than my martial talent, unfortunately." Bastion sighed. "It's been said I'd be put to better use in a brothel than the clergy. I've left an indelible stain upon my honor with such actions, I'm sure."

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Hest laughed. “Ha, well, I do think you would do well as a courtesan!” she said. “You’d probably be such a jewel too-you’d be surrounded aristocratic adulters paying you in platinum! I have no doubts you’d get wealthy enough to live as well as they do!” She then sighed, shrugging. “However, the choices we make, I suppose-I guess it’s in your nature to be self-sacrificing and noble, which I suppose a lot of people like.”

Madeline gritted her teeth. Not this shit again, she thought, glowering at the demoness. She knew that Bastion wanted to keep team cohesion, but she felt like he was too forgiving. After all, it wasn’t like Hest was a good person; the cleric knew enough to see that.

She shook her head and took a deep breath. This isn’t worth using a command word for, she thought. After all, this isn’t anything new for him-he’s probably heard this sort of thing a hundred times.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion had indeed heard it all before. "The invitation has certainly been extended, along with the promise of lavish wealth and luxury." He shrugged. "Nothing of which is of any interest to me. You're right in that I'm seen as a born martyr, a lamb awaiting slaughter. That's a bit of a dirty nickname in the church for me. 'Sacrificial lamb'. Up there with 'the dim light', not a crack on my intellect, so much as my perceived fragility. Being surrounded by aristocrats, I might add... that is a nightmare comparable to the one we're currently walking into, I believe. I think I'd much rather be here than there."

For whatever reason, Bastion didn't even seem insulted. In fact, he spoke with Hest quite frankly, as though he valued her candor and her blunt, coarse nature.

"Ah, besides. I'd rather appreciate the opportunity to be seen as a man in my lifetime. As a courtesan, that is most certainly not the role they'd have me play. I'd be on my knees, on my back, or would have my face shoved in a pillow until my beauty and youth were spent."

 

[HeroicSpirit]

"Oh?" Hest said, her eyebrows raised. "Well, I suppose I would agree-it isn't like I haven't had any experiences with the aristocracy, even if I enjoyed some of them. Still, you're pretty interesting, all things told. I suppose that's part of why I like people." Chuckling, she then looked to Madeline. "And please, I know you're just jealous he enjoys my company more than yours-as he said, he doesn't want to be surrounded by aristocrats."

Madeline grumpily looked to the side, muttering, "well I don't think he meant me."

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion winced when Hest took her shot at Madeline, but he didn't even blame her at that point, given the torture previously and the unadulterated spite that Madeline tended to greet her with. Still, what she said wasn't entirely accurate.

"I did not mean you, Madeline. As I said before... your father has taken up arms, even if he counts himself among the privileged, as have you. My respect for you isn't comparable to what I feel for the general aristocracy. I do appreciate Hest's blunt nature, true, but I've found thus far that I enjoy all of our parties company, even if I'm... less enthusiastic about this carnal paradigm that we've seemingly found ourselves in than everyone seems to desire." He'd always been desired, but this was quite a different situation than he'd ever experienced before.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Madeline blushed, smiling now. “Thanks, Bastion,” she said, looking back to him.

Urgash came back, grinning. “Hey!” she said as she strode up to the paladin, holding her hand out. “Got a visual on the stream-looks like there’s a merchant there, but not anything hostile.”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion smiled back to Madeline, glad to see her happy. She was getting little enough approval here, she needed some encouragement. The last thing the party needed was a healer that was socially ostracized from the group. Not that he was fibbing... his words were heartfelt and genuine. While he might disagree with many of her views, he had genuine respect for her, and it showed in his words and body language. Even when he was all but preaching to her, he did so with respect in his voice.

He snapped to attention when Urgash came back. "A merchant? I wonder how far out towards the corrupted lands we'll find merchants. Perhaps this one is a bit different from others, if they're willing to take risks others are not." There was much to be said for the bravery of merchants willing to go so far afield. This was a hive of bandits and worse now... perhaps, though, they were simply trying to flee the devastation, and were one of the last out.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Urgash sighed. “Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll see many more on our journey-the only settlement beyond that stream is Barruda, a small farming village protected by a fort. It’s probably going to be swarming with soldiers and clerics though, so we should try to keep our distance-we don’t know exactly how that’d go for us.”

Madeline looked to Bastion. “She’s right-even though I don’t like her, Hest is our greatest asset, and if we run into this place, we could trip a lot of alarm bells!”

Hest smiled, placing a hand to her chest. “Well, that’s quite the complement from you!” She said, walking over to the cleric. “Maybe I should give you a rewa-”

“Don’t test me,” Madeline snapped back, cutting off he demoness. “Anyway, I don’t doubt my father’s on his way to the fort-he’s probably bringing my older brother with him! I don’t doubt they’ll help lead the campaign!”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion looked past Urgash as she spoke of Barruda. "Hmm. Last chance, so to say." And they would indeed have to take great care in regards to the fort... whysoever they were saddled with Hest, he wasn't sure the church and the wartime fort would agree on such tactics. Such friction was certainly best avoided, even if Madeline's family would be there. Hest and Madeline bickered for a moment, but fortunately, Madeline was sparing her the torture. Hopefully, if things went truly south, the damage between their relationships wouldn't cause them both to end up dead.

Bastion would move forward a smidge, and drape an arm around Hest's shoulders. "Please don't tease her terribly much, Hest. I'd consider it a personal favor." He'd kiss her cheek and smile, before moving back behind her to keep an eye out. "Should we see what this merchant can tell us before we move on, ladies?"

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Despite knowing what Bastion was doing by kissing her, Hest didn’t care too much; after all, it wasn’t as if she wouldn’t have used such a tactic herself to calm people down, even if her version would be much less chaste.

“Well, my brave paladin,” the demoness said, mocking a bow as she flourished her hand outwards to Bastion, “I feel it would be quite nice to visit the merchant indeed!”

While Madeline rolled her eyes, she didn’t pay too much attention to Hest-after all, it wasn’t as if there was any point to further antagonization over such small details.

Urgash, meanwhile, laughed, clearly amused by the parodying gesture, before walking up to Bastion from behind and giving him a pat on the shoulder, enough to hurt a little but not enough to do any actual damage. “Well, looks like you’ve got a lovely lady-in-waiting for you! Make sure not to disappoint her!” Urgash then winked before backing up a little and giving him a thumbs up.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion accepted the hand, with a smile. So much hid behind his smiles, but it was unreadable. They were the smiles of a boy who'd survived by how convincing they were, after all.

When Urgash pat his shoulder, jostling him through his plate armor, he turned to her, blinking at the insinuation, then giving that same cryptic smile. "Of course."

He'd keep his eye out for bandits still, only allowing the distractions to go so far, eyes on their surroundings and forward, towards their goals. The merchant was close now, and he'd have questions for them.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

The merchant, as Bastion soon saw, was a halfling woman of about fifty, dressed in bright greens and yellows with a large purple hat. Guarding her were a pair of burly dwarves, one a woman and the other a man. They seemed to be brother and sister, both having straight dark brown hair, tan skin, and sharp blue eyes, as well as the same squared-off face and short round noses. The paladin noticed that while the female dwarf had some facial hair in the form of sideburns, it was less than that of her sibling, who had a full beard.

Currently, they were eating a lunch of rabbit stew with a side of tea and bread, talking with each other. They didn’t seem to notice Bastion or his friends, however.


Hest looked to the paladin. “So, my brave sir, should we head down now? It would be rather unbecoming to simply walk in while they eat they’re food.”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion looked back at Hest at her comment, and smiled. "Mhmm."

Dwarves, and a halfling. For once, he'd have a chance to feel somewhat tall. An exciting prospect!

Bastion would walk a little faster, moving ahead of the party. "Excuse me, sir and misses! Pardon the interruption to your meal, but I was wondering if you had news to share!" He'd jog up to them, with that disarming smile of his, bearing his paladin's crest openly. Even if he was in full plate armor, the symbol of paladin on his chest tended to put people at ease more often than not. They had earned a good reputation as individuals, generally. "We're heading towards the corruption, and are eager for any information you might have!"

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Alarmed by his sudden intrusion, the dwarf woman picked up a heavy crossbow before turning around to see Bastion, weapon aimed straight at him. Seeing the symbol of a paladin she lowered her crossbow and set to the side while the halfling merchant chuckled lightly. “Sorry about that! But sure, you can join us, if you so wish-after all, you seem like quite the friendly sort and hospitality should be maintained, shouldn’t it?”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion watched the crossbow get snatched up, and almost just as quickly, get lowered. He shot a smile at the halfling merchant. "Are things really that rough out there?" They were obviously spooked, and on guard. He'd sit with them easily enough, though, and motion back toward his party. "Myself and a small group are heading towards the corruption. We're hoping we'll be able to do something about it." Although he suspected their role in this would prove to be minor. These events just seemed far above them, in so many ways.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

The halfling woman nodded, her face now grim as she took out a pipe from her bag and began filling it with tobacco. “Terribly certain they are. I used to be the owner of a whole train-this is all that’s left.” She then gestured to the wagon behind her. “It might look neat, but only because we had it repaired in the past few days-before that, it was ragged and limping.”

She then lit the pipe and took a long draft from it, before blowing out a smoky ring. “Be that as it may, we are fortunately moving on to better prospects, so don’t spare your pity.” She then shook her head before smiling again. “Anyway, you can call me Mapelyne and these two strapping young dwarfs are the Bronzebrew twins, who’ve been working with me for the last few months. So, what’s it you’d like to know? We can’t tell you too much, since we were busy fleeing, but I wouldn’t feel good about saying nothing.”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion winced to hear tell of her woes. This wasn't a hardy opportunist hanging on the edge of the desolation, to supply adventurers... just another fleeing pedestrian, one of the few fortunate enough to have not lost absolutely everything. He could see the weariness, the trauma. It was in the lining of her eyes, in the sag of her shoulders. She was soldiering through, but she'd seen things, heard things, even if she'd focused on fleeing.

Unfortunately, Bastion couldn't totally erase the pity from his visage... it was just a part of who he was, to empathize strongly with the plights of others, all others. "Mapelyne, then. Bronzebrew's, the honor is mine. I am Bastion, a paladin tasked with... shall we say, exploring the devastation. Anything you could tell me would be helpful. I've heard tale of a strange carnal theme among the demonic scourge, as though sexual domination were a tactic favored above martial contest and violence. It is a mind boggling idea to me. Did you see any such thing out there?"

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Mapelyne nodded. “As such I did; during a raid I saw a group of guards get attacked by a gaseous potion and, overwhelmed by a violet miasma, start stripping off their armor just to satisfy themselves. While they did that, the vicious pirate bastards rushed them down an attacked, easily slaughtering them. It was quite a nasty thing to see indeed, and I have no doubts there is much worse in store for those who are doing a dive into the unknown such as yourself.”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion frowned. Well, that made more sense, in a way. He couldn't imagine being so horny that he couldn't think to defend his life, but that was a practical application of such a distraction... simply leaving an opponent vulnerable to a killing blow. Knowing as much would remind him that his life was on the line, when his thoughts were consumed with such unimportant things. "I see... I am wondering if there might be defenses against such a tactic. Perhaps some will reinforcing magics." He was musing to himself now, chin in hand, contemplating strategies.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

“Well,” The halfling merchant continued, “I’ve heard ice can help, but you’d need to find a sample of the poison to hand to an apothecary before any antidote can br made. Otherwise, you’ll have to just rely on will.” She then took another draft from her pipe. “Question is: are ya ready for such a thing?”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastino quirked a brow. Ice, huh? Not something he'd expect, given men were stripping off their own armor to get cut down. "Samples, huh? I wonder if it could be so simple..." Like any poison or venom, or disease. Her other question was a difficult one. "I hope so. We can't just back down and allow people to suffer from this calamity. One way or another, someone is going to have to fight."

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Nodding thoughtfully, Mapelyne set down her pipe. “I suppose that’s a decent enough answer for me. In the mean time, how about we get to business? I am a merchant, after all, and I have wares to sell.” She then barked a command to one of the dwarf brother, who nodded before walking into the wagon. “After all, I might give you some things for free, but a merchant’s life needs silver and gold in the end.”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion watched as the dwarf went to explore their wares. "Hmm. I'm not terribly loaded with coin. But if you have anything you think might be of particular use out there, I'll certainly give it some consideration." He pressed a finger to his temple. Perhaps he should think on scrolls and potions that had will enhancing capabilities.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

The dwarf came out, carrying a chest over his shoulder that was as big as the halfling merchant herself. Setting it down on the ground, he took out a key and turned it in the lock-once clockwise, twice counter-clockwise. With a click, the chest’s lid lifted up automatically as Mapleyne smiling with a hand on her hip said, “well, get ya coins ready, because we have quite the options for ya!”

Out from the trunk, she presented to him five potions in five colors: red, green, blue, yellow, and purple. “So, obviously, let’s look at potions first; the blue heals wounds, the red reduces exhaustion, the green makes you less fearful, the yellow fixes up hangovers, and the purple prevents plague rot. Got it?”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion blinked as the sales pitch came out. "R-right. Wounds, fatigue, fear, hangovers, plague rot." The ones he was most worried about were wounds, fatigue, and plague rot. Fear... while this morning had proven he had things yet to fear, even against overwhelming odds, he tended to hold his mind steady. The others, however... he worried about Madeline, especially. She was a warrior, true, but she had many strange ideas born of the contradictions between her station and her profession. While she retained the entitled mentality of the nobility, she also took a fragile pride in her work. She didn't need it to define her, though, and Bastion had to wonder just how far her mettle would go when pressed. He might be underestimating her... but it was too early for him to be sure.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Mapelyne, smiling, asked, "so, which do ya want?" as she shook the potions slightly, letting Bastion watch their contents swirl. "Would say each is 10 gold apiece, so don't overspend," she added.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion winced at the price. He'd have to limit himself to two, his coinpurse wasn't that full. "Right. I'll take one for fatigue, and one for fear." He had the ability to cure diseases himself, as a paladin, and even the ability to heal wounds... what he could do about fear and fatigue were more limited. Such potions were hard to find too, so this was an opportunity he'd not want to pass up. He pulled the gold out, giving it to the halfling.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Smiling the halfling handed him the potions. “There ya go, sweetie; anything more you’d like or are ya set?”

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Bastion put the potions safely in a little designated pouch. "That'll be all, thank you kindly. I think it's best we hurry along while we have daylight. Thank you, Mapelyne, and good fortune to you on your journeys." He'd smile, and rise, to move back to the group, and see if they were ready to proceed.